State of the Union

Sigrid wrote an entry in her blog that really resonated with me, particularly after the race in Duluth this weekend.
http://www.sigridziegler.com/?p=23

I know I have good cardio and endurance, but after all these years of inline skating I still have very little technique or control, which is particularly evident when I'm skating in a pack during a race these days. In fact, I think I'm even worse off than someone starting from scratch given the fact that I have a great deal of bad technique that I developed over the dozen years as a self-taught rec/street skater to unlearn.

I've picked up bits and pieces over the years from various places, including Kevin Smith's Marathon Dynamics course, TISC practices with Eric Gee, Barry Publow's clinic and I know I've grown in leaps and bounds this past season and half of last season skating with the Camaleon Club under the guidance of Camilo, Leo and Andres. However, the fact remains that I don't feel like i've ever really learned to skate either.

Cornering, crossovers, skating in a Pack, uphills and downhills, starts, hawking at the finish are just some of the things that continue to elude me. I feel like I have a great deal of power when I skate, but very little control over it.

Something to be working on for next season for sure. Many are suggesting I go do indoors during the winter, which will help me develop my technique due to the small space I would need to be maneuvering around (about a 100 foot rink). It would be constant crossovers, which doesn't sound very fun to me, but necessary at this point in my inline racing aspirations. It will also keep me in shape so I am not starting from scratch again in the Spring trying to rebuild my base in April and May prior to the National Capital Marathon (which has cancelled their inline portion as of next year).



Something else to think about as well is my tendancy to Reward myself after a big endurance event by eating whatever I feel like. I really need to stop doing that to the Extremes that I am currently indulging myself. Like all things in life, MODERATION. Which seems to be a foreign concept to me. I only skated 42K on Saturday, which doesn't counter the HUGE feast at Famous Dave's in the evening and the giant All You Can Eat breakfast I ate the next morning. Particularly since I worked so hard to drop the ten extra pounds I gained this winter. As I'm getting older, my metabolism is changing and I can't eat anything I want anymore. It's just not healthy.

I should be eating more throughout the day and they should be healthier snacks. More vegetables. I probably drink too much fruit juice and consume too much salts.