Random

I do some running and just found this link about lacing up a running shoe. Wow never thought it would be such an interesting reading...

I am planning to skate 57km on the Tour de Tisza-tó this Saturday. Weather forecast: wind, clouds and rain. Splendid!!!

When you stand by the window and look at the rain outside, eating huge doses of chocolate, can you call that a perfect taper?

The LIL schedule is finalized at last. They parted with Nestle and got a new sponsor LIGLASS who deals with solar energy systems. Last year the winners received huge packs of Nestle products, mainly chocolate. What will they give now, solar panels? :) Hmmm not  bad idea - a solar panel fitted on the helmet and your back, you get home and feel 'energized' :)

Back to taper.

Dom VSI Cup 2010

The season opener for track racing in Hungary was held last weekend here, in Szeged. Peter was not racing (more on that later) but I had the chance to race 2 short distances.

We were only 2 in the senior amateurs 'field' and at first the organizers wanted to make us run together with the pro adults. That didn't seem like a good idea at all (we could have been gapped 3 times in 5 laps...) but then the main referee opposed it so we got our own time-slot. \o/

The first distance was 300m and we started fine but then clicked frames and that made me loose one step. OB went ahead and I was right behind him for most of the distance - he was not doing any crossovers as he does not have any experience with banked tracks and I guess he feared it a bit. That made me think I can overtake him on the exit of a turn. So I was gaining speed in the last turn when *something* happened and I found myself flying in the air and crashing. It wasn't a bad crash, I only hit my right hip, elbow and hand a bit (minor bruises) and got up rapidly to easy skate to the finish line. I have a video of the race and looking at it frame by frame does not show what was wrong at all. I'm puzzled...

Then we visited the McDonald's nearby to have dinner with the kids (promised long ago and somehow they don't forget these things...) and I think it was a big mistake, having a quarter and chips and coke :) When we got back to the track we were due to race in 20 minutes - erm I saw well ahead that was not going to be my best race... 

We started and OB got ahead very soon and I couldn't even get close to him. I was suffering badly and looking for a place to throw up safely and secretly :) So I finished with a bad time, about 100m behind OB, feeling lucky to even survive. Stupid stupid me grrrrrrrrrr

It doesn't look like I'd be attending more track races in this year, maybe the local one here in the autumn so no championship hopes are alive. However it would be good to run at least one more race to have more decent PBs for this year.

The event was well-organized and weather was good, bit too windy but nothing serious. However there were many crashes in the pro races and that is simply no fun. Too bad to see many kids around with bandages and scars and road rash.

Peter's age field was not a strong one at all, he could have grabbed gold or (worst case) a silver medal if he raced. I am really sorry he couldn't enter.

Results here: amateurs young pros older pros.

Base Zero?

If I look at my skate calendar for 2010 I can see the main Base (both 1 & 2) period is over. It is the time of the year where you should do long, steady & slow kilometer hunting, staying in aerobic heart-rate zone, to build up endurance. That is the theory at least.

Now let's take a look at my skate log: so far in the year I've skated 121 kms and run 196 kms. I don't remember where I've put my totals for Base 1 - but in Base 2 (that means the last 5 weeks) I've spent 33h 48m, burning 22192 kCals during 31 training sessions. I think it is a bit low but let's be fair, the last few weeks (since the start of April) I had a quite good schedule training-wise, 31 sessions in 35 days is not bad (88%).

I had two disappointing races during this period, first the Bratislava HM and then the IV. Dom Cup (more on that later). Yes there is a silver lining to every cloud, I am looking very hard to find it :)

Now come the Intensity training weeks, I expect to gain some speed during that and do many drills as recovery. What's in the plans? I'd like to skate a tour around the Tisza lake (55km), then run a 4mile race called Cora-run in town. And after the intensity phase I'll have 2 half-marathons in Slovakia before summer, to prove I can make a new personal best.

