What it's like to be a "Speed Skating Spectator"

END OF 2011 INDOOR NAT'L SPEED CHAMPIONSHIPS

2011-07-23T21:42:00.000-07:00


THIS YOUNG SKATER TAKES TO THE FLOOR ON HER QUADS FOR HER OFFICIAL WARM-UP

Well it is a bit after midnight here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We stayed for half of Quad Nationals and had a great time. Josh stayed to ref the remainder of Nationals and just called us at 12:13AM Sunday morning, letting us know that 2011 Nationals were officially over. As I type this, it has been thundering and lightening for the last hour and a half. On top of that, it just started raining HUGE rain drops that sound like hail but really aren't. Something us Californians are not used to!

This morning the Novice Inline Speed Skaters finished up their 3 separate distance finals, as the Quad skaters prepared for a long day ahead of them. I was actually surprised at how many "Inliners" stuck around to watch Quads. One Quad skater stands out in my mind. Not for how fast he was, or for some spectacular fall or an even better "save" that he might have done, but for what he "shouldn't have been able to do". Look for an upcoming story on 17-yr old KYLE CRANE (pictured bottom left with Assistant Coach Steve) watching the races. Kyle's reason for skating is no different than any other speed skater. He skates because he loves going fast. However his arrival and his outcome is just a bit different than the other skaters.

Fort Wayne... we are truly going to miss you. Not the heat, not the humidity, NOT YOUR SCARY THUNDERSTORMS... but your people! We will be back in a heartbeat if you'll have us!

End of Standard Division & Relays

2011-07-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

THE T-SHIRT LOGO FOR THE 2011 INDOOR INLINE SPEED SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Today was the last day of the Standard Relays. The 4-person finals are finishing up as I type this back in my hotel room. Pete is at the arena filming the 4-person finals while I finish up laundry from the last 10 days.

I finally went down to the vendors area and grabbed a few photos. It was great. They had a few tables set up in this area with crayons, crafts and few other items to keep some of the kids busy when they weren't out on the floor skating. A few records were broken today, together with some incredible skating. However, intensity, speed and power are the reason many were celebrating, however just as many came away disappointed that they didn't attain the goals or the gold they had hoped for. All-in-all, it was a successful IDN.

For our team, we had several personal bests. 6 Gold Medals, 2 Silvers and 5 Bronze medals. Congratulations to Kevin Boyer, Troy Attwell, Kim Eger, Tanya Welch, Josh Wood, Kyle VanHunnik and Wesley Apgar, for a job well done. Tomorrow starts all Novice Division races! For those of you interested in watching, here is Troy & Josh skating their Classic 2-Man Final.

Be sure to stop by the "GROCERY" store in the Arena....

2011-07-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

That is what the staff at the Allen War Memorial Arena call the "store" located down the side isle in our venue. They said it resembled a "Quickie Mart" or "7-11". Honestly, it is much cleaner and less expensive than either of those two markets, however you won't find bags of "ice" or baby food here.

You will find other types of food that even the athletes can eat. The prices for sandwiches run $5.00-$6.00. And after the turkey sandwich on rye with cheese, you have a choice of cheesecake, chocolate cake or a slice of lemon cake for $2.00!!! If you are still hungry and in the mood for a fruit salad, they are only $3.00. I included a few photos of the store itself and some of the products. You won't go broke eating here and the food has been very good for pre-made food. The only items that I thought were a bit high in price were the energy drinks, at $4.00-$5.00 a piece. Other than that, it is pretty reasonable. They also have a regular snack bar with nachos, pretzels and of course hot dogs and much more. And those of you who like ice cream... the large waffle cones are to die for (probably will, but I will go happy and full!) and they even have "Dip-N-Dots" that usually has a line in front of it that appears to move quickly. Plenty of room to sit and eat too (round tables that seat 8 comfortably).

EACH TABLE SEATS 8 COMFORTABLY

Neat and clean...

WHERE'S WALDO ?????

2011-07-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

Being down in the "READY AREA" with all of the Tiny Tot (5 & Under), Primary (6-7), and Juvenile (8-9) boys and girls, all at one time, was quite the challenge!! As you can see in these few photos, it was very hard to find your skater Waldo. This year we had our first "Quarter Finals" in the Juvenile boys division in many years!! It was great to see so many young skaters up and coming!

Some great racing tonight by all of the age groups. The Grand Veteran Men and the Esquire Men heats had to be one of my favorites... we saw more changes going on than a dollar bill machine in a penny-arcade! For the normal folks... that meant LOTS of passing back and forth for guys 45 and up!!!

Below, left side, trying to control the "masses" before their official warm-up was something else, while the Auburn, Washington girls made great use of their "waiting" by starting a "Scratching Train". But it's always the person in the back that looses out.... And for those of you that had hoped you would get to stop by the store on the way back to the room and pick up a 6-pack of your favorite beer.... you were sadly disappointed with the sign that said, "INDIANA STATE LAW PROHIBITS THE SALE OF ANY ALCOHOL TODAY"...... Yep... it's a "dry state" on Sundays. Better plan ahead next time. (Before the word change in this last sentence, you would have thought I had already had a few!)

Bermuda 'FORT WAYNE" Triangle ??? - Say what?

2011-07-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

OK folks... it's as if the "Bermuda Triangle" has moved to Indiana! If you are using a GPS here in Fort Wayne and it tells you, "to get from Point A to Point B, take this route"..... and then it takes you a different route later that same afternoon, even though you still want to get from Point A to Point B.... DON'T BE SURPRISED!!

It's not you. Really. And... it's not your GPS. Really. There is some other "force" that is working against you and your GPS. Really.

At first I thought I did something wrong. I happened to mention it to some of the other people that were already here, and they said it had happened to them. After speaking to several "responsible & reliable" people, I finally asked the guy at the front desk and he said it is a well known fact that GPS's don't like taking you through their neighborhoods (those are the light colored lines in the map to your left). It makes you take the "long way" aorund.... the highway!

I guess we are really messed up, because OUR GPS kept making us take the surface streets and wouldn't allow us on the freeway. Unless we were leaving the auditorium and coming back to the hotel, we wound around on narrow streets made for 1 car. Even then it told us to get off the freeway a few exits early. After 4 days, we have finally figured out the shortest, fastest route from our hotel to the Arena. We only use the GPS if we are looking to get lost for a few hours!

Just a few buildings along the "neighborhood route"!!!

Another "Stately" looking building....

2011-07-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

View of the floor & seating area from the "BACK" of the arena

Behind the "black curtain" also known as the stage.

Looking at the stage from the "front" of the arena

This is what the arena looks like at 7:30am

Isle behind the second set of bleachers, this is where tables and chairs will be set-up for those eating from the food vendors. Notice the green massage chair?!

It might appear that not much got done today. But looking a bit closer, you might notice the first coat of Roll-On is dry and they were preparing to roll out the second coat. The vendors started showing up and walking "their" area. The Cricket Loft family, the TV Streaming truck, even a massage area was being set aside. There is still so much to do until the venue is ready to start the 2011 Indoor National Championships this coming Sunday, July 17th.

Some quick facts that I learned today... Did you know that the floor, as it sits right now, weighs approximately 42,000 POUNDS?
Each 4 X 8 section weighs 170 pounds! There are approximately 493 sections, some are not a full 4 X 8 section. Since 1991 Richard Heard from Southern California, has been responsible for making sure the floor is down, connected and safe to skate on. Watch for an upcoming article in USA Roller Sports on the "Man behind the Floor".

Check back tomorrow for some obvious changes!!

2011-07-14T19:31:00.000-07:00

WOW... I can't believe it's been over 2 years since I last wrote something about speed skating! Way too long. Jump forward 3 1/2 years and here we are in Fort Wayne, Indiana for the 2011 Indoor National Inline Speed Skating Championships.

While there is absolutely NO speed skating going on right now, there is a lot of preparation happening so that the skaters can skate in less than 72 hours. We arrived about 48 hours ago. While the flight was major delayed, we had plenty of friendly people to talk to. Most were "going home" to Indiana or to Ohio. But all were ready and willing to strike up a conversation about whatever "we" wanted to talk about! It must be the purple & pink hair that says, "hey I'm lonely, come on over and keep us company". (Smile...) That was our first introduction to INDIANA. I could go on and on about all of the wonderful people we have met, but I think you would prefer to see the auditorium and the progress of the floor today and even the vendor area.

This first photo on the left is standing at the top of "Set 1" of two sets of bleachers. The second set is to your left in this photo. I asked management about how many people it would seat and he stated "over 2500 people". What you will notice that is missing, are the bleachers that are usually to the right. The sections that typically WASHINGTON, CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA and others, typically sit in. Now on the right hand side, will be the tabulators and officials (the black staging area).

Prior to adding the black stage, they laid two strips of red carpet. Most of this area will be blocked off or unattainable to the general public. As far as lighting goes... there are 6 lights in each of the round disks. Only two (2) are turned on in each disk. And if it was bright for me (and it was!), you will certainly be as pleased as I was with being able to see. The bathrooms are spotless and the group that runs the ALLEN COUNTY WAR MEMORIAL COLISEUM, take great pride in keeping their facility exceptionally clean and well maintained. Even the parking lots appear to be in great condition. Remember that there is an $8.00 per day charge for parking. In-and-out privileges are allowed.

Vendors.. are you in for a treat. Not only do you have your space, you are located directly behind the bleachers and are closest to the only doors in and out of the Arena. On top of that, they have set-up an additional area where you can store any extra merchandise that you might have. There will be food being offered as well as something described to me as "being like a little 7-11 store". Kids will be able to move freely and there should be no lines for the restrooms!

Watch for more photos and more updates. It's time to be SPECTATIN' again!!

OH CANADA......

2009-03-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love coming to Canada, especially when it snows. While there was snow on the ground when we arrived, we always seem to bring the California sunshine with us. It snowed for a quick minute one evening while we were coaching the inline clinic, but for the most part it has been sunny during the day. We have been here for 9 days and the city is pretty wet as the snow continues to melt.

Back about 5 days ago not all was sunshine and happiness. Well there were a few laughs but I came very close to breaking my wrist. While I was minding my own business as we left the Oval, I hit some ice while crossing the street. First my left foot slid out to the front of me, but I caught it just in time to have my right foot slid forward and up. I quickly had to make a decision as to how I was going to break my fall without falling. I shifted my weight forward but I guess I shifted too much as the left foot once again took flight, this time going out behind me. Mind you all of this happened within 2-4 seconds. It wouldn't be my feet or even my balance that would take me down to the ground. In fact if you are laughing right now... I am laughing right along with you... it was absolutely hilarious. As I brought my left foot back underneath me one more time, this time there would be no stopping to shift to the right or rock back and forth. No.... both feet would go out and then UP. Of course what go's up must come down! It was the weight of my BACKPACK that finally did me in!! Once I got that going there was no stopping me. Needless to say I have since changed shoes and emptied most of my backpack out.

But enough of that.... The reason I'm back is I have "spectated" my first ice race and my first inline speed clinic since "retiring" this past September. I have taken so many photos that I thought I would get back on here and share them with you.

Where: Calgary Olympic Oval, Canada
Lloyd's Recreation Center (Inline Speed Skating) algary, Canada

What: Calgary "Intact Oval Finale"
Inline Speed Skating Clinic

Photos: Where they always are....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/

As of today there are over 1600 new photos. I hope you have an opportunity to take a look-see. Enjoy. Linda

WORLDS IS OVER.... NOW WHAT??

2008-09-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

(All photos courtesy of DUANE GALBRAITH of USA. I would like to thank Duane for taking me along with her to Spain. I would not have been able to see and experience World's without her photos! If you would like to see all of her photos CLICK HERE)

World's is over... now what?

For some, they will get on a plane and fly home and rest for a week or two and meander back into the rink sometime in October. Some skaters will take off until late December or early January. And others might not take any time off at all.

While they do need the rest, whatever each skater decides, it will be an individual decision! I know that seems obvious, but what I guess I am trying to say is that there is no "real formula" for how long a skater should take off. There are many, many different ideas as to how much time off is the perfect amount. And that includes both sides of the spectrum, from taking absolutely no time off to the other extreme where an athlete might take a couple of months off to as much as a year off, depending on what their goal is (i.e., Olympics).

When my athletes ask my opinion, I will ask questions before giving an exact time frame. On the other hand, some skaters do not have a choice, (i.e. Duluth, other races or other sports that need to be started), but each skater that is not in that group needs to take a little time off. In my book and from what I have experienced as an athlete, it's not really the physical rest that the body needs (of course they would love to catch up on sleep!!), as much as it is the mental rest that your body needs. To push and train for months and months, giving up on the normal day-to-day activities that most younger athletes have to give up, i.e. birthday parties, dances or even a trip to the beach or a swimming party, we are not Russia or China where you do it for your family or to have a better life. We are in America where the athlete does it for themselves. This is what can make the mental rest so important.

If we are taking about our elite athletes, these skaters (it doesn't matter what country you're from) have trained all season to peak for this race. And it's not just one race, but a series of races that potentially have heats, 1/8ths, 1/4's, semis and finals. And if you are fortunate enough to be good or great in all of the distances, you will skate almost every event over a period of 7 or 8 days. That can be taxing on your body, but not nearly as taxing as on your mind. If you have not had an opportunity to read Joey Mantia's blog (click here), please take a few minutes to do so. Joey tells of how this years competition was so different. He had to skate his races more "mental" because of the flu that attacked the "physical" part of his racing at the beginning of World's. And there are many other things that can play into that mental exhaustion that a skater can feel.

This year I understand that there were some skaters that flew in just for the Road competition from another country. It was a smart move for their country and they were rewarded with the ultimate, a few extra GOLD medals. Of course they already live in Europe so time was not as much a factor for the skater to acclamate to the time difference, the food and the way of life, as it is for us.

These skaters weren't there 7-10 days before the track competition started. They flew in about 1-2 days before road started, while the track competition was already in full swing. Skater A was competing in the 300m, the 10K pts/elim and maybe the 500m and skating all of the qualifications in between on track. It was then that Skater B was loosening up and getting used to the road for the upcoming competition. In all fairness to a country like the US, our flight to Europe is always a killer. Especially from the West Coast. There have been times when we have had to start flying the day before the rest of the team to meet up in New York (JFK) and then spend the night. Why? Because if you fly on the same carrier all the way through, you must have a MINIMUM of 4 hours between your domestic flight and your international flight. We also loose 3 hours going east, so even leaving on the first flight out of San Francisco going to JFK, we would not arrive until 4:00pm, with the International flight leaving between 4:30 and 6:00pm. Then you could look at flights and lay-overs lasting upto 20 hours and that doesn't include those that left from the other side of the US. Then if the skaters do not sleep the first 8 hours of the international flight and stay awake the rest of the flight, they can be in big trouble with their sleep schedule once they arrive in the city that they will be staying in.

World's is over... now what?

Tonight the skaters will get all dressed up and go to the banquet. Most will even stay up all night visiting with their friends from other countries. With their flight leaving Gijon, Spain early tomorrow morning, that means surely the skaters will sleep ALL the way home!

I can feel some of you thinking negative thoughts about the banquet!!! Now.. now. Say what you will about the banquet, but I believe that the athletes have earned the right to attend and enjoy every moment. I absolutely do not agree or condone what some of the skaters have done at these parties (our skaters know what the laws are in the United States and it is their duty to honor those laws no matter where they are), but they do need this time to relax and have fun. They have earned every moment.

Hopefully their parents have given them the morals (and the talk) that is necessary to survive in life and at this party tonight. And if the athlete chooses to make the wrong decision, please do not blame the people they are with or the staff that is just as tired as the skaters. Blame each skater who makes the wrong decision... teach them why it was wrong, have them fullfill their consequences, and make them take responsibility for their own actions. That's how our children learn. Not by a parent blaming the staff or the friends that theywere with. Remember.... the staff didn't raise your children the last 13-20 years..... you did!

Well it looks like I will be attending the Fall - National Team Clinic and the Developmental Clinic in Colorado Springs next month. I originally had some other plans, but they can wait a few more weeks. I hope those of you who plan to attend will bring an "open mind", a "positive attitude" and a willingness to "learn things possibly in a different way" than you have tried in the past. Understand that I CANNOT control MOTHER NATURE... she does that all on her own!! So bring LOTS of warm clothes :)

I do not have all of the details as to the other coaches that are attending... but I know we will have a great time. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at: woodsk8@yahoo.com See ya in a few weeks. Linda Wood

LIVE FEED.... GIVES "CHEEK" 2ND SHOT

2008-09-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

(Photo to right - Peter Doucet and Alex from CANADA. Probably during the World Class Mens Relay. Photo courtesy of MundoPatin.com)

What? Well if you were watching the live feed that we were watching today...... you would have been watching the World Class Mens 20K Elimination Race, that would eliminate and eliminate and eliminate and continue to eliminate skaters.

Of course that is the whole point behind the race. But when the live feed shows that about 20 skaters, including our own Michael Cheek, has been eliminated and then two laps later Michael is back out on the track, leading the pack with Joey Mantia right behind him, it leaves you asking, "what the heck is going on?" At first I really thought that Michael, who we hadn't even seen be eliminated, and who was now back on the track.... just came back out there and didn't care that he had been eliminated. Knowing Michael... he would have never done this so there had to be something wrong!!!

My husband gets up from the table, where we are watching the race and runs into the office where he turns on his computer to see the "LIVE RESULTS". Sure enough, Pete yells to me that only 6 skaters remain and Michael has officially been eliminated. I look back down at my screen as Michael and Joey come back around again. They call number 138 from Portugal to be eliminated, and I realize that I remember him getting out a few skaters before Michael.... something weird is going on. Pete tells me they have reported they are down to the last 4 laps....

