Wonderful invention, isn’t it? Too bad that one of those good looking-half-a-size-bigger-than-a-hockey-puck edible incredible form of food is equal to 4 slices of toast. Yes, people, toast. I don’t eat bread. But I eat bagels. Why? Because the hole in the middle makes it look more attractive, and you know being an artsy person and all, I am attracted to anything abstract looking. Except Salvador Dali. Not my type. Moustaches that hold pencils? No.

Whatever you do, do not, absolutely do not waste anything on this fine form of ‘bread’. You must always make it as scrumptious as you possibly can. Therefore, Nutella spread is NOT acceptable. Rule number #13, Nutella MUST be eaten ALONE. With…a spoon. So whether it’s garlic butter on a toasted two halves, or home-made guac (Guacamole), or sun-dried tomato cream cheese, you name it, it goes. And put lots of it…so it’s like a thick juicy layer. Yeah, exactly the picture I am trying to get in between your ears.

So as I am staring at the bagel in front of me, I realize that there are actually so many better things in life than bagels. And that you should eat healthy, and don’t eat wheat. SO bad for you. I won’t even go there, but trust me….you want to be fit? Don’t eat bagels. Just eat guacamole instead, or even better…..nutella.

That’s about it. Random, but whatever. It’s me. Go figure. My mind works in mysterious ways.

Al.

Over the past two days, the 2012 World Sprint Championships took place here on our home ice at the Olympic Oval. What is the World Sprint Championship? It is a competition where skaters from all around the World skate only two distances; the 500m and the 1000m. Two of each. One of each on each day. It was an amazing weekend for a lot of people whether they were skaters, team mates of competitors, volunteers, coaches, massage therapists, media, photographers, zamboni drivers, parents, siblings, grandparents and trackstewards or in my case, forerunners.

I was a forerunner once again. The first time I had forerun was at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. A great experience nonetheless but this was also such a great opportunity because I am faster than I was two years ago; I am more aware of what is going on; more aware of who is who; and most importantly I learned how to multitask in a way that I watched races closely and also focus on the job of a forerunner. What is a forerunner?

Day one was on Saturday January 28th, 2012. I arrived at the Olympic Oval at 10 am as I was told, picked up my accreditation close to the front desk and made my way down to the Volunteer Lounge where all the volunteers were hanging out and waiting for instructions. It was cool to see all the international skaters and coaches in a race mode. Before the weekend, most of them had been at the Oval training before the Salt Lake City world cup the previous weekend and arrived in Calgary shortly after too. So we were used to these familiar faces from the other side of the world. The public was even more excited to see them! I mean we are too because it definitely is way more inspiring having other countries skating around you because it motivates you to skate faster and one day in the near future get on the team.

The Day started with the women’s 500m. Competition got more intense as the pairs went on. As track stewards we were watching the pucks to ensure the skaters did not kick them. Any contact with the puck would get them disqualified. There were four of us on the track at all times. One at each entry or the corner and one at each exit. Careful eyeballs on at all times. Jenny Wolf of Germany, and the record holder going into the competition, won the 500m the first day with a Season’s Best of 37,35. Second was China’s Wang Beixing with her Season’s Best time of 37,50. Third was another Chinese Skater, Zhang Hong with a time of 37, 63, also her Season’s Best. Canadian Christine Nesbitt placed 8th on the first day with a time of 37,93.

The men were also very exciting to watch! As easy as it may seem to the public, a record of 34,03 held by Canada’s Jeremy Wotherspoon, was not broken on either the first or the second day of races this weekend. Lee Kyou-Hyuk came close on the first day with a season’s best of 34,33, followed by Russia’s Lobkov 34,46 and Canada’s Muncef Ouardi with a Personal Best time of 34,54!

