KryptoAllez Speed Skating Journal

[KryptoAllez]

For those interested in seeing what inline speed skating is all about (and for my own benefit), I will keep a separate journal about my competitions. Some may enjoy reading and I will be able to keep track of my speed skating progress here as well.

I normally race in my own division, Classic Women (ages 27-34) as well as the Senior Women division (ages 18-26), at least I have been, at my coach's request.

March 29-31, 2002 Speed Skating Invitational in Fayetteville, NC

I placed first in my division and had a great time! There were only 3 of us but one of the girls gave me a run for my money, I definitely had to work for my win. I had a 500 and a 1500 meter race in my Classic Ladies division. On the 5 lap I just did what I always do, took off like a bat out of hell and didn't stop til I crossed the finish line. The girl from the Piedmont team (a good team) tried to pass me once without success. My coach said she wasn't set up correctly to pass me. On the 15 lap race, the slowest girl lead the first 5 laps or so while I sat in second position. Then she took the corner wide so that I would be forced to take the lead, which I did, but I still kept the pace pretty slow just waiting and so I'd have a good sprint left for the end. When you're leading a pack, you get to control the pace. So anyway, I lead at a comfortable pace just waiting to see what would happen next, figured if nobody took the break by 4 laps to go that I'd go ahead and take off. Well, at about 5 laps to go the girl from Piedmont tried a break from behind me but I was ready cause I was right on her like fly on fly paper, lol, she didn't get any distance on me. We left the other girl. I stayed right on her just waiting, knowing that I still had enough speed to get around her. Then on the last lap I passed her and gained about 5-6 feet on her before I crossed the finish line with the win. So that went great, that's one race that turned out just how I wanted it to turn out! My team said I made the race very exciting and they said they were screaming their lungs out for me, lol. And I sure had fun, it was definitely very rewarding for me! So I came home with a first place plaque in my division, yay!

My coach also had me race in the Senior division. That didn't go as well, the Seniors from NC are fast, more like the Pro Elite division skaters from our Region (PA, NJ, DE) who I DON'T ever skate against cause I'm not THAT fast! And they didn't have a Pro Elite division at this meet so that may explain why they were so much faster since they may have actually belonged in a Pro Elite division. At our league meets I skate against the Standard division Senior skaters and out of the 5 or 6 of us, I usually place 2nd or 3rd. So anyway, I placed 4th out of 5 in the 5 lap. I was actually pretty pleased with that cause the one person I beat is the same girl I've been chasing at my league meets! I actually beat her! I think she wasn't really trying though, it looked as if she just gave up and the few times I talked to her, I could tell she just wasn't mentally there. And her parents said she was REALLY nervous. One of the times I talked to her, I asked her if she thought the other girls would leave us on the 20 lap and she replied with a loser attitude, she said, "I don't care". I'm like, well, alrighty then and I'm thinking, now what kind of attitude is that to have when you are spending a lot of money just to go to this meet, for the race fees, hotel nights, food, etc. Not to mention this is what you train for, at least it is for me. I train for these big meets and I train to win, not to go with an "I don't care what happens" attitude, what a shame. But anyway, I think she got herself together by the 20 lap race cause I could tell that everytime I'd start gaining on her, she'd pick it up. I think she was determined not to let me beat her again. So I came in last on the 2000 meter race. The accomplishment on that race though was that I didn't get lapped! So I considered that pretty good that I wasn't so slow that the other girls could lap me.

I had a relay race as well. My coach put me with the two fastest people on my team! He put me with Jena who skates the Pro Elite division and the fastest guy on the team! So boy, did I feel like the weak link! Turned out I wasn't though cause there was another guy on the team (to make a 4 person relay team) and he lost a lot more ground than I did. I lost some ground behind the other senior girls when I kicked the pylon with my left skate. My coach said one of the other girls ahead of me kicked it into my path and he was surprised I didn't step on the pylon and go down. I was right on the last skater in the pack (all senior girls who I'd raced against in division and lost) with the one Classic Lady (who I beat) behind me but when I kicked the pylon, I lost some ground but then was able to hold that position. I felt aggravated about it cause I felt that if I hadn't kicked the cone that I would've given our team a better chance by sticking closer to the other girls so that Jena (who skated 2nd) could make some passes and get us in a top position. She did make quite a few passes, probably about 3 people but then the next guy who went, lost all the ground she had gained. By the time JR was up (fastest guy on our team) he had too much ground to make up and the other guys were really fast as well. Oh well. It was still fun though, JR made a very valient effort which was thrilling to watch.

