Once in a while you hear something that makes a lot of sense.
Seldom do you hear two things in the same day, yesterday was one of
those days.

Quote #1

After winning the Ladies NCAA National Championship, the Coach, Kay
Mulkey-Roberts said the following.

"It's all about taking the small things and making them monumental."

This quote easily applies to all endeavours in life, however, it is
especially true in speedskating. Training is no longer a mystery,
it is not majic, it is science. Periodization training techniques
are the best methods we have at this time. This means that you need
to have different phases of your training which concentrates on
certain aspects of you fitness. In the pre-season we need to work
on our aerobic activity, we need to lay an Aerobic Base. Then over
the summer we need to work on strength, general fitness and core,
this begins laying a strength, agility and power on top of the
Aerobic Base, and finally, during the season we need to work on
bursting speed, the start and such.

It is important to work these programs very dilligently. You have
to pay attention to the details, you have to make them monumental,
just like the coach said. This means doing every rep, every set and
honoring your rest time between sets and reps. Stick to the plan,
do not add or subtract. Contact your coach for more advice on a
training plan.

Cheating a little here and there will have a huge effect on your
final conditioning. In sports, for elite athletes there is a 95%-5%
rule, the first 95% will only get you 80% of the way to your goal,
the last 5% gets you the rest of the way.

The 95%-5% rule (something I came up with).

Almost everyone can achieve the 95% of their athletic goals, only a
few can achieve the 5%, however, you have to put in the 95% to see
if you have the other 5%. This applies to any sport, any athlete,
no one can tell you if you have the other 5%, if they could, then
the 6th round draft choice would not have won 3 of the last
superbowls.

Quote #2

Will Smith was asked if he gave kids advice at the peoples choice
awards?
He indicated yes and then gave his two keys.
"It's all about reading and running."

Why Reading? Because it gives you to insight and wisdom of all the
people who lived before you, if you want to learn anything, you can
learn it from reading. Everything from how to solve a problem with
your parents to how to be good at anything. Reading is a great way
to improve your speedskating.

Why Running? Because you get to a point in running where your body
tells you to stop and rest, if you learn how to overpower that urge
to quit, you can learn to work through anything to success. The
good things in life are always difficult, speedskating is no
exception, you have to push yourself to finish your training, to
finish your reps, finish yoursets, do every minute of every practice.

It's that time of year, time to get back out on the track, the road
and back in the gym, Chesapeake had a great 2004-5 Seson, this is
the Olympic year, if you have any aspiration of making the 2006
Olympics, now is the time to execute, now is the time to take it to
the next level.

Good Luck
Dennis
Coach, President CSSA