Venty blog with a triple shot of waaah.

I had a bad skate yesterday. I feel like whining. If you do not wish to 'hear' me whine, I suggest you stop reading right now.

I took 2 weeks off from working out - the week before Apostle and the week after. I did nothing. I am not sure why; I just didn't feel like doing anything. Yesterday was day one back on the horse: I put a fresh set of Street Fight wheels on my skates and headed out early to knock out a few miles. My plan was to play it by ear, skate distance based on how I felt. (We reached 104 degrees yesterday, so it was already pretty hot by the time I hit the trail...)

At first I took it easy because I didn't feel right. My legs were shaky and I felt weak. I focused on keeping a mellow, steady pace and tried to push through it. (My guess was that I didn't eat a sufficient breakfast...) I was skating with a water bottle full of coconut water (thanks to my friend Pat for that idea) and a small bottle of Gatorade. I also had a GU packet. On hot days I tend to go through my fluids pretty quickly, so I also use fluid levels as a gauge of when to turn around...

I passed a few bikes, had a pair of bikes behind me for a couple of miles and when they finally caught up to me the first guy informed me of my mph (18) and the second guy said he'd never seen anyone skate that fast... That was a total ego boost, I love it when cyclists say things like that. Personally I felt like I was slugging along slow as molasses so that was nice to hear. At this point I'm noticing a slight tingling in my feet but nothing that would indicate an issue. My legs in general don't feel 100% but I attributed this to a week of being a couch potato.

I turned around at about 12.5 miles. It was starting to get really hot, my fluids were getting low, and my heart wasn't in it. My body felt off. I started trekking back. At about mile 9 - my right foot decided it was not happy. I felt pressure on the 3rd and 4th toes and the ball of my foot started tingling like it was being attacked by a pissed off hoard of bees on a stinging spree. It sucked the breath right out of me. I debated stopping and taking the boot off, but I just wanted to get back to my truck. I just wanted to be DONE.

I tried all of the usual stuff - pushing my heels back, no toe flicking, and my form stayed pretty solid. I can tell when my form goes to hell because I tear up the backs of my heels. My heels felt fine. My form wasn't the issue. I counted down the miles... 4 more to go.... 3 more to go... With just over 2 miles left, I fell in behind a cyclist who was going kind of slow and stayed behind him. It was a good distraction and he didn't seem to mind. When we reached the round-about he turned off then looked back to see which was I was going. I was continuing on with just over one mile left. He gave me a wave, I waved back and continued on. One. More. Mile.

The last portion of my trail is really pretty. There are two lakes and the trail runs right between them. I usually enjoy the view, watch the birds, look at the mountains, and use that portion as my cool down. Not today. I just wanted it to be over. I came around the corner and all of a sudden it was gusty winds in my face. I couldn't help myself, I yelled 'really??' - at no one in particular... At this point my foot is on fire. My stomach is clenched with it and tears are pouring down my face. Stubbornly I push on, because I can SEE my truck. I'm ALMOST there. I want to throw up. I want to take my skates off and walk the rest of the way. I want it to be over.

I limped to my truck. I carefully removed my skates. My feet are swollen and painful - but my heels are perfect. No blisters, no hot spots. My form was fine. I ice my right foot and chug my recovery drink. I don't feel euphoric. I feel tired. Dejected. Disappointed. I hate my skates. I hate skating. I hate myself for feeling that way. I have a knot in the bottom of my right foot and it's tingling like crazy. Thankfully my left foot wasn't as bad. I head home...

My mind is racing with negativity. I review my past two races this year and realize that I'm not skating any faster than I did last year - in fact, I'm skating SLOWER! My mph average at the Minnesota half marathon (my first event) was 16.6 mph. At Northshore I averaged 17.2!! Both events skated on my K2's... This year skating on the Bonts: in Texas I averaged 16.5 mph and at Apostle I was at 16.1 mph.... That doesn't seem right. Is it me? Is it the skates?? What am I doing wrong?

I have a mantra imprinted in my brain that I have been trying to ignore and let go of. It goes 'some people are never meant to be any better than they are' - meaning that you hit a certain level and that's it: that's as far as you go. You don't break that barrier, you don't move forward. You have reached your potential, and even if it's not what you want and you think you should be better - that's it. That's as far as you go. I've been an underachiever my entire life; this mantra is ingrained. I hate it. I cannot figure out how to progress.

I sulked the rest of the day yesterday, but today is a new day. I'm going to throw my Bonts in the oven and do a full heat mold WITH socks on. I'm going to get out and skate tomorrow. I'm going to continue forward - no matter how reluctant I feel. I think I will take my friend Tom's advice and break out the K2's again for a change of pace. I'll skate Napa Valley on the Bonts but I think I need to put an expectation on myself. I need to have something to shoot for besides simply skating without pain....

