Jász Cup - Jászberény

Second time this year it was racing time in Jászberény, this time to compete for the 'Jász' Cup. The surroundings there are inhabited by the jász people since the 13th century and they celebrate their identity this time of the year with a festival. Anyway, a nice setup for holding several sport events. And drink a lot in the evenings :)

We were still on hols, in nearby Parád so it was an hour's drive or so to get to Jászberény. Weather was hot hot hot throughout the week but right before the racing day a cold weather front hit the region so it was cloudy and windy in the morning. Not too windy and in fact it looked better than another day in 35+ C...

The race began with yet again some organisational problems, turned out the racing numbers of few of the team members had to be changed - don't ask me why. It is completely unclear to me. I thought they've put it in some database when they handed them out first. Obviously they did not, and now every coach had to fill in the race numbers of his team on a piece of paper. What can be soooo difficult handling about 100 people's name/bday/racing number???

Anyway, then came the usual chaos of 'now we will do the F category girls, then amateur men cat D, then pre-heat prof. B men'... so you sit there, all dressed up, skates on and you don't know how much time you have until the next run, or when you can go and do some warmup laps. I really don't get it what does it take to make up a race program, a schedule, and stick to it.

Well somehow it started, first it was my 500m. We went to the start and... came a 10-minute shower, raining cats and dogs. After 5 mins however all 4 of us (soaking wet) voted to run the race and get back to the tent :) So off we went, one guy from Serbia fell at start but then went on to win, Dani (14 yr) was second, and I was able to keep the pace of Feri (at last) and was 1 meter behind him at the finish line. It may be the difference in our wheels though, he suffered with his 85A 100mm wheels while I didn't even notice any slips on my 82A 84mm wheels...

Then came Peter's 400m, however they were only 2 starting :( The track was still bit wet and slippery and in fact he almost fell at start but then it was a smooth, clear win ahead of Hazafi Ádám from KDSE.

It was my turn again, 2000m (10 laps) this time. The track has dried up but the wind was quite strong. Senior women & men were starting in the same heat and I was quite happy to perform a smooth start. Then I was in position 6 (out of 8) and after 2 laps decided to move up a bit and overtook 2 ladies. Well... my energy lasted until lap 7 and from then on it was pure horror, I felt I was slowing down lacking any power and then those 2 ladies left me again. It was a bad decision to move up early it seems...

Then soon came Peter and 300m, and a super performance again, skating nice style and an easy win. It is a year like that it seems.

We saw some great elimination and points races then for the upper age category boys and girls, too bad Tomi from our team produced a huge & spectacular crash and had to be taken to the doc for serious checks. Later he returned smiling but... I wonder how he put on normal clothes or slept in a bed...

Oh and we seniors raced relays, 1800m (9 laps). It was nice, quite uneventful and we came second, the ones beating us were those youngsters from Serbia allowed to run in amateur despite being pros, so no problems begin defeated by them :)

There is a very fine pizzeria close to the track so it was obvious we had to visit that and refill our carbohydrate stores, then came the 'usual' waiting time and then the ceremonies. Peter won a nice cup, I've collected a silver in relays, and the team has performed quite well, we had quite a few podium appearances.

Then came the overall prize and... tadaaaammmm... the overall cup was won by our team, KDE Szeged!!! Wohoooooo, last year the team was 3rd, now you can see the cup in the middle of the pic, in the hands of Sonja.

Moira was having a good time in the team tent playing with the younger ones about her age. Interestingly, she was most impressed with a boy's Ferrari matchbox car - she may be influenced by his brother :)

Aftermath - Bearings dead. Though we put tons of WD-40 on them, most of them went dead by the time we got home :( The only cure is - throw them out and put in new ones. Well well well, no fun racing in the rain indeed :s

Savaria Cup - Szombathely

The 3rd round of the Hungarian Championships, called Savaria Cup, was held at Szombathely.

Szombathely is a very pretty place. We've been there 2 times already, so both Moira & Peter were delighted to get there. We like the city itself, not too small, not too big, kinda general 'small Austria' feeling we have in & around the city. The air is much more clear than at home, so Aniko likes it more, too.

Anyway, to the race now. As there is no speedskating track (yet) in Szombathely, the race itself was held on a double, asphaltous, open-air handball track, in the backyards of a newly built sports arena. Don't believe everything on the satellite map, it must be a 2-3 year old photo - so believe me, the middle of the sat map is a handball track now :)

So there are no elevated turns, and one round is 140 meters. It imposes some technical difficulties as it is easier to loose the grip in the turns, and it is much more difficult to overtake as the straight sections are very short, about 2-3 pushes for a junior age speedskater. It has a 'short-track' feeling for this reason.

It was very hot and sunny all the day and Peter was a bit nervous - he wanted to defeat the local guy Hazafi Ádám and he feared the track a bit. He had 2 distances to compete, 1.5 laps and 3.5 laps, about 200 and 500 meters, and 4 challengers.
It wasn't until noon his races have come, first the shorter distance. He started perfectly, negotiated the first turn leading the bunch and was increasing his lead from then on.