So that's that. And this weekend I have another one. As far as I know, I am just skating my own division this time which is okay with me cause I really can't afford the extra fees to race more than just my own division. I will race a 500 and 1500 meter in my own division on Saturday morning, bright and early. Then on Sunday I have two 2-person relay races both within the same morning hour, ugh! These 2 person relays are really tough cause there are only two of you doing 2 lap sprints then tagging so basically it is so fast that you are constantly sprinting 2 laps for 5 times in a row. So if you're going to lose your breakfast, during these races are the most likely times.

 

[KryptoAllez]

April 6 & 7 Keystone Spring Invitational
Cornwell Heights, PA

I raced in both my own division (Classic Women) and the Senior division and 4 relay races as well.

In the Classic division I had 3 competitors, one of them has been one of the top Classic ladies for several years in a row, placing in the top 5 in National competitions, speed skating for about 10 years (compared to my being in my 3rd year of competitive speed skating). Anyway, in my 1500 meter race I started off fairly slow figuring I'd let someone else lead the pace for a while, well, nobody took the lead so I ended up doing it, kept the pace nice and easy. At 9 laps to go I heard my coach telling me to get ready, pay attention. I knew what he was talking about, knew that Patty (the many time National placement woman) would probably break at any time, attempting to get away from me. At about 7 laps she did just that but I was ready and I stayed right on her. She sprinted for about 2 laps then backed off. I guess she thought she'd try and lose me. I could've passed when she backed off a bit but decided not to figuring she'd just catch me right away and pass me right back so I thought I'd wait for her to go again then perhaps try and pass her on the last lap or two like I had done in Fayetteville. At around 4 laps to go she kicked it again and I stayed with her but indeed she was a bit faster than me and I couldn't pass her. So second place for me, the other two were no competition, I had raced them before and knew as much anyway.

In the 500 meter where getting a good start is very important, she jumped the start (moving before the gun goes off) and had to go back a line from the starting line (ha ha, I'm wondering if I had her nervous, hehe). So I beat her on the start, got to the corner first with her right on me. I was able to hold her off until the last lap. She finally passed me right before the first corner of the last lap and pulled a little distance on me. So I got second place again. My coach said she tried several times to pass me, that she was trying to pass me on the outside cause apparently I'm tough to pass on the inside cause of the way I skate (my style of skating or something) but that it didn't work cause he said I'm too fast for her to pass me that way, cool beans.

So I got second overall in Classic Women, winning $50, kewl! Of course she got $100.

In the Senior division I raced a 2000 meter and a 500 meter. I had 3 competitors there as well, one girl I had already raced down in Fayetteville and she blew me away. I knew my other competition, skated against them many times before, so I knew it would come down to which one of us (me or my friend Tamara) would get second place.

Well, last time I raced against my friend Tamara at one of our league meets, she managed to beat me, she had drafted off me the entire race, basically what they call using me, then she passed me with 1-2 laps to go. Well, this time I decided that wasn't gonna happen at a big invitational, league meets I don't really care as much, I more so care about getting better but at invitationals I will use strategy to win. Soooo, I drafted off HER until the last 2 laps then took off and got second. Her and I are pretty close in speed and probably as far as being in shape too so it seems like here lately, whichever one of us has to lead the whole race will lose. So second for me in the 2000 meter since the same girl who blew me away in Fayetteville (the youngin' hehe) left me and Tamara here as well.

In the Senior 500 meter race I just took off as usual and ended up just trailing the other fast girl with Tamara behind me. And as it turns out, I didn't know it, but Tamara had fallen and was no where close to me after the first 2 laps, so I actually got second easily. So second overall in Senior division as well, once again winning money.

