Dream Chaser On Wheels

Back On Skates

AT said to me today that being able to compete is a privilege but I think it should extend further to say that being able to skate is a privilege. In the last couple of days, my main activity had been sitting on the couch with my leg up and eyes glued to the Olympics broadcast. It is inspiring to watch all these athletes competing at their best and to think of all the years of preparation each person devotes to their sport. It makes me want to go out and train!

I've been very adament about going to Hamilton this morning for an easy roll...you know, just to loosen up my legs (and to make sure I haven't forgotten how to skate). The weather wasn't ideal but the trail was dry enough to skate without slipping. I ended up logging 35km of mostly easy skating, 8km of which way faster than I originally had in mind. I intentionally stayed away from JaS and the bikes that he drafted because I didn't want to get caught up in the moment. However, when SaH joined me in my second lap, I tucked in behind her draft and next thing I knew, we were flying down the trail at over 30km/h. Surprisingly, my knees were not bothering me much so I hung on. It felt great to stretch out my legs. Since my push was weaker than usual, I skated with a more pronounced weight transfer to compensate.

I am so glad that I went out for a skate after two days of forced rest. I'm still a bit timid about getting back on the track for our regular club training but I think I will be okay by Tuesday.

It's My Turn

After a whole season of benefiting from JaS's (training partner extraordinaire btw) draft on the Hamilton Beaches Trail, I have my chance to repay him today. It was a windy morning with a tailwind one way and a headwind the other. Since it is a long weekend and Saint Paul Inline Marathon, not many of my skating friends are in town. It was just the two of us training for the majority of the session except for having ML and RH joined us briefly.

JaS had a long day yesterday and he was noticeably tired. No matter, I was more than happy to pull. With my wave change official, I will be racing in the A/B women combined wave at the Northshore Inline Marathon. It will be the first time I race in a women only race and I need to be strong enough to hold my own. Racing with guys often means I just need to worry about hanging on to the pack.

I was not too happy with my effort in my first lap. My strides were quick and a little panicky. I was well aware of it yet I couldn't seem to slow down my cadence. Lap two was a vast improvement as I was less excited. We were joined by ML and RH so I started the lap a little more relaxed. I put more power into every push and consciously lengthen my strides. When we skated into the headwind, I tried to pull for as long as I could. Once I got tired, I took a breather behind JaS and accelerate to pull again when I recovered. It was a good drill and by the end of the lap, I was exhausted. For the last lap, both of us were tired so our speed did drop a bit. However, it was still a good workout.

I am very proud of myself today. It was a long sustained effort of skating at race pace and I pulled hard at every chance I got. By the time I got home, my knees were so weak that I could hardly make my way up the stairs!

Winter Is Back With A Vengeance

Despite of what common sense told me otherwise, I went skating outdoor today with my friends on the Hamilton Beaches Trail. But before I get to that, I should probably make a note of what happened at indoor practice in the morning.

Since I fell on my knee caps last Monday, I have been off-skates, off-training, off-everything. I have been saying this for almost a week but I am still waiting for all the bruising to surface. The bits and pieces that have surfaced, however, are not looking good. The ones that I can see now aren't even on my knee caps...I have bruises near the top of my shins and on the side of my knees. They are a deep shade of purplish black with very distinctive outline. That's not a good thing. Anyway, so as I was saying, I haven't work out for a whole week. Knowing how my body reacts to tapering (i.e. when I intentionally lighten my workload...different obviously but similar enough), I expect to feel horrible at practice today and my body lived up to my expectation. We were skating 14s laps and I could not keep up. It really sucks especially since I was finally able to complete all the drills at practice before I fell. Oh well, one step forward two steps back.