Bratislava 2010

After taking part last year I wanted to go again. This year the weather was changing a lot, it was about 12C but the clouds were travelling quite fast in the sky so it was quite obvious we would meet some wind. And yes there was wind with some stormy gusts from N-NW. But it did not rain at least :)

Right after the start the field climbed up the New Bridge (the one with the UFO-like restaurant on top), it was here that I said farewell to any hope of a good result. I could climb very very slow only, although I had no problem with that last year. Cross the bridge, then descend on the other side, you roll & roll and take care of the dilating elements and any road cracks. Here the route goes across a very dull part of the city (Petrzalka), a real socialist concrete block building quarter, 4 lane road of which 2 are closed for us. Organization is great, you see a policeman or a volunteer in every road crossing, water stations every 2.5 kms, refreshing stations every 5 kms.

As there is nothing to see you can observe the opponents, get ahead a bit, ride at a nice & steady pace etc. An ambulance car gets ahead (later I've heard a girl crashed and broke her arm). Monotone skating (that goes well) and then we turn left in a big radius, climb up an overpass - this one went thousand times better than the bridge. Here I pull up to M from the team, who is suffering badly, her legs hurt, her shoes are bad etc.

We team up and shortly after the overpass the route turn left sharply and bad asphalt begins. It worsens slowly, first there are more and more road cracks then comes 'peanut choc' surface the whole width of the road. Best tactic here is the get to the edge of the road, to the dusty part and try one-legged roller technique. Reaching the dikes we turn South, good asphalt feels like salvation. You can see the top riders on the dikes going the opposite direction already, with some brutal speed. M is still suffering but I keep telling her to use backwind here & now (nearby plants show the wind direction clearly), take some rest as there would not be any time for that later.

We reached the turning point and I literally dropped dead. We should climb up the dikes to the left - my waist is stiffed up, I can hardly produce a push. Somehow I creep up the climb but the group with M is gone already. Stiff & hurting waist, headwind, alone - sound like fun, right? :) I start to flounder ahead, gain some speed but trouble has hit. Getting low my waist cries loud. Standing up headwind blows me to a stop. Well... I've never ever in my life gave up any race, but here and now I am broken mentally. Was there a car coming from behind I would have got in it for sure. But there was none and the bus was waiting for me behind the finish line :)

So I creep ahead slowly - after some time there is some woods next to the dike, the wind gets lower there and I can gain some momentum. But as soon as the wind grows stronger I get slow again. Damn, I deserved this, why do I do things like this in my age :) After all the ex-cyclist experience helps a bit: head down and push it, the road will end sometime. At one moment an older, lean man overtakes me with a young girl behind him, I pull up to them to travel in their draft a bit. After some kilometers comes a refreshment station and I almost fall on the water splashes, then comes a bit of rough asphalt and I am dropped again :(

But by then I can see the first bridge across above me and from that I know the finish is getting closer (it is the finish getting closer to me, not me approaching the finish...). I roll below 2 bridges then down to the park and I am facing the next climb 270 degrees to the left, up to the Old Bridge. Here I perform another Oscar-winning death-scene but can gain a bit of speed on the bridge itself. I know I know there is only one obstacle left, a tram line across the route when dropping down from the bridge. I solve that without any problem, last straight and I roll to the finish at last.

Total KO. I planned to get below 1 hour but managed to skate 1:13. Let's forget this fast!

I roll back to the main square, the cheerleader girls caress me (almost), I receive a nice medallion and free chocolate & refreshment.

There is one positive thing though - when we start driving home after some walk and lazy time, the main part of marathon runners are still running :)

A very late early-2010 post

Well it's time to update my own sport-related things. I haven't done a decent yearly sum-up of 2009, nor a pre-season expectations post and now that Bratislava inline race is here to come I really should do something like that...

Sum-up 2009

(I'm skipping this for I'm lazy)

Expectations for 2010

Race calendar

The track racing calendar in Hungary is still only a plan, no firm dates are set. Those signed red are Cup races so if one wants to get a medal at the end of the year in overall, he/she should attend most of them - or skip as few as possible. Then there is the LifeInLine.cz series, particularly the stages in Slovakia, that would mean 3 half-marathon races this year (Prievidza, Michalovce/Trebisov and Poprad). Add Bratislava HM late March which is out of the series this year for reasons unknown to me. Maybe Kosice HM in October? I've also found race schedules for the Croatian Inline Cup series of which Slavonski Brod is quite close to our hometown. And then there is the Austrian Inline Cup that has 3-4 races quite close to the Hungarian border.

