Ravioli and R & D

Yesterday on the plane they served some ravioli, nice and dry just how i like it hahah, i had 7-up to drink.

Brittany Bowe picked me up from the airport- I left my car at her place in boca raton while i was in colombia. When we got back to her place i had some dunkaroos... i haven't had them since i was in 4th grade, if you don't know what they are then I'm sorry your life has gone on thus far without the experience lol

This morning i woke up and drove to Dave simmons' house because we're working on creating a new stock last (a last is the shape that each stock is made out of) that is based upon my shoe and incorporates all the little tricks that i like in my boots. I have to say, the guy is pretty amazing at what he does; he is an artist when it comes to shaping a last. We grabbed lunch when i got in, this cool place on the water called the joint- i had a turkey club with pasta and water. Dinner was taco salad courtesy of chef jen simmons lol.

The progress of this stock design is coming along great, i want to get it to where I'm confident enough in the quality and shape of the design that i will be able to grab one off the shelf, put it on, and race with comfort and efficiency. I feel like people don't know what a great boot is 'supposed' to feel like, thats what Dave and i want to change. I have some new interests in the importance of pressure points related to power transfer into the skate, all of which will be incorporated into this design.

The upper (upper is the leather on the outside) is still being designed, but i fooled around with a gold marker and kinda liked the outcome...

The plan is to have a black and gold frame packaged with the boot. Should be pretty cool. I've been on my simmons for a while now, but wanted to see what other boots felt like so i did this...

Jokes aside, some are turned off by the price of a simmons, but i can assure you that it is a work of art. Would you rather spend less money on a boot that will give you countless head aches, falling apart and breaking in a year, or pay the worth of a quality product that you'll love and be able to re-sell or pass down?

Bucaramanga Airport

The airport in bucaramanga sits on top of a mountain that overlooks the city, its a really cool view. It only has 2 gates, so I do believe it is the smallest airport I've ever been in... There are more places to eat than there are gates to fly out of haha. I just ordered a filt mignon, we'll see how that goes.

All in all the trip was incredible, the people who put on the clinic were very very nice- they offered me their bed to sleep in while I was there, which I graciously declined. I plan to go back to south america and do a tour of clinics in countries including colombia, venezuela, argentina, chile, brazil, and costa rice- if not more.

Dinner last night was a few pieces of left over chicken. Breakfast today was frosted flakes. Lunch right now is filet and fries with nestea.

I LOVE COLOMBIA

Anybody who says our sport is dying is a) an idiot and b) apparently not colombian or has never been to colombia. I just went to watch the 8,9, and 10 year old nationals here in bucaramanga (yes just a 3 year window) which had over 400 participants.... maybe you didn't catch that the first time so here:

400 kids limited to the ages of 8,9, and 10

I got there and started signing a few autographs and that turned into zoo...

These kids were awesome, they were literally climbing over eachother trying to get an autograph and picture. After that, the organization wanted me to skate a few laps and say some words in front of the people, which was a great idea in theory... until the mob of kids got involved hahah

Theres a road around the outside of the track, i literally got pushed around the track while kids were running around me screaming, just losing their minds; it was one of the coolest things ive ever experienced. After the lap, i slowed down and after about 10 minutes managed to get all the kids off the track so they could play the national anthem and have me say a few words. After that i took a lap on the track shaking hands and giving high fives.

After that i had to crank off the track and back to the booth to finish up signing autographs. My shirt started off a medium and now its at least an XL from all the pulling and grabbing haha; i thought to myself, i couldn't imagine ACTUALLY being a legit famous person, it would be hard.

I wish there was as much passion in the states as there is in south america for this sport...

Here's a little clip, its hard to see, but u can sure hear em

Dinner, Breakfast, Lunch And A Little Workout

Dinner last night was el corral again, i cant stop eating it! Double cheese burger with onion rings and nestea

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the reason i skate is so i dont become a fat person haha

After dinner i went to a local track and skated around with some of the kids. I did put in about 20 hard minutes (well what i thought was hard) but i havent really touched my skates for a workout in well over a week, so it's probably just my inability to breathe that made my workout worht while lol

Breakfast today was just eggs with bacon, fresh fruit, and some juice (they spoil me)...

