Brock Miron - Canadian Speed Skating Team
This is Brock’s 6th year on the Canadian National Speed Skating team. A student training out of Calgary AB, Brock began speed skating at the age of 14. When not on the ice Brock plays soccer, volleyball, and enjoys reading and working with computers. Going forward look for Brock to lean toward the coaching side of the sport as he already helps with the Calgary Speed Skating Club.
December 7th, 2009 - "... I've found a nice head space and am kind of at peace..."
Things are definitely coming up fast now, as I’m just two and a half weeks from our Olympic Trials. Last time I checked in I was half way through my one and only World Cup event of the Fall season, in Berlin, Germany. My second race, that I was feeling much better about leading into, went marginally better. That wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but as it wasn’t worse, I guess it was a step in the right direction. Since that time I spent a couple days at home in Richmond, training there at the Oval, and then flew to Calgary on the 17th of November. I have been living and training here in Calgary ever since. It’s nice to once again be on faster ice, as I feel that it suits my style of skating a little better. The last few weeks of training and racing have been a bit of a struggle still. Those issues that I mentioned earlier that I was having technically haven’t fully resolved themselves, and so my racing results have been quite a bit slower than I was hoping. The particulars involve an issue with my left hip, and an inability to get into the right position in the corners without discomfort. I’m working diligently with the support guys to at least get my body to 100% so that I have a chance of fixing the technical issue. My natural reaction is to freak out a little bit because trials are quickly approaching and I’m not skating overly close to how I want. However, I’ve found a nice head space and am kind’ve at peace with just keeping it relaxed, and just trying to enjoy myself when I train. I got mad and frustrated and that didn’t work very well, so I’ll try it this way. Whether it works or not, doesn’t matter because I’m going to enjoy myself along the way.
Here in Calgary the weather is really cold! The past three or four days have been -20⁰C or colder, and we were hit with at least a foot of snow. The weather has made me appreciate just how mild it is in Richmond, and if you don’t get twenty-two days of rain in a row it’s a really nice place to live. I’m commuting back and forth from the house here where I’m living and the Oval on a mountain bike, so with all the snow and cold weather I’ve managed to only bail two or three times.
Just this past weekend an all-distance World Cup was held here in Calgary. Our team skated real well, particularly our girls, and we walked away with quite a few medals. My teammate Jamie Gregg got his first World Cup medal, a bronze in the 500m which was awesome. That guy is skating real fast right now, and definitely has a shot at a medal in Vancouver. My best buddy Mike Ireland also competed and had one good race in the 500m, but struggled in his second race, because his wife gave birth to his daughter two hours prior. Yes, you heard me, his wife gave birth to their daughter at 8:19 am last Saturday, and Mike left the hospital soon after and went and raced. Talk about leaving one stressful situation (and joyful!) and going into another! Anyhow, since then mom and baby have returned home and all is well in the newly expanded Ireland home. Mike, your daughter is the cutest little baby in the world. Nice work!
Also over the past weekend, Joanna flew in to visit me. It had been over three weeks since I’d seen her, so it was nice to have her around again. As I wasn’t competing in the races over the weekend I had a few days off, so it was good timing on her part. The weather prevented us from doing a whole lot, but we still got some quality time in together. We hung out with some of our non-skater friends, and we went to see the second Twilight movie at the theatre, which I enjoyed. The story is geared to a slightly younger audience, but as I kept that in mind throughout I thought it was a pretty fun story. The next time I see Jo will be after Christmas on the 26th, and my 500m race is the next day so it will be good to have her in town to watch.
Mentioning Christmas has reminded me that I have to think of presents to give, and ideas for presents for myself to tell others about. Anything electronic is usually a good bet for me, but I guess I should poke around online for some specifics. Until next time,
-Brock-
November 6th, 2009 - "... When the speed isn't coming easy, the brain starts analyzing every little thing..."
Well it’s been quite a while since I last checked in, and quite a bit has gone on, so I’ll try and squeeze in as much as I can. Last time I was preparing for the Fall World Cup trials, in mid October. That competition determined who would be on the racing team for the World Cups until the Olympic Trials in December. Leading into the competition I was struggling with a few things technically about my skating that were costing me some speed. I remained optimistic about things and went into the competition ready to go fast and make the racing team. I ended up putting together some OK skating, but far from what I was expecting, and thus did not qualify for the racing team in the fall. Obviously I was very disappointed, as I felt that my progression through the end of summer and the early fall was a good enough build that I’d have a good couple weeks of skating and end things up with a good competition. Whether it was physically something was off or something with my equipment, or both, the bottom line was I wasn’t going to be competing at the World Cups in the fall, and had to figure out exactly what the reasons were for my lack of speed out on the ice. With that in mind, I smothered my disappointment and got back to work.
