How To Put The Two Together?

A group of us returned to CITC today for another practice on the banked track. Coach AH gave us a program to follow. All I can say is was I ever glad that I took a day off training yesterday!

I completed a 5k warm up by myself, keeping the lap times pretty relaxed. We did a bunch of starts and then another bunch of 300m TT. My starts were about the same as they were last Wednesday so it was not like I forgot how to do them. However, for all the 300m TT, I just never got that feeling of comfort on the track as I discovered last time. I was tensed and frantic which of course translated to small strides with no power.

I did not want to leave practice feeling like I did not know how to skate. That is definitely not the memory I want to carry back to Nationals. Instead of a TT start, I decided to do a couple of 300s with rolling start. What do you know, I was feeling it again! All the corners felt right and I was no longer skating frantically. I can't quite put my finger on it but my guess is when I do a rolling start, I consciously sit lower before I began the accelaration. Compared to a TT start, I would be running almost upright and then too busy concentrating on completing the corner. The thought of sitting lower did not even have a chance to cross my mind.

I think I may ask Mr. P for a bit of help on race day. He has a very loud voice so I can hear him for sure above all the noises. Just having someone yell at me at the first corner to sit lower may work...you never know!