Texas Road Rash!

Wow what a weekend! We got into Austin around 2 on Saturday, picked up the rental car, grabbed some lunch; then made it in time to watch the elimination races. I got a chance to catch up with some of my A2A friends and then finally got to meet a couple of my Endomondo friends!! We had dinner with them and then it was lights out.

Sunday dawned crisp and beautiful; not a cloud in the sky. We headed down to the stadium so I could get my skates on and warm up. I was feeling really nervous! (So nervous I forgot my number and Allen had to run back to the hotel to get it for me!) Got my skates on, took a few laps around the parking lot and then it was time to line up. 

I have to admit, I felt weird lining up with the pros. I had no idea how many pro master women there were, in fact- I didn't see very many women at ALL. I went to the back of the group with minor illusions of being able to keep up with them. Ah, no. They dropped me and 2 other women at the very first hill!! I later found out that the 3 of us were pro master women - and that there were only 3 of us: Renee, Carol and  myself. Renee and I played tag for a while but eventually she got out ahead of me and finished a good 40 seconds before I did. 

As for me, I felt pretty good at first, but I could not seem to find a pace line that I could stick with. Also, the course was a little more hilly than I'd expected! My favorite part of the course was when we got out of the park and went along N Co road 122. That part was super fun. My least favorite portion was along E Palm Valley road (as we were on a bumpy shoulder alongside traffic.) the tar snakes inside of the park kept spooking me too; I tried to avoid them thinking they would be gooey like the ones in Duluth. (I had no issues with them.) I also saw no fire ants or armadillos. Good on the fire ants, bummed about the armadillos.

On the 3rd trip around the course, I began having some pain in my left leg on inside just below my knee. It was a nagging ache: not a sharp pain like something had suddenly pulled or strained. I think coddling that made me start skating sloppy because not too long after that started up, those areas on the backs of my heels started burning. I'll admit, the pain made me almost consider quitting with only 2 laps left to go. But I didn't want to quit so I ignored it and tried to keep going - I'll tell you, I was keeping track of each lap SO ready to celebrate the last one...

I ended up skating a lot by myself, but eventually fell in with my friend Mike for the last 4-5 laps. I skated with Mike in Duluth and I like skating with him: he has a strong, steady stride and keeps a really good pace. I finished with a respectable time of 1:40:49.28, (my goal was 1:45) and I finished with my buddy Mike. I placed 2nd in the pro master women's division but I felt bad because Carol had skate issues and I know she's a strong skater! Another bummer is that they were having timing issues so they didn't do the awards ceremony. I was REALLY looking forward to being on the podium! (Oh, the coveted cheese grater trophy... They're sending them to us in the mail...)

There was also a point where I was in a pace line with 3 of my Endomondo friends and that made me feel so happy!! Connecting online and then actually getting the chance to skate with them... Unreal. It was very, very cool!

I think this is lap 4...

My heels are torn up and that area on my left leg is still very stiff and painful. I'm going to baby it for a few days to let it heal - whatever it is. I have no idea what I did... Probably didn't stretch enough or something. Very frustrating... I'm sure that slowed me down a bit because I was VERY aware of it for the remainder of the race... I also once again have two raw spots on the back of each heel; those too need time to mend... 

I accomplished my goal of skating one race at the pro master's level, so for my remaining 2012 races I'll skate the open/advanced divisions. I still have a LOT to learn and a lot more skill to acquire but I think I'm continuing to grow and become faster and  more efficient. It's a process and I am totally in for the long haul!

Me and Mike coming up on the finish line. 

Last Minute Tinkering...

Four more days until Texas Road Rash, and I'm doing my last minute tinkering... First of all, I got a set of MPC Road War wheels - I was hoping to try out the new Bont Mayhem wheels, but they haven't arrived yet. I went with the Road Wars on a recommendation and I hope they are comparable to my beloved Street Fights.  Second - with all due respect to you bare-foot skaters out there - I simply cannot do it. My feet sweat too much... I don't get that 'toe grip' that you guys seem to rave about; my feet are too busy sliding around making some really disgusting squidgy noises. I can't deal with it... I ordered a set of ultra thin ezeefit booties and got a pair of hyper thin Drymax running socks. My boots have stretched enough that I think this combination will work as far as comfort, moisture wicking, and blister protection. I'll give this set-up a try tomorrow. (My last skate prior to Texas.)

I've been taking this taper week thing very seriously... In that I don't feel like doing anything at all... I worked out on Monday - elliptical/weights; but then yesterday I didn't feel like skating (I have been having some tendon discomfort in the backs of my knees that's kind of been nagging me) so I didn't do anything. Today I also did nothing. I plan on a short, intense skate tomorrow; then nothing Friday and Saturday... I know I've been over-training a bit and my body is letting me know it's okay to chill. I'll get back to the hardcore training next week. Still eating super clean and looking forward to some Texas BBQ!!