Let me tell you, when things are going well, speed skating, like most things I suppose, is pretty easy. The brain kind’ve slows down, and most things go on autopilot, and your able to really just focus on one or two little things in order to get that little bit of extra speed. Everything seems to take care of itself and building and maintaining confidence is a breeze. On the flip side, when the speed isn’t coming easy, the brain starts analyzing every little thing, searching, dismissing, over analyzing, trying to find or remember that feel that brought about the easy speed. All this mental battling of course seems to convince the brain that it just has to work harder at it, continue to search, and analyze everything, and hopefully eventually things will come around. Unfortunately this over activity usually doesn’t lead to the right solution, but sometimes leads to changing things in the technique that are done well. You can see how that might be a problem. All of a sudden it isn’t just one or two little things that need to be fixed, but many different things, that then add to searching and over analyzing even more! This scenario is something that I found myself in, and to this moment although getting better, still trying to crawl out of.
The first World Cup of the 2009/10 season is in Berlin, Germany. Last season two of my teammates competed there and both fell in their races and severely injured themselves, ending both of their seasons. Both of them, having qualified ahead of me at Fall Trials, declined to return to Berlin for the competition this season. That happening along with some other things, meant all of a sudden I was informed that if I wanted to compete, Speed Skating Canada would send me to Berlin to race the 500 meters. If I had qualified legitimately I would have went anyway, so I accepted, and late last week on Saturday flew over to Germany.
Having not competed at a World Cup since I injured myself and had surgery in 2007, I was very excited to be back travelling and competing internationally. I came into this week still struggling with some things, but determined to use the competitive environment as positively as I could, to help bring back the love on the ice. Right away when I stepped on the ice for the first time, things started to feel better. The ice here has quite a bit more glide in it than Richmond, and the turn radius of the corners is smaller thus making them tighter to get around. This change instantly got me feeling things better on the ice, and has helped me figure out some of those technical points that I changed/forgotten. I had a pretty good week of training, and most importantly I felt a touch of the speed that had been missing (what seemed all my life).
Today was my first of two 500 meter races this competition. The race wasn’t nearly as fast I’d hoped, which one might think to be disappointing, however looking back on it, I KNOW why it didn’t go well. Before, I was almost confused as to why the speed wasn’t there. On my backstretch today, I got just a tiny taste of speed, and I remember that feeling and what I did to get it. In my 100 meter opener, I had a stumble off the line, and scrambled to catch up, not taking the time to feel the pressure on every push. Doing this meant a higher than wanted body position through the first turn. Being high through the first turn led to not taking an extra cross-over exiting the turn, which led to entering the second turn too shallow. Too shallow in an outer turn takes away lean, which basically increases the deceleration for the remainder of the race. Everything that went wrong though doesn’t negate the fact that for about 2.5 seconds while going down the backstretch, I felt the pressure and speed. That is what I will take away from today so that when I race again on Sunday, I will be able to remember that feel and know how to replicate it.
Next time will hopefully not be as long coming as this, and I’ll tell how well things went! Until then, Auf wiedersehen.
September 29th, 2009 - "... I want to WIN..."
It’s great to finally be back home. Although we had a pretty decent setup at the rental house in Calgary, sleeping in my own bed and comfortable surroundings is definitely better. Joanna and the cats seemed to have held down the fort while I was away quite nicely, which I’m obviously happy about, and meant I only had a little bit of spot cleaning to do when I got back on Sunday. We had really weird weather in Calgary while the team was there. There were a few days of 10-12ºC and then we had a couple record breaking 32-34ºC days all in the same week. Swings in the weather like that sure make things difficult at night, because the house starts out super hot, so I open all the windows, but then by about 4am the house is 10 degrees! And I’m freezing! I don’t have to worry too much about that here at home. It’s 15ºC and overcast, has been that way since I got home, and is supposed to be that way for the next week!
Since I last checked in we officially started our racing season. First races of the season are a real treat mentally. All spring and summer long I’m working on improving weaknesses, getting bigger and stronger, and generally pumping myself up into believing that I can go faster than ever before. The problem with the first race is I have that belief but I don’t yet have that race sharpness. I’ll go 100% in practice and skate fast. In the race, (at least early on) I try to go 101% because I want to go faster than practice, and I want to WIN, which is silly because going 101% doesn’t make me any faster, in fact I go slower. That’s why the first races are so difficult mentally. This year my first race was a 500 meter sprint, that basically, when the gun went off my mind shut off, and I auto-piloted the race. Not good. The time was definitely slower than I was hoping, but on a positive note, I did afterwards notice that my opening 100 meters was as fast as any that I skated all season last year, which is a good sign of things to come hopefully. My second race, the 1000 meters, was a few hours later and having analyzed what happened earlier in the 500, I made sure that I kept things a little more under control. Being in the moment and in control is definitely better! I skated much smoother, and felt some real speed like I do in practice, and again was a very good sign of things to come later in the season.
