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.