(no subject)
The Northbrook and Evanston races occurred last weekend. These two races were my first competitions in an A category and I went in fully expecting to have my ass handed to me. I came away unsurprised. Should have recognized a shadow of things to come when I saw Mary Grace there and discovered that she was competing.
The Juvenile and Open classes were combined at Northbrook and, as a result, we had a huge class. The races were separated into heats. The 1000 (what I believe to be my best race) was a dramatic failure. Determined to get a good position in the pack immediately after the start I pushed too hard and ended up wiping out before completing the first turn. Could not recover after that. Automatic B final. The final was more disastrous. After another weak start ended up falling behind someone not altogether fast. Made a decent pass and tried to sit on the back of the lead pack (the “fast of the slow”) but noticed some strange feeling in the way my left foot was tracking. Realized I couldn’t catch up and tried to sit out for a strong finish only to have my foot go inside one of the blocks. I realized it as soon as it happened, stood up and went in the middle to accept my DQ. It was only once the race was over did I realize that the blade on my left foot had completely shifted to the inside. I fixed this in between races.
The 500 was next. This was separated into quarter finals. A slow start caused me to be dropped out of the semis and put automatically in the C final. (Never been in a C final before.) C final start was better but still very lame.
These were the two races I was focused on and they were done before the day was half over. We had a lunch break and I stuffed myself with pasta while hoping that the 3000 would be cancelled. The 1500 was also separated into heats but I wasn’t too concerned. I knew I’d end up in the B final but I just wanted to finish the race without looking like a complete douchebag. Even with all the monotonous fifteens we’ve been doing at practice (the only thing we’ve been doing at practice) thirteen and a half laps is still a long way to skate.
Decent start in the B final but still couldn’t catch up to the lead pack. Decided to sit behind this one little guy and draft. This required so little focus that for the first time I could hear people shouting at me in the stands. “On the inside!” “Set it up!” “Come on!” etc. It was apparent to them that I was faster than the guy I was following (which I was) but I had no intention of blowing up with five laps to go. When I hear the bell (signifying that the leader was now on his last lap) I easily took the kid on the inside and made a run for it. By this time I was tired anyway and the kid was hot on my heels. I didn’t know how close he was as I neared the finish line so I stuck out my foot just for good measure (out of the corner of my eye I could see he was doing the same) and relaxed for a moment before the starter reminded us that we still had one to go. (I had forgotten that we’d been lapped.) I tried to hold him off but I was cooked and he passed me with half a lap left.
It turns out that no one wanted to do the 3000 so it was cancelled. A 3000m relay was held in its stead. I decided (for no reason I can remember) to take part in this “fun” race and ended up being grouped with two “A final” skaters. One of whom was the star of the show: a national champion. A three-man relay was no easy feat, especially considering we were doing lap-and-a-half exchanges. The experience wasn’t too bad except for the fact that at some point I aggravated the groin injury from seventh grade.
The Evanston race wasn’t too bad, considering. Most of the crowd from the previous day didn’t show up and we only ended up have four competitors. Based on how I was feeling from the previous day (namely the injury) I made the decision beforehand that I would not skate the 3000. It would be my second Open A race and the last race of the season so I was not too concerned with my “standings.” No heats that day, something for which I was thankful. My performance in the 1000 and 500 were satisfactory. I ended up in fourth (last) as expected but I didn’t get lapped. Ended up finishing with 2:01.790 in the 1000 and 0:55.920 in the 500. The 1500 (again, after lunch) was a different matter. My time was actually 16 seconds slower than the previous day. (This was undoubtedly due to the fact that nobody wanted to lead the race out. We literally spent the first two laps laughing and joking with each other skating slowly.) With 11 laps to go, Landon (the national champ) took off and we all followed. I felt bad when he came around to lap me and told me to sit on him (meaning that I should follow closely behind him and draft) and then felt even worse when I realized that I couldn’t catch him to do this.
As I was getting dressed after the 1500, I was told that the 3000 would be cancelled again and instead it was decided to do another 1000 “for times.” At this point I decided that I could do another nine laps without it being too detrimental to my physical wellbeing and began to undress and prepare for the next race. Everything was good until I got to the line when it was decided that we would do a 3000 anyway. Needless to say, I was shocked and outraged at this. I had no intention of doing twenty seven laps (that day) and would not have gotten on the ice if I had known. As soon as I made my intentions clear (in crotchety old-man fashion) many people in the judging box protested. “It’s too late! You’re already on the ice!” I cared not at all for this line of reasoning and was prepared to get off the ice straight away. It was only after one of the officials on the ice suggested that I do a 1000 and then come in the middle that I decided to stay. The gun went off and I took a pretty good start. Landon and Denton (surprisingly) followed at my pace which was not a 3000m pace at all. (I later discovered that many people watching thought I had something secretly tucked away that they didn’t know about given my super aggressive start.) After nine laps I came in the middle and watched the end of the race. (The guy from IndySpeed-the one who seemed like a jerk and that Denton openly disliked-left before the 3000.) As I made small laps inside the track during the race, Jihan (who was chasing blocks) told me from the corner of the rink to keep skating. I very openly gave her a thumbs down.
