All Aboard the Lightning Rod Express!

Can I just mention how much it means to me to feel like I have the full support of my parents (for my speedskating) for the first time ever? I don't mean financially...I mean that I finally feel accepted! I feel that it is OK for me to be an athlete right now.

I'm visiting my Mom and Dad in Woodhaven, Michigan, for a couple of weeks. I always come out here at this time of year because the training I'm doing right now is not too specific and I can do it anywhere. Also, Mom and Dad could use my help getting their yard ready for the summer.

Usually, when I'm on this annual excursion, I feel like I'm "doing my time" so that I can be free to play around for the rest of the year, but this time it is so much better. Why are things so different now?

-----

I've always known there were several reasons why Mom would have preferred that I not pursue speedskating seriously. Mom introduced me and my brother Mark to many different activities when we were younger, and, by the time we were in our mid-teens, there was a sort of "hierarchy of activities" in which sports were on the bottom. So, from a very early time, it seemed that the first people I had to fight for the right to skate were my own parents.

I know that all Mom wanted for me was that I be healthy and happy, and from this perspective, she probably didn't see elite sports as the best thing for me to do. Back in Poland, she and my aunt Maria both participated in track and field, and Mom watched as her sister's track career was ended abruptly after two clubs fought over her. I'll bet that Mom also wondered whether it would be possible for me to reach the top of any sport without using drugs. Also, speedskating was the one thing that beat me down the most when I was young. Mom used to hide my old race videos and training journals so that I wouldn't obsess over my failures. (Just this year, she finally dug out my Dirt Oval Season training log and left it in my room for me to look at!)

Mom used to tell me that I probably didn't have the genetic make-up or the mental toughness to make it on the elite level, in an attempt to make my transition from speedskating to real life a little easier, but it didn't work. She used to ask me why, if I was doing something that I loved, was I so miserable? There was a very simple explanation for that: TRYING HARD AND FAILING.

But now that I am finally climbing the ladder of world rankings in this sport and have an excellent chance of making the 2006 Olympic Team, I have proven that I am able to control my speedskating career under the right conditions, that I can reach a high level without the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and that I really do enjoy this sport when things are going well.

I've always hoped that if my skating really started to take off, then my parents would just enjoy watching the process. Luckily for me, this seems to be the case.

----

This weekend, I'm driving out to Chicago to pick up my brother. (Mark is the architect for a high-end residential interior design firm, and he works out all of their technical details. He has a real job!!!) Together, we will drive through Muskegon, Michigan, to visit some of my old friends from the West Michigan Speedskating Club. I haven't seen most of these people for years! I can't wait to share some of my stories with them, and to hear about what's new in West Michigan. The greatest thing for me about being an Olympic hopeful is to share the experience with my friends all over the world.


I'm here to stay; I'm skating well; so let's make the best of it! Sit down, hang on, and enjoy the ride.