As some of you reading this may know, we had a World Cup last weekend on home soil and I managed to put together a nice result with my teammates in the 1000m. I finished second while Charles Hamelin won and Olivier Jean finished third to complete the first Canadian sweep of a World Cup podium since 1994. I'm sorry for spoiling the story for anyone who was planning on watching the race here, or the entire CBC broadcast of the weekend here, but it has been a week, soooo....
Anyways, on to an update of the weekend that was the World Cup in Saguenay. I think the best way I can describe the weekend is that experience pays. In fact the weekend felt like deja vu of the 2008 World Cup in Vancouver.
Flashback to 2008. After failing to qualify for the final rounds in my 1500, I have a near breakdown in between races and end of having a long, long conversation with my Mum about all sorts of things, skating related and not. Following that conversation, I manage to cobble together a decent set of races in the afternoon to qualify to the final rounds in the 1000m. On Saturday I don't make it through the repechage, but gain a lot of confidence in my skating setting me up for a good day on Sunday and my first World Cup medal, a silver in the 1000m.
Flash forward to last weekend. After a stupid mistake costs me a spot in the final rounds in the 1500 (I toed in with one to go) I am shaken a bit but manage to put together a couple good, but nervous, races and qualify for the 1000m final rounds on Sunday. On Saturday morning, I feel that I should easily qualify though the repechage and into the finals that afternoon. But I don't. Instantly in an awful mood, I storm out of the arena and go for a walk by myself. While walking, I realize the parallels between the two world cups. I realized that this years world cup was shaping up almost exactly like the one in Vancouver in 2008 and that I would be capable of good result if I could get my head back in the game. Sure enough, Sunday came around, and because I was able to draw upon my experiences from the past, I ended up with a very similar result, a silver in the 1000m.
The World Cup in Saguenay turned out to be a resounding success. Canada did very well, winning 11 out of 26 possible medals. The crowd support was absolutely phenomenal. I have never been at a speed skating competition where they had a huge screen on a flatbed in the parking lot for people to watch the races on. Inside the arena, the noise was deafening, and I know each and every one of the skaters, Canadian or not, appreciated the noise of an educated and enthusiastic crowd.
Lastly, I have to give a huge shout out to the organizing committee and all of the volunteers that made this event happen. The event was not only a weekend of racing, but a week long celebration of Short Track. The bar has been set very high and I would like to say thanks for the great weekend Saguenay!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Update Time!
With one World Cup under my belt this season, I figured it was time for an update. I'm writing this from my hotel room in Chicoutimi, Quebec, which seems like a different universe than where we were last week, Salt Lake City.
With the first two World Cups being in North America, I think most of the team was expecting, and hoping, that the travel to and from wouldn't be too long or hard. Well we figured wrong. As we found out, Salt Lake and Chicoutimi are not the easiest places to travel between. But more on that in a bit.
Travel to Salt Lake from Montreal was relatively easy though, and despite a 3:30am wake up call, we all arrived in Salt Lake ready for our first World Cup of the season. For me, the week of training leading in the competition went pretty well. As per usual I had some problems in the first few days with the altitude (Salt Lake is around 1300m, Montreal close to sea level). But other than that I was enjoying late season summer weather (seriously do clouds exist in Salt Lake??) and feeling ready to race. I was planning on racing a 1500m and a 1000m, but due to a small registration snafu, I ended doing a 500m instead of a 1000m. Not a big deal since I need practice at 500m anyways.
Friday's qualification rounds went alright, I managed to qualify easily in the 1500, but had to wait and see if my time was good enough in the 500. Luckily it was and I was qualified straight to the rounds in both of my distances.
On Saturday we had the finals of the 1500 and for me it went pretty well. While I didn't end up on the podium (I finished 5th), I am still satisfied with my race as I was well positioned the entire time and I was aggressive from start to finish, something I have been working on.
Sunday brought the 500m finals, and it didn't go quite so well. I was penalized in the quarter finals which meant my day was over individually. Luckily though, we still had to the relay to go. It was one of the more chaotic races I have ever been involved in as there were five teams and I got us off to a bad start by losing the start badly - oops!. Anyways, we managed to make some timely passes and get some good exchanges in while staying on our feet, and eeked out a solid win to finish the weekend.
With that, we wrapped up the first World Cup and got ready to head to Chicoutimi for stop #2. This is where the part about travel comes in. Turns out that traveling between Salt Lake and Chicoutimi is not easy. Actually its probably easier and cheaper to fly to Europe from any major city in Canada than travel between Salt Lake and Chicoutimi. Monday, our travel day, started off with bus to the airport at 6:30am and finished at 12:45am that night. In between that we had a flight to Montreal via Minneapolis, a fight with line ups in customs and traffic jams in Montreal and a five and a half hour bus ride from Montreal to Chicoutimi. An 18 hour travel day, but we made it!
So that brings us to this week. Chicoutimi is a shock from warm and sunny Salt Lake (its about 3 degrees and rainy here), but we are excited for our home World Cup. For those who want to watch, CBC is showing the world cup this weekend all across the country. I'm not sure of the exact times, but I'll try to post the times on my twitter page once I know!