The Women’s 1000m was probably the most anticipated event as we closely watched Christine Nesbitt come closer and closer to the World Record which was Cindy Klassen’s. The 1,13,11. So fast. The ladies started skating. There are 27 women in the 1000m. Lots of countries. Fastest women on ice. Here in Calgary.  As the racing goes on, the crowd is going crazy because of all the Personal Bests skated here already. Ice is fast. You feel it. Now Nesbitt is on the line. The announcer calls her name, her Personal record, and then everyone goes quiet. 1,12,68 later, the World has a new record, a new track record, and Nesbitt has a new Personal Record. Second was Leenstra of the Netherlands with a Personal best herself, and same with Margot Boer also of the Netherlands. I tried filming Christine’s corner, and got it on camera. Here’s a screen shot of her over the word “World”. She’s too fast for my iPhone as you can see.

The men’s 1000m results: Shani Davis, 1,07,25. Second, Groothuis of the Netherlands with a time of 1,07,50, and third was Mo Tae-Bum of Korea with a Season’s best of 1,07,99.

Following the men’s 1000m, was the Jeremy Wotherspoon tribute. They unveiled his picture on the wall of Champions just a little after four pm. It was kind of cool how they had his whole family up there, along with fellow team mates, his coach and some other Oval members who played a significant part in his career.

The second day was even faster. The temperature went up outside, which meant the pressure inside the Oval Dropped. You want it to be lower so that there are less air molecules in the air. That resulted in a World Record in the Women’s 500m. It was crazy, in a good way because from where we were sitting, we saw things that not a lot of the public saw. I mean, sure, we all make mistakes as skaters, we can all have great races, shitty races but they are a learning experience. Yes, I’m Canadian and we all cheer for Canadians, but having skated overseas for two seasons and speaking a few languages, you befriend skaters from all over the world.  I have a lot of friends that raced in this World Championship and I know that after talking to them the day before I was definitely more aware of what they wanted to do on the second day. There were also skaters who slipped, fell, got disqualified and didn’t skate the race we were thinking they would. We are all hard on each other, and in my opinion it is a good thing because that means you’re not satisfied with your results. You should never settle for less than your best. In anything.

Adam and I foreran again today. Saw a lot of red and orange in the stands. Such a great feeling, feeling the crowd’s energy and fuelling off it. Even as a volunteer.

The 500m Women started at around 12:05pm, just like Saturday. Today is Sunday, new day, new ice conditions, new attitude. The 500m record was broken, by Yu Jing of China. She crossed the line with a final time of 36.94. Opening time of 10.27, and lap time of 26.67. Second was China’s Wang Beixing with a final time of 37,32 and thirs, Korea’s Lee Sang-Hwa with 37,36. Speed skating times are close eh? Cool sport. Definitely.

Men’s 500m results are as follows: Joji Kato of Japan, 34,35. Mika Poutala of Finland, 34,48. Mo Tae-Bum of Korea, 34,42.

Women’s 1000m, Nesbitt 1:12:94, Yu Jing, 1:13:47, Marrit Leenstra 1:13:89.

Men’s 1000m was actually pretty inspiring. I had a great view of the North corner entry. Watching some of those pairs just made me want to be even faster and to qualify for the World Cup team already. The power they have pushing into the ice. The focus in their eyes. The breaths they take in. The lactic acid in their legs. And the smiles on their faces, and on the face of the red and orange carpet surrounding the Oval. Amazing.

The day concluded faster than the day before. Groothuis won the second 1000m with a time of 1:06.96, Shani Davis second with 1:07.11 and Sjoerd De Vries third with 1:07.72. Very exciting races overall. Especially for those fans who came all the way from the Netherlands or other parts of the world, and of course, us Canadian fans too. Nothing cooler than watching a World Competition on home ice, right?

It would not have been as successful without the help of all volunteers, and everyone that had something to do with the World Championships themselves. Everyone played a part in it, so thank you to everyone for all their hard work, dedication and for making this all possible.

Thanks for reading. Also, thank you to Todd Korol and Naomi Schlager for the pictures of me forerunning and track stewarding!

