Saturday September 17th, 2011

Okay, I'm finally writing. I've been meaning to for a long time but I have been working extremely hard on school after practice every day. This is the time of the year when I need to take advantage of how  much time I have because the second part of the year is gonna be hectic. Lots of competitions close together - traveling, getting ready, extra preparation, etc. School is finally picking up steam now that there's time. I guess I'm making sure I get A's and not rushing through it. I'm going to finish High School slow anyway so I might as well have great grades. Just wait till I start a math course, i'll be singing a different tune probably.
  The first competition is soon. We leave for St. Louis the 28th and the competition starts the 1st of October.
I'm doing at least as well as I did last year on the sprints already and I think I'll surpass my fastest lap times from last year pretty soon.
  After working my tail off all week on school, I went to Andrew's to hang out. He picked me up in his Beamer convertible with a huge sub in the back, and we went to his house where his dad made a killer meal of fresh, farmer's market-bought perogies and raviolis in a vodka sauce and a muffin. Then I got a chance to witness Andrew's baseball skills first hand as we drove to the field and tossed the ball around for over an hour. Andrew, like me, has two passions and in the summer he plays lots of baseball at some of the best facilities in Texas and California with one of the best teams in Cali. He gets emails from colleges saying he's too young for them to make an official offer, but that they would love to have him at their school. He can throw an 87 mph fastball and he's sixteen and only trains for baseball maybe a quarter of the year. So background done, yesterday it took me a while to get used to the power and movement of all his throws. His curve ball just doesn't stop moving once it decides to begin its six foot diagonal dive. I couldn't believe how many times I just missed it because I blinked at the last second. Then once he threw his fastball with a crow hop which makes it faster and I caught it but it went right through the glove and got stuck in between the fingers.hahahaha! We had a blast. I still have some of my baseball chops for sure.

  so then we drove to Harshaan and Ryan's apartment (they are teammates) and hung out. I slept over and am still here relaxing after going with Harshaan to his campus gym and going on a long run. Harshaan goes to RMU, which has a typically PA-like rural campus with lots of flowery decorations, steep rolling hills, and everything pristine. Ryan's working at Sam's Club now and Harshaan's napping, as I shall do too now. It is sooooo nice to have a weekend of relaxing and doing productive recovery. I still did some school work today and will do more after I wake up. Last night I submitted another lesson of Literature of the Future - my six essays on the Andromeda Strain. Next, I will read A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

So here I am, back in the Burgh. Its the season. Much much different feel. Only two sessions in one day once a week (Friday). Different kinds of drills - more speed and sprinting, shorter, more intense intervals. More time in the day for school, cello, and of course writing in the blog. The weather is pitching in to the intense change in life for me. Its cold and rainy, not hot and sunny. Its exciting. I realized on the way back that the summer is over. I made it. Now no matter what the workout is in the morning, the schedule cannot be as grueling. More fun and enjoying going fast!! This morning, back on the ice for the first time in a week and a half, with hardly any sleep (got in very late last night), and extremely stiff from sitting in a plane all day yesterday, I really surprised myself with the lap times. I felt terrible but my times were pretty fast considering. Hopefully being burnt out is a thing of the past (or of the summer - haha) and I can really kick it into gear for the races!

Thursday August 25th 2011

Here in Salt Lake, its just as high up as ever...hasn't changed much in that regard - nope. We are still adjusting to the altitude and the faster ice. Its pretty discouraging so the challenge is to not let it get to your head. Its pretty sick training with J.R. Celski again (I saw him in Cali briefly). He's real cool and his technique is amazing. He's back from his time off and getting back into shape so he's not going THAt fast but he just looks soooo smooth. Skating behind him is positively educational - he wastes no energy and is fluid and carries his speed...well, like one of the best in the world!

  Salt Lake is so strange in its climate. Its a desert so its crazy dry, thus the 95degree and up weather doesn't seem that bad. Yesterday, there was this one little dark cloud that shimmied over our house and hung there. Everywhere around us was perfectly blue sky and it was pouring rain on us with whipping winds. It was pretty cool. Speaking of weather, its looking like its gonna be pretty tough to get home with Hurricane Irene coming up the east coast. Everyone please wish me luck!!! i'll need it.

