KEARNS — Rebekah Bradford finally dealt with the woman who'd been sabotaging her speed skating career.
It wasn't that this woman wanted Bradford to fail. In fact, it was her lofty expectations that were weighing Bradford down.
"I was my own worst enemy," said Bradford after she won both the 500 and 1,000-meter sprints at the Long Track Championships on Tuesday at the Utah Olympic Oval. "I was inhibiting my own performance."
After a 21/2-half hour session with a sports psychologist, she said she was able to "give it a name and give it away."
The name was expectations.
"It's the K.I.S.S. thing," she said. "Keep it Simple, Stupid. I think I am over that hump now."
That mental speed bump threw Bradford for a loop.
"I thought I made a lot of leaps and bounds last year," she said.
Her progress last year actually created expectations that caused her to stumble under the pressure.
"I really short-circuited on the ice," she said.
To win two races in one day had Bradford beaming. She earned a season-best time of :38.48 in the 500. Lauren Cholewinski was second with a time of :39..11 and Brittany Bowe was third with a personal-record time of :39.71. Bradford won the 1,000-meter race with a season-best time of 1:16.79. Bowe was second (1.17.73) and Kelly Gunther was third (1:18.65).
"Relief," she said of how she felt. "It's great to finish like that. My family is here, and we're going to celebrate the holiday."
She's hoping to build on this week's success.
"I'm very excited to see what I can do," she said, the smile returning to her face.
While Bradford won both of the women's sprints, Joey Lindsey won the men's 500. Olympian Shani Davis won the 1,000-meter event. Lindsey's time was :35.08, while Fredricks tied for second with Davis with times of :35.15.
In the 1,000-meter race, Davis finished first (1:08.18), Jonathan Kuck was second with a personal-best 1:09.25, and Brian Hansen was third (1:09.42).
Lindsey was thrilled with the win after a back injury kept him from training until October.
"It was from overtraining," said the 22-year-old. "I've only been doing (long track) for about a year. During the summer, I was training with short track and long track, about eight hours a day, every day. It was just too much.."
Since October, he's felt great and was ecstatic about winning Tuesday's 500-meter sprint.
"I was surprised at how fast I bounced back," he said of resuming his training in October. "My 1,000 a week ago was substantially slower."
He raced against Tucker Fredricks, who won the 500, on Monday morning and changed his race strategy on Tuesday.
"Instead of focusing on how he was racing, I just focused on me and my race," he said. "I was able to put a lot more power into the race."
Lindsey switched from short track to long track after he failed to make the U.S. Olympic team last year.
"I love (long track) just as much as short track, and I'm more successful," he said. "I feel like my body is more built for long track."
Davis dominated the 1,000-meter race again, but said he was happy about his performance all four days.
"I am extremely satisfied with my skating," he said, adding that he was looking at it all as training for the upcoming world championships and World Cups.
A grin spread across the face of the 28-year old's face.
"I skated four days, and I'm not as fresh and young as I used to be," he said. "Eight races in five days, it was tough. I just see it as training. That's what I hope it is. And training is training. It hurts."
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SPEEDSKATING