More Updates: Video & MomCoach :)

A video of Jeffrey's 1500m race today for you all to watch since these races aren't webcasted...and a classic pic of the mom coach, in rare form. Or the form that most people don't see, but I wish you all could see more. She can be so goofy, laugh til she squeals, serves others selflessly with no ulterior motive, and always up for fun and family time when life isn't so uptight with the skating life :)

Day 2 - US National Championships

Day 2.

Today was the 1500m race. Jeffrey placed 4th overall in the US, qualifying him in the 1500m as well for the World Cup in Berlin, with a time of 1:47.4, just a second off his personal record. His goal was to set a personal at a 1:46.3, which he didn't achieve, but he did achieve is goal of making the world cup team in this distance alongside the 5k! 

Brian Hansen, our training partner and friend, also qualified for the Berlin World Cup by placing third overall today in the 1500m just ahead of Jeffrey. He's had a great comeback to this sport after taking a couple years off to pursue finishing a college education and picking up some fun hobbies on the side like surfing.

As for myself, I told you yesterday I would be racing the 1500m today and the 1000m tomorrow. But unfortunately, I have been dealing with an overtraining syndrome for over a month, which hasn't subsided, causing me to pull out of this weekends racing much to my regret. So the goal for myself right now is to overcome this with some rest, then slowly build up training again and persist thru March for the end of the season race in Calgary, Canada, the Finale.

Oh the obstacles the Lord throws at us...I will keep my head up and persevere, but I am also recognizing that the Lord is preparing me for when my speedskating career is finished and I am excited for the opportunities that will bring :)

First Day of US National All-around Trials

Today was the first day of the US National Trials here in Salt Lake City and Jeffrey placed 3rd in the US in the 5000m with a personal best time of 6:34.77! A great race especially when that's not his specialty race. Coach mom and myself are happy for him :) He raced the 5k in order to secure a spot for the next World Cup in Berlin at the end of January, but his best and favorite race is the 1500m which he races tomorrow. On Sunday, he races the 1000m and the Mass Start. Keep up on the results at this link (they're live during races too!): http://speedskatingresults.com/live/

I didn't race today, but tomorrow, I will also be racing the 1500m and Sunday, the 1000m/maybe the Mass Start!

World Cup 3 & 4

Hi all! Good to be back here 😎.

The end of November and beginning of December found me competing at World Cup competitions in Astana, Kazakhstan and Heerenveen, Holland. Many and I began this season with some mediocre racing in October so I'm truly thankful for any chances to still compete internationally for the US–the elite competition experience is invaluable to any athlete. The single event I raced was the Team Pursuit in Astana where we took 10th place out of 12 countries, We had been hoping to qualify a time to secure a spot for us in the World Championships in February but unfortunately we didn't, and I didn't perform as well as I should have. With that behind me now, I'm looking forward to seeing improvements in the second half of the season. Remember, failures are really the stepping stones for success as long as you don't see them as your hurdles!

Here's some photos from the trip with USA's World Cup speedskating team below.

Astana, Kazakhstan

Arriving in Kazakhstan after a long day and a half trip:

The outside of our hotel in Astana:

Astana from my hotel window–a really interesting and sprawling city (but kind of empty!):

A famous landmark in Astana, the Bayterek:

Some of the team heading to the rink with Brian Hansen giving the peace sign:

Teammates Brian Hansen and Darren Huang before practice:

About to hop on the ice for the first session:

A few of us visited QSI International School of Astana to spend some recess time with the kids there and spend some Q&A time sharing about the crazy sport that we're competing in over there. Thank you for the traditional Kazakh slippers!

"Yo, we need some kind of cool photo."

At the start of the men's Team Pursuit:

I led the second lap in our TP:

Crazy, distorted photos of the beautiful Astana rink:

Brian getting cupped in between competition days:

Visiting Astana's iconic tent mall, the Khan Shatyr. It was so high inside:

Heerenveen, Holland

First day frost on the leaves outside our hotel:

The new Thialf, Heerenveen's famous ice rink:

Warming up for practice:

Looking at the rink through the windows from the athlete training room:

One of the best memories from the trip; racing a "Holland Cup" competition with all Dutch skaters in Deventer, since I wasn't racing in Heerenveen's World Cup competition. I got to compete Dutch style in the fog inside a half covered oval. The craziest part was entering the foggy turn at 3o+ mph and hoping you're skating the correct track!

World Cup Astana, Kazakhstan!

In less than 24 hours Jeffrey, along with TeamSwiderPeltz teammate Brian Hansen, and Joey Mantia will be racing in the Team Pursuit event at the ISU Speedskating World Cup in Astana, Kazakhstan. First World Cup for both of them this year and pumped to watch Brian make his Speedskating comeback on the World Cup stage. For those that don't know, the Team Pursuit consists of 3 skaters from the same country working together racing one other country at a time. Fastest time wins overall (so even if you lose to your pair, if you're still one of the fastest teams you can place overall! Different from the Olympics setup. Here's an example from my Olympic race in Vancouver 2010:  https://youtu.be/l62SPPqPj-s?t=22m38s

Anyways. The main reason for this post is that the boys race at 8:20am CST tomorrow morning SHARP and if you want to watch them live, you'll have to change your IP address to one from the Netherlands. To do that, on the computer I've opened up my Chrome browser and downloaded AnonyMox here:  (there should pop up an X in the top right corner of the browser. Now change the identity to the Netherlands flag) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/anonymox/icpklikeghomkemdellmmkoifgfbakio?hl=en

Or I downloaded on my iPhone this app that changes your IP address as well:
hide.me VPN - Free VPN Proxy for Secure Browsing
https://appsto.re/us/F8JZ4.i 

I used the App on my phone  above and it worked well today watching the 5k men racing. So once you've changed your IP address, go to this site and click the play button  at the top: http://www.eurovisionsports.tv/isu/

If further questions, message me on Facebook or text me preferably tonight because tomorrow morning I'm watching them myself, training then listening to Wheaton College's round 3 playoff game that my younger brother, Johnny, will maybe be playing in. Chaotic day in the life of Nancy Jr!

God Bless,
Nancy Jr.

1 Corinthians 9:25