Gooooodmorning. Some things I failed to mention last night:

  At this last Am. Cup, there were a number of Canadians that came down to Cleveland, from Calgary. Some were very fast. There were two or three that were faster than me out of the 11 that skated in Am. Cup A. After each day, they sped out of the rink to catch a bus at the corner of the rink and there must have been about thirty-five of them total. It was real cool to talk with them and I talked to their coach about which races we could go to in Canada. He said there were none coming up and that's why they came here but next year at the Octoberfest in Quebec is where we should go.
  On another note, the new system of qualification was tried for the first time this meet, where only the winner of the heat, quarter-final, or semi-final is guaranteed to move to the next round; the next designated number of spots are all by fastest time. So technically, a whole 1500m semi-final could move on to the final if it is faster than the other races in the semi-final round. The problem is that it is almost impossible to judge in the spur of the moment if your race is fast enough that the pass into first place maybe isn't necessary. In my case, both times I was penalized for passing and trying to block a pass, my race would have been fast enough that I would have advanced to the next round. As Mrs Krueger said, the novelty is a system of hindsight. The bright side of the system, and this is why National Coach Jae Su Chun pushed to implement it, is that in every distance, the times were much faster overall than at Am. Cup I, even though the World Team competed in St Louis and not in Cleveland. My 1500m times were very fast, two of the three setting personal bests.

  John-Henry continued his unbelievable recent success. He won the whole Americas Cup overall - at age sixteen. Not bad at all. He leaves for Salt Lake City Thursday. In fact, Cole does too. Mrs Krueger and her two sons are DRIVING a Toyota Corolla all the way to Salt Lake City!!! Meanwhile, I will be here hoping to make some real technical progress and do some new training to try to keep pace with them while they train with the National Team.
  I talked to a higher-up in Usspeedskating and confirmed that I have a sweet package of equipment coming my way, all Under-Armour clothing and paraphernalia as they are our new material sponsor.
  While waiting for practice thursday night in Cleveland,  submitted my final lesson of the American Government course and when I got back last night it was another A. All except my first submission have been A's (that was an A- as I didn't know I was allowed to refer to the textbook for answers - haha). Now I have to study for the final. Same for my other course, Lit. of the Future.

After a quick drive home from Cleveland, I am home in Pittsburgh again, reminiscing about all the valuable lessons I learned this weekend, what the training in Pittsburgh has done for me and could do more of after exactly a year of training here, and looking fervently ahead to the next couple days, weeks, and months. Although the overall results will not show it whatsoever, I skated fast while turning left at Am. Cup II. I surprised myself again, just like at AM. Cup I. I was killed by penalties and so my points tally followed suit. I don't even know what I finished overall. I skated great in the 1000meters and 1500meters. My endurance and strength is very good in comparison with the other athletes, however my 500m. is abominable. I am not a sprinter. That much I cemented this weekend, and I have to improve this part of my skating from many different angles. I have plans and schemes galore and I will talk to Coach K on Tuesday when we start training again. I also was crushed by lack of good judgement on a few passes, that I didn't need to make in hindsight, which lead to penalties. This will improve with experience and cataloging these mistakes in my mind in future races. "Gotta choose your battles". My dad said this. It was so nice to see paps and I'm really happy he came. We had some great times together like always. So thankful I have a great relationship with my parents.
  I don't know if its something I ate, or the lack of racing today because of a penalty, but I am extremely built up and inspired to train and try new things in the coming months leading up to Senior Trials and Junior Trials. Hopefully I can keep that feeling floating around my being and actually produce some tangible success in the result sheets come January. More coming tomorrow, including some good news!

Hey all, everybody - all you bloggers. Thanks for having patience. Times have been rough lately. Training is the same. John-Henry has been in Salt Lake City training and winning B finals on the World Cup circuit!! If you want to, check out his amazing highlights here: http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html  and mrs Krueger has been gone a lot.

I am in Cleveland now for Am. Cup II and am enjoying the Embassy Suites Hotel immensely. Gonna see paps today! Very excited for this race. There are some new rules. Qualification for rounds is based on time more than placement, which is very interesting. Updates should be possible though there is no free wifi in the hotel.

