Dom VSI Cup 2009

It has come at last, the first inline speedskating event of the year.

I particularly liked the idea entering as it was held here in our town Szeged, so travelling meant exactly a mile to cover :D Sadly enough only the young amateurs were allowed to enter so I did not have the chance to scare the locals with my vast amount of skating knowledge - however it also marked Peter's first race in age category E, those born in 2000 & 2001.

He had 3 distances to cover, namely 1000, 300 (on the 1st day) & 500 metres (2nd day). He was a little bit scared of the 1000m, as he has not raced this distance before. I knew he was strong enough but we knew nothing about the opponents. He was also scared of the fact he had to race with older ones. Both those fears were really baseless.

Our tactic for the 1000m was to ride on the wheels of the leader or 2nd and try to overtake him/them the last lap. He started hanging on to the 2nd guy but quickly recognised he was too slow so he jumped up to the 1st guy, SzT and followed him from then on. However he was not close enough and I guess he couldn't find his draft. Well in the final lap they both started to accelerate and Peter came in 2nd, seemingly not too tired at all. I was very happy to see him do exactly what we've discussed, it showed that he knew exactly what would happen and controlled himself all the way.

1000m

The 300m in the afternoon was a go-go-go kind of racing, and 'as usual' he made a bad start and used quite some time & energy to climb up the ladder, however he was able to get hold of 2nd place finish again. Later he told me the starter did not call out 'Ready' before blowing the whistle and it perplexed him a lot...

300m

Then came the relays but he could not start there not having any mates in the age category. That's just annoying, it means all the season would go like this :(

Next day the 500m was due. Analyzing the 1000m I found his main opponent only started sprinting hearing the bell, so I tried to make Peter surprise him by starting his sprint earlier. I think it will work - another time, as this time Peter had a bad start again, almost let everyone ahead of him and spent the first 300m fighting the rest, so it was clear he won't be able to start a sprint from there. Anyway he finished 2nd again so it was obvious he earned silver this weekend.

500m

We all were happy with this result, a really good start for the season. It showed us Peter is in good form physically and mentally he is able to cope with the older ones. I am sure he will grab a gold sometime later this year.
Weather was perfect, organization was quite OK, the only bad thing was the speaker (a coach) giving instructions to her own team members. Let's give a microphone to all coaches then :D

Vivicittá Run 2009

Choco after the race

We've done the Vivicittá Run Saturday. There were about 5.000 people running (well, half of them walking after the first few hundred meters...).
I ran with Peter and helped him to start slow, keep a steady pace during the first half and then increase tempo gradually. He ran a 21:24 which is quite OK for a 3.4km run.
He told me later he would like to do it again the autumn. Only 1 of his classmates was there but their proud photo now hangs on the wall of their classroom.

At km 2.5 on the quay

Bratislava

I've done it!

Arrived to Bratislava, Slovakia at around 7:50 and we walked to the registration, everything went smooth & professional.
Then warmed up a bit and put skates on.

The race started at 09:45, weather was overcast and around 10C, light breeze from south. All in all there were 271 starters and in fact I was a bit overwhelmed by that number. Following the slow start we rolled down about 400m to the quay of river Danube where we stopped, and following the gun started the race for real (map here).
It was here I made my biggest mistake in the race, I positioned myself way too back near the end of the crowd. After the initial 400-500 metres we had to climb up to the bridge 'Novy Most' which proved a bit hard for quite some people and I was able to overtake some. Then some more climb up to the middle of the bridge and from there whoooosh down in straight line onto Panonska Cesta, a 4-line road (2 lines closed). Fighting the small breeze I tried to hop from group to group, but it was quite demanding. My heart rate went up to 99% sometimes so I had to relax a bit drafting.
The road turned eastwards and climbed a bit for an overpass which I found very hard to cope with. Then onto a rough asphalt for 1.5 km and then down south again, following the dam.
This part of the route was shown as 1 km on the race map but proved to be 2.8 :) I could see the leaders racing in the opposite direction, on the top of the dam, and tried to catch glimpse of the others from our club (Szonja, Balázs and Dani) without any success. This section was quite OK, the asphalt was smooth and by now (we are talking about km #9-12) I was feeling OK and perfectly warmed-up. I could lead the group I was in long enough and bring them up to another group ahead.

