Senior Championships day two recap:

Racing started at around 11:30, a very civilized time which was nice. Usually on Sundays of competitions it starts at 8am and I'm skating with my eyes closed so that was nice. I skated a good 1000meter heat and advanced to the final, taking the one and only qualifying position in my 4 man heat with an outside pass with a lap to go. I was skating very well in the final and was in perfect position sitting in second place with about three and a half to go when I heard a skirmish behind me. I didn't think much of it but the next time we came around the turn, the gun went off signaling the immediate stop of the race. Landon was in the middle of the track bleeding. He had been cut in the skirmish when another guy caught an edge which propelled his skate up and cut Landon in the leg and chest. He was escorted off the ice and to a hospital. When we re-started the race, I was feeling very strong and knew I wanted to be in the lead with 4 to go. I made a pass around that mark and just sprinted. I crossed the line and finally had reason to be happy with my first place finish. I went on to win the 3000m super final as well, which was a grueling 27lap marathon. I also claimed the extra 150bonus points after the first 9 laps which helped me win group B overall even with all that silly falling I did.
  So happy I went to this competition. I am feeling very good about my skating and about the future of this season. I am back home for Christmas and then Sunday I leave for Pittsburgh again to train until Junior Trials.

Senior Championships day one recap 12/18/2010

What a day! I woke up feeling lousy and weak and was not very into anything. I tried everything in the books from relaxing as much as possible to eating super well, drinking hot tea, taking the right vitamins, trying to pump myself up with a walk around the block in the cold, but I still felt weak and heavy. We started very late today. my warm-up wasn't until 3:40pm (5:40pm eastern time) and even during warm-up, I felt okay, but not terrific. My first race,the 1500, I definitely had the harder of the two heats but I skated a good race and advanced easily to the final taking the 3rd and last qualifying position. The final was crazy! I had a situation only a handful of laps into the 13 1/2 lap race: My coach (Coach K) told me to start building it up as I was sitting near the back of the pack. The one guy behind me had started to build it up already though I didn't know it and as I went outside to gain extra speed, I went right in front of him and he crashed into the back of me. Somehow he went down but I didn't. I managed to survive the contact but it sent me careening wide. So I had to catch up. I did and I passed everybody except the two at the front battling it out. I stayed on them for a lap or two and then with one lap to go, I attempted an all or nothing inside pass. I had so much speed coming out that I blew by the first guy and trying to avoid running into the back of the guy in the lead, I veered to the outside to set up the last corner but   aaaaahhh, I clipped his skate and lost control! So the last corner I went down and the whole pack passed me. I am super happy to be skating well again though and I have had so many people come up to me and say how happy they are to see me skating well again. The 500s were good as well. I skated a personal best of 43.9 in the first heat, and again in the final, i was skating great and had the momentum to make the winning pass but fell again hard into the great pads. I really am giving the break-away pads a good testing. I am encouraged tremendously with how I am skating as I am staying with guys that crushed me earlier this  year. Can't wait to race tomorrow and then to get training again harder than ever.

  More coming tomorrow but i have to sleep now. I'm exhausted.

Saturday December 18th

I only skated one race yesterday but it was hard enough to make me sore this morning. Here are the official results from the 1000meter time trial : http://www.usspeedskating.org/pdf/results/129262120123002_Mens1000TimeTrial.pdf  This meet is being web cast on a live feed thanks to Tony Chung. Go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/shorttrackhd . Tony is doing Usspeedskating such a service by finally providing the world with a way to see the best in the U.S. compete when there is otherwise hardly any advertising for this crazy sport.
  This rink we are racing on is the same surface that the 2002 Olympics were held on. So cool to think of the memories and drama from the Olympics which were happening right on the ice I am skating on. Another sweet feature to the rink is that the pads are built in. There are no boards like on any regular hockey rink. So when these guys fall going 30 miles an hour, there's a soft trampoline to catch you instead of a slightly softened wall. i tested it out one practice ( I'd like to say it was on purpose, but sadly it wasn't) and it was so cool feeling. I hardly felt anything.

