An Incredible Lightness of Being

The day started unremarkably:  rain beating on the windows, grey skies, a feeling of not being ready to wake up, but knowing I'd hit the snooze bar a couple times already.  Washcloth, floss, toothbrush, hair brush...all sort of mechanical.  Then the nine mile drive to the ice rink and somewhere on the route, something happened.  Imperceptible at first, but a sense of relaxation, contentment, ease.

By the time I got out of the car, my mood was inexplicably light and good.  Laced my skates, mentioning it to my friend Pat.

Some warm ups on ice, and it felt very natural, and I felt loose.  It was like joints actually worked!  My coach, Alexandre Chichkov, came on the ice and we started the exercises.  I can't say that I was "good" but I can say that everything was comparatively better and I felt more at ease on the ice than at any time in the last year!  A lightness of being...

I have no idea where this sensation came from, but it feels so good!

American Cup (Long Track) Salt Lake City March 2-4. 2012

Liz made her post-accident return to competition this past weekend, and met every goal she had set for herself, notwithstanding the residual issues relating to recovery of nerve function.  When I said "She's Back" in the last post, I had no idea how far she had come.  Her own words at her blog "The Speedy Ice Effect" are better than anything I could write:

http://theunstoppableleftturn.blogspot.com/

She's BAAAAAAACK (and so is Liz's Dad)

It has been a while since there was all that much to report.  Liz has continued with her therapy and training, and was able to do a 500 meter time trial in late October.  We're still watching to see how much the tibial nerve regenerates, but by Christmas the item at the top of her wish list was new Oakley goggles!!!

The comeback took a really good turn today (a left turn, of course), when Liz took the ice at the Utah Olympic Oval for 500 and 1000 meter time trials!   I should mention that several months of back and knee problems for me are starting to resolve, to the point where I've been on figure skates for a few weeks.  So, early this morning I went through the snow to the rink, and while not quite ready to trust my back to the speedskates, did figures for an hour or so, sending positive vibes to Utah.  I have decided to believe that it helped:  Liz had good starts, and pretty decent results in both events.  As a result, she will return to competition next week, at a US Speedskating long track event at the Oval.  I could not be more pleased, or more proud of her achievement!

Jerry Search took photos today:

As you can see, she got the Oakley goggles!  Anyone who knows us both will know with absolute certainty that she did not inherit her crossover from me.  The elder Looby has some catching up to do.
Here is what Liz reported to me about times:
http://speedskatingresults.com/index.php?p=17&s=10140

Evolution of a Long Track Skater

For our family, time stood still on October 3, 2010, and for a long time afterwards, after Liz was seriously injured in a 1000 meter short track race during American Cup I at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee along with Katy Ralston.

The first of the family to really begin the recovery was Liz herself,  insisting on an immediate return to Salt Lake City, and showing both strength and humor by going to a skaters' Halloween party three weeks later, in full leg cast, as Nancy Kerrigan!  Around that same time, she returned to the Utah Oval to train and rehab as well as possible.

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By late October, three weeks post-injury, Liz was on an exercise bike at the Oval (photo on left), still wearing a leg brace, and trying to move on the running track in a technique she called "agility crutching."   By January, 2011 she was mentally ready to test her leg on ice at a public session at the Oval, as seen in right photo, accompanied by teammate Jerebelle Yutangco, doing a uncannily accurate impersonation  her Dad's "low" skating position!  About the same speed, too.  Liz continued her physical therapy (of various sorts), her treatment with a Tennant biomodulator, nutritional supplementation, chiropractic and acupuncture, and also continued her classwork at the University of Utah.  Along the way, she made a decision to move to long track, and she entered the summer doing bike work with the long-track skaters at the Oval. That decision to switch disciplines prompted this from one of Liz's first coaches,  Marty Medina of the Rochester Speed Skating Team:  "She looks great on the Long Track.  It is definitely where she needs to be."  Did I mention that  Liz, Jerebelle and Katy Ralston (who had fully recovered from her injury in the same accident as Liz) went skydiving in May, with Andrea and Elaine Dehnke rooting them on?

On July 13th, nine months from the accident,  our friend Jerry Search found Liz on the 400 meter track at the Oval, clap skates fixed to short track boots, to provide a little more ankle support in the absence of regenerated nerves, and took this picture:

There is a long road ahead to full recovery, but say what you will, this proud Dad thinks he has been watching a profile in courage.