The Juvenile and Open classes were combined at Northbrook and, as a result, we had a huge class. The races were separated into heats. The 1000 (what I believe to be my best race) was a dramatic failure. Determined to get a good position in the pack immediately after the start I pushed too hard and ended up wiping out before completing the first turn. Could not recover after that. Automatic B final. The final was more disastrous. After another weak start ended up falling behind someone not altogether fast. Made a decent pass and tried to sit on the back of the lead pack (the “fast of the slow”) but noticed some strange feeling in the way my left foot was tracking. Realized I couldn’t catch up and tried to sit out for a strong finish only to have my foot go inside one of the blocks. I realized it as soon as it happened, stood up and went in the middle to accept my DQ. It was only once the race was over did I realize that the blade on my left foot had completely shifted to the inside. I fixed this in between races.
The 500 was next. This was separated into quarter finals. A slow start caused me to be dropped out of the semis and put automatically in the C final. (Never been in a C final before.) C final start was better but still very lame.
These were the two races I was focused on and they were done before the day was half over. We had a lunch break and I stuffed myself with pasta while hoping that the 3000 would be cancelled. The 1500 was also separated into heats but I wasn’t too concerned. I knew I’d end up in the B final but I just wanted to finish the race without looking like a complete douchebag. Even with all the monotonous fifteens we’ve been doing at practice (the only thing we’ve been doing at practice) thirteen and a half laps is still a long way to skate.
Decent start in the B final but still couldn’t catch up to the lead pack. Decided to sit behind this one little guy and draft. This required so little focus that for the first time I could hear people shouting at me in the stands. “On the inside!” “Set it up!” “Come on!” etc. It was apparent to them that I was faster than the guy I was following (which I was) but I had no intention of blowing up with five laps to go. When I hear the bell (signifying that the leader was now on his last lap) I easily took the kid on the inside and made a run for it. By this time I was tired anyway and the kid was hot on my heels. I didn’t know how close he was as I neared the finish line so I stuck out my foot just for good measure (out of the corner of my eye I could see he was doing the same) and relaxed for a moment before the starter reminded us that we still had one to go. (I had forgotten that we’d been lapped.) I tried to hold him off but I was cooked and he passed me with half a lap left.
It turns out that no one wanted to do the 3000 so it was cancelled. A 3000m relay was held in its stead. I decided (for no reason I can remember) to take part in this “fun” race and ended up being grouped with two “A final” skaters. One of whom was the star of the show: a national champion. A three-man relay was no easy feat, especially considering we were doing lap-and-a-half exchanges. The experience wasn’t too bad except for the fact that at some point I aggravated the groin injury from seventh grade.
The Evanston race wasn’t too bad, considering. Most of the crowd from the previous day didn’t show up and we only ended up have four competitors. Based on how I was feeling from the previous day (namely the injury) I made the decision beforehand that I would not skate the 3000. It would be my second Open A race and the last race of the season so I was not too concerned with my “standings.” No heats that day, something for which I was thankful. My performance in the 1000 and 500 were satisfactory. I ended up in fourth (last) as expected but I didn’t get lapped. Ended up finishing with 2:01.790 in the 1000 and 0:55.920 in the 500. The 1500 (again, after lunch) was a different matter. My time was actually 16 seconds slower than the previous day. (This was undoubtedly due to the fact that nobody wanted to lead the race out. We literally spent the first two laps laughing and joking with each other skating slowly.) With 11 laps to go, Landon (the national champ) took off and we all followed. I felt bad when he came around to lap me and told me to sit on him (meaning that I should follow closely behind him and draft) and then felt even worse when I realized that I couldn’t catch him to do this.
As I was getting dressed after the 1500, I was told that the 3000 would be cancelled again and instead it was decided to do another 1000 “for times.” At this point I decided that I could do another nine laps without it being too detrimental to my physical wellbeing and began to undress and prepare for the next race. Everything was good until I got to the line when it was decided that we would do a 3000 anyway. Needless to say, I was shocked and outraged at this. I had no intention of doing twenty seven laps (that day) and would not have gotten on the ice if I had known. As soon as I made my intentions clear (in crotchety old-man fashion) many people in the judging box protested. “It’s too late! You’re already on the ice!” I cared not at all for this line of reasoning and was prepared to get off the ice straight away. It was only after one of the officials on the ice suggested that I do a 1000 and then come in the middle that I decided to stay. The gun went off and I took a pretty good start. Landon and Denton (surprisingly) followed at my pace which was not a 3000m pace at all. (I later discovered that many people watching thought I had something secretly tucked away that they didn’t know about given my super aggressive start.) After nine laps I came in the middle and watched the end of the race. (The guy from IndySpeed-the one who seemed like a jerk and that Denton openly disliked-left before the 3000.) As I made small laps inside the track during the race, Jihan (who was chasing blocks) told me from the corner of the rink to keep skating. I very openly gave her a thumbs down.