800m PB/Skater Bowling/Apollo on the LT

Day 6 of my Norwegian Fantasy Camp.

We are racing tomorrow so today is a prerace workout.

There are not many secrets to race prep. You do some warm up laps, some accels, some rolling starts, maybe a standing start.

I knew we would do some tempo laps today as well, and we did an 800m. Andrew has a picture of the last turn. That's me in the back with a pretty good left push.

Skating Short Track with the New Edge and Mike Kooreman has helped me so much, I am skating faster than I ever gone before.

This 800m was new personal (in the draft) 25.3/25.5 even though we had to put in some sick moves to wind our way through the crowds at that speed.

Ok so I have a fast 800 in my legs now we are going to do a 400m flyer. I know that Michel or Chris are going to lead (Christoffer Rukke & Mikael Flygind Larser).

I figure this is going to be sub 25 since the ice is better today and grippier. They are dialing it in for next weekends World Cup. The World Cup circus is in town now.

We now have double or triple the number of skaters on the ice now since the resurface. On the warm up laps after the break, we get passed twice the outside by Dutch team then Utah FAST team doing something (i heard 28).

Coming into one corner we are like 6 across with skaters in the inner warm up lane, skaters in our lane, the Dutch in Green suits on the outside and some group passing us in the inner comp lane.

Wow this is fun.

SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH BBBBBBUUUUHHHHHH!!!

I hear someone go down behind us.

Someone must have got freaked out with that many people. One of the Norway guys says this is fun with so many people.



So we are off in the 600m (one lap tempo). I hit the first turn with big speed and don't set it up too well. The ice is really rutted and I didn't enter deep.

Always error by entering deep (go for the outside lane) vs entering too early. I take a step and

SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm down sliding on the ice at high speed.

I look up and I'm heading towards two of the best skaters in the world (Sven Kramer and Carl Verhaijen and some other Dutch guy in Green).

We make eye contact and I can see the white's of their eyes as I'm marking up the track trying to slow down.

They hustle up and do a quick roll start.

BBBBBBUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

i hit the pads. Luckily I check everything and I'm ok. My elbow hurts but thank God no one was hurt.

I knew those guys were on a good one and they say it was 24.8....maybe next time.

Mark and I had a good laugh about that one afterwards....you really had to see the look of fear on those guys faces as I was sliding towards them at mid 30mph pace.

I remember seeing Shimizu fall at a practice before SLC World Cup a few years back head first fast and a Dutch Girl jumped over him as he slid by her and hit the pads.

The new rules at the rink are good (stay to the inside going slow) but not everyone follows them.

One other thing that was cool at the playground (as my wife calls it). Apollo made his appearance on Long Track with Clap Skates. Check him out. He's having fun that's what it's all about!!


I'm pretty sure that's Jordan Malone in the picture as well. Some of the other STers were out there.

I was hanging with E (Ian Baranski) and he told me to be careful out there as I'm an old man! Ian said that he was more freaked out than warming up for a ST World Cup with all the skaters out there.

Apollo was like no way dude ST warmup at World Cups are crazy. Apollo said he was freaked out going fast on the claps but felt good going slow. He looked comfortable

I saw him race Long Track way back in 1997 in Lake Placid and I mentioned that to him. I did forget that we weren't on claps back then. He and Danny Weinstein raced the coolest pack style Long Track I've witnessed.

I remember the 1000m which one of them won by a whisker. Nothing like some good Pack Long Track outside at Lake Placid on a clear sunny day. That's what heaven would be for me I think.

Apollo agreed that Pack LT is fun.

One last thing that Peter said to me leaving the rink is he expects to see a Personal in my 500m. I hope so too but I need to just focus on the process and the results will follow...ie. focus on my technique, sitting low and generating pressure.

I was joking that I could have taken out the Dutch team for him. He said they won't need that. They will do it on the ice. A true champion and pro coach.