With the first two World Cups being in North America, I think most of the team was expecting, and hoping, that the travel to and from wouldn't be too long or hard. Well we figured wrong. As we found out, Salt Lake and Chicoutimi are not the easiest places to travel between. But more on that in a bit.
Travel to Salt Lake from Montreal was relatively easy though, and despite a 3:30am wake up call, we all arrived in Salt Lake ready for our first World Cup of the season. For me, the week of training leading in the competition went pretty well. As per usual I had some problems in the first few days with the altitude (Salt Lake is around 1300m, Montreal close to sea level). But other than that I was enjoying late season summer weather (seriously do clouds exist in Salt Lake??) and feeling ready to race. I was planning on racing a 1500m and a 1000m, but due to a small registration snafu, I ended doing a 500m instead of a 1000m. Not a big deal since I need practice at 500m anyways.
Friday's qualification rounds went alright, I managed to qualify easily in the 1500, but had to wait and see if my time was good enough in the 500. Luckily it was and I was qualified straight to the rounds in both of my distances.
On Saturday we had the finals of the 1500 and for me it went pretty well. While I didn't end up on the podium (I finished 5th), I am still satisfied with my race as I was well positioned the entire time and I was aggressive from start to finish, something I have been working on.
Sunday brought the 500m finals, and it didn't go quite so well. I was penalized in the quarter finals which meant my day was over individually. Luckily though, we still had to the relay to go. It was one of the more chaotic races I have ever been involved in as there were five teams and I got us off to a bad start by losing the start badly - oops!. Anyways, we managed to make some timely passes and get some good exchanges in while staying on our feet, and eeked out a solid win to finish the weekend.
With that, we wrapped up the first World Cup and got ready to head to Chicoutimi for stop #2. This is where the part about travel comes in. Turns out that traveling between Salt Lake and Chicoutimi is not easy. Actually its probably easier and cheaper to fly to Europe from any major city in Canada than travel between Salt Lake and Chicoutimi. Monday, our travel day, started off with bus to the airport at 6:30am and finished at 12:45am that night. In between that we had a flight to Montreal via Minneapolis, a fight with line ups in customs and traffic jams in Montreal and a five and a half hour bus ride from Montreal to Chicoutimi. An 18 hour travel day, but we made it!
So that brings us to this week. Chicoutimi is a shock from warm and sunny Salt Lake (its about 3 degrees and rainy here), but we are excited for our home World Cup. For those who want to watch, CBC is showing the world cup this weekend all across the country. I'm not sure of the exact times, but I'll try to post the times on my twitter page once I know!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Video Tuesday
Today for Video Tuesday, I'm going to share another of my favorite all time videos: the mens relay from the 2010 Olympics. Most of the readership knows who won this race. If you don't I won't spoil it for you. This race, and the whole Olympics in fact, were bittersweet for me, since I had missed qualifying for the team by so little. But there is a reason why I have posted relay videos two weeks in a row. They are unbelievably exciting and definitely the best part of Short Track. This race was the definition of execution by my teammates and I was screaming at my TV while watching it. Enjoy.
P.S This is the video of the entire event and includes the B final as well as post race stuff. The actual A final itself starts at 19:00 so you can just skip to there if you like.
P.S This is the video of the entire event and includes the B final as well as post race stuff. The actual A final itself starts at 19:00 so you can just skip to there if you like.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Video Tuesday
And the new content onslaught continues!
Its another new series! Starting this Tuesday, and hopefully continuing every Tuesday, I am going to post a video that is a favorite of mine. Most of the time the videos will be skating or skating related. Enjoy.
This week, since its the first week, I'm going to put up two videos. The first video is the Men's 5000m Relay A final from the 2011 World Cup #4 in Shanghai China. This race is one of my favorites for a number of reasons. First of all, this relay was the first time that I was skating in the anchor position. It is also the first World Cup relay final for my teammate Liam Mcfarlane. Lastly, this race is a great example of how exciting a relay can be. The race features many, many lead changes, a bunch of contact, some great passes and a great battle in the last two laps between yours truly and one of the best relay anchors in the business, Ho-Suk Lee of Korea.
In the second video, two of my former teammates, Gilmore Junio (behind the camera) and Tyler Derraugh (mainly in front of the camera) teach everybody about teamwork.
Its another new series! Starting this Tuesday, and hopefully continuing every Tuesday, I am going to post a video that is a favorite of mine. Most of the time the videos will be skating or skating related. Enjoy.
This week, since its the first week, I'm going to put up two videos. The first video is the Men's 5000m Relay A final from the 2011 World Cup #4 in Shanghai China. This race is one of my favorites for a number of reasons. First of all, this relay was the first time that I was skating in the anchor position. It is also the first World Cup relay final for my teammate Liam Mcfarlane. Lastly, this race is a great example of how exciting a relay can be. The race features many, many lead changes, a bunch of contact, some great passes and a great battle in the last two laps between yours truly and one of the best relay anchors in the business, Ho-Suk Lee of Korea.
In the second video, two of my former teammates, Gilmore Junio (behind the camera) and Tyler Derraugh (mainly in front of the camera) teach everybody about teamwork.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Industry Sunday
Industry Sunday is a new series here at mgilday.blogspot.com. Each week (or post that comes out on Sunday - I'm not making any guarantees here!), I will address a topic specific to the sport of Short Track Speed Skating with the goal of informing, educating, starting discussion and/or editorializing.