I had 4 relay races, one of them was a Classic 2 Mix with a guy from my team. We had to race against two other teams, one of the teams I knew we could beat cause both he and I are faster, me being faster than the girl and him being faster than the guy. The other team I didn't know the guy but I knew that my partner (Brett) won first in his division so I knew he was faster than any of the guys. But I was worried about it though cause the girl was the girl (Patty) who beat me in my Classic division races. So anyway, Brett tells me that most likely she will try to get away from me, to gap me so that Brett would have to keep working hard to catch back up, the strategy being to wear Brett out enough so they would be able to win the race. Well, hehe, THAT didn't happen! She TRIED to lose me but it backfired on her cause I was able to stick right on her and she ended up getting worn out herself so then one of the times I tagged my partner (gave him a good push) he used it to take off and overtake his competitor so then we were ahead and Patty had to work to catch me, which she did, darn it, but she didn't get enough distance on me and on the last two laps my partner was able to get it back and overtake his competitor to pull us in for the win, yay!

I won't go into detail for the other 3 relay races but basically I had to race in with Pro's and Seniors! Sometimes I think my coach is really nutty for putting me in with such fast people! These skaters are WAY faster than me and sometimes I just don't get it, why he puts me in with them when I'm so much slower. I found out that I was put in on one relay team because the coach's son said I was fast and to put me in it! Ha ha, such a disillusioned young man... okay, but for real I was pretty flattered. Anyway, out of the other 3 relay races, my team placed 2nd in one, 3rd in another, and we didn't place in one of them. The 2nd and 3rds were acheived in with 4-5 other teams. I got really nice plaques for prizes for the relay races.

My next speed skating meet is just another league meet on May 19th. My goal is to beat Tamara again and get as close to the leader (Rachael) as I can. I actually beat Rachael in the 500 meter down in Fayetteville but I doubt that'll happen again, we'll see.

 

[KryptoAllez]

May 19, 2002

So my last league meet for the season was in May and it looked like since I hadn't raced in the Senior division for the first two meets of the season, that I wasn't going to be able to beat Tamera for overall 2nd place points for the season, even if I did beat her. Well, things panned out interestingly...

First off, Rachael (who had been winning first) didn't skate, so that changed things already since if I could get first then, I'd accumulate more points. But it still looked like it wouldn't give me enough points for 2nd as Tamera would probably still get enough points to beat me if she came in 2nd behind me each race. Well... some new girl showed up. And as it turned out, I was able to pull off winning first in both races (a 1500 and 500 meter) and in one of the races, the new girl beat Tamera so with my two first place points and Tamara with a 2nd and 3rd place points, I edged her out for overall 2nd place by 6 points!! Woohoo!!! So I ended up with a 2nd place trophy for the season in Senior Lady division, a division of 18-26 yr olds and I'm 29, kewl! Pretty good for an old lady I guess. So that turned out better than I expected.

 

[KryptoAllez]

June 15th was the Eastern Regional meet, the National qualifier. I raced in my own division, Classic Lady. I had 4 other girls to race against, so there were 5 of us and only top 3 qualify for Nationals. My first race was a 1500m and it was apparent that they all wanted me to lead. So I took the lead, started picking up the pace at my coach's discretion, I knew it was only a matter of time before Patty passed me. I raced against her at an Invitational and she was faster than me, so I really didn't expect to be able to beat her yet, since I had just raced her in April. That's pretty much what happened. I think Patty and I picked it up and dropped everyone else then Patty passed me on the last few laps. She just has more speed than I do, I've got a lot of room for improvement in my technique. Not only that, but something just didn't feel right, I didn't feel like I was skating my best but I couldn't figure out what was wrong. In the second race, a 1000m, Patty and another girl passed me so I got 3rd in that race. Then finally, another team member (veteran skater) told me I wasn't skating the track right. Ah, so that was the problem! I have no idea why I wasn't skating the track correctly, nerves maybe? Anyway, I was very thankful for his advice (turns out my coach had asked him to tell me) and was determined to fix it by my 500m race and not let that other girl pass me again! I knew Patty would most likely beat me again, but I just KNEW I was faster than that other girl. So on the 500m (my forte') I took off like a bat out of hell as usual, left everyone in my dust thru the first corner. Patty reeled me in and sat behind me til 2 laps to go then passed me. So I got my 2nd in the 500m. So overall I came in 2nd in my Region in Standard Classic Ladies and qualified for Nationals, yay! This is the third year I qualified for Nationals, I took 1st in my Region in my division the previous two years.

