NIGARA CIRCLE SK8 2008: PHOTOS

MONTREAL 24 HOUR RELAY: VIDEO!

Video put together by Mike G and others from Ottawa Inline.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHP6s-ZzBlg[/url]

Setting some Goals

So I've decided I need to set some goals in order to help me motivate myself out of this funk I've been in this past year. I'm starting to see why it's so hard to dig yourself out of a hole once your fitness level and weight gain start to spiral down out of control.

There are three main events that I'm planning on doing, and I hope to add a couple more on top of that. First up is the Ottawa Inline Festival on the Labour Day long weekend once again, following that is the Montreal 24 Hour and I'll finish off the season with the Montreal Defi as usual. Goals will be to cut down on my time on each of those respective courses. Not a tough challenge given the fact that I was still skating on my Lighting 100 rec boots last year.

I don't anticipate beating last year's Ottawa time will be too big of a challenge for me, and I really should shoot for something closer to a sub-1:20 time if I can get into any kind of shape (and skate smarter than I have been skating in races like Chicago). Hoping also to cut down on my lap times in the 24 hour Montreal event and be more of an asset to my team. Short of torrential rain and another mishap like last year, I also anticipate sticking with friends Jay and Joel in the Defi and hoping that I can be a strong component in working together for the full race.

Right now, I'm also turning over the New York 100 in my mind if I can do it on a budget and kick my butt into shape for that hill. Duluth feels like kind of a long-shot right now.


It rained tonight so I had a valid excuse not to go to practice for once.

I also won't need to water the plants up top on the rooftop.

Probably good to have a recovery day after doing Joel's annual August long weekend road skate yesterday with Mr Stitt and Mr Brown. We logged in 55 km, and it served to remind me about the kind of skating that I like to do. As usual it included plenty of hillwork and showed me that I need to do plenty more of that kind of skating to get back into shape. I noticed I was much more comfortable on the downhill descents through the suburban streets and even the tight corners that were added on weren't that bad (with a bit of a T-stop). The other great thing about the routes Joel chooses is that it encompasses a variety of terrain so that you are given the challenge of maintaining speed through rougher pavement and modify your technique accordingly. The moderate pace also allowed me to work on getting low and pushing long. Focussed quite a bit on trying to figure out where my knee was and trying to optimize my recovery. I found it an interesting challenge jumping back and forth between Joel and Jay given the difference in their respective skating styles.

I had a really good time (despite the early morning) just zipping around the streets of Burlington with a couple of friends. Overall, it's definitely one of the quiet highlights of the season for me every year.

I felt remarkably good afterwards compared to how I felt after Chicago last weekend. Although going back to Yoga today after many many weeks off showed me just how much I was "off". Couldn't hold much of a balance pose at all, and everything was pretty stiff and even some of the simpler poses weren't that elegant today. Not much range of motion either. I really need to start back doing regular Yoga at least twice a week.



WHAT I ATE TODAY
Rice Crepes with Hoisin and Soy Sauces.
Strawberry Banana, orange juice soy milk smoothie with Vega Powder and vitamins.
BBQ Rib Potato Chips.
Whole Wheat cracker.
banana.
Gazpatcho with Hot Sauce and pickles.
Stir Fry with tofu, veggie "chicken", onion and chinese broccoli.

MONTREAL INLINE MARATHON 2008: PHOTOS

MONTREAL INLINE MARATHON 2008: RESULTS

Finally cracked 1:20. More later.


Pos No. Name Laps Total Tm Diff Best Tm In Lap Best Spd (Mph)

17 91 Ed Leung 10 1:19:54.767 6:18.667 7:18.232 1 35.488

MEXICO: MY UXMAL PHOTOS

MEXICO: UXMAL SKATE!

This was by far my favourite day of skating in Mexico.

After a week of training on the track in the Yucatan, we did a fun road-skate that ended at the fantastic ruins of Uxmal.

Since it was my first road-skate of the season, following a week of hard training, I was just hoping to be able to finish and not skate alone at this point. The heat of the day was certainly challenging.