This week, in the first installment of Industry Sunday, the topic will be my take on the new passing rule one year since it has taken effect. As you may or may not know, the International Skating Union introduced new rules last year in order to increase passing in the sport. There are many different opinions on the new rule, and although I don't have any hard figures, I would guess that in general passing during races is up. Is that a good or a bad thing? And what are some of the consequences?
First of all, we should look at exactly what the new rule is. In previous years, the rule applied by the referees was that a skater that was leading, or more specifically, a skater that was being passed, had the right of way. In this scenario, if skater A is leading, in order for skater B to complete a successful pass, skater B would have to be sure that he executed his pass fully without interfering or impeding with skater A. Under the new rule, the skater that has the right of way, or who is in a sense protected against interference or impeding, has changed. Now, the skater with the right of way is whichever skater is in front going into the corner. This is measured at the shoulders. So going back to our scenario, Skater A is leading, and Skater B is passing. Now, if Skater B can get just his shoulders in front of Skater A, the onus shifts to Skater A to not cause any contact as he is now behind. If contact is caused by Skater A, he can be penalized since he was effectively "behind". This is applied the same way for outside and inside passes.
Confused? Well you aren't the only one. In the the first few months of last season, there was a lot of confusion amongst the skaters, coaches and even the officials. There was a learning curve for everyone. It took time for skaters and coaches to change from their old tactics and learn the proper way to skate defensively and offensively under the new rule. Officials had a similar learning curve as they had to learn to look for different things than they had in the past. As everyone learned how to function best under the new rule, changes as to how races were raced and officiated emerged.
Athletes quickly realized that they could get away with what may have been, in the past, bad passes. There was an increase of skaters trying to squeeze their shoulders ahead of another skater at the last second before the entrance into a corner. "Suicide passes" or passes where one skater hurls himself from the back of the pack to the front without an actual space to fit into increased as well. This subsequently lead to more multi-skater crashes, or whole pack pile ups. There were also changes in the way races were officiated. Due to the fact that all it took was to have ones shoulders ahead of the other skater, something that is very hard to tell with the naked eye at 40+km/h, the need to use video replay increased substantially. This subsequently slowed the pace at which a day of racing rolled, as there were longer delays between races.
So has the new rule improved the sport? In my opinion as a skater, I'm not sure. Yes there are now more opportunities to pass. On the flip though this means its easier to be passed. I think that more passing in the sport is generally a good thing, as it will only serve to increase the excitement of the sport which, ideally, will increase the overall viewership and popularity of Short Track, promoting the growth of the sport. But is there a cost? With the increase of big crashes are we likely to see more injuries? Although big crashes are unfortunately what this sport is known for (Stephen Bradbury 2002 Olympics anyone?) having more of that isn't the way to sell the sport. Especially if the top skaters, the ones that the sport relies on as headliners, role models and spokespeople, start to get seriously injured more often. In addition, there will need to be a way to mitigate the length of time it takes for video replay. Obviously we all want fair calls to be made by the officials, but in todays on-demand world, where people's attention spans are shorter than ever and TV audiences demand non stop action, we can't have big delays in between races either. Ultimately, I think its going to take at least another year to really see whether the changes are in fact good for the growth and development of the sport.
This week, in the first installment of Industry Sunday, the topic will be my take on the new passing rule one year since it has taken effect. As you may or may not know, the International Skating Union introduced new rules last year in order to increase passing in the sport. There are many different opinions on the new rule, and although I don't have any hard figures, I would guess that in general passing during races is up. Is that a good or a bad thing? And what are some of the consequences?
First of all, we should look at exactly what the new rule is. In previous years, the rule applied by the referees was that a skater that was leading, or more specifically, a skater that was being passed, had the right of way. In this scenario, if skater A is leading, in order for skater B to complete a successful pass, skater B would have to be sure that he executed his pass fully without interfering or impeding with skater A. Under the new rule, the skater that has the right of way, or who is in a sense protected against interference or impeding, has changed. Now, the skater with the right of way is whichever skater is in front going into the corner. This is measured at the shoulders. So going back to our scenario, Skater A is leading, and Skater B is passing. Now, if Skater B can get just his shoulders in front of Skater A, the onus shifts to Skater A to not cause any contact as he is now behind. If contact is caused by Skater A, he can be penalized since he was effectively "behind". This is applied the same way for outside and inside passes.
Confused? Well you aren't the only one. In the the first few months of last season, there was a lot of confusion amongst the skaters, coaches and even the officials. There was a learning curve for everyone. It took time for skaters and coaches to change from their old tactics and learn the proper way to skate defensively and offensively under the new rule. Officials had a similar learning curve as they had to learn to look for different things than they had in the past. As everyone learned how to function best under the new rule, changes as to how races were raced and officiated emerged.
Athletes quickly realized that they could get away with what may have been, in the past, bad passes. There was an increase of skaters trying to squeeze their shoulders ahead of another skater at the last second before the entrance into a corner. "Suicide passes" or passes where one skater hurls himself from the back of the pack to the front without an actual space to fit into increased as well. This subsequently lead to more multi-skater crashes, or whole pack pile ups. There were also changes in the way races were officiated. Due to the fact that all it took was to have ones shoulders ahead of the other skater, something that is very hard to tell with the naked eye at 40+km/h, the need to use video replay increased substantially. This subsequently slowed the pace at which a day of racing rolled, as there were longer delays between races.