Friday December 17th

I am in Salt Lake City. We (the Kruegers, Mitch, and I) arrived last Saturday. We arrived that early in order to adjust to the high altitude and get used to the very different Utah ice, famous among speed skaters for being super fast. Beginning Monday, we skated for the first time with the second team that trains here other than the National team. We were indeed impressed with the ice but we also felt the altitude affecting us. Normal sets which should have been a breeze left my lungs burning and my head swirling. Later in the week, the beginning of the day would go well but then I got a headache.

  The scenery is awe-inspiring. Surrounding us is a rim of mountains and we are in a "bowl" of stucco houses which are all pretty much identical. It is eerie. The other night we returned home from a sweet drive up the mountains just for kicks and when we got home, I jumped out of the car, ran up to the door only to realize with a pang that it was not the house we are staying in. I went next door and had my hand on the door knob before I realized that again, this was not our house! This just proves how similar all the houses are. We had been staying in the house 5 days already and we could hardly make out which house was ours. The ride up the mountain was truly incredible. The peaks are jagged and steep like the cartoon peaks where its too sharp on your foot to stand on the tip. It was dark by the time we got up so we'll return Sunday after racing ends.

  So! To the racing today! We had time trials only. The deal was, every one skated a 1000meter time trial (9 laps) and then the top 16 compete throughout the weekend for: a) the national senior title. b) the top 6 overall go to the next set of world cups. 24 men were invited plus two skate-ins. Skate-ins are guys who are not ranked in the top 24 but are fairly sure they can make the top 16 and are allowed to skate the 1000meter time trial. I was ranked 24th. I skated a time of 1:30. 3 when my previous personal best was 1:31.8. I am satisfied. I did not make the top 16, but I definitely was not 26th fastest time. I don't have the exact results but I was around 19th. So I will compete against the other athletes who did not make the top 16.

Friday, December 10th. 2010

Hey all, I am so busy all the time and there isn't much to report on other than that I am working hard and working hard and working hard...  One exciting thing happened the other morning: We were skating in the paceline going about 50% (luckily not more) when the lights all just completely went out. Since it was still dark out at 6:30, there was absolutely no light coming from anywhere and it was literall pitch black for 5 seconds before the emergency lights came into effect. Everybody yelled out, each individual doing something dramatic of his own. John-Henry apparently skated through the turn then decided to stop short. Mitch veered into the middle and stopped short. I myself slowly came to a halt and braced myself for whatever masses of confusion could hit me from behind. It really did spice practice up a bit.

  So I am packed for Salt Lake City. The Kruegers and I are leaving tomorrow for Senior Championships. I wasn't sure if I was going until a couple weeks ago, but I was invited as I was ranked inside the top 24. I am excited. Salt Lake is of course the site of the 2002 olympic games and has some of the fastest ice in the world due to the high altitude. We will get in tomorrow, take a day to settle in, and then train in the oval to get accustomed to the unique ice and conditions. Should be fun. I have to make the top 16 in the 9 lap time trial to compete in group 1 and if not, I will compete against only the skaters who do not make the top 16 cut off.

Next stage. Big Changes. December 2nd, 2010

Well I was not exagerating when I said there would be big changes. I am in Pittsburgh. I am training here probably through the Junior Trials which begin January 21st. Yes, that means being away from home during the hollidays. :( It will go by so quickly though.
  I started training yesterday. It is going to be very good. already, coach K has fixed my left skate problem, which had taken the place of my right skate problem. They both seem to be quelled for the time being (knock on wood).
  Every day of the week I will wake up at 4:20 to eat breakfast or post midnight snacks, and then drive to the rink. I am of course staying in the house of the Kruegers who are awesome! Just awesome. The ice starts at 6 and by the time we get off the ice its still dark out! Ha! Its crazy. My inner clock is going wild. He'll adjust though.
  Goodnight.

