Hello Friends!
So I'm officially training for this half marathon skate event July 14--one month from today as I write this. Yikes! My pal, Cynthia, is back in Connecticut training with me. You wouldn't think you could train with someone that lives 3000 miles away, but she's turning out to be a kick ass buddy. We encourage each other, swap distances skated, share how we're progressing.
Last Sunday Cynthia kicked it up a notch by skating 13.5 miles that day! For crying out loud, that's more than the 1/2 marathon we're training for! How did she suddenly jump from doing 4 to 6 miles to doing the length of the entire event on what was only our second week of official training?
Anyway, it kicked my butt into gear to get out and skate that day...not because I was feeling competitive with her, but just because I was inspired by her. I was already feeling the aftereffects of being pushed to my limits at my yoga class that morning, so I was not too jazzed to skate but figured I should at least do 4 miles, which is a typical everyday kind of distance for me.
I set out on a hilly section of the Lafayette Moraga trail (near St. Mary's College for you local folks), expecting to turn around at the 2 mile mark. A funny thing happened. By the time I got to what would have been my turnaround point, I was starting to get into the groove skating-wise. It has a great downhill from mile 1 to 2, so it usually gets me pretty amped up once I go down it--as a side note, I especially like it if I can do it without using my brake even once, which is what I managed that day. The downhill gives me an almost-but-not-quite feeling of being out of control. It's a real adrenaline thrill and I love it!
So, I kept skating. When I got to mile 3 (which would mean a total skate of 6 miles), I said to myself, "Why don't you go to mile 4? That would make it an 8-mile skate." I thought of Cynthia doing her 13.5 and went for it.
I'll spare you the intervening decision points, but suffice it to say I continued to skate to mile 6, figuring this would make a respectable 12-mile skate. Mind you, the 6 miles returning was mostly uphill and I hadn't taken any water or energy bars with. Nonetheless, short of calling one of my family members to come rescue me, I realized I just needed to gut it out and skate back to my car.
On the way back:
Mile 7: "Oooh, there's a water fountain...I sure am thirsty!" So I stopped for a drink and realized how sweaty I was and how glad I was that the day had turned cloudy, cool, and windy.
Mile 8: "Whew! I am really working at this and it feels good."
Mile 9: After stopping I felt shaky and weak. I was making mental notes of the adjustments I need to make for my half marathon.
Mile 10: Just keep skating...just keep skating...just keep skating...
Mile 11: "Hmmm...I'm almost back at my car. I only need to skate an additional .75 miles away from my car and back to it and I will have matched Cynthia's distance! Maybe I could do this."
Mile 12: At my car. "I'm tired for sure but I can do that last .75 miles out and back."
Mile 12.75: So glad to be almost done!
Mile 13.5: "Yeeeee-friggin-haaaaa!"
The whole thing took me about 1 hour 45 minutes. Whew! Here's what the day was like--fortunately it was overcast and chilly, which kept me from getting too overheated:
I'm so glad to know that I can skate the distance needed for my 1/2 marathon next month, thanks to Cynthia's inspiration. Here's what I learned I need to do to better prepare for these longer distances:
- new socks, perhaps a thin polypropylene layer with a thicker layer over. My feet sure sweated.
- new padded insoles for my skates. My feet got sore.
- my wheels need rotating. Them puppies are getting worn down!
- I need new wheels on my other pair of Rollerblades so that I can switch it up and work some slightly different muscles
- I need to practice yoga 2-3 times a week to keep my body toned and stretched
- regular chiropractic adjustments and massage till my event
- I need to clean and refill my Camelback so that I can re-hydrate and carry some energy source like Gu. I did get some Energy Beans from Jelly Belly, but I haven't tried them yet. I got some coconut water halfway through a previous long skate, and that was very refreshing. Perhaps I should carry some of that.
- ICE! I sure do need to ice those various parts after a long skate! Knees...feet...lower back...neck...shoulders...psoas muscles...elbows...what part doesn't need ice?
I went for another long skate today, this time a 10-mile skate. It was a hot day, but it was at least on a flat section of trail. I am feeling it tonight!
Does anyone have any advice to offer? I'm pretty new at this training for an event thing, so any words of wisdom from any of you runners or other athletes out there would be most welcomed.
It still kind of cracks me up to think of myself as an athlete, because believe me, I've logged more time as a couch potato over my lifetime than I have engaging in sports! But somehow an athlete I am now, and it gives me a charge to think of myself that way and it changes my behavior just by changing my thinking about it.
What changes are you willing to make in your thinking in order to bring about changes in your behavior?
Think about it and let me know.
Keep skating...
Hugs,
Nancie ♥
Nancie Zimmerman
NamiZuni Jewelry Design
Expressing Your Inner Goddess
NamiZuniJewelry.etsy.com
My last skate:
6/16/13
Skate #93 of 200
6.08 miles
Lafayette-Moraga Trail
So I'm officially training for this half marathon skate event July 14--one month from today as I write this. Yikes! My pal, Cynthia, is back in Connecticut training with me. You wouldn't think you could train with someone that lives 3000 miles away, but she's turning out to be a kick ass buddy. We encourage each other, swap distances skated, share how we're progressing.
