Skating

Skating
A2A, 38 mile finish line; 2011

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

It's All About the Gear!!

One of the things I love about skating is the gear. Buying it, using it; maintaining it. I find comfort in the familiar exercise of rotating the wheels, cleaning the bearings; putting everything back together in anticipation of a smooth ride next time out. This year I have more gear because I've started wearing a helmet & a camelbak.

My Gear! 


Another fun thing is to upgrade the wheels once you've completely pulverized the stock set that came with the skates... (I put just over 500 miles on the above wheels and they're toast.) Inline Warehouse had an epic sale on MPC wheels so I got a set of the VT's [firm] and a set of the Street Fights [firm] - put the VT's on with a set of TwinCam ILQ Pro bearings and just a quick roll around the neighborhood was pure smoothness.

Old versus new:


The Street Fights - I will probably save these bad boys for Houston!


My new set up:


Having a helper doesn't hurt, either!!


I'm ready for some interval training tomorrow after work; and a distance skate on Friday. Plan on doing intervals of 1 minute full on fastness/2 minutes casual skate x 3 - then five minute recovery skate. I will do this as many times as I can before I feel like I took a lactic acid sponge bath. Interval training is awesome because it not only helps teach your body how to get rid of the lactic acid quickly so you recover faster; but it's also really important for cardiovascular endurance.

I started this year out about 12 pounds overweight and soft. I'm beginning to slim down and get some muscle. But fitness isn't just about looking better (although that is a definite plus!) For me it's also about an overall sense of well being. Not getting sick as often, being able to carry heavy stuff, not getting winded going up a flight of stairs; and oh yeah - being able to skate 26.2 miles in a reasonable amount of time. (I'd take anything under 2 hours - my current personal best time on 26.2 miles is 2:05:05.) I think I can beat that....


The photo above is a picture of my favorite hill to sprint up... I LOVE this hill.... :)



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