My favorite part is the mickey mouse place mat every morning

Lunch was this chicken place called frisby... fried of course (i wouldn't have it any other way haha)

Little Update From Colombia

Friday night i went to some person's wedding i didn't know, but it was all good, cause the food was delicious. Apparently Louisiana knows whats up with the seafood. I had some crab cakes, coconut shrimp, and a few crackers.

Saturday for breakfast before i started my drive to ocala, i ate some home made biscuits and a cinnamon roll, which were all pretty good if i may say so. The drive was a little rough because i was too stubborn to stop and eat anything, i wanted to get to Florida as quick as possible. The start of the drive was beyond obnoxious; the traffic had me yelling at people with the utmost aggression (yes i know they cant hear me, but for some reason i felt a lot better after). Once i got into Florida, the traffic was OK, plus it was a 3 lane highway so i was Ricky bobbying my way through those goons. i eventually had to stop to get gas so i picked up some chex mix and a bottle of water, such a nutritious meal. When i got into ocala, some friends wanted me to go out so of course dinner was greasy bar food; chicken tenders, jalapeño poppers, and potato skins- how i haven't had a heart attack yet i don't know.

Sunday morning my dad showed me around the new gym that he's just been made president of; it's a beautiful gym, maybe the nicest one Ive ever been inside. This place has EVERYTHING; tanning, manicures, pedicures, hot tub, a special tub for doing body fat percentages, like 3 aerobics rooms, a sick spin room, a palates room, a kids center, a bar with any kinda health food you could want, tons of exercise equipment... its awesome, needless to say, i will be utilizing it quite frequently while I'm in Florida. Breakfast was ihop- country fried steak, scrambled eggs, pancakes and water. Lunch was nothing because again, i was too stubborn to stop on my drive from ocala to Boca. Dinner was cheesecake factory- nachos and vanilla bean cheesecake with water.

Monday morning i headed to Miami airport to fly here to Colombia to teach a camp in bucaramanga; sounds like a ghetto, its actually a nice little city. Anyway, brunch was McDonald's- quarter pounder with cheese, nuggets, fries, and Dr pepper. That was really all i ate the whole day, which is probably why i felt like garbage when i woke up Tuesday morning; i was congested, neck hurt, i was really dehydrated- you know when your lips are cracked and stuff, yea that was me. Oh, before we went to the house from the airport, they asked if i wanted anything, i said juice, thinking they were going to buy some the next day... WRONG. We went to this drive up juice bar, honked, some chick comes over and takes the order, 2 minutes later she walks back with a glass (yes a glass glass) of the best juice I've had, maybe ever. We then just sat there while i drank my juice, which was slightly awkward haha, and then honked again, she grabbed the glass and we drove off.... ahhh Colombia.

The family that I'm staying with for the clinic is great, very hospitable. They made me eggs with bacon, cereal, fresh fruit all cut up and juice... and it was delicious. In the afternoon i went to a small track here with a team full of little kids and just skated around with them, took some pictures, kissed some babies, you know the day to day... For lunch, they took me to this awesome place that was apparently traditional Colombian food... it was just a bunch of different kinds of meat (no homo). Also, they make this little corn thing called an arepa, soo good with a little bit of pico on top. The night we had a conference where i sat in front of the coaches and skaters of the camp with a translator and just talked about equipment, training, and anything else they could come up with to ask me. For dinner we had some el corral, you white people reading this wont know anything about no el corral, its a burger place in Colombia that just clowns McDonald's or bk or wendys... its kinda like In-N-Out status; I had a doble con queso y tacineta, papas fritas, y nestea limon.

