Skating

Skating
A2A, 38 mile finish line; 2011

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Northshore Inline Marathon recap!!

Wow, what a weekend!!! I arrived in Minneapolis at 1:20 pm on Friday, my friend Susan picked me up and after a quick bite to eat we set out for Duluth. The drive took us about 3 hours with construction traffic and a couple of stops along the way. We got checked into the hotel (swanky - we splurged and had a suite!) then headed down to the convention center so I could pick up my skate packet and check out the expo. Holy cow, what a difference from St Paul!!! I got my stuff, we met up with some of my new friends, and took a look around. I picked up some swag and parts from Inline Warehouse, tried not to spend a lot of money; and visited with my pals. We had a late dinner then off to bed.

I was up at 5 am Saturday morning; excited but I also had nervous butterflies. I was super happy to see that the weather held out and there wasn't any rain in the forecast - but could tell by the frost on the cars that it was anything but warm outside. I had packed a variety of skate clothes (from tank tops to sleeves) and opted to dress warm. I got Susan up and she drove me to the convention center to catch the bus to Two Harbors.

The bus ride up was really fun, I sat next to a gentleman who did ice dancing with his wife as a hobby, and the guy in front of us was the organizer for the Montreal 24 hour relay. (I think he said his name was Simon.) We had a nice conversation and the drive up went by quickly. Next thing I knew it was time to get off of the bus and head up to the staging area. They had a bunch of seats set up, and I just have to say, it was COLD. I didn't want to take my jacket or warm up pants off!!!!







I met up with my friend Kelly; then we found Pat and Mike - and eventually it was time to get ready. I was moving slow because my hands were so cold! Before I knew it, they were lining people up to get ready for the race. I hurriedly threw my stuff in the gear bag to load on the truck and realized afterwards that I had left my skate tool and my sunglasses in the gear bag... Oh well....

I must have been feeling a bit frazzled because I originally lined up with Kelly. He was in wave 1. I was supposed to be in wave 2. (Can I blame that on the cold too??) I got back with my group and lined up between Mike and Pat. My hands and feet were frozen; I couldn't even feel my toes!! I hoped that wouldn't be an issue... I set my Endomondo sports tracker, they blew the horn and off we went...

It took me about a mile to find my groove and warm up. It is so weird, but once I start skating, it is like all outside noise fades away. Anything my mind is chewing on gets forgotten. I slip into this zone and all I focus on is the swishing sound of my skates, the road in front of me; and the other skaters. Instinct took over and I leap-frogged pace lines until I found ones that were going the speed I wanted. I hopped from several pace lines until about mile 9 where I found a really steady one. I skated with them for a few miles, then sped up to another line. (I even pulled several lines, which was actually really cool!!) I found Mike at some point and fell into his line. I skated with him and one other guy for the rest of the race. The section of 35 that they said they had improved felt super squirrelly, I found that if I didn't keep my feet moving, I didn't feel as secure. I hated that section and felt like the terrain slowed me down a bit. I was very glad when we got past that portion of the race. Lemon Drop hill was not as imposing as I thought it would be and the next thing I knew we were at the home stretch!!

Back home I've been training to save enough juice to go full out the last two to three miles. I did the same thing here. I felt that burst of adrenaline and I went full out across the finish line. I was super excited and felt like I'd had a great race. According to my Endomondo, I had completed it in 1:34... I couldn't believe it - that's a full 10 minutes faster than my best time!! It also said my average speed was 17.2!!! That made me feel extremely happy! My goal had been to complete it in 1:40 or less!! I had also HOPED that I would place within my age division. I did not make that a goal because I was not sure it was feasible; especially for my first full marathon. But I DID place! I got 5th place, which got me a medal... I cannot even begin to tell you how awesome that made me feel!!

All in all, the entire experience was wonderful! I got to meet skaters I had connected with online, and actually skate with them. I got a personal best marathon time, I placed; but best of all - I had a BLAST!

