A beautiful DUH moment...

So I got these fabulous new wheels and bearings and couldn't wait to switch them out. When I put them on, I noticed that when I tightened the axles too tight, the wheels wouldn't spin. So I had to leave them all a bit loose. Out on my skate last Friday, the front wheel of my left skate worked itself loose and almost came off while I was skating!! I nearly lost my balance and the arm flailing that ensued was highly entertaining I'm sure! Luckily I always carry my skate tool with me so I tightened it up and went on my way. Of course, since all of the axles had to be left loose so the wheels would roll, I was clicking, clacking and vibrating the entire time. Basically it sucked.

On my outing this past Tuesday I felt like I had to work harder to get up any speed. So I figured it was time to clean the bearings. Last night I popped them out and opened one up - pristine. Not a speck of dirt. Now I was completely puzzled... Then I recalled an article I had read on Inline Planet yesterday about what to pack in your skate bag and the author had mentioned to keep a spare set of wheel spacers... Wheel spacers? What are those? Do I need those? (Do I actually have those without even knowing it??) So I asked my husband if he knew what a wheel spacer was. He said he thought it was the little 'ring thing' that was in my other set of 90 mm wheels. Basically they look like this:

So I took them out of my 90 mm wheels and put them in the 100's. They fit in-between the bearings in the center of the wheel. I put the wheels back on, tightened the axles really tight: and the wheels spun for days... Problem solved... My next time out should be a lot more comfortable...

The kicker to this incredibly duh moment? On a whim I peeked at the bearing set-up on the stock wheels that I had just taken off of my skates last week and lo and behold: spacers... I'll take those out and put them on the Street Fights. (Now that I know what they are and how vital they are...)

There are days when I feel like an advanced skater with a good grasp on the sport. And then there are days when I feel like a complete and total rank amateur. Guess which one it was yesterday?

Happy trails!

Breaking the cycle of 'Almost'.

My entire life has been comprised of cycles of 'almost'. Last year, I 'almost' skated 500 miles for the year. I 'almost' finished P90X... Over the years I've 'almost' gotten promotions, 'almost' finished school; 'almost' got into that dress I bought that was two sizes too small... and so on.... and so forth. I'm pretty sure part of this is due to the mere fact that by nature I'm pretty lazy. I'm also easily distracted. AND - I tend to let fear rule my world. Fear causes hesitation; hesitation makes me falter - and if I falter: I fail. I believe that the key to breaking the cycle of almost is conquering my fear. Once I get a taste of success, I doubt if I'll ever settle for 'almost' again.

And believe me, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of 'almost'.

I turned 40 this past January, and I made a promise to myself that this would be the year that I got into the best shape of my life. I'm old enough to let go of the insecurities and hang-ups of my youth; and yet still young enough to push my body to extremes. I skate in spandex with my pot belly on full display and couldn't care less - back in my 20's this would have caused hesitation. I also skate farther than I ever have before because I don't hit a particular point on the trail and then turn around because mentally I don't think I can go any farther. If I feel pretty good and I'm not too tired - I keep going. The goal is to get rid of the pot belly and I can't do that sitting on my sofa hiding from the world.

I've had some issues getting on track of course. I got really sick in February and then again at the end of April, then I went on vacation - I know, excuses, excuses. So when we got back from vacation I plunged head first into a program of 3 days of P90X weight training, and 3 days of skating per week. That was on May 13th. I'm almost done with my 7th week of sticking to this program. My workout program is the P90X phase two weight workouts (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Back/Biceps, and Legs/Back) I try to skate 2 'short' 15-20 mile skates during the week and one long (20+) mile skate on the weekend. I still need to figure out where to squeeze in the 16 minute ab workout 3x a week: I'm usually pretty trashed after the workouts and don't have the juice. It is on the agenda to start happening.

I'm also still sorting out the nutrition side of the equation but I don't eat any fast food or junk food and I don't drink any soda. I try to make sure I'm getting enough protein and not too many carbs. My weaknesses tend to be sweets, flavored coffee creamer, and salad dressing. (I guess in the grand scheme of things, 2 tbsp of coffee creamer has got to be way better than say, a Whopper with fries, right??) It's a work in progress, it doesn't feel like I've 'almost' got it, it just feels like an ever evolving process. I like that...

I am in the midst of a complete transformation. Feeling fit and healthy gives me a level of confidence like nothing else can. I feel strong, but it's not just physical strength: it's mental strength as well. The kind that makes me say no to the office donuts because I want to enjoy the oatmeal I brought - especially knowing that I'll be skating hard later and cannot afford the sugar crash! I view my body as a machine that needs to be taken care of for optimum performance. I see this as progress and I'm feeling really positive!!!

The trail behind the Englewood Municipal golf course off of Oxford Ave.

Current Skating Stats:
Year to date mileage: 611 (as of 6/28/11)
Top marathon time: 2:00:06 (accomplished on 6/26/11)
Top half marathon time: 58:19 (accomplished on 6/26/11)

Going the distance

Well, today I discovered the answer to the question 'how far is too far?' - for me it was 36 miles. I enjoyed the first part of my skate very much, but at about 25 miles in my left foot started hurting really bad on the ball of my foot. I don't know why? It made the last 10 miles pretty miserable! I hope it is just a matter of not lacing the skates up as tight... I was also out in the sun for 3 hours... So, I think from now on I'll keep my 'long' outings to 25-30 miles. It's no fun if you are in pain or uncomfortable!!! I want to focus on how fast I can do 13.1 and also work on completing 26.2 without stopping.