Races to attend

So that is the menu to choose from. Now what do I want? I'd like to skate as many HMs as possible, given the usual restrictions of time & money. And of course I'd like to race as many Hungarian Cup races as possible. This one is tricky, as it closely matches Peter's races up until mid-July where those team members wanting to skate shorttrack during the winter will have to decide if they follow the Cup races or begin getting ready for ice - and he is one of the latter group for sure. That means it is quite unsure if we will attend the track races in the second half of the year at all.

Goals for 2010

For the half-marathons one goal is set: improve my times. I wanted to buy a real speed skate but am lacking the financials nowdays for that, so it means I'll have to stick with my 'old' skates with 84mm wheels.  I'd be glad with *any* improvement but secretly look at 5-10% of time cut.

The 'But' section

Yes, there is always at least one 'but' section in planning. I've been able to skate only 14kms this year so far. That is... very low. And due to bad weather and various illness-like situations I've been able to run only 2/3rd of the amount I had done until the end of March last year. That is... very bad. So I don't seem to be set up for Bratislava correctly this year, however as I'm no professional who cares if I score a bad time? (Only me.)

Spring is here, jolly-ho... (that was the positive message of the post)

ST Junior Championships, 2010

Junior Championships - the race we've set to reach the goals for this season. Coach TT had 5 hard months behind him and a lot of technical aspects where he found our kids were lacking. But he told us in November that by February they will post remarkably better results than we hoped for, so we were eager to see.

Uneventful travel to Budapest, lazy afternoon and a 40-minute training on ice was the programme for Friday. Peter looked focused, 'on a mission' in his brand-new bicycle long sleeve shirt. Coach TT was very satisfied with his approach.

Saturday morning they started with the 500m semi-finals and finals. In the semi he started from lane #5 but reached the first turn in position 2 - really caught the gun well and cut his way to the entry point nicely. Then he skated a bit wide track and the guy in 3rd position (TA) almost got up to him but it never happened luckily. Peter has skated a PB, cutting almost 2 seconds from his previous best.

500m semi-final

Then after some rest he raced in the 500m Final A, starting from 5th lane again. Good reaction time again but now he failed to get close to the first buoy on the corner entry, opening a door for others to slip in there and so settling in position 5. In the 3rd corner he was lucky to prevent tipping over the guy falling ahead of him and so moved into #4. He was almost caught in the last lap by TA but managed to finish 4th, improving his personal best again.

500m Final A

When we re-watched the video at home we saw that TA finished with a Kick-Out, ie with skate in the air which should mean a disqualification. It proved important later in the overall results but we did not see it there & then. We all (Peter, we parents and Coach TT) were very happy to see Peter skate the way he did, and with proper speed.

Then came the 222m races: in the quarter-final he started well and defended 1st position for more than a lap, but then lost it on a wide exit in turn 3. No big problem, he qualified as second, posting 3rd best time in the complete field.

222m quarter-final

In the 222m semi he came off of the start line as 2nd and managed to hold that position until the finish. He skated the 3rd best time again, and a fantastic PB, just under 28s. We did not expect him to slip under 28s so we were all very happy with the fact. Interesting though that he made a wide exit error again in the 3rd turn.

222m semi-final

Then came the 222m Final A and Peter came off as 3rd and finished as 3rd, too. He did not have a chance to move forward but again made the same error of wide exits. Still a 3rd place is a 3rd place and those ahead him are 1 year older than him...

222m Final A

The last heat for Saturday was the 333m quarter-final. They are quite tired by then, I really don't understand why the youngest ones have to do the most heats in the first day - but it is usual...  Peter exited the first turn as 2nd and from then on it was a clear run onto the finish. He ran a PB again so it was a very very successful day.

333m quarter-final

As the races finished at about 5PM we had time to gather in a nearby pizzeria for a carb refill :) Although service was a bit lagging the spirits were high and we had a fun evening.