Alex

Favourite Super Hero/heroine in DC: Wonder Woman.
Favourite Super Hero/heroine in Marvel: Wolverine

If you could meet anyone who would it be? Living, dead, and fiction (Three part): Living: Meryl Streep. Dead: Frederic Chopin. Fiction: Charlie Bone or Oliver Twist

Favourite type of food? Salmon
If there was only one dessert left which would it be? Cheesecake
Fact or Fiction? Fiction
Favorite Sleeping position? Cuddling on his chest.
I usually ask favourite sexual position too, but you don’t have to answer on facebook. The whole Mom can see thing: My mom’s cool. She would understand…but I’m still not answering that. Ha.
Favourite Swear word: Scheisse.
Favourite set of words to use in place of a swear word: I just swear. Whether people hear or not. I do act like a lady though and do not have a potty mouth in public. But depends on the moment.
Favourite Movie: Something’s Gotta Give.
Favourite Series of Movies: LOTR
Favourite TV show: Sex and the City
If you could be doing anything other than what you are doing right now, what is it?: I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing. I choose my time wisely
If you could be anywhere right now, where?: Maldive Islands
Favourite Greek god: Zeus.
Favourite Greek hero/heroine: (you can sub in a different group if you know another one better. Roman, Norse, whichever): ODIN!
Comfortable temperature for you: -10 degrees Celcius
Favourite Book: Count of Monte Cristo
Favourite Book series: Charlie Bone series. (Back in the day)
If you could be anyone, who would it be? Living, dead, fictional: Well aside from the fact that I really like who I am and that I wouldn’t want to change that…I think I would enjoy a month or two in Diane Keaton’s shoes.
If you could anyone killed who would it be? (don’t have to give a reason): If I could have killed something, it would be a certain chain of thoughts that I have strolling through my mind lately.
Favourite type of animal: Horse
Favourite Colour: Dark Red
Favourite Gem stone: My birthstone
Something you do when there is nothing else to do: Sleep
Favourite Musical (doesn’t have to be on stage, can mean tv special, movie and such): Does an Opera count? If so, then La Traviata.
Favourite broadway show (has to be on stage): Sound of Music
Your go-to snack: Finnish Reindeer snacks, or chick peas.
Remote or walk-up: I don’t own a tv
e-mail or snail-mail: I enjoy handwriting and actual mail.
Light wood or dark wood: Dark smells nice. Light matches a lot the stuff in my house.
Favourite non-food Smell: Allure Du Chanel, Homme Sport.
Favourite food smell: Tomato soup.
Favourite Video game: My Zelda game for my Nintendo64
Favourite Video game series (if you play them for that long): Not really a gamer…
Favourite cookie: White Macademia Nut…but I take the nuts out.
Favourite metal: Mercury? Or did you ask so I can say Gold?
What makes you happiest? A good night’s sleep, a bouquet of flowers, an educated conversation, a glass or Chateau Margaux and a sign of improvement on the ice.

Big or small: The bigger the better. Ha.
Cup is half full or empty? Depends.

This was my second WC trials this season. The second ones took place during Canada Cup Two, at the Olympic Oval here in Calgary, Alberta. It was a separate competition but took place on the same day, just an hour apart from CC2. I am really proud of my fellow teammates and former Junior Team members for qualifying for a spot on the WC team for the remainder of the season. Great to see young talent represent! Also, congratulations to all skaters who skated a PB- or Personal Best in any distances.

I must admit, I had a weird learning experience. You think you have your recipe to the cake and all that jazz…but then you decide to forget the flour and go with something else.

I made one wrong decision the morning of my first race, the 1000m. I woke up, ready to go. Had my pump-up music going, showered, had everything flowing perfectly like it always does on race day. But a conversation I had with a friend, the previous day (or was it two days before??) got me to subconsciously try something TOTALLY different. Now that I think about it, it was simply a dumb move on my part because it cost me my race. I should have waited until after ‘the most important race of the month’ to do this. I should NOT have woken up TWO WHOLE HOURS BEFORE I USUALLY DO, on race day. I should NOT have eaten BROCCOLI, and tomatoes and cabbage and salad dressing and orange juice and bread and ….FOOD IN GENERAL. So you know, I don’t do well with food on race day. Or food in general in the morning, unless I am up for a while before I skate.