Sunday August 21st, 2011

You're never gonna believe it! We went to the Pirates game today and caught a Home Run ball!!!!!

  http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_08_21_cinmlb_pitmlb_1&highlight_content_id=18268641&c_id=pit

  You can see in the video above how it landed pretty close to us but then bounced over several hands including mine before Cole caught it in his mitt. That was in the first inning after a short rain delay. We left in the seventh inning when it started to pour again. Pretty great day! So happy I stuck with the hastle of getting the tickets online. The Pirates lost the game after the rain stopped and we were long gone on the highway but it wasn't about winning or losing. It was a nice day at the Ballpark - Mann, that feels weird to say being a Yankees Fan and having experienced the excitement in the crowd at (the old) Yankee Stadium. Its so funny. The Pirates havn't been over 500 (in winning percentage) in something like 15 seasons. It showed as the fans seemed completely unchanged when the Reds got a three-run homer in the sixth inning to go up by one. Its a super nice stadium. Because its so small, there isn't one bad seat in the house.

 We leave for Salt Lake City tomorrow evening getting in around 11pm. Any suggestions for adjusting to high altitude?

  

Friday August 5th, 2011

Yup yup, he's breathing. He's alive! Its a miracle ladies and gentlemen...

  This week was even harder than last. The last workout of the week this afternoon, the 7 lap cross country run culminated probably the hardest week of my life. I made it through without whining to K though and in the long run, I'm sure I will be happy. This week had lots of fireworks. Top skaters were kicked off the ice due to attitude problems, injuries (however fake or real), blade problems, lack of focus resulting in too much talking, and there were a plethora of crashes ( I was in one this morning). Everyone is obviously extremely taxed as the summer training takes its toll. Consistency is the name of the game. Ahhhhhh, the week is over and I have TWO full days to rest for Monday.

  Time to relax, do some school, practice the cello, stretch, hang out, maybe see a movie, and get ready for another week. I'm still standing tall, which is something to be proud of no matter how I do this season, but unless I am mistaken, I will be very proud of how I do this season as I am stronger, more durable, and technically better than ever.

  Enjoy Yourselves! Its Friday!!!


  

Tuesday August 2nd, 2011

This is the dead of summer, the "Dog Days" as they say. The whole summer's training is in my legs, in my head, in my psyche. Its hard not to get completely discouraged when every morning, I step on the ice and immediately know I won't be doing anything spectacular today. No,  will have to do the same monotonous, methodical, level-headed technique work because my legs are fried. They have no snap, no zing, and no endurance. Stiffness and fatigue rule. haha The only thing that keeps me going is seeing that Cole and Lexi are just as bad. John-Henry starts skating again tomorrow. He has been doing tons of one-legged cushions (where you go up and down to basic position, a ninety degree angle of the hamstrings and back of the calf).  All the other guys and girls that are here just for parts of the summer are dying as well but I don't compare myself to them since they are on such a different schedule. My goal now: To make it through the week without complaining to K about how tired I am and how whatever the drill he assigns, my first thought is usually negative and reluctant. This is it. This is the home stretch of Summer Training. This is what they were talking about when they said at the output "You're gonna be dying" or "You might not make it" or "You're definitely gonna snap at some point". My goal is to not get angry with K and remember that however much he pretends not to know, he does know how tired we are and he does take it into account. He just knows that it doesn't matter because in the end the same truth still holds:  the harder you push yourself, the better you'll be.

  Got two new grades back in school and they were both an A! One was for a lesson of American Government and the other was for my new course, Literature of the Future, for which I read Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I had to write six different 5 paragraph essays. Now I am reading The Andromeda Strain by Micheal Crichton. Its real nice to have some literature to keep my mind multi-dimensional ...if only occasionally. The cello is the real key to that.

  Bon appetite and Goodnight!