Monday November 8th

Well, I am back here in New York. I am so happy to be home. I feel like I'm floating in a puffy soft cloud I am so comfortable. I would love to say that the race was a huge success and I am on my way to a great season but that is just not true. I have some serious changes in store. It was a mess of okay skating, equipment problems, mental issues, injury issues and it was generally challenging to stomach. It was better than last Am Cup. at least. I finished 18th out of 24 overall, which to me is remarkable considering how it felt overall. I don't feel good writing about it, but I just thought I should let any followers know how it went.

Friday November 6th

Tis the eve of the race. It is cold and rainy here in Cleveland, Ohio. Well actually it is more snowy than rainy. Call it a wintry mix and I love it. The trees are orange and red and brown and my hands get cold and stiff if I stay outside too long. Feels like it should November 5th.
  I have had a busy bunch of days preparing so I apologize for failing to post in so long. Wednesday night I only got 41/2 hours of sleep because I went to practice that night so I couldn't have all my bags packed when I got back and I had to eat something. By the time I got to sleep it was 11 and I had to wake up at 3:30 for the flight here. I am so disoriented. I went through a porthole it feels like from clear deep blue skies and 85-90s to cold, hailing Cleveland. Thursday was a lost day. I was so wired I hardly was myself plus the fact that the clock moved forward 3 hours from L.A. to here so I traveled super early but by the time I was settled into the room it was practically time for dinner. I have been in a room at the Regency Hotel all by my self since then. It is a really nice room as far as my standards for regular hotels go and overall, I have been impressed. The only flaw so far was the magically emptying bathtub. No matter what I did, it kept emptying even though I stopped the drain and could not feel anywhere where there was a downward current! My bath in Epsom Salts and stretching was the latest thing I've done today, and before, I went to the rink this morning for practice Ice and went to eat and pick up groceries at Wal Mart with Jean and Kyle. With the World Cup team not present, Kyle has a great shot to win the overall competition here this weekend. I'm just trying to improve on last Am. Cup. It should be great and there is actually a live stream in HD, I believe ... here:  http://www.shorttrackhd.com/menu.html  I am pretty sure the live stream is happening tomorrow if you click on the link some ways down that page. I will find out for sure soon and get back to you. Of course, if you miss it or can't watch, my dad is here this time! So he will be recording all the races. You just won't get those live. He should be here any minute from the airport actually. We're gunna go check in for the race and then eat.
  I'll try to confirm on the live video soon.

Monday November 1st

I got good sleeps Saturday night and Sunday night and I woke up ready to work this morning. It was a good thing because the workout was tough and I led most of it. We did the warm up relay, then finished three out of four sets of 20 laps technical - no lap times - followed by 10 laps between 10.5 and 11.0 followed by a 3 lap accel. I was around 10.1 for a lot of the 3rd 10 lapper. I am working so hard on the technique still. 4 things have to come together for me: I have to steer into the turn more with my right, then after the right push I have to cross big with the right. I understood completely what Wil has been saying over and over about transferring weight more today and that helped me comprehend the term "shifting" she always says. So four things in recap:
 - Steer into the turn on the right,
 - Cross bigger with the right,
  - Transfer the weight from leg to leg so longer pushes,
  - Shift the hips more.
  Of course I always have to "tuck" more, which basically means rounding my back but the result is that my hips stay "under my body".
  Imagine going 25 mph on thin blades around hairpin turns on ice thinking about all this and more. It is not easy. But I am better than a lot of people in the country, I have a shot to be great, the whole process is making me a better, stronger individual, I enjoy it a lot when I'm doing well and I am learning how to feed myself, eat, sleep and prepare right so that I can do it well. Why complain?


  Yesterday afternoon was very  pleasant with Gary. We went to Venice Beach, had a great meal looking right out on the beach with lapping waves and clear blue skies. Then we walked to a different part of the beach, the main part and rested in the sun for a good hour. It was too bizarre, first of all to be with Gary in the nice parts of the West Coast when we are always together in the East, but moreover to be in a place that was hot enough to take off my shirt, with palm trees, summer blue skies, and huge white beaches while back home it must be chilly and full of autumn colors. Hard to believe I'll be in that place soon.