How Do You Sk8!
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How Do You Sk8!
Breaking Through: Speed Skating Against All Odds
Dive into the exhilarating world of speed skating with our incredible guest, Trevor Kreplin, a rising star in the sport. Starting his journey at a birthday party, Trevor has transformed from a novice skater to a competitor who recently earned a place on the world team, all while navigating the complexities of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). This episode captures the essence of resilience and hard work, showcasing Trevor’s determination to overcome obstacles and achieve greatness.
Throughout our discussion, we explore Trevor’s training regimen that combines both physical strength and endurance, providing insights into the discipline required for competitive skating. He candidly shares his experiences, including the trials of training, competing, and the psychological challenges he faces along the way. Trevor’s story is a powerful reminder that even when the journey gets tough, perseverance can lead to extraordinary achievements.
The camaraderie that fosters a supportive skating community is another focal point we discuss, highlighting how teamwork and mutual encouragement elevate individual potential. Listeners looking for inspiration will find Trevor’s unyielding spirit and aspirations uplifting.
Whether you're a skating enthusiast or someone facing your own hurdles, Trevor’s journey proves that with passion and commitment, anything is possible. Join us for an incredible conversation that promises to motivate and inspire you to chase your dreams. Don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave us a review!
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Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate destination for all skating enthusiasts. We cater to everyone, from beginners to pros. Whether you love inline and ice skating or prefer quads and skateboarding, we have it all covered, and we bring you exclusive interviews with professionals, talented amateurs and influencers in the industry. So sit back, relax and get ready for an exciting journey into the world of skating.
Speaker 2:Welcome to how Do you Skate. I am your host, Sean Egan, and my guest today is Trevor Kreplin, and he is an inline speed skater, so welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. So how old were you when you started skating?
Speaker 3:I started skating in 2017. So that is seven years ago.
Speaker 2:So 14 was when I started okay, and did you start off on inlines, or was it quads, or how did it all start for you?
Speaker 3:um, I started by going to a birthday party for my friend at a roller rink, so I just started on some regular inlines just from a walmart or wherever, and then I saw people there from the speed team on their speed skates and that's what got me into it and then how long after your your start of skating on walmart brand or whatever it was, that you got into the speed skates.
Speaker 3:Maybe about a year. There was a little while where I went to practice and me and my neighbor, who were going together, actually shared his pair of speed skates for a little while, and then I ended up getting my own about after a year.
Speaker 2:Okay and I know for me personally, when you're used to skating with a boot and you get into the speed skates and it's a lot shorter cut, how did you adjust to the lower cut boot?
Speaker 3:I know, whenever I started, the coach of the team told me that it'd probably be easier if I started on a hundred millimeter wheels opposed to 110 millimeter wheels. So I started on a lower boot when I got one, but I only had a hundred millimeter wheels, so it was a little closer to the ground and a little easier control.
Speaker 2:Okay, and that's with the cause. I have 125 millimeters on my outdoor skates, so that takes a little getting used to.
Speaker 3:now do you do indoor and outdoor, or uh, yeah, I'd say I primarily do outdoor as much as I can. Um, when I skate indoors I kind of skate like I'm outdoors, usually run the the outskirts of the rink, trying to make sure that whenever I am able to get outdoors that I'm still comfortable skating in that position with that technique.
Speaker 2:So now I know I've had some pretty nasty falls, so have you had some pretty good falls as you're learning and getting around the higher speeds?
Speaker 3:Indoors I've definitely had my fair share of falls, uh, outdoors I've only ever had three. Okay, one of them was I hit one of those little tar lines in the road. Uh, and that was right after I started skating outdoors for like the first time and I had no idea you couldn't skate on those when they were hot.
Speaker 2:And I hit one and just fell right over and probably ruined your wheels if they were still hot, huh uh, yeah, then there was tar all over them.
Speaker 3:I had to pull it off.
Speaker 2:It wasn't fun yeah, I have not experienced that, but I don't envy you. So now to prepare for speed skating. What is some of the stuff that you did to get yourself ready to start speed skating, and who's your coach and how did he help you with all this?