And yes yes yes, I know I should write more I “should’s” than “shouldn’t s” but whatever…just let me write!

So I got to the Oval, warmed-up, and got to the start line. I wasn’t feeling it all morning. Something was off. I KNEW it was different because my first few steps weren’t silent…I heard them; I heard myself breathe too. NEVER happens. Too relaxed? perhaps. Alright start time. Two laps to go. Feeling the stomach…trying to focus on the race. I told myself it’s just 1000m, it’ll be over in no time. Yeah, it was over and in no-time I was shoving my head down a garbage can while explosive vomit escaped my stomach. What a feeling. Then, after 20 minutes of suffering, I got up, wished I had lactic acid instead, and was ready to race.

Clearly learned my lesson.

The 500′s were great. First race, PB of 11.18 start, and final time of 40.44. A tiny PB, but I just proved to myself that I am fit enough, physically, to skate after an accident. The second 500m was not as fast but that is one thing I have to work on; to not be satisfied with improving and then leaving it at that. Constant improvement no matter what. Here’s the first 500m, below.

As athletes, important people, actors and other famous celebrities, we are ‘supposed’ to stay in between these two fine lines and watch what we do, what we say and how we approach things because God forbid we step out of line, we will make headlines everywhere and we will not be seen as ‘example setters’ anymore. And it does get nasty if you’re someone that’s in the spot light all the time, like Brangelina, Tiger, Diane Keaton, Eminem, or even us athletes who not only represent countries internationally but who are also people that others look up to since we’re ‘real’ (like you can go to a basketball game and be closer to Steve Nash than you can on the red carpet to Mick Jagger).

Why does this bother me? I have enough time on my hands to think about crazy stuff that other athletes might not write about. I have a blog, I can use it well. I’m not a Gold medallist yet or someone who is going to grab people’s attention in a bad way. I am simply writing what’s on my mind and if you decide to listen, great, if not, then I also thank you for taking the time to read what I want to share.

We are supposed to keep our Tweets professional. Nothing personal like break-ups, days when you just want to cry, when you want to complain about grocery store lines, when people walk slow and in the middle of the sidewalk and you can’t get past, when bus drivers are on their cell phones, when you want to bitch about gas prices or days when you just want to say ‘FUCK’. drop the F bomb. Why? Because the world knows we all have psychologists, shrinks, parents and friends we vent to in such cases that these oh so unusual events may happen in our lives. Right? I mean, wow, I have never wanted to complain about how effing terrible driving is in Calgary in the winter. Like, you know, that NEVER happens…..Yeah right. One example of MANY.

Who are you to judge what others do? Just because you are an unhappy person and want to bring others down, doesn’t mean that we are actually doing something bad. Don’t think I have issues because I do want to tweet like my non-athlete friends who have the freedom to say that they want to jump off a bridge when they’re mad. Of course I would be JOKING if I said that, but if it was on my Twitter feed one day…I’d get countless texts, phone calls, and a bunch of people worrying. Why? Because I, like many other professional athletes only tweet happy things, progress in training, and things sport or business related.

But I assure you, we have down days too. And it’s true, no one likes to hear someone complain, no one wants to read sponsorship letters or withstand the company of someone who sucks the energy out of you. Ok, my last example is a terrible one, but the other ones are real life things that happen. I have bad days, I have days when I want to tell the world that I am in love, days when I want to just say how I think my younger sister could be making better decisions in life, days when I do want to say how angry I am when you hurt my feelings, days when I just want to be me.

But, if it was that easy, everybody would do it.

So in the end, we all keep it professional because we are the example setting role models of younger kids, fellow team mates, friends, siblings and people that you may not even know you are affecting.

Always think of who your audience is going to be, and remember….

You have people you also look up to. Imagine how YOU would be like if they were half as crazy as the stuff going on in your mind

Just venting. That is all. La di da.