Then came a short climb and turn back, and we started our way back to the finish. With the turn the breeze now helped us a little bit and it was much much easier to ride with speed. However sometime later my lower back started to signal it would become stiff soon, so I had to stand up and stretch it sometimes.
We were rolling on the bike routes on the dam all the way north back in the city, the road was OK with few hazards but all of them were signed with red paint. I was drafting a lot with #201 (a big thank you goes for Peter Cervinka from Vienna).
At around km #19 it started to rain, first only very slightly but soon enough water gathered to make the roads slippery. Unfortunately it was also the last kilometres that we had to climb up the bridge 'Stary Most', which proved very hard for me on slippery surfaces. I was not able to push long enough to the side and completely lost my speed in the climb. Then on the bridge I suffered to gain some speed again but the dilating elements and the surface errors made it too hard for me to cope with it :s In the last turn, down from the bridge & left, all the organisers showed us to slow down, I guess the turn was quite slippery and the crossing tram lines did not help either. After that it was a 500 m ride up to the gate and the clock stopped at 1:03:03!

I was and still I am very happy and satisfied with this result!!! I earned 155th place between the men (from 200 starting). I now think I could have earned about 2 minutes if I did not make that silly mistake at the start and stay with the rest of the team - but well, next time it will be better :) According to my HRM the first half of the race went harder, HR average was 95%, while it was only 94% during the second part.
Szonja finished 17th in the women's race (47:13), while in the men's race Balázs 133th (59:55, had a small crash), Dani 135th (59:57). Results here, photos I will try to find (Szonja here on Stary Most, #243).

(l-r) Szonja, me, Balázs and Dani

The race itself was very well organized, lots of police and race staff everywhere, chip timing, big screens; and friendly spectators, friendly racers, it was really fun to be there. I really hope to get back here next year.

Bratislava pre-race

22 hours left before the inline race in Bratislava will get started.

22.5 km to cover. That is a bit more than a half-marathon but I heard it starts with a slow start to lead the pace out of the zigzagging inner streets onto the new bridge (Novy Most) where the race can start for real.
Weather is not looking good. They predict 5-10 C, wind and... rain.
What do I expect? Last year I've done the HM distance in 1:29, now I'd like to finish under 1:10. I know I have the aerobic fitness but I haven't skated for a long time, only 2 short occasions. Hmmm... maybe a bit too courageous? We will see :)
We will get in the car at 03:30, drive along 350kms, run the race and get back home. Sounds like a perfect lazy weekend :)

Building a base 1

Sometime in October I decided to follow Rob Bell's periodisation tips on Inline Planet to build a more sportsman-like body shape in 2009.
According to those plans I've started a Base1 period at the 1st of February. Due to the weather it mostly consisted of doing running trainings, both outdoors or on the dreadmill. I just simply hate the stationery bikes in the gyms with their awful seats. I think spinner bikes are OK but I definitely do not want to take spinning classes. I should look for a gym where I can use the spinning bike for an hour or more, without a crazy instructor shouting around.
Anyway, Base 1 period ended last Sunday and now I can sum it up:

• ran 187 kms in 18h42m (23 sessions)
  
• did 1 indoor skate session

That is not too much :( 24 training sessions in 6 weeks, means I trained every other day. Running was at 6 min/km, that is OK I think, as long as one wants to do long, slow distance trainings.
So I am still undecided if I can call this Base 1 period successful or not. Time will tell.

ST Junior Championships, 2009

The last race meet for the kids this winter season was held 21-22 February, in Budapest.

Peter was not in a good form before the races. He looked tired, he moved out of sync a lot of times on practices. It may have been the long winter, the day-to-day school work or something else, maybe the touch of flu halving his class, though he did not catch that until lately.

Anyway we 4 + Marci arrived to Budapest quite early on Friday, had much time before the practice. Then next day the races began.
Peter's age category had the most contenders, 14. So it meant he had to run quarterfinals, semifinals and finals at each distance. An it proved a little bit too demanding.
Saturday he had the 400m quarter/semi/final, then the 222m quarter/semi/final, and even the 333m quarters. No wonder he was damn tired by the end of the day.
And interestingly, Sunday he was more impressive. He did not fight the corners at last, got in nice low position, pushed nice long. Where was all of that before? Who knows... Too bad it came only on Sunday, I wish it was a day before that.
He finished 10. on 400m, 11. on 222m and 13. on 333m. Not an impressive result at all, but I keep telling myself he still has 2 years in this age category, so no need to hurry at all.

Detailed results are here and I will post some photos as soon as I get to it...

