Pace Yourself

I used to be pretty good at pacing.

If I was told to do a 40 second lap, or a 45, or a 42, I would (assuming I was physically capable) do a 40 or a 45 or a 42.  Once when my sister and I were doing an inline workout at the Dome, I told her "we'll start with a 1:30, then drop 5 seconds every lap and end with a 1:10."

And we did exactly that.

I'm not sure what skills are involved in being able to skate laps at a requested pace; I do know that, whatever they are, I'm surprised that I have them.  I don't usually tend to be too high on the physical-skills-ladder.  I'm sure it hasn't hurt that for much of the past five years, I've had Coach TieGuy in my ear (via walkie-talkie earbud) telling me my lap times the instant I completed the laps, for literally thousands and thousands of laps.  With enough repetition, even I can usually figure something out.

And being able to pace oneself is a handy skill when one's favorite races are 7.5 and 12.5 laps long.  I've been paired with many a young 'un who hasn't quite learned pacing yet and who starts out on a 36 and finishes on a 46 while I chug along at 39's and 40's for the whole race--and end up with a faster time.  It's always fun to beat the young 'uns.

Lately, however, I seem to be having issues with pacing.  I blame it on my New Improved Technique (perhaps I should start referring to this as NIT, so I don't have to type as many letters; as with any physical skill, I suck at typing).  Anyway, where was I?  Oh, yeah...pacing issues