The last week in Calgary was fairly routine as far as camps go. With racing on the weekend, the weeks now are structured very similar. Monday and Tuesday are high intensity days, while Wednesday and Thursday are recovery and technical days, and Friday is race preparation for the weekend. The only out of the ordinary that went on last week was a golf game on Wednesday with my buddy Matt who got married last month. It was an executive course (par 68) and I shot an 84. That’s only 16 over par baby!!! I had several missed birdie putts too. I think I need a new putter…
I rounded out the month long camp with a final day of racing last Saturday. Again I raced both the 500 and 1000 meter. My 500 was much better, than the previous week, my time was 35.36 seconds. That time is only two tenths of a second slower than my fastest time all season last year. My 100 meter opener was even slower than the previous week, so I know that with better execution soon I’ll be back to, and even better than, pre-surgery times. Exciting! Unfortunately in the 1000 meter race, I lightly pulled my left quadriceps muscle. I’ve been laid up here back home for the last couple days rehabbing it back to normal, and it feels good enough that I should be back onto the ice tomorrow. Tight muscles and strains are pretty normal for this time of the year as we are doing a lot more high intensity stuff with all the races on the weekends. Normally the body has the weekend to recover, but when we race we are hitting the flexors and adductors, so they don’t get those few extra days to recover. The body will adapt eventually and I just have to be careful and really stay on top of all my regeneration/massage/stretching and I’ll be fine.
I have what should be an interesting event for the Hudson’s Bay Company later this week, at which I’ll be modeling some of the new replica Olympic gear. Should be fun, and hopefully I’ll get to keep some of it, just to tidy me over till the real stuff comes in. **wink**. Until next time,
September 16th, 2009 - "Speed has to come easy."
Another couple weeks of out of town training camps have gone by and I’ve still got another week and a half to go! This will officially be the longest training camp that I’ve ever been on. The last time I’d been away from home for so long was when I raced in the Olympics in 2006. I need to keep in mind that it’s just over half way through the camp, so it’s a little early to be getting antsy.
We arrived in Calgary on Sunday evening. We were supposed to arrive in the afternoon but delays due to fog in San Francisco pushed things back a few hours. In most situations I like to have things run just so, but I find that the moment I step foot into an airport I mellow right out. Nothing seems to faze me at the airport. It’s amusing to see people all stressed out and crazy, when really there is nothing to be done. Maybe it’s all the exercises that I’ve perfected to cope with the stress of race days that keep things in line. The last time we were in Calgary I was staying on campus in the University residence buildings, but as school is back in session we’re no longer permitted that particular convenience. This time around SSC (Speed Skate Canada) rented a house for a bunch of us for the duration of the camp. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, our December Olympic Trials are being held in Calgary rather than Richmond so this house we’re living in now will be where we stay at that time as well. This means I now have the luxury of making it (at least my bedroom) as comfy and Brock-ish as I’d like. I’m staying with my same two teammates as in Rez, and they’re good guys so I’m cool with it. Joanna visiting over Christmas might be an issue, but I’m the oldest guy in the house so I’ll just have to pull the seniority card, and hope for the best.
The last week of the camp in Salt Lake City went pretty well. The group is starting to focus more and more on race-like speed and explosive opener training. This is the type of training that I live for. Max speed is what speed skating is all about. We’ve had to wait this long to develop the strength and fitness over the summer first before we can really hit the top speed workouts. I’m skating laps close to my pre-injury times, which is very encouraging, especially this early in the season.
One of the best kept secrets out of Utah has to be the cheap golf. Comparing prices and quality of courses in Vancouver and surrounding area, and even Calgary to golf in Utah is a joke! I played courses that would cost me $80-$90 a round in Vancouver or Calgary, for $28! *Note to self*: Utah might be a good place to retire to and play golf everyday. I played four rounds of golf over the two weeks that I was there. My game didn’t improve any, but I had a lot of fun.