So has the new rule improved the sport? In my opinion as a skater, I'm not sure. Yes there are now more opportunities to pass. On the flip though this means its easier to be passed. I think that more passing in the sport is generally a good thing, as it will only serve to increase the excitement of the sport which, ideally, will increase the overall viewership and popularity of Short Track, promoting the growth of the sport. But is there a cost? With the increase of big crashes are we likely to see more injuries? Although big crashes are unfortunately what this sport is known for (Stephen Bradbury 2002 Olympics anyone?) having more of that isn't the way to sell the sport. Especially if the top skaters, the ones that the sport relies on as headliners, role models and spokespeople, start to get seriously injured more often. In addition, there will need to be a way to mitigate the length of time it takes for video replay. Obviously we all want fair calls to be made by the officials, but in todays on-demand world, where people's attention spans are shorter than ever and TV audiences demand non stop action, we can't have big delays in between races either. Ultimately, I think its going to take at least another year to really see whether the changes are in fact good for the growth and development of the sport.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Update time!
Oufffff. Well, I'm well overdue for an update here at ol' mgilday.blogspot.com. Since my last post about our camp in Font-Romeu, not a ton has happened. First thing on the agenda after getting back from France was to get moved into our apartment here in Montreal. Moving isn't easy, but lucky for us, everyone who moves in Montreal moves on July 1st, so we were able to poach some nice furniture that people had left on the side of the road.
Following moving in, we received the fantastic news that our normal training centre, the Maurice Richard Arena, was out of commission for a least a month. I say this with a massive amount of sarcasm. Unfortunately, there aren't any Olympic sized arenas situated on the island of Montreal, so the whole group got to enjoy the joys of commuting more than an hour each day out to a brand new arena in Chateauguay. Driving an hour each way also let me get a taste of what driving in Montreal in the summer means. From what I have been able to find out there is some sort of rule that says all major roads in Montreal, including major bridges, must either be under construction, or have a lane closed off by hundreds and hundreds of orange cones during the summer months. Needless to say, this wasn't the highlight of the summer.
Lucky for us, August rolled around and with it came the good news that Maurice Richard would be opening! From a training perspective this was the point were I started to turn around my summer. Prior to this, I had been getting pummeled day in and day out at training as I worked to adapt to a new training environment and style. As we moved towards the end of August and the start of September, it was really nice to feel like myself again on the ice, even if the feeling was at times fleeting.
All of a sudden, we found ourselves in the middle of September and face to face with a Short Track skaters annual end of summer routine, the Fall World Cup Trials. I was really not sure what to expect from myself as my summer of training had been so hit and miss. One thing I was sure of though was that I had put in as much work as I could. This was one goal I set for myself this summer, under the knowledge that there would be an adaptation period in my new training locale.
Well, a summer of suffering seemed to pay off. After an up and down weekend that featured some good skating, bad skating, early season jitters and a healthy dose of good fortune, I managed to snag 3rd overall and a guaranteed spot to all four stops on the World Cup circuit this fall. I definitely left the weekend feeling unsatisfied though and I realized that I have a lot of hard work in front of me so that I can continue to progress here in Canada and on the World Cup scene. Luckily, I also finished the trials weekend off motivated to get the required work done, so I'm looking forward to suffering some more before we leave for the first World Cup in a few weeks from now.
This is a video of the 1500m final that I won. I'm helmet cover #21. I actually finish 2nd at the line, but Olivier Jean was disqualified for an earlier pass.
Following moving in, we received the fantastic news that our normal training centre, the Maurice Richard Arena, was out of commission for a least a month. I say this with a massive amount of sarcasm. Unfortunately, there aren't any Olympic sized arenas situated on the island of Montreal, so the whole group got to enjoy the joys of commuting more than an hour each day out to a brand new arena in Chateauguay. Driving an hour each way also let me get a taste of what driving in Montreal in the summer means. From what I have been able to find out there is some sort of rule that says all major roads in Montreal, including major bridges, must either be under construction, or have a lane closed off by hundreds and hundreds of orange cones during the summer months. Needless to say, this wasn't the highlight of the summer.
Lucky for us, August rolled around and with it came the good news that Maurice Richard would be opening! From a training perspective this was the point were I started to turn around my summer. Prior to this, I had been getting pummeled day in and day out at training as I worked to adapt to a new training environment and style. As we moved towards the end of August and the start of September, it was really nice to feel like myself again on the ice, even if the feeling was at times fleeting.
All of a sudden, we found ourselves in the middle of September and face to face with a Short Track skaters annual end of summer routine, the Fall World Cup Trials. I was really not sure what to expect from myself as my summer of training had been so hit and miss. One thing I was sure of though was that I had put in as much work as I could. This was one goal I set for myself this summer, under the knowledge that there would be an adaptation period in my new training locale.
Well, a summer of suffering seemed to pay off. After an up and down weekend that featured some good skating, bad skating, early season jitters and a healthy dose of good fortune, I managed to snag 3rd overall and a guaranteed spot to all four stops on the World Cup circuit this fall. I definitely left the weekend feeling unsatisfied though and I realized that I have a lot of hard work in front of me so that I can continue to progress here in Canada and on the World Cup scene. Luckily, I also finished the trials weekend off motivated to get the required work done, so I'm looking forward to suffering some more before we leave for the first World Cup in a few weeks from now.
