Ahhhh....just what the body ordered!!

End of February already and I took full advantage of the Hot Springs in Banff before coming home for the last time for a few days. This last trip home is mainly to relax my back, see my girls, and bring back some luggage instead of packing the car tight on the drive home.

The Hot Springs are amazing....natural springs from the mountain that are as hot as a hot tub which contain all the natural elements of untreated spring water. I was really counting on those elements to have some kind of natural healing powers for my back spasms that I can't shake....not sure that really worked but it sure did put me in a good spiritual place....look at those beautiful mountains in the background...the water was at 39 degrees. Nevertheless, these 5 days off should help me before I head into the last stretch of hard skating and finishing off the hockey season in style.

The next time home will be when all is said and done......I know I can nail these times easily......I just have to skate in a more relaxed state and I have to simply trust the technique to carry me forward. A lot of times, it feels that you are not skating fast but the technique is bang on and if you don't stay disciplined and trust it, you start trying and move your feet faster to go faster but all that does is make you scrambly and the technique goes out the window and you actually get slower.......I just have to trust it and it is a difficult thing to do. Otherwise, I know I can do seconds better than what I am doing now but I have to overcome this hurdle....then I can laugh at the times I have now.....

I have been working more on speed work lately so I can prove to myself that this works. It also gives me more turns to practice with at higher speeds....how to set up the turn, how to exit the turn, how many strides it takes me in the straightaways, and more importantly, when I am getting tired, to stay down in my position instead of coming up which kills the 'full' stride. So far, it has been working and this is what drives me to the conclusion that I can do so much better......I just hope I have enough time for perfection.

I also got a chance to see my parents on this trip who drove down from Montreal and stayed over a couple of days. It reinforced my motivation once again why I am doing all of this and I remembered telling my parents after my skeleton attempt in 2006.....their only part of the deal was to stay alive to see this through....so far, they are good on their part.

In fact, this whole journey has taken on so many new meanings for me now...but that is for another post.

Actually, I am really excited to attack this month of March full of positive energy and spiritual strength.....I am leaving it all on the ice this next month...if there is one thing I learned in life.....it is to do everything to your best ability, with no regrets, cause you never know if you will have a second chance.

Peace.

Can you say MISSISSIPPI??

Go ahead, say it...mississippi.....that's one full second in time.....for me,that is not even one stride on the ice. I am literally a mississippi missis...away from the 1,000m qualification time....1.5 seconds away...very close.

I raced the North American Championship race this past weekend and managed to only PB my 1,500m distance. The other distances were the same as my past PBs....well it shows that I am consistent but does it mean that I have peaked?? I don't think so cause I know I made some technical mistakes during each and every race.

This portion of the journey is almost over and I can't believe we are already in February. On the one hand I am tired, injured, fed up, frustrated and on the other hand, I feel that I am just now maturing in this sport and really figuring out the technical aspects of it....the strength and power is there.....it's being efficient with that in transferring it to the ice....it's what all speed skaters strive to achieve.

I managed to sneak home for a couple of days this week after the races and that was a good time to get away from it all, relax, and see my family. When I am home, I don't even leave the house except to play with my daughter out back in the snow.....or climb up the side of the house to snap icicles...heh heh.

The Dinos hockey team have 2 games left in the season before playoffs. We are 17-3 on the season and should wrap up 1st place this week which would give us a bye for the first round of the playoffs....geez this team has great coaches..heh heh.

Anyways, back at it now for a good technical skating month with maybe some weekend races, until the last race, the ING Finale in March, which also marks the end of the speed skating season....talk about crunch time!!

Peace.

Canada Cup #2.......a bust!!

Wow, that's all I can say about Richmond.....wow!! Now most of you are thinking 'wow' in a good sense but I mean it in an unbelievable, discouraging sense.....

Although the new Oval's 'roof' is simply spectacular, I and many others were not very impressed with everything else.

Let's just start off with my racing experience.....it was brutal.....although I was forewarned about being at sea level, the air being thicker and the ice slower......I was still going there to bust my ass and advance my goals but I was hugely disappointed and discouraged.......I tried to skate as fast as I could but was only able to post times like it was my first time skating.......just terrible!!.....but these conditions affected all in the same manner.

The ice was also not prepped as usual and the inner warm up lane was full of sand and dirt and they just wouldn't clean that lane with the zamboni. They would let a lot of pairs skate without flooding the ice so if you were a late pair, good luck in skating on that ice......just not professional at all.

Also, it seemed that we weren't really welcomed there, I mean this was 2 competitions in 1.......the Canada Cup and the Canadian Junior Championships. They didn't let us use the stationary bikes for warm ups or cool downs which is crucial to a speed skater to eliminate lactic acid. They wanted to charge us $13 a day to use the gym facilities which are right there in the open over looking the ice so many coaches sent their skaters to a nearby gym where it cost less than that. There were no matted or carpeted areas for stretching so we all had to stretch on hard wood floors or cement......needless to say, that Oval has big shoes to fill if they want to represent a successful Canadian Olympiad.

The most positive thing about the trip was that my wife and daughter were with me. I truly wanted to show them the fruits of my labour.............. why I left them for the past 5 months, what I have been working so hard for.......so you can imagine the turmoil I was experiencing when my performance was so far under par......to no fault of my own......well, I'll always divvy up some blame but you know what I mean.

Overall, it was not an pleasant experience but I have the North American Championships to look forward to this upcoming weekend here in Calgary so I have to buckle down and switch things around in the other direction.

In the pics you see my wife and daughter in front of the Oval's Olympic rings. A pic from the inside with the roof in the background. Another pic with me at the start of the 500m.....and of course, a well deserved break for my daughter.....adjusting to the time difference....heh heh.

Until next week's adventure.....

Peace.