Saturday July 30th, 2011

Yo yo yoooow! Week's ovaa. I feel similar to how I felt at my 8th Grade graduating ceremony. I did it. haha. It was so difficult because of the National Team Camp last week - how it ended with the sand dunes and then we hopped on a plane and were traveling so it felt like there was no off day. This week was rough. Even mighty Cole, who never ever wears down asked K if we (him, Lexi and I, those who went to Marquette - J.H. is still not skating from the ankle injury) could take this morning's practice off. haha! Fat chance!! We were there this morning, toiling away in the 95 degree sunny humid weather and then in the ice rink working away in what I like to call K's Technique Factory. Its pretty admirable how many times he can energetically say the same things and yell at us in the same way and not give up. Its working though. I am beginning to form a nucleus of "my form". I have to develop it and train my muscles to remember it and be able to repeat it and then - the most important part, be able to hold it when the muscles fill with lactic acid and are burning with 3 laps to go in the 1500m final, sending millions of messages to my brain on how they think it would be awfully swell if I could stand up and take a breather fer a quickie. 
  This Monday coming up Andrew Astalos roles in. I trained with him in Cali when I was there and we had many good times. He is actually buying a house here! He's a bit younger than me and he's a Long Tracker by nature. However, he is going on the theory that you have to be good at Short Track to be Great at Long Track, a la Shani Davis and many others.
  Last night was tons of fun. A bunch of us piled into Harshaan's car and went to get ice cream. There's a place right around the corner called Bruster's that makes home made ice cream to die for. The flavor that I tried once and havn't varied from is Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. I mean, that just sounds ingenious, doesn't it?! Then we went to Evan's and played some pool, chilled and went home for a full night's sleep before the slightly later sat. practice.
  Gotta rest up for a fresh start Monday!
  Tomorrow morning a bunch of us are going with an adult skater in the club to the shooting range. Very new experience for artsy Waldorf Boy (me) but I'll get into it.

Sunday July 24th, 2011.

  I am back in Pittsburgh again. I slept so well in my big bed here. Wow. The dorms were cool but its nice to have a real bed again.
  Friday, the last full day was indeed a killer. Tons and tons and tons of laps at fairly high speeds. The hardest drill on the ice was a relay in which each person only had one other on their team. Each partner went out and did 13 laps having to stay at a certain lap time before the relay push. Each partner did TWELVE sets! It was a mad struggle by the end. Real crazy, all out, mental toughness training. The track was so bitten up by the end it was crazy. We actually skated through the ice to the concrete yesterday morning! Poor Dan Fiorenza was skating through the turn and all of a sudden his skates just stopped gliding as he hit the patch of concrete and he went flying forward onto his stomach. haha. Friday Afternoon was incredibly long and after the dryland workout the whole camp went out for a team dinner in "downtown" Marquette. Actually Marquette has a certain charm about it. By Friday it was much nicer out - clear, cool - and the great Lake Superior was white reflecting the sun next to the restaurant we ate at. Saturday Morning directly after ice we went to the Sand Dunes again for the last bang. We had to sprint straight up the X-games ramp of sand and jog down 15 times in sets of 5. I'd say it was maybe 40 meters (imagine less than half a straightaway on a track) from bottom to top but it was so steep, and the sand gave out from under our feet as we climbed up; it took over 21/2 minutes to the top. The way down was extremely fun. Imagine standing on the top of a huge drop-in ramp then that moment when you shift your balance and plunge down but with sand. I could take huge leaps down and slide about 3 feet every landing. However it got dangerous when we started reaching our max. John-Henry sprained his ankle on the way down one set and still tried the way up on one leg before he quit! So he's on crutches for a while.
  Overall, I had a great experience training with the National Team, showing off the mental toughness and fighting Pittsburgh training breeds, hearing the great stories of World Cups and stuff from Shani, Simon Cho, Katherine, and the rest. Now its back to the character-building, rugged, no half-ass, grinding training of coach K that will improve me for the next time we train with the National team at the end of August.

Thursday July 21st, 2011

Here in Marquette things have really picked up in intensity. We did a 200lapper yesterday afternoon then drove to the sand dunes. The dune is about 40 feet high. Its so cool. Walking through woods, you wouldn't expect any beach type area then you come to this mountain of sand with more forest behind it. Needless to say it was a hard workout running all over the dune. Shani Davis was hard-pressed to stay with us and on the last lap, Cole and John Henry sprinted to try to beat him and Shani claimed "It was only out of pride that I beat them - those young kids killed me!" haha. so that was sweet to be training intensely with Shani who has personally met Barack Obama and says nonchalantly "'s a cool guy".  Today we picked up the speed doing some relays with a bunch of teams. Chunsem (The Korean coach) has been impressed with our composure during the hectic relays. This afternoon we drove to Marquette Mountain and did some killer power jump circuits before running up and over and back up and down Marquette mountain a bunch of times. The training of the National Team has been difficult but not that bad compared with our training in Pittsburgh. Last full day of the camp tomorrow! Its gonna be a grand conclusion if I know Korean coaches at all... Goodnight