Coach is Back in the Game!

Day after surgery

HAHA, I seriously have received more comments saying, "so now are we to expect a comeback from your mom at the 2014 US Speedskating Olympic Trials?!" than any other in response to her knee-replacement surgery 2 weeks ago. Y'all are very funny... :)

For those of you who've been keeping up with her surgery/recovery and also praying for her, our whole family cannot thank you enough. It has not been an easy route to getting a new knee. Her surgery went perfect thanks to Dr. Stulberg at Northwestern, but once the anesthesia wore off and pain set in, she was in complete misery for a couple days. But as you all know, she is one tough chic and on Easter Sunday, she was able to come home and join us for dinner with the whole family.

Swelling continues to go down (above), today's pic (right)

Since then, a therapist comes over once a day to keep my mom in check with tough therapy and she is walking around quite a bit and going to the gym to use the bike (don't worry, it's extremely easy). Icing faithfully has brought her swelling down significantly and it's amazing to see her walk straight now (see videos below!)...the Lord truly has blessed her. And it continually amazes me how technology has advanced to where people can have a new body parts, bringing them close to normalcy again or better. God is good.

"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." 

              ~Psalm 100:5

             

It's been God, your support/prayers, & family, that have gotten her through...thank you all!

God Bless,

Nancy Jr.

1 Corinthians 9:25

Thoughts from our side of the story about the "On Thin Ice" article and a recent influx in articles about the unethical and stubborn ways of the US Speedskating organization

Front page of the Chicago Tribune, February 23, 2013. 
Not shown is the complete 2 page spread inside.

February 23, 2013. "Tribune investigation: With the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia less than a year away, US Speedskating is spinning into chaos — financial troubles, organizational problems and a team broken into factions — and the athletes are paying the price." ...says the brief summary of the investigative article "On Thin Ice." This and 2 other supplementary articles are fairly good, covering the general aspects of many issues, so the average reader (who likely knows next to nothing about speedskating) can manage to create a picture of what and how these problems developed in the US Speedskating organization (USS) and the repercussions of such. Since it seems like everybody's weighing in on the matter, here's a few thoughts from me about our side of the story...

As many of you know, we have had our own issues with USS. Having declined the option to skate with the USS program based in Salt Lake City, we have chosen to train with Nancy Sr. and receive little benefit but a season entrance pass to the rink. Yet, of course we still represent them in competition because we can't really be our own entity and then compete in international competitions. Yet, at this point we would prefer to represent just ourselves and our country.

All we want is to be treated fairly and for the organization to acknowledge "Hey, you guys have be working your butts off over there, we don't have that much money at the moment but we care about you and we'll try to help you out in any way possible," and actually do it. But even though our 4x Olympian coach has trained many Olympians through the 80's, 90's and 00's, the organization ignores our existence unless we have results that get their attention and then, of course, they want the association. Our coach is not included in meetings, necessary information, and receives "No you cannot's" constantly. She is told that she will be treated like any other non-national team coach and that she's not good enough to create a medalist (which she's already done). She's also been criticized for not taking her skaters out to train in Salt Lake.

Nancy Sr. is an Olympian, alumnus and present coach of Olympians. This is why USS has financial problems, membership problems, rebellion and little alumni support-because more was taken away from them than ever received. The way to get alumni to give back and help create financial solvency is to have supported them when they were skaters with confidence, trust, recognition, communication and finances if possible-um, no brainer! Instead, USS continues to take it for granted that Nancy Sr. continues to create Olympians with literally no sweat or money out off their back. In fact, along with offering little help, they actually make it more difficult for us.

There are so many instances where we can describe unfair treatment towards us. They range from outright, disrespectful yelling at Nancy Sr. by USS coaches, staff, and a board member-all related to our trying to keep our autonomy and just being individuals doing it on our own-to seldom recognizing midwest skaters in the media and when they actually do, often accepting credit for their successes. They also inappropriately quote USS coaches names in media which misleadingly indicates that they are the coach of the privately-coached skater mentioned. 

One of our worst conflicts with USS, though, was in the Vancouver Olympics, when USS board members Jack Mortell and Brad Goskowitz took away an Olympic accreditation Nancy Sr. received from speedskating's international governing body (the ISU) to coach Nancy Jr. and Brian Hansen during their Olympic races. Leaving them with other USS coaches instead. They took away a skater's mother who was her coach at the Olympics! This was reported in the press but didn't get much attention. Instead, accreditations were given to a "team psychiatrist" whom few used, and other personal whom the USS deemed important. It's not that those people aren't potentially of value, but the power play to bar Nancy Sr. was a failing attempt to cover up internal fighting, little national team success and unprecedented private coaching success (yep, some other private coaches, Paul Marchese, Kip Carpenter and Tom Cushman had skaters in that Olympics too). Because of this, like after the 2006 Winter Olympics, a majority of USS adminstration got fired (though not Jack Mortell or Brad Goskowitz) but obviously, the problems remained.