Wednesday was the first day of the clinic, which has been going great. It does kind of concern me however, that they have never seen over 1/2 the drills that I'm teaching here; If they are already as good as they are without really knowing HOW to skate, I'm a little scared to see what could happen when they do. Breakfast was just cereal and fresh fruit with juice. Lunch was fried chicken, i ate it with a plastic glove on (cause thats what they do here... apparently its 'safer' that way haha), coke and juice to drink. Dinner was pizza at a place that overlooked the whole city, it was a really cool experience. My nose was cashed from being in the sun all day long and i can tell I'm out of shape because between each one of the off skates exercises i was dizzy and wanted to fall over.

This morning i woke up early because i had to keep working on the burning the 76 disks for the people at this camp; everyone gets a tee shirt and a disk with the videos of all the drills on it. You don't realize how long it takes to burn 76 Cd's until you actually have to do it by the way. Breakfast was just eggs and bacon with juice. Lunch was fried chicken and arepa again, with coke and lulo juice- lulo is this tangy sour fruit in Colombia, I'm an addict.

Busy & Worthless haha

Alright, last time i wrote it was thursday afternoon so I'm going to try to catch this up as much as possible going on memory... I've been traveling from colorado to florida by car, updating the nsc site, doing all the bios etc, and visiting friends, thats where all my time has gone... no training unfortunately

Thursday night we had practice and i skated the new hyper wheels... i actually liked them, i wouldnt mind working with them next year maybe.

Pace line
50 lap open
3 man relay - everylap
2 man relay - 50 laps

This practice was the fastest ive been indoor in a really long time, not too sure why

Dinner that night was cheesesticks and quesdaillas


Friday i had jack in the box for breakfast:

sausage egg and cheese biscuit
stuffed jalapenos
hash browns
double cheeseburger

I cant remember what else i had to eat that day, but you can bet it wasn't healthy

Saturday i traveled back to colorado from seattle. I had mcdonalds for breakfast

chicken biscuit
hash brown
breakfast burrito
OJ

lunch was a bag of pineapple chunks

dinner was pizza from dominos

Sunday breakfast was a belgian waffle and water, lunch was left over pizza, dinner was sushi and water-- i think i drank about 5 dr peppers sunday as well

monday for breakfast i had scrambled eggs, hash browns and water

i started my drive from colorado to florida on monday, which is really the reason i decided to 86 the diet until i get back from teachin the clinic in colombia- its so hard to eat right when you're traveling

lunch was mcdonalds

nuggets
fries
dr pepper

dinner was left over turkey, potatoes, ham, and stuffing at ringers house- i also had a chic-filet orea shake-- those things are like crack


tuesday i drove from dallas to shreveport louisiana and then to broussard... breakfast was 2 belgian waffles and turkey bacon with water

lunch was long horn- firecracker raps and ribs with water

dinner was wendys

nuggets
fries
spicy go wrap
dr pepper


wednesday breakfast was hot wings , dinner was sushi and hibachi steak

thursday breakfast was quiznos- turkey, bacon, guac with chips and water, dinner last night was boiled crawfish... my first time ever eating crawfish, definately an experience. You have to yank the tail out and then peel and stuff, its work if you're a newbie like me.

Today breakfast was waffle house- texas bacon egg and cheese plate with a waffle and chicken biscuit, i drank water. Lunch was quiznos again, same sub... also a slice of pizza

ive been completely worthless lately when it comes to training and diet. I plan on fixing all that when i get back from colombia and get a real chance to start a legit training program again with renee.

NSC 1 Through Today

Monday i had so much to do for the event i literally just ate breakfast and nothing else the entire day. The event was really cool, considering the time frame miguel and I had to put on what we did, it went smooth. I can't wait for the next one, which should be sometime in january. I did end up falling a couple times and i rocked my wrist pretty bad, after that i was skating too timid, but it was the most intense racing i've been a part of in a really long time.

Tuesday i woke up and my entire body was sore... both of my wrists, my hips, burns on my legs... haha it was intense. I decided that i was in no mood to worry about my diet, and pretty much just 86'd that guy for a week or so...  breakfast didnt happen because i woke up too late, lunch was sushi- i had 3 rolls and water, dinner was burger king- double cheeseburger, fries, cheezy tots, 8 tenders, bbq sauce and lemonade... i feel real sick after putting all that down, i think i grew an extra chin too. I didnt go to practice tuesday night because my body was battered, i wanted the rest.