Next morning Peter was getting ready to skate the 333m semi-finals when he slipped during the warm-up sprints and smashed his face quite a bit. All this happened in the worst moment, about 10 minutes before he was due to skate. To our luck the Zamboni went wrong and produced some awful quality ice and we had a 30-minute delay in the program. We tried everything to help Peter forget about his aching nose and forehead and re-focus him on racing but we were only half-way successful with that.

He entered the rink still upset and that could be seen easily on his performance in the semi. He did a false start and then failed to do a good one. He came off 3rd and while tried to stay in touch for 2nd place he later missed it by skating wide, far from the corners. This made room for the 4th guy, JP to advance and so Peter has finished this heat 4th. That meant Final B - but seriously, who could blame him knowing the circumstances? And he skated only 0.3s slower than the previous day, so it wasn't a bad effort at all.

333m semi-final

In the Final B he was in 2nd place for most of the race and when the guy ahead fell in the last lap, Peter had to fight off an attack from JP in the last turn from the inside. He was tough hard but still clear of fouls and grabbed 1st place - 5th on this distance.

333m Final B

Only one race was left - the SuperFinal, in an unusual distance: 666m. By then Peter was quite tired and he really did not show his best form. He was skating in 4th place with TA behind him when 2 guys ahead of him fell and they were suddenly fighting for 2nd place - in the last turn TA managed to do an inside pass and won by a blade's length - that is 40 cm. With this unexpected result TA and Peter had the exact same amount of points but as TA has been better on the last distance that meant he became 3rd overall, while Peter had to resort to 4th. Detailed results here.

All in all Peter has managed to skate personal bests in all his distances so we are happy with that. Later, re-watching the videos we could see many technical aspects that can be improved but it will be the subject of the whole year ahead. Coach TT was very much satisfied with Peter's performance and now is planning all the mid-year work to make Peter compete for gold in the next season.

(This photo was shot in Spisska Nova Ves

but still it shows the relation between racer and the coach so well)

Kalokagatia 2010 - Spišská Nová Ves

Coach TT told the team there was a competition in nearby Slovakia we should visit, for the ice is very fast there. It was quite unclear until the last days if the younger skaters (cat E, F) could attend it but it all turned out fine. Kalokagatia is some kind of a mini winter Olympics for kids, with races in 6 sports. It was based in Spišská Nová Ves, which is a little town in the Eastern region of Slovakia. The town itself lays on both sides of river Hornad and has a beautiful, lens-shaped main square with a pretty church on one end, but the outer districts are quite grey concrete block houses.

We set off from Szeged at around 07:00 and had 530 kms to cover, which went quite uneventfully. Two cars, 6 kids, 4 adults- 'thankfully' also in our car was SzP, a 10-year old telltale who kept on talking for the whole trip, expect for 20 minutes when she fell asleep. In fact it was better to have a trip loaded with laughter than driving in total silence...

We arrived at around 14:00 and found the hotel after some hassle, with the help of a friendly local guy. We stayed at Hotel Preveza, a 2-star but very cosy and tidy hotel situated on the banks of the river Hornad, quite close to the city centre and lots of sports facilities, and it also has a 25m swimming pool. I definitely would rate the hotel one star more, for its tidiness and enormous sized dishes for lunch and dinner.

The first day also saw races - after all, that's what we went for... The Zimny Stadion looks good inside but it is COLD!!! After the technical meeting at 17:00 there was some time to train on the ice, before the races started at 18:00. The races were held with cat E+F racing together, also cat C+D together, but ranking was done separately. Peter started with the 500m as usual. The ice was really fast and he visibly had difficulties negotiating the turns that fast. However the biggest problem he had was overtaking a guy. When at last he managed to do that he was quite tired already and lost a position in the last turn so that meant he did not get in the Final A. Damn... it was so close :( In the Final B he moved much better and relaxed, but still fighting the turns because of the higher speed.
Then came the 222m where he qualified for the Final A having fastest 3rd time. In the final he was the only F cat racer (all 4 others were cat E) so he finished 5th but skated well. Our other racers were about 50% successful, CD was also skating well, grabbing 2nd-3rd places while the others usually got in Final B.

