Busy week......

Lots to talk about this week.......let's see.....I attended a church with my coach James and Cindy Klassen and I had an amazing experience. First of all, the church was huge and was state of the art with video, 3 huge screens, and acoustically sound. There was a band to open the sermon and they were rockin the Words of Christ......ballads and rock and people were singing along as the words were on the screens, people clapping, people raising there hands to the heavens.........just a joyous time.....and this was a Sunday evening mass.......then an inter-active sermon was given but it was more like a teaching of one passage of the Bible......to help people better understand the Word.

I was truly impressed by how many young people were in attendance and how full the church was and how casual everyone was............all there for the same reason........to have the Lord in their hearts. It was definately an experience for me coming from a Greek Orthodox church.........interesting.

Chinook, its back this week......some may think this is a type of salmon....true, but in Calgary, it is an unusual warm weather system that comes with a drop in barometric pressure (see cloud formation pics).........which is good, and bad.

Bad cause it causes nail pounding headaches........good cause it makes skating faster, as the air is thinner, and I get to enjoy 20 degree weather at the end of October. I took advantage of this weather to hammer out a few hundred push ups and sit ups outside and read a few books too (see pics).

The Dinos hockey played a couple of games this weekend too and we won one and lost one.....first loss of the season as we are now 5-1.....we deserved the loss as we didn't play well at all.

As for my races this weekend......this was an official sanctionned race, the Invitational, and on Friday I raced the 500m which I PBd once again but only by 1/100th of a sec so it doesn't really count and the 1,500m which I wanted so badly to PB again but I ended up getting almost the exact same time as my PB last week but 3/100ths off but I do take solace in the fact that I felt I was very sloppy, skiddy, not very low....and here's the kicker, I had to break stride and stand on the last backstretch , just before the final turn, to let the other guy from the outer lane into my lane on the switch cause outer lane has right of way and I was only a stride or two in front of him so too tight for me to cut in cause I could have gotten DQd....needeless to say....no more speed so taking all that in consideration.......I know I should have PBd by a good margin.....oh well....thems are the breaks and that's the nature of sport.....you never know what will happen!!

On Saturday I raced the 1,000m which I still needed to PB this season and, well, I finally did and in crushing fashion.....almost three full seconds.....good thing cause I was disappointed after week 5 when I raced it......

And finally, today, Sunday, I raced my first 5,000m of the season and it went....okay......I PBd but did not get the time I really wanted but as they say....a PB is a PB..

Looking forward to spending some time back home this week with my girls.....a welcomed break with some familiarity.....when I get back to Calgary, phase 2 of my training will kick in right up until Christmas.......should be interesting!!

Peace for now.

New week....new highs.....

Sorry folks but having some technical difficulties with my camera hence no pics for now.

Well another week of training has gone by and concluded with two more races....the 500m again and a 3,000m in prep for future 5,000m races. I am really stoked to say that I PBd both of them again.....I knocked another 2/10 tenths off my 500m and over 19 secs on the 3,000m.

The story behind the 3,000m, which is not an official men's distance, is that I raced it once before at the end of last season but I was extremely sick and had double vision while skating so I didn't really perform to my abilities so before this race, and like all races, the registartion form asks what your PB is in every distance so the race manager can match you with someone comparable,.....well I wrote a time of 15 secs faster than what I actually got cause that's what I feel I could have gotten if I wasn't sick.....if you are still following me.....so in my mind, I actually PBd by 4 secs but technically, it was over 19 secs......and the time would have been at least another 5 or 6 secs faster but I was so tired (will tell you soon) that I forgot to switch lanes on the backstretch on the 3rd lap and ended up skating on the outside lane, which is longer, for almost an extra lap.....sheesh....but all in all, I am very happy.

But let's not be fooled here.......4 PBs this month.....as much as I am stoked about it, I would not have accepted anything less as I have been training over two months and had to show some improvement right? So I take these PBs as I am heading in the right direction, but, in all reality, the game starts now.......now I have to build off of these PBs so this is where the hard work begins and I am curious to see how I handle things in the next two months. My first sanctioned race is next weekend....Fri, Sat, and Sun......should be interesting.

The Dinos hockey team won both their games this weekend also....one in Edmonton on Friday night and then one at home on Saturday night against Edmonton. That is why I was so tired on Saturday.....3 hours to Edmonton, 3 hours game time and prep, and another 3 hours home.....needless to say, my head hit the pillow at about 230am and I was up at 0715 for race day. I knew I would be tired but chose to race anyways just to see how I would handle it so I would know for the future if it is do-able or not.....I wouldn't make it a habit but at least I know that the adrenaline can make up for a bit of fatigue.....and a splitting headache....let me tell you about that....

Chinook....warm winds that make fall and winter feel like early Spring days....real nice but not nice on the Coco. We had the Chinook pass through here this week and while training on the ice on Thursday, after 2 laps I got a splitting headache just over my left eye and left side of the head....I thought I was having a stroke. I rarely get headaches and never had a migraine before. On Friday, same thing on the ice....2 laps...as soon as the blood flow started.....nails were being driven into my left eye socket!! While recounting this story to someone before getting on the bus to Edmonton, I was told that the Chinook causes such a drop in barometric pressure that it actually affects some people by way of migraine headaches....well I'll be!!! Now, add migraine to fatigue and mix a race or two in there and it almost spells a recipe for disaster but things worked out for me and now it's Sunday.....a day of rest....phew...although I hear we will have another Chinook this week....not looking forward to that since it is race weekend.....