Alex

Drew Gregory.

Thanks to my team mate Suzanne Hamilton, Drew came out to the Olympic Oval one afternoon, set his gear up, and my team mates and I skated around

while he took some outstanding pictures of us! It was incredible to work with him and kudos to him for having the patience to do it in the cold Oval. (Mighthave been warm because of the 2:43pm sunlight that shines thru the blinds)

See his work on his website. Call him, or tweet him!

Marissa Dederer.

Marissa and I went to school together at the National Sport School. She’s a world class whitewater kayaker who now resides in Toronto and attends Ryerson University. Marissa came to one of our 2011 practices and took a few shots on the ice which then followed by a very productive hour up on the third level of the Oval for some casual shots.

Read Marissa’s blog, Check out her site, and drop her a line if you’re in Toronto and need a photographer!!

Ross Tabalada.

Ross and I met through the wonderful world of Twitter. Having so many mutual friends in common, we decided it was time to meet! Ever since Ross got me to the airport on time one day, we have been friends ever since! (not saying that if I missed my flight we would not be friends) (He’s too cool not to be friends with). Ross is a part-time photographer and supporter who comes and watches me race and is getting better at shooting speed skating, as the milliseconds go by! He has a sweet camera too, so although he doesn’t have a website YET, he is still super pro!

Find Ross on Twitter.

If you don’t have Twitter….give in..indulge…it’s ok. Trust me

Thank you again for your continuous support!

Alex.

Photo Cred: Roger.

Sure, those are all great new beginings and there are many more examples that people may use for their own personal satisfaction in life. I think I just realzied what mine is, but am also fortunate enough to use it as a wake up call. I think my sport psychologist and sponsor, Dan Perdue, with Level 12 has trained me well enough so that anything thrown at me is easily inverted into smething positive. It also has to do with the Tony Robbins audiobooks I’ve been going throgh lately.

So let me elaborate. The wake up call in skating–

I haven’t been skating to my potential. It’s obvious since I assure you I am physically fit and meet the standards of a certain time barrier that I should be at in speed skating. The fact that I am not skating the way I would want to is because I am dealing with mental barriers I am trying to overcome. There, you have it. It’s a thing not a lot of people know but as I am trying to find a way to work with it and resolve what’s goin’ on, I will talk about it. Who knows what can come of it. I put it out to the Universe and it knows what I want. I skate because I absolutely love love love to speed skate. I don’t do it for anyone else. I don’t do it for money. I don’t do it because I feel obligated to skate so I do not let sponsors down. I don’t do it for my family. I simply do it for myself. I speed skate because it makes me happy. Yeah, I can give you the intense competitive Alex answer and tell you I love skating to go fast and beat the competition. Would I be lying? No. But I’m not here to say that. That stays internal. Oh well, not anymore, Ha.

I am a very fierce female. I can be the woman that can pull off Diane Keaton’s masculinity at certain times, but lately I’ve been the girl acting like a girlfriend. You know, where you’re dressing like a girl, enjoy holding hands, snuggling in bed, and wishing you saw the one you love more often? Yes. While I am still getting to the point of this blog, I am for some reason telling you a bunch of stuff that I am not sure I’d really like to put out there but as I’m typing this and looking out the window and seeing people who might hold stuff in and will suffer later…makes me want to type away, listen to Dido, Tears for Fears and Rod Stewart (Happy Birthday Rod!!!) all day long, drink my Italian Higher Ground Large Raspberry soda and appreciate what I have in life. ANYWAY, what I was GOING to say, was that I think I might have to rethink a shitload lot of stuff about my life as I had 2 major wake-up calls that happened within one week of eachother. And they weren’t good ones, trust me.