Sixty One

Sixty-One

Is the year that Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's home run record, asterisk or not

Is the number of home runs that Roger hit that season for the Yankees

Is the number of my birthday today, April 5th

Steven Colbert Does It Again

Last year, Steven Colbert and the Nation came to the rescue of US Speedskating.  This year, Jimmy Fallon had a challenge bet with him to raise funds for another group. If Fallon raised it, Colbert would appear on the Jimmy Fallon Show to sing "Friday".  Both delivered.  Here's the clip from the April Fools' Day episode of the Jimmy Fallon Show.  sorry about the short commercial in there!
 Enjoy!

http://www.hulu.com/watch/229352/late-night-with-jimmy-fallon-stephen-colbert-sings-friday-with-the-roots

Curling in Canada!

A year or so ago, I had a chance to sample a small taste curling on the Erie Canal with the Rochester Curling Club.  This past month, courtesy of the Buffalo Speedskating Team and the Niagara Falls Ontario Curling Club, I got two big bites!  What a great sport! Thanks, Danielle B for setting it up!

 On two recent Sundays, most recently on March 20th, the Buffalo speed skaters, a couple of whom curl for teams at the Niagara Falls club (which is minutes from the Border, and features six really nice sheets of pebbled ice) had the chance to spend a couple hours each week getting a little introduction followed by the chance to play several ends.  On Sunday, after two hours with the Buffalo skaters and some pizza and beer, I got a chance to fill in on team based at the Club for two more hours! What a great sport!  Now, if I could learn to power with the leg alone instead of with the arm, PERHAPS the stone would stop before it passes the house!  Here are the folks from one of the two lanes used by Buffalo on Sunday:

Jack Shea Sprints, Lake Placid Feb 26-27, 2011: Defeating the Demons

I'd never competed in a long track meet.  I had never raced on the outdoor oval at Lake Placid.  It had been fifteen months since my last short track competition, when I'd reinjured myself, and I was nervous.  It'd been four and a half months since Liz' injury at Milwaukee, and as illogical as it might be, that made me more tentative about racing.  That being said, as January progressed, I was feeling good, and in relatively good condition.  I'd been working with both an acupuncturist and a figure skating coach to try and improve balance issues, and overcome fear.  I was really anxious to try long track.  I knew that until I actually re-entered competition, there would be no way to put the fear of injury behind me.  First, I signed up for the Nordic skating competition at Lake Morey, Vt., but that was cancelled due to the impact of January snow on the lake (see my Feb 5 post).

The Jack Shea Sprints at Lake Placid became the new goal.  They were close.  They were sprints.  They councided with the Empire State Games, in which a lot of my teammates were competing.  The field, in my age group was small (because so many of the best Masters skaters from the region were heading to Calgary for a Masters meet).  And there was the lure of the 1980 Olympic Oval itself, and its setting in the Adirondacks, center of the universe.

There was only one way to lose:  by not finishing at least one race.  All I had to do was finish one heat, and I'd have two major victories:  overcoming the fear factor; and having the experience of trying the long track in a competition.  I had a restless night, dreaming about Liz' injury, getting myself wound tighter than a coil.

Saturday, February 26th.  The temperature was seven degrees Farenheit at practice time, but the sun was out, the wind was slight, and it was a beautiful winter day. Practice could have gone better (the bolt attaching the mount to my blade came loose.  I was trying clap skates, and learned  the hard way that getting the weight too far forward is not a great idea).  Rattled, even more than from the rough night, I switched to my short track blades, despite the disadvantages for glide and corners.  Talking to other long track rookies, I realized that the heebie-jeebies were a shared phenomenon.  The gang in the warming hut, old friends, including five of my Rochester Speed Skating teammates, and new acquaintances, gave great positive vibes. Time for the first heat, a 500 meter race.

A couple slow laps in the warmup lane, feeling the ice, enjoying the mountains, and there was the starting line. I'd be racing Bill Keane of the Taconic club, another newcomer to long track.  We shook hands, chatted and waited our turn in the sun. The starter, Hans Hoefgen, told told us which lanes to use, then told us both to just go out there and have fun. The kind words helped.  Skaters to to the line.....ready....BANG.  The first half lap was toward the small but enthusiastic gang, then around the first turn, near the arena.  Amazingly, still upright, and still going.  The turn into the wind, and along the length of Lake Placid HS, with the High Peaks in view.  Change lanes.  The cold air hitting the lungs.....much tougher than indoor ice, but exhilarating....the second turn.., past Hans, and down the last straightaway to the finish.... well behind Bill, but still up and moving; then a slow lap in the warmup lane, to breath, calm down, and savor the real victory: one heat was done, and pleasure had overcome fear!

