Tracks
Posted on January 31, 2008
So… We made it, I think. Things are coming along here in Toronto, and I think we can dial down the teach and talking, and dial up the practice. Should be fun, I think we all have enough to continue to move forward.
The federation decided that they would put on a series of races, the “RSO” series, which will be a series of four Sundays from here to the end of the indoor series. I have sincere mixed feelings about it, immediately on the impact on practice times, as well as other aspects. The first one is this Sunday. I’m really not sure how much to write about all that. Thoughts anyone? …I don’t know.
I have to say ‘big ups’ to Dragi, a first year speed skater here in Toronto that really seems to be making and getting the most of the indoor season here. His progress is remarkable, especially considering he missed most of the first half of the season. He is already amongst the group in mock races, completes (portions of) even the most complicated drills. Perhaps most amazingly, he is even amongst the group and holding his own in the relay portions of our workouts, including pyramids. Big ups, D. Again, I have to say it is a great showcase of a positive attitude and approach to the indoor scene from a rookie, despite an elite-centric focus.
Now, I should mention that of course, he isn’t the only rookie in TO skating indoors with us. There are others, and I have the upmost respect for each of them. I think that Dragi just happens to be “the most rookie”, and I can even trust that he wouldn’t take that as an insult. So, big ups to the rest of the ‘rooks’. I hope things are going well for each/all of you, and I hope that you all feel that you can drop me a line and provide feedback to/for/of me.
We’ve been spending a lot of time lately improving our track patterns and adjustments to different race situations. I don’t intend to get into the details of all that now, I’ll save that for a book. Besides, I wouldn’t want to do it a disservice here. I just thought this pic was kind of cool. I was using a white board to help explain, and I had Georg take a pic of it for me before I erased it. Maybe it is a help for the skaters here to take a look at it again. Intellectual property? Hahaha, “some rights reserved”.
Track Patterns on White Board…
The next big piece of news is that The Weakerthans are playing in Toronto on Saturday, and I am going. I am super excited. I went to the Tokyo Police Club show last week, and I thought the crowd was great, it was huge, full of energy, but really young. It’s funny how that can manifest itself in a crowd. Anyone planning on going to the Weakerthan’s show this weekend; get there early. I know there will be a posse of my friends there, probably hanging out up front before hand. It should be quite the scene. There will be a lot of fire. Anyone going, let me know.
-A.
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