This weekend will be my first race of the season. Starting mid September, the Oval in Calgary holds ‘weekend racing series’. These are just training races that we do to get in the reps before the big competitions start at the end of October. There is a very significant difference between an all-out rep in practice and a race. No matter how hard you want to push things in practice it never seems to feel the same as a race. The chemistry in the body is just different. The race requires you to manage how your body feels. Nerves and arousal levels have to be kept in check, and the mind has to be quieter. In practice I could be thinking of five or more specific skills that I’m trying to master, whereas in a race, because things are more vamped up I have to pick just one or two to focus on. If I’m thinking of any more than two technical points than I risk over-analyzing things throughout, tightening up and never really executing any one thing really well. Speed has to come easy. If the speed isn’t coming easy, it means I want it too much and am fighting for it and I generally end up going slower - funny how that works.
With racing season starting, things are really starting to hit home that the Olympics in Vancouver aren’t all that far away. The final push has arrived. Soon the hard training will end and racing will begin. At that point how things turn out will be more reliant on how talented and mentally tough I am, rather than how hard I train, as like I said, the training aspect is virtually over. Exciting times!!
September 3rd, 2009 - "From here on in, every day counts."
It’s been two busy weeks since I last checked in, so there should be lots of interesting tidbits to talk about. My good friend Matt got married this past weekend in Calgary to a very nice girl that he’s dated since our early university days. Matty and I grew up together in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. I’d spent three years in Rocky, and as mentioned before that was where I was introduced to speed skating. Matt and I were fast buddies and had many of the same interests. We’d spent a lot of time hanging out and playing various sports together. When I moved away to Calgary prior to my graduating year, we didn’t hang out all that much and eventually when he moved to Calgary to go to university we hung out occasionally but not as much as before. I ended up focusing most of my time on skating while he became engrossed in an engineering degree. He asked me to be one of his groomsmen, which I thought was certainly nice of him. Being a groomsman however meant that there was no way I could miss his Stag Party, which took place the weekend before the wedding. I used some aeroplan points to fly to Calgary for two days for the Stag, came back for a week of training, then took a one-way flight back to Calgary again the next weekend for the wedding. I flew one-way to Calgary because this week the team is at a two week training camp in Salt Lake City for altitude and faster ice. So I was flown from Calgary to Salt Lake to meet up with the guys.
The Stag party was fun, and that’s all I’ll say about that. You understand of course. The wedding was a nice Catholic ceremony, and the reception was also filled with good times. I met up with quite a few people that I’d not seen in nearly ten years, which is always fun. In particular I had a nice chat with my old Phys Ed. Teach Jim Desjardins. Jim was quite influential during those transition years where competitive sport could have went either “just for fun” or “I want to win”. He, like my dad saw some sort of competitive fire within me and really encouraged my drive for excellence.
Joanna came along for the wedding, which I enjoyed for obvious reasons. After the two weeks in Salt Lake City, the team heads directly to Calgary for another two week training camp. I’ll be away from home for a whole month, so having Joanna come along to the wedding meant four less days that I’d be away. But as it turned out, by being involved in the wedding party, I was with my buddy Matt for a lot of the weekend. Jo and I didn’t get as much time together as I’d have liked, but being with her even a little is better than not at all, I say.
The wedding was my last little breather before the big push to February. From here on in, every day counts. All the little things that I can do from now until the Games can all add up to that perfect performance. These last six months are essentially the most important half year of my skating career. I’m coming off a serious injury and really haven’t seen just how much my ankle will affect me. That being the case if I want to overcome and reach those goals that I’ve dreamed of since I first started skating, I have to look at each and every moment as another opportunity to get better.
For the camp, the team is staying up the mountain in Park City, about thirty minutes from Salt Lake. The reason is to gain that little more altitude in order to better boost our oxygen transport systems. Better Oxygen transportation means we can push our bodies harder in training.
Park City is much like Whistler in that it’s a resort town that caters to the rich ski hill lifestyle. Every second car is a Porsche or Ferrari, or some other really expensive automobile, so if you are into that you’d be in heaven here. I personally am not an automobile guru, but I do appreciate a nice ride when I see one. There is relatively cheap golf here and I brought my clubs with me so hopefully I’ll get out at least a couple times with some of my teammates for a round.
Next time won’t be as scattered brained as this, I promise.
August 21st, 2009 - "... You have to take the bad along with the good, and move on."
This past weekend saw the departure of my parents from their holiday visit to the coast, and the beginning of a partial rest week. I say partial rest because normally after a three week training build we have at least a couple days off. In this case, we’re getting no days off, only our sessions are just a little shorter and a bit more intense (i.e. maximum speed). Next week will be similar to this, and that should make up for the lack of any days off this week. The reasoning behind this madness is my teammates and I will be spending the entire month of September at training camp, first in Salt Lake City for two weeks, and then another two weeks in Calgary. In order to get the most out of the camps, days off might throw off the skating technique when we want it to be sharp. A whole month away from home is not exactly something to look forward to, but it’s necessary as the two most important fall World Cup races will be held in Salt Lake and Calgary this November.