This is a video of the 1500m final that I won. I'm helmet cover #21. I actually finish 2nd at the line, but Olivier Jean was disqualified for an earlier pass.
Monday, June 27, 2011
5 Reasons Why Font-Romeu is Awesome
Here are 5 reasons why I thought Font-Romeu was/is awesome.
1. The training centre has everything.
Olympic sized arena, running track, inline speed skating track, soccer fields, swimming pool, weight rooms, gyms, medical support and from there you can access a myriad of fairly tale like roads for biking that wind infinitely through the valley.
2. The setting is beautiful
For me it was the perfect setting. The town is nestled on the side of a mountain and looks over a large valley towards Spain. You are surrounded by nature and mountains with trails to explore and viewpoints to relax at. Clouds roll through the valley, the sun paints the mountains red in the evening. Beautiful.
3. The town creates an ideal training environment
Font-Romeu has only a few thousand habitants. As you can imagine, there isn't a whole lot going on. But this is perfect for training. It means that for the most part, all you can do is train or recover. No distractions.
4. Altitude.
The town sits at around 1800m, and the training centre is slightly higher than that allowing us to take advantage of the thin air to boost the value of our hard work.
5. The general atmosphere.
A laid back mountain vibe permeates from every part of the region. Small, quaint, family run restaurants and shops. The town shuts down on Sunday, and most of Monday. Street corner food vendors selling products they have made themselves. Beauty.
I could go on and on about how I loved Font-Romeu. It simply was the perfect place for us to put in some hard early summer training and set up the rest of the season. I hope to be back someday, road bike in tow, in order to explore some mountain climbs and explore the region without being obligated to feel good for the next days training.
The view from our balcony....
on a cloudy/rainy day...
in the evening...
The training centre.
Lastly, watch this. Its a video made my Cameron Sylvester of the Canadian Rowing Team. Mega inspiring.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Jet-Lag
Today, I present to you a post about jet lag. Seeing as I am currently overseas attending a training camp in the beautiful mountain town of Font-Romeu, France, I figured a post about the joys of jet lag and some of my own personal strategies on how to best beat it would be appropriate.
So first, what is jet lag? Jet-lag occurs when you a quickly transported to another time zone that is either far ahead or behind the one you currently reside in. Therefore, your circadian rhythm is thrown off and your body thinks that it is day when in fact, it is night, or vice versa. The primary symptoms of jet-lag are not being able to sleep and the side-affects of sleep loss or sleep deprivation such as lack of energy, grumpiness and general lethargy. Although not being able to sleep, or feeling sleepy in the middle of the day is never any fun, it is especially troublesome for athletes as we need to be fully alert and awake in order to perform at our highest levels. It is for this reason that many athletes have spent much time and effort coming up with strategies to combat the effects of jet-lag.
Everyone has their own best method. Some swear by staying up late the night before traveling. Others like to use copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake upon arrival. Some prefer to turn to the brilliance of modern pharmaceuticals and use sleeping pills or melatonin to help them sleep when its night. Personally, I like to use a very basic method that helps me regain a normal schedule as normally as possible.
The first step in my own personal jet-lag battle plan to be as caught up on my sleep as possible before I leave. That means making sure that I go to bed as early as I can and sleep as much as I can before I leave. I do this because I am not the best sleeper on planes and I prefer to rely on my nice comfortable bed for sleep instead of hedging my bets on an uncomfortable airplane seat. By doing this, I also virtually assure myself of being exhausted from a long travel day when I arrive, and thus can have a good first nights sleep.
Secondly, I make sure to try and bring my own healthy snacks on the plane with me, as well as drink a lot of water while on the plane. This helps to make sure that I keep me healthy since its easy to catch something when you are inevitably tired in the first few day.
Upon arrival, I like to get some exercise. I normally do a light jog, combined with a good long stretching session since my muscles are always tight from sitting in a plane for way too long. I find that this helps tire me out a bit so that I can sleep better that first night and also lets me see some of my new surroundings and exposes me to natural light (or darkness) thus helping my body figure out what time it really is.
All that helps me get through the first night. But the hardest nights are often the second and third. At least for me anyways. My key to sleeping on the second and third nights is quite simple. NO NAPS. I always want to nap on the second and third days. Always. My eyelids will get heavy as I enjoy a quick sit down after a meal. I think, oh I'll just take a 15 minute power nap. Then bang, I wake up and I have slept for an hour or two or more. By night time, I'll be wide awake and end up falling asleep at 4 am only to have to wake up a few hours later. Its also important to go to bed at your normal bedtime. After I manage to not take a quick nap, 7:30pm rolls around and I think, I'll go to bed now, I'm really tired only to wake up at 3am with nothing to do, nowhere to eat and my roommate sleeping so I can't even watch crappy late night TV in Russian (or Chinese, or whatever language may be spoken in that particular country). With any luck, I manage to get a solid block of sleep each night and by the fourth or fifth night, I fall into a nice rhythm of sleeping and eating at the proper hours.