The wake-up call in life–

Two Thursdays ago I was hit by a car while biking on Ziggy back to work. (I feel like Donnie Darko right now). I thought I was ok back then but of course when a crazy athletic athlete with thunder thighs gets hit, all they can think of is their expensive road bike and they want to ignore what goes on with their body. Being in a state of shock for an hour also makes you immune to feeling anything. I felt immortal for an hour. It was the greatest feeling. Things started to show up later and I’m not impressed. I actually just left my chiro clinic and I have a hematoma where I got hit. More to show up??! I don’t know. My carbon bike is cracked so I have to now use my one and a half leg to get around the city. I also can’t skate as good as I was before. Yes, I am sad, angry, pissed off, unhappy, miserable, gloomy, down, blue, forlorn, desolate, in pain, anxious and all that stuff that’s supposed to come with an accident…but in the end, I think I know better than to focus on negative words and attract negative energy so I looked at it as a new beginning. It’s a choice I subconsciously made. Therefore, it is a new opportunity for me to learn about my body and how to feed it, stretch it better and use up the rest to become internally rested and have that great peace of mind. This also gives me time to focus on potential future sponsorship for the remainder of the season and the next.

Another example I could use for a new beginning, is unemployment. Whether you decide to give your two weeks notice, whether you get fired or whether you decide it’s time for something new…is definitely a good ‘new beginning’. Something so unexpected could be the best thing you can possible ask for! Welcome it with open arms and use this as an opportunity to MOVE ON. Maybe it was about time you do something different…change of plans…fresh start…new beginning? There…now it related to the title…I am done here

It’s sad to think that I actually need something this serious to happen to me in order to change my ways. But I am not mad. I don’t actually remember where I read that it does take a catastrophe to change the world. I don’t need career ending accident (knock on wood) for me to realize how fortunate I am to be able to skate but appreciate God or whoever is up there, giving me that sign. So body, I apologize for you not being able to have  Moves Like Jagger, but good things come of terrible things. (I do wish I did not get hit though.)

Time to start life up! Hope you enjoyed this…it was kind of on the spot.

What’s your idea of a new beginning? Do share, I’m curious!

Keep smilin’!

Alexandra.

It takes more out of you to focus your energy in the wrong place. For the past few months I’ve been noticing a lot of things in all places I have been travelling to. I thought it was just me but once I started going to certain places, cafes, work places and meeting with friends, I started realizing that it was occurring on a regular basis.

What people don’t realize is that when they put something out there verbally, the brain automatically believes it. It is not aware whether you truly mean it, whether you are lying, or whether you are just saying it for fun. Choose your conscious words wisely. Your subconscious mind is 33,000 times STRONGER than your conscious mind. Do you realize how much that is? If you train your mind you can clearly achieve way more. Let me give you an example:

• Friday morning you wake up and realize you slept through your alarm, but decide to go to skating practice anyway since you surprisingly make it on time. You get there and start complaining about how you were late and how this practice is going to be sh*t because you didn’t get a proper warm up in. Your legs are hurting and you’re making everyone aware of it. You complain about how you wish you had a different program because you missed breakfast and don’t know if you have enough energy to do the 800m tempo you have that day.

You are the only one that can control how you are feeling, what happens to you, and the thoughts your conscious mind holds.

• Friday morning, you sleep through your alarm, but get to the Oval on time. Before you left your house you were already thinking of what you can work on today’s ice session, whether it is building your corners and working on arms swing, or whether it is getting the early pressure you haven’t been able to get all season. You get to the Oval. Ok, you’re late, but that’s not going to affect you on the ice. The thoughts you’re thinking are awesome; ‘how can I make today better than yesterday?’, ‘how can I get lower and maintain it for longer?’.

It’s all about the questions you ask yourself because the second you start verbally saying something negative, your brain hears it and believes it. You can have the worst day ever, and someone asks you ‘how [you] are’, and you reply “I am excellent, how are you?”. That will TOTALLY change your mood. You’re not lying but always strive to maintain a strong image of yourself. Sure we’re all allowed to have down days but we need to learn how to cope with them and not make others around us sad. Embrace it but do not hold on to it for too long.

Change your physiology, keep smiling, walk the walk, talk the talk, and BE it. Change your focus and you change your mood. And do not waste time on factors you can not control.