This is just one part of the bigger picture and I think it's pretty indicative of the history of this organization. But it's our story, and we will continue to train without much help of an organization. Honestly, since they are already uninvolved in our training, I don't think dissolving USS would affect us as much as "On Thin Ice" says. Otherwise, I think the only change that will work is one that starts in the heart and honesty that starts at the top and spreads throughout the rest of the organization. It can happen. But when Jack Mortell says in this Tribune report that "you can paint me any way you want, my job is to win Olympic medals," he is minimizing the destruction caused by his insatiable control over the organization by upstaging it with our country's love of the Olympic medal and him being the deliverer. Unbelievable. Is he the one that hits the gym and  the rink to train his tail off just to have a chance to make an Olympic team? Last time I checked, it was the skater's job to win the medals and USS's job to help us out. Jack should realize that he needs to invest in developing skaters from grassroots programs all over the US as well as the top skaters to ensure future success of our speedskaters-a dying breed of US athletes.

-Jeffrey

P.S. Brian Hansen won a Gold and three Bronze World Cup medals this year so keep his name in mind if you read the "Talent Pool In Long Track Could Be Drying Up" article :)

"On Thin Ice" 
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-23/sports/ct-spt-0224-speedskating-main--20130224_1_elite-speedskaters-thin-ice-short-track

"Who Is Jack Mortell"
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-26/sports/ct-spt-0224-speedskating-mortell-20130224_1_jack-mortell-medal-bonuses-usoc

"Talent Pool In Long Track Could Be Drying Up" 
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-02-23/sports/ct-spt-0224-long-track-speedskating--20130224_1_long-track-medals-short-track-medal-contention


UPDATE

A later article written March 5th, 2013, in the Chicago Tribune that says 6 speedskaters recently filed an official complaint to the USOC (which isn't unusual) and demands reorganization and a new CEO.

"6 skaters demand USS Speedskating reorganization"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-spt-0306-speedskate--20130306,0,160858.story

2012-13 Season is Over for Brian Hansen

Cheering from afar is never the same as being right there yourself. This World Championship competition in Sochi, Russia this weekend was my main goal this year to make, and so having to be a spectator and not the competing athlete has been difficult. But looking back on this year, let alone my last three years that have been full of injuries and comebacks, I don't regret the path that I have taken in my athletic career. It's been worth it.

That being said, being able to cheer on Brian Hansen and my mom/coach as they finish their speedskating season this weekend at the World Championships in Sochi, Russia, has been awesome. Being able to watch his races live and seeing my coach on TV as well still amazes me. Technology is such a blessing! And this venue is the Sochi Olympic rink for next year, so my mom has been sending me videos and pictures throughout the week of the area and venue so I get the feeling of being there, haha. She is great. :)

But back to racing/results from Worlds...

Brian raced this past Thursday/Friday, placing the highest he ever has at a World Championships! In the 1500m on Thursday, he placed 4th...in the World, no big deal, ha. (See the entire 1500m results here: http://live.isuresults.eu/2012-2013/sochi/r1404.htm). Always bittersweet placing 4th at a major world competition, and having placed 4th myself at the last Olympics with my teammates, I know exactly how it feels. BUT, I believe being 4th going into Olympic year is a great position to be in...less pressure in having to defend one's world title for the Olympics.

Now on Friday (yesterday), Brian raced the 1000m, placing 9th and again, placing his highest ever in a World Championships...I'd say it was one successful season finish for Brian! (See the entire 1000m results here: http://live.isuresults.eu/2012-2013/sochi/r1403.htm).

Brian is now finished with his season, so proud of him and the rest of the USS team that has been representing us at the World Championships...and I am pumped for our mom to come home. Though, she will only be able to relax a couple of days before her MAJOR knee surgery that she has been needing for years. If you all remember, please pray for the surgeon and the success of her surgery which will be done this Thursday, March 28th!

NOTE: this is not the end of our blog posts now that this season has wrapped up and we are in our 'off-season'...keep checking back for more as we now head in Olympic year. Actually, we are hoping to hype things up more on this blog, posting more videos, giving you an inside look at what Olympic training looks like and like we promise in the title on our page: "This is a place for family, friends and supporters to follow our adventures as we compete and train our brains out to make the next winter Olympics in Sochi." Please continue to comment, like, and/or follow this blog and our twitters (find these links on the right sidebar of this blog) as well as my (Nancy Jr.) fanpage on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NSwiderPeltzJr) where daily updates on training/life will be posted!

Thanks, as always, for your support in our journey to make the next Olympic team and it is our hope and prayer that we represent well, everyone who has helped us get to where we are today as well as our Lord and Savior.

God bless,
Nancy Jr. 


1 Corinthians 9:25

Finishing Strong at the end of the Season

Jeffrey racing his 1000m

Season is finished...well, for Jeffrey and I. Brian will be competing in the World Championships in Sochi, Russia in a week and a half with my mom, who left to be with him yesterday after being home for only 22 hours after Calgary. World Single Distance Championships will begin March 21-24th and the link to those results can be found at:

 http://live.isuresults.eu/2012-2013/sochi/

There should also be a live video feed of the competition on http://nos.nl/sport/schaatsen/live/ that I will repost when the competition nears.