So that's that. My jet-lag strategy. Does it always work? No. Some places are easier to travel to. I find Europe is easiest on the trip out, but harder on the way back. Asia is hard no matter which direction you travel in. Sometimes I am lucky and it works well, sometime its tougher. Beating jet-lag isn't an exact science, but if anyone out there has a foolproof method, let me know!
So first, what is jet lag? Jet-lag occurs when you a quickly transported to another time zone that is either far ahead or behind the one you currently reside in. Therefore, your circadian rhythm is thrown off and your body thinks that it is day when in fact, it is night, or vice versa. The primary symptoms of jet-lag are not being able to sleep and the side-affects of sleep loss or sleep deprivation such as lack of energy, grumpiness and general lethargy. Although not being able to sleep, or feeling sleepy in the middle of the day is never any fun, it is especially troublesome for athletes as we need to be fully alert and awake in order to perform at our highest levels. It is for this reason that many athletes have spent much time and effort coming up with strategies to combat the effects of jet-lag.
Everyone has their own best method. Some swear by staying up late the night before traveling. Others like to use copious amounts of caffeine to stay awake upon arrival. Some prefer to turn to the brilliance of modern pharmaceuticals and use sleeping pills or melatonin to help them sleep when its night. Personally, I like to use a very basic method that helps me regain a normal schedule as normally as possible.
The first step in my own personal jet-lag battle plan to be as caught up on my sleep as possible before I leave. That means making sure that I go to bed as early as I can and sleep as much as I can before I leave. I do this because I am not the best sleeper on planes and I prefer to rely on my nice comfortable bed for sleep instead of hedging my bets on an uncomfortable airplane seat. By doing this, I also virtually assure myself of being exhausted from a long travel day when I arrive, and thus can have a good first nights sleep.
Secondly, I make sure to try and bring my own healthy snacks on the plane with me, as well as drink a lot of water while on the plane. This helps to make sure that I keep me healthy since its easy to catch something when you are inevitably tired in the first few day.
Upon arrival, I like to get some exercise. I normally do a light jog, combined with a good long stretching session since my muscles are always tight from sitting in a plane for way too long. I find that this helps tire me out a bit so that I can sleep better that first night and also lets me see some of my new surroundings and exposes me to natural light (or darkness) thus helping my body figure out what time it really is.
All that helps me get through the first night. But the hardest nights are often the second and third. At least for me anyways. My key to sleeping on the second and third nights is quite simple. NO NAPS. I always want to nap on the second and third days. Always. My eyelids will get heavy as I enjoy a quick sit down after a meal. I think, oh I'll just take a 15 minute power nap. Then bang, I wake up and I have slept for an hour or two or more. By night time, I'll be wide awake and end up falling asleep at 4 am only to have to wake up a few hours later. Its also important to go to bed at your normal bedtime. After I manage to not take a quick nap, 7:30pm rolls around and I think, I'll go to bed now, I'm really tired only to wake up at 3am with nothing to do, nowhere to eat and my roommate sleeping so I can't even watch crappy late night TV in Russian (or Chinese, or whatever language may be spoken in that particular country). With any luck, I manage to get a solid block of sleep each night and by the fourth or fifth night, I fall into a nice rhythm of sleeping and eating at the proper hours.
So that's that. My jet-lag strategy. Does it always work? No. Some places are easier to travel to. I find Europe is easiest on the trip out, but harder on the way back. Asia is hard no matter which direction you travel in. Sometimes I am lucky and it works well, sometime its tougher. Beating jet-lag isn't an exact science, but if anyone out there has a foolproof method, let me know!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Moving Mega Post
For a while now, years actually, I have face a single question from many many different people. Usually the question would arise at competitions, either at home or abroad. Sometimes I would get it at training camps. I've even been asked it while on vacation. The question?
"When are you moving to Montreal?"
It also came in variations.
"Have you thought about moving to Montreal?" "Why don't you move to Montreal?"
I've even got "So I heard you moved to Montreal a while back"
For the longest time my answers were the same. "No, I'm comfortable in Calgary", "Everything is going well so why change?", "Where did you hear that? Its not true by the way".
But finally, the time has come. Actually it has come and gone.
Once the season finished in March, I decided to put some serious thought into moving. After all, moving across the country is not a decision to be taken lightly. I started to piece together some details, talked to some key people who's opinions I valued a lot. I thought A LOT. Probably too much. But finally after a trip home in April, I made my final decision. I would move to Montreal to join the rest of the National Team for this season.
There were many factors at play that led to my decision. But ultimately what it all boiled down to was that I didn't want to look back on my career as a skater and think, what if I had have had the courage to move to Montreal. Could I have been a better skater? Could I have achieved more or learned new methods? I didn't want to have these question nagging a me forever.
Once the decision was made, the work started. Along with my other Calgary teammates, I attended a pre-season evaluation camp here in Montreal in the last week in April. This gave me the perfect opportunity to search out a place to live and get acquainted with what would be my new neighborhood. Once I got back from Montreal, it was really game on. Packing up my condo, cleaning, recycling, selling and giving stuff away (I still have two desks for sale, leave a comment if you are interested and in the Calgary area!!).
Then on May 16th, I packed my Volkswagen Golf as full as it has ever been, and pointed it east.