Then about 1 hour later, he was devastating - starting the last lap with comfortable lead, by the sound of the ring he started a sprint as if it was a 1-lap race. He finished half a lap ahead of the others, his coach called him the 'skater of the day' and that made him so proud.

The team was not in top form, frankly :( Due to the specialities of the track, we didn't see much takeovers and most races were like modern-era F1, where a start could decide the finishing order. Well, let's see what the team will do next week, as they will spend 6 days in training camp.

Me... well I've started, and finished 4th (of 4) on the 200m, and 3rd on the longer distance (cca 500m), due to one falling out on a turn :) I didn't even notice that fall but I was told later only, after finish :) So... still have room to develop :)

Crossover week

This week I've managed to train a lot at last, and it ment I could practice crossovers a lot.

I've managed to do 4 crossovers each turn, too bad I need one extra sidepush to recover before starting the next one - but hey, I'm starting to get a grip on this. I noticed that I don't slow down in turns so much as before, and also I am not fighting the turns but flowing with them. And I don't have an underpush yet... now I can imagine why it is so easy to accelerate out of a corner. It also has the effect of less back pain, the muscles seem to like it more than regular pushes in the banked turns.

I did 15-20 laps at a time, changing directions then and off to the next portion, summing up 60-70 laps a session. That with a nice warmup section gave 12-14 kms each day. Although I record each portion's time ridiculously I don't bother with pace much, I just keep it nice & rolling. I'll start to look at that issue seriously when I can do the crossovers more naturally, using them as a tool, not as an aim.

One may wonder how come I've not mastered this skill earlier. In fact I've read a nice tutorial about skating and the vicious cycle is outlined very very nicely there: you need to use outer edges before you can do crossovers, but to use outer edges for real you should do crossovers. Wicked, right?

Skill drills week

I've been trying to practice basic skating drills the last week - it was too hot to spend much time on the track anyway, so long tempo sessions were out of question.

After warmup, I've been doing very basic skill drills, eg: rolling in position, inside/outside edges, low position left/right, one-legged pushes, scissors, one-foot glides, parallel turns. It was about 20-24 laps each time, then some 10-20 laps on moderate tempo. It was just enough to cover, in 32+ Celsius... then some laps to cool down, and stretches. Bill & Nicole Begg's videos help a lot I think, I watch the technique-related ones each night to prepare mentally for next day.

I was alone on the track each day, at least it was silent, no constant rolling laughter around :)
Anyway, I wonder when and how I will do my first crossover... I am feeling a little bit 'paused', cannot feel any progression with my technique. But my conscious part keeps telling all this tech training will pay off sometime.

Let's hope so!

Hungarian Junior Championships - Part Two

Although it is called a 'Junior' Championship, there was a senior age category, too.
And it was too tempting not to enter :)

We spend too much time beside the skate track each week just looking at our kids doing the hard work so it is quite logical to turn that time into something useful - like skating. And with speed increasing, stability growing, our aimes get higher and higher each week :)
So another dad (Feri) and myself decided to enter - in fact we were three originally but then the third one played football a week before the event - and of course injured his knee. I've always known football was a bad sport :D

Feri on the left, me on the right

So we were two then but luckily a mum (Szilvi) jumped in so we could even enter the relays... wohooo. Well we practiced some relays the day before the race, I've fell right at the first one but nothing serious, just a little road rash on my right knee.

And then came the big day. In the senior men, there were 4 starting. We had 500m and 1600m to cover. I finished... erm... 4th :) but enjoyed it a lot. Then the relays started soon after, and there were 2 teams only - a sure silver \o/ as the other team had an ex-iceskater so it was no question who would win. But all our relays went nice, we all had 3 laps to go. The other team chose another strategy, 1 lap each for 2 of them and the rest was covered by Robes, the ex-iceskater.


Nevertheless, it was fun, and the kids were so supportive. It was good to race and I think it is something I'd like to do some more in the future. So.. better learn skating :D

Hungarian Junior Championships

The Hungarian Junior Championships were held at Jászberény on 21st June.

It was damn hot that day (too). I guess we've seen 35C or so, effectively no clouds during the day... Luckily the team's new tents (the blue Powerslide/Core/Matter type) have arrived and served well. We looked sooo professional... And again the race was an administrative catastrophe ballet, the start was set at 09:00 but no professional racer hit the track before noon :( And all those kids suffering in the heat... Damn. How on earth can it be done right in Germany or in the Czech or Slovakia? And how does it happen each and every time here in Hungary? An age-old curse sitting on us or just plain stupidity???

Anyway, Péter had 3 distances to race and 4 contestants in his age category. On 200m, he started awfully and came in the first turn 3rd, the guys behind him made it a clearly dangerous situation, almost crashing into him. Then he fired up the rockets and overtook Remete Botond from TDKE (in blue/white suit) in the straight, then the guy from KDSE, Hazafi Ádám (in red/black skinsuit) in the first half of the 2nd turn. From then it was a clear run but when he crossed the finish line his face told it all - "phew that was a tough one but I DID IT!"