I quickly close that window and reopen another "LIVE FEED" window to catch the last two laps, with Joey Mantia leading. As they come around with one lap to go, into the first corner I could see that the skaters behind him appeared tired. Not that Joey wasn't tired... but I could tell this one might come down to the line since he had led like the last 3 laps. On the back side I saw two skaters attack... one with much more speed than the other. He was almost side-by-side with Joey when Joey appeared to "pedal" just a little bit faster and regain his lead again. The next shot we see are the skaters coming out of the last turn.... and Joey is still leading..... across the line they come... and my LIVE FEED goes out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From what I could see it appeared that Joey didn't have to hawk and was standing as he crossed the line... but after watching Michael Cheek skate, leave the track and return to the race again.... maybe this was a finish from last years skating??!!! :) That was the strangest thing that I have ever seen!

Pete yelled to me that it was official that Joey won it and what I had seen was the finish of this race. Congratulations to all of the skaters from all of the countries. A great job today.

Now I have a question... I noticed there were several falls and they appeared to only happen in the last turn (or possibly the same skater falling over and over?). I am wondering... what is causing the falls?? I would love to see someone respond if you could, on one of the boards that happens to be there. Is there a dip, grass, paint or something else that seemed to cause several skaters to go down on the inside line of the last turn, right before the straightaway started???!!! ( This skater above from Colombia, fell coming out of the last turn during her 300-meter run. This photo and the photo above, courtesy of Peter Doucet's site: Speed Skate World http://speedskateworld.com/

I would like to thank all of those people who have allowed me to "borrow" their photos. Some with permission and some without. I give credit to each site or person, however I have only received actual confirmation from one source. Let's face it... pulling up a story and seeing nothing but letters is kind of boring. Without those photos you might not want to read... Oh and if you see my son... let him know that the phone message that he left me tonight, we could only understand the words "I will call you tomorrow".

Finally I would like to send KUDOS out to a young skater who in between competing, eating, resting and the back and forth trek to the track and road, has been writing on his blog. Not every day, but much more than some of the sites that are actually there TO write stories. Keith Carroll from the USA, thank you for keeping us informed and thank you for your insight!!! If you would like to read Keith's articles, click HERE.

And Peter Doucet.... thank you for also updating your site DAILY, the photos and the stories, all while trying to compete in the Men's World Class events. If you would like to visit Peter's site, click HERE.

TODAY I AM SMILING....

2008-09-06T12:20:00.000-07:00

(Notice the skater closest to the white line...somehow he hits the yellow button pylon and is on his way down. I wonder how many others went with him? Many coaches and skaters are talking about the danger if you hit one and the crashes these have caused. I know I wouldn't want to be behind this guy!!-Photo Courtesy of USA Parent DUANE GALBRAITH)

(THIS JUST IN... I just spoke to Josh and we discussed what he felt was the problem with these cones. As I said before, we use these all of the time and I couldn't understand why all of a "sudden" they were a problem. He said that when 60 skaters went by as fast as they were going, it would cause the button pylons to "lift up and hover and then move them out onto the track". Now that made sense. So for all of you out there wondering like me... this makes a lot of sense!)

It seems like a lifetime.... actually it has been for Josh. It took him 14 years of skating speed to earn his first individual World medal. This has been his primary goal for the last three World Championships. He has three other World Medals that he cherishes very much.... they are GOLD, but they are all in relays. He has wanted to prove that he could do it on his own for a very long time. Today he did.

Josh is no different than any other competitior out there. They love to skate. They have a dream. They have given up a lot of traditional things in life to have the opportunity to achieve their dream. And there are no guarantees. More times than not, the athlete will come close, but very few skaters will experience the exhilaration of completing their dream and standing on the podium. That's what makes this so special.

Of course Josh would have loved to have had a GOLD medal today. Who wouldn't? But if the truth be told, he will sleep with his medal very close to him tonight and dream of standing on the podium two-steps higher for one of his races on road. I saw him look over a Cifuentes as he received his jersey during the awards ceremony and while Josh was not smiling, he was not angry. He was an athlete who was observing the highest honor bestowed on a World Champion... the Jersey! This year's Jersey is beautiful and while I haven't had the opportunity to see one up close, they are by far the nicest I have ever seen.

Obviously today I was able to see the live feed. This time I missed the Junior Races. My live feed kicked in as the World Class Ladies took the starting line for the 1000-meter final. To watch Britt jump out front and then look back, that told me that it was Sara's race to win, even before they came out of the first turn. Brittany allows two skaters in front of her and that's where Sara moves up in front of Britt. Through the next turn, Sara allows Brittany to take the 3 spot so that Sara is well protected and in a great draft. Sara will wait for Brittany to step out and Sara will follow. Like a Ballet that has been practiced over and over... with no words spoken, no looks of acknowledgment, Britt steps to the right with Sara in tow. Around the other two skaters they go, stroke for stroke, through turn one Britt is leading out onto the straightaway when she feels comfortable, Britt slightly moves over and in behind Sara like a Mother Hen. The two girls pull away... and away.... as Sara crosses the finish line first, her smile is almost larger than she is. Brittany stops skating well before the line and easily finishes second. What a race!!!!! This will be one for the books. One of those races that coaches use to TEACH skaters how to work together. It was a WOW race, no doubt about it!!!

Congratulations girls and to Erin Jackson-3rd and Mariah Richardson-2nd in the 500-meter. To Keith Carroll... bud we are so proud of you making the final in the 500-meter. I am sorry that you finished 4th and that I didn't get to see you race..... but Keith, there are so many of us pulling for you that I KNOW you will do it!! Hang in there!!!

Tomorrow is a day of rest.... well until it's practice time at the road course. I know Team USA will want to sleep in..... hopefully they will get to!! It will just depend on what time they have USA practicing. Joey and Michael... I hope you guys are feeling better. I am thinking of all of you! Good luck.

Linda Wood

BUMMER DAY FOR ME.....

2008-09-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy of DUANE GALBRAITH-USA PARENT. During the WC Men's 10K Points/Elim, looks like the skater from Spain, with both arms stretched out, is having a hard time deciding WHICH line to skate in!!)

I set my alarm last night to ensure that I would be up by 6:00am. I wanted to take a shower, feed the animals and get some things done around the house before I would sit down in front of my computer at 8:00am to watch the award ceremonies which were scheduled to start at 5:00pm in Spain (they are 9 hours ahead of us West Coast folks). It's kind of nice to be able to get up, mill around and sit down with a cup of coffee and watch speed skating in the comfort of my own home, oh but what I wouldn't give to be right there in the mix of it all!!

The alarm went off.... and off.... and continued to stop and go for the next hour. My second alarm that I use as a back-up, kicked in about 7:30am and when I realized that it was now my SECOND alarm going off, I knew I had better get up and at least get my shower in before I got involved in watching the finals that were scheduled to last for the next 4 hours plus.

It was just a few minutes before 8:00am when I turned on my computer. I read a little bit of the news on my homepage, especially paying close attention to the hurricanes, as my youngest son is on "stand-by" with the US Coast Guard, before I opened up ROLLER TV VIDEO. I figured by now they would have started the awards. When all of a sudden my heart stopped. This little sign kept popping up telling me that the URL was not valid. Now I know what that means.... it means I can't watch the awards or the events for that matter until the URL is valid.

I closed the window and tried again and again, and again!!! I was really starting to freak out at this point. I missed watching my son's race yesterday, there was no way I would miss his race today. Besides, I wanted to watch all of the events today. For the next TWO-HOURS I would come back to my computer and push the "STREAMING" button on the bottom of the page and patiently wait until it would once again tell me, "ALERT - URL is not valid".

Then I went back over to "GIJON 2008 LIVE" and tried that live feed. Nothing. I became infuriated. I had spent the last two-hours trying to get something to work and I should have just walked away the first time it said it wasn't valid, but I kept thinking "what if this next time it works?". I felt like I was gambling. "I can feel it... this time it will work. I just KNOW I will win the jackpot or that the live feed will come on...... either way I can feel it."

Just at the point when I was about to give up.... it opened up. YES.................................SCORE!! I was going to be able to watch something. Sometimes "something" isn't always "something good".

Here it was, the last 2 laps of the World Class Men's 15K Elimination race and the feed was so sketchy that I could barely tell that they were guys, never mind what uniform and what country they were from. And there was NO sound. I did notice that none were wearing the familiar red, white and blue. I was so bummed..... now I had to scramble to find out who had done what. Did our skaters even make it to the finals? Were there any reports of any more pile ups? There are so many things that go through your mind when you are given a minuscule amount of information, but it's enough to plant that "worry seed" in your mind.

Then it hit me.... as I have 7 different windows opened up, jamming back and forth from one site to the other, I accidentally CLOSE the one that I wanted to open, that there is not one website that I am aware of (and PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG), that has all of these items listed below:

LIVE FEED (available on two sites, can only get one site to work-sometimes)
INSTANT RESULTS (some sites do-they post almost immediately, but not all)
PLAY BACK VIDEO (found this on another site)
STORIES IN LENGTH ( found it on one popular site but not in English. The English is updated next day)
PHOTOS (I love that photo that reels you into the story and then the link that gives you more photos)
FORUM (where people can tell us all about Worlds and only Worlds. I don't want someone who has a grudge against the last poster getting on there and filling the forum with BS and "put-downs". I just want a place to post or that I can read what others are seeing, thinking, feeling and ask questions if I want)

Someone..... find me a website that does those 6 things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would actually pay a fee to be guaranteed so many hours of GREAT streaming. Heck, they could have 3 package levels... GOLD, SILVER and BRONZE!! Imagine that. But they can't half way do it... it has to be WORLD CLASS!!! (yes, another pun).

So needless to say, that was all I got to see today was 2 laps. Just 2 laps. Oh I know that there were more races after the 15K Elim, but my computer shut down and when I went to push that STREAMING button again and the "alert-url is not valid" popped up.... I shut my computer down and went about my business doing other things.

My frustration started a little over 12-hours ago and it's not like my life is over, but I was like a little kid anticipating going to DISNEYLAND today and after I was all dressed and ready to go, then I was told I had to stay home and scrub the bathroom till it shinned! I am still bummed.....

By the way, if I could do more than just type on a computer, I would have a World Class site that provided those 6 items above. I know the commitment that it would take and the late hours, and I would have to have help with the photos, the stories, the uploading, the downloading, the taking of video and the editing and publishing...... and of course someone to monitor the forum, but wouldn't that be cool to have all of that under one domain name??!!! Something to think about for 2009...............................

Linda

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2008 Gijion, SPAIN from CALIFORNIA

2008-09-04T12:51:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would be able to write anything about World's this year since I would be staying home in California, USA. But, thanks to many people and the use of 8 web cams, I was able to watch the 300-meter finals. I must admit that it's not the same as sitting in the crowd or being in the Press Area or down with the athletes coaching, but I am so thankful that I can watch at all!!!

(PHOTO ON RIGHT, COURTESY OF PETER DOUCET - CANADA-VISIT HIS SITE BY CLICKING HERE!!!)

Today's 300-meter finals brought some surprises, at least in my eyes. They have been saying the track is so tight all week long. Not just Team USA but anybody who has commented at all has mentioned that fact. I am not sure if some of the mistakes that I saw were due to the shape of the track (it seems like the straightaways are longer and the corners are sharper than most of the other tracks, which obviously changes the way a skater enters and exits the corners) or if it was nerves or that the skaters had so much speed that they just weren't used to going that fast.

I wish I had some photos to go with my comments.... who knows, maybe someone from Team USA will let me borrow some of theirs!! (hint..hint). The Junior Ladies skated an incredible final event. For the most part, every skater took 1 to 3 tenths of a second off of their original time. With a few placements changing in the mix, Carolina Magana from Colombia moved up from 2nd to take the overall win with a 27.128 over the Korean, whose front foot rolled over the line, which probably started her clock. Of course I am watching this on a small window and the streaming isn't flowing but I thought for sure they would have called her back... but in my OPINION that was the difference between 1st and 2nd was her front foot rolling. Otherwise she skated a great line and posted a 27.15 for 2nd.

Our own Team USA did a great job. New comer Erin Jackson looked nervous as she approached the line, but took a couple of deep breaths and when she got to the "set" position, it was on from there. Erin went into the finals in 11th and bettered her placement by one. She finished 10th with a time of 28.338. I expect we will be seeing so much more from this young lady! Next up was Mariah Richardson who went into the final in 9th place. I believe that this was the very best that I have ever seen Mariah skate. She skated a great line, never stopped stepping and you could see her really trying to turn her feet over and yet use her power on every push. Another thing that was impressive, was her knee bend! WOW.. again another factor that helped Mariah drop 3/10's off of her original time and to move up from 9th to 5th overall!!!! Congratulations ladies!!

Junior Men would prove a little different. Kevin Quandt skated this morning (their time) and finished just out of moving on to the finals. Kevin skated a respectable 13th place with a time of 26.369, with CHILE beating him out for the last spot to the final with a time of 26.360. That is only 9/1000's of a second. Not even a blink of an eye... great job Kevin. Keith Carroll however would slip into the final in a good spot in 8th place. Keith would watch skater after skater make huge mistakes. The skater from Australia had a great line going but coming into turn 2, it looked like he set his left foot down on the boot when they played it back in slow motion. This caused his momentum to obviously slow way down and his upper body wasn't ready for that, which in turn caused his feet to go in many different directions before he hit the ground. It was a pretty good fall... he got up by himself, but rolled to the middle of the track and did not post a time. The BELGIUM skater also had a big mishap in the first turn. It appeared that when he transitioned into the first turn, his upper body did not ease into the transition but that it just flopped forward, putting him on his toes and almost on his NOSE. He saved the fall but his time would drop him to 10th. The Junior Men just appeared to be nervous if you will. Many skaters seem to hawk "backwards". I know your asking how can someone hawk backwards??? Well the Hawk was designed to thrust your front foot forward in a quick, jab-like manner to get your foot across the line before your competitors. In my opinion it should never be used against the clock. You should skate through the line for your best time. But back to the hawk... once the skater decides to use the hawk, the back leg/foot goes back first, with the front foot on it's way to moving out from UNDER the body.... most of the skaters today, just stretched the back foot REALLY far back and did nothing with the front foot. So to me, they hawked "backwards". They never worked at getting the front foot out there..... Then there were a couple of skaters who hawked too early. Once again, you cannot out-run time.... don't hawk. One skater in the World Class Men's division hawked AT LEAST 15 to 20 feet BEFORE the finish line. Why does that matter?? Well obviously once you stop skating to hawk, you are no longer GAINING speed, which is the whole point of Time Trials and on top of not GAINING speed, you have friction going on with the wheels all on the ground and pressure being pushed into the ground, which slows you down even more!!!!!!!! Of course... this is only my opinion!

Back to the Junior guys... Keith finished with a super time of 25.692 for 5th overall. I just had to peek and see where he would have finished in with the World Class Men with that time... he would have finished 18th!! Wow... Keith you are on your way.

Senior Ladies.... WHAT CAN I SAY?????????????????????????????????? USA you ROCK! Sara has been dubbed the "Pocket Rocket" at these World Championships and rightfully so!! Her final was beautiful!! She had some of the best form and tightest track patterns out there and she broke Brittany's World Record (set in the elimination round) and skated a 26.672! But even more fun was to watch her jump into Wouter's arms and get a congratulatory kiss! But the competition wasn't over yet. The Colombian would be up next. In the heat the Jercy Puelo would beat Sara by 4/10's of a second. That's a HUGE amount.... most of the other girls had improved their times and Jercy is not new to this. In fact I was hoping that Britt could hold her off. Jercy came to the line and the camera zoomed in on her face... I could actually see the nerves on her face. While she didn't have any major mistakes, she had one hesitation in the corner and as we know that's all it takes and she crossed the line with a 26.706. Sara was still in first. Brittany came to the line, and she too looked a bit nervous. She took a couple of deep breaths before she stepped to the line. One thing that drives me nuts about Brittany's start is that she is there and gone before you even realize what happened! Today would be no different. The only skater in the Championship 300-meter Finals, Men or Women, to do a side start, Brittany barely came to a stop before she was off and gone. Brittany's strength and power were incredible. But I noticed a change in her technique. I'm not sure if anyone purposely changed it but she has always been shy skating on a right-outside edge and her knee collapses in when she does skate on her right foot, causing her to skate more on a flat instead of an edge. But not this race.... she nailed it. And she did so in ANOTHER World Record time of 26.611. Congratulations goes out to Brittany for breaking the World Record this morning. To Sara for breaking the World Record this evening and for Brittany breaking the World Record one more time for the win. Team USA finished 1st and 2nd in the Women's 300-Meter.

Onto the World Class Men. Team USA's Dane Lewis posted a great time of 25.499 and finished just out of the last qualifying spot for 13th. Argentina beat Dane out with a time of 25.486, which was only 14/100's of a second. Joey would sit in 7th with a time of 25.274. I know people in the US are asking, "What happened to Joey?" Nothing happened. He skated a great time and he is skating against the best in the World!! Korea who was in 1st at this point was only 3/10ths of a second ahead.... think about that for a moment... times up, that's how much of a difference there was..... Anything can happen in the final. And it did!!!