After my division (individual) races, I had 3 relay races to do. I raced in a Senior 4-Lady race and we got 3rd out of 3 teams. The other teams were made up of women 18-26 and usually in the Pro-Elite division! So they were MUCH faster than me and the other girl on our team who is a relatively new skater.

I skated in a Classic 2-Lady relay and we only had one other team to race against, we beat them easily.

Last race was a doozey for me, I got to feeling sick during this race and it showed. I skated a Classic 2-Mixed (girl & guy) and on my second tag out, felt like total crapola, like as in sick and weak. I couldn't get out in time for my tag on the next round and wasn't ready to take the push. My partner pushed me and I went down and into the wall! The fall itself didn't hurt, I just felt sick! I think I was just running too low on fuel, like low blood sugar cause I did a stupid thing and hadn't eaten anything since 5 am and it was late afternoon when I was racing in my relay races. Anyway, out of 4 teams we still managed to pull a 3rd place, qualifying for Nationals.

So overall not bad, I am the second fastest Classic Lady in the Eastern Region and I qualified for National competition in all my races!

Now, the problem.....

It's gonna cost me $1053 to go to Nationals in Lincoln, NE! And we don't have $1053 to send me to Nationals! But I am determined to go somehow, someway. We've been trying different things to raise the money for me to go. I'm now at the point where I'm looking for bikini contests to go to (since there are clubs & beaches nearby) that offer cash for first place. One place gives $500 for first place! That would be half the money I need to go! So anyway, I really hate to ask, but I'm desperate, if there's anyone out there reading this who has enjoyed reading about my speed skating and would like to help send me to Nationals, please pm me or BPB. And thanks SOOO much! God Bless my caring friends.

 

[KryptoAllez]

June 30th practice

Wanted to mention a highlight of indoor practice this past Sunday. I have been working extra hard, putting in extra time doing some drill work at a nearby skating rink, basically working on improving my technique. I have a problem of not getting all the way over on my wheel edges when taking the corners and the further over you are on your edges, and consistently, the faster you go! Well, I think the extra time I'm putting into working on getting over on my edges is paying off, woohoo! Cause this past Sunday I ran my fastest two lap time EVER! And I beat my old time by almost an ENTIRE second! That's a lot when you're talking speed skating! Anyway, since the beginning of the year, the coach has been timing us for 2 laps about every month. Last month in May, my 2 lap time was :21.53 and this past Sunday, it was :20.66!!!! I had to ask my coach to repeat my time cause I couldn't believe my ears! I'd been used to hearing my times in the 22's or 21's and he said :20.66!! I actually broke into the 20's! Boy was I tickled to hear that! So anyway, just thought I'd share and add this event to my journal. This gives me SOOO much more motivation to keep working hard cause I now have proof that it's paying off! I really want to make it as far as I can in this sport. I want my name to become known in Inline Speed Skating, for people to know I'm fast. This is something I've wanted ever since I first got into the sport. I want to go up the ladder, eventually skating in the Pro-Elite divisions and getting sponsored. And I don't plan on ever stopping til I get there!

 

[KryptoAllez]

July 3rd practice

Seems everybody was either on vacation or just out doing other things as there were only 5 of us at practice. First drill we did is usually a doozy, had there been more people. The pace line is set up with the fastest people in front. The first person in line does 5 laps pretty fast and getting faster every lap. Us slower people in the back are supposed to try and stay up with the pack as best we can. It builds endurance, stamina, and acceleration. Once the first person completes their laps, the rest of the stragglers have to keep working to catch up to the back of the pack, however far behind they've gotten. So the closer you can stay to the pack, the better as you won't have to do as many laps when you're already tired. Then once everyone catches up to the pack, the first person in line slides back one and the next person in line takes over and does his/her 5 laps, same thing all over again. Each person takes at least one turn, so when the entire team is there, it's a very long and difficult drill! It's one of those that you feel like falling over when you're finished!

