It is now February and the race that I have been working towards all year is just seventeen days away and this is very exciting. However the start of February also means the season will be ending in 28 days and this makes me sad. To make myself feel a little better I have begun to look at the gardens pictured in my magazines. The thought of spring and my peonies blooming makes me smile. However, I will miss skating.
The reason I will miss skating is not just that skating is a good workout, you get lots of fresh air and have the ability to move fast. To accomplish all of that during the other seasons I turn to my bike. What I will miss; the people, specifically the speed skating people.
My friends and I are not members of a club so when we skate we do so during the open skate at the oval. On the weekends I skate with my children. I view this time as endurance training as the rink is often crowded with skaters of various skill levels. My plan each weekend is to just maneuver around them and continue moving for an hour and a half. This continual movement is perfect training for 25 laps on a 1 k track where cross over steps are not required. Wednesday evening open skate is very different as the rink is not very crowded. This allows us to train a little harder, learn how to go faster and how to do a cross over step. I can say that I now can do them! Wednesday evenings also brings out a variety of other speed skaters. Steve from Twin City Speedskating conducts adult learn to speed skate classes which I sometimes take part in. Additionally other skaters come out and enjoy the quiet ice. On one particular Wednesday in January there was 9 of us on the ice with long blades. That night was the best of the year!
Here is why it was the best. Every person that I have met that is associated with speed skating is kind, thoughtful and encouraging. I have met people who skate but are not a part of a club and others associated with Midway Speedskating, Pioneer Speedskating, Twin Cities Speedskating, and even people from a club in Wisconsin. All of these people share the same qualities; a love of the sport, a desire to see others love the sport, and a respect for having all skaters, know matter their skill level, learn and compete.
This past weekend when I skated with my children we were the only speed skaters on the ice for the first hour. It was a good skate but in some ways a lonely skate. I enjoy talking with the other speed skaters and both giving and receiving encouragement. About the time my children and I were ready to go home for supper two other speed skaters joined us. Just having them on the ice made a difference in my enthusiasm for being on the ice. This made me realize how much I will miss seeing these people when the season is over.
To all of you that have welcomed my children, my friends and I into your group a great big thank you. Your encouragement has gone a long way, as the three members of my family are much better skaters and we have new friends who are an important part of our lives. I also have grown in my desire to compete in shorter distance races. This will take a lot of work and coaching but I am up for the challenge. All three of my family members have the desire to become official members of the speed skating family. So for the 2010-11 year Midway you can count on adding two skaters to your roster and Twin Cities you can add one to yours.
For now though the good news is that I will be on the ice in just over an hour. I sure hope to see those other eight people on the ice with me tonight but if not maybe next week.
When I was kindergarten I seem to remember being lined up by our birth dates. I proudly stood next to C-Dev and found out his birthday was one day after mine, so I boldly told him, “I’m older than you.” Side note here, I seriously think only kindergartners think it is cool to be older than someone else, then they realize that they want to be older than they really are and then at some point before turning thirty they revert to wanting to be young again. Back to the story, I was so excited to be older than him, well that was until he pointed out that he was all ready six and that shut me up real quick.
Chantal in 1995 Nationals, photo Jerry Search
So what does that have to do with my story? My coach Chantal Cermak and I share one thing that is pretty cool still in my eyes… the same birth date (separated by 15 years). While we have had different routes in our speedskating careers, she was a figure skater turned speedskater and I was a Nordic skier turned speedskater, she was a mid-distance skater and I enjoy the distance events, and she went to the Olympics and I.. well, I haven’t made it that far. 
But what little kids think is cool by sharing a birthday, I realized something that was a bit more cooler. As I began to mentally prepare myself for the races and turning my marathon mentality into a sprinters mentality, I realized that Chantal had stood at the same start line fifteen years earlier and now I wanted the same end result… the title of Senior Ladies National Champion.
Me accepting my medal
So I skated my heart out in each of the five distances (500, 800, 1000, 1500, and 3000) over Saturday and Sunday with the end result in mind- get the overall Senior Ladies title. I also had looming over my head two National outdoor records that Chantal had set during her run for the title and had been standing for 15 years (a 3000 in 4:54 outdoors is smokin’). So needless to say, I didn’t have a shot with her two records and they will stand into their sixteenth year (and hopefully longer).