Wednesday's breakfast was country fried steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns, a biscuit and water. Lunch was a few slices of pepperoni pizza from pizza hut with water, and dinner was a ahi tuna ceasar salad from outback with water. i went and did a 30 min private lesson outside, teaching double push... that went really well.

All in all, i realize how easy it is when you're younger and all you have to worry about is going to practice and skating hard. Not that i have many more responsibilities than i did when i was younger, but now its harder. Taking on the challenges of NSC leaves me with less time to be lazy, i'm finding i have to utilize the time i have each day more efficiently... i'm having to map out everything more carefully to maintain productivity. It will be nice to get to florida and be able to train around the clock with the weather permitting.

Today for breakfast i had some banana nut cereal with soy. Lunch was red robin- ceasar wrap, french fries, chips and guac, with water... i know, i know... food is my weakness

Yesterday And Breakfast Today

Yesterday I skipped breakfast, we got up really early and went to a meet to promotw NSC, whcih went really really well.



Lunch was mexican buffet, I tried to stay away from the bad stuff, but its mexican:



Chips and salsa, refried beans



Beef taco

2 beef things (yea I have no idea what they were)

Refried beans

Chicken fajitas

2 pieces of bacon (it was a brunch buffet)

Water



Dinner was outback steakhouse:



Sautéd mushrooms

NY strip

Dry baked potato

Water





Yesterday we went to the rink to set up the spot light for the NSC entrances and ironed a few things out. We skated around a little and let the guys get used to the floor... That's when it started sinking in how sick this event is going to be.





Today for breakfast I had to cheat the so called diet I'm on haha, I'm usually pretty disciplined with things, but hunger and maybe a little stress got the better of me-



Country fried steak

Scrambled eggs

Hash browns

Biscuit

Water





Now I'm goin to the rink to set up the computer for the live feed which should be really clear and smooth (we didn't go cheap on this event)



Support me tonight by coming to the event or if you can't make it, watch the live feed at www.pronsc.com



Thanks!

Dinner Last Night

Wheat penne pasta with marinara
Water

Today we're heading to a meet in everette, wa to do a little promo for NSC 1

Scattered

With the world cup and NCS 1 coming up quick, my mind has been completely scattered. I forgot to write about practice the thursday night.

i put back on the boot i skated worlds on and was much faster, so im going to skate the event on it. The difference is that my new boot is much more stiff and has very little padding, which is extremely precise- something that will take a little getting used to when i have more time.

warm up pace line
15 lap race
30 lap race
passing drill
30 lap 2 man

Also, yestedays diet after breakfast consisted of:

lunch-

red robin-
2 grilled chicken breasts with salad (ne dressing)
tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa
water



2nd lunch-

apple
carrots
grapes
water


Dinner at the rock-

chicken cesar wrap
french fries (little bit of cheating)
beer (i dont condone drinking)

______________________________


Today for breakfast i had an apple and a banana

Breakfast

Breakfast today is 5 eggs with 4 sausage links, 5 pieces of ham and salsa. Also, a banana and grapes with some cran-raspberry juice. Breakfast is the easiest on the diet, the others, not so much

Without Further Ado... The Rundown Pt 1

Where to start, where to start... ah yes, the flight. For me, flying is easy because i just sleep the whole time, which is exactly what i did for the 4 hour flight from atlanta to caracas. Now, getting to venezuela was a little bit sketchy because it wasn't exactly clear who (if anyone) was going to be meeting me at the airport and bringing me to the hotel; i had to stay in a hotel for the night and pick up a flight to margarita island in the morning. Luckily, when i walked out there was a cute venezuelan chick holding up a WIC sign- perfect; She brought me to the hotel and got me all set up for the next day.

I gotta mention that venezuela isnt the safest place for an american to be considering the politcal situation... that of which i have absolutely no knowledge, but i hear its bad, so i'm running with it. Also, an american athlete got kidnapped and robbed last time i was in venezuela, needless to say, i was a littttle nervous.