Then on 300m he started much much better and dominated the race from start to finish (check his new helmet):


And at last he had a longer distance to race, 500m. He produced a wonderful start and had a nice lead soon.

Then after 1.5 laps he started to stand up a little bit but I was just there and shouted at him "You are getting slower, Pete" and those words worked like magic, he tucked in a wonderful low-sit position and produced a delicious flying lap, humilating the others so obviously.

So all in all he claimed unambiguous gold, hurray!


The team produced bit too few podiums or good results but they were right after a week-long training camp, putting many many miles in their legs on bikes for 7 days, so obviously they were all worn out and tired.

And at last, the federation has decided to have personal race numbers for a season, so we won't have to collect them and give them back at each race...

Helmets

We've been looking for a helmet for Péter for ages now, tried all kinds but with no success.

There were ones that would just sit on top of his head, too high.
Then the ones that looked good but did not hold on his head enough, I could push a finger between his head and the helmet, above his ears.
Then some others that almost covered his eyes when sitting properly.
Ah and of course the ones he disqualified at first sight.
So we saw all kinds, from cheap to expensive, big names, no names, etc...

But now - at last - LAS!
Fits perfectly, looks great (dark grey+white), is of the right size. Perfetto!


Phew...

Gold!

Friday Péter took part in the national student's championship and earned two golden medals!!!

We started to Tatabánya at 8:20, the drive (220 kms) was easy and un-eventful. We were only 2 to go so I've organized Tomi and Balázs to travel along with us, sharing the car and the costs. But how slow we went we couldn't arrive late enough - the amateur's events have just started off so we had plenty of time to do... erm... nothing. So we did exactly that. Of course the skates had to be on all the time :)

The track is just outside Tatabánya, on some industrial roads, a quadrangle of 700m length. It has some elevation changes, too, and the quality of the asphalt is quite good. The organisers had some illustrious buffet set up, with yummy muffins even...

There were many amateurs. So it meant a lot of time to waste. Then at last, around 14:00 the professionals' turn has come. Péter had to race on 200m and 300m distances. There was a 'dark horse' between the opponents we knew nothing about - the other ones he had beaten already previously, in the regionals and in Groß-Gerau. And in fact, on the shorter distance, that guy (Hazafi Ádám from KDSE) was the first at 100m, then - as the track has some climb until the finish line - Péter was able to overtake him, using his strength and nice technique.

The longer distance was much more obvious, Péter won by at least 20m. Double gold!!!

The team earned quite some podium finishes, more on that when I receive the protocols.

We set up for home around 18:30 and had a nice & smooth & fast drive again. And one can imagine what Anikó was like when Péter was in her hands at last :)

Half-marathon sum-up

In short:
I've done it, finished my first half-marathon - but missed my target time.
Péter has also finished - and earned a podium again.

In detail:
The 5th Wink Marathon in Siófok, Hungary was a total mess, lacking much in organisation.
We had to cover 3 x 7 km, but the road conditions were very very bad on at least 3 kms each round. The route was planned taking the competitors down to the shores of Lake Balaton, however while the 30*30 cm concrete tiles may fit runners, they are totally a pain to skate on. Several racers lost a wheel or two, my left 1st wheel got completely loose by the end of the race. There was another part of the track with gravel scattered all around, it didn't help skating conditions either. While the organisors cannot be blamed for strong winds, that thing didn't help either. OK, must admit there was some nice 2 km smooth asphalt road with a tailwind, but that was only enough to rest a bit.
With these conditions in mind, I am not dissatisfied with the time of 1:29 at all. It could have been better by a minute or so if I did not fell the last round, of course on the 'resting' part of the track... Luckily it is only a sore butt, no bruises at all.
Physically, I felt OK throughout the race and wasn't too tired after the event either. I tried it and now I'd like to have some more... :)

Péter finished 3rd in the junior rankings, 3 minutes ahead of me. For 2 rounds he followed an 'older' girl (2 years...) but he missed out her draft starting the 3rd round, so he had to fight 7 km all alone. He did great but was extra tired after finish, that could be cured with some chocolate of course. In 2 hours he regenerated completely and returned to doing what 7-year-old ones should do in open-air events - running around chasing eachother.

Tomi - as promised - tried to win the race and, hmm, well he did. Too bad he missed the turning point in the first round so he went for a 14km, then a 7km - and then those **** organisers sent him away to cover yet one more round. Even this way, racing 28kms, he finished overall 2nd by 3 minutes, and if we subtracted his last round's time, it would give 0:52 for the 21km, a clear win by 20 minutes ahead of the rest of the field. But he was declared 2nd... no glory, no prize money, just bitter taste in the mouth :(


Oh btw those *** ****** ***** organisers registered me as a junior so they hindered my podium finish (ranked 3rd) :(((

Now let's find another event, a decently organised one!

Murphy's laws

LOL I've strained my biceps femoris on my left leg, when 'jumpin' out of the car this morning.
When else? Aaargh :)