But what I did get was what I set out for… I got to hear, “Senior Ladies National Champion from the Pioneer Speedskating Club…”
Chantal if you are curious… that smile hasn’t worn off.
I am definately not the most technically perfect skater or the most speedy. But today I skated in age class nationals as a senior. It is my last year being a senior and I wanted to go out with a bang, even if it meant turning this marathoner into a sprinter.
Today I had the opportunity to skate with Silvia Acevedo, who was a Masters competitor and was paired to skate in a combined heat. As we were sitting in the heat box before our first race she said, “I am not that good.”
Nervous than ever I smiled back and said, “I am not a sprinter, I have never raced these distances.”
To which she replied, “Well then you will get all personal bests.”
After what I deemed a disastrous 1000, I looked a bit disheartened skating back to claim my items. Silvia looked at me and said, “Did you skate your best?” I nodded and she replied, “Well that is all that matters.”
Thanks Silvia you are right. Now hopefully I will remember that when I skate the 500.
Erik and I are comfortable making the 3 hour and 15 minutes drive, with a 5 minute stop in Motley en route to Bemidji and doing the return trip later that evening. I know we are crazy for doing so, but Bemidji has so much history for the both of us, it is where we both went to school and where Erik learned about my passion for speedskating. So last weekend Erik and I, as you know, drove to Bemidji to look at the oval. This past weekend D and I went to Bemidji for the day but this time to skate. Yes, we did the 3 hour 15 minute drive up, had lunch, skated the 1k oval on Lake Bemidji, had dinner and then did the 3 hour 15 minute drive back down- all in one day.
As we were driving, I had this thought come to my mind and it was nagging me, while I have yet to find an answer. I thought I would write it out.
Why did I return?
Why did I go back to Bemidji? I was not questioning this weekend in particular, but why had I found myself back in the town I had left so long ago? I thought Erik and I had left the city for good when I graduated from Bemidji State in 2002. I had finished my collegiate career and if I wanted a future career I would have to return to the cities or abroad.
In fact, as I was sitting in the car this thought kept nagging me, I cannot remember why exactly Erik and I came back in 2007 when we were celebrating our first wedding anniversary. We had gotten a gift from D which was a weekend at her cabin about an hour outside of Bemidji and for some reason Erik and I wanted to go to Bemidji. In the middle of a snowstorm, which dumped a foot of snow, we ventured out of the cabin and headed to Bemidji. Besides the white knuckled experience of driving in a snowstorm, we safely arrived in Bemidji.
As we were exploring the town, I noticed that the National Long Track Marathon was going to be in the area in two months. My old speedskates (I have since got new speedskates) were sitting dormant in our front closet and I had not worn them for several years. I wasn’t even sure if they were sharp or if they fit for that matter. But something inside me that day told me that I could skate that marathon, that I could finish the marathon, and that I needed to pull my skates out. So after returning home, that next Wednesday I packed my skates and some warm clothes and drove to the John Rose Oval for the Wednesday night skate. I have been there almost every Wednesday night since, grabbing C and D along the way.
Then on that uncharacteristically warm day in Bemidji, I stood at the start line of my first marathon. I doubted myself most of the race. The nagging feeling that I wasn’t going to finish and the thought of earning a DNF kept becoming more evident. However, every time I came to that back straightaway I would look up at Bemidji State University and say to myself, “Lisa, that is where many of your dreams came true, where you graduated college and that school played a role in you and Erik meeting.” And I kept going. My result that day… dead last, but I finished.
So last year, C, D, and I returned to Bemidji, skated the marathon. And this year we will do the same in a month and a day.
So when D and I headed up to Bemidji this past weekend, we skated about 30 laps with Chantal Cermak, chatting, laughing, and enjoying our time like good friends should. However, for some odd reason I kept finding myself skating right into a crack, which would swallow my blade and trip me up, but I kept going and going. On my last lap, I grabbed my camera and took this picture:
While it is simplistic. It reminded me why I was there… to enjoy being out on that lake, in that city, and to skate.