The weather hasn’t been all that super lately so on Wednesday when the sun looked to be going strong, I along with two of my teammates took off to the Spanish Bank beaches for the afternoon. It was nice to get some sun, toss around the football and even take a dip in the ocean. Having speed skating training in the morning and then relaxing at the beach in the afternoon is a pretty cool concept, and something I would never have imagined if I was still training in Calgary. Vancouver (and Richmond) is such a cool place to live in that regard.
Yesterday afternoon once training was done for the day, Mike Ireland, a teammate and good buddy, and I went and played a round of golf at the Mylora executive course here in Richmond. It was the first time either of us had played there and besides some bare tee boxes it was a decent course for the price. I started out the round in pretty rough shape, duffing shots all over the place. At one point I toed a tee shot that went almost directly perpendicular to where I was aiming, and missed smoking this older lady in the head by about three feet. It was pretty rough. I cleaned up my game by the back nine and at the end was finally hitting my irons like I can. It was a terrible way to play a round, as the beginning kills your score, but the end just leaves you believing you could have shot soooo much better, and wanting more. The result is more punishment next time, but oh well.
Today we finished off the training week with some all out 600 meter sets. In the past we’ve just been doing a couple of these for the practice, but this time coach laid into us a bit and had us do four. I started out the first going pretty quick, but today the legs just didn’t have the lasting power they normally do, and I quickly dropped off in speed. Having that happen is pretty disappointing but you can’t light it up everyday, so you have to take the bad along with the good, and move on. There will be plenty of other similar workouts that I’ll be able to crush later in the year.
August 13th, 2009 - "... As it's the best skating Oval in the world"
This past week saw my parents fly in from Ottawa for a visit. They moved back to Cornwall, Ontario in early 2008, and other than a small visit in Quebec City while I was there for a competition, I haven’t seen them since. They seem to be doing well, which is good, and obviously happy to see my brother and me. They made their first visit to the Oval here in Richmond, which for anyone is an awesome experience, as it’s the best skating oval in the world. With the weather not exactly cooperating, we’ve just been spending time in the evenings catching up and watching the occasional Blu-ray. They’ll be here for just a few more days and then its back East until, hopefully if all goes well, Olympic Games time.
The Discovery Channel was hanging around the oval this past week shooting some features on a few of the ‘Top Secret’ projects that have been cooking in wait for the Games in February. Obviously I can’t disclose any details now, but the Special will be aired a couple weeks before the games in January. You should see at least a bit of me on the show as I was asked to be involved in a couple of the shots. At first I was just going to be providing what they call B-Reel (I think), which is just stock footage; in this case just me skating. As we got into it, however, we got creative with some lipstick cameras for some first-person shots and got into some interviews and talking about blades and such. Hopefully I’ll make it through the editing process and get on the show as that would be pretty cool.
On the 12th a teammate of mine had her Birthday. Happy Birthday Cindy!! I won’t mention Ms. Klassen’s age is as it’s not proper to converse about a lady’s age, especially behind her back. She’s coming back to training after knee surgery, and from someone who knows about coming back from injury, it’s tough. She looks as strong as ever though and is going to kick butt this year!
The week of training was very similar to last week in terms of the program, so I’ll spare you the details about the workouts. We are working hard and getting better everyday and that’s what is important after all. One thing I guess worth mentioning is in regards to our weight session on Tuesday. A couple of us started using these new machines called Keiser equipment. It’s all located upstairs on the third level at the Oval, and any member can go up and use them. The equipment uses compressed air in order to create resistance. We were specifically using is to replace our squat exercises. We wear a special belt that hooks us up to cables on the floor, crank up the pressure/resistance and then squat. Normally for squats you have a bar with weights on your back, whereas with the Keiser equipment there is no bar. All the weight is around your waist. For those of us with occasional back issues due to overuse (i.e. being bent over for hours at a time for many many years) this concept is ingenious. I can simulate a pretty heavy squat without the danger of tweaking anything in my back. Just awesome. If you get a chance maybe go upstairs and try this stuff out.
August 7th, 2009 - "I think I got off the couch four times in two days."