This would be the final event where the skater hawked 15-20 feet before the finish line, where the skaters before and after him coasted in the 3rd turn. I was starting to wonder if there was a problem with the track... but then I thought back to the World Class Women and they hadn't had these problems.... ahhh it must be the testosterone!! LOL They are allowed.. it is the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! The next skater was on a great run when he went to hawk (I don't understand why!!!!!!!!!) and he hawked backwards for a slower time than he had posted in the heat. Colombia who was in 8th skated next and while he did coast once it was just for a short moment... unfortunately long enough to knock him out of the medals and finish 4th overall. That dreaded 4th place!!! Joey Mantia was up next. Joey came to the line and looked as he always does.... he took his time on his start and he was off. I thought Joey skated one of his best 300-meters ever. He never stopped stepping and every cross in the turn was a powerful cross. Typically he has to coast through the turns or feather his steps in Colorado, but not here. Skating through the line he would post a time of 25.199. I really believe he LOOKED faster than that, but again I was watching through the QuickTime screen. Although better than his heat time of 25.274, he would remain in the 7th spot for his overall finish.

Gregory Duggento went into the finals in the 5th spot. I was surprised as I had been hearing so much on the BONT board about how good he looked, maybe he had had a small mistake, maybe something else had happened, but time would tell. The Italian approached the start line and looked confident as he set up for his start. For me, Duggento could use just a little more flexibility. He is very stiff.... I know he has been the fastest man in the world... but times are changing and if it didn't work this year, and you want a different outcome next year, you must go home and change what you are doing. If you are satisfied with what you have... then there is no need to improve. Don't get me wrong... he is an incredible skater, but he could shave a few hundredths of a second off easily with his start alone. Gregory had two major issues that usually don't affect his performance, but this year it did. He coasted MAJOR TIME through turn 2 and then did it again and even a bit longer (and these are short corners) in turn 3! He really needs to learn to turn... he could avoid having to coast with some simple basics... he finished tied for 8th with the Venezuelan who did a beautiful long hawk. (Please do not think that I am putting anyone down.... I respect every single skater and know most of them, along with their coaches and all of the parents. I know the sacrifice and dedication it takes for a family to get that far!! I am just giving my opinion and that's all it is.)

On to the final four. Kalon Dobbin from New Zealand and Wouter Hebbrecht from Belgium have to be my favorite two guys out there besides Team USA of course. If we can't win, then I am ALWAYS pulling for these two. Kalon would go into the final in the 4 spot, followed by Nicolas Pelloquin from France in 3rd, Wouter in 2nd and a surprise to me, Kyung Tae Kang from Korea holding all of the money. The Koreans have worked long and hard and deserve to be where they are at, but sitting in the top spot??!! Wow this guy must be great and I couldn't wait to see him skate. Only 15/100th's of a second separated the top 4 spots. I can't even fathom that!!!!!!!!!! It could be anyone's game.

Kalon came to the line and almost like Brittany, set up and seemed to "rush-off" the line. But whistles started blowing and Kalon shut down only 2 or 3 steps into the start. The cameras followed Dobbin around the track as he had his head down and coasting and slight pushes all the way around the track. I was surprised that the officials allowed him this courtesy as there had been several other skaters called back and the officials whistled for them to return immediately to the start box. At this point I thought maybe it was a computer error. But as Kalon approached the starting official, the official put his feet on the line to show Kalon what he did wrong. It appeared that the official might have told him that his front foot started ON the line?? I am not sure.... but Kalon looked a little rattled. He took a deep breath and set his feet up. This time looking down before he started. Now I felt he wasn't rushing any more. He EXPLODED off that line like little Ms Pocket Rocket, Sara Sayasane, and never looked back. As he approached the 2nd turn he came in low and stopped skating.... oh no.... he was coasting........ but before I could yell go (from 5000 miles away-lol) he was crossing out of the turn and driving his knees forward into the final turn, turn number 3. Once again he set up his turn so that he came rather low and once again coasted, powering out of the turn and all the way THROUGH the line. There was no hawk... just plain power. My heart sank for him... he had made it through having to start twice and skated great on the straightaways, but those darn corners!! Then the crowd erupted......... the cameras still had not shown his time....... 24.739. He had beaten the Korean's original time from the heat by 2/10ths of a second and had bettered his own time by 3/10ths of a second. He still had 3 very fast men left. He wasn't guaranteed a medal and yet he had just done everything he was supposed to do. Now all Kalon could do was wait!

Next up was the French man, Nicolas Pelloquin. His original time was 25.042. I had heard the French team had really picked up their game and I was looking forward to watching this guy run. Nicolas stepped up to the start and appeared confident. His start seemed to be ok, but he might have broken the beam and he had a stumble in one of the turns. But for me, his final mistake was that long, dreaded, hawk that happens too early that hurt him. Nicolas would fall from the 3 spot into the 11th spot with a time of 25.491. I do not know Nicolas, however he looks young and possibly it was just nerves that got him today. I look forward to watching him skate more this week.

Well now Kalon KNEW no matter what happened he had a bronze medal..... but Kalon doesn't like bronze. He'll TAKE bronze, but he prefers GOLD! Wouter was up next. I could hear Team USA and Sara Sayasane screaming at the top of her lungs all through Wouter's race. It made me smile to know that they support each other so much. They are such a cute couple! Back to Wouter.... Again I don't know if the track conditions changed or if when you hit those speeds the dynamics of how you approach the turns and skate the turns change. I haven't had an opportunity to be there and actually watch in person to form an opinion... but Wouter would fall to that deadly, "power the straightaways" and coast all the way through the turns... or so it felt. In both turn 2 and 3 there were major delays..... and coming to the line, Wouter almost looked confused on what to do. I can't imagine what is going through a skaters mind at this point, should I hawk, should I jab, do I skate???? What do I do??? Wouter appeared to hawk and it appeared to be to soon. I could see his disappointment immediately after he crossed the finish line. Up went his time of 24.960. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. He had improved on his original time by almost 5/10ths of a second... they always say you must be on the brink of being out-of-control in order to be the fastest you can!! I think Wouter did that today and that's all you can ask from your athlete! There was one skater left... the Korean.

If their placements in the Junior Ladies 300-meter (2nd and 3rd), the Junior Men 300-meter (2nd) and World Class Ladies (5th) had any indication... this guy was going to medal!!! Kyung Tae Kang stepped to the start line. Shaking each leg out one last time.... he looked down and shook his right foot again. And again. He rolled back from the line. You could see a little panic starting to settle in (no duh). He rolled to the referee and pointed to his skate. Now I could see panic in his eyes. Were they going to let him fix whatever his problem was? It is the skaters responsibility to be prepared. The coach came right over... a moment of speaking, although I wonder if it was the same language... although panic is panic in any language!! The skater yelled to someone in the stands who immediately produced a wheel tool. His frame appeared to have come loose in the back. You could see that there was room to tighten the bolt. With the wheel off he kept hitting the back wheel against the ground trying to make sure it was tight. He put his wheel back in and tightened it down and rolled a moment, still shaking the right foot. A skater can feel when their equipment isn't right. I wondered had he been able to keep his frame in the same spot that he was used to or did it move that fraction of millimeter that could cause the skater discomfort as he skated? Wow.. the referee motioned him to the line. No more time. Kyung Tae stepped up to the line again. Deep breaths.... followed by the "set" position and he was off and gone. I swear I saw him hesitate on his third cross into the corner, but maybe not..... he too had so much speed that he hesitated and coasted in turn three. He raced to the line with everything he had.... would it be enough for the win? NO.... but it would be enough for 2nd place!! After his equipment ordeal, I have to hand it to him, he is a true champion with his 24.934 time. But the win would go to Kalon Dobbin of New Zealand with a time of 24.739.

I have been on my computer for 6 hours. Originally just wanting to watch my own sons race with no luck. For some reason all of the links would not work until the 300-meter races came up. When I finally got results from Josh's race, they only posted the top 5 skaters for the 10K Points/Elimination race. Josh and Michael had not placed top 5. But as usual, I got into the moment when I started watching the 300's and figured why not write about what I was seeing. There are some people who have to work and maybe just one parent will know how their skater did, who couldn't watch.

In the meantime, Josh called.... He told me he was tied for 2nd with 8 points, with the winner of the race who is from France, Yann Guyader. And with 8 laps to go, the Korean skaters hit one of the small cones and fell. Josh made it over the skater, but not over the cone. He fell to the ground. Back up and chasing the pack he was unable to catch them. He kept saying to me, "I felt so good... I really felt good, I KNOW I could have gotten at least a silver."

I have seen so many of our skaters and skaters from other countries, skate so well and something unexpected happens. Something out of their control. It's just the way it is. It hurts and it's even devastating at the time. But we have to pick up our marbles for the day, go home and figure out how we can play the game better tomorrow. I hope that all of the skaters who's dreams did not come true today, go back to their hotel and take a moment to reacess their plan of attack!

KICK A$$ Team USA---- I miss you all! Linda
p.s. I apologize for any misspelled words or names.....

NEGATIVITY in a POSITIVE way

2008-08-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Talk about contradicting myself! I don't even know if the above statement is possible.

I would love to think I'm perfect, but that misconception was soon reversed during the first meal I prepared for my husband. I was raised an "only child" and Pete being of Asian decent (his mother is 110% Japanese and believes that the women do ALL of the work-she will be 83 yrs-old this month), neither one of us were used to doing things for ourselves. Needless to say when we sat down to our first meal and I said, "I would like some more milk" and Pete responded, "So would I".... and we both sat there...looking at each other, waiting for the other one to move, to get up and get the milk! I knew that my life was in for a rude awakening. It was no longer all about me. To be honest... although I remember the incident I am not sure of the outcome. I think we both refused to get up and neither of us had "more milk". We were that childish. Today things are much different of course, shoot after 30 years of training, I wouldn't trade Pete in for anything! :)

Back to the negative thing. I have run across some negative things this week in skating. Obviously it wasn't skating itself, but rather those of us who participate. Whether as a coach, skater, parent, friend....... one negative thing led to another and so on. I got heated, like the "only child" that I am, when someone figuratively speaking, threw sand at me. My childish ways came out. So I got mad, picked up the biggest bucket I could find, filled it with rocks and threw them back! HA.... I got you!

No, really... I looked as dumb as it sounded. After I threw my "bucket of rocks", I had second thoughts. Not about the principal of the issue. I still feel that I was right, they should not have thrown the sand first. Throwing sand at someone is not nice, but retaliating is just as bad, possibly worse! It shows a lack of control. I did apologize and I hope that person realizes how sincerely sorry I was. You might still be asking, what has all of this got to do with "Negativity in a Positive way" and why on a speed skating BLOG? Well I did something negative. I would like something positive to come out of it. I can't change the past but possibly use it in the future.

Recently I have been putting some quotes together for my son to use at World's. I won't be able to attend the World Championships this year and I guess all the things that I normally have the time to say to him before he skates, I know I won't be able to say. We have traveled the World together in different competitions and with different sports. And whether I was there as his coach or as his "mom", I have always been "available" if he needed me. This year will be different. So that's why I gathered these quotes and then put OUR stories to them. I was getting ready to write one for today and it struck me.... that had "I" followed what I was writing, maybe I wouldn't have done what I did.

This is the short version of what Josh received.

Josh, today is about keeping a POSITIVE attitude.
"I firmly believe that the only disability in life is a bad attitude" Scott Hamilton
"The only thing worse than a bad attitude is a bad swing" Payne Stewart

On the outside, these statements seem pretty upfront and obvious. What it doesn't show is what the NEGATIVE attitude will do to an athlete. I remember a little boy about 4-yrs old who was warming up for a freestyle competition (artistic skating) and fell down in the warm-up. He looked over at his coach (mom) and once he had her eye-contact, he slapped his hand down on the floor as if he were angry, to show her and anybody else who might be looking, that he was mad because he fell. Today, 22 years later, we still laugh at what JOSH did!! Even today, I can see the look in Josh's eyes when he is agitated about something to do with skating. So I sent him this reminder:

When things are not working, you need to stop and figure out why. Smile... breathe and focus, learn to be comfortable, being UNCOMFORTABLE. Don't move from that spot until you can think of something that will make you smile. Attitude is everything!!!!

I wish I would have use the above technique. Who knows, maybe I would have gotten up, taken my toys and just gone home for the day! Something to think about huh???!!!

Top Rt Photo: The American Flag at OTC

Middle Photo: Josh during a photo shoot in April

Bottom Rt: Josh with World Champion jersey & medal on
for same photo shoot in April

On our way home... (Sr 2-Mix Relay attached)

2008-07-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

Right now I am sitting in the Omaha, NE airport. One thing that TICKS me off... I have to throw my full, unopened bottle of water away to walk 10 feet through security. If that's the law, so be it. But I absolutely cannot stand the fact that the minute that I am through security none of the vendors are open for business!!

So let's recap this... I get to the airport sometime around 3:45am to return the car. Walk what feels like miles, dragging all the luggage that we needed for 10 days in Lincoln. We had so much stuff that we even sent a 50.5 pound box of "stuff" home. Then we wait in line for 45 minutes for someone from the airline to show up. Now mind you they tell you, you must be at the airport 2 hours ahead of your domestic flight. If you're Josh.... you show up 45 minutes before you take off (thanks to Jay Ingram!!!) and if you're me, you show up at least 2 hours before. So back to the water thing. Now I am finally ticketed and we can go to our gate. Here is where I throw out my perfectly good water that has not been open. Next we pop out the other side and "poof"... no sign of life on the other side!!! I approach the young ladt who is working the News Stand. She says that they will open in 5 minutes. Now that should be 5:00am... the huge coffee shop that overtakes the center of the airport is dark but has 2 employees moving very sloooooowwwww. Maybe they should fix themselves a cup of coffee or even espresso!!! They need to move a little faster! It is now 5:21am and STILL no one is open!!!

Wait.... 5:26am and a sign of life. The light goes on... everyone in the airport rushes to buy stuff. Mind you we board in 4 minutes. Pete purchases water.... he feels like he got the deal of the century.... 2 waters for $3.00. Wow.. that is a good price in an airport. I want to tell the guy that I buy a case of 36 waters for $3.88 at SAM'S club... who are they fooling???!!! It does really tick me off. O.k. now that that is out of the way... here is another video. The last one that I was able to find at this point.

Thanks to all of you who have written me personaly. I am glad that you have enjoyed the videos and photos.

Senior 2-Mix Last 6-8 laps....

Sophomore 2-Mix & Senior 2-Man VIDEO!

2008-07-19T02:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the last night of the 2008 Indoor National Championships. Hopefully everyone that was here got to purchase their t-shirts and pick out their photos, because it is now too late for people like me... who kept thinking that they would get down there and purchase those shirts and the photos of my skaters. Bummer.... and all of that fantastic racing is gone... until next year in PEORIA, ILLINOIS. I just don't see how they can duplicate this years floor conditions. I think we set a record on the number of records broken.... 86 NEW records broken in the Novice and Standard divisions combined. What an accomplishment!

I was fortunate enough to get some video that I could upload to this site for those that didn't get to watch the LIVE FEED. By the way, that in itself was a huge success. They had double the numbers watching the speed skating this year. It truly was a record Nationals for RECORDS.

Tonight I will start with the Sophomore 2-mix. You will see the last minute and a half of racing........ I was just able to include the Senior 2-Man relay from start to finish (about 8 minutes long). So..... sit down, turn up your sound and listen as Bob Justice calls it wheel by wheel.

UPDATE...

2008-07-17T21:26:00.000-07:00

The video of the Pro Men's 5000m final (just the last 4 minutes) is now available in my last post. It is at the bottom of that post.

For those of you that are at home watching on USA Roller Sports LIVE FEED, Ross Creveling and myself may have a treat for you to see. I am working on putting together some of the video from IDN for you to see in SLOW motion! Of course this will depend on if we have a few minutes of down time so that we can use the "play back" method.

So stay tuned..... Linda

DAY 4 - PRO MEN SHAKE THINGS UP

2008-07-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all.... you know I have ALWAYS been one who loves great racing!!! Even if it gets a little bit physical, especially in the Pro divisions (Men or Women), I am o.k. with that. We have to remember that these skaters are skating high to mid 8 second laps! That's right folks... for laps on end the men were hitting eight second laps while the women were skating faster than I have ever seen them skate. Emily Scott and Brianna Kramer (who led most of the 30 lap elimination race) were in the high to mid 9 second laps.

When you have that much speed, that many skaters that are equally as good, there is going to be some bumping and grinding when skaters go to pass each other. BUT.... it is when you have skaters who purposely put two hands on the hips in front of them and then pull hips or try and "swim" through other skaters (this is where two skaters are shoulder to shoulder and a third skater puts his or her arms in between skater one and two and pulls them apart so that they can get through). This type of skating is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!

This scenario actually happened last night. While the skater in question was finally disqualified on another call, I was unable to get it on my small camera (my small camera is really my 35mm digital camera that does video as a side feature so my filming is a little shaky). This is the camera that I take video on and post on here or YouTube because I can upload it instantly. My real video camera is the one that we make all of our DVD's from. Now on that camera, we DID get that skater and several others doing ridiculous shenanigans!

There was much controversy over the Pro Men's 1500 meter final as well. I would like to say that my husband and I watched that race at least 15-20 times in slow motion. We even plugged our camera into the t.v. in our hotel room so that we could view it at a larger size. I have to say that in order for me to see everything that went on, we played it forward and backward many times. I have to give KUDOS to the referee's this year! They didn't catch all of the fouls, nor did they always foul the right skater..... but whatever they did do, they did because in that MICRO SPLIT SECOND, that is what they felt they saw.

