One thing I/we forgot: Speed skaters don't have to worry about the temperature (nowadays) since champ competitions are always indoors and AC makes the "weather" totally predictable. They don't have to worry about waking up on finals day to find the temp somewhere inbetween a sunny humid 100°F or a 30°F with hailstorms and sleet - hence they don't have to train for all those eventualites and can go more monotonous instead.