At the Saskatchewan border
The Manitoba Border, taken at 120km/h.
Welcome to Ontario!
(didn't manage to get a Quebec border sign pic because it was pouring rain and I just wanted to get there by that point)
3800km and four days later, I arrived in Montreal. The drive across the country was long. But it was also beautiful and even a bit fun. I don't know if I would be eager to do it again soon, but I will definitely do again in the future, and hopefully take more time to explore along the way. Canada is really big and beautiful.
So thats that. A big change. The six years that I spent in Calgary were awesome. I've met so many neat people and been fortunate to train with great training partners and under a fantastic coaching staff, but it was time for a change. I'll miss Calgary for sure, but I'll be back one day. I've been in Montreal for two weeks now and even though there have been times where I have felt homesick and had doubts, things are going well and I'm looking forward to this season in a way that I haven't for a long time.
The whole team is off to Font-Romeu, France, for a training camp on Saturday so I'll try to get some pics up as well as some news from the Pyrenees!
"When are you moving to Montreal?"
It also came in variations.
"Have you thought about moving to Montreal?" "Why don't you move to Montreal?"
I've even got "So I heard you moved to Montreal a while back"
For the longest time my answers were the same. "No, I'm comfortable in Calgary", "Everything is going well so why change?", "Where did you hear that? Its not true by the way".
But finally, the time has come. Actually it has come and gone.
Once the season finished in March, I decided to put some serious thought into moving. After all, moving across the country is not a decision to be taken lightly. I started to piece together some details, talked to some key people who's opinions I valued a lot. I thought A LOT. Probably too much. But finally after a trip home in April, I made my final decision. I would move to Montreal to join the rest of the National Team for this season.
There were many factors at play that led to my decision. But ultimately what it all boiled down to was that I didn't want to look back on my career as a skater and think, what if I had have had the courage to move to Montreal. Could I have been a better skater? Could I have achieved more or learned new methods? I didn't want to have these question nagging a me forever.
Once the decision was made, the work started. Along with my other Calgary teammates, I attended a pre-season evaluation camp here in Montreal in the last week in April. This gave me the perfect opportunity to search out a place to live and get acquainted with what would be my new neighborhood. Once I got back from Montreal, it was really game on. Packing up my condo, cleaning, recycling, selling and giving stuff away (I still have two desks for sale, leave a comment if you are interested and in the Calgary area!!).
Then on May 16th, I packed my Volkswagen Golf as full as it has ever been, and pointed it east.
(didn't manage to get a Quebec border sign pic because it was pouring rain and I just wanted to get there by that point)
3800km and four days later, I arrived in Montreal. The drive across the country was long. But it was also beautiful and even a bit fun. I don't know if I would be eager to do it again soon, but I will definitely do again in the future, and hopefully take more time to explore along the way. Canada is really big and beautiful.
So thats that. A big change. The six years that I spent in Calgary were awesome. I've met so many neat people and been fortunate to train with great training partners and under a fantastic coaching staff, but it was time for a change. I'll miss Calgary for sure, but I'll be back one day. I've been in Montreal for two weeks now and even though there have been times where I have felt homesick and had doubts, things are going well and I'm looking forward to this season in a way that I haven't for a long time.
The whole team is off to Font-Romeu, France, for a training camp on Saturday so I'll try to get some pics up as well as some news from the Pyrenees!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Three months in 25 lines
Get ready, were going to do this fast. Like really fast. This fast.
Feb 6, 2011
Landed in Russia.
It was cold, but not that cold.
Raced. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Got stuck in the worst traffic.
Flew to Dresden.
Raced. Crashed hard, twice. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Flew to Montreal. Trained
Flew to Sheffield.
Raced. Won World Championship in the Relay.
Flew to Warsaw.
Raced (poorly). Finished third in World Teams.
Partied in Warsaw.
Flew to Calgary.
Season over.
Went skiing in fresh powder (sick!)
Relaxed.
Watched hockey.
BSD!!
Went to Yellowknife. XC skied alot. Wish I had more time there.
Flew to Montreal. Testing Camp.
Back to Calgary.
Started work required for a life change.
Which will be covered later
May 16th.
Feb 6, 2011
Landed in Russia.
It was cold, but not that cold.
Raced. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Got stuck in the worst traffic.
Flew to Dresden.
Raced. Crashed hard, twice. Won a bronze in the 1500m. Won a bronze in the relay.
Flew to Montreal. Trained
Flew to Sheffield.
Raced. Won World Championship in the Relay.
Flew to Warsaw.
Raced (poorly). Finished third in World Teams.
Partied in Warsaw.
Flew to Calgary.
Season over.
Went skiing in fresh powder (sick!)
Relaxed.
Watched hockey.
BSD!!
Went to Yellowknife. XC skied alot. Wish I had more time there.
Flew to Montreal. Testing Camp.
Back to Calgary.
Started work required for a life change.
Which will be covered later
May 16th.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Pre Road Trip 15 (sort of) Random Thoughts
Tomorrow I'm heading on the road again for another set of World Cups. But I'm going to be adding some other stuff onto this trip. Like World Championships among other things.
