And so it begins....

So today I registered for the Apostle Inline Marathon - scheduled for June 15th, 2013; it will be my first race of the year and I am very excited for it. I must admit, I am very excited to be very excited about racing again; because I really haven't been all that jazzed about skating at all this year. Here it is, the middle of April - and I've only got about 25 miles under my belt. But there are a couple of reasons for this: the main one being that currently my focus is on running. I'm 5 weeks away from running my first half marathon and I have been training really hard. The second one being the weather... It's been super crappy! 

So the main reason I took up running was to have SOMETHING to bridge the gap between seasons so I wouldn't lose my conditioning. I was really sick of losing motivation from November - February, gaining a ton of weight during the holiday season; then spending the first part of the year rebuilding my endurance and losing an extra 7-10 lbs! I was hoping to hit the trail at the beginning of the season with a very minor adjustment period and I felt that running would be perfect for that. In my mind - running was the logical choice because even if I couldn't run outside; I could always run on the treadmill. I'm happy to say that this was the first winter in history where I consistently worked out and didn't gain any weight. I also discovered that I love running! Who ever would have guessed? The half marathon training is very structured and I love it: I run 4x per week with one long run every Saturday; I've been progressively building up my miles with my longest distance to date being 10 miles! I also do a full body workout 2x per week where I focus on core and legs. I honestly believe that my skating will improve due to this regime as well!

March is usually the beginning of my season, so on March 3rd I had my first skate of the year - and it was a disaster! Trail conditions were crap (twigs, rocks, gravel, puddles of water; and a ton of traffic; people running, walking, strollers, bikes, dogs, etc;....) I skated 11 miles and averaged 11 mph and felt nothing but frustration... Last Friday however, I packed up my skates for an after work skate (that I was DREADING - by the way) and had a magical season beginning outing. The trail was practically deserted, it was overcast but comfortable; and the wind was coming out of the north east so it didn't impact my skating at all. I hit the trail and skated 14 glorious miles... I kept all of my laps around or under 4.5 min/mile (usually first skate outings are around 5+ min/mile) for a 14 mph average (which is where I usually am by mid-season) and felt really strong. My endurance was there, I didn't feel any weakness or pain in my ankles; but best of all, I had fun and enjoyed myself. It reignited my desire to skate! 

My hardcore skate training is on hold for now, but I'm very happy to see that running has helped my skating as anticipated. My plan is to try to skate at least 2x a week while training for my half marathon. My half is on May 19th, so that will give me just about a month to prepare for Apostle. (After the half I will switch gears and start skating 3-4x per week.) I hope to take another thing I've learned from running and apply it to skating - and that is to not compare myself to other skaters. In order for me to be successful with running, I have had to temper my competitive nature down - to where I am only competing with who I was the day before. I am in my own place going at my own pace, and there is nothing wrong with that. With skating, I let too much pressure get to me - real or imagined - and it took a lot of the fun out of it for me. My goals for skating are really different this year, I hope by relaxing and just having fun with it I will naturally progress. During the course of the 2012 skate season I discovered my personal limitations and now I have finally accepted them. 

So far I'm set for 3 races this year; Apostle, The Minnesota Half, and Northshore. I may try to fit another one in there if I can. I am super excited for Minnesota Half because I registered for the duathlon (skate 13.2 miles then change into sneakers and run 2.8 miles.) I hope to do really well at that one - one race where I get to indulge in both of my loves. :)

So that is where I am right now. Perfectly happy to report that I have dual devotion to two sports and I feel like I've become a better athlete because of it.