It was quite late when we got back to the hotel, ate the huge dish, had a shower and went to sleep. The next morning Coach TT went to ski some with his friend (coach for the team from Budapest) while we had some lazy hours with the kids. By noon Coach TT got back all tired and we had a video analysis of the races so far - but only after having another huge dish :) I think it was quite useful for the kids to watch themselves in the videos, and also hearing the coach's comments about their pros and cons.

The second day saw the races start at 15:00. Peter had the 333m, where in the semifinal he spoiled all but one turns - that meant he went into Final B, where he raced well and won it. He also improved his best time on this distance \o/. He also was ranked 6th best (4 cat E and 1 cat F was above him in the ranking) and that made him able to enter the superfinal 500m. He finished 6th there, again spoiling some turns - nice ground to improve further... Our other team-members were running as previously, CD got hold of a 2nd position overall, just like Peter. The event finished at about 17:30 as there were no relays.

The awards ceremony was back in the hotel and so we've collected 2 nice silver medals (I mean, they are really nice ones). And - guess what - another huge dish awaited us, which posed some difficulties for us as we've already had pizza on the main square - you know, the obligatory post-race pizza or hamburger :)

In the evening Coach TT again held video analysis. I really hope these occasions plant some urge in these kids to get better...

After another night and a huge breakfast, we dig our cars out of the snow and headed back home, this time we chose a shorter, but more mountainous road that was quite nice and also pretty cleaned up. We arrived home quite early, by 15:00 or so.

To sum it up, as Coach TT told us, the ice was very fast and it made our kids error-prone. So I hope they've learned from it and will fight to learn more. And if there is a similar event the next year, I definitely will vote to come back, as it was a nice, well-organized and friendly event.

Two galleries to surf some pictures: CR and FGy.

8th Tisza Cup, Olympic Hopes Hungarian Open Szeged, 2010

The first local shorttrack race we could attend... Peter was ill in the previous 2 years so this was his debut race here 'at home'. There were a lot of kids racing, but the Junior A and Senior fields were almost missing as most of them were already in Dresden training for the European Championships.

Peter started with 500m and unluckily fell in the 3rd turn when trying to overtake a much slower opponent. He stood up quickly but finished in 4th place only and so could not advance to the Final A. In Final B he raced virtually alone winning the heat with 2 seconds, earning overall 7th on this distance. His time was fine but being in a stronger group could have helped for sure.

500m Final B

Later the 222m proved to be the best part of the day. In all 3 heats he started well and fought strongly. He got in the Final B and won that, so he made 5th overall on 222m.

222m Quarterfinal

222m Semifinal

222m Final B

Closing the day he had to skate the 333m quarterfinal where he made a big, stupid mistake. They were only 3 in that heat and he fell again upon overtaking. But this time he stood up very late and from then on he did not skate at 100% only 70... in the last turn the guy in 2nd position fell but Peter was too far behind (skating comfortable...) to grab 2nd position. It was a silly mistake and this has put him in the Final C only. We were quite angry about this but re-watching the race in the evening helped Peter understand how silly this slow skating was. :(

The next day he skated the Final C of 333m where he ran fine but as coach TT told him 'it was a fine one but you also know it should have been in the Final A'. This has put him on 9th place on this distance, so 8th overall. Too bad, only one silly mistake and you are out of top 6...

333m Final C

There wasn't much left but the relays where he were teamed up with NB (first race) and HB. He really did not feel like relaying with HB as he only has bad memories of relays with him. And again it proved true. NB had to do 1 lap, then Peter and HB 2-2 each. HB however skated in front of him after 1.5 laps and from then on it was total chaos. Coach TT was absolutely KO-d and noone seem to understand how a 10-year old boy can not count onto 2... They were DQ-d in the end being lapped twice but it did not bother anyone.

All in all I think it was a good race and if those two falls haven't had happened Peter could have easily finished in top 6, or in top 4 maybe. He had quite good starts and the times he skated are fine and I hope they will get better until late February for the Junior Champs. Full results here.

Santa Claus Cup, Budapest, 2009

We've awaited this competition a lot to measure Peter's development related to his last races on ice - but it did not happen at all.