So it’s been a couple weeks now since my last literary quest, so there should be lots to talk about this time around. Just before finishing up the camp in Calgary we had a back to back tempo day as we call it. Tempos are workouts that are intended to simulate a race atmosphere. Basically we are going all out for either one or two laps, preparing for the workout just like it were a race. For the team it was our first all out maximum effort on the ice of the season. I was quite pleased with how those two days went, as my speed is starting to be more and more like pre-injury feel out there on the ice. The other guys are skating well right now as well. Going as fast as we are this early in the season bodes well I think for when it really counts in February.
Over the rest of that week, I along with the rest of the guys, started to trickle back to Richmond and our homes. After a hard training camp we always have a few days completely off for recovery purposes and I must say that I was pretty productive during that time. I think I got off the couch four times in two days. As sprint athletes, rest is always good for the legs. Over time the nervous system gets worn out from explosive training and very little recovers the nervous system better than plain old chilling on the couch.
Joanna had her birthday over the long weekend, so I took her over to Vancouver Island to do some whale watching. It was a nice couple days, Sunday night we stayed at a nice bed and breakfast right in Sidney, had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in Victoria, and then on Monday morning got up early for some whale watching with Emerald Sea Adventures. Jeff Wonnenberg (A.K.A - Berger) is the owner operator of the business, and he’s just an awesome guy. He is super enthusiastic about the whales and really goes out of his way to make the trip personable and a lasting experience. I happened to know him from an earlier trip that my teammates and I went on in June, so I knew a bit of what to expect, but Joanna was totally blown away by the experience. I think we saw at least forty whales, which is apparently a pretty darn good trip, so that was great. Berger, thanks buddy for the great trip!
This week we resumed training in earnest, with some tough aerobic power intervals on the ice. These intervals are almost all out and you do a fair amount of them with a short amount of rest in between. The idea is to teach your body to at first tolerate a large amount of lactic acid, and then improve your bodies’ ability to flush it from your muscles. Your tolerance of and ability to clear lactic acid is a huge part of going fast in speed skating. We came from fast ice in Calgary to slower ice here in Richmond, which takes a bit of getting used to, which also can affect a workout in various different ways. Lower air pressure in Calgary due to altitude means you can glide longer on your blades, so your stride frequency is lower, whereas in Richmond you have less glide, so you have to bump up the leg speed.
The rest of the week featured some time in the weight room, skating imitation in front of the mirror, and some sprint work on the ice and on the track with the spikes. Those sprint workouts are tough on my body, but I really need to hit those as my openers and early acceleration phases in my race are my weakest area. With my ankle still (an probably always) not quite 100% I’ll always struggle during the early part of my race, but I really think that with continued power work and technical tweaking of the opener, I’ll be able go as fast as I need to.
I’m off for some physio treatment to hopefully fix some tightness and some mechanical problem I have in my low back. Should be good times!
July 23rd, 2009 - "The camp here in Calgary, is winding down..."
The camp here in Calgary, is winding down, and I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty excited at the prospect of heading home. I miss my own bed, my girlfriend, and my two cats. Being away at a camp frees up your time from a lot of little things that need to be done when you’re at home, so you can focus solely on the training. That being said however, I think over time you need to get back to that normal routine, your home surroundings, otherwise you burn out. I’m definitely close to that point, and counting the days left till my flight home.
On a fairly regular basis, about every two months or so, the team goes through a series of standard tests in order to see where we are physically throughout the season. When in Calgary, these are done at the Human Performance Lab at the University Kinesiology department. After a fair amount of pinching, pokes and prods, a few tough tests on the bike, and some other fun stuff, they tell us how far along we are compared to previous seasons. It’s all very interesting and useful, especially for coach who will use this information in order to properly construct the next phase of the training program. If as a group, we are all really strong and ahead of the curve compared to last year, than the programs to come will reflect that fact. Alternately, if we’re tired and not doing so well on the tests or the number are found wanting so to speak, than the program will have to be revised to reflect how we are feeling. This past week was a testing week; so on top of regular training, we all put in our time in the lab. I think that for me, despite feeling rather worn out, the testing went rather well. All the guys are looking strong on the bike, and it’s also reflecting on the ice as well. What that means I guess, is that coach has the go ahead to keep pounding us with tough programs to keep making us stronger. We’ll have one more month of long tough training before we start to ease off and focus on skating fast and technically perfect. It’s very difficult to do the weights, the hard bikes, and the long imitation workouts, and then expect to be fresh and explosive and technically solid on the ice, therefore we mix up the training in stages.
I’m still waiting for the Canucks to sign a puck moving defenseman, or a quarterback-type player for the power play. Not really sure what Mike Gillis is waiting for, but then again maybe he has some offer sheets on the table and just waiting for some to make their way back. I think Samuelsson was a great pick up and should pay dividends on the PP with that right handed shot. Time will tell I guess. I heard that the prospects had their yearly Grouse Grind training session, and I’d be interested to hear what kind’ve times they are posting to get up. I bet a few of those young guys can get up there pretty quick, maybe even quicker than I can. Maybe not.