I only have the last 4 minutes and maybe 30 seconds of the Pro Men's 5000 meter race that skated last night. You will hear cheering and you will hear booing. Even after watching the race over and over and off of two different camera angles, the only reason I can think of that the crowd booed was because Team ANSWER took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. BUT as you watch this race..... 1st place is a lap ahead and he moves over and allows 2nd-5th to race it out the last two laps (which in my opinion shows class). My own son is in the race and I can honestly say that again in my opinion every single skater raced it out till the end. It just so happens that the top 3 guys skate for the top team. That's why they are sponsored, because they are so good! So if you want to cheer skaters on... do so because they are the best and if you are going to boo someone... don't do it because they skated well or represent a team that seems to take all of the top honors.... do it because they tried to cheat someone else and let them know we won't ACCEPT that, no matter WHAT uniform they have on!!

By the way.. I know the HYPER BOARD is down. In the meantime, you can write replies on here... I want you to express your opinion, I want you to ask questions and you can even disagree with me or your fellow writer, but absolutely under no uncertain terms will I allow someone to put others down or use foul language. Save that for your OWN blog! Respectfully, Linda Wood

HERE IT IS!!

Day One - INDOOR NATIONALS

2008-07-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

They started the morning off with the usual 5 minute warm-ups for each age group. They run through each division twice for a total of 10 minutes of warm-up. As a coach it barely seems like enough time for a skater to roll onto the floor, roll around a few times before it seems like it is the next age groups turn.This is the time a skater is supposed to use to warm-up, roll around and get used to the floor which, by the way has a new coat of roll-on as well as making sure their wheels are going to work. If the skater does not feel comfortable on the floor their first time out and they feel they are going to need to make a wheel change, they only have about 15 minutes from the time they roll off of the floor until their final 5 minute roll around. Although our announcer, Bob Justice, who is probably the best in the business, asks the skaters to skate only their division warm-up, some skaters take serious advantage and skate several warm-up groups. Yesterday there was a classic lady who warmed up with the Junior, Senior, Classic, Grand Classic and World Class ladies. Funny thing is not only is this lady a Classic lady, but she is a Novice Classic lady whose official practice isn't until tomorrow. She wasn't the only one doing this .... there were several Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors (men and women) doing the same thing.But add all of those to the 25-36 skaters that are truly in that division and now you have 50 skaters on the floor at one time trying to accomplish the same thing. It can become total confusion.So now you have a skater who is trying to feel the floor out and doesn't want to sprint the first minute or so that they are out there... and by the time the last group finally gets off of the floor and this group get's completely on.... minus the skaters that don't belong out there, the original skater has about 3 good minutes of skating.The floor looked great when we walked in and from listening to the skaters, I wasn't sure if it would be fast or not. Some skaters were frantically changing wheels. This is common as most rinks do not have fresh roll-on down on their floor and skaters are not used to the tightness and the roll is good but it can slow down much faster than what a skater is typically used to. Once the racing got under way, there was no question whether or not it was fast .... let's face it, from the second race out, the first of several National Records were broken.It's funny... I put this story "on hold" for a few hours so that I could take some photos and come back with results.... and the next thing that I know is that we are now on day 3. Before I realized it, I blinked and it's day 3. I have 4 sets of batteries for my camera that were charged and ready to go when I left home, but have somehow lost their charge so I do not have any photos to put with my story. On top of that things have been so busy with coaching, video taping and the regular meeting of friends that I haven't seen in awhile, that I am way behind! Forgive me for that. I hope that I will be able to bring more news tomorrow.Some names to be listening for: Nicole Lloyd-Ultimate Speed, Scott Stubblefield-Washington, Zach Lloyd-Ultimate Speed, Jonathan Blair-Georgia, Jacquline Blair-Georgia, Kimani Griffin-North Carolina, Sara Thrall-Washington, Marty Lauffer-Wisconsin and so many more!!!Tonight they introduced the Junior and Senior World Team as well as the staff. This is the largest group of staff members attending with the World Team. They are a great bunch of coaches and parents and I expect that they will do a wonderful job!! Good luck to Team USA in SPAIN.Ross Creveling is doing the LIVE FEED voice-over and I had an opportunity to speak with him for a few minutes tonight. It was pretty cool except he gave ME the headset with all of the scratchy noise!!! I hope that I was the only one that heard it because it drove me nuts (which is a short trip anyway!). How cool it must be to be sitting at home in your torn, old ugly, but very comfortable PJ's, with your feet up, a bag of chips and maybe a soda (if you're not skating this is ok-LOL) and watching the most incredible skating going on. No commercial breaks (can be a problem if you need to run to the restroom though... you might miss some more action) so that you can watch from start to finish. WOW... and you haven't spent a dime!! I may try coaching that way next year!!! :)We start back tomorrow morning with the doors opening in just 4 hours at 5:30am. That's right. I am here typing away at 1:43am Central Standard Time. The thunder and lightening is incredible and almost a distraction as I finish tonight's blurb. With the roar of the rain God's yelling loud and long, we were forced to stop this evening's skating at the Junior Ladies as we waited to see if the roof leak would continue to do so onto the skating track area. Due to the heavy rain storm coming through Lincoln, it just seemed to overload the air conditioning vent area with water. And of course it had no where else to go but on the skating floor! I do feel sorry for the athletes that were all fired up and ready to skate. That's hard to get yourself psyched up and then let down and told to be back in the building in 7 and a-half hours and be ready to do it all over again. BUT...... in all fairness...... every skater in each of those sprint finals will have the same conditions. It will be the skater who will go right back to their room, lay everything out for tomorrow morning, who won't be bummed out, who will think positive thoughts, who will get up and eat something, warm-up properly and return to the auditorium ready to RIP those other skaters apart. THOSE will be the skaters to succeed!!!As I said, each of the 6 finalists in each of the divisions will have the same advantage or disadvantage, depending on how they look at it!With that in mind..... I need to shut down this monster! I hope that either I can bring you photos or that Mark Virtue will loan me a few to post here! Have a great night and I hope we see you bright and early in the AM. Linda :)

INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (IDN)

2008-07-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

I had hoped to start getting you all pumped up this past week, but as some of you know, I have been sick off and on (mostly on) since Outdoor Nationals. I am not sure how much information that I will be able to transcribe it each day..... but if I see it and it's exciting.... you are going to hear about it!!!!

I love watching speed skating, and if at all possible, I love writing about it so that YOU feel as if you are right here in the seat next to me. Imagine it as we elbow each other when a skater throws a bomb pass and we can't believe the ref didn't see it!! What was he looking at??? How could he miss it???? And before we know it the next race is up... they are off the line... did you see the skater on the wall jump? That's right... good thing they brought them back to the line. Skaters are in the "set position" and the whole auditorium is quite.... the gun goes off and the skater in lane 3 pushes hard with the right foot as the skater in lane 4 digs down into the floor with their left foot. Both skaters pushing against each other go no where... except down.

These are the stories and the excitement I want to bring to you. And if I'm lucky, a good picture or two. So I hope that you will join me starting tomorrow as I once again become.... the SPEED SKATING SPECTATOR! Linda Wood :)
p.s some of our team members show off our new uniform.... it was the only indoor photo that I had available!!! ;)

UP NEXT ..... INDOOR NATIONALS

2008-06-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

We have been home for a few days now from Outdoor Nationals. I'm still not unpacked nor have I received the two large boxes of stuff that I am having shipped home. They were things that we needed like a blender, supplements, sweatshirts (LOL-you know Colorado weather, anything is possible!), the batteries to the video camera (they weight so much and you only get one bag now...) can opener, paper plates, containers and anything else you can think of to survive for 12 days. Most people do not stay at the places with a kitchen etc., but I always try to if we are there for more than 3 or 4 days. It allows you to have things in your room like cream for your coffee (what every athlete needs!) snack stuff or even things to make sandwiches and additional lunch items, in case you can't leave the track or road course to get something to eat. It works out fantastic until I have to unpack it all!!! It usually takes me 2-3 WEEKS to get everything put away and even then I have stuff floating around for awhile longer.

Speaking of two-three weeks. That's when we have to leave for Indoor Nationals!!! So when those boxes arrive home I will refill things like the coffee container, paper towels, new video tapes and all the stuff we will need for indoor. I can't believe that IDN is in less than 3 weeks. It seems like just Friday I returned home from Nationals.... oh wait..... I did, it was just Outdoor Nationals! By the way, ODN was wonderful. All of the new people that I met. Skaters that I interviewed for upcoming magazines (by the way the articles are done... and on their way to Jessica!)

I won't get near as many photos from IDN as I do from ODN because my camera and I don't get along indoors!! Actually I just can't seem to get it to work indoors. It could be the camera but I have a feeling it is more "operator error" and I'm not embarrassed to say it either!

Come back by over the next 2-3 weeks as we prepare for IDN. I will let you in on what we are doing and how our practices are going. Oh... and in the midst of all of this we have a FIREWORKS fund-raiser for our team. We will be working 12-14 hours a day for 7 days straight. It will be interesting to see if I survive this and how much money we actually make. That starts this coming Friday/Saturday. Should be REALLY interesting!! Money brings the best out in people!! Stay tuned for this one! LOL Linda

ONE IMPORTANT FACT...

2008-06-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

I wonder how many of you thought that this "important fact" might be gossip or information???!! LOL

Naaawwww.... just thought you'd be interested (maybe, maybe not) that I took over 4000 photos in 6 days at Outdoor Nationals and I video tapped, although I only kept and posted 3,218 photos. If nothing else... it was important to me!! :) Linda

MEDIA CATCHES FALL

2008-06-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

THE GAZETTE, the local paper in Colorado Springs, spent a few days at the track picking up different stories each day. The first day they did a story on hometown boy Norman Kirby. Josh and I were fortunate enough to be asked some questions about Norm. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that it would have led to Josh's picture being the lead picture on Norm's story until I saw the article posted in the Cafeteria area of the OTC!!

You can click on the photo itself to enlarge it. It is incredible that Josh did not go down... he did run into plexiglass. His left leg/foot is caught underneath Sebastian Cano's right leg. Sebastian hasn't quite hit the ground yet.... but trust me, he does! Although the caption underneath the picture reads that this was in the 15K elimination race, it was actually in the 500m Consolation Race.

Today was the last day of Outdoor Nationals 2008. Team USA and the Alternates have been chosen. I was not feeling well today and did not go out to the road course, so I have no new photos. But I did get yesterday's photos loaded onto to my FLICKR site. You can go here to see the 800+ photos from yesterday.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/

And I have a 3-minute clip of the Senior World Class Men's 20K Elimination race from the Road Course. Check that out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezXnrPGtmkw

I hope you've enjoyed the week as much as I have. Indoor Nationals is in less than 4 weeks. I wonder what stories that will bring??? Bookmark this page if you haven't already and keep checking back. Linda

THINGS TO DO.....

2008-06-17T18:52:00.001-07:00

Hello all. First of all I would like to thank each of you for stopping by and reading my blog. My stories are usually about all of the "fluff" or "interesting facts" in skating and I enjoy writing about what is going on. Every once in awhile..... I add a story that I am very passionate about. Today some things happened during the competition that upset me. If you know me personally, whether you like me or not... you know I am very passionate about the sport of inline speed skating and about the skaters. I have gone to bat several times for skaters that are not even my own, because it was the right thing to do.

A situation happened in a race that I feel was unfair to the skaters that competed. Tonight I need to take the time to research my options as a coach for those skaters. That means that I won't have the time necessary to write the stories that I had planned. I also took over 1000 photos today that I would like to "download and then upload".

These photos that you see here (on top - Richard Hawkins, Executive Director of USA Roller Sports and Josh Wood) the photo on the left (Nicole Lloyd with her black eye! Click on the middle of the photo to enlarge) and the photo on the right (Colin Thomas sporting a couple of bandages and Harry Vogel with a sling) are only a taste of what I took today.

Due to my commitment of fairness for the skaters (always remember this is MY opinion only), I am going to pass on writing a story tonight to take care of business. I will try and at least post the pictures. I hope you enjoy them and I appreciate your understanding. Linda Wood

SEND THE BEST - BBQ

2008-06-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

Send The Best hosted a BBQ to raise money for the Jr World Team according to Ross Creveling. Ross came up with the idea last year and along with the help of Karen Shields and Mr. Carroll (Keith Carroll's father) and a few other people that were behind the scenes, they pulled off a great BBQ. At just $5.00 a plate that included a bottle of water, baked beans, chips, and your choice of brisket, hamburgers, hot dogs or bratwurst, it was well worth it for a great meal and to help the Junior World Team. They made approximately $700.00. Thanks to all who supported STB!!!

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!! GUESS WHO ?????

2008-06-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Guess who's coming to dinner???? O.k. it's not dinner, but to the line? You are probably wondering if the heat finally got to me! It did, but that's not what I'm talking about.... I'm talking about my favorite basketball player ...... and she will be on the line first thing tomorrow morning!!!

That's right, BRITTANY BOWE was at practice tonight and she looks great!!! Yes she plans on skating the road competition. Originally she had prior school commitments that would keep her from attending Residency and World's, so she had to back out of Outdoor Nationals. Finally the school (basketball coach/team) agreed to let her participate a few weeks ago from what I understand, and the rest is history. She looks happy and healthy. She skated over to Renee' Hildebrand and myself and gave us both a big hug. I look forward to watching her compete!

CLOSE TO RECORD HIGH'S

2008-06-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

I love this picture of Jim Larson!! This was taken at 8:00 in the morning. Check out the reflexion of the sun off of his sunglasses! His face is red and he just looks hot (NO Jim... not that kind of hot!!!). By the way, Larson is here in Colorado Springs, but he is not skating. He wanted to come and watch all of the skating and just hang out. I think Jim has some other things "cooking" and when that happens, we better ALL get out of the kitchen!I knew it was hotter than what "weather.com" said it was!!! Last night while I was watching the news they said that Saturday was 94 degrees in Colorado Springs and 90 degrees yesterday. If you are not familiar with the area, the elevation is a little over 6000 feet. That puts us closer to the sun which intensifies the heat. When it hits about 82 degrees here, it feels like 100 degrees in Sacramento, California. Both places are dry when it comes to humidity but again, due to the elevation the air is much drier here. So when it topped 94 degrees, it would be safe to say that it equaled about 110-112 degrees in the Sacramento area. And that is HOT!!!

The top of my head has blisters and is sore to the touch. I know, I should have worn a hat, but I feel like I get hotter and it is very restrictive. No, I am not vain and although my hair can be the talk of conversation periodically (take a look at the profile-it's spiked and wildly colored), I have no problem just letting it go. I just have never been a person to wear a hat, so I have paid for that one!! They say that wild hail storms are expected later today/tonight. It is currently overcast and much darker outside than it has been. I sure hope this doesn't put a damper on our cookout tonight!! If it does, I bet that Ross Creveling and Karen Shields will work it out for us to have our BBQ tomorrow or the next day. They have purchased so much food.... I plan on driving over during practice tonight and taking pictures of the road course and such. Stay tuned.... Linda

SR MEN VIDEO

2008-06-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to grab a few laps of the last race of the day. The World Class Men's 15K Elimination race was about 20 laps into the 75 lap race when I shot this. You can see this on YouTube as well: WC Men ODN 2008

Linda

AS THE WHEEL TURNS ??!!

2008-06-15T18:36:00.000-07:00

Of course I am just using a "play on" with words but I thought I would address just a few questions that I have overheard the last few days concerning skaters.

There have been questions about skaters who normally attend Outdoor Nationals but whose names have not appeared on the "results" page. So I thought that I would try and answer those questions!

COLIN THOMAS: He was not here during any of the practice days and did not arrive in Colorado Springs until late Friday evening. That meant that Colin had missed the 300-meter and the 1000-meter races, which Colin is well known for his great results. Arriving late Friday night, getting little sleep and stepping out on a track, that he hadn't skated on since his last clinic. His first race was the 10K points/elim race on Saturday morning. He skated well but I could tell he was a little sluggish. The next race would be the 500-meter another favorite of Colin's. He hammered through the heats and quarters yesterday and held nothing back during the semi's and the finals... where he finished first. Colin #75 is here leading the outside pack in today's 15K Elimination Race.

Although I watched the 15K Elimination race today, I can't remember if he was involved in the crash or not... but Colin did skate. On the way out of the Velodrome I saw Colin and asked him how he felt. He said that he needed that 10K yesterday to get "warmed-up" and that he was ready and looking forward to the road competition. It was great to see his big smile and positive attitude.

CHAD HORNE: Chad is not here. I heard from someone, who I consider a reliable source, that Chad has been busy with school and his car. That he has skated but not enough to compete at Outdoor Nationals. I hope to talk to his mom Theresa and give you more factual information about Chad. He is a great skater and I know that I miss him!!

JESSICA SMITH: Jess is in Salt Lake City, Utah training on ice. She is training for the opportunity to compete in the 2010 Olympics. They will have the Olympic trials in December 2009, which is practically around the corner. In fact that's only 18 months away. We wish her the very best!!

HEATHER RICHARDSON: Heather is actually here watching the racing. I saw her this morning and she looks.... sun burned!!! LOL She in another great skater that is currently living in Salt Lake City and training on the ice. She is doing a fantastic job in Long Track. She is currently beating skaters that have competed for years. Again, her focus is the 2010 Olympics. Heather, GOOD LUCK!!

So this should answer a few questions! If there are other skaters you would like information about, drop me an email and I will try and find out where they are and what they are doing! Linda

THANK YOU........

