Countdown to Apostle

The countdown has begun for my weekend in Wisconsin! (35 more days!) I'm looking forward to so much more than just the marathon (which will definitely be the highlight) - I LOVE visiting new places and I can't wait to see all of my skate buddies! I will be flying into Minneapolis on June 14th, then driving up to Bayfield with my friend Susan Friday morning. We got a hotel there and I was assured that we have a patio with a view of the lake and the flower garden. That sounds heavenly...We'll be staying there Friday and Saturday nights, then we'll head straight to the airport on Sunday morning. I'm really looking forward to spending time with Susan and doing some sight-seeing, as well as skating the marathon. This area seems like it's very beautiful so this should be an overall fabulous mini vacation!

As far as the actual marathon goes; my goal is pretty simple. I'd actually like to be able to skate this one without any pain... I have no time goal (because if it rains, time goals are out the window anyway...) I just want to enjoy skating this historically smooth course without any pain... I got some ideas on ways to warm-up prior to skating the distance that should help with the muscle pain I experienced in Texas - but the foot pain is a whole other issue...

Ah yes. The foot pain. Skating with pain has become the norm and I am very displeased. I have pain in the balls of my feet, across the tops of my toes; the inner left ankle bone and the outer right ankle bone. (The ankle area is not a hot spot or blistered; I actually have bone bruises and swelling; but the skin is fine.) I tweaked the position of the frames and that helped alleviate the ankle bone pain a bit, but it seems like every time we spot mold a problem area, it creates a new one. Kind of like if we stretch the toe area up; it pulls the sides in. So I get relief from the boot pressing down on my toes; but then it's pinching them from the sides or pressing against the tips of my toes. It's like I can't win. I thought I had them to the point of being able to wear a hyper thin sock with the ultra thin booties; I skated just over 25 miles last weekend and the last 7 miles were pure agony. The balls of my feet felt like they were on fire, it was so intense it made me nauseous! I had to stop and take the socks off, stretch my feet - then finish up the last 4 miles. By the time I got back to my truck I was exhausted, angry and ready to chuck my skates into the bushes. It's like the last 7 miles of hell COMPLETELY negated the first 18 miles that I actually enjoyed! I knew there would be an adjustment period but I didn't expect it to be like THIS.

So I'm back to the regular booties, no socks. I skated 19.5 miles on Thursday and it was a little bit better, but I still  had pain and blisters on my toes. Debbie suggested I mark the problem areas with tape and ship my boots to her so she can stretch them; I plan on doing that today. If I can't get back actually ENJOYING skating again, then what's the point? If I dread it because I know it's going to hurt, then that completely takes away the joy. And I don't want that - that's the whole reason why I skate in the first place. I always start out feeling great, skating smooth and fast, having fun - then the pain starts and I end my outings feeling drained and frustrated. I'm so over it.

Aside from that, I've been working out really, really hard. Weight training and cardio - working on getting fit. I'm taking a very gentle recovery week next week; my legs have been a bit sore and not just from the skating. My intention is no impact, no weights. Just 7 days of  yoga, swimming, and core work. No running, no skating, no weight training. My hope is that this will give my legs a break, give Debbie time to fix my boots, and refresh and revitalize my mind so I can go into the following week stoked and ready to get back to the hard-core training. My main time goal is for Northshore anyway, so Apostle and Napa are more for the fun of it. And I really, really want it to be fun again. Please keep your fingers crossed, this portion of my journey has been a bit rough!!!

Review - The Bont Mayhem Wheel

When Alex Bont sent me an email and asked me if I'd like to try out the new Mayhem wheels & write a review; I was pretty tickled. I was also a little confused because I'm pretty new to this sport and not exactly an expert on wheels. I don't know what the different hardness ratings mean, I don't know what wheels were designed for what surfaces; and don't I really care to know. I can't tell the difference between hubs, I don't pay attention to how long it takes for my wheels to wear out (I just chuck them and buy new ones) and I don't care how much they weigh. I get a recommendation for a wheel, I try them out; and either I like them or I don't. But if you are interested in any of the above mentioned items, I did read a very comprehensive review detailing the authors experiences with these things; http://www.inlineskatempls.com/?p=4143  - it is written from a male point of view skating on 110's with all of the technical specs; I am a relatively light female skating on 100's who doesn't give a crap about the technical stuff, so here is my review.

First off I had some trouble seating the bearings; I skate on Bones Swiss 608's. So at first when I put them on my skates, they wouldn't roll. I got some advice on seating the bearings, that worked like a charm and they rolled for days. My experience with Bont wheels up until this point hasn't been all that great so I was a little skeptical; but also excited. I love trying out new wheels.

I skate on a very smooth concrete trail. The above review stated that these wheels were better suited for rough surfaces, such as asphalt, because the author felt 'sluggish' on the smoother surfaces - but based on my experience I have to disagree. These wheels are wicked fast and wicked fun and I had the best skate so far this season! I turned around just past the 10 mile point; and discovered that I had skated 10+ miles in 33 minutes. This is unbelievably fast for me! Unfortunately on my return trip I had 25 mph winds in my face the entire time so my speed faltered considerably. I still managed to complete 20.83 miles in an hour and 15 minutes; my mph average was 16.52. That is faster than I've EVER averaged on the trail. I can only imagine how quick the entire skate would have been had the wind not been such a major factor!

So bottom line is that I have a new favorite wheel! I think these wheels would work just fine at Apostle - noted for having a smooth as glass skating surface. I think that they feed my speed demon more than adequately and feel they are well worth the price. (Almost 20 bucks a piece.) I can't wait to get out on them again and sincerely hope the wind does NOT interfere next time....