This year I wanted to skate on the Bemidji oval prior to the marathon which is only one month away. With the long weekend and the beautiful weather A, B, L and I made the road trip to Bemidji yesterday. The weather was great and the roads were dry. In a little more than 3 hours we arrived in Bemidji, turned right by Paul Bunyan, cracked the windows, unbuckled the seat belts and turned onto the ice road.
As we pulled up to the little parking lot next to the oval the excitement grew and the energy was hard to contain. Once I opened up the door a burst of energy flew out and dashed across the oval. Oops I forgot Louie the English Setter was along for the ride and run. He completed a minimum of a 25 k yesterday. L wants him at the marathon in February as he acted much like the little rabbit at the greyhound races she watched as a kid and feels this would be a good motivator for her.
Well now back to the human energy. As we piled out of the car the excitement in the people grew but also as we gazed across the oval it seemed to be huge. I helped A and B get their skates on and they skated off while I got ready. I looked up while tying my last skate to see where my daughter was. I saw her on the far corner and she looked so small. Wow, the oval looked huge.
Once I hit the oval and began to skate I was quick to notice that the lake ice is much faster than the Roseville ice. I am sure that a physics lesson could explain why but for now just knowing it was faster made the thought of traveling around the 1K oval seem less daunting. As I finished the first lap the oval did not seem large anymore, it actually seemed small.
It was about that time that Chantal and her daughter joined us for an afternoon of skating. We had fun skating, talking, and laughing at my dog run with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth for the next 2.5 hours. A and B kept track of their laps. B completed 8 and A completed 21. A has set her goal to skating the marathon in a year or two. For me that means that I only have one or two years before I will be humbled by my daughters ability, proud but humbled. The rest of us cannot count and talk while we skate so I we estimate between 26-30 laps. It felt good for this point in the season.
So now for the ice report. Dave plowed the snow off the oval just over a week ago and has only spent one day on the Zamboni. The ice is clear and you can see the fish below which is cool to watch while you skate. There are a few rough spots and a few cracks that the Bemidji team of ice volunteers will be working on in the next month but overall the ice was in good shape.
I encourage all of you to come and skate the Bemidji Oval at the 2010 National Marathon Championships. The registration forms are on the US Speedskating website.
Today Erik and I drove to Bemidji to see the oval that Dave, Norm, and Rich carved out of Lake Bemidji yesterday (Friday). A big huge thank you from the writers of This Might Hurt our Reputation as we are extremely excited to see this as it is really happening… the marathon is coming.
Now if this gives you any indication in my level of excitement about the fact that the oval is now on Lake Bemidji, we (my husband and I) drove 3 hours up- spent 4 hours in Bemidji- 3 hours driving back home. We saw the oval in the process.
Okay before you start thinking we were that crazy, Erik had to drop off a computer for a friend as well. We took a look at the oval and I took a picture for purposes that yes in six weeks it will be my arch-nemesis so I better get use to it. Although, during the time I was standing at the oval, all I could think about was the song, “I wanna drive the Zamboni”. Please Dave? Please?
Now, I will give you reason to call us crazy… why? Because next Sunday, D and I are thinking we are going to make the 3 hour trek to go skating. And maybe, I will get to drive the Zamboni.
Last spring after the end of the skating season I was looking around the internet to find a warm knit hat with a speed skating image on it. I wanted to give L, C, and my children each one for Christmas this year.
After hours of searching I could not find any but did find two companies that would make custom hats. The first company I contacted basically told me that for five hats they did not want to bother. When I contacted the second company, Tallu the owner, said he was up for the challenge and asked me to send some images. After a few weeks I received an email that said the skate shape had been mapped out on graph paper and was ready to be transfered to the knitting machine. He wanted to make a sample hat for my approval and needed my color choices. A week later I received an email stating the sample hat was in the mail. The day the sample hat was to arrive I rushed home from work to see it. It was better than I imagined. After many more emails the color choices for the remaining four hats were selected and the final order was placed. Each hat turned out great and I am so pleased with the service I received.