Again, I will give an athletic example because it is something I deal with on a daily basis. I will try to relate to the business world since you know…I’m the oh so fierce female that occasionally dresses in a business suit and I feel manly. Ha.

• Competition day: You’re ready to rip the competition in half, set a world record, and show yourself and everyone else that you are the best in the world. BUT the ice sucks that day, because the Chinook that was supposed to come in, didn’t arrive and the pressure is not where you expected it to be and now you can’t skate fast, so you find an excuse before you even get on the ice, as to why you will not perform.

Um, no. You have NO CLUE how many of you actually do that, but don’t realize it! Try it…next time, try and catch yourself saying stuff like “well I can’t do this BECAUSE..” or “I don’t think I’ll do this because…”

• You can not control the Chinooks that come in, you can’t control the Oval air pressure…you’re not God. What you CAN focus on, are the things you can do to make yourself better; skating technique, being aggressive, sharpening your skates so they glide fast….

This totally reminds me of some stuff I learned from when I went to the Tony Robbins seminar. And this applies to all business people in general…well everyone actually.

I did a little survey thing on my Twitter and Facebook and asked people what makes them most happy. If you are having trouble getting started, maybe just think of the little things that make you happy, ask the right questions and change your state

• Michael: Music, Food

  Anastasia: A well-sewn garment
• Torstejn: A couch, a cold beer and a good soccer match…
• Kimberley B: Faith.
• Kimberley M: Sunshine on the foothills
• Michelle: Food, the smell of baking. Happy bright colors. Babies giggling. Old people holding hands. The heat of the sun on my face. Love. Giving. Ppl remembering special things about me. A genuine smile. My husbands arms around me. Wine (lol).
• Jenn: Synchro!
• Lasse: Skating

• Bill: long bike rides with friends, sitting around a campfire in the summer with good friends. lt skating in YWG on a cold night. watching someone work really hard at some thing and succeed,hard work does pay off. Always happy for new friends.
• Axel: Fresh socks
• Karlee: CYCLING! and travelling
• Andrew: Happiness is finding that one thing you MUST do, and then getting really good at it. Oh yeah, my daughter too… nothing in this world is so hard, or so rewarding… The pain & pleasure of speedskating, even at the highest levels of commitment, pales in comparison to what your children are…
• Clovis: Coffee
• Luana: A beach
• Patrick: Ocean air
• Cathrine: Smiles, laughing, nice and friendly people, friends and family, love, music in the heart and the ears, butterflies in the stomach and ants in the legs – thinking that this moment is precious, looking at the good things instead of the bad or sad or irritating ones. Sun and + degrees, coffee, wine, music, hugs and kisses………adrenaline rush and endorphine kick….
• Matthew: An excellent day hanging out with my best friends makes me happy!
• Colette: Running. I call it my therapy
• Harm-Jan: Blue Sky, Sun, Ice, Winter, Skating tour.
• Ross: Being friends with me. (Thanks Ross! haha)

 

And if you have a hard time doing it, use that as an opportunity to practice. Because you can truly do it well, when you are not feeling strong or positive. It’s easy to do when you’re happy. Challenge yourself!

My Keys to success: Stretch daily, drink more H2O, do core training and keep smiling. Always.

Thanks for reading! If you would like to share what makes YOU truly happy, please feel free to comment below.

Smile. It looks great on you.

Alexandra.

 

Honestly, I’m having some trouble thinking of what to write about because I thought of so many new ideas I could just touch up on.It’s been way too long since I actually wrote a blog post but I figured it would be ok since most of you follow me on Twitter and know what it going on etc. But I should write more, anyhow. I don’t have an excuse for not being around.

