The Joys of a Podium Finish!

I'm back from Duluth, Minnesota and I feel really good about how I did in the Northshore Inline Marathon, despite the slippery rain conditions.



SATURDAY

The Northshore is known as the biggest inline race in all of North America. People have been telling me for years that I have to experience this race, and it's the first time I've done some serious travelling to do an inline race. Even with the rain, I could see what a great course it was and I would love to do this again under more optimal conditions.

Overall I placed 15th in the open divison (Non Pro) in a field of 1336 men.

I got a podium and a medal in my age group (35-39): 3/164

My time is now a new Personal Best:
1:21:29

It's the fastest course in all of North America and usually people really shave some serious time off of their PB's. I probably would have had a sub-1:20 without the rain. I tend to track PB's for each individual race course rather than an overall PB given the fact that the conditions of each race course are pretty unique in many cases. Duluth is a point-to-point net-downhill with relatively straight, smooth road conditions. Which is ideal for me given my weaknesses in cornering and crossovers.

I stuck with Travis and Brian Joulbert (until Brian had to drop out due to equipment failure) pretty much to the end. Travis did really well in the sprint coming 2nd overall and 12 seconds ahead of me. Morgan and Aaron ran through the finish with us the night before and I'm really glad we did because it became a bit technical with an uphill on the ramp from the highway, a sharp turn followed by a downhill and another sharp turn at the bottom of that hill and a sprint to the finish with one more turn. On a straight away I have quite a bit of power, but I tend to lose ground when hills and corners play into it, and even more so when the pavement is wet.

A few things I would do differently next time. I was quite a ways back in the pack when we hit the tunnels and the concrete there was impossible to get a good grip. For the most part I found I could put myself where I needed to be in this pack during most of the race, but I couldn't move up once we got in the tunnels. When we hit the uphill ramp, I was boxed in pretty badly at times. I followed Danny from OISC as we weaved around people up the hill. At the top I gained some ground on the corner and tucking down the hill before losing that ground at the turn on the bottom of the hill to a half dozen people and spent the last sprint and corner chasing down.

Morgan and others suggested that we race in the Pro division next year. We'll see how my season progresses next year. I have to admit that it feels rather good to be in the front pack like this.

Overall a great way to end the marathon race season (other than the big A2A Ultradistance in two weeks). Spending all season chasing Camilo and Travis around the Landesdowne track definately made me a better skater than I thought I was. With Camilo gone to train on Ice down in the US for the 2010 Olympics, it looks like I will train with TISC next season, which I think should be really good for getting the fundamentals of pack skating which I've been missing this season. I should also start exploring options for the off-season now as well. Whether I try ice, attend indoor practice at Scooters or do cross country Skate-skiing.



SUNDAY
Jen and I did an easy 10K run on Sunday morning just to loosen everything up.



WHAT I ATE ON THURSDAY
Korean BBQ Kalbi Beef and Rice. Kimchee and appetizers, Soba Noodles, fried spicy chicken, Mussels.

WHAT I ATE ON FRIDAY
Jen's Whole Wheat pancakes and Orange Juice, Banana, Apple, Chicken Noodle Soup, Turkey Sandwhich on whole wheat, a few French Fries, a hot fudge Sundae, Foccocia Bread, Mushroom and Greens Salad, Ravioli and some of Jen's pasta.

WHAT I ATE ON SATURDAY (RACE DAY)
Foccoccia Bread, Orange Juice, Apple, Cereal Bar, 2 Cliff Blocks.
POST RACE: Apple, Banana, yogurt, 1/2 pound Pastrami Subways, Orange Mountain Dew, Famous Dave's BBQ platter with Ribs, Chicken, Beans and Sausage, Coleslow, Fries, Georgia chopped pork, corn bread muffin and corn-on-the-cob. Cherry Coke, Mike's Hard Cranberry Lemonade.

WHAT I ATE ON SUNDAY
Omelette with the works, Pasta with the works (in a rosa sauce), bacon, sausage, Pineapple Juice, Waffle with cream and berry sauce, pineapple, strawberries, cantelope, pickled herring, oreo cheesecake. Strawberry shortcake Dicky Dees Ice Cream bar, Berry Cream Doctor Pepper, pickles, Pizza Sub.