Coach SZ had a discussion with us about arm swings and recovery today. In a nutshell, the timing of my recovery is all messed up and I really need to extend my leg back in order to drive my knee forward. A good recovery can give me an extra boost of speed in addition to a push. I think I have a harder time with doing a proper recovery at indoor because I have this nagging feeling that I have very little space to work with without clicking skates with people around me. Well, I'm going to experiment in the next few practices so hopefully it is only an unfounded fear. My arm swing is work in progress to say the least. SZ pointed out that I bob up and down when I swing my arms and that I need to swing my arm to just across the midline in front of my face. While we were practicing, I tried to resist the temptation to bob by staying low at all times. I felt more stable and my speed picked up with relative ease. However, it was very tiring.

AA, AH, SP, ShH, JS, ML, MJC, and I skated the Hamilton Beaches Trail in the afternoon. The trail was cleared of snow but it was covered with a blanket of loose gravel. Add to that some humid cold temperature and strong wind, we had a recipe for do-I-really-love-skating-this-much-to-skate-in-this-weather. I was obviously uncomfortable with the gravel and I couldn't stay in the pack had my life depend on it. I suppose it was good training for mental toughness. I still felt the chill long after we were done.

It's been a long day...as soon as my car pulled inside my garage, I was so tired that I didn't even bother to get out and just napped inside the car. When I finally made my way into the house, I had a quick snack and napped some more (does four hours of napping still considered a nap?). It is now middle of the night and I can't decide if I should go back to bed or stay up. It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow for sure.

Candy 1, Winter 0

I went skating today on the Martin Goodman Trail as planned. Although it was a small group and a short skate, ML, MJC, and I still had a good time. When I say short, I really mean it. We skated a grand total of 7km before the sky threatened to drizzle which turned to hail. But of course, the sky cleared up after I changed out of my skating gears. Oh well, there's still tomorrow.

The trail was in very decent condition. There were some debris but nothing worse than your typical October day anyway. The pavement was free of gravel and there was only one unavoidable wet spot to be found. It was really neat to chat with some cyclists on the trail...people who are just as keen as us on getting outside at the first possible chance.

It took me a long time to warm up. I was struggling so much that I seriously cast doubt upon my ability to skate in a straight line. Fortunately, once I found my skating legs, there was no turning back. I played with driving my knees forward, quickenly my cadence using arm swing, and a few accelerations. I felt great on my skates despite the nagging pain from my bruised knees. I know it doesn't sound impressive but I was able to hit 29km/h on my own at about 75% effort. There is definite improvement here.

Oh yes, it's official. I luuuuurve everything about my new skates. My boots are comfortable and my skates are very responsive. There is a short stretch on the trail with slightly rough pavement. On my old 4x90 setup, I would typically lose all momentum. However, with these bigger wheels, I just kept on gliding. They just roll over everything, haahaa. I guess this is a joy that guys wouldn't know if they haven't been on smaller wheels for a long time.

Hamilton, here I come.

Richmond Green Skating Trail

For an upcoming skating party, we're planning to do some outdoor ice skating at the Richmond Green Skating Trail. This is a 250m closed loop with mostly left turns if you skate counterclock-wise. Washrooms, parking, and plenty of rubber mats from the picnic benches to the trail make for a very well-equipped facility.

I went to the trail today to check out the ice condition. Even with regular maintenance by the zomboni, outdoor ice still feels so different from ice in an indoor rink. The weather is not very cold today, probably between 0-3C, however the ice felt very hard. There's a scattering of snow/shaved ice covering the surface. Fortunately, the surface is even with no bumps whatsoever. There is some dirt on the side of the trail. My guess is that some kids fell into the flower bed lining the trail and stepped back on the ice with dirty blades. However, the occasional dirt is easily avoidable.

I know that comparing outdoor and indoor ice using figure skates and short track skates respectively is like comparing apples and oranges. However, it is quite interesting to notice the speed difference. I pushed very hard today on my figure skates. My body was anticipating to move forward but my feet wasn't moving as fast as I expected...ended up pitching forward more often than I'm willing to admit. Interesting...

I would not recommend skating this trail on any fancy blades. For recreational skating, this trail is very well maintained and definitely more preferable than mosh pits such as Nathan Phillips Square.