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!!!
Bummer about the skates! Keep working on them...I've had 5 pairs of custom skates over the past 10 years or so (3 Bonts for inlining, all molded by Glenn, and 2 Van Horns for long track, both molded and made by Scott Van Horn). None of the 5 fit perfectly at first; all caused varying amounts of pain, and all needed considerable tweaking to make them work. But they all, in the end, did work fine for me. So keep thinking positively! Enjoy the Apostle race; that's one I've never done, but I've heard it's a good one--and anything in Minnesota is bound to be good!
ReplyDeleteChristine,
ReplyDeletejust wanted to write and introduce myself...i'm cherie. I live up in fort collins and am a member of the Speed Weasels inline team there. We are going to apostle and i hope that you will have a good time there, regardless of how things are going wtih your skates. it's a GREAT time and fantastic race. we went for the first time, last year, and it was SO good.
i'm also going through the getting used to the custom skates...seriously, it feels like every time i get a new pair, I'm starting from scratch. i hope that goes away, at some point.
we are driving out, so if for some reason, you need some gear brought, that is too cumbersome for the plane ride, let me know. we'd be glad to bring it with us. my blog is at: www.justmeandthebirds.wordpress.com or my email is at coopie75 at yahoo dot com, if you'd like to write!
nice to "meet" you!