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Home My WebLink AboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-09-14, Page 14Wednesday, September 14, 2016 • Lucknow Sentinel 3 hmacblack/Instagram Hamish Black at the foot of Highwood Pass, Canada's highest Hamish Black rest during weight training in August. paved road, is about to embark upon elevation training. Make that 2,207 me ers, says Hamish Black on his Instagram post accompanying this photo, which he posed for following his trip to the cusp of the road. A summer of mainly ups, and one down, for local Olympic hopeful Black Darryl Coote Reporter It's been a productive and motivating summer for local long-distance speed skater and 2018 Olympic hopeful Hamish Black. And while much has gone well these past few months for the Lucknow native, not everything has fallen in his favour. "It's been a really good summer and with a few upsets, too," he told The Sen- tinel in late August from his residence in Calgary. In early April, Black was coming off the 2015-16 skat- ing season with two personal best time records and he told The Sentinel that he was hoping to receive a funding card from Skate Canada going into next season. Being carded, he explained, would allow him to focus solely on training and not need to find other work. However, he was not awarded one of the coveted cards this go around. Black said he was a "bit upset" by the decision but it will not deter him from achieving his goals or restrict his access to training. Having come to the sport much later than most, Black said it does make it more difficult for him to receive funding as a developing athlete. "It's for up-and-coming athletes who aren't quite at the senior World Cup stage yet but are looking towards getting there," he said, add- ing that age is an important criteria for carding. At 28, Black says he's an "outlier" in the sport as he's only been practicing speed skating for two years. He is developing, he said, and is at the stage of where a 19 -year- old should be, but guidelines are guidelines. Senior athletes, some of whom have competed in the Olympics, are also ineligible because of their age, as that funding is earmarked for younger skates. It's not the best news, he said, "but at the same time I understand where it's com- ing from and you have to have development support for athletes who are coming up and not just top -end ath- letes who have been around." However, he said he is still training as if he were carded alongside the senior national team in the mid- to long- range group. Many in his training group are Olympians and World Cup medalists, he said. "So I'm definitely with the right people to train with who can push me and help me developer" he said. During the summer, Black participated in three sum- mer training camps. One in particular saw him pedalling alongside Canada's Gilmore Junin and South Korea's two- time Olympic gold medalist Lee Sang-hwa and Olympic gold and silver medalist Mo Tae -bum. It was a nine -day bike camp through Fernie, British Columbia, that has challeng- ing climbs. The bike trips were intended to build a strong aerobic base in the athletes. Black said training beside "the best of the best" was great motivation as it reminded him that one day he might achieve the success they have if he continues to put in the time and effort. "When you see [them work] you start to think, 'if they can do this, why can't I?' And it makes this crazy dream seem a little bit less of a dream and more of a real- ity of what hard work does," he said. He said he still gets star - struck around the stars of his sport, but there wasn't much space for small talk during training-- it was all work. "When you train with them you don't see them really in those moments as those big Olympic gold medalists, you see them as your training partners; you focus on that. But it is when you reflect you're like, `oh, I just did that program beside Mo Tae -Bum.' That's pretty cool. "They worked their whole lives to get there," he said, "and now I'm trying to catch up. Black said he is develop- ing as he had hoped, and his fitness level -- according to performance tests -- couldn't be better and he's excited for the next season. When he talked to The Sentinel he was in the mid- dle of Skate Canada's most important training weeks -- It was high volume, high - threshold, high-altitude training. They biked Highwood Pass, which is the highest paved road in Canada, located in Alberta. And they biked it for hours, he said, to gain the positive athletic effects from training in high altitudes. "So basically it's a grind ... to get that fitness base, and once September is here we are on the ice preparing for World Cup team trials and that is the big race of the sea- son as far as this year goes because it will determine who will skate in the World Cups for the fall circuit," he said. For this coming skating season, which kicks off Oct. 23, 2016, with the fall trails, he is aiming to set personal bests at every race and to qualify for the World Cup in the 10,000m and be compet- itive for a spot on the 5,000m. Ultimately, though, he'll be happy as long as he keeps improving. "For me, it's all about progression," he said. "Spots don't matter until the Olym- pic trials because it will all be that one race that will deter- mine when you go. Obvi- ously getting that experience now is the best case sce- nario, but as long as I con- tinue to improve I will be happy. But I'm gunning for a world cup spot. That's what I'm going to aim for and that's the goal." To follow Black's journey, read his blog at http://ham- ish-black.squarespace.com IS YOUR FURNACE OFF ITS GAME? id hydro' one in Powerful Communities We can help you take it to the next level See the insert in today's paper