Me with Kelly, who I met on the Inline Warehouse Facebook page [he's in the helmet] and Mike, who I met on the Endomondo sports tracking website [he's in the yellow jacket.] Michael is a friend of Kelly's who I actually interacted with on Inline Planet [Michael is in the gray jersey] Mike's dad Steve skated the marathon too [he's in the orange hat] - and I believe the guy in the black is from Germany; he skates with Kelly's skate club.


On the podium getting my medal... wow.... that was so awesome!!!



Me with my medal... I am amazed that I was able to accomplish this. I have come SO FAR this year...



  Northshore Stats:
Official time: 1:34:02
Overall 196/1586
Sex 25/603
Age Division  5/62

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

If you can dream it...

I have just 4 more days until the Northshore marathon. My very first full inline skating marathon ever! If you would've told me even just a year ago that I'd be getting ready to fly to Minnesota to skate in a marathon, I would've laughed in your face. Me? Sheyah, riight!! A year ago I didn't have the drive, motivation, or faith in myself that I have now... Considering some of the awesome cycles of failure in my past - it's amazing I've come this far! The St. Paul half marathon was amazing, but that was just a taste of it and I want so much more! I feel confident that I will have a blast and do fairly well, however, there is a part of me that is still struggling with some fear and doubt. I had a dream that I woke up late and missed the race. I had another dream where I got lost on the way to the starting line and somehow ended up back at my house. I also had a dream where I was skating the course and got lost... (I ended up flying in that one though, so it turned out to be pretty cool.) It seems like my subconscious is trying to work through some worst case scenarios or something, but at some point I recalled the time I tried to get my motorcycle license...

Oh, you didn't know that I once attempted to get a motorcycle license? Oh yes, I did. And it was a failure of epic proportions...

It was October 2003, I had just lost all of the weight I'd gained during my phase of being a shrink's drug guinea pig. I was feeling incredibly confidence and self-assured. My ex had been pushing me to get my license so we could ride together, and I finally felt confident that I could do it. I signed up for the three day course at the community college and showed up ready to rock. The first night was easy, we just sat in a classroom and went over laws and that sort of thing. The next day, we actually got on the bikes... I did great that first day, I had so much fun and was really enjoying learning to ride. On the final day, we were to do the riding part of the exam and then the written part - and then we would be licensed riders!

The day started out bad, it was so damn hot and we were in full gear. To top it off; I somehow ended up as the second person in line. So here I am, feeling self-conscious because everyone was watching me, it's hot as hell; and I'm not riding so well. I flubbed up some figure 8 thing and was just not feeling it. We lined up to do this braking portion (you get up to 3rd gear then have to break inside this box) and there are two classes lined up side by side. My turn comes, I gun it, jam the brakes expecting to line up perfectly inside the box. It didn't quite work out that way. In fact, I can't tell you exactly what happened. One minute I'm seeing the box, and the next minute I'm seeing the sky. I somehow jammed up the brakes and completely flipped the bike. After the instructor made sure the bike was okay, he checked on me. I just felt stunned and completely humiliated. BOTH classes were staring at me. He told me to stick around and at least take the written exam, then schedule to do the riding exam again the next month. I said sure, let me use the bathroom first and I'll be right back... I went in the building, bypassed the bathroom, snuck out the back door, got into my truck; and never looked back... I didn't even realize I was injured until I got home. (Nothing serious, I jacked up my foot and couldn't wear a shoe for three days and had all sorts of pretty bruises all over.)

It was a humbling experience. I had this thought that maybe, just maybe - some people are never meant to be any better than they are. Maybe some people just reach a certain point of mediocrity, and that is their lot in life; destined to hit a wall and never be able to rise above it. Maybe some lucky people are just born with the over-achiever, good-at-everything-they-do gene; while the rest get squat. I felt that I was one of those people - that I had reached the wall and would never be any better than that. For a long time after that, I did not attempt to do anything that would require me to push myself past any of my perceived boundaries. I figured, what was the point?