Calgary Olympic Oval from the outside

Speedskater Art outside the Olympic Oval

But onto recapping this past week's Oval Finale competition in Calgary, Canada:

• Day 1: 3k ladies...
• Skated to a 4:12.5 overall time, which statistically is the 3rd fastest time skated by a US lady this season. I did slip a little with 2-laps to go, so I know I had a faster time in me, but from where I have been for most of this season, I was pumped to have finished this season with a strong 3k time. I am on my way back to my olympic shape :)
• Day 2: 500/1000m ladies, 500m men
• 500m/1000m, these races are not my strong races, but I wanted to see how I could finish this season with the 6-weeks of training I have done to rebuild my condition since our Nationals/regionals in early January. I was happy with my times being my season bests and though I didn't get any all-time personals, they were 4-year personals (41.7 & 1:19.7). In my 1000m, too, my second lap was less than a second of a drop from my first lap, so this shows that my training is giving me a good base and that I can keep up speed to the end of the race without tiring much.
• 500m men. Jeffrey raced a personal best right from the start, clocking in at 36.76 in his 500m. He said he messed up his second turn, so he knows he had a better time in him.
• Day 3: 500m/1000m ladies, 1000m men



Elli Ochowicz (3x Olympian), my mom and I

• 500m/1000m ladies. Third day in a row of racing and I was a tad tired going into these two races. Even though my times were not faster (they were less than a tenth slower), I showed consistency from day to day in my racing, giving me the confidence that my condition is solid and how I should be training for the next season.
• 1000m men. A good race, but Jeffrey was a half second off his best time from last year so he really wanted to get that personal in the same race the next day. (Jeffrey embedded a video of this race in the last post)
• Day 4: 1000m men
• Day off for me, but Jeffrey had his 2nd 1000m race. And after his 1000m yesterday, his goal for this day was to break 1:11 mark. He skated faster but it was only 1:11.54, just a few meters from breaking 1:11.00.
• Day 5: 1500m ladies/men and Mass Start
• 1500m ladies. Going into today, I had hopes of breaking the 2min mark and getting close to my personal best, but instead I crossed the line at 2:01.7. Times were pretty consistent throughout the race, though, and that is something to be confident/happy about for the brutal 1500m race.
• 1500 men. JEFFREY'S BEST RACE THIS YEAR. Wanted to break 1:59.00, got 1:58.99, he was so happy, haha. 



Mass Start: fast grouping, can you find Jeffrey?!
Click on the picture to enlarge it...

• Mass Start: So we were not originally going to race this race, but after our 1500m's, we were like "why not?! it's more training and maybe we can make some money?!" Jeffrey was entered into the faster group of men, who held a fast pace (for almost all 20 laps) and though Jeffrey won a prime lap and sprinted for another one, having finished the 1500m recently, his legs quickly got tired and he stopped. For the ladies, there being only 4 that signed up, we were placed with the slower group of men, though we competed in our own division. In short, I won both prime laps, but the Japanese girl took off with 1 lap to go (15 laps total) and I couldn't compete with her sprinting abilities resulting in 2nd place, still winning $30 Canadian!

In short, the Oval Finale was successful and together, we both had all season-best times along with Jeffrey breaking two of his Personal Bests! Again, as I always write because it is so true, thank you to everyone for your support in our speedskating goals/journey as we strive to make next Olympic team together. We could not do what we do without everyone beside us along the way. It's a team effort and always will be one. God gave us these talents, and to be able to share the journey with you all is worth the pain we put our bodies through. Ha.

To God be the Gory...

Nancy Jr.

1 Corinthians 9:25

I've already posted the following previously, but wanted to post it again:

"Thanks always to our Support Team including (sorry if I failed to mention you, but you know who you are): our sponsors Extreme Endurance, Magnet Street, CoreFitness, Oakley (Megan&Steve). To our therapy team: Paula, Bannockburn Chiropractic (Dr. Yoss/Carl), and Major Chiropractic and Sports Injury. To Hilary Barreto who has done amazing work with our photo shoots. To our mom, our coach, who has sacrificially given her life to help us achieve our goals and teaching us life lessons along the journey. And to our family and friends, for we would not be where we are today if it wasn't for the people alongside us encouraging us everyday."

Today is Day Four Out of Five of the Last Competition

So far, Nancy and I are putting together a solid competition. Nancy has raced some of her best times in a few years and I've come around after having maybe my worst competition ever last weekend in Salt Lake City. I also did a personal best in my 500 meters on Thursday. Let's finish strong! 2 days left. Nancy races a 1500 meters tomorrow and I race a 1000 meters in a few hours and a 1500 meters tomorrow as well. 

Here's my 1000 meters from yesterday, this dude smoked me! (He did a 1:10.32). I was a 1:11.73 and I want to be a sub 1:11.00 today! I'm in the light blue skin-suit.