2008-06-15T16:44:00.001-07:00

Several of my skating friends that have not been able to attend Outdoor Nationals this year have sent me personal emails. Some have been " good luck " for my skaters and others have been to tell me they have enjoyed the pictures and the stories.

I have LOVED receiving these emails and reading them (Ms Debbie, Ami, Lisa, Laura, Lora, Bob, David, Jim, Wendy and others)... but I have not had an extra moment to respond to you individually. So I wanted to say "thank you", we are alive and doing well and I will write back after we get home!

In the meantime check out my "work space"...... this is where I am downloading, uploading, charging, recharging, writing and creating.

Stay tuned for more news tonight. And don't forget to check out my photo collection. http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/

Also I will have photos of the road course tomorrow as well as the SEND THE BEST BBQ!! I am looking forward the start of the road racing, however I am not looking forward to the early morning start time of 7am!! Enjoy.. L

HOT HOT HOT...............

2008-06-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

This word could just as easily describe today's racing action as it could the weather!! When I walked out of my hotel at 7:30am with my jacket on and started sweating before I got to the car, I knew immediately we were going to be in trouble with the heat. I could not believe how hot it was. I called my husband and asked him to look up the weather. It felt like it was in the 70's+ and all it would do is get hotter.

I actually woke my husband up (it was 6:30am in California and Saturday so I guess he's off the hook!! lol) and he told me he would call me back in a few minutes. By this time I had turned the air conditioning on in the car and I just couldn't believe it was only 7:40am. When he finally called me back he said that "weather.com" said it was 63 degrees in Colorado and it "felt like 63 degrees". I said, "if this is what 63 degrees feels like then I'm 25 years old and 40 pounds lighter! And how does "weather.com" know what 63 degrees feels like??????

I finally arrived at the track to see many spectators with their umbrellas opened up and tents already set up along the banked track. In fact I counted 16 pop-up tents. That is the largest amount of pop-up tents that I have witnessed before at the Outdoor National Championships. Along with that, the number of spectators was much larger too!

But enough of the weather.... we started the morning off with the 10K Points/Elimination race. I have said many, many times that I feel that this race is the toughest race there is to skate and even tougher race to win. I respect each and every skater who steps up to the line to challenge themselves and their peers to try and outlast them, try and out point them and possibly even set a record. Although no records were broken in any of the 10K points/elimination races, the competition was tough and close.

Each division had their challenges. The Jr World Class Ladies would be the first to the line. I am still not sure what the hold-up was, but after the ladies had been standing at the starting line for what felt like 5 or 10 minutes, they released the ladies to go and roll around. After another 5 or 10 minutes in the early morning heat, the ladies were back to the start line and ready to go. Once the gun went off, it instantly became intense. With one lap down and starting the second lap, two girls went down hard. One of them being Kristen Attipoe. It appeared that she had hit her head..... but I couldn't focus on her for too long because the first set of points were coming up. Although I didn't have any skaters in this event and I am not working with Team USA this year, I find it almost impossible to just watch the race. I don't know if it's just become habit or if I have a need for knowing exactly where each skater is during every lap of the race. With that said, as the girls came back around Kristen had gotten up and was being help by the trainer over to the middle of the track.

Briana Kramer stopped on her way out yesterday and told me that she was not pleased with the way she had skated her 1000-meter race. She was disappointed in her performance and knew she could have done better. She then stated that she knew what she needed to do for the points/elim race and that she was going to win it. Well if determination had anything to do with it, I knew that she would in fact win the race! She then turned and walked out of the banked track area.

Briana brought her "A" game to the table. Once she settled in, I knew the race was hers. But the skater who caught my attention and was new to me.... was Sophie Webb. Where did she come from??? This meet was the first time that I was aware of Sophie and her drive. I know that I don't know EVERY skater... but I do get around and I love to watch speed skating so why hadn't I noticed her before??? I need to make a note to go and talk to Sophie and find out a little bit more about her! This event would finish with Briana Kramer finishing 1st - 40 points, Sophie Webb collected 23 points to finish second and Alex Harris 3rd with 4 points. There would be questions as to the girls who actually finished 4th through 8th. Some of us saw one thing and others saw the finish another way.

On to the Jr WC Men. They didn't even get through the first corner when at least 5 skaters went down. They all got back up but when that happens in the first turn with that many skaters, in MY opinion.... it would have been nice to call all of the skaters back and restart the race. Those skaters that fell had a very tough time trying to catch up and in fact never really did. But controversy wouldn't stop there. Andrew Shatzer started racking up points (he had 3, but at the time he was in 2nd place by only one point and skating great) when an official blew him off the track. For whatever reason the official called him off... it was a human error and we all make them. I believe they pulled him out with 38 laps to go out of the 50 lap race. I was glad when they figured out that they had made an official error and that they were willing to rerun it... I just didn't like the fact that the other skaters on the track had been racing for at least 4 more laps before they were stopped and Hank Galbraith and Kevin Quandt had actually scored big on the points during these laps. Well to make it fair the officials decided to take away all points earned after Andrew was pulled off of the track. As I sit here now... I still don't know what the right answer is, but it didn't seem fair to take away all points earned on lap 36 and lap 34 (that was the only points both of those boys had) and yet Andrew didn't have a chance to earn points during those laps... so what do you do???? Well all of the skaters that were left on the track at lap 33 were allowed to restart the race. BUT they didn't restart the race like you might think.... at lap 50. They restarted the race at lap 36 and everyone who had points prior to that, that was still left in the race, got to keep their points. If you aren't confused by now you are MUCH better off than I was. Next thing I know... bang.... the gun goes off and we are trying to figure out what lap was what and when , how, who and where!! It was a tough race for me to watch as a coach and once again I didn't have any skaters in the event... but somehow it just didn't seem fair. It would finish with Hank Galbraith in 1st, Jake Powers 2nd and Justin Mannon took the 3rd.

Senior World Class Ladies would be a whole different race!!!!!!! If you were fortunate enough to listen to the live feed provided by USARS, you know just how close this race was. It honestly was the most exciting race that I have seen out of the World Class Ladies in over 5 years!!!! It was the talk of the track for several hours! Back and forth the ladies went.... Chelsea Creveling is a new woman! I don't know what she did this past year, but she needs to keep on doing it. She has been successful in the sprints as well as the longer distance races. Several times Chelsea led in points only to have Emily Scott take it back. At one point Katelyn Horning was right in the mix and Erin DiJulio had scored points as well. Near the end of the race Xion Akana from Idaho jumped out there and grabbed enough points to put herself on the board. In the end the top three would be Emily Scott, Chelsea Creveling and Katelyn Horning.

By the time they started the Senior World Class Men the heat emanating off of the track was enough to cook lunch if I would have had time! The guys all lined up and when the gun went off, they sounded like a herd of cattle in the middle of a stampeded. I actually closed my eyes (I can't believe that I did that) and just listened for "the fall". It never came! I was happy about that. Joey Mantia started off early collecting points followed by Jonathan Garcia. Next grabbing points were Harry Vogel and Chris Creveling. At some point Michael Cheek and Josh Wood decided they better start going for points. It's funny. Some skaters have the strategy to go out early and grab points and hope to just hang on and there are others who wait and start taking points at the 2/3's mark or the halfway mark. For me, that is leaving way too much to chance. It always makes me nervous!! A few point laps after Josh and Michael took off, Dane Lewis made his move. Points would go back and forth and it would be close several times, but it would finish Michael Cheek 1st - 22 point, Dan Lewis 2nd-11 points and Josh Wood 3rd-10 points. But the highlight of this race belongs to JASON KORBEL!!! What a way to end the race. With 5 laps to go, Jason takes off and grabs 1st place points with 4 to go, then 2 more points with 2 to go. He's coming into the last lap leading with 4 points. Jason takes the win with Harry Vogel chasing him down. At that point Harry had only 5 points... and as he finished 2nd across the line... he received 2 points. This meant that Jason and Harry were tied, but since Jason crossed this finish line first... he beat Harry overall. What a race!!!!!!!!

Next it was onto the Freshman and Masters. Some super racing out of all of the skaters. But it is now after 11pm and I have not been to sleep before midnight for the last 5 nights. I will write about these two divisions first thing tomorrow. I have been downloading the photos and writing this article since 7pm, so hang in there skaters... I have some great stories to tell about both of those divisions!! Have a great evening and hope you are all getting more sleep than I am!! Linda :)

FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION

2008-06-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

I must admit that I am starting this article the night before "the first day of competition". Part of my reasoning was that I wanted to get a "jump on the competition"! I know.... "don't quit my day job". But it's true. Once Outdoor Nationals starts, it becomes push, shove, run, go from the moment you wake up until you fall into bed that night.

Sure the program calls for just 2 races, but let me try and enlighten you to their day and what it entails. Usually the night before (tonight) the skaters are rushing around trying to make sure that they have their numbers, helmet, skates, wheels changed, uniform and safety pins together. Along with that they need to make sure that they bring plenty of clothes for cold weather as well as warm weather. And it doesn't matter WHAT the weather channel says.... if Mother Nature decides that she wants to show up and blow some "hot air", then the wind gusts up to 44 mph today was her way of letting us know that She would do as She pleases. So bringing sun screen, an umbrella, chapstick, sweatshirt, and tank top are not unusual. And that brings us to sleep. If the athlete can fall asleep and get the rest they need then they are set to arrive.

Almost 24 hours later.....

The first day of competition is over! I am sun burned and wind burned!!!! Remember I talked about the weather.... well looking at weather.com last night it said that we would have a high of 80 degrees. It would still be in the 60's at 11am and low to mid 70's while the 300-meter races were scheduled. The wind was supposed to be 8mph up until noon when it was supposed to pick up to 10 or 11 mph. HA...... NOT....... It was warm early on. I'm not really sure exactly how hot it got, but it was in the high 80's for sure... maybe even hotter!! I knew it was going to be a hot one when we were all taking our jackets off by 9am and the wind gusts picked up to 20+ mph at times. But there was one skater.... who had the "perfect" wind conditions (or lack there of). I stood at the top of the velodrome and video tapped each and every skater's 300m race today. I might not have gotten every start, but I was able to tape each race and write down each skater's time while holding conversations with several different people that I hadn't seen since the last time we were all in Colorado Springs.

But I wanted to mention this one skater who I know pretty well. He's a great skater. He's even talked about having that "perfect" race, but who knew that it would happen today????

Mr. Dane Lewis from Sacramento, California skated the race of a lifetime!! It was as if the "Speed Skating God's" came down and stopped the wind for just 25.909 seconds. There was a slight breeze as Dane stepped to the line. Taking a breath and shaking his arms and hands out, mentally getting in the zone..... Dane set his feet in the 45 degree position. Next he "balanced" himself. As he placed his foot back with ease and control, the slight breeze just seemed to disappear. It was completely still... absolutely quiet.... Dane then loaded and exploded like a man out of a rocket!

He honestly skated the most perfect line that I have ever seen Dane skate. And I have had the opportunity to watch him for many years. His timing was impeccable as he set his corners up, just enough straight-away pushes and he skated all the way through the line (many of you need to take notice... Dane DID NOT look over at the clock while he was still skating!!!). And then his time popped up on the unofficial clock of 25.91. I knew instantly that he had set a new record. I knew that he had beat Joey's record of 25.959 set at last years National Championships! No one will ever be able to take that race away from Dane. It was Dane's perfect race.... then the official time was announced.... 25.909. Everyone went crazy. I even saw Dane crack a smile! I mean "who wouldn't crack a smile??".... it was a perfect race! Congratulations to Dane and his coach Dennis Bizeau.

But we won't stop there!!! No way... there were many new faces out in the crowd of Juniors. Some skaters may not have gotten points but they sure got my attention. One of those skaters is Eben Jackson from Auburn, Washington. His first time out here and he has two years left after this Championship!! He finished right outside of the point scale for Junior World Class Men. Finishing 9th with a time of 28.158. Another first-timer was Scott Stubblefield also from Washington who finished 5th with a time of 27.709. These are skaters to keep your eye on.

In the Junior World Class Ladies Erin Jackson from Florida not only blew her competition away but she blew me away!!! I remember her from last year!! I couldn't believe the improvement and she took the win with a time of 29.093!! Next was Kristen (hope I spelled her first name correct) Attipoe from Florida was another skater who absolutely amazed me. She was a "late" registration and went to the line first. So I didn't have her name or number until after she started skating. I was amazed at her speed and the way she carried herself on the track. She finished 3rd and it wasn't until much later that I realized that her brother skates too!

For me, it was no surprise that Sara Sayasane from California took the win in the Senior World Class Ladies 300-meter with a time of 28.813. She continues to perfect her sprint and I look forward to seeing her compete for Team USA in Spain this year! One of the skaters who amazed me is known more for her long distance successes and that is Emily Scott who finished 4th with a 29.791, breaking the 30 second barrier for the first time!

Senior Men.... well you already know the story of Dane and his win.... the top 10 guys can usually place anywhere on any given day, however the one big surprise of the day was 6th place skater, Michael Cheek who broke into the 26's (I will bet for his first time) and finished in a time of 26.814.

I would LOVE to tell you all about the 1000-meter races, but frankly I did what I always do.... I worked the stop watch so that the skaters knew their times and where they were and what was needed. That's a coaches job sometimes.... you don't actually get watch the races but have to do the work so that the skater has the information needed to do what they do best... skate fast! But the one thing I do have is their placements. I have been told that they were going to be available on the USARS website but I was unable to find them, so I will take the time to put them here for those of you who are computer challenged like myself!! Don't forget to check out my photos that are updated daily! http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/

300-Meter

Jr WC Ladies
1-Erin Jackson-FL
2-Mariah Richardson-NC
3-Kristen Attipoe-FL
4-Alex Harris-FL
5-Melanie Bradley-FL
6-Sophie Webb-FL
7-Briana Kramer-FL
8-Courtney Grzech-FL

WOW... I just realized that 7 out of the 8 Jr Ladies all come from Florida!! What are they brewing in their water??!!

Jr WC Men

1-Keith Carroll-PA
2-Kevin Quandt-FL
3Justin Mannon-NJ
4-Jake Powers-NC
5-Scott Stubblefield-WA
6-Michael Ringer-VA
7-Jonathan Blair-GA
8-Mario Valencia-FL

Sr WC Ladies

1-Sara Sayasane-CA
2-Amber Yarborough-UT
3-Katelyn Horning-VA
4-Emily Scott-FL
5-Molly Brown-NC
6-Brandy Clark-VA
7-Chelsea Creveling-VA
8-Christine Pyles

Sr WC Men

1-Dane Lewis-CA
2-Joey Mantia-WA
3-Harry Vogel-NC
4-William Bowen-VA
5-Sebastian Cano-FL
6-Michael Cheek-NC
7-Jonathan Garcia-UT
8-Justin Stelly-UT

1000-Meter Finals

Jr WC Ladies

1-Alex Harris
2-Melanie Bradley
3-Briana Kramer
4-Mariah Richardson
5-Lauren Forrest
6-Katie Grimm
7-Nicole Lloyd

Jr WC Men

1-Mario Valencia
2-kevin Quandt
3-Jake Powers
4-Hank Galbraith
5-Keith Carroll
6-Andrew Shatzer
7-Kyle Gresham
8-Michael Garcia

Sr WC Ladies

1-Sara Sayasane
2-Emily Scott
3-Amber yarborough
4-Erin DiJulio
5-Katelyn Horning
6-Ricci Porter
7-Ananda Jolliff
8-Molly Brown

Sr WC Men

1-Joey Mantia
2-Josh Wood
3-Dane Lewis
4-Justin Stelly
5-Harry Vogel
6-Chris Creveling
7-Sebastian Cano
8-Jonathan Garcia

I apologize if I have misspelled someone's name or given the incorrect placement. Remember that this information is second-hand and is not considered official!!!!!! Congratulations to all of the skaters!! It was a GREAT day and we have less than 12 hours before we must be back for the 10K point/elimination race. So I will leave you for now! Have a great evening and we will see you tomorrow! Linda :)

COLORADO SPRINGS - Coaches Conference

2008-06-12T14:39:00.000-07:00

Wow.. it's been a while since I have written here on my blog!! I am currently in Colorado Springs (and have been for 4 days) for the 2008 Outdoor National Inline Speed Skating Championships. But there are OTHER things going on as well!!

Several of YOUR coaches have been out here in Colorado Springs for the last 3 days, 2 of which were spent at the 2008 USOTC Coaches' Conference. Hopefully your coach was able to attend this great clinic hosted by USA Roller Sports and the USOTC. Each day for 4 hours we sat in a classroom style atmosphere and listened to speakers from SPORTS PSYCHOLOGY, ADDECO, SPORTS NUTRITION, USADA, and TRAINING BY DESIGN. All of these topics were presented by staff from the US Olympic Training Center and geared towards bettering ourselves as inline speed coaches. As I expected.... there was a wealth of information and as always, I am going home with so much new information, both for training purposes and from USADA (United States Anti-Doping Association). This young man on the left, Taylor Hooton, died as a result of steroid use. Taylor had just turned 17 years old and was preparing to start his Senior year in High School, when his life was tragically cut short due to steroid use. This and many other stories were brought to light during the USADA presentation.

I hope your coach was able to attend!! If not, look for my article in the USARS Fall Magazine. Linda

If your coach is sporting one of these cool Polo shirts, that means they attended the 8 hour, 2-day workshop held at the USOTC this past week.

