Raining in Milwaukee

After a long day of travel, I finally made it to Milwaukee.  When I arrived at the airport I found two friends who were on the same flight pattern and we shared flights, connections and eventually a car to arrive at the Pettit National Ice Arena. It was a wonderful fall day; surprisingly warm and sunny.

My friend Marty is a Masters World Champion speedskater and a lot of fun to hang around. He was hoping to make it to the Pettit to get some practice ice and settle in. We made it with about an hour to spare. As he got his skates put together, it was nice to catch up with folks I haven't seen in awhile.  They made the trek out here to train, some months ago and some just a few weeks ago. When you train with the same familiar faces 4-5 times a week, you start to miss them. As Marty took to the ice, I shared many hugs and hellos. It is great to see everyone again.

As I mentioned, I normally compete in Short Track speedskating. I've skated long track here and there; a marathon, some sprint races and I even skated Long Track Nationals. BUT, and it is a big BUT- I am not a good long tracker. One of the hardest things for me to master is the turn or corner on an oval. I always get a stroke or two into the turn and then I have to stop because I am headed for the middle. See, both types of speedskating are done on ice but they are very different. The equipment is different, the track is different and the sport is a little different with the rules as well. I like to skate the oval very much, but practice is a must before I consider any major competition in the future.

The transition can be done from one style to the next; I recognized a lot of names from the short track world in the pairings yesterday. I did not realize that most had made the "switch", but all looked great and skated some rather good times.  One thing that is new to me for this event is I'm not skating-I'm spectating. Very weird, but extremely fun to play the "fan" role.

Yesterday the 500 meter races were held. I had two friends skate. One set a personal best and one set the minds of the true sprinters on alert for the time that was skated was not expected as the 500m is not their best event. As the pairings moved on, the times got faster and I remember after one pairing flew over the finish line I kept saying "wow"-so fast!

The timing mechanics were dealing with gremlins in the system, so I had to wait to hear the times announced. I completely missed the mens World Cup selection for the 500m distance; sorry about that. Had to go back to the hotel for much needed sleep. However, I did get the Women's team selection:

• 1. Elli Ochowicz
• 2. Heather Richardson
• 3. Jennifer Rodriguez
• 4. Lauren Cholewinsky
• 5. Rebekah Bradford

All these ladies skated low 39 second 500 meters! Congratulations.

My guess for the men would be:
Tucker Fredricks
Brent Aussprung
Shani Davis
Nick Pearson

These guys were skating in the low 35 second range for the first set.

Today I have quite a few friends skating the 1000 meter, 3000 meter and 5000 meter. It will be a very long day I'm sure. It's raining today but I do not think that even the rain could dampen the excitement we are all feeling.

I will try to post again tomorrow. Pictures will be added to posts when I return back home.

Now it's time for a much needed cup of coffee...