Speaker 3:To do speed skating. I feel like there's a lot of things that are really important that you have to do that aren't speed skating. I feel like doing a lot of gym workouts and a lot of bodyweight workouts, and especially a lot of extended exercise like cycling or running or rowing or whatever makes you happy. I prefer to cycle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, running is not fun. It's like, why run when you have a perfectly good pair of skates? Yeah, yeah. And when you do outdoor skating, do you train basically specifically for speed or do you like go for distance? Like, what are your advances when you skate?
Speaker 3:Him is generally geared more towards the distance side of things. So we do a lot of. I wouldn't say if we're doing like a mimic of a race, we wouldn't do anything longer than maybe a 10 K at a practice, but we do plenty of drills that are more time-based. So 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and I mean you could do a lot of skating, especially outdoors, in those times.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can cover some pretty good distances. So now, what are some of like when you you're in the gym? Like, take us through one of your like regular weight workouts. And like, what do you like to do when you're in the gym?
Speaker 3:um, usually we lift twice a week and that consists a lot of squats one day and deadlifts the other day, okay, and we do those in series of we'll squat and then we'll do box jumps supersetted with it, and then, right after box jumps, we'll do ball slams, and right after ball slams we'll do a minute of a various amount of core exercises.
Speaker 2:Okay, and now when you were in high school, so you basically started speed skating while you were in high school. How did that work with going to high school? And I mean, like, how often were you competing each year Cause I know we have seasons and how often were you racing during the season?
Speaker 3:So I'm actually homeschooled. Okay, whenever I was in fourth grade I switched from public to homeschool. So I had a lot of flexibility on, like, when I had to do my schoolwork and stuff. I could kind of merge it around wherever I needed to do. Nice kind of merge it around wherever I needed to do.
Speaker 2:Nice, and it definitely qualified for PE or physical education during school. Right, yeah, for sure, probably your best subject?
Speaker 3:Yeah, most definitely.
Speaker 2:So now, how often do you race, like how many races a year do you do? And are you doing more on the distance side? Are you doing more of the sprints, the shorter races?
Speaker 3:um, I have always kind of tended to do better in the longer races. I've been very consistent in the thousand meter over the last year seems like every time I end up in a thousand meter I do fairly well, but I prefer the longer distances like 5K, 10k, 15k.
Speaker 2:Okay, and I know from your profile that you were on the world team for 2024. So what was that like and how did that all come about?
Speaker 3:How did you manage to get on that. So, uh, you qualify for that at the outdoor nationals and you get that by placing top six overall in by points in, uh, senior men. And then you also have to have a medal to be able to be on the team. So even if you get a lot of points but they're all collected over fourth place, you couldn't make the team because you don't have a medal. I had a lot of fifths and fourths and that, and then I ended up getting a third in the 10K points on the road, behind Spencer Curtis and Hayden Groves, and that medal was enough to place me above everyone else to get me onto one of those eight spots as one of the alternates.
Speaker 3:But how it works is if one of the members, so it's different now. Now there's, I believe there's six or eight spots. I don't know what they changed it to, but before there was six spots, I believe, and then two alternates or four spots. I think it was six spots and two alternates. Now it's just eight spots, I believe. Okay, so I made one of the alternate spots and then got moved into one of the actual spots and then that qualified me to be on the team and go to worlds and race and where was worlds out at and what kind of like.
Speaker 2:What was that whole experience like?
Speaker 3:uh, it was a great experience. Actually, um, worlds was, uh, it was advertised as rome, okay, in italy, so rome is very close to where we were, but we weren't in rome. I couldn't I don't really remember that the name of the town. It was a small town that we were in, but it was. It was close to rome, maybe like an hour out from Rome.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then now your world team coach. Is that a lot different from your home team coach?
Speaker 3:Yeah, the world team coaches were more so there to just make sure that if you had any questions, that they could help answer them. I feel like if you're on the world team, you know what you need to do to get ready for a competition already, so you don't need a coach that has not like interacted with you before to try and change what you're doing right before like the biggest competition of the year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. So it's kind of funny because, with you being my youngest person ever on the show so far, it's like when I talk to like a lot of the older skaters they've been through all these different experiences and life things and it's like you haven't even gotten that far yet where you've had that. Have you ever had the mentality that you just want to quit and give up, or have you not reached that point yet?