Anyway, the hotel had internet- ahhhhhhhh bells were ringing and the clouds parted to shed the light of heaven directly down on my computer... just kidding, but seriously, that happened so I spent all night conquering the internet. The next morning i went down to eat a delicious continental breakfast right? haha WRONG. It was a continental breakfast, but delicious it was not- runny eggs, funny tasting bread, and ahh yes, who could forget the hot dog flavored sausages (yes, just like china). After the delightful meal, i caught the shuttle to the airport and checked in; nothing too exciting.

In venezuela, unlike the US, you have to pay departure taxes when you fly; its not that much money, but its a little confusing if you're not used to it. I payed in dollars and got bolivars (venezuelan currency) back in return and i do believe they took one good look at me, knew i was a gringo that wouldn't know the difference, and pulled me pants down on the deal haha.

Security for a domestic flight there consisted of a refrigerator box cut to look like a metal detector with a person standing off to the side making beep noises as people walked through. Jokes aside, it was slightly more laxed that what we're used to at home. I got to the gate i was supposed to be at and waited for my flight when i realized that it was boarding time and no one was getting on a plane, which made me question the reliability of the monitor... luckily i got up and checked, becuase these damn people were trying to hoodwink me... my flight was boarding a few gates down. Mantia 1 Venezuela 0 hahaha

Off the plane in margarita they took me straight to the race, where it was a million percent humidity and a few degrees cooler than hell. I ended up missing the 100m drag races, but picked up with the 500m and the 10k points. After the races, we headed to the hotel. Oh, i forgot to mention, we were driving around in circles for about 30 minutes when the translator looks over at me and says, "you want to know a secret?" I said, "We're Lost," everyone laughed and we eventually figured it out... and by we i mean they.

I ended up rooming with my old team mate max presti, which was cool, because he was one of the 10 people that spoke english at the event haha... he also speaks pretty good spanish, which was handy. We went to the mall that night and grubbed out on hella american food; this place had: burger king, mcdonalds, subway, kfc, sushi, hard rock cafe, cinnabon, to name a few- i chose BK. I had a nuggets, a double cheeseburger, fries, and sprite; BK never tasted sooo goood.

That night was the 'white' party and presentation of awards and money for the day's events... you know i couldnt miss that, the only problem was that i didn't bring anything white. I actually considered wearing all black, but decided against it for whatever reason. I borrowed a white shirt from someone and just rocked some black shorts... the only jerk there not wearing completely white was of course me haha oh well. At one point it started raining and one of the chicks from chile got her pants all wet... water + her white pants = smile on my face... the guy filming the event knew what he liked too, he didnt take the camera off her hahaha good times.

The next day was the off day before the marathon so everybody kicked it in the pool... at one point there was about 50 people coming down this long slide at once, no exaggeration... it was interesting to say the least; i think i saw one of the guys in a neck brace the next day. The food at the hotel was just about as good as the continental breakfast so we at at the mall for just about every meal. I did forget to mention that this little resort we stayed at had a round the clock open bar... i didnt really take advantage of it, but A LOT of people did haha.

I'll pick up with the rest tomorrow... as for the diet today:


Breakfast-

pistachios
5 eggs scrambled with a little bit of salsa
4 sausage links
banana


Lunch-

Subway salad with lettuce, tomato, pickles, peperoncinis, and 2 chicken breasts - no dressing
water



i had some pistachios for a snack


2nd Lunch-

apple
roast beef
carrots
soy milk


more pistachios


dinner-

wheat pasta
marinara sauce
orange juice

Venezuela

Hey guys, i know its been a few days since i wrote, but internet is kinda sketch here in Venezuela. I won the 2 road races i skated and got 3rd to Diego Rosero and Max Presti in the marathon. I will write a recap on the entire trip when i get home. Thanks for the patience!

Don't forget, www.pronsc.com on november 9! Live feed will be available to watch the sickest speed skating production ever put on!