NORTHWEST INDOOR CLINICS

2008-04-19T00:05:00.001-07:00

This week was unusually busy for both Josh and myself. We ran indoor clinics each night that lasted 2 to 3 hours. During the day, Josh continued his cross-training and took time to see the sights while I helped local coaches Laura Gustafson-Sweers (Auburn Connection) and Steve Clemons (Pattison's West) prepare for their first Outdoor Regional Qualifier. With 70 skaters pre-registered and a few more expected to show up tomorrow morning at 7am, we are looking forward to a few more faces at Outdoor Nationals this year.

We have some skaters that are interested in qualifying for ODN and others that just want to better their skating performance. Either way I expect that we will have a great time while we are here. Watch for updates over the next two days, and of course new pictures! I'm sure that Mark Virtue will have a few of his own to add to the mix as well.

PICTURES:

Above right: Skaters participating in "off-skate" warm-ups at one of the indoor clinics at Pattison's West.

Across the page: Skaters prepare for the "4-minute interval drill of death" lol

Below: Coach Steve Clemons is on the left and rink operator and "still sometimes coach" Mike Pattison of Pattison's West.

11 YR OLD - BAILEY ANDERSON - Washington

2008-04-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

I know this is supposed to be all about speed skating... and this is... kind of! Bailey is an 11-year old who dances. But he's not just any 11-yr old. He is the son of National Champion Inline Speed Skaters, Jeremy and Stephanie Anderson. Now normally with parents that met skating, got married, and continued skating, it should be only natural that their son would skate speed, and Bailey did skate speed. But he didn't like it quite as much as his mom and dad do. So it was only natural that when he said he wanted to dance, mom and dad put 100% into helping Bailey do what he wanted to do.... and that was dance.

I have heard many stories over the last two years about how good Bailey was and that the reason we didn't see Jeremy racing much any more was that he was spending every moment that he could taking Bailey to his dancing competitions. Now I'm not sure that's what they call them. But I am sure about one thing, the kid can dance!

Because the video that I took yesterday was in the dark (with the mirror ball spinning and the flashing disco lights), I asked Bailey if he wouldn't dance for me one more time. This time with the lights on! Of course he said yes and I couldn't wait to share this young man's talent with you. CLICK HERE

After all, his mom and dad ARE speed skaters! Oh and did I mention that Bailey used to skate? He finished 4th place overall in Primary Boys at the 2004 Indoor National Championships, which is the same year his dad won the PRO MEN'S 500M distance at IDN. Enjoy!

BATTLE IN SEATTLE 2008

2008-04-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

We have only been here for 48 hours and there has been so much racing action and no time to tell about it!! But I do have some links to pictures and to a YouTube video of Jeremy Anderson's son showing his "winning" dance moves after competition today!! Check it all out!

DANCE VIDEO

FACES IN THE CROWD

Check back for more photos and hopefully the story!!! Gotta hit the bed... 4am comes early!

Top: Joey Mantia hands out this little guy's award!

To the right: Half of them look asleep and the other half are, except for Andrew Simmons with his award winning smile!!

FLYING LESSONS !!!

2008-04-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

If you were to hear someone ask, "Would you like to learn how to fly? " you would probably assume they meant a plane, right? I know I would. But with speed skaters I have learned, never ASS-U-ME anything!

This is the 3rd and final story of Josh Wood's adventure while completing a recent photo shoot with photographer Steve Harriman from Rancho Cordova, CA. We met Steve through speed skating (Wow--nothing new here). No Steve does not skate, in fact he works for the City of Rancho Cordova doing something TOTALLY different than photography and it doesn't include roller blades either. But because of his obvious skills with a camera and his eye to see things a little different than maybe some of us, and on top of that have the skills to bring them to life for all to see, became apparent to me the first time I came across his photos.

As most of you know, we just finished our Inline March Madness Invitational (March 6-9, 2008), which included a full Marathon at the end of the 3-day indoor competition held at SUNRISE ROLLERLAND in Citrus Heights, CA. The outdoor portion would be our first attempt at bringing a marathon event to the Sacramento County area. In doing so, after literally hundreds of phone calls, the City of Rancho Cordova opened their doors to a sport they had never seen before.

As we worked with John at City Hall many emails went back and forth through City Planning, to the Department of Transportation, Police and Fire Departments and obviously Steve's department. When the event finally came to town, Steve who seems to be the unofficial resident city photographer, decided to show up for a few minutes to see what "inline speed skating" was all about. He was intrigued and took several hundred photos and loved our sport (how can you not love this sport?!). The next week he wanted to share his experience with a few of his co-workers and sent a link to his photos. Well the guy John who I was originally working with passed the link on to me, and shall I say.... the rest is history! Since that time Steve and I have spent hours sending emails back and forth as well as our thoughts on photography (mine being that I WISH I could photograph the way he does and him telling me some of the stories behind his favorite shots). That brought us to the photo shoot with Josh and the craziness at the end of it all. It was indisputable that these two guys had a "need for speed from wheels as well as a camera's shutter mechanism" and they wanted to bring the two together.

What could they do if Josh jumped? How would he get over the top of Steve? What angle would Steve need to use? How fast would Josh really move and could Steve capture the intensity and the fun of it all?

I don't know..... what do you think?

To see story one and two on this crazy morning, click here:
www.inlinemarchmadness.blogspot.com

As you watch this, listen to the birds chirping in the background as Josh rounds the corner and prepares for "flight"!! ENJOY....

OUTDOOR SKATING-MARATHON IN CALI

2008-03-12T04:08:00.000-07:00

Several of the World Class Men and Pro Master Men skate away on this
11-lap loop that completes the 26.2 Mile course
Photo by: Steve Harriman-City of Rancho Cordova

Just in case you have been hibernating the last few weeks... we just completed the FIRST ANNUAL INLINE MARCH MADNESS INVITATIONAL AND MARATHON! We are so excited about the outcome and wanted to share just a little bit of information with you:

Chris Beirn of Citrus Heights, CA steps out from the
pack and cranks it through a turn. Beirn finished
the Advanced Marathon, skating in the 15 & under
group

In this picture, Kyle Haggard of Victorville, CA

finishes first overall in the 15 & Under Advanced Marathon while
David Tauruso from Santa Rosa, CA goes down right before the finish line. David
finished 3rd overall in his age group of 16 and above Advanced Marathon. Good thing
he was wearing knee pads and gloves!!

Some of the results that we have are:

TOTAL # OF SKATERS: 108

Men: 72 skaters
Women: 36 skaters

COMPETITORS:

Marathon: 79 skaters
5K Skaters: 29 skaters

COUNTRIES THAT PARTICIPATED:

Canada: 9 skaters
Belgium: 1 skater
Hungary: 1 skater

STATES THAT PARTICIPATED:

Arizona: 2 skaters
California: 63 skaters
Colorado: 1 skater
Florida: 1 skater
New York: 1 skater
Texas: 1 skater
Virginia: 4 skaters
Washington: 18 skaters

We wanted to thank all of you who participated. Check out our other sites for additional information:

For Results and photos:
http://www.inlinemarchmadness.com

For stories and photos:
http://inlinemarchmadness.blogspot.com

See ya soon. Linda

OUTDOOR UPDATE - IMMI BLOG

2008-03-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

I just updated the most current weather conditions for our upcoming Marathon in 7 days. Check it out by clicking here IMMI.

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN "COATING" A TIGHT FLOOR??

2008-02-25T00:58:00.001-08:00

This is where it all started a few weeks ago. Round and round and round we go... sanding down till it's as white as snow.

Ok, ok... I never said I was a poet! But it's true. Pete Wood and Josh Jozwiak of TRIAD RACING and SUNRISE ROLLERLAND work on the floor preparation several days before they even think about pouring the floor. Usually this process is done with the typical floor scrubber but it has more stringent pads with a heavier grit to sand more of the floor off instead of just "scrubbing the floor" to clean it.

Pete has been doing the Sunrise floor now for over 10 years and has it down to a science. Along with the floor sanding that must be done at least on two different occasions, the rink staff must vacuum constantly throughout the week prior to coating the floor.

It's amazing the amount of dust particles that float through the air that we can't even see with the naked eye and yet if you are not 100% prepared to take care of them and get rid of as much as you can, your newly coated floor will show every imperfection and lack of preparation you did or didn't do!

Once the pre-vacuuming has started and all of the walls are done and the carpet down the side isle and in the snack bar has been done every night for the 7 nights preceding the beginning of the coating process, it is time for the wet towels and drag board to come out. When using the scrubber it is also using water to help keep the sanding even as well as the dust down. But you must get the freshly sanded material off of the floor as soon as possible. With clean hot water and several new towels that have been pre-washed, you get them completely wet, ring them out in a bucket used only for the skating floor (not the snack bar... can you imagine the cotton candy or soda that might still be in that bucket!!) and lay them out. next putting a very large, heavy board across them with a rope that is used by two very strong people to carefully pull the floor. Making sure that it is done evenly. Once they have completed a full time around the floor, the board is taken off and then towels are completely rinsed, rung out and they are relayed about 4-5 feet over the previous lap and they go again. Round and round they go.... until their finished (wasn't that better?) This process is done TWICE that night. Then it's back the next night (after Saturday afternoon sessions and the Saturday evening sessions) to do it all over again. This process usually takes about 3-4 hours if you want to do it right. If you have a "hot" date for Saturday night, you could probably bang this out in about an hour. But come time to skate on it... you would be wishing you wold have spent the time to do it right!!

Mind you while Pete is working until 2 or 3am I am comfortably sleeping. Ahhhh....

Next comes Sunday. It is the BIG day. We must purchase new black markers for the start/finish lines and for all 7 (yes SEVEN) tracks that we have on our floor. I am somewhat anal about making sure that all of the black marks that we use for speed are BLACK and not light black or missing some of the color all together. Once the morning and afternoon sessions are over the club who has given up their practice time, comes in and starts scrapping all of the gum off of the floor. This is a HUGE job. Although no gum chewing is allowed.... you wouldn't know it by what we find all over the floor. We also try to take up and scuff marks made by boots, toe stops (something we don't use) and by skaters doing hockey stops. This process also takes about 2 hours. While this is going on, Pete is repeating the wet dragging of the floor. The sanding is over, but the dragging will continue until the towels come up clean. Then we get to sit down and eat rink pizza and soda while the floor get s good and dry!!

This year we had a mom who had nothing better to do than make us some fantastic BBQ's chicken that you could scoop up and onto large rolls!!! I was in heaven!! I don't cook unless it comes in a can or a bag!! So I was really excited.

Now they set the buckets out on the floor to help mark the floor off so that you use only the 5 gallons alloted for that area. Because of the size and width of our floor we need to have at least 6 rollers and about 4 "spotters". Spotters are the ones constantly telling the "rollers" where they made mistakes..... LOL If someone cannot take comments like "Hey Jane... you missed a spot over here... a little further, no more to the right, up further, now to your left...." for 4 hours, they better put their roller down and go home!!!!

Pretty much that sums it up.... but when you end up with a floor that runs as tight and as fast as ours is..... it is worth every single second that is spent on it. For us... our floor runs best at week 3 to 4. Many of you know that the national floor is coated usually 24-48 hours before competition starts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. It states that the product is dry and can be skated on within 12-18 hours, and usually it is. Most rinks coat their floor one week before a meet. But with our weather, our altitude (sea level), we have found that if we coat our floor 3 to 4 weeks before the meet, it will be one of the fastest floors you will run on by the time the meet starts.

I kind of went on longer than I had planned, but many people do not realize the amount of labor and time that goes into producing a great floor. Some operators just roll their stuff out and don't worry about cleaning the floor or the carpets prior to laying the plastic. Although our speed club does all of the manuel labor, we prefer it that way. There is no one more concerned at how the floor will turn out than us!!! This is the ultimate reward .... right here!

Rich from Fresno, CA RATES our Marathon Course!

2008-02-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

How scary can that be?? We do everything in our power to put together a race and just one persons opinion can make or break a race .... even BEFORE it starts!!!

Lucky for us... Rich from Fresno obviously has skated outdoor before and is open and honest about what he found. I appreciate Rich's comments and opinions and know that if I ever want to skate a course, I will go looking for any that he has rated! Good, bad or otherwise.... Rich is an honest guy.

Still the most amazing thing to me is his GPS system that he received as a gift for Christmas. EVERY skater should have one!!!! I am going to give you the link to Rich's report that happens to be on INLINE PLANET and then I will walk you through everything you need to do so you can see just how fast you MIGHT be able to go. LOL

1. Go to Inline Planet: www.inlineplanet.com


2.  Go down to February 19th articles and look for "On
the Forum" MARCH MADNESS COURSE

3.  Click on Rich's post and then read.  I post after
him.

But the cool thing is you are going to want to see
what his GPS can do.  So follow the link he has
provided in his post.  Once you are there... click on
the DASHBOARD and then if you are not impressed
enough... then click on MAP PLAYER and really get
excited!!

Thanks Rich. We look forward to having you there.

By the way... I will be back to finish my last article. Linda

JUST TEN DAYS LEFT

2008-02-23T23:55:00.000-08:00

Wow... I can't believe it. Only ten days left until we start our Inline March Madness Invitational. We started some time back in July 2007 setting the dates in the rink book so that no private parties or sessions would be scheduled over our meet. We had to schedule the dates of when the floor coating would need to be done, all the while ensuring that we missed the week vacation that the local school district decided to take in February. We couldn't have the rink close down when all of the kids were out of school so it took a little maneuvering of days and times, but we got it handled.

Flyers needed to be printed and then brought to Indoor Nationals and of course we needed to find people to hand those out. We wanted to make sure we got our date out there early so that people could and would plan to attend a great meet. By August we had our own website and blog to match the name of our event and we felt we were on our way.

But there are always things that jump into the mix that we don't expect. The roof started leaking (again... our rink operator has spent literally THOUSANDS of dollars over the last 27 years that I have worked there) and now there was no turning back. This time he was told.... something big needed to be done. Not one to put it off, management spent even bigger bucks and basically started from scratch. They did just about everything but tear the building down... but we finally had a new roof.

Then I took an unexpected but most welcomed trip to Salt Lake City, Utah to visit my son. I originally had planned just 4 or 5 days, but once I got there and saw all of the World Class skaters, I extended my ticket for an additional 7 days and took it all in, while video taping, writing and watching all that I could. It was a new sport for me and I wanted to understand exactly what my son was doing. I think by the time I left, many were happy to see me go. It seemed that all I did was constantly ask questions!! But I think once you know ANY sport well, especially at the ELITE level, you approach every other sport the same way and want to know everything!! At least I do. My husband was afraid at one point that I would want to try and coach ice. I said, "Are you kidding ME??? It's too cold in there!!!" LOL Seriously I could have seen myself trying to "think" that I could have coached ice 15 years ago, but not today. No, I just wanted to be a mom.... a spectator.

(more to be added..)

SPECTATORSHIP

2008-02-21T00:07:00.000-08:00

The very meaning of this word makes me laugh. As much as it is about just being a "spectator" and not a part of the organization, running, or responsibility of a meet or practice, somehow I am always working some angle of something, somewhere!

If I sound confusing it's because I spend half of my time confused! Should I write about that? Will it be controversial? Will it cause undue turmoil? Does the public need to know what ever it is I have observed? Well most of the time I don't have to ask all of these questions, but there have been a few times that I have been asked to remove articles or a portion of an article because it "wasn't appropriate". Hmm ... appropriate for whom?

So I backed off my writing for a while. And to be honest, things got busy for me. We have been putting an invitational speed meet together. Talk about being on the opposite side of being a spectator!! But I do have stories to write.... about the Blue Ridge Challenge (controversy in the World Class Mens race-you might be surprised at my take on the referee's call!) .... local league meets and what it's like to have one of my son's living 1200 miles away during his training which changes from one sport to another.

So hang tough and check back or better yet, jump on our rss feed and let us tell you when there is something new to check out. In the meantime... check out my other blog on our upcoming meet. Hey if you have nothing to do on March 9th, come check out our Marathon race or 5K or if you have never skated before... our 2K. www.inlinemarchmadness.blogspot.com

Linda :)

INLINE MARCH MADNESS INVIT'L & MARATHON

2007-12-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

Keeping the information flowing is sometimes not an easy thing. Not that we don't want to share what we are up to, but there are times we are waiting on the "other person" to get back to us before we can contact "some other guy" to get his approval and then that allows us to call "the girl" over at that other place who will help us ultimately decide "our schedule". Dose this sound confusing??? Well it is for us too!! That's why you might see a few days go by and there is no new information posted. We aren't sleeping or doing laundry....... We are up early, working at sending emails out, or phone calls soliciting sponsors, or trying to find the best t-shirts with the best artwork.

Another one of our groups is working with the Department of Transportation, making sure the roads are safe and that we have the walkie-talkies that are needed for communication as well as water stations, and medical attendants, and my big deal.... having enough PORTA POTTIES! :) Oh and we just HAVE to have spectacular "goodie-bags" for the outdoor race! So much stuff it will be like a kid out on Halloween night with no curfew!!!

Oh and don't forget the awards. We must go out and get bids. That's right. We want the best awards that we can find, done in a professional manner including top notch work and done on time! We wanted a different type of award for indoor division races, another kind for indoor relays and of course something special for the Tiny Tot Opens (oh wait till ya see these babies... not the kids, the awards! We already KNOW the kids are cute!!) And we can't forget the special awards for the Last Person Out.