The moment

There is a moment in the rink, when the ice resurface ends. The zamboni leaves the ice, the doors are closed, the mats are put back to their place.
Then, just before the referees enter the rink again and blow their whistles to get the racers on ice, to wake up the monster called 'racing crowd' for an un-wanted awakening, just before the rink is starting to get surrounded again by all the excited coaches, racers, parents, helpers and supporters - there is a moment.

The moment when the rink is clean in its virginity. The ice is perfect and smooth and shiny. Plain as plain as it can be, only few patches of water left behind to start to turn into that so much loved and so much hated material we call ice.

That moment is filled with silence.

Those up in the seats look at the boards to see which heat is a'coming, the coaches look at their papers and check their stopwatch; and the racers look at the ice. They look at the ice and see the upcoming moments.
The moments before the start, filled with enourmous anxiety, the seconds after the gun was shot before they reach the first corner.
They see the battle for position, the first straight where they realize the possibilities and threats, the fights they have to fight to gain a position, the 'wars' they are to wage soon.
They hear the clip-clap of the post-start rush, the carving sound of the steel urging to get a grip, the blade cutting the ice firmly in the turns, the smooth sssssssshhhhhh when they negotiate the calmer straights.
And they hear the sound of the blade losing grip, the human falling down, the lycra gliding on the ice and the inevitable whop when one crashes into the mats.
They hear the one beat that parents' heart miss when they see their children crash, the beset moment the distressed moms and dads have to live through until they see if their beloved can stand up.
And they see and hear the moment at the finish line, when everything is over. The seconds when they can stand up again and look down at the ice, glide in free lines not caring about boyes or opponents again. The seconds when they replay what they have done in the seconds they have just left behind and rethink if it was worth it.

All these things are there, in that given moment, filled with silence.

That moment is what I love most on shorttrack competitions. You should try to get a chance to catch that moment someday.

Indexed

I love thisisindexed.com. Jessica is truly one of the bests of Internet.
Here's a recent one from her, titled Fate = Decisions:

Simply great, isn't it?

Dark gray January

January. Sportwise it was not the best month.
Peter had a small local race mid-month, where he skated like he learnt skating a month before. After the race he summed it up "I was tired and I did not want to race".
Then he got hit by flu.
Then at the end of the month we entered Pannonia Open ST race in Budapest. 230+ racers from 17 nations, a really big crowd. But for Peter it was one of his worst races.
He started with 500m on Friday, where he almost fell in the 3rd turn and so finished 4th (3 advancing), 3 seconds slower than his best. And overall, you could see he was 'not there'. He lacked concentration, but I told myself it was due to the fact he has just got better after the flu. Anyway, it was quite hard to get him in normal mood again.
Then Saturday, in the 222m he started well, he fought like he usually does - and then fell :( He was crying when he quit the rink but I persuaded him he was doing everything OK, it was just bad luck. And indeed it was.
Sunday, 333m - a good start again but loosing ground in first turn, then he climbed back and reached up to the 3rd position guy, but then when he was looking for the occasion to overtake him, he fell again in the turn.
What can you say after a weekend like this? The next one will be better :)

In school he was flying high though. He brought home his half-year sum-up and it was all excellent. So there is a silver lining...

Thin ice & the lazy days

The last training session in the year was a free-for-all ice time for the kids, brother/sisters/parents (and pets). So we took our chance and tried ice.

Ice is wicked. Period.

It is slippery and fast. And using hockey skates I spent most of the time preventing falling ahead. I just missed some blade length as I was used to the frame length of my inline.
However Moira enjoyed it and skated quite a lot, Anikó also entered the rink and had fun, mainly laughing at herself trying to get around (she did quite well though but she won't admit that) and Peter was scorching around as usual, this time they played games on ice on hockey blades, too.
In the end we opened some champagne just to realize yet again many many people don't like it at all :)

Aniko holding firm. As if I could stand firm...

The kids, Peter in center in dark blue/black, Moira bit to the right in pink.

Peter and Aniko asleep :D

Ah and the next day coach Endre decided to go to hospital with 6 hours remaining in the year, and used an appendicitis to make it happen. Nice way to spend New Year's Eve, isn't it... :D

It has been unusually cold outside for at least 2 weeks now, in the -10 & -5 range. Though this may sound like a warm spring to some Canadians but we are freezing here. It made me change my training schedule to skip running and use a stationery bike instead in the gym. I just hate the seat :s