Only in Wisconsin: Olympic Long Track Speed Skating Trials
We've lived so many places, and I finally have learned to seek out and do the things that make living in any given town unique! In Wisconsin, there are certainly many things we've never tried or seen before by virtue of this being the coldest, snowiest, iciest, winter-iest place we've ever lived. Just because it's cold, though, doesn't mean these things aren't as neat as the warm-weather types of activities we're used to!
When I saw an ad on Facebook for the US Olympic Long Track Trials at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee, I decided immediately: I'm going to that!! I hoped Justin and the kids would want to go with me, but I've also learned that when I want to do something, I should reach out and grab it, go do it, even if it means going alone. When I brought it up, though, the kids were excited and wanted to go along with me! Justin is still busy from sun up to sun down (any beyond!) with the projects in our new house, though, so he opted out this time.
The Trials were scheduled for almost a full week, but by the time I knew enough to look into it, Friday and Saturday were sold out. I looked at the Sunday option but it wasn't that appealing given other options we had for weekend activities, which left weeknight events. Thursday was a stretch given work and school, but I checked my calendar and decided: this is our chance! I bought tickets for the Thursday evening Men's 10000/Women's 5000, blocked my calendar to leave early, and we were set!
I picked the kids up right from school and headed south on I-41 for the 90 mile drive to Wisconsin. We hit rush hour traffic and then I took a wrong turn, thanks to some crazy road work in Milwaukee, so we got to the arena a little after the official start. In my experience, though, it's 100% better to chill out and have fun with the kids than to stress about being somewhere exactly when an event starts, so we took our time and grabbed dinner at the concession on our way in.
As it turns out, we were RIGHT on time - what luck! They were playing the National Anthem as we walked in, so we didn't miss a thing! Well, other than seats... between the time I purchased our tickets and the time we showed up, Thursday night had sold out, too, and as we didn't get there until well after 5:00, it was standing room only. We budged our way into the stands where we sat on the steps long enough to eat our dinner, but moved to the standing area pretty quickly to get a better view of the skaters.
I didn't realize there would only be a few races that evening, but even then, it was a great time! The Summer Olympic swim trials were in Omaha several years ago, which was a reasonable driving distance from Fayetteville, but as it was an overnight I managed to talk myself out of going. And I have regretted it Ever Since!! I wasn't going to let this opportunity to see potential Olympians slip away again!
Watching the skaters made me think about how hard it must be to pursue an Olympic dream in a sport that gets no spotlight, has no visibility, and probably hardly any sponsorship money, either. These athletes surely do the work for the love of it, not any kind of reward that comes from competing.
They also make it look so easy, which I know it isn't!! After they completed their races and were taking a cool down lap, you could see just how hard they had worked, gasping to catch their breath.
It was a long day, having gotten up to work out that morning, then driving a total of over three hours down and back to Milwaukee, but it was totally worth it. Not only did we have the chance to see these world-class athletes, but it was a wonderful evening with my kids, doing something that we could only do because we moved to Wisconsin. Can't wait to keep exploring the unique opportunities that come our way here in the Badger State!
When I saw an ad on Facebook for the US Olympic Long Track Trials at the Pettit Center in Milwaukee, I decided immediately: I'm going to that!! I hoped Justin and the kids would want to go with me, but I've also learned that when I want to do something, I should reach out and grab it, go do it, even if it means going alone. When I brought it up, though, the kids were excited and wanted to go along with me! Justin is still busy from sun up to sun down (any beyond!) with the projects in our new house, though, so he opted out this time.
The Trials were scheduled for almost a full week, but by the time I knew enough to look into it, Friday and Saturday were sold out. I looked at the Sunday option but it wasn't that appealing given other options we had for weekend activities, which left weeknight events. Thursday was a stretch given work and school, but I checked my calendar and decided: this is our chance! I bought tickets for the Thursday evening Men's 10000/Women's 5000, blocked my calendar to leave early, and we were set!
I picked the kids up right from school and headed south on I-41 for the 90 mile drive to Wisconsin. We hit rush hour traffic and then I took a wrong turn, thanks to some crazy road work in Milwaukee, so we got to the arena a little after the official start. In my experience, though, it's 100% better to chill out and have fun with the kids than to stress about being somewhere exactly when an event starts, so we took our time and grabbed dinner at the concession on our way in.As it turns out, we were RIGHT on time - what luck! They were playing the National Anthem as we walked in, so we didn't miss a thing! Well, other than seats... between the time I purchased our tickets and the time we showed up, Thursday night had sold out, too, and as we didn't get there until well after 5:00, it was standing room only. We budged our way into the stands where we sat on the steps long enough to eat our dinner, but moved to the standing area pretty quickly to get a better view of the skaters.
I didn't realize there would only be a few races that evening, but even then, it was a great time! The Summer Olympic swim trials were in Omaha several years ago, which was a reasonable driving distance from Fayetteville, but as it was an overnight I managed to talk myself out of going. And I have regretted it Ever Since!! I wasn't going to let this opportunity to see potential Olympians slip away again!
Watching the skaters made me think about how hard it must be to pursue an Olympic dream in a sport that gets no spotlight, has no visibility, and probably hardly any sponsorship money, either. These athletes surely do the work for the love of it, not any kind of reward that comes from competing.They also make it look so easy, which I know it isn't!! After they completed their races and were taking a cool down lap, you could see just how hard they had worked, gasping to catch their breath.
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