Fall World Cup Trials

1,000 meters on Saturday, Nov. 3

SO, let me just begin by saying how incredibly hard my sister has trained and how much dedication she has and it's hard to imagine how she's been able to fight through the last few years. Keep her in your prayers.

Also, a big loving shout out to the awesome kids who made the trip up to watch us race! All three Jake's, Keri, Ben, Casey, Ryan, Kyle & Steph, Dena and family, my family and others.

Altogether, I competed pretty mediocre in my 4 individual races, ending up about even with all my personal best times (which I set all late in the last season). Now that sounds like something I should be content with but based on my solid training this offseason and what I know I'm capable of, I was hoping to really be raising the bar for my best times at this competition. And if I have certain 'aspiring' goals for next year, I'm going to have to get my act together pretty soon. I was pretty nervous and I think that affected my relaxation and focus throughout my races. But looking at the bright side, results this early in the season should be taken with a grain of salt because oftentimes, some skaters blossom by the end of the season while others are only able to maintain their times.

So among US speedskaters, I ended up 18th in the 1000 meters, 9th in the 1500 meters and 8th (I think) in the 5,000 meters. I also did lower my personal best time in the 5,000 meters (in Milwaukee) from 6:57.00 to a 6:52.40.

A highlight of the trials was the Mass Start Race (in the video below) which isn't an official race yet but hopefully it soon will be. It's 20 laps, many skaters, and winner takes the pot at the end. There's breakaways, drafting, strategy...Tour de France style. I ended up 3rd and had a blast. The vid's pretty long so you'd probably want to skip around.

Thanks for the vid Olu, and the commentating haha.