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The fast and the curious
Like many Canadians who grew up on hockey skates, I have a lot of questions about the long blades. Like: How speedy are they? Where can I try them? And how can I avoid a face plant?
By Jerry Kobalenko with photography by Todd Korol
I'M SKATING AT THE CALGARY OVAL with a beautiful woman and
trying not to fall on my face. This is complicated by the fact that I
have fallen on my face here before, and that the woman I am skating
with is Catriona Le May Doan, a two-time Olympic gold medallist in
speed skating.
Le May Doan has good-naturedly agreed to accompany me for a few
laps around the giant rink while we discuss her sport. Like most
Canadian kids, I grew up on hockey skates, but speed skates are a different
beast. Hockey skates are short and rockered for quick turns, like
whitewater kayaks. Speed skates are long and comparatively flat, like
sea kayaks, for better straight-ahead speed. The blades are barely one
millimetre wide, one-third the width of hockey skates. Racing on them is like trying to skate in clown shoes. If you're not aware of that
extra blade length every moment, it's easy to stub the projecting
tip on the ice and suddenly find yourself sprawled on your
face — which I did my first time on speed skates. My goal is to
avoid a reprise of that fall while skating with a sports legend.
We keep to the outside lane to avoid a passel of kids taking
part in a speed-skating camp. Le May Doan's ivory clam-digger
pants accentuate her still outrageously muscled calves. After 15 minutes, I become confident enough to suggest that we up
the speed from our baby pace. Le May Doan obliges by exploding
effortlessly ahead in a way that leaves me feeling like a
sloth sharing the trail with a greyhound.
A DAY LATER, I'm back at the Calgary Oval, watching with considerably less stress as Canada's Olympic long-track speed
skaters begin their daily workout. Some warm up in small packs; others whip around the 400-metre circuit on their own.
Their clap skates click like caribou ankle tendons as they stride forcefully in that unnaturally doubled-over posture characteristic of speed skating.
National team coach Todd McClements explains that the four- to six-hour daily workouts are only part of the discipline
for a top athlete. They have to look after their bodies in other ways, too. Like eating right. “You don't put lawnmower fuel in
a Formula 1 engine,” McClements says. Although I've never considered
myself an F1 engine, I suddenly feel self-conscious about the fries and gravy I had for lunch.
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