Things were going fairly okay for me up until we hit the first big hill. We were all in a fairly large pack with the cars driven by parents of the Yucatan skaters providing a degree of protection on either end of the pack from the traffic. Once we hit the hill however, the pack separated out. I watched as the gap opened up.

Once we reached the flat at the top of the hill, I was fortunately enough to catch a draft off of Jorge on his bicycle, and he pulled me up to the pack with Martine, Sarah, and a Yucatan girl. The Yucatan girl was obviously pulling way too much as we eventually lost her on one of the next few hills. We eventually picked up Mike G and Sergio fortunately, and for the most part if was a pretty enjoyable but challenging skate for me to try and keep up with a group of much stronger skaters. Sergio was eventually doing all of the pulling towards the end and encouraging us. As we hit yet one more hill, I was about to give up and let the pack go when Sergio let me know we just had a few more K to go. So I toughed it out and hung onto the pack... which was fortunate because it actually turned out we had less than a K to go and we arrived in Uxmal and enjoyed the comfort of the grass as we joined the faster skaters like JF and Benoit who were already there, and cheered the rest of the Toronto and Yucatan skaters into the entrance area of Uxmal.

The Toronto and Yucatan Skaters together on the last day!





The three Toronto Skaters with Jorge, the Yucatan Coach.


Hanging out at the stunning Mayan Ruins in Uxmal.







Photos Courtesy of Carolyn, Wilby and Cor.

MEXICO: The Marathon!

I don't even know what my time was on this one, but despite what I assume is one of my slowest finish times ever, I'd have to say that this felt like the toughest marathons I've ever done.

Two solid weeks of non-stop skating pretty much culminated in this event which took place in a local park with some of the roughest pavement I've ever had to encounter. I managed to find an interesting way of dealing with it by skating on the painted line, which was in slightly better shape than the rest of the pavement, but that meant a more shortened, upright push.

Luckily Sergio and Martine managed to convince the race committee that Canadians should be allowed to carry water given the severe differences in our climate. Can you believe that in Mexico, there is a rule that you are not allowed to drink water for more than half the race? Given the safety and liability concerns, up here in Canada, I don't think any rule of that sort could ever be enforced!

Our Yucatan Coach Jorge was having fun teasing me prior to the race as I strapped on my camelback. But as he mimed out guzzling and gargling of water, I was certainly glad to have it with me given the blistering heat of the afternoon sun.

The start of the race didn't go well at all. I was completed wiped out from a winter of relative inactivity followed by two weeks us sudden intense skating. After getting dropped almost right away, I was convinced that I would get pulled from the race at every single lap. So much so that I even put myself in the service of the Canadian Women, giving them pulls and trying to keep their spirits up in these grueling conditions. With unwavering faith on each lap that the Mexican officials would have the good sense to pull me off the coarse so I could go watch the rest of the race in the shade, eating that cool soothing ice cream cone I was craving.

Not that I had much in the way of goals for this race given what I had heard about the previous year. My "A" Goal was to try and not get eliminated first. My "B" Goal was to beat my arch-nemesis Mullet Guy (somewhere in Mexico, Mullet Guy sleeps very soundly, blissfully unaware that he is Hombre Araña's arch-nemesis), which proved to be a greater challenge than I initially imagined after edging him out in the other events that week. I couldn't even believe that I accomplished my "C" Goal, which was to actually finish the marathon!

Yet time and again I somehow managed to slip past the start/finish area without getting pulled. I began to suspect that they were letting me stay in to keep the kids on the sidelines entertained.





I actually did one extra lap, giving Dominique a pull before the officials finally had enough of my antics and waved me over to the finish chute!





And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I ended up with that ridiculous skinsuit-helmet and sunglasses "raccoon" tan.

Mike Garvin's Mexican Skating Video!

Run4Reach 2008 Photos

Switching up my wheels before the race!





















Photos Courtesy Zoom, Georg (TISC), Peter (TISC), and A Leesh (Ottawa Inline).