Most of the rest of practice the coach had us doing sprints, just short races. We did 5 laps 3 times, then 3 laps 3 times, then 1 lap 3 times, no breaks between the one lappers, 30 sec between the 3 lappers and about a minute between the 5 lappers, phew! The coach was timing me and the lead guy since we're going to Nationals, he was really trying to push us. The coach said I was running some good times and didn't look like I was struggling or tired, even though I was! He said my technique is looking good, I was skating smooth. He knows what kind of lap times I need to be skating in order to be in "the hunt" as far as Nationals go. I was like okay, so my sprint times are good, but what about my 1500 meter races, not like I can keep up those times for 15 laps! So then he says that he had been timing me also on my 15 lap races so he knows what I normally run! Oooh, I did not realize that! So then he'd know if I was slacking too, hehe. Anyway, so he said I'm pacing 11.3 - 12.3 sec laps in my 1500m which is about where I need to be. I need to be able to skate in the mid 11's to hang with the National caliper Classic Ladies. I sure hope he's right as I've been getting nervous already about Nationals, having doubts as to whether I can "hang" or not.

Oh, and I might add, it was ungodly hot & muggy in the skating rink, rink has no A/C so it was pretty miserable and I basically felt crappy the whole practice. That heat just kills me! That, added to the fact that my body just felt spent, like I had just done this a few hours ago! I'd swear I'm not recovering as quickly since I started this cutting calories thing, ugg!

 

[KryptoAllez]

July 6 - practice

Well, I tried to go to practice tonight. I left at 4:30 pm to get to practice at 6 pm. First off, I didn't realize til I was on my way and looked at the directions (I don't go to this particular rink very often) that it was actually gonna take me 1:45 min to get there. And then... I ran into a stupid traffic jam on the way up. I'm assuming it was all the beach traffic going home for the day. Sooo, by the time I got to my usual bathroom stop, it was already 5:30 pm and I had at least another hour to go! That would've put me at practice not til 6:30 pm and practice ends at 7:30 pm! So by the time I stretched good and got my skates on, I would've had only about 45 min left to practice! And that's after driving probably a total of 2:15 min! So judgement call, I just turned around and came back home, it just wasn't worth it.

I'll have to try again next Saturday, leave at 3:30pm to make sure I get there by 6:00pm, GEESH! Can't make it to the Wed practice, it's at 4:30pm, too early for me to close the store to make it there on time and BPB has to work too. This is what happens when my coach goes on vacation, I have to try and make the practices at the other rink with the other coach. Ah well, guess I'll have to try and get some outdoor skating in!

 

[KryptoAllez]

July 13, 2002

Lookout, this is a long one, must rant...

Okay, so I had heard that the other coach of our team, the one who runs the other half of our team at the other rink, is, how shall I put it, very harsh in his coaching style, does a lot of yelling, makes you do extra laps etc if you screw up and such. From the things I'd heard about him, I had my doubts as personally, I do not need to be coached that way and as a matter of fact, I don't respond well to it either. Some people perhaps need that type of coaching, but I definitely don't! Well... let me just say that I will NOT EVER AGAIN skate at ANY of his practices! I will NOT skate for that man! He is a f***** jerk! And I'm not even one to normally have the f word enter my head but let me tell ya, this guy pushed me too far!

