Wheels for Meals Got Me Rolling Again!

Hello, friends!

My Kangoo Jumps are fun, don't get me wrong (check out my previous blog here), but skating is still the exercise I'm most passionate about.  It's just fun, fun, fun.  Even when I don't feel like exercising, once I strap on my skates, my helmet, and my wrist guards (yeah, still no knee pads...I've got to get a pair!), pick a playlist on my phone, and start my Nike + Running app to track my mileage, I'm off and running and it's pure magic.  Skating is the closet thing I get to losing the constraints of my body and almost feel like I'm flying.  It's dancing and exercise and thrills and happiness all rolled up in one.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the occasion to participate in a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels Alameda County (Check them out here).  One of the organizers, Jessica Albonico, is a friend of mine.  The event was a bike event, but several roller derby women were going to skate the shortest distance, 15 miles.  Once Jessica told me about it, I thought, "What the heck, I'll give it a go!"  

Me with my event number attached to my Camelbak

Over the summer when I did my 1/2 marathon skating race in Napa Valley, I spread the news wide and far prior to the race.  Some equipment challenges coupled with it being my first race meant that the race was far harder than I thought it would be.  Nonetheless, it was big fun.

This time, I kept the event mostly to myself.  For one thing, this event was longer (the 1/2 marathon was 13.1 miles, this was 15 miles).  For another thing, I wasn't sure how skate-friendly the course was going to be.  And, probably most importantly, I doubted my ability to complete the 15 miles, so I didn't want to broadcast it too much ahead of time only to have to admit later that I hadn't been able to conquer it.   Just an ego thing, I guess.

Then on top of all those issues, I had a nasty case of bronchitis two weeks before the event, so I hadn't been training like I wanted (or needed).

Nevertheless, the morning of October 19 dawned bright, early, and sunny.  My faithful husband, Marty, accompanied me to the event, which started at Shadow Cliffs Park in Pleasanton.  Marty is one of my biggest champions, so it was great to have him along.  He planned on walking/running on some of the hiking trails around the park while I skated.  He was also available to come pick me up should I decide along the 15 miles that I was ready to pack it in and couldn't finish!

My friend Cathy, an avid cyclist, had advised me before my 1/2 marathon to start out slow, find my own pace.  Sadly, despite my best intentions, I didn't take her advice for my 1/2 marathon and it cost me in terms of my stamina halfway through that event.  This time I was determined to listen to her wisdom, start out slow, go at my own pace, find my own rhythm.  

Because the Wheels for Meals event wasn't timed, there wasn't a mass start.  Once I registered, I was free to start at my leisure within a one-hour window.  This meant that I wouldn't get caught in a frenzy of bicycles that would be zooming past me--I was free to start off at my own pace.

Usually when I skate, I have several pieces of key equipment, which I put on in the same specific order every time so that I don't forget anything:

- my headphones
- my helmet
- my socks

- my skates (of course!)

- my wrist guards

- my iPhone (for tunes and to keep track of my mileage)

(I know, I know, I really need to add kneepads to the list!)

For this event I added a Camelbak which contained water and several tubes of Gu (an energy gel for long workouts...Thanks, Tricia!  Click here for info about Gu).  I guess these two equipment additions combined with the excitement of the event threw me off my regular routine and I forgot to put on my wrist guards, a fact that I only realized about 2 miles into the event!  I didn't want to turn around, which would have added 4 miles to the skate, and Marty was off on his run/walk, so I just kept skating on without them.

In the back of my mind, however, I kept flashing back to my bad fall in my 1/2 marathon race over the summer and to my training fall just a week before this event.  A fall without my wrist guards could easily result in a broken bone.  I was quite anxious skating without this key piece of equipment, and this strangely just added to my excitement.  As my son points out, fear and excitement produce the same exact chemical response in ones body, so I try to enjoy the excitement that that scary/anxious feeling produces.  It doesn't always work, but that is definitely one of the aspects I like about skating...feeling slightly on the edge and almost--but not quite--out of control. 

A word to any of you that think you might like to try skating:

If you don't like the excitement that comes 

from being a bit off kilter in your body, 

you probably will NOT like skating!

How did my event go?  To be continued... Click here for the conclusion
Here's a teaser...

I at least made it to the top of this hill!

Here's a "selfie" of me at the top of the hill

Keep skating (or whatever you do)!

Hugs,
Nancie ♥

My last skate:

11/12/13

Skate #153 of 200

5.19 miles

Iron Horse Trail

Alamo, CA

My last time on my Kangoo Jumps:

10/17/13

Kangoo Jump #3 of ?

1.51 miles

Iron Horse Trail
Alamo, CA

Nancie Zimmerman

NamiZuni Jewelry Design

Expressing Your Inner Goddess

925-890-9221

http://www.namizuni.com