Today Christmas arrived at the oval as all five of us were at the speed skate practice time at 2:00pm. Prior to going on the ice I gave each recipient a bag with his/her initial on it and on the count of three they opened their bags. Each of us wore our hats and they are as comfortable and warm as they look.
I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and hope you have many hours of happy skating in the new year.
Here is a close up photo of two of the hats.
Today was day one of the John Rose Open. I had two goals while I watched the races leading up to the 10K scheduled for the last event of the afternoon. My first goal was to enjoy watching the variety of skaters and lengths of races. The smallest skaters are always the cutest but it was the teens that were the most fun to watch. My second goal was to figure out when to start the cross over when I have speed behind me as I enter the turn.
As I wrote in an earlier post I needed to learn how to do the cross over. Well in the past 6 weeks I have been working on the cross over and now know the basic technique. What I have not learned is how to go into the first step when you have some speed behind you. I had planned to take a lesson last Wednesday and learn how to do so but the -20 something wind chill made me stay off the ice. I am not sure if I am a wimp or I just have not hardened up this winter. Watching the fast skaters gave me something to think about but no time to practice.
When the ice was ready L and I stepped onto the ice with our other competitors to warm up. I think there were 12 of us, a good number for the first 10K at the John Rose Open. I was excited that I was to have real competition in that I was not the only over 40 woman skating. I knew I would have to earn my medal in this race not just win it like I did in Bemidji.
We lined up at the starting line with 26 laps ahead of us. The gun shot was heard and I began to skate. The first turn was only in 50 meters so I did not have enough speed to even need a cross over step so I thought ok fine the next turn I will need to be ready. That is when I hit the straight away and the wind. I think the wind stood me straight up. Visions of my Bemidji race came into mind and I realized that this is something I will have to learn to overcome. For now though the next turn was nearing but without speed it did not matter. With the wind at my back I went quickly down the next straight away and was in a mini pack with a husband and wife couple. I thought I would be able to pass them until we hit the turn. Speed I had but this time the ice was so smooth I could not get a grip to do the cross over. I really need a lesson! The couple and I jockeyed around for first place in our little pack for a few laps and they they skated ahead and I never could catch them but finished only slightly behind.
As the race continued I was able to handle the cross overs at the down wind turn and never needed to use them in the windy turn. After 29:47 on the ice I skated across the finish line. The time was faster than I anticipated and I earned the silver medal.
I am happy with the race and know what I need to work on before the next 10K at the oval in January. So now a few hours after the race I am doing what I did last February in Bemidji, drinking a Guinness and looking at a medal. Cheers!
Now that we are into December, the weather decided to turn little more winter like here in Minnesota. The temperature dropped below freezing and the ice on the oval firmed up. I can skate a little faster when the ice is hard and not spongy. This should make for great ice for the Americas cup this weekend and the John Rose Oval next weekend.
The hard ice could not have come at a better time as I am now training for my second race. A 10K race was added to the John Rose Open and I will be one of the competitors. This will be a challenge for me as I finally feel somewhat confident on the cross over step. Last year in Bemidji I did not have to do a cross over because the track was 1K long. To get a feel for what the race will be like I skated 12 laps at a racing pace, which is just short of 5k on Wednesday evening. The skate went better than I thought it would and I actually felt good. With a few more days on the ice before the race I am sure to grow in confidence.
The Novice program started last Tuesday. One of the first comments A made was the amount of skaters was so much more than last year. When I talked to one of the women in charge she told me that there were 20 more skaters. That is wonderful news and I am sure part of the increase was due to the “learn to speed skate night” that was held a few weeks ago. As my children took the ice the coaches broke the skaters into different groups based on ability and years of skating on speed skates. Both of my children were placed in the same group with Erik as their coach. They had a great time and were so happy to be back in lessons. Thank you Erik for a great start to the season.