I’m hoping to get out onto the golf course this weekend with some buddies before I go home. I’ll have to rent some clubs, as I left mine back in Richmond. To be honest I’ve been itching to try out some different clubs anyway which works out fine. I own a set of Nike half blades, which are ridiculously hard to hit. I was a bit dumb and thought that I’d purchase these, and then elevate my game in order to play them. What a bonehead move that was. I went from playing High 80s, to barely breaking 100 last year with these things, so maybe I need to get some easy-to-hit cavity backs again and bring back the love on the course. That or just chill out a bit and not be so darn competitive about it! I can’t help it though, as I don’t see the point of doing something I like just for the fun of it…have to be really good at it!
Well that’s it for today, we are finishing up the week with a bit of a hike along the Bow River which should be interesting as coach will undoubtedly have some whacky, yet productive exercises to do throughout.
July 16th, 2009 - "... A champion is made, not born."
After spending last week house-sitting for a friend while he was away working in Vancouver, I moved into Cascade Hall on campus here at the University of Calgary. Back home in Richmond, I live pretty darn close to the Olympic Oval, probably around an eight minute walk. That pales in comparison to being here! The convenience factor of living virtually right at the place I go to train everyday is incredible. I would imagine that most people would find living just seconds away from their place of work to be not all that awesome, unless you love your job like I do! I’m sharing a four bedroom rez-style apartment with two other of my teammates, who are both good guys, thus it works out quite well. It still seems weird to be back in Calgary training and not being “home”. Having spent almost twelve years living here and training at the Olympic Oval, it feels a bit off to be in a hotel, or residence. I’m making it work, however, and that’s what’s most important I guess.
The week of training was much as I expected. We are in the middle of a fairly large and difficult training block these days, so rest and time off is at a premium. On top of physical training, Coach has us doing a lot sport psych exercises. In particular yesterday we were doing memory and visualization exercises which were used in a competitive environment amongst the team. I did fairly well which was fine, but it made me think upon just how important the mental side of training is, and whether or not I’m spending enough time on my own working on it. A couple of my teammates were really quite good at the exercises, and they are skating pretty decent right now. It’s all part of the entire picture, and after all a champion is made, not born. Something I think I’ll chew on for a while and figure out how to get better at.
I was thinking of going to the theatre sometime this weekend to maybe take in the new Harry Potter film. I promised my girlfriend, who is back home in Richmond, that I would wait and go see it with her when I get home, but I’m unsure whether or not I have the will-power to keep my promise. I’ve had some time to peruse the trailers and the film looks to be pretty entertaining. The more grown up the characters get, the better the story gets in my opinion. I’ve read the books up to this current movie and will read HP6 after I watch the movie. I find that anytime I read a book first, the movie adaptation is always a bit disappointing, so I’m not going to make that mistake with these ones! Maybe I’ll be writing a small review of the film next week….but maybe not!
No real exciting plans over the next little bit, but then who knows what the future holds. Every day is an opportunity to grow after all.
July 9th, 2009 - "Hard work now means skating fast later!"
Throughout the season in order to mix up the training, Coach Crowe will have us leave Richmond for different training camps. Whether it be for altitude training, fast (or slow for that matter) ice training, or simply to get away from the routine in order to increase the focus, we throw in a two sometimes three week training camp. In the past, coach liked to go to Salt Lake City. We’d live at altitude in Park City, and then drive down the mountain to Salt Lake and skate and train at the Oval there. This year, we are lucky enough to have two indoor speed skating Ovals now, in Richmond and Calgary, so instead of having the camp in Salt Lake City, we’ve all headed back to our former home training facility at the Calgary Olympic Oval for a three week camp. Due to the altitude, the ice here in Calgary is faster than what we are used to back home in Richmond. It has a different feel as well due to the differences in the water used to make the ice. In Richmond the water is very soft, so in order to make it hard enough they have to bring down the temperature. This can create a “grippy” sort of feel to the ice. Here in Calgary the water used is harder so they can be a bit more flexible with the ice temperatures in order to get a good balance for gliding and grip in the turns. Transitioning from a slower grippier surface to a faster skating surface can be a bit challenging; however most of us have skated and trained in Calgary for most of our careers, so we get comfortable pretty quick.