I’ve been focusing on training, and training only and I do see results already. Some great things have happened already and I am pretty excited seeing as it is only the beginning of the season. Your brain can only hold one conscious thought at a time. If you use that well, you will be surprised how fast you can improve if you truly train your mind and become so mentally strong that you can control what happens and how things turn out. No, I’m not some crazy psychic that can see exactly what is going to happen, but that’s the beauty of it! Focusing on one tiny detail of a certain part of…let’s say your technique on the ice, and taking it one day at a time. Perfecting those things you do not like doing most, because you know in the end that that is what you need to work on most. And then you realize that you’ve been missing so much by just focusing on perfecting your perfection and everything you’re already good at! Stop wasting your time. It’s all about learning new things. The day I stop learning about this amazing sport that I just absolutely am SO passionate about, that will be the day I will retire. But until then, I will give it my all, every day whether it is on the ice or mentally strengthening my mentality to overcome any obstacle that may arise on my journey to the Olympic Games.

I’ve been experimenting lately. Pushed my body to a limit I have never taken it to before…and I must admit, I am now pretty exhausted. Raced what, 4, 5 weekends in a row? Or at least that’s what it felt like. I am completely mentally drained and my hip flexors keep yelling at me, but that’s great. Because I learned that I am physically capable to maintaining my focus even when I’m tired. Now Of course I am resting and taking it easy. I am working 4-5 days a week so that gives me a little break from the speed skating world. Still making time for life though….like going to the movies every Tuesday since it’s cheap 7$ movie night. You know, cause that’s how starving athletes roll, eh?

I also turned 20, on the 21st of October. When I asked my friends on Facebook last night about what I should write about in this blog post, one of them said I’m “a year older, wiser an such. What I’ve got left to go. Where the beef at? Why so serious”. Well, Don, to answer your question: You guys are going to laugh but I do actually feel wiser. Age is nothing but a number, and I mean that in a lot of ways…not just related to skating and training. I feel like I actually put my big-girl pants on and am taking more time to process things and I am being more patient. I learned the hard way that I can’t get things done fast, and so from now on I am taking it one step at a time and finding that it’s more efficient. It’s like focussing on how you skate on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of week #3 in November 2011, and not focusing on the end result that you’re trying to achieve.

Jim suggested Goals and Travel Plans. Goal setting for me, is done at the beginning of the ice season. But I find that the short term goals change quite frequently because I have not yet had the courage to set scary goals. What I meant by that, is setting a goal that is so powerful and that is completely out of your comfort zone. Because like you all hopefully know, in order to be successful one must step out of his/her comfort zone. Easy to say but damn crazy exciting to do! I wont drift off topic again….SO, goals. I have my main long term goals which I know I will achieve successfully. I don’t know HOW, but I KNOW I WILL get there. Having said that, setting smaller, year to year and seasonal goals helps you achieve that. But I find that I set goals that I do end up achieving way too fast, so I have to rethink my whole plan. That is one of my current challenges and things I have to work on. Now you know!

We are not travelling as much as we did last season. The only competitions we have outside of Calgary this season are The Canada Cup 1 in Quebec from December 2-4th, and Saskatoon February 3-5th. I will also be going home for a few days since my mom is going to drive out from Toronto to pick me up. Then back home to Cow Town for more racing. I posted our racing schedule here. Check it out, it’s all free to watch, so drop me a note if you’re interested and I can tell you exact times etc. You know where to get to me.

Scott asked me to write about the past World Cup Selection Trials which we had this past weekend. I raced the competition because I wanted to experience a different atmosphere and see how I would act. I did not race because I wanted a personal best time, because our program is not made for us to peak at this time of the year. I also raced because it was my first trials that I qualified for, in my career. I placed 10th in the 500m which I am clearly not satisfied with since it was not even close to my PB, but I executed my race plan well.

Otherwise, things are well. I don’t know what to write about because nothing has changed since the summer. There are things I wish I could tell the WORLD but can’t, so that’s what my diary is for. I also feel like I can’t write proper paragraphs that flow into each other like I usually do. That’s what happens when you’re forced to write something! So I do apologize for rambling on but I am not in the mood. I also think I will write frequently, like every 2 weeks or so, and write about small stuff….but I still don’t know whether that is a good idea. So can you guys please give me some feedback on whether that is either good or bad? And maybe blog topic suggestions? Anyone?

Thanks.
Alex.