The Best Cure for Burnout:
I just got back from a trip to Southern California and Arizona, and finally I feel like talking about speedskating again! This was my first real vacation in 4 years. Normally, when I come back from the World Cups, I go straight to work the very next day, so my competition trips are my "vacation" from the lab, and my breaks from skating are a time to make money. But, with this being an Olympic season, I decided that it was important to take a real vacation. There will be no compromising this year!
The only way I was able to take this trip is thanks to the help of some of my friends. I drove down with Mark Chrysler, in his van, and he bought most of the gas. Once we got to Southern California, I met up with my buddy Mark Jeffries, whom I met at a short track practice a few years ago when I was going to grad school out there. Mark let me stay in a room at his house in Costa Mesa.
During my 3 days in Orange County, I got to go inline skating and running on Huntington Beach, and Mark C. and I went on a 3-hour bike ride up and down the coast. Mark J. and I also met up with Wilma Boomstra's short track team for a dryland training session.
I even got to go surfing, which I haven't done for 4 years. After renting a longboard at Dana Point, I went down to San Onofre State Park to catch some waves. Hopefully, I won't ever get 4 years out of practice again! I swallowed a whole bunch of salt water before getting the hang of it again, but after that I ended up catching quite a few waves and having a great time.
After our stay in Orange County, Chrysler and I took off for Lake Havasu, Arizona, to hang out with Peter Mueller for a couple of days. Mark and Pete used to skate together back in the late 1970's/ early '80's, and they are still good friends. Pete has an awesome Eliminator motorboat, and he took us out for a spin on the lake. He got that thing going all the way up to the cheek-flapping speed of 126 miles per hour!!
It was really cool to hang out with Pete. He even had some good things to say about my skating this past season, and when Mark asked Pete what he would do with me if he were my coach, he replied, "I'd make her f---ing WIN!"
I just got back from a trip to Southern California and Arizona, and finally I feel like talking about speedskating again! This was my first real vacation in 4 years. Normally, when I come back from the World Cups, I go straight to work the very next day, so my competition trips are my "vacation" from the lab, and my breaks from skating are a time to make money. But, with this being an Olympic season, I decided that it was important to take a real vacation. There will be no compromising this year!
The only way I was able to take this trip is thanks to the help of some of my friends. I drove down with Mark Chrysler, in his van, and he bought most of the gas. Once we got to Southern California, I met up with my buddy Mark Jeffries, whom I met at a short track practice a few years ago when I was going to grad school out there. Mark let me stay in a room at his house in Costa Mesa.
During my 3 days in Orange County, I got to go inline skating and running on Huntington Beach, and Mark C. and I went on a 3-hour bike ride up and down the coast. Mark J. and I also met up with Wilma Boomstra's short track team for a dryland training session.
I even got to go surfing, which I haven't done for 4 years. After renting a longboard at Dana Point, I went down to San Onofre State Park to catch some waves. Hopefully, I won't ever get 4 years out of practice again! I swallowed a whole bunch of salt water before getting the hang of it again, but after that I ended up catching quite a few waves and having a great time.
After our stay in Orange County, Chrysler and I took off for Lake Havasu, Arizona, to hang out with Peter Mueller for a couple of days. Mark and Pete used to skate together back in the late 1970's/ early '80's, and they are still good friends. Pete has an awesome Eliminator motorboat, and he took us out for a spin on the lake. He got that thing going all the way up to the cheek-flapping speed of 126 miles per hour!!
It was really cool to hang out with Pete. He even had some good things to say about my skating this past season, and when Mark asked Pete what he would do with me if he were my coach, he replied, "I'd make her f---ing WIN!"
posted by Eva at 4:32 PM
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