This particular training camp got started off with a bang this week, with quite a bit of training volume. We’ve had several long two-a-days so far and we aren’t even through the first week! Typically in the summer we do the most volume of training. This creates a base fitness that will hopefully carry us through the entire racing season, which begins in late October. Hard work now means skating fast later!
This week is especially significant because today (Thursday) is my birthday! I won’t mention how old I am, because my biological age is like 25, and that’s all that counts. I was hoping for a round of golf, as it’s been tradition for the past few years to play a round with some of my buddies, but coach put a morning AND an afternoon training session today so there just wasn’t enough time. Maybe I’ll go on the weekend and just pretend. Dinner out with friends at a Mexican Restaurant (my favorite), and some pumpkin pie (also my favorite) were the highlights of the day.
Next week is more of the same, training, training, and more training on the horizon. I’ll be moving into the U of C residences for the remainder of the camp, which might prove interesting enough for a story…we’ll see!
July 2nd, 2009 - "If you’re going to do something, anything, do it with everything you’ve got."
We’d just had a tough loss to the Char-Lan Rebels in Morrisberg. I hadn’t had a particularly good game, and new that the interminable ride home to Cornwall was going to feature plenty of Dad’s opinion of that fact. Settling in for what I remember as the least enjoyable aspect of my minor hockey days, I prepared to reap the whirlwind.
“The wing is the most important position of the break-out! If you don’t get to the hash mark on time, you’re stuck in your end…” “You have to go to the net hard! Goals are scored when you go to the net…” “You need to get more ice time. After the whistle blows don’t look at the bench like you want to come off, just go straight to the face-off.”
Dad had an incredible memory. I was playing the game and even I couldn’t remember this particular play, or that missed shot, but finally once the play-by-play was finished, Dad usually liked finished things up with one of his better pieces of sport psychology that I carry around even today. “Brock, there is no half-assing it out there. If you’re going to do something, anything, do it with everything you’ve got. Otherwise you’re just farting around out there.” Minus the farting around part, my current sport psych would have agreed wholeheartedly.
Playing minor hockey growing up in Cornwall, Ontario, and then later in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta gave me the comfort and familiarity with ice that I have today. Sometimes, I feel more at home with my skates on then with my running shoes, especially now since surgery on my ankle. There’s something special about lacing on the skates, and stepping on the ice. Knowing that no matter how fast somebody runs, they could never be as fast as I’m about to go on this ice. It’s energizing.
I first started speed skating at the age of fifteen, in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. Bantam hockey wasn’t overly enjoyable at 5’4” and 130lbs, and I’d decided that I was in need of something new. My older brother had tried out short track speed skating the previous year, and had lots of good things to say about it, so I decided to give it a shot. In my humble opinion, speed skating has the best of hockey, and ignores the rest. Speed, power, coordination, and discipline, were what I loved about hockey, and what do you know, they were everything to speed skating. How tall and heavy and physical I was didn’t mean anything anymore. Technique and skill were now my biggest allies. Making the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup, overnight, became competing at the Olympic Games and breaking a World Record.
Today, looking back at my speed skating career, there have been some great memories. My first international competition was competing at the Junior Country Match in Collalbo, Italy. I think I placed fourth in the 500 meters at that competition, and ate probably the most incredible plate of pasta on the planet. I’ve traveled all over the globe for competitions visiting most of Europe, Asia, and North America. I’ve had several top ten finishes at World Cups, two at World Championships, and narrowly missed reaching the podium (5th by 0.1 seconds from 3rd) at a World Cup in Nagano Japan. At the Canadian Olympic Trials in December of 2005 prior to the Olympics in Torino, I skated the 3rd fastest seed time of the season by anyone in the world, which included at that point, the second fastest lap in the 500 meters of all time.
There have also been some rather tough times as well. My performance and overall Olympic experience at the Games in Torino in 2006 was very unsatisfying. Perhaps mentally I was too overwhelmed and unprepared for the experience. I crashed in practice two seasons ago and my own blade cut two tendons in my ankle, one of which later completely ruptured and required major surgery to repair. That little misstep cost me two full seasons of racing, National Team funding, loss of two financial sponsorships and even to this day limits me in certain training environments. Skating and balancing when you don’t have the use of your big toe, can be a bit tricky. Trust me, I know.
Through the ups and downs I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else right now, however. Speed skating has been my life for the past fourteen years, and leading the life of an athlete training to compete and win at the Olympic Games, is the best and hardest thing I know, and I’ll continue to work at it to realize my dream of standing on the podium at the Olympic Games.
Next up, I along with the rest of the Canadian Sprint team are off to Calgary for a three week training camp. There should be some interesting happenings along the way, especially since next week is my 29th birthday! Chat later,