Second heat was1000 meters, this time paired with Carole Blair of the Quinte, Ont. club.  Another friendly new acquaintance, who'd race ahead of me for the rest of the meet. This time the cold was really getting to my lungs, and by the start of the final lap, I was feeling a little wobbly.  On the other hand, I was PUMPED! Another complete run!  Day one over. Spirits much higher.  No worry about sleeping well.

The next morning, there was a little snow on the ice, but it was a little warmer...a balmy 14F before wind.  The sun peeked, then disappeared for a while.  The 500 this time was more familiar, having been on the ice,  but I'd gone back to the clap skates and didn't feel comfortable.  Maybe practicing with them would have been a good plan.  I'd also decided to use a face protector, but scrapped that by the time I did my warmup laps--it was just pushing air up and fogging the goggles.  I'd decided that vision was more important than warm lungs.  Even unsure on the skates, the absolute pleasure of day one was there in spades.   Before the 1000, our official, Hence Bollinger, got the ORDA folks to bring out the Zamboni.  That turned out great. The sun came out, the ice was as smooth as glass....the conditions were perfect for a slow, old rookie to have an absolutely fantastic time.....and I did...and I loved the cheering from my fellow skaters coming down the final straight.

Turned out, the weekend was a huge victory in so many ways:  overcoming the bad case of nerves; having my first long track competition; ending the 15 month no-compete drought, and finding myself smitten with this different aspect of speed skating.  The goal for next season?  Some actual practice on clap skates, followed by as many competitions as I can manage. And in the meantime, talking up the Jack Shea Sprints to everyone who will listen.  Long track is great!

Thank you, Linda and Christie Sauza, the volunteers, the Lake Placid Speed Skating Club and the Oval staff for a great event.  Thank you, Hence Bollinger and Hans Hoefgen.

Reality check:  my figure skating coach, Alexandre Chichkov, was at Empire State Games with some of his good figure skaters.  He'd been watching out the window of the arena at the long track races.  His comment the week after?  "As soon as I saw you, I knew it was you.  Your kick was good, your arms were good, but looked like a shorttracker, but your glide......no one but you puts your second foot down that fast.  Learn to trust yourself and you'll go three times as fast!"

Masters: A Major Reason Speedskating is Such a Rush

For someone my age, a sport like speedskating is partly about competition and fitness, but mainly about friendship and comraderie.  At practice tonight, for example, I was skating with a little more speed and smoothness than usual, and was rewarded by cheering from my teammates!  Two weeks ago, the Rochester Speedskating Team invited over 50 Masters skaters from the Buffalo and Syracuse clubs to join us for Saturday morning practice.  I was amazed how many came, and what an incredibly powerful and positive practice it was.  Here's the gang.  Speedskating is NOT just for kids!

Masters Massed, and Snow Dumps on Speedskating

The Rochester Speedskating Team practice this morning (Feb. 5, 2011) was a real joy.  Our masters' group was joined by probably a majority of the over 50-year old skaters from the Buffalo and Syracuse clubs and the morning was just plain fun. Photos to follow.  I hope it is a harbinger of what to expect in October when we host a Seniors meet!

As we lined up for s photos, taken by RSST teammate Rob Goodwin (who will also be a senior in just a couple of decades), someone did a quick calculation and decided we had about 1250 years of experience on the ice at Genesee Valley Rink.  Speedskating is definitely NOT just for kids--I can't remember the last time I saw 25-30 fellow silverhairs having such a good time.

Next week was supposed to be my debut on nordic skates, at the North American Marathon races at Lake Morey Vt.   My new skates (above) were going to be wings on my feet! Alas, winter intervened, and on Thursday the event was cancelled.  It seems that the enormous snowfall January and February worked a double whammy on the Lake:  snowcover first created a blanket over the ice which was not thick enough to support the snowplows.  Because the snow was not removed, though, its weight became enough to accentuate cracks and render the ice surface unusable.  So, there are these nice new Nordic blades with no where to go.....

Looking for a way to make lemonade from the lemons, I realized that my budget was suddenly a little healthier because of the cancellation of the Vermont meet.  So, despite having no idea whatsoever of what do do with clap skates, I signed up for the Jack Shea Sprints at the Lake Placid LT oval for the last weekend of February.  This will be interesting.  Stay tuned!