Sunday October 16th, 2011

Back in Pittsburgh not much has changed except there are a lot more leaves on the ground and it is colder. I miss home already but I've learned that this actually subsides as time goes on up to an extent, before it starts being too long. Home was, well home. What can I say? I love it in the Ridge. Waking up early was definitely a plus as the days seemed much longer and more productive. I actually did some really great workouts that I hope to include into the training here. I took care of some issues, spent quality time with Ma n Pa, and the cat Peppito of course, had a blast driving myself places and running errands, and generally had a great stay I think because it was so last minute and unexpected, it was more enjoyable because it was almost a bonus. Friday night with my friends was just awesome. Had such an amazing time. It was one big blend of fun and silliness until I forced myself to go home and get some sleep before my eight hour bus ride. As bad as that sounds, it was actually better than a plane ride in some ways. There were much less annoyances and inconveniences. The seats were much more comfortable and I had a free seat next to me the whole time. I brought a ton of great food and beverages so that when we took a half hour stop at Subway half way to PA State College, I didn't even need anything and I didn't even eat dinner. Thanks so much mom. This morning I did a workout and felt the affects of the ride, but hopefully I loosened up my muscles for tomorrow. Time to train to be extraordinary! That's the new motto. Do something extraordinary. I have two weeks until Am. Cup II where I have an excellent shot to finish in the top ten as it is not a world team qualifier and the world team will not be there. (  ;) Dad).

Hello all. I am back in the Ridge since coach K is on his Honey Moon!! I went to his wedding in Washington D.C. and then took the Mega Bus home from there. If you don't know about Mega Bus, you can actually book rides at like 4 dollars if far enough in advance. Mine was very last minute so it was far more expensive (still less than $20 from D.C. to NYC) but there's free wifi and outlets.Its a double decker bus and the ride was just over four hours. Prety cool. Back to Pittsburgh'll be a long ride, but it sure saves a lot. Anyway, I'm still working out and doing some things I needed to do and going back Sat. Here's a link to some great photos from St. Louis.  These pictures were taken by Allison Mittelstadt, a skater mom trying to stay warm. Thank you!

Whatttup everybody!

  My computer's internet conveniently broke as soon as I got to St Louis so I could not up-date the blow by blow. So frustrating, I know! America's Cup I was an overall success, I would say. We arrived Wednesday night and switched hotels as the original was unacceptably dirty according to Mrs Krueger. We ended up in a Resident's Inn that was very nice. It had a "condo at the beach feel" though we were in Middle America. We practiced Thursday and Friday and Friday morning were able to go into Downtown ST. Louis to see the Arch. St. Louis is really cool. We all liked it a lot. At least compared to some of the other zombie towns that competitions are held in, it was alive and urban and interesting with too much to see and do in the short amount of time we had. I was actually sad to leave.

  But on to the racing. The first day was the best for me. I was in 12th overall by the end of the 1500m and 500m, actually placing 12th in both. My first race, the 1500m heat I ended up leading the whole thing from start to finish! That was real exciting for me. In my 500m heat I had 4th position on the line and finished in 2nd, qualifying for the quarterfinal after an outside pass. That felt sweet. I was really very happy with my position after day one. Top 12 in this race is better than I would have expected. With all the top guys in this race because it is a World Cup qualifier, I could not possibly hope for the 8th pace finish of last year's Am. Cup Final. The second day I failed to advance out of my 1000m heat, a real disappointment. I really thought I would, going in and knowing who was in my race, but I got caught in the back in a fast race and couldn't make up the gap in the end. J.R Celski was in that race. He's back and in full glory. He won every single race he was in easily and is going to the World Cups with a shot to medal after more than a year out of the sport. Amazing. Whats really amazing is that my teammate, brother, training partner, 16-year-old John-Henry Krueger finished 5th overall and was chosen by the National Team coach to be a back-up ON THE WORLD CUP TEAM!!!!! Simply amazing. He skated so well, so hard and consistent enough to be in great position to capitalize on some injuries to other former World Team members and is leaving tomorrow morning to train in Salt Lake City for World Cup One, which happens to take place there at the end of the month. It will be extremely weird training without him. Cole and I will have to work together to get to where J.H. is. Cole finished 12th overall and I finished 14th. But most importantly, I was top four Juniors and if I can get that result at Junior Trials in January then I am going to Junior Worlds in Melbourne Australia, baby!!! I need to get more explosive, as my top speed is not good enough right now. My endurance and track skating is much better than ever, but I need to weight-lift and improve my foot speed for increased power and quick-twitch.
  Hopefully I will come up with some videos of the action and post it here eventually.

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.