1. Packing is tiring. And I'm not even finished. Luckily every trip needs the same thing, so packing is also repetitive, which may add to the fatigue (cause its boring)
2. The longest I have been on the road at one time is three weeks.
3. This trip is going to be six weeks long and will cover 5 countries.
4. They are Russia, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Poland. I have never been to Russia, Britain and Poland.
5. Basically my itinerary looks like this. Russia one week, Germany one week, Montreal two weeks, Britain one week, Poland one week. Oh, and I may add on a week of sightseeing at the end. We'll see.
6. I'm not sure how many Aeroplan points I'll end up with, but hopefully it will give me a really good head start towards Elite status for next year.
7. Tomorrow will be a long travel day. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Frankfurt, Moscow.
8. I'm excited though. Racing is why we train, so its nice to be able to have a lot of racing to do after all the work we have put in this season.
9. One thing I regret not doing while I was in Asia in the fall was taking pictures. I don't know why I didn't. I am going to make an effort to take some this time. Which will hopefully mean some for the blog.
10. Modern Family is an excellent television show. Just brilliant.
11. Canada's freestyle and ski cross skiers are awesome. Just this week they have won four different World Championships. Jenn Heil in moguls, Warren Shouldice in aerials and Chris Del Bosco and Kelsey Serwa in ski cross. Major Boom.
12. In other amateur sport news, mad props must be given to Christine Nesbitt, long track speed skater, who just won her first World Sprint Championship. Not bad for a non pure sprinter. Also boom.
13. I'd love to be on the podium at World Championships this year. That will now be my goal for the rest of the season.
14. I have a plant that is dying. It has barely grown in the three years I have had it and now it has a few brown leaves.
15. In the words of Ronnie Coleman, Ain't Nothing to it but to do it!
1. Packing is tiring. And I'm not even finished. Luckily every trip needs the same thing, so packing is also repetitive, which may add to the fatigue (cause its boring)
2. The longest I have been on the road at one time is three weeks.
3. This trip is going to be six weeks long and will cover 5 countries.
4. They are Russia, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Poland. I have never been to Russia, Britain and Poland.
5. Basically my itinerary looks like this. Russia one week, Germany one week, Montreal two weeks, Britain one week, Poland one week. Oh, and I may add on a week of sightseeing at the end. We'll see.
6. I'm not sure how many Aeroplan points I'll end up with, but hopefully it will give me a really good head start towards Elite status for next year.
7. Tomorrow will be a long travel day. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Frankfurt, Moscow.
8. I'm excited though. Racing is why we train, so its nice to be able to have a lot of racing to do after all the work we have put in this season.
9. One thing I regret not doing while I was in Asia in the fall was taking pictures. I don't know why I didn't. I am going to make an effort to take some this time. Which will hopefully mean some for the blog.
10. Modern Family is an excellent television show. Just brilliant.
11. Canada's freestyle and ski cross skiers are awesome. Just this week they have won four different World Championships. Jenn Heil in moguls, Warren Shouldice in aerials and Chris Del Bosco and Kelsey Serwa in ski cross. Major Boom.
12. In other amateur sport news, mad props must be given to Christine Nesbitt, long track speed skater, who just won her first World Sprint Championship. Not bad for a non pure sprinter. Also boom.
13. I'd love to be on the podium at World Championships this year. That will now be my goal for the rest of the season.
14. I have a plant that is dying. It has barely grown in the three years I have had it and now it has a few brown leaves.
15. In the words of Ronnie Coleman, Ain't Nothing to it but to do it!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Since Christmas...
Early in the season I had set my sights on this weekend as my main goal for the year. With Worlds being my main focus this season, I would have to skate well at the Canadian Champs in order to qualify.
The weekend started well enough, I finished 3rd in the 1500, but things quickly took a turn for the worse as I was disqualified in my heat. At this point, I knew that I wouldn't be able to accumulate many points in the 500, and in a competition like this where cumulative points from four distances qualify a skater to the team, consistency is key. Coming back on Saturday, I wanted to just skate well and get as many points as I could (30, compared to 1000 for a win). I did this and looked forward to Sunday and the 1000 and 3000m distances.
Leading the 1500m Final. Olivier Jean and Francois Hamelin behind. Photo: Paul Shoebridge
Overall on Sunday I felt I really brought my A-game physically and mentally. But it was a terrible tactical mistake that I had been making all week that cost me a spot in the 1000m A final. Following this, I figured for sure my chance of making the team was over.
But, as they say, its never over til its over and there is perhaps no other place where this is true than in Short Track. Following nearly 20 (out of 27) laps on my own trying to lap the pack, I managed to finish third in the 3000m and claim 5th overall (5 go to worlds) by only 28 points. I don't know if I have ever hurt as badly as I did in that 3k.
Needless to say, it was a roller coaster of a weekend for me, but I showed myself that I am improving as I did not need to have my best performance to make the team. A few years ago a weekend like this would have left me way back in the results. I know what needs to be fixed and changed.
So with that weekend behind me, its time to look forward to the rest of the international season. On Sunday, Jess Gregg who was the other Calgary based athlete to make worlds, and I will head to Montreal to meet up with the rest of the team and head off to Moscow, Russia and Dresden, Germany for two weeks of world cups. Following that I will either return to Calgary for a few days, or head straight to Montreal to train with the rest of the guys prior to the World Championships which take place in Sheffield England, and the World Team Championships in Warsaw, Poland.
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