Apostle Islands Inline Marathon - recap!

Lining up at Apostle

Wow, what a great weekend!!! I flew into Minneapolis on Thursday night; spent the night with my friend Susan, and started the journey to Bayfield, WI on Friday morning. We drove up through WI and it was a very enjoyable drive! We stopped in Ashland to pick up my packet and arrived in Bayfield around 4:30. We met up with some of my skater friends for dinner then headed down to the dock for some sunset photos. Got to bed around 10:30.

I didn't sleep very well but when the alarm went off I was up and at it! Got to the ferry dock by 6:30 and headed over to Madeline Island. The day could not have dawned any better - it was clear, and comfortable and sunny! I would get to skate the course on the Mayhems!

I didn't do anything I told myself I would do when I got there... I didn't put my headphones on. I didn't focus. I didn't take a jog - I dinked around and chatted with other skaters, stretched a little, put on my skates and got a quick little warm up. But since I had absolutely NO goals for this race, I felt completely relaxed. I had the pre-race butterflies but none of the anxiety I had in Texas. My plan was to take it easy, especially on the first lap around the course. Get warmed up, get a feel for it, and see how my feet/legs were going to hold out.

They lined the open fitness/rec women up separate from the men; I ended up next to a gal named Connie (she's on the left in the photo at the very top.) She was super friendly. She asked me what my average is, I told her around 16 so she said to try to stick with her. When we started off, I quickly fell in behind her and eventually a pace line formed. I think my first mistake was letting people in front of me so suddenly I was at the back of the pack. The guy in front of me had his feet all over the place so I gave him some extra space.

We were cruising along at a comfortable pace, I felt good and was enjoying myself. This course has a few hard right hand turns; two particularly nasty ones. When we came up on the first one, the entire line fell apart. It was like every man/woman for themselves ALL OVER THE PLACE and they all started braking! I PANICKED. I thought the line was supposed to go through the turn as a LINE - get low and ride it through. I somehow managed to round the corner without taking anyone out, and the line re-formed. I was pretty shaken up! Then we came up to the SECOND hard right - SAME DAMN THING, only this time I almost crashed into the guy in front of me. I was thinking WTF are you people doing??? I was really shaken up after that, had an adrenaline rush so strong my legs were trembling!! I dropped back and out of that line and pretty soon another one came along so I tagged up with them.

I rounded the first lap and glanced at the time: 35 minutes. Continued w/ the paceline I was in. They were chatty and casual, and I just hung in the back (I need to stop doing that...) Anyway, we started coming up to that first turn again and I felt myself clench up and drop back. They went through it more uniformly and I relaxed. Same with the second turn. I finished out the second lap still tagging at the back of the line. Clock read an hour and nine minutes. Hmmm.

About halfway around the third and final lap, I decided the pack was too slow. I had plenty of juice and wanted to finish strong. So I kicked out and took off on my own. I was having NO foot pain, or joint/ligament/tendon pain; my muscles felt good so I figured I could at least finish strong. I rounded the corner and crossed the finish line. I have a couple of blurry photos of myself but I'm very happy to see that I'm down pretty low - so I'm finally starting to get that down at least!

Coming around on my first lap.



 Sprinting towards the finish line.

My official time was 1:37:25.0, I placed 2/8 in my age division, 5/59 overall women and 153/317 overall skaters. I was actually very surprised and very pleased with my placement; especially considering that I didn't feel as if I pushed myself as hard as I could have! I had a wonderful time meeting new skaters and spending time w/ my friends.

I made a lot of mistakes in Texas, and that race actually made me re-evaluate a lot of things in the weeks that followed. I know that skating Texas at the pro master's level made me put a lot of pressure and expectation upon myself. I did not like how I felt prior to that race, nor how I felt when it was over. I started too hard too fast and ended up straining my MCL, which in turn made my form go to crap - which caused me to tear up my ankles and feel frustration. I don't care about how I placed at that race, I didn't FEEL like I skated a good race. I didn't have as much fun as I usually do. I forgot that skating is supposed to be fun. I had fun at Apostle. I had no pressure, no expectations and no disappointment. The main mistake I made at Apostle was how I skated in the pace lines. Of course, I wasn't the only one making mistakes there otherwise our line would've taken those right hand turns as a fluid line instead of a free for all of flailing arms and legs and brakes!! I do need to work on being comfortable skating with other skaters, it's just so hard to do as skater who trains solo....

I did get a chance to meet a few of the skaters from the Speed Weasles in Ft. Collins - what a friendly bunch of skaters. Maybe I'll make the trek up north so I can skate with them!!!

All and all, Apostle was a fantastic experience. I had a blast! Next up - Napa Valley on July 8th!!!

The dock in Bayfield 6/14/12. Stunning.

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....

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!