With the record attempts happening tomorrow, I was planning on having a pretty low-key day although I did want to get some training in. No surprise though, low key didn’t happen!
Jill arrived mid afternoon and I met her at Hawrelak Park for some training and to go over last minute details about the event tomorrow. We ended up training for over 2 hours! But it was really timely because we learned what parts of the ice to set our attempts up on tomorrow, we both learned a lot about our throw and we both gained more confidence. We both had some huge throws and Jill had a lot of catches so she’s definitely ready for tomorrow! For me, the biggest part of the training session was continuing to work on my skating and get more practice in with the long, powerful strides. I’m finding that it requires less effort and I’m getting much more speed which is super exciting! Today is Jill’s birthday so her, Russ and I had dinner after training.
Jennie and her dad Rod arrived later in the evening and I made sure that she got out to check the ice out as well. I met them with plans to take it easy but as I alluded to earlier, that didn’t happen. I ended up training for another 90 minutes and continued to push my confidence and knowledge every further. Jennie really impressed me as she had a few big throws and catches and her skating looks much improved from the last time we trained together. Going into tomorrow, I now have a clear game plan and I’m confident that I will break my MTA record. The TRC record will be more challenging but I know I can do it.
After watching both Jill and Jennie today, I really have no idea who will end up with the Women’s records tomorrow. I’m really excited for the 3 of us to perform and put on a good show for the crowd. Having Discovery Channel there filming, having my buddy Steve announcing, having my buddy Rob filming and taking stills will all add to the atmosphere and it will make this event the best of the 3 that I’ve been a part of. I appreciate the support from all of my friends and family and I wish you were all here to be a part of the event!