Speaker 3:I definitely have. I have a lot of medical conditions that make it very hard to do sports. So definitely, whenever those get bad, everything just kind of like comes down on me and it's like you know, I'm not meant to do this, maybe, and all that, but every time I find a way to get through it and then I end up coming out stronger than I was so definitely that doing the speed skating because you could have done.
Speaker 2:There's so many different sports that people can choose. Do you find that the speed skating helps with your conditions or it um bothers it sometimes?
Speaker 3:so I have a condition called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or it's better known as pots it's not very common, uh, but the people that it is in is on a very large spectrum of severity. People that it is in is on a very large spectrum of severity. I'm on the much higher end of that spectrum. So what it essentially does is my blood goes down and it doesn't come back up. Okay, so if I stand up, I get really dizzy. If I jump, I get really dizzy. If I work out too long, I get really dizzy. And the only way to solve that is to either stop or just be really strong all the time, because the stronger my legs are, the better of a of a force I have to drive blood back up into my upper body. Yeah, so skating definitely helps strengthen my legs enough to help keep that blood moving correctly. So if I take off time a lot, then I'll feel bad. Okay, definitely helps strengthen my legs enough to help keep that blood moving correctly.
Speaker 2:So if I take off time a lot, then I'll feel bad okay, and I know from having cardiovascular issues that having a strong heart also helps a lot with that too, and and get especially getting the circulation going through and stuff. So how often do would you call it an episode then? So how often do would you call it an episode then, like, how often do you have an episode, is it? Is it like a?
Speaker 3:Many times a day.
Speaker 2:Okay, so it's a constant thing that you're dealing with.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Usually anytime I I do most things.
Speaker 2:Okay, and yet you keep pushing through it and all that kind of stuff. So now, when you're racing, how does that affect you when you're racing, or does it not affect you while you're racing?
Speaker 3:It definitely does. Um, especially if it's, on that particular day worse than other days. Yeah, I haven't figured everything out with what makes it worse and better all the time, everything out with what makes it worse and better all the time. But some days are a little worse than others and when I'm racing, usually I've had it, you know, long enough to kind of figure out where my boundaries are with it, because of the blood loss in my upper body. That also means my brain loses blood. So I lose things like sight and hearing and, uh, eventually, my balance, and then I'm just kind of on the ground or whatever. So, um, when I race, generally it's more of a. I need to just make sure that I'm focused on my racing and then, if it gets bad, you know, I do as much as I can, but that's really all you can do.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and I'm sure you've been around the people that you know with us. We have different set of circumstances and you're an incredibly strong person to actually get out there and race and still fight your way through it, where I'm sure you know people that they get a headache and they can't do something or they may always have excuses of why they can't do something. Then there's a young man like yourself who's pushing through it and basically being a role model or an influence on people to, hey, I've got this going on, what's your excuse? So it's definitely one of those things. And to go through that and actually make the world team, that's impressive. Right there, I mean making the world team when you're completely healthy and don't have any issues is impressive. But to do it when you're dealing with obstacles, I guess would be the best word to use. But you, you are very impressive to me. I have to give you credit for that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know a long time ago. Whenever my cause you get, you get pots when you're born.
Speaker 3:It's something that's passed down into you, but it doesn't get activated until you have, like a's something that's passed down into you okay but, it doesn't get activated until you have, like, a severe illness and then it gets turned on, usually around the ages of 14 or 15 or older. Okay, so whenever I got really sick and I got it, those first few years were also the first few years I started skating, yeah, and I remember that I'd go to practice and I do like one drill, half a drill, and I would just have to go lay down because I couldn't see, I couldn't hear, I couldn't walk, and I would come home all the time and I'd be saying, like you know, I don't, I don't know if I can do any of this stuff anymore. And I remember my parents told me you, you know everybody has problems, you just can't see them. So you just got to go out there and you do what you can and you got to know everyone else out there is doing what they can, because everybody has an issue, even if you can't see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly. So your parents have been pretty supportive of your journey through skating then yeah, have been pretty supportive of your journey through skating then yeah. So yeah, it's kind of cool when you do that, because I actually started skating back when I was 17, 18. It was like 1988. I forget how old I was back then. So it's been a while, but it's impressive to see like this new generation coming up and it's awesome. So when the pandemic hit, what happened during the pandemic as far as the skating goes, were you still training or was it kind of doing it on your own or how did that go through the pandemic? Cause I know we've seen a resurgence of skating during the pandemic, but if you're already competing, like, what was the, what was the process during that time?