Well, looking forward to another productive week.....I will try my hand at the 5,000m race on Sunday, after all the sprint races, but the story is similar to the 3,000m race....let's see what I can pull off.....till then folks.....btw, hi Tina and the gang, thanks for your support.....

Peace.

Good week......

Well, this whole week was very decent and I capped it off on Saturday with two races.......I PB'd both of them!!

The 500m I only beat by 3/10 tenths but I know I could do better and I know where I have to improve. The 1,500m I crushed by over 4 seconds and I was really pleased with that one as I felt strong all the way through that race.......so after week 7........results are starting to show the progress.

I really don't think the 500m is for me but I haven't given up on it yet......

During the on ice training this week also I was very pleased with my progress and nailed a few programs that I had my doubts about.........really, this whole week was very motivating.

The Dinos played their first season opener in Red Deer this week too and just played superb.........we won that game and our home opener Saturday night so that season has taken off in the right direction too.

I always tell the girls that once we see how well they can do, it is simply unacceptable to see anything less........the same goes for me with my races........my words echoed in my ears after my PBs......heh heh.

The boys threw a party on Saturday night and it was an Olympic theme so I lent Steve my old speedsuit.....see pic with his buddy Hudson on guitar.......too funny.......it was a good, late night.......thanks for Sunday.......

Steve and I also fired up our new fire pit during the week and enjoyed the full moon.......

Well, gotta catch some afternoon zzzz's.....pretty tired for some reason....heh heh.

Peace

Weird week.....

Well, this was a very weird, strange week for me......I mean on the ice everything was okay, off the ice........it just felt that I was not moving in my normal rhythm........physically, mentally, almost like I was in the clouds somewhere........I was just not myself.
Oh well, the only thing I can think of is that my body is finally catching up to my activities and routine or, I'm coming down with something.......better not be!!

My lace bite is still lingering but much better as I put a piece of padded gel and that worked wonders.......maybe next week I will try lacing up normally without the gel. On the other hand, I tweaked my right knee while reffing a friendly scrimmage between our U of C girls and the Extreme team girls. I didn't even know I did it until we were done but it's nothing that will keep me out.

On Saturday, I hooked up with my Danish friend Anas, see pic, who is trying to qualify in the 5,000m for Denmark and we hammered out 3 sets of 15 laps with 10 minute breaks in between.........a 5,000m is 12 1/2 laps........it was tough as we held a very decent pace but we got it done.

Speaking of which, after this month, I really have to decide what distance I will specialize in.......sprints or longer distances. Starting next weekend, I will be racing quite often............ weekend races and sanctioned races with maybe even a couple of trips to Richmond in the New year to test out the new Oval. I will be racing almost every weekend till Christmas and various distances. I set up my racing schedule this past week.....

The Dinos open the season this Thursday in Red Deer..........road trip already.......

I bought a small fire pit, see pic, for the yard here and I think we'll baptize it next week as Tuesday is the Full Moon.......gotta bring a little home with me here.

And not sure if y'all know but if you click on the pics, they get enlarged......

Okay, till next week and Happy Thanksgiving to all. We should always check ourselves, daily, look around, and truly understand how fortunate we really are, so we all have lots to be thankful for........except for that golden brown turkey lying on its back on your table.....heh heh

Peace.

Ahhhh.....time to relax....

Finally, a well deserved break this week and I had a chance to go back home...........a perfect time as I started to develop a small but debilitating injury called 'lace-bite' right on the flection of my left ankle........yea, believe it or not, it can make a grown man cry.........seriously, this seemingly nothing injury can put you out for a while so these past 4 days spent at home doing nothing hopefully helped........I'll find out for sure on Monday.

So......I say I did nothing, but nothing includes, cleaning the windows, prepping the garden, winterizing the house, putting away all outside furniture, prepping the lawn mower for hibernation, hauling firewood, selling lawn bags door to door for my daughter's hockey team, meet the teacher evening at her school too, etc........ahh, yes, relaxing.........

Of course, my daughter helped out every step of the way.........even my wife held the ladder a few times while I was cleaning windows but I could have sworn that I felt it move from time to time...........we just recently got life insurance......hmmmm.....??

Although the break was great, and it was awesome to see my girls, especially since it was our 12th wedding anniversary, it was time I got back to my reality.....

I feel that October will be a very productive month after setting a solid training base in September. I am looking towards pushing new limits during this month and really applying all technical aspects correctly while at high speed.

With the Dinos, we have one more pre-season game and then the real season begins........it looks like it is shaping up to be a great and interesting one.

So for now, good-bye home cooked meals...........until next month.........and to all that have continued to donate financially, thank you for your generosity........I can rest easy for at least two more months.

In the pics, my daughter helping me wrap our young trees.

My daughter at her hockey practice.

Me, cleaning windows and telling my wife......."I felt that......"

My daughter trying to clean a window also.......brave girl........

My favorite activity.........brushing my daughter's hair after bath time........