Indoor practice on Monday was alright for me. We had an extended two hours session filled with accelerations and intervals alternating between technique & intensity. As promised, I kept reminding myself the importance of applying pressure to my pushes, keeping all wheels on the floor, and staying low. The result? Let's observe the most obvious one first. I made a conscious effort to skate lower than usual, especially during the technique-focused laps. Thinking about it is one thing, but actually doing it...I honestly dont' know. I felt the burn in my legs for sure. However, without visual feedback, who's to say there was indeed more knee and ankle bend? A couple of friends mentioned that I stayed low but I'm always a little skeptical. After all, being short can so easily give off a false impression especially to skaters in the pack.
Keeping all wheels on the floor with even pressure was a bit hit-or-miss. At times it felt right and there was more power. However, I was not able to do it consistently. A downside of focusing my attention to applying pressure was that my leg speed fared only marginally better than pouring molasses. This was especially true during accelerations. Even when I was suppose to pick up the pace during the higher intensity laps, my pushes and setdowns felt so deliberate and careful that the speed simply wasn't there. There was one exception though and it was the highlight of my practice. During one of our last sets, coach PD changed things up and we got to accelerate from a standing start. I was tired at this point. Brain apparently decided to take a break. For that one brief second when I accelerated into the second corner, everything felt right. My armswing effectively governed my leg speed and assisted my weight transfer. There was a lightness to my feet that I have not experienced in the last few months. And then this elusive feeling was gone.
Out of the 7200 seconds we spent going in circles, I had one that truly felt good. Strange as it sounds, I am building motivation based on one second.
Phew, 7200 seconds... by the title I first thought you were to dedicate 7200 hours to training this year :)
Gabor
Posted by: Gabor Kmetyko | January 21, 2010 at 04:59