During the journey that has been the year 2011 - the year I break bad habits, cycles, and negative ways of thinking on my way to becoming the person I truly want to be - I have reshaped that original thought. Maybe the reason people fail is because they don't attempt to explore their options to find the things that they're truly good at, the things that they feel truly passionate about. Maybe they attempt things because they're expected to (as I did with the motorcycle. I didn't want it - the ex did.) Maybe people fail not because they don't try hard enough to succeed; maybe they're just trying to succeed at the wrong things.

I do know that 'if you can dream it, you can achieve it' is a complete crock of shit because we're not all built the same way.  I used to dream of being an astronaut, but guess what? I'm too stupid to be an astronaut. So I'll leave that to the smart people and I'll skate. Because it's what I'm good at.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Countdown to Northshore!

Well, the Northshore marathon is in 6 days - I am just 6 days away from accomplishing my goal of skating a full marathon, and I couldn't be more excited!

Of course, I had a little bit of a set back due to stupid health stuff... I have GERD (acid reflux disease) a hiatal hernia and stomach ulcers; and for the most part when I have a flare up I eat some Prilosec for a couple of weeks, it calms back down and life goes on. This flare up started in early August and I could not get it to calm back down. It got so bad that I couldn't eat hardly anything for about a week! So I went to my doctor and got some new medication (he also recommended surgery - I said maybe after the end of this year I'd consider it but NOT NOW.) I started Dexilant on Thursday and almost immediately it made the worst symptoms more bearable. (Worst symptoms being chest pain that radiates up into my neck, through my back and down my arms, a stomach ache, shortness of breath, a sore throat, and difficulty swallowing...) I know I will more than likely need surgery to correct this but I have too much going on right now to consider being out of commission. The thing that REALLY pisses me off about the GERD is that I don't fit the profile... I'm not overweight, I don't smoke, and I eat a low fat diet. In fact, I haven't had fast food in over 2 years!!! So I am not sure why I have it so bad... But anyway... The pain and discomfort made working out impossible and it actually started to depress me quite a bit. I haven't lifted weights in 3 weeks and I didn't skate as much as I wanted to last week... I'm so grateful that the medicine is working enough to encourage me to get back on track and improve my mood. I just need to keep it under control long enough to finish out the year...

Today I skated 27.5 miles on the new Street Fights and Bones Swiss speed bearings. My new wheels are broke in and ready to go, so I'll swap them out tonight and save them for the race. I got myself a pair of eZeeFit ankle booties (I have a raw spot on my inner left ankle and one on my outer right ankle) and they worked like a dream! No pressure or rubbing and they made my boots fit a little snugger too. Very comfortable. I also tried out a pair of compression shorts - I'm not really sure what they're supposed to do but they felt pretty comfortable! I have one more skate on Wednesday - I plan on 13-15 miles of laps and breaking in the Storm Surges (In case it rains, I really hope it doesn't!) Then I'll be set for Northshore!

Here's a little video of me drafting a group of cyclists. Granted, they weren't going THAT fast, but it is still pretty cool to keep up with bikes...

Drafting Bikes 9-11-11

It has been a really fun journey. I've networked with other skaters through Facebook, Endomondo, and Inline Planet; several of them are doing Northshore too. Even though we are all in different states, I almost feel like we've been training together! I can't wait to see them and see how well they do. I'm rooting for them to hit all of their goals, and thank them for helping me set mine pretty high! (I am hoping to complete the marathon in 1:40 or less. I think that is TOTALLY feasible.)

It feels like autumn now, which makes me feel a little sad - I've been having such an amazing summer!!

Current Stats:
Best Marathon Time: 1:44:58 (achieved 9/9/11)
Best Half Marathon Time: 46:53 (achieved 8/6/11)
Miles Skated in 2011: 1116 (goal was 1000)

*happy trails!!*