Speaker 3:During the pandemic. I would definitely say it was very much like a confusing time, because it was like, is this really a serious thing? Like should I really just be staying home and not going anywhere to try and be safe? And we definitely did that for a while. And then it just got to the point where it's like we're really just sitting around now, yeah, and I started riding my bike a lot and then I would go skate outside, uh, down bike trails or school tracks for a while.
Speaker 2:Okay, and so you kept it up and everything, because now could. If you would have gotten a bad case of COVID, could that have affected your POTS?
Speaker 3:Yeah, if I get sick, it's kind of like a game over card. Everything's extremely difficult when I'm sick because my body doesn't move blood right and blood is what carries the white blood cells to kill off infections. Yeah, I can be when I get sick.
Speaker 2:I'm sick for a really long time, sometimes months at a time and was it because when you got that, is that why, with the switch to homeschooling?
Speaker 3:uh, no, I just I had a lot of learning disabilities, and still do, and, uh, the school just wasn't able to accommodate them for me and I was, I was struggling unnecessarily in school so now, what are your future plans as far as skating goes?
Speaker 3:um, I want to be able to medal at worlds. That's a big goal, I feel like with with everything I have going on in my own life, I feel like that's something I can do and it's something that I feel like I can achieve if I, if I get myself to work hard enough to achieve it yeah, now I know we've talked about the issues you've gone through.
Speaker 2:How has skating changed your life?
Speaker 3:I mean, without skating, I feel like I would definitely be living a very different life. I've definitely sacrificed a lot of opportunities for skating. I've given up a lot of time with friends, a lot of time with family, a lot of uh, you know different job opportunities. I could have done, uh, still could get into different jobs, but it gets harder to do as you get older, yeah, um, and there's just a lot of opportunities. I feel like you sacrifice going into a sport like this and trying to be serious, and it's just something that you got to do it because you love to do it and not do it because you feel like you have to, because even if I get to whatever age, I feel like I'm, I'm going to be done at. Even if I don't achieve like a medal at worlds or make the team or whatever it is, I'll know that I, that I did my best and I, I went out there and I did all that I could do and I'm happy with that because I like skating that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Now the important question is is what is your setup like? What's your boot of choice? Wheels, bearings, frame like? What's your skate setup?
Speaker 3:um, I have very messed up feet, so my feet don't like most things, and, um, I ended up getting these boots called macargos. They're, uh, based in argentina, and those boots have kind of been like a miracle to me. They're the only boots my feet have not just rejected completely and I can skate on them endlessly with no pain anywhere, and, uh, they're great. Um, I have frames from power slide. I, really, I really do like their frames. Uh, I, I'm currently skating on their carbon one called the acel. I kind of bounce around frames.
Speaker 3:I have been been skating on the new swings on wings, uh, magnesium frame, okay, um, I generally lean towards TLTF wheels, just cause they're always seem to be the fastest for me. Oh, there's a lot of people that really like junks, but for me, uh, for me, tltf is is just the option that that think is is best, especially as a distance oriented skater. Um, and then bearings uh, there's these bearings that, uh, the swings brand makes for powerslide. Um, they're ceramic and they're really, really great. They're the best bearings I've ever had. They just, they roll so free and everything right out of the right out of the casing, okay, I've been using those ever since I got my hands on them. Uh, before that I had the bone ceramics, which are also really great. They're just not quite as precise feeling as those swings ones that I got.
Speaker 2:And you properly maintain your bearings. Very often, what's the lubrication you use, what's your lubrication of choice for speed?