On Thursday night I walked around the oval while my children were on the ice. I had a blast watching the different groups of skaters and their coaches. There are some talented experience skaters and I believe that they will really grow in their skills this year under the guidance of their coaches. However the skaters that were the most fun to watch looked to be between 4 and 7 years old. One little girl in particular who looked to be 4 was flying along on the ice. I look forward to watching her in the future. She may one day be an Olympian.
My family will be back on the ice Saturday night hopefully with a car load of friends. We love skating and so enjoy our time on the ice as a family. We are trying to expose others to this great sport. Even if we do not get them on long blades, I am content as long as they enjoy their time on the ice. There is one person that I wish I could get on the ice. My father who is 85 years old wants to skate like he did in his childhood. He dreams of the feeling of flying across the ice every time we talk about skating. My mother and I have both vetoed his request of finding his old skates and driving him to the oval. If only there was a way to turn back the clock on his aging body and let him skate again.
It was a great week on the ice!
Reaching for something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it. Release your inhibitions. Feel the rain on your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips. Drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten.
Natasha Bedingfield- Unwritten (2005)
So the season has started and I have been working towards the goal of a 59:59 25k marathon. It is going to take A LOT of hard work. And what is like the nagging little piece of toilet paper on the sole of my shoe? 29 seconds. Only 29 seconds separated a gold and a silver medal for the senior women during the National Marathon Championships last season. And even though I held onto the race in the final laps (thank you Mr. Man who broke wind for me!), I know this year is on and C will not be going down without a fight. So the 59:59 is beckoning me and the 29 second piece of toilet paper will be hanging off my shoe reminding me that I won’t be going too far. Yes, it is going to be a season of hard work.
So since I haven’t blogged in a while. What have I been up to?
Well, I have been speedskating at the oval. I actually was at the oval on Wednesday during the ‘try speedskating’ night. It was cool being on the ice with some of my favorite speedskaters. Joe, president of the Greater Minnesota Speedskating Association was out skating. I have a great respect for Joe, when I skated my first National Marathon- I really sucked, but Joe stayed outside the entire time and cheered me on until I finished. He then invited me to come into the heated trailer to warm up. It was a blessing as Erik and I were totally unprepared for the entire race (we’ve learned a lot since then). So last year when my 50k race went to shambles I stayed out taking pictures (see the Spring 2009 issue of Racing Blade) and cheered for every last skater and Joe was out there too.
So D and I got to skate for a while with Joe on Wednesday. It was great fun as he was trying to work on my bad technique- I am not sure if he reads this blog but if he does, I will let him leave a comment about my really bad looking skating technique. Joe also decided to challenge my fear of drafting- I know. I know. Drafting is a must for a 59:59 marathon. All of a sudden coming down the back straightaway I felt that eerie feeling of someone in your personal space and there was Joe drafting off of me. Thanks Joe!
In conclusion from the ‘try speedskating’ event, I need to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT to Midway Speedskating, Roseville Novice Program, and Greater Minnesota Speedskating Association for the excellently run event. It was so nice to see that many kids out there trying speedskating and they gave those of us that were out for a ‘recreational’ skate enough room to still safely skate.
Continuing on this quest for the 59:59 marathon. I tried slideboarding with 1994 Olympian Chantal (-Dunn -Bailey) Cermak of the Bemidji Speedskating club. I was a miserable failure at the attempt- ask her youngest daughter and middle son who I provided some great entertainment at my awful attempt. I am not sure how many times Chantal’s son told me it wasn’t scary. The entire day was a great time, I love the city of Bemidji, and to top it off we surprised Chantal- as she thought I was going to call and train her about her new website (did you see it? http://www.bemidjispeedskating.org/) and then I called and said, “I really need directions to your house!” I know Chantal (who I know is a reader of this blog)- Erik and I have to move up there.
And finally, since I really want to skate this sub-hour marathon, it is really an annoying beckoning force in front of me. I have also scored well on the craigslist.com and found myself a cycleops. It is so nice to be able to bike indoors, even though we have had an uncharateristically warm November. For $40 I got the cycelops and a smooth wheel SCORE! I also earned myself a slideboard through a bet with my husband. That will be a project for this weekend.
Camille
Lisa
Dorothy