I'm also still trying to make Apostle work: I have a friend who is willing to make the drive from Minneapolis to Ashland, so I just gotta work airfare/hotel into the budget. I REALLY want to go, so I hope I can make it work. That would get me to 4 races this year... That would make me super happy!!!

My next blog should be a recap of road rash. Hope it's not literal! I am REALLY excited to meet more of my online inline skater friends - especially the Texas Flyers! A few of them (Tom & Chris in particular) mentored me a lot last year and I can't wait to finally meet them!!

Clearing out some head clutter...

I had a dream about the road rash the other night; I kept leaving the course to go do stuff - I went and ate some lunch, went shopping, went to the bathroom; it took me three hours to complete the race and I finished dead last. I obviously have some serious clutter in my head...

It's no secret that I am completely obsessed with skating. I can think of worse things to be obsessed with - at least my addiction has some really amazing side effects (like a thinner waist and endorphine highs) and it has given me a new level of confidence that has carried over into all other aspects of my life. I intend to skate until I can't skate anymore because it is the ONE thing in my life that I actually feel good at.

So lets get back to the clutter. I know that the road rash is the first race of the season and it's early in the season for most skaters, so I've been hearing that a lot of them treat it as a training skate. It was implied that I too, treat it as a training skate. Problem is, I feel like I've been training FOR this skate. I want to skate hard. I want to skate fast. I want to WIN. That doesn't feel like a training skate to me, it feels like a competition. Am I approaching it the wrong way? Or is it okay to want to go balls out and kick some ass?? I know I'm not at my peak yet; and I've got a long way to go to hit the goals I have for NSIM - but I am also not at the rusty, carrying 10 extra pounds of winter blubber beginning of the season either. I've already got over 300 miles under my belt for 2012. And a few of those were some pretty hard miles. I feel strong considering that it's only April. On the flip side of that is the ever present whisper of doubt. When I'm skating with my friends at Wash Park and I feel super winded while they seem fine; I feel doubt. When I'm clipping along at what I think is a reasonable pace then look at my GPS to see that I've 'only' gone 14 miles and I'm already almost an hour out; I feel doubt. When my feet don't do what I want them to do because I'm still learning how to skate on the Bonts; I feel doubt. It can be a struggle at times to ignore the doubt and focus on feeling confident.

I know overall I am probably at a disadvantage. I don't have a skate coach. I'm not part of a team. I don't do drills, or go to practice; I don't time my intervals, and I don't have a skate-specific workout regime. I'm a trail skater. I skate when the weather lets me. I sometimes skate sloppy. I bob my shoulders. I toe push. I cry when the wind is gusting in my face. But I also love skating, love being outside, and love going fast. I feel like I have something to prove - I want to get out there and show everyone exactly what this sloppy trail skater is capable of!

2 More Weeks until the Texas Road Rash!

Wow, Texas is coming up quick!! I'm feeling pretty good about my progress, so I think I'll do okay!! This week was almost a wash, we had snow earlier in the week; I didn't get to skate until Thursday, but I got a chance to skate with a couple of speed skaters out at Wash Park. That was a LOT of fun!!! I worked on some drafting (I am still not comfortable being RIGHT up against the person in front of me) - and got a critique of my form/technique (except for some bobbing of my shoulders and needing to use my hips more, everything is looking solid!!!) Got some pointers for some hip abductor moves to work into my weight routine and generally felt pretty good about everything. It's always so much fun to skate with those guys too. Although I prefer to skate solo (I think of skating as my 'me' time) I really do enjoy skating with other skaters. Especially speed skaters. Especially when we're tearing around the course passing everyone.... Sweeeet.

I had my husband spot heat mold some areas on my skates; I think he got the part on the skates that were pressing down on my bunions/big toes (especially on the right foot) to ease up a bit because I was pretty comfortable today. I did not experience any pain/pressure in those areas today. That made me really happy because that was starting to bother me quite a bit! The balls of my feet got a little tingly, but nothing like it had been. I skated 28 miles yesterday, and 22 today. I think I may have them stretched enough to start wearing socks too... I was kinda grossed out today by the sound my foot made each time I pushed off... *squeeesh* -- ugh... I hope I can get the socks to work...

My only question now is what training should I be doing the week prior to the race? I'm on a pretty hard core workout routine right now, so I am not sure if I should scale it back or keep doing what I'm doing, and maybe scale it back 2-3 days before the race? I put it out on the skatelog forum so hopefully I'll get some advice that applies.

Inline Warehouse shipped out my skinsuit, I'll have it in plenty of time to represent them at Road Rash. I'm pretty stoked about that!!! I feel proud to be wearing their logo and surprised that they asked me to. I think it's more my personality rather than my skating ability but hey - sell what you got, right? I am by nature a networking fool and I love being a part of the skater network.

This is by far and away one of the most exciting periods in my life! I know I'm a late bloomer - here I am at 41 - in the best shape of my life and gearing up for an intense year of competition. These are really awesome times indeed...