It started off okay as he had told me I needed to be looking at my partner more often before she tagged me for the relay to make sure I timed it right. Then he had just me and my partner (Jane) practicing a little drill by ourselves on the floor, so far so good. Well then another relay team comes out on the floor and they begin doing the same thing, so I'm like, okay cool, no problem. Well, me and my partner catch up to the other team during the drill, just a drill mind you, we weren't actually in a race. Well, apparently the coach wanted me to ASSUME we were racing cause what happened next when I caught up to the other team, was that I got yelled at for not passing the other girl!!! I was like WTF! So then while the whole team is out there, he proceeds to single me out and yell at me. He tells me I needed to pass her cause the way I practice is how I'll be at a meet, well, maybe for some people but personally I thought that was BS! Anyone who knows me knows how competitive I am WHEN IT COUNTS! But anyway, so I actually seriously did not understand at the beginning, why the coach was yelling at me for not passing, I thought I did something wrong for real, something to do with how you are supposed to relay. So for the next friggin 15 minutes, the coach proceeded to talk to me in a very mean tone, like I was a little kid or something, had the whole team demonstrating relay tags then asks me again if I understood. So I'm still confused as to why he was yelling at me, I'm like, well yeah, the first person coming around the corner, his partner goes to the wall for the tag, and so on, over to the pylon. And he's like, yes, I thought you said you didn't understand. I'm like well, yeah, I know how to relay tag! And I'm thinking in my head, fricken jerk! So then he's like then why did you say you didn't understand? So I just said we apparently had a miscommunication. In reality what happened was he yelled at me for not passing Adrienne and somehow misunderstood me, thinking I actually didn't KNOW to pass, well of course I do, I just didn't cause it wasn't a friggin race! My gosh! I was SOOO close to telling him I didn't appreciate the way he was talking to me! Later on one of my teammates asked me if I was okay after that whole ordeal and she said she just got used to him. She says you just have to nod your head and let him go, if you argue with him it just makes it worse. Well, guess what? I'm NOT putting up with that! NOBODY pushes me around and I don't have to take his crap! So he'll never see me again at any of his practices! Next time MY coach is out of town, I'll just skate outdoors! I'm NOT skating for someone like that! He can kiss my ass, I'm not putting up with him. NOBODY treats me that way! Get used to it my butt, I DON'T THINK SO!

Oh, and not only that, but I brought my step son, who is a beginner, with me and I realize that the coach wouldn't really be able to work with him because he's a beginner and he's trying to get us advanced skaters ready for Nationals but dang, the guy didn't even ACKNOWLEDGE my step son's presence there!! Again, WTF! So that was just another thing to add to it, what a freaking jerk!

So anyway, the practice pretty much sucked, took me two hours to get there for an hour and a half practice then I just ended up getting pissed off and then didn't skate hard cause I was mad at him. That's what I'm talking about, he treats me like that and I'm not gonna WANNA skate hard!

Good news is that MY coach is back from vacation this week so I will be back with him for practice on Tuesday. The difference between him and the other coach is like night and day! I would bend over backwards for Jim (my coach). I skate whatever races he wants me to skate even if I wasn't planning on it, I'll skate it just for him, that's how much respect I have for him. He's definitely one of the best coaches I've ever had. He really takes care of his skaters.

Okay, done.

 

[KryptoAllez]

July 16, 2002

Went over to the local rink after closing the store to do my circle drill work. Been skating the circles down the center of the floor trying to work my edges over. Been doing that at least once a week for a while now. I usually go over there and work on it for 20-30 minutes. I really think it is doing me good, I am definitely getting over better on my edges now cause I can actually touch the floor with my hand now. The only thing that concerns me though is the fact that I've had nobody to watch me do the circles to tell me if I'm picking up any bad habits. I have a feeling I am not setting my weight back onto my heels far enough cause sometimes I can feel myself coming up on my toes. The other thing is I'm probably dropping my left shoulder, a common mistake skaters make. I mentioned it to my coach but he said not to worry, he'll take a look at me after Nationals. He says he's not too concerned cause my lap times are still pretty fast. Sooo, anyhoo, that was my last working on my corners getting my edges over before Nationals. I left the rink feeling pretty good about it though.

 

[KryptoAllez]

July 21, 2002

Tomorrow morning (Monday Jul 22) I'm on my way to Lincoln, NE to compete at the Inline Speed Skating National Championships which runs from Tues July 23 - Sat July 27. I will be up bright and early every morning competing in several races a day spread out all day up to 11 pm some nights.

I'm excited and ready to go, just gonna go have a good time and skate my best, as I always do, and whatever happens, happens...

 

[Dr. Pain]

Good Luck Kyrpto! :

If you have trained with MD6 or something...and don't get tested....don't forget to "bring it"


Are my Carb-up suggestions working?


DP

 

[KryptoAllez]

Thanks! I'll have to let you know on the carb up suggestion when I get back, I won't know for sure til I start racing since I haven't been doing ANYTHING since I started carbing up. I feel good though, strong and energetic, other than the bloat. That'll be gone by tomorrow eve though I'm sure.

