Back to the Grind

Thanksgiving holiday was great. It started for me Wed morning when I hit the alarm button and went back to bed skipping ST practice. Visited the wife's family in Green River, Wy. Had great food, watched alot of football , slept alot and got back on my bike for a couple of short cold cold rides back in SLC and slept some more. I forgot how much I like riding my bike.

One thing about training hard which new people including myself back then don't realize is you need to rest for positive adaptations to occur. Stress (training) is the stimulus for growth but rest is when the growth occurs. I remember back in 2001 November seeing Catriona Lemay during the Can Ams. She was telling me how she had 4 or 5 days off and this was a couple of months before the Olympics.

One other thing that needs to be repeated. "The least amount of the most specific training which brings about continous improvement". That's a good motto for training. If you are going slower take a break or change something up.

My favorite show on TV is tonite. You really need to see Frank Caliendo. You can find some of his stuff from the 1st show last week on youtube. He's so talented. Here's a summary of the show. I don't get excited about much on TV but this is so funny. He had a great sketch about Jenna Bush's wedding night and her father's advice.

http://keithp23.blogspot.com/2007/11/frank-tv-to-hit-airwaves-this-week.html

As far as training goes, we are so lucky here to have some of the best skaters training here in ST and LT. Last night i had ZERO motivation to go to the rink. But once I got there I felt better. It was great to see familiar faces checking in (Leann sp?) and the building has a positive energy.

As I walked in the track/ice, I saw Apollo doing killer jumps with Izzy, Simon Cho (i remember that kid in Pittsburgh ST Nats when he was 4 feet tall doing perfect pivots), Alison Baver with Jimmy Jang taking them thru the rounds. Mike Drews was doing his sprint work outs. Anthony Lobello was on the bike doing something. Anthony said that he is in the US Championships and should do well. He did a 1:26 9 lap TT with what looked like 14 second laps. He is so talented. The drive, passion and work ethic of those around me got me motivated. I played hockey my whole life till I was 29 and I need to see others training. I'm not one for solo training but have gotten better on the bike with it.

Skated some laps on the LT last night then this morning got up early (it's still dark out before we get on the ice). It's really cool to see the sun rise thru the windows and glisten on the ST ice. We had a huge group as ST National guys/gals who aren't in Holland are here. Apollo showed up which was cool. I think I last skated with him in 96 in Boston at a club session there when Pat Wentland coached him. I just remember noticing how much pop he had in his legs back then.

We had a 9 lap TT on the docket but I passed on that one. Jonathon did a 1:35 a PB by 3 seconds. I raced 3 times last week (ST Ogden, LT club pack, and 9 lap TT). I felt like I just did a 9 lapper since that was the last time I skated ST.

Anthony Barthell fell early and seperated his shoulder. Heal quick buddy. He is one tough dude. Jessica Smith fell head first but was ok and Tina Koenig took a fast fall during 13 lappers. I think there might have been another couple of falls too. I didn't see Tina's as I was in the back of a huge group including Derek Parra's skaters. Chris Creavling and Sebastian Cano are leaving for Mexico with Mexi-Kraan for some rink opening. Sounds like fun.

Derek was back from spending time with his daugher and Florida and he said he wasn't feeling good. I wish I didn't feel that good as he is a weekend warrior skating before work. He's one our stronger guys. He doesn't have the gold card because he is weak. All I know is I hung in for a bit then jumped in the last few laps and Apollo was finishing them at 9.2. They were taking the first one out at my top speed which is 9.5. Those guys were working hard. You couldn't notice it during the skating (they look so relaxed). Relaxing is the key to speed.

One other guy who is in town is Chris Weaver who is the new development guy for US Speedskating. He was doing the same thing as me.....skating before work. I asked him how he was (great dude) and he said how could I not skate with ice here in the morning.

Mike Kooreman kept it all together this morning with Jimmy Jang coaching the others. Oh and Mike's wife Kelsey was on the bike when I got there with local bike stud Mike Sohm. She was still riding when I left like 2.5 hours later. That's cool and sums up my morning. Thank God for all the blessings in my life.