I'm back - to write about the good stuff! I've been a bad, bad girl, but I think I'll be able to behave myself now. A lot of good things have happened to me in the later part of this season, so now it appears that I would have something to lose...
As I look back on the 2004-05 season, I am thinking of the many ways in which this season has differed from my other skating seasons. Normally, when I'm setting goals at the beginning of the season, I'll sit down with my coach and say, "I want to skate this time and this time and that time," and the coach will say,
"Well, OK, we'll see what happens." And then it doesn't happen, and I'm told something ridiculous like, "Don't be afraid of the pain, Eva," or, "You remember how inconsistent you are," or, "It must be because you're Polish and therefore are drinking Vodka every night."
This season was totally different. It was Boris who told me, "There is no doubt in my mind that you'll be skating a 39.2 in the 500, and a low 1:17 in the 1000," to which I replied,
"You're insane."
Well, he was right, I was wrong, and I'm not one bit sorry about it. What a thrill it was to outperform my own expectations for once, instead of feeling like all my effort was going for nothing. Getting on the B Group podium at the European World Cups was an awesome experience, after all the years of struggling to get to this level.
Besides being able to race well, another memorable experience was skating laps with the Polish team on the A Group warmup after my last race in Heerenveen. I had gone out to skate at that time so I could get a feel for skating with the huge crowd of (I think) about 13,000 spectators. But I didn't even feel self-conscious, because the Dutch spectators were so much fun, and you could tell that they are just out there to have a good time and to support the skaters. I was happy that nobody kicked me off the ice, and that Pavel, Slavek, Witek, and my other Polish friends allowed me to join their pace line for some sets of laps.
As I look back on the 2004-05 season, I am thinking of the many ways in which this season has differed from my other skating seasons. Normally, when I'm setting goals at the beginning of the season, I'll sit down with my coach and say, "I want to skate this time and this time and that time," and the coach will say,
"Well, OK, we'll see what happens." And then it doesn't happen, and I'm told something ridiculous like, "Don't be afraid of the pain, Eva," or, "You remember how inconsistent you are," or, "It must be because you're Polish and therefore are drinking Vodka every night."
This season was totally different. It was Boris who told me, "There is no doubt in my mind that you'll be skating a 39.2 in the 500, and a low 1:17 in the 1000," to which I replied,
"You're insane."
Well, he was right, I was wrong, and I'm not one bit sorry about it. What a thrill it was to outperform my own expectations for once, instead of feeling like all my effort was going for nothing. Getting on the B Group podium at the European World Cups was an awesome experience, after all the years of struggling to get to this level.
Besides being able to race well, another memorable experience was skating laps with the Polish team on the A Group warmup after my last race in Heerenveen. I had gone out to skate at that time so I could get a feel for skating with the huge crowd of (I think) about 13,000 spectators. But I didn't even feel self-conscious, because the Dutch spectators were so much fun, and you could tell that they are just out there to have a good time and to support the skaters. I was happy that nobody kicked me off the ice, and that Pavel, Slavek, Witek, and my other Polish friends allowed me to join their pace line for some sets of laps.
posted by Eva at 1:39 PM
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