Speedskating-online

Written by Anastasia Bucsis, Canadian speed skater

I had a hard week of training, and I’m really happy about it. I started off with some starts, solid weights, and then transitioned into some quick aerobic intervals. On Wednesday I had one of the hardest practices I’ve had for probably three or four months: breakdowns. Now, for those of you that don’t know what a “breakdown” is, look no further than Winona Ryder, just know that they aren’t very fun.

It’s very likely that skating breakdowns (for a sprinter) is one of the most destructive and humbling programs known to our thunder thighs and central nervous systems. To give you a subtle hint, after skating my first (of two) breakdowns, I tried to put on my guards and ended up falling down like a newborn bambi because my legs had simply had enough. Under no circumstance did they want to hold me anymore. Ha. Just another Wednesday at the oval…

I then was granted a nice and relaxing Thursday in which I just had a ride and stretch. Friday was an abstract form of pre-race as my legs still didn’t want to cooperate from Wednesdays destruction and the ice (at 7AM) was looking more like the Calf Robe bridge at 4PM on Calgary’s first snow fall. (AKA, it was slow, sketchy, and scary.)

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