You know it doesn't stop there?! The racing isn't over until we have our First Annual March Madness Marathon the next morning. Of course the Pro's would like money and that takes sponsors, although if the truth be told between you and me, their thrill is really after the race, when they are standing at the TOP of that podium. I know... I know .... everyone can use the money.... but to those skaters it's really the satisfaction of winning the best or fastest or largest marathon (which we hope to become all 3 of those some day) on that particular day. Having the media, besides someone like me, asking you why you do what you do and then caring enough to put you on the front page of the sports section. That's what winning marathon's is about for those guys. And then taking that money they won and having a great time that night with all of their friends.

So you see... that's what we have been doing. Raffle stuff, sponsor stuff, award stuff, logo stuff, host hotel things, website things, blog stuff, articles, pictures, meetings, videos, commercials, decisions, decisions, decisions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep those questions coming so that I can keep the answers coming.

Some of the important Deadlines:

Indoor Entry - Will be announced no later than December 15th with entry forms
Outdoor Entry - Divisions and awards will be announced same time that entry forms are
available - No Later than December 15th (provided the City of Rancho Cordova
provides us with the necessary information needed).
Host Hotel: To receive the special hotel rate for 1-4 persons, 2 queen beds, for only
$98.00 per night. This same hotel room is currently listed on EXPEDIA.com
for $199 a night... Yikes... grab it now before FEBRUARY 14, 2008!!! Only so
many rooms have been put aside for this event.

Two places you can go to continue to find the most current updates:

1. Our blog: www.inlinemarchmadness.blogspot.com
2. Our website: www.inlinemarchmadness.com

Thanks for checking in..... we look forward to seeing you soon. Linda

NEW INFORMATION COMING SOON!!

2007-11-14T03:02:00.000-08:00

Finally we have the answer on a road course!! It appears to be official - - -we will be having a full-marathon (26.2 miles or 42K) connected to our 3 day Indoor Invitational Speed Meet. The course is currently a 6 1/2 mile loop that each competitor will follow 4 times through.

Let me tell you, this is not just any course!! The word "challenge" will definitely find a place next to the words Inline March Marathon!!

Better start practicing your right hand turns and maybe a few intervals (for all the slowing down and speed up that can happen on this course) and that's if you skate by yourself!

We expect to have more details and information on the Outdoor site as well as the Indoor tentative schedule posted by December 15th. This information will be posted on our IMMI website as well as here and a NEW blog that will be dedicated to only information about the 2008 Inline March Madness Invitational and Outdoor Marathon Race. Stay connected... sign yourself up to receive instant updates to your home email address every time we add something new to this blog!!! And of course if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me at:

woodsk8@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you soon........ Linda :)

LAST DAY AT THE OVAL....

2007-11-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

Yes..... sadly enough for me, today was the last time I will be in the oval on this trip. I will also be leaving the beautiful mountains, as seen from the 3rd floor condo of one of the US skaters.

I leave tomorrow for the "real world" - Sacramento, California. (If you are wondering if we were close to the California fires, no we were not. We are located in Northern California and the horrendous fires were in Southern California.)

The Dutch were one of the first on the ice today, but the Italians quickly followed as did the Japanese. I was told that the ice today was incredibly fast. Faster than it has been in the recent past. The Olympic Oval has completely shut down all public access (this includes the 440-meter running track, the inside "turf" field and the short track and public skating) except to the long track skaters, for the last 12 days.

One last look at the Oval and the athletes who use this facility.

I am looking forward to writing about inline speed skating once again. Thanks for those who stopped by and to those who continue to check daily. With the holidays approaching, my stories will slow down a bit, but all you need to do is sign-up to receive a notice when a new article is added.

WORLD CUP COMPETITION JUST AROUND THE CORNER

2007-11-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Preparations continue at the Olympic Oval for the upcoming World Cup competition, which is scheduled for the weekend of November 9Th through the 11Th. They have taken down all of the obstacles in the center of the oval (I call them obstacles only because I am unable to video through them, but they are items necessary for the other sports that are held here). The plexi-glass and nets for the indoor soccer/lacrosse field and the same for the short track/hockey ice. The staff has set up bleachers almost all the way around and it appears that they are still doing so as of today. I have observed them scrubbing all of the cement floors and any other surface that is not attached to the ice. Additional snack bar seating and tables are ready to go for the large crowds expected.

Teams have been arriving over the last 7 to 10 days with the majority of teams expected to finally arrive early this next week. It has given me an opportunity to observe their warm-up regimen, stretching and training techniques. I couldn't begin to tell you if what these athletes from other countries do are the same or different from what skaters in the USA typically do. There is so much going on in so many different places that I seem to be having a hard time taking it all in.

Sven Kramer, the World Record holder in the 5000-meter and the 10,000-meter, appears to be relaxed and enjoying his warm-up prior to skating on the ice. Kramer, from the Netherlands, set his 10K record just this past February here in Salt Lake City during the 2007 World Championships. His time was a 12:51.61. Can he skate a personal best to surpass that time? You will need to be here next weekend to find out!

I understand that several of the skaters that work for Home Depot will be holding an autograph signing at one of the main stores in town today. Along with the autographs they will be promoting this weekends World Cup competition and handing out complimentary admission tickets for at least one of the competition sessions.

I have been here almost two weeks and wish I could have extended it just one more week. With all of the planning that has gone into this event I can only imagine how exciting the World Cup itself will be!! I would like to wish all of the skaters the best of luck and hope the ice is record-setting fast! Go Team USA....

Here on the left side is a young lady working on her core
strength training. To the right skaters are working with turn cables
and below two coaches are contemplating their next move. So many things are going on at one time that it is hard to keep track of what is up next. For me, it has been very exciting... and cold!

USA back on the ICE today..

2007-10-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

Above it's all about boots and blades...

Today it was back to practice as usual for the skaters that live in Utah. Short track practice was held from 7:00am-9:00am. Remember that skaters here arrive at least 45 minutes ahead of a scheduled practice so that they can warm-up and be ready to step out onto the ice when practice starts. Erin DiJulio leads Amber and Heather down the straight.

Long Track practice for some of the groups were scheduled for 9:00am-10:00am and for others they were there 9:00am-11:00am.

Then a couple of the World Cup teams started practicing after the Zamboni did it's thing some time after 11:00am. I'm wondering if Russia just shows up earlier for WC's (the World Cup is 2 weeks away) or if teams have scheduled practice times like we do at World's.

The Coach from RUSSIA takes a moment with his
skaters during practice. More photos from today, here.

Look for video of some of our skaters coming this week. Linda

WAITING FOR SNOW - HA!

2007-10-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

Chris Creveling and Sebastian Cano were sprinting in warm-up. Today most of the skaters had the day off and I understand that Monday's are used for ice maintenance.

I will be "hanging" around Salt Lake for another 7 days, waiting for it to snow!! Actually it's been nice visiting with Josh and getting to know some of his new friends and seeing all of the skaters that raced this past weekend that I have not seen in awhile. All of the skaters looked great. Not just skating, but they have matured and filled-out in a positive way.

And the neat thing is that almost every skater here is truly dedicated to whatever their goals are giving 100%. I will continue writing throughout the week about the skaters here and what practice is like.

BUT I will also be updating you on our "INLINE MARCH MADNESS" Invitational coming this March 2008 to Sunrise Rollerland in Citrus Heights, CA, which is located in the Sacramento area. We do have a website that is in the early stages but still has a ton of information on airports and dates. Our outdoor site is ALMOST 95% secured so it looks like it will be a go with a marathon! There are a few pictures of the outside of the rink and the floor taken over a year ago. Stop by and check it out at:

www.inlinemarchmadness.com

Linda

GREAT SPEED SKATING & RESULTS

2007-10-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Derek Parra gives last minute instructions to Josh Wood, Alex Mark, Terence Allmond (in orange) and Jessica Smith, before the 1000-meter races.

Today our guys and girls would have brought home some great medals .... had they awarded them. Yes, there were no awards for any of the individual races nor the over-all winners if there were any. Now this may be typical and no one complained, but I wonder what inline skaters (or some of the people who post regularly on the boards) would have said after paying an entry fee for an American Cup or World Cup Qualifier (these races were combined-it just depended on how you signed up) and then did not receive an award of some kind.

Jillianne Rookard looks great coming out of turn 2 during today's 5000-meter race where she finished 2nd.

I must admit that I missed seeing the award ceremonies, probably because I am just used to it. But the one thing that I am most sad about, was during the playing of the National Anthem each morning... not everyone stopped to listen, including those playing LaCrosse, Soccer and Hockey in the middle. Even Pascal Briand from FRANCE mentioned to one of our skaters that he couldn't believe that people were not paying attention to the playing of our National Anthem. At the end I know I clapped, but I don't remember hearing too many more than that. The reason I might not have heard others was because of the size of the Oval....

Some of the positive things that happened this weekend while we were at the races was that our announcer was professional sounding and must have known that I was clueless about what was going on. He explained every race and how 4 skaters could skate in one heat on the track at the same (that was confusing a first, but by the time they came to heat 2, it became clear what was happening). He gave everyone their accumulative times as well as that individual lap time. I am good with times, but he kept me hopping!! I love that they were on time, literally to the second. That is no exaggeration. There were things that put them behind, like falls and a re-skate or two, but then we got back on time and it was business as usual.

MENS 10,000-METER:

1st - Patrick MEEK 14:16.30
2nd - Josh WOOD 14:17.66
3rd - Paul DYRUD 14:22.50

4th - Liam ORTEGA 14:46.24
5th - Keith CARNEY 14:48.52
6th - Brian BOUDREAU 15:21.25
7th - Paul NAHRWOLD 15:35.48
8th - Brandon ANDREWS 15:54.82

MENS 1000-METER RESULTS

1st - Carpenter 109.57
2nd - Pearson 109.73
3rd - Bokko-NOR 109.92-PB (stands for personal best)

4th - Aussprung (Jr National Record) 110.11
5th - Fredricks 110.22
6th - Needham 110.23

Wood 114.53-PB
Creveling 114.35-PB
Cano 114.10-PB
Allmond 116.20-PB
Gorman 113.30-PB

WOMENS 5000-METER

1st - Catherine RANEY 7:15.17
2nd - Jillianne ROOKARD 7:31.48
3rd - Anna RINGSRED 7:35.94

4th - Erica LANSER 7:41.93

Erin DIJULIO's time was 7:55.96 but was disqualified for interference during one of the cross-overs.

5th - April MEDLEY 7:56.87
6th - Marian FURST 9:02.67

WOMENS 1000-METER RESULTS

1st - Elli OCHOWICZ 1:17.45
2nd - Claudia PECHSTEIN - GER 1:117.85
3rd - Mia MANGANELLO 1:18.80

Rookard 1:22.68 PB
Gunther 1:21.75 PB
Richardson 1:20.67 PB
Combs 1:28.83
Cholewinski 1:23.00 PB - Fell first time and hit tail-bone was awarded a re-skate

Most WhIP Skaters Complete First 5K

2007-10-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

This morning we had to be in the Oval an hour earlier than yesterday. The competition starts precisely on the hour.

They started with the 500-meters today and finished with the 3000-meters for the girls and the 5000-meters for the guys. The skaters did a great job today with several surprises. Check out the day's results at US Speedskating. Also don't forget to check the few photos that I have taken here .

Josh Wood warms-up before his 1500-meter yesterday. Although Josh has warmed-up this way for years, It has been amazing to see inline skaters stretching and actually warming-up for at least an hour before they skate!! Take note skaters... this is the present and the future!
Linda

500-Meter TOP 3 and JESSICA SMITH

2007-10-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Since my article on Jessica Smith’s injury at the World Championships, many people have emailed me personally to see how Jess was doing. I tried to reach her but with her surgery, traveling and training she had been a little hard to find.

Well today I caught up with her and got to watch her skate her 500-meter and her 1500-meter. But the best part was having a quick moment to talk to her about her surgery.

Jessica had 7 pins and a “blue” plate put in her shoulder. She made sure that I knew that it was “blue” for the state of Michigan! Her scar appears to be about 6 inches long. And of course she allowed me to take a photo!! The other two photos are of Jess being her GOOFY self! She skated great today and the girls posted the following times:

500-Meter - WORLD RECORD - 37.04 - Jenny Wolf - GER

Today 17 women competed in 9 pairs

1st - Elli Ochowicz USA 38.94
2nd - Claudia Pechstein GER 40.05 (but does not count towards USA World Qualifier)
3rd TIE - Jessica Smith USA 40.39
3rd TIE - Lauren Cholewinski USA 40.39 (Still of Junior WC age)

500-Meter - WORLD RECORD - 34.25 - Kang-Seok Lee - ROK

Today 48 men competed in 25 pairs

1st - Tucker Fredricks - USA 35.31
2nd - Kip Carpenter - USA 35.47
3rd - Brent Aussprung USA 35.83

More information to follow..... Linda

SHARP AS A TACK..and I'm not talking about the guy at the drive-up window!

2007-10-25T21:43:00.000-07:00

Lauren Cholewinski prepares to sharpen her blades as Brandon Andrews "kicks back" after a killer dinner by Josh Wood.

Last night would be "deja vu" for me as a parent. I had been in my "designated room" at Josh's (he has a 3-bedroom condo and has one roommate so I got the other room) trying to put clothes away and get ready for the next day, when I walked out and was talking to Lauren and Brandon. The next thing I know Josh told me "Mom, if your not in your room you need to turn the lights off!"

I couldn't believe it.... after all of these years Josh was telling ME to turn the lights off! I felt like I had won... I had won the electricity battle!! YES... I walked back to my room with a huge smile and proudly turned the lights off. (Parents... keep harping on your kids..... it will pay off... 25 years from now!!!!) :)

That night Josh cooked a great meal of salmon, pasta and asparagus for Lauren Cholewinski, Brandon Andrews and myself. As Josh and I picked up the dishes and cleaned the table off, I looked over and saw Lauren on the floor with her skates in an apparatus that appeared like it belonged in a Frankenstein movie attached to Frankenstein's head. I quickly learned that it was called a "jig" and was made to hold the skates in it, upside down so that she could sharpen the blades. Lauren told me that she usually sharpens her blades once a week and that it typically takes about a half-hour. Remember I told you that I know NOTHING when it comes to ice. So pardon me if I sound condescending, I do not mean to, I really am completely brand new to all of this.

An hour later Lauren was frustrated and still working on her blades. She had a burr that she could not get out. Watching her and thinking of the maintenance that is necessary to keep their skates in top condition on top of the intense training, made me tired just watching her. It was fascinating watching her gently gliding a "diamond sharpening tool" across her blades with such precision. Back and forth. I wondered how she could have a burr when she concentrated on every move that she made. She probably wondered the same thing, but now was not the time to ask one of those dumb questions of mine. Lauren did allow me to take a quick video as well as some pictures while she continued sharpening her blades. Lauren tried to explain to me the degree's, the bend and why and how you do things, but it just wasn't computing.

Today we went to the Oval for one last practice before the World Cup trials (I think that is what this event is called ...I still do not know what is going on... I have a million questions, but I honestly think that most of the skaters just skate and do not have the answers). I hope to have more answers tomorrow.

I saw many inline skaters and former inline skaters here to try out. Some of those that are here are: Erin DiJulio, Heather Richardson, Kelly Gunther, Jillianne Rookard, Maurice Hall, Terence Allmond, Jonathan Garcia, Jono Gorman, Amber Yarborough, Clay Cholewinski, Lauren Cholewinski, Chad Hedrick, Josh Wood, Stephanie Combs, Chris Creveling, Alex Mark, Robert Lawrence, Jessica Smith, Jordan Malone and Pascal Briand from France as well as others. Not all of the skaters that I have named are skating this weekend but are here in town or are on the program.

I will have more information and know more about what is going on tomorrow evening when I sit down to write.

There is no possible way that I can know any less than I know right now ....... is there?? LOL

Linda

Car Rental is HEAVY Challenge

2007-10-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today was all about flying and picking up my luggage that is ALWAYS over weight! This time it was only one bag that was over so I tipped the Sky Cap $20.00 to take the 60 pound bag and the 49.5 pound bag. Then it was onto the car rental. This rental would prove a little more challenging than others. When I arrived the guy behind the counter changed his “attitude” when he realized that my car was pre-paid through PRICELINE.COM. For those of you not familiar with this service, you can go on their website and “name your price” that you are willing to pay. If there are any car rental agencies willing to accept your offer then you have a deal and your credit card is charged immediately. You cannot back out.

This time my offer was accepted by AVIS for $13.00 a day for the Economy size. Usually they try to make their money back by “up-selling” you to a larger vehicle for only $5.00 a day or “Do you want a GPS system?” and finally the one I like, the big one, “Do you want to add a billion dollar insurance policy to that?” As always I’m on a budget and thanks but no thanks!

I was polite as always but I could tell this guy was going to make me pay one way or another!! He handed me my keys and told me row G-41. Funny thing is after about G-39, the company name changed to National Car Rental. I walked and walked through the car rental place looking for Avis
G-41 while dragging the 60 pound piece of luggage, the 49 pound of luggage, the 40 pound backpack and the 25 pound carry-on bag, along with the keys and the rental agreement. Now I want to go back in and tell that guy, “Ok, ok… you win, add on what ever you need and let me just get out of here”. But then all of a sudden I see a guy who works for Avis and he tells me, “Lady… G-41 is after G-40”. No duh, really?!

He finally told me it was across the parking lot. Go figure. I finally get there, drop all of my luggage to the ground and realize, Yes I can put the luggage in the car, but I can’t get in. That’s right, my car is parked too close to the 15-passenger van next to it. Actually the van was parked on the line. I swear this guy knew it.