Oh and I don't train with any type of fat burners, goodness knows my heart rate and adrenaline runs sky high as it is, don't wanna mess with the ticker. I did however start loading on creatine on Friday as I know that it works from previous experience. I also have Cytomax with me for drinking in between races. So I should be set, everything so far so good. Leaving bright and early tomorrow morn, update when I get back.

 

[KryptoAllez]

Nationals Results

Well, I have to say, not too shabby for my first STANDARD National Championship! Two years ago when I placed 2nd, it was in the JUNIOR OLYMPIC division which is more or less a beginner division. So anyway, I am now the 5TH FASTEST CLASSIC LADY SKATER IN THE NATION FOR 2002, WOOHOO!!!

And, ALL the details:

I made it to all the finals in all 3 of my races. Then in the finals, I placed 5th in the 500m, 4th in the 1000m, and 6th in the 1500m. The 1500m, the longer races, are my weak races, my legs seem to be more suited for sprinting short distances as they just seem to tighten up on me to where I can't hardly move them in the longer races. I will have to work on that this season. The other girls gapped me pretty bad with about 5 laps to go on the 1500m. They picked up the pace and I had nothing more left in my legs. I stayed in the hunt until about 5 laps to go then they just took off.

In the 1000m final I was running in 5th place behind the other girl from my Region then one of the girls got disqualified so then I ended up 4th.

In the 500m race I was running in 4th place then the other girl from my Region who beat me at Regionals passed me, altho she didn't get away from me as I stayed right on her, could've passed her right back but it wouldn't have mattered as you only score points in the top 3 placements.

So anyway, it basically boils down to my being 5th as even though I got 6th in the 1500m, the girl who beat me in that race didn't make it to all her finals. It's somewhat difficult to figure out since they don't award any points past third place. But the same 5 girls, myself included, made all 3 finals and the other 4 girls are faster than me so that is how I arrived at concluding I am 5th in the Nation for 2002. Works for me!

I got to see how I compare to the other top Standard Classic Lady speed skaters in the nation so now I know where I'm at and where I need to go. I was able to hang with them for the most part but I just wasn't in the contention as the same 3-4 girls battled in all the races while I just hung on. By next year I should be one of the contenders for a placement. So I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. I feel like I'm doing well for hanging with the top skaters of the Nation for only my third year of competing. I know the girl who won has been racing since she was little and even the girl in 4th has been racing for over 10 years now. So I think if I keep working hard that I can certainly get there and maybe even be able to break the records! The National Classic Ladies record for the 500 & 1000m was set in 1998 by Debbie Rice and the 1500m by Darlene Kessinger, it's time for those records to be broken!

I also raced in 3 relay races. The first relay race I didn't expect to even come close to placing as it was in a Senior 4-Lady relay and I am not even CLOSE to being as fast as the top level Senior division speed skaters and another girl on our team isn't either as she has been skating less time than me. The other two on our team are fast but not fast enough to make up for us, the weak links. I actually didn't even expect to make it out of our first heat but we did! We made it to the semi-finals then that's where it ended. But I skated well and the coach's son said that's the fastest he's ever seen me skate. Hee hee.

The next relay race I did was a Classic 2 Mixed race. We made it out of our heat despite a bad tag, my fault of course, ugg. We got to the semi's and my partner passed up at the last minute and for the life of me I could not get to him to be tagged, I didn't know how to get to him as other skaters were in the way. Well, he still managed to reach around another skater and tag me but apparently the referees didn't see the tag and disqualified us, so that was the end of that. I was VERY upset as I felt like such a screw up, like I could've costed my partner a medal. I just need more practice on 2 person relays with lot of other teams so I can practice getting to my partner even with a lot of other skaters in the way.

The next day I redeemed myself in my Classic 2 Lady relay. It started out with heats but a lot of teams scratched so then there only ended up being 3 teams! So at least we were guaranteed a medal as long as we didn't screw up (which would more likely be me). The battle ended up being between us and the one other team and we were able to pull off the GOLD!! Woohoo! I was able to hold the one girl back again, same girl I had raced at an Invitational in Fayetteville, NC. Once again she tried to pass me a time or two and couldn't. After the race was over she was telling me she heard everyone yelling at her to pass me but she said she just couldn't cause her legs just didn't have enough to pass.