Last Sunday Cynthia kicked it up a notch by skating 13.5 miles that day! For crying out loud, that's more than the 1/2 marathon we're training for! How did she suddenly jump from doing 4 to 6 miles to doing the length of the entire event on what was only our second week of official training?
Anyway, it kicked my butt into gear to get out and skate that day...not because I was feeling competitive with her, but just because I was inspired by her. I was already feeling the aftereffects of being pushed to my limits at my yoga class that morning, so I was not too jazzed to skate but figured I should at least do 4 miles, which is a typical everyday kind of distance for me.
I set out on a hilly section of the Lafayette Moraga trail (near St. Mary's College for you local folks), expecting to turn around at the 2 mile mark. A funny thing happened. By the time I got to what would have been my turnaround point, I was starting to get into the groove skating-wise. It has a great downhill from mile 1 to 2, so it usually gets me pretty amped up once I go down it--as a side note, I especially like it if I can do it without using my brake even once, which is what I managed that day. The downhill gives me an almost-but-not-quite feeling of being out of control. It's a real adrenaline thrill and I love it!
So, I kept skating. When I got to mile 3 (which would mean a total skate of 6 miles), I said to myself, "Why don't you go to mile 4? That would make it an 8-mile skate." I thought of Cynthia doing her 13.5 and went for it.
I'll spare you the intervening decision points, but suffice it to say I continued to skate to mile 6, figuring this would make a respectable 12-mile skate. Mind you, the 6 miles returning was mostly uphill and I hadn't taken any water or energy bars with. Nonetheless, short of calling one of my family members to come rescue me, I realized I just needed to gut it out and skate back to my car.
On the way back:
Mile 7: "Oooh, there's a water fountain...I sure am thirsty!" So I stopped for a drink and realized how sweaty I was and how glad I was that the day had turned cloudy, cool, and windy.
Mile 8: "Whew! I am really working at this and it feels good."
Mile 9: After stopping I felt shaky and weak. I was making mental notes of the adjustments I need to make for my half marathon.
Mile 10: Just keep skating...just keep skating...just keep skating...
Mile 11: "Hmmm...I'm almost back at my car. I only need to skate an additional .75 miles away from my car and back to it and I will have matched Cynthia's distance! Maybe I could do this."
Mile 12: At my car. "I'm tired for sure but I can do that last .75 miles out and back."
Mile 12.75: So glad to be almost done!
Mile 13.5: "Yeeeee-friggin-haaaaa!"
The whole thing took me about 1 hour 45 minutes. Whew! Here's what the day was like--fortunately it was overcast and chilly, which kept me from getting too overheated:
 |
| St. Mary's College Chapel in Moraga, CA |
I'm so glad to know that I can skate the distance needed for my 1/2 marathon next month, thanks to Cynthia's inspiration. Here's what I learned I need to do to better prepare for these longer distances:
- new socks, perhaps a thin polypropylene layer with a thicker layer over. My feet sure sweated.
- new padded insoles for my skates. My feet got sore.
- my wheels need rotating. Them puppies are getting worn down!
- I need new wheels on my other pair of Rollerblades so that I can switch it up and work some slightly different muscles
- I need to practice yoga 2-3 times a week to keep my body toned and stretched
- regular chiropractic adjustments and massage till my event
- I need to clean and refill my Camelback so that I can re-hydrate and carry some energy source like Gu. I did get some Energy Beans from Jelly Belly, but I haven't tried them yet. I got some coconut water halfway through a previous long skate, and that was very refreshing. Perhaps I should carry some of that.
- ICE! I sure do need to ice those various parts after a long skate! Knees...feet...lower back...neck...shoulders...psoas muscles...elbows...what part doesn't need ice?
I went for another long skate today, this time a 10-mile skate. It was a hot day, but it was at least on a flat section of trail. I am feeling it tonight!
Does anyone have any advice to offer? I'm pretty new at this training for an event thing, so any words of wisdom from any of you runners or other athletes out there would be most welcomed.
It still kind of cracks me up to think of myself as an athlete, because believe me, I've logged more time as a couch potato over my lifetime than I have engaging in sports! But somehow an athlete I am now, and it gives me a charge to think of myself that way and it changes my behavior just by changing my thinking about it.
What changes are you willing to make in your thinking in order to bring about changes in your behavior?
Think about it and let me know.
Keep skating...
Hugs,
Nancie ♥
Nancie Zimmerman
NamiZuni Jewelry Design
Expressing Your Inner Goddess
NamiZuniJewelry.etsy.com
My last skate:
6/16/13
Skate #93 of 200
6.08 miles
Lafayette-Moraga Trail