I may skate again on Sunday morning - just a short 20 miles... :)

Interval Training - Day One

Today was the first time I've attempted timed interval training. (Usually I just do my own type of intervals; sprint until I'm spent, skate casual until I catch my breath; then do it again. Not timed, I just listen to my body.) The plan was to do one minute full on as fast as I could skate, followed by a two minute casual cool down - repeat 3 times and then on the third sprint take a five minute casual skate: repeat as many times as I could during the course of my outing. On my first attempt I discovered two things:

1.) Trying to skate full on as fast as I can right into a head wind is like trying to run in a swimming pool. (I'm so sick of the wind I can't even begin to express it...)

2.) One minute is a looong frigging time....

So the plan may have been 1 min on/2 min off but the reality was that I couldn't do my full on fastest skate for a full minute. I lasted about 30-35 seconds before I felt like I was going to die. And it also took me longer than 2 minutes to recover. I started getting discouraged but decided instead to ignore my watch and just do it like I always do. I still did intervals, I still felt like I was working hard; but I wasn't watching the clock. I still managed to do 15.73 miles in just under an hour and 13 minutes - my average mph was 12.9.

I'm a little concerned about my heart rate; I have a physical scheduled in a few weeks so I'll definitely run over it with my doctor. Based on my age, my maximum heart rate is 180. 85% of that is 153 bpm. My average bpm tonight was 174 with a maximum of 197... That seems like I was in the red zone for far too long. I felt pretty good, but it just scares me... I've been reading that everyone is different and that those numbers are just a guideline so maybe I'm just one of those fast heartbeat kind of people... I hope that's the case!!

Either way, it felt like a good training workout. I had a moment though, where I felt afraid of losing the very reason why I started skating in the first place. I am afraid that I'm going to wake up one morning and think of skating as work and not as something fun. I need to remember to look around and enjoy the feel of the sun, the beauty of my surroundings; hear the birds singing, the crickets chirping - the frogs doing whatever it is that frogs do... Make sure to focus on the other stuff and not just chasing miles as fast as I can. Skating has always been playtime for me - I never want to lose that. The minute I start feeling like it's work is the minute I chuck the app and start skating with no idea how far/fast I'm going....

This is why I skate - to be out in this...

Tomorrow is weight training, then I have a nice, long. leisurely skate planned for Friday morning - work on some distance with no hard core intervals...

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.... :)

How it began and where it's going...

I began my skating adventure at the end of 1995 by receiving a pair of Rollerblade skates for Christmas. They were basically a ski boot with wheels and I HATED them. They were uncomfortable, clunky, and SLOW. I had heard that some other brands began making a soft boot skate; so I went out and found a pair of purple K2 soft boot inline skates. I loved them! I took to skating like a duck on water and fell completely in love with the sport... At first I was cautious about speed and never went above an ABEC 5 bearing. Skating was something I did for fun, I was outside with my friends, cruising along at a mellow pace. It wasn't fitness. It wasn't training. It wasn't even exercise to me. For years I viewed skating as something I did just for fun. I didn't realized how fantastic it is for fitness until later on in life. [The picture below is me on my purple K2's - March 1996]

I skated the purple K2's until they pretty much disintegrated. I stuck with the K2 brand and went through several more pairs of fitness skates but something was missing. I wanted more SPEED. I kept trying faster bearings, but I didn't realize that wheel size also plays an important part in speed. In 2010 I accidentally bought a pair of 90 mm wheels that didn't fit on my current pair of skates. I did more reading and found K2 Celenas and bought them. Skating became a LOT more fun, but the skates only gave me a small taste of my potential for speed. On top of faster skates, I also found an app for my smart phone called Endomondo, so for the FIRST TIME EVER I was able to accurately track how many miles I was skating and get an idea of my miles per hour. All of these variables contributed to me wanting MORE. More speed, more miles; more challenges. I set a goal of 500 miles for 2010 but only managed 357 with an average speed of 10.6 mph. I needed more... I also needed a network of skating buddies to help keep me motivated. [The picture below is me on my Celena 90 mm skates; spring 2010.]

So, in January of this year I bought a pair of K2 Radical 100's, and 16 years after getting my first pair of inline skates, my true skating journey has begun. I began to skate when it was cold. I began to skate when it was windy. I didn't care about twigs on the path or the setting sun; my passion for skating was wholly reborn. And then, I discovered that they have inline skating events all over the country - and they even have marathons! I set a goal to do at least a half marathon for this year. I also set a goal for 700 miles skated. On June 18th, I hit 516 miles skated for 2011 so I increased my goal to 1000. I bought a camelbak because I started spending more and more time out on my skates. (Instead of 30 minutes to an hour - I can be out for 2-3 hours at a time!) I bought a helmet. I wear a heart rate monitor that works with Endomondo. I focus on fuel and hydration, speed, endurance; but most of all it is even more FUN for me now than it ever was! I found a whole network of inline skaters on Endomondo who help keep the fire alive. I have friends who've given me training advice, hardware advice and pointers on technique. I've become a better skater: I'm STILL becoming a better skater!

Skating is now about fitness as well as fun. At this point in time I am averaging 12 mph and I burn between 800-1900 calories every time I'm out. I want to get faster - at least 13 mph. I'm also trying to condition my heart for longer sprints; endurance is definitely my weakness right now, so I'll be starting interval training next week on top of distance training. I also do weight training and eat like an athlete. I'm currently registered for a half marathon in August [St. Paul] but I also want to do a full marathon in November, [Houston] I plan on registering as soon as they open it up. I am VERY excited about both of these races!!!

I know I'll never win a marathon. I know I'll never be an elite athlete; but that is ok. I'm 40 years old and do not have the time to dedicate to full out training. My journey is more about making - and beating - my own personal bests. Skating has always been my happy place; an adrenaline rush, an endorphine high. It's my favorite ride; I hope you enjoy sharing the ride with me!