Ich bin ein Berliner!! ...for the next week

I'm pretty excited. Tomorrow I'm heading to Berlin to skate in my first World Cup race. I'm excited to race, to experience everything and to see Berlin. I'll be bringing my camera and computer along for the trip, so expect some blogs and pictures of the trip. I hope I'll get a chance to see Brandenburg gate and Checkpoint Charlie....Mr. Kindrachuk would be so proud of me. I'll write soon.... from Berlin!

Looks like I'm off to Europe.....

This past weekend I competed in the Fall World Cup Team Selection in Richmond: the first big competition of the year for me to see how well my summer training went and how I stack up against the rest of the country. Speedskating can be a brutal sport, just like many others, because the only thing that matters is my time as I finish a race. Not how strong i was all summer, how mentally tough I've become or if I deserve a spot on the World Cup circuit. Nobody deserves anything, they earn it. The time is all that matters, but focusing on the outcome rather than the process wouldn't help me qualify for the team.

I used the 500m on Saturday as a pre race primer for my 2 specialties: the 1000m on Sunday and the 1500m on Monday. The 500m went well and I was ready for the big show.

1000m: I finished 10th with a time of 1:11.35. It really was a pretty good race: I skated very well, but i made a little bit of a mistake on the second lap that cost me some time. It was really costly because the 4th place time was 1:10.70, so 0.6 sec separated 4th from me in 10th. After the race I watched video, and it was clear what I needed to improve. I was disappointed because if I had skated like i have all year, I would have been right in the mix for the 4th or 5th spot in the 1000m.

1500m: 4th place, 1:49.16. My fastest time in Richmond by 3 seconds. Probably the best race of my career. I was confident going into the race and just smiled when I got to the starting line. I was ready. During the race, I executed very well, and made sure not to repeat the mistakes I made in the 1000m. Lets just say that I was far more nervous after my race trying to watch the pairs after me. As each pair skated, I became more nervous and excited because I was just that much closer to my first world cup. About 900m into the last pair, I knew I was in.

That 1500m was the most important race of my career. It gave me so much confidence that everything I've done and given up this summer and every year before was worth it. Maybe more importantly, it showed that I could full believe in myself and trust myself that I know what to do to perform on demand. Qualifying for the team has been something I've worked to acheive for a long time, and I've finally done it. But that's not the end, its only the beginning. I'm going to learn so much this fall skating with the big boys.

The fall World Cup circuit consists of 5 competitions: Berlin, Heerenveen (Holland), Hamar (Norway), Calgary and Salt Lake City. I will be competing in all but Hamar (although I may skate in Hamar to help qualify Olympic spots if necessary). When you watch the top guys in the world like Denny Morrison, Shani Davis and even my brother Lucas, they have a calmness and control that allows them to be at their best all the time, regardless of conditions. People don't really rise to the occasion for big events, they just don't falter and having that calmness and confidence lets those guys compete as close to their 100% as possible. Those are some of the things I hope to learn about this fall, so that I am in the best position possible to qualify for the Olympics in December.

I'm really excited that I'm off to World Cups, but I have to stay grounded and remember the ultimate goal: the 2010 Olympic Games. Qualifying for the world cups is just another small step in the right direction, and I'll use the experiences I'll have to be as ready as possible for Olympic Trials at the end of December!

Pics of the Richmond Olympic Oval

Hey!
So a few people have asked for some pictures of the Richmond Olympic Oval. It is a beautiful building that have won some design awards are are nominated for others including the 2009 Building of the Year. It recently won an award from the Institution of Structural Engineers in the Sports or Leisure Structures category beating out other structures such as "The Bird's Nest", the main stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the retractable roof on centre court at Wimbledon.

A few pictures are below: Here is the oval last September during construction, facing east.

A closeup of the lattice-like roof. It was made using pine destroyed by pine beetles. It is a series of 2x4s that were screwed together by hand by a person. Definately not pre-made.

Here is the East side of the Building.


And a final picture looking west of the final product.

Performance on demand

One of the things that my coach has been really pushing us to embrace is the idea of performance on demand. Doing it, right now, no questions. We went to Vegas to see two Cirque du Soleil shows with ridiculous stunts to see what we do, but in a slightly different context. There really is a parallel: They are the best at what they do, we are the best at what we do. Here is another example of performance on demand from the winner of Ukraine's got talent 2009.

Two great blogs to read....

I happened to be checking out all the sports news at tsn.ca when I came across two great blogs by Canadian athletes. The first is by Regan Lauscher, a luger. She speaks to some of her challenges with Whistlerites and to the overall hypocricy of many critics of the Olympic Games here in Vancouver. One of the best lines is the following: "You can't reject the Olympic Games and everything it stands for and then turn around and rent your house out for enough money to pay off your mortgage." Take a peak, its a great read.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/luge/news/newsid=16980.html#blog+whistler+life

The next is by Helen Upperton, a bobsledder, on the legacy left from hosting an Olympic Winter Games. Both Helen and Regan credit so much of their success to the legacy from 1988 in Calgary. I know I wouldn't necessarily be in a position to qualify for the Games without the Olympic Oval in Calgary. Helen shares some great ideas on why the Olympics leave a lasting legacy, including the improvements to the 'sea to sky highway' and the addition of the Canada Line from YVR and Richmond to downtown Vancouver. She also talks about the benefits and effects that sport has had on her life, and what kind of impact 'athlete heroes' can have.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/bobsleigh/news/newsid=17111.html#blog+the+olympic+legacy?cid=wgtsn