Speaker 3:I kind of work around, I'm always trying a different one because I feel there's always something different about each of them and I haven't quite figured out which one I like the best. Usually the, the bone speed cream. I'll put maybe a drop, half a drop, in each. Bearing of that, that's probably the one that I've used the most, just because it's easily accessible okay, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've noticed that there's several different kinds and I use monkey lube to clean my bearings, so I found that's really cool because it cleans and lubricates, but I add the extra lubrication and I saw that Bont has a new lubrication oil. And also I've been curious about the roller roller blade dry cream. Have you tried that one ever?
Speaker 3:no, I'm definitely open to try and all that kind of stuff, but it's, it's just something I haven't got around to yeah, it's, it's me getting back into it over the last year or so.
Speaker 2:It's uh trying to figure out. It's like you got to put it together yourself. Now, who is your biggest influence for skating, or just biggest?
Speaker 3:influence in general.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of people that I really kind of look at when I'm skating or watch on social media and really observe. Bart Swings is definitely a big one. Just with his technique being so consistent and and powerful is is hard to to not want to follow him. Then there's also, uh, a cobo mantilla from columbia. He just he skates very different from Bart but with a lot of power and speed. Also, okay, I'd say from America. I definitely I like the way that the boy on our team, caleb Adams, his technique is really good. There you are. Oh, did it cut out?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it completely froze and then cut out. So you were saying about the person on your team.
Speaker 3:Oh, Caleb Adams. He's one of the younger boys on our team, but his form is just amazing and he's definitely someone that I also watch and try and imitate.
Speaker 2:Has he been skating longer than you, or about the same?
Speaker 3:About the same.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what is your team atmosphere like? What's like, as they say, in pro wrestling, what's like the locker room Like do you guys get a lot, everybody get along and you got that team unity, or is there, I know, back in the 90s and stuff there was always jealousy and egos and is it pretty, uh, pretty, cohesive unit or I'd say I'd say our team is definitely more cohesive, mainly on the boy's side.
Speaker 3:I feel like a lot of the girls kind of poke at each other because but that's just something, that that happens especially when they're young and teenagers and stuff too. So now I mean, you know, the boys are always, uh always kind of like teasing each other, like you know, pushing at each other whenever one person beats another. That doesn't normally and it's like you know what happened and all that kind of stuff. But it's all in good faith, it's never anything ill-willed.
Speaker 2:Yeah, trying to push, because if you guys can push each other to make each other better, that's what's important, not backstabbing and that kind of stuff. So I agree with you. And now your coach. How long has your coach been a speed skater? Because I know, or do you have coaches? Do you have more than one coach, or is it just one coach, or I have two.
Speaker 3:Uh, I have tom sidor and, uh, dean hole. Dean hole is more of the main coach. He's the one that does a lot of the traveling with us and he's the main guy at the practice that tells us you know what to do, what we need to be doing, all the off skate and lifting and stuff. That's all him. And then Tom's kind of the second guy in charge, so he makes sure like all the drills are run smoothly and everything's timed out and the laps are counted and all the timing is done right. And then when Dean's not available, tom just takes over everything and make sure we always have a good practice going on.
Speaker 2:Nice. Now, since you're young yourself and I know a lot of people find their niche in skating, what is some advice you have to people that want to get into speed skating or up and coming?
Speaker 3:I feel like it's really easy to focus on a lot of a lot of things in skating because there's just so much. It's like you can get stronger, you can get better endurance, you can uh be, you know all these things. But I feel like the big thing is you just gotta skate. You just gotta skate. A lot like just go to sessions, just go to practice and do a ton of laps. Just know, the more you skate, the better you're going to get. There's nothing you can do to expedite that process. There's no cheat codes. If you don't skate, you're not going to get better at skating.
Speaker 2:That's some of the best advice right there. The one question is how do I get better at something? Keep doing it. So now how can my listeners follow you and your skating exploits?
Speaker 3:I definitely say you're probably going to get the same content on Facebook and Instagram. That's about all I'm going to be on. I have a Strava. It's all under my name, Trevor Kreplin.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:Occasionally I'll put stuff from practices and that on YouTube. Same name, Trevor Kreplin, but definitely just Instagram and Facebook are probably your best bets.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Well, I appreciate you coming on today and talking about your journey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thanks for having me. I really like being able to talk about everything that's going to help other people.
Speaker 2:Definitely Well, thank you, yep, thank you, you, thank you, thank you.