Once I was in the car it was on to the Oval to see Josh. After arriving it was calming to walk into the Oval and watch the skaters glide from one edge to the other. You could hear the blade carving the ice as each skater went by. Sometimes the sound lasting longer as several skaters formed a pack. I started looking for Josh. I did not see a familiar uniform, helmet or skates. For just a moment I forgot that I was not at an inline practice.

It took many minutes for me to find him, but once I did it was such an incredible feeling when he came over and gave me a huge hug. A few of the inline/ice skaters that I knew stopped on the wall to say hi. It was great seeing Jillianne Rookard, Jonathan Garcia, Lauren Cholewinsky and others.

Come back tomorrow and see what skaters do at night besides eat and watch tv!!

New Trip - New Sport

2007-10-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

This view is from Josh's 3rd story balcony. I was hoping to see the same thing. Snow, snow, snow. Unfortunately for me it will in the 70's the whole week I am here in Salt Lake City, UT.

I am sitting in the airport (which I seem to do often, but no complaints here), and in just about one hour I will be leaving Sacramento and flying into Salt Lake City, Utah. I had hoped there would be tons of snow, (I have no desire to ski or snow board, but love the view-from the INSIDE looking out!) unfortunately it will be 70 degrees for the next three to five days. Of course my stay is 6 short days.

I am going to SLC to see my son. He is one of the fortunate inline speed skaters that is participating in the WHiP program and when he was first asked and accepted he decided to purchase a Condo (with a little convincing from his parents!) in the area. There is somewhat of a “frantic” story that goes with that and hopefully I will have time during my visit with him to tell you how I helped Josh purchase a Condo by phone, by fax and through the internet almost sight unseen!!

Anyway, this weekend there is a race and all that I truly know about the race is that it is at the Oval in Utah and it has the words "World and Cup" attached to it. Now I figure skated at the age of 10 and was told then that I needed to make a decision between “roller skating and ice skating”, it’s obvious which sport I chose and I do not regret it. The only thing that I know about ice speed skating is that it is fast and cold! I hope that I can educate myself and those of us who do not live on the East Coast and who do not do ice once or twice a week!! For most of us on the West Coast.... there is not a lot available in that discipline, at least in Northern California.

I hope that you will come back and watch for MY trial and tribulations at learning a new sport that I do not participate in, coach or understand except as a parent!! And of course there will be pictures.

I probably know just enough about ice speed skating to get myself in trouble (sorry Josh if I embarrass you)!! This really should be interesting or even amusing if nothing else. Linda :)

Over The Top

2007-10-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

We have all heard about "Kodak Moments", and every once in awhile I get lucky and pull one off. This one happens to be a quick video from my 35mm digital camera. It involves one of the Springer twins. I can NEVER tell these two apart. I know that one of them has a small mole just under his left eye (I think)..... this time one Springer goes over the other Springer!!

You might ask why the Springer going over the top, stops... did you really think I would tell you?? LOL PS If you play this a second time, immediately following the first time, it will show the whole video. I don't know why that it cuts off the first part your first time around..but it does. ENJOY

I think these boys had way too much fun at clinic. Linda

Day 3 & 4 Whiz by....

2007-10-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

I try to take a moment each evening to write something about that days events. But yesterday, (well really last night...) would prove to be a little busier than normal for me.

Most of the skaters do not realize what coaches do during their dinner break or after we get back to the rooms. Typically we allow time for a "coaches meeting" to go over the days events. We discuss what worked and what did not work. You might think that since USARS has been holding these types of clinics for years that they should have this down to a science. And just when we think that we do... technology changes, technique changes or we find a better way of doing things .... or... we just want to add something beneficial to the clinic. This clinic would be no different. Or would it???

For me, the dynamics of the clinic would change due to the amount of skaters and their ages. Before the clinic starts, each of the lead coaches receive information about the skaters including their name, division and how old they are. This allows us to gear our program to fit the level, age and need of each skater to ensure that they qualify. That is a difficult thing to do when we have never seen these skaters before and we do not now their capability of speed skating.

So.. the best thing to do is let them loose out on the track for a general warm-up by themselves. During this mass warm-up we observed the 65+ skaters and knew that we would need to start by putting them into age groups. With this done it became much easier to assess the skater and decide where they would go for the first day. We explained that these groups may be temporary and that more changes could happen again. And once again they did. Eventually the skaters and the coaches felt comfortable with each group. We ended up with 6 groups over-all and we usually had 2 groups out on the track at one time. Every once in a while it would be three groups so that the skaters could skate as much as possible. We made sure for day one and two that the skaters had little down time so that we could fill their minds and bodies with nothing but skating!!!

However on the third night it became evident to the skaters, parents and coaches that rest would be more important and safer if we skipped the third session and let the skaters go back to their hotel and just "chill". As a coaching staff we felt that if WE were tired, the skaters REALLY must be tired!

Even though they came back to a blizzard... (ok, ok... so I exaggerate just a little! It was 31 degrees outside including wind chill factor). The skaters appeared to be rested and skated much better. The OTC usually requires that we not skate when it gets that cold due to possible injuries, like pulling muscles from not being warmed-up (which is hard to do when it is that cold), or fingers and toes falling off. LOL ;)

As you see above... two moms (I think they are mom's-they are so covered up it's hard to tell!) are really bundled up. The wind came in at 15-20mph (it felt like a 100 mph-I know..another exaggeration), and the skaters would complain a little but continued to work hard. I found teams of two skaters facing each other and practicing their "rocking back and forth with arm swing and keeping their shoulders parallel. Over-all the staff felt it was a very successful clinic.

Thank you to all of the parents who sent your children while you stayed home and worked. Thank you to the parents who brought someone else's child and thank you to the coaches who guided your skaters our way, even if you were not able to make it yourself. Finally I would like to thank all of the coaches that flew or drove out at their own expense. Each of you were instrumental in making this clinic happen!

And last but not least, of course I cannot forget our demonstrators and our helpers. You guys were the icing AND the cherry on the cake! Great job to all of you. If you have any questions and would like to contact me, you may do so by sending me an email at : woodsk8@hotmail.com

Take care and check out the new photos. Linda
p.s. click on the "SPRINGER & SPRINGER SHOW" below, and after you have watched it the first time, come back and watch the first part again where THE CHAMP is in the background getting his "2.5-seconds of fame" LOL Linda

Skaters Practice 8 Hours on Day 2

2007-10-12T21:05:00.000-07:00

Day two would prove a new challenge for most of the 65 skaters. We would have three sessions on track and no gym time due to Olympic sports using the gymnasiums. With 3 hours of skating in the morning, 3 hours in the afternoon and 2 hours in the evening for a total of 8 hours on the track. Some of the new skaters remarked that they usually only practice twice week an hour at each practice, for a total of 8 hours a month!
So it was a unique day.

While Kelly Springer was working with two groups out on the track, Buggy Allmond had two groups doing "off-skates" with their skates on in the middle while Linda Wood had another 2 groups over in another area doing other drills. When it was time to switch, skaters had a few moments for a drink and then they were on to the next coach. This continued through the morning session.

When we returned for the afternoon session it was time to open it up a bit for the skaters. Most were antsy to get "busy" out on the track. Each group of skaters did 3-1's. For those of you who are normally spectators, this drill consists of 3 pace laps and one sprint lap. The skaters then regroup to go again with 3 laps pace and 1 lap sprint. Each group had to do this 5 times before the next group would skate. In the meantime it was duck walks, stretching and drinking fluids as today many skaters and parents got a fair amount of sun!

Just a few more pictures were added today... please visit HERE

67 Skaters Participate In Developmental Clinic

2007-10-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today was "opening day" for the USA Roller Sports Developmental Clinic. We are never sure exactly who will be attending. Of course we have their names, but unless you know where the athletes are from, we might not know the level of skater that we can expect.

You know you are going to have a good clinic when 30+ skaters are waiting for the Pan Am Meeting Room to be opened at 8am and it was only 7:35am. The coaches had an opportunity the night before to set up the majority of paperwork and it was on the tables and ready to hand out. But you still need just a few minutes to warm-up the projector, pull the pens out and make sure everyone has a job and every job has a "someone" to handle it! At 7:30am there are only a few coaches awake... and I am not one of them!

Before I knew it, it was a couple of minutes before 8:00am so we opened the doors and immediately got to work. Checking paperwork, amateur cards, handing out meal tickets, two different booklets and evaluation sheets, it didn't stop for a solid hour plus. We spent time looking for our instructional "Introduction to the OTC" DVD, we were not successful in finding it. I guess someone had enjoyed it so much, they "borrowed" it.

I knew things might be tough with 67 skaters and only 12 were already qualified. That meant that 55 skaters had never been to the Olympic Training Center and they knew nothing about the cafeteria, walking on the grass, the No Smoking rule or even driving fast through the parking lot. I made the video and even I have a hard time remembering to cover everything in that DVD. So each of the 9 coaches took a turn giving the athletes the information they would need to participate at the OTC.

Our first practice session would take place in the gym immediately following orientation. Usually we get the skaters on the track, but today would be different. We would skate the afternoon and then come back for a 6-8pm skating session. As long as it is not 30 below zero (and it wasn't), it is wonderful for the skaters to skate at night. The track is at it's best at night.

The skaters did a great job today and we are looking forward to doing more tomorrow. In the meantime, take a look at today's pictures!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/

Linda Wood

It's All About FUN......

2007-10-10T21:37:00.000-07:00

I have sat down the last three nights wanting to tell all of you (the skaters that participated in the National and Elite clinic) what an incredible job you have done!!! But something or someone has needed me at that very moment and I have been pulled away from my computer until now. I still have hundreds of pictures that I want to share with you, so do not stop looking to see if I have updated the photos or the blog.

Check out the smiles on their faces!! 11-year old Paul Everett from Washington and 13-yr old Jacob Daniels from Arizona practice their "jabs" .

The last clinic that I was a part of was this same time last year. I absolutely LOVE being at the clinics and if I could, I would be at all of them working with all of the super people that are a part of In-line speed skating. To watch a young skater finally be able to get past the middle of the bank and actually skate "high" on the banked track and doing cross-overs from the moment they enter the corner until they shoot out and down the "hump", gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

Or the teenager who started skating "later in life" (LOL...) and while they love this sport, it is one of the most difficult things for a young teen who is maybe not the fastest or the most coordinated, to come out to a clinic and go from being a shy skater to a more out-going, young adult who has opened their mind and tried new things... and lived to tell about it!!

To finally the adult, who knows they are crazy for even thinking about putting a pair of "roller-blades" on and skating with all of these young bucks. Because they know that if they go down and break some thing or hurt something, it takes much longer to heal. And besides that... we have work, kids, spouses, houses and every thing else that an adult is responsible for and we cannot afford to do so with only one arm or one hand. But it is something special when that wind hits your face and your quads are burning and you are going faster and faster that brings you back to your childhood and makes you feel just like you did 30 years ago. You have a coach, speed skates and competition. What more could you ask for?????

The clinic has been over for more than 24 hours now and we are preparing for the next clinic. But there was something truly special about this clinic. I can't put my finger on it and maybe never will, but there was magic out on that track and I got to be a part of it. Thank you... to the parents who came.. thank you to the skaters who donated their time and were demonstrators/coaches and most of all... to the skaters who tried everything that we asked and gave 110% of yourself and left it all on the track! You are why I LOVE doing clinics!! See you next year. Linda Wood

Day 2 - More Technique & Interval Drills

2007-10-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

We knew today would be cold, but we didn't expect the 34 degrees that met us at we arrived at the track.

Every skater who registers receives the same packet, which includes a paragraph on items to bring to clinic. Some of the items that are typically recommended were; chapstick, sweatshirts, t-shirts, uniforms, gloves, lycra/spandex for your legs, arm warmers, ear warmers, sunglasses and many other items. The weather in Colorado changes often .... all in the same day!

Yesterday most of us got sunburned and it was almost 80 degrees. Today the high was around 52 degrees. Most of the girls packed well. The guys were a different story! I can hear it now, "Mom I don't need that stuff. Just leave it here." Well they were the ones complaining about how cold it was!!! One of the World Class Men pulled a pair of gloves off of a coach... just in fun, but the coach let him keep them through the drill. Others were trying to wrap their sweatshirts around their legs. Guys, next time listen to your mom. LOL

Today's schedule consisted of intense, informative and an innovative information on how to do the "Double Push". This "new technique" was introduced by Joey Mantia and Michael Cheek. But giving credit where credit is due, I understand that the original information came from Eddie Matzger. Either way it was a success for the whole group. The skaters really got into it and didn't want to quit until they got it right.

Next on the itinerary were passing drills where the skater in front of the paceline would drop back into the middle of the pack at the exact same time the last skater in the same paceline would pass to the same spot in the middle of the pack.

They finished with an interval drill that would show what each skater was truly made of. One lap on the banked track equals 200-meters. They had one lap to build-up. The next five laps were at a much faster pace with some of the times dropping down into the 17's for the World Class Men and into the 20 second lap times for our young Freshman and newer Junior World Class skaters. Once they finished their 1000-meters they would drop inside the red-line and had to remain together with their group as group 2 and then group 3 would go. Only one group was on the track at a time, allowing for more passing and racing that fit each of their groups level. Originally they were scheduled to do this 10 times through, which would equate to a 10K. The 2-3 minute rest between their 1000-meter race is just enough to simulate intervals at the beginning of the season. Although the drill called for 10 times through, weather would again dictate that only 8 sets would be completed. I think the skaters were EXTREMELY relieved that Mother Nature and time (we were at the end of our practice session anyway).

The skaters say they have really enjoyed the "different content" of this clinic. There are still 2 days left and the weather appears to be warming-up over the next two days. We are looking forward to 8-hours of training again tomorrow.

More pictures were added to the photo gallery today. Over 330 photos total in just 2 days of training. Check them out here; http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/
Linda

Day 1 - Back to the Basics

2007-10-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

The skaters left today with a much better understanding for technique and the basics.

Head Coach, Buggy Allmond, along with the other coaches Kelly Springer, Jim Larson, Karen Shields, Ross Creveling, Ricky Brock, Cathy Morante and Lind Wood, decided it was time to "stop and smell the roses". With National Team skaters even showing some difficulty skating on one foot, for at least half of the straightaway during warm-ups, it was evident that bringing these skaters back to the basics would help both the National Team and the Elite clinic skaters have a better feel for the drills that would be skated over the next 4 days.

The first session usually designed to warm the skaters up and revisit such drills as first seam, second and third seam passes, were put on hold to work on "low and slow" and over-exaggerated deep edges. They also had an opportunity to work on "foot placement" during the recovery of the "freeleg". The skaters seemed to have a great time and showed remakable improvement, whether it was due to the excellent demonstrations by Joey Mantia and teammate Michael Cheek (both recent Gold Medalists at the 2007 World Championships in Colombia) or just having the open space and time to slow things down and work on individual movements. Yesterday finished up a success and more pictures were added to the site. Visit them here at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58909696@N00/sets/

Come back often to view new pictures added daily as these clinics (the Developmental clinic rolls into town on Wednesday) progress.

Enjoy, Linda Wood

NAITONAL & ELITE CLINIC ARRIVE

2007-10-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

I am finally in my room and most of the athletes that are staying on campus for the Fall National/Elite Clinic have arrived.

Those skaters that qualified for the National Team at last season's 2007 Outdoor National Championships, were invited to attend this 5-day clinic. The only expense for each skater was their airline ticket to Colorado Springs, Colorado. All their transportation has been provided by the Olympic Training Center as well as a room and their food. All of the training has been provided by Certified USA Roller Sports Coaches.

With eight hours of skating taking place tomorrow in three different sessions, it should be interesting to see how many skaters are in still in shape or how many are using this as a jump start to their season!! Check out the photos here;
www.flickr.com/photos/woodsk8/sets/72157602279014238/

First Article on "SpeedSkatingSpectator"

2007-09-26T01:36:00.000-07:00

The front view of SUNRISE ROLLERLAND home of the "2008 Inline March Madness" Invitational. Click here for more information that will be updated often.

I owe it all to Robert Burnson, creator, publisher, make-it-happen-now guy of INLINE PLANET.

Had we not collaborated on the 2007 World Championship blog (o.k. he held my hand every step of the way!), I would have never been to pull off what little that I did accomplish for pictures and news to the Inline Speed Skating World, that were recently held in Cali, Colombia. Thank you Robert!

So now it's a few weeks later and I am feeling little rested and decided to go "out on my own" and publish pictures and articles from a SPECTATORS point of view. There is no pressure being a spectator. Or at least I hope it's not! I figure it will be just like being a parent. You just have kids and they turn out great, right??!! LOL Alright, so this may take a little extra work!

I guess I will have to work a little harder on it than I originally planned! Our club is just getting back into the swing of things, we are putting on our first speed invitational (but certainly not my first invitational-just for speed) and we are changing a large majority of the way our club is run from a coaches point of view. So why not add a little spice to my schedule and add another small commitment??? I hope to cover my time in the rink, out of the rink, my trials and tribulations as a "newbie" parent on the competitive ice scene and anything else that comes along.

In the meantime, I would like to ask you all about your license plates. That's right, how dedicated are you as a skater or a parent of a skater? What does your license plate say???

If it is a personalized license plate (even if it doesn't have to do with skating, send it in). Each time I receive a new one, we will see who can figure it out first. I have added our first one. Just add your comments at the end of each article! This should be easy. Oh and tell me who you think owns this plate???? I hope you will join me along the way. Please be sure to feel free to leave comments. You can most certainly disagree with me, but PLEASE.... be polite, constructive and informative. I love to learn new things.

Linda L. Wood-USA