So overall I had a great time! 5th in the nation and a Gold medal for a relay race! And I LOVE the floor, I feel confident and fast on that skating floor! I know I was skating my VERY best and that alone makes me a happy camper!

Next year Nationals is in Syracuse, NY and I'm really hoping BPB can go with me this time as it's a good time for everyone, they have a DJ, music, shows, vendors, pretty cool. Plus it's just nice to have a family member there to watch. There are photographers there who take photos of the skaters in action then you can go look at the photos and buy them. I couldn't find any good action shots of me, unfortunately, they were either blurred, dorky looking, or part of me was cut off, not centered, etc.

There is a web site where they post the National Championships results and they have a few photos on there and just my luck, there are two photos of the Classic Lady skaters and of course they just missed me! They only got the top 4 skaters in the 2 photos and on one of the photos you can even see my hand on the 4th place skater's back!! Arrggghhh! All the photographer had to do was wait just a hair longer and she could've gotten all 5 of us on the shot!

Here's that one, we are in a pace in this picture and you can see my hand just at the right edge of the photo. The girl in yellow is the girl in my Region who beat me at Regionals.

And this is once we broke out into a sprint.

These photos were taken during the 1000m race most likely the final. The girl in the front on the second photo ended up getting disqualified for strattling a pylon so that got me 4th. But dang it, I almost made the photo! Next year, next year!

In case anyone is interested, this is the site where you can find the results and some photos of the National Inline Speed Skating Championships:

USA Roller Sports

 

[craig777]

Wow, that is so cool.

I would love to do something like that.

 

[KryptoAllez]

Originally posted by craig777
Wow, that is so cool.

I would love to do something like that.

It's my passion!

 

[TJohn]

Absolutely outstanding reading here kyrpto !! Very exciting. You're doing great girl. And most excellent pics too.

I'm glad to have helped you out, and one of these days I will meet you guys

Keep it going,
TJohn

 

[GardeningGrrl]

Hey Krypto, congrats! Sounds like you did great! I'm glad you figured out the money thing and were able to go. How did the bikini contest turn out? I know you said you were worried about the judging possibly not being impartial.......

 

[The Amazon]

Hey Krypto!

I got the cute Garfield card today. I was happy that I could help! Glad to hear everything went well! Congratulations!

What is this about a bikini contest? Did you take any pictures for us?

m

 

[KryptoAllez]

Yes, I decided to give bikini contests a shot to earn me some money to go to Nationals. I went to two of them, didn't place in either. There were so many girls in the second one that they had to have several rounds of elimination and I got eliminated on the first round. At the first bikini contest, some of the guys in the audience were calling me "mom" cause apparently they thought I was too old. I also got a lot of comments about my quads at both contests. At the second one, the announcer says, "look at the quads popping out on this girl!" So anyway, long story short, I got the idea that I didn't have the type of physique the volunteer judges were looking for cause I am not thin and petite with big boobs. I was leaner and way more muscular than any of the other girls in either contest. So I guess my look is not the look that the judges were liking. Ah well, I'll know better next year, bikini contests will be out for me if I need to earn money for Nationals again.

 

[The Amazon]

Well that just sucks Krypto! I am sorry to hear that they were so stupid since we all know you have a great figure!

Keep up your hard work and stay away from the drunken boys! They just don't know a good thing when they see it.

m

 

[GardeningGrrl]

Krypto, what a bummer! Well, at least you know not to waste your time with such things - and we all think you look awesome! Besides, isn't it nice to know that you're strong and have muscles that work for you to do so well at speedskating, as opposed to just being a mushbody that can win a bikini contest? For me playing hockey, I'd definitely rather have the muscles!

So, live and learn. Maybe you should look for "Who Can Bounce a Quarter Off Their Abs" contest.....you'd win hands down!

 

[KryptoAllez]

Thanks girls! Yeah, muscles rule!

 

[lina]

Hey Krypto,

Sorry bout that experience but you're right, muscle do rule!!! Was looking for your other journal but don't see it on this first page.. are you still posting in the other one? How goes it with the diet? Still doing Beverly? Last time I peeped in here I saw some good news that you were loosing some weight....

How goes it?

 

[lina]

Congrats on becoming mod at abc!