We traveled to Budapest on Friday, easy & lazy style, did some shopping and even had time for a quick afternoon nap before getting to the ice rink. There was about 40 minutes of practice time for Peter's age category but he was completely lacking his form. When I asked him what the trouble was he said his throat was sore and breathing was almost painful. However he finished the practice and skated quite nice by the end of it - but things weren't looking good at all.

We told coach TT about his health and he told us Peter must not race if he had fever during the night. And yes, his temperature climbed over 38C at dawn so it was clear he wouldn't skate during the weekend.

We went to the rink though and watched the quarter-finals for his category to 'check his opponents' then headed home - we were home by Saturday noon and could began to cure him. Now it's Monday and he is getting better but antibiotics were needed, too - diagnose is laryngitis.

I am (and he is) very sorry he couldn't race but health is #1 for sure. There will be a competition in Slovakia the upcoming weekend but I don't think it is wise to enter after such an illness. Next meeting is in January, in our home town Szeged.

November 2009

I started training again in November after the October rest. I run (or better, jog at slow speed) and do plyometrics. Later on I'd like to put in some bike hours, too and some tech drills sessions on skates.

November stats are: 13:55h logged, 8973 kCal burnt in 13 sessions.

Well of course as soon as I've started serious work my lower back opposed and I had a nerve stuck for more than a week. However I tried jogging even in that state but obviously skipped some plyo job...

About plyometrics: I (try to) do the exercises as detailed by Bill Begg under the 'Offskate plyo general preparation' title. You can see them listed below:

-	Plyometric Menu	Time
1.	Jogging slowly for warm up	8 mins
2.	Stretch (static, ballistic)	10 mins
3.	Skipping	2 mins
4.	Continuous jumps	8 times
5.	Press-ups	1 min
6.	Skip jump with tuck, knees up to chest	1 min
7.	Bent knee sit-ups, with alternative twist, no hands behind head, only at side (safety issue)	1 min
8.	Stride jumps, extend legs to back & side	1 min
9.	Back extensions, opposite leg & arm raised for about 2 sec, while lying on stomach	1 min
10.	Hip extensions, no explosive movements (safety issue) 30 sec on each leg	1 min
11.	Burpee's, spring into air at end of each one	1 min
12.	Lateral leg raises, raise & lower steadily, with extended leg, while lying straight, 30 sec each leg	1 min
13.	Skip jumps with squat: 1,2,3 on toes then 4th squat	1 min
14.	Floor & wall touches, don't move feet & twist upper body around to touch wall behind, with the palms of your hands	1 min
15.	Step-ups, 1 foot up & two feet up, before down, do not jump	1 min
16.	Single treadmills (keep back straight, back foot extended & front knee to chest)	1 min
17.	Shuttle sprints, run between marks approx. 20m apart, TOUCH GROUND, then re-accelerate back	1 min
18.	Low walking, with knee to ground	2 mins
19.	Crossbacks	1 min
20.	Stride backs	1 min
21.	Gunthers, dryland skating, maintain motion looping behind & pointing toe in, using full arms	2 mins
22.	Heel taps	1 min
23.	Swing hop 15 meters, 4 x on each leg, if hill available, use that for exercise	-
24.	Bounding on spot, use arms to maintain motion	1 min
25.	Wall sitting, legs at 70 degree & back straight	2 mins
26.	Slow jogging & light static stretching to cool down & check if body is OK	10 mins

1-2-3 are OK, #4 makes me out of breath, then I'm OK till #11 which again is hard on lungs. Then I'm fine until #16 which I found to be a killer. The skate-related section is generally OK but #24 makes my heartrate jump up seriously and #25 is the well known burning-muscle feeling after which you can hardly start jogging...

Peter has 4 trainings a week, 2 times on speedskates, once a dryland and a hockey skate session on Sundays, where they do standard exercises then play football on skates. He could be going to 2 more speedskate trainings but they start at 06:00 on schooldays and we do not want him to be too tired during the day. I think he is too young for that.

His technique is getting better and better each week, though there are some not-so-nice moves with his left arm and his right knee is not as good-looking as the left one. Well, first race is in 2 weeks - we will see...

This weekend the National Short-track Team is training in our town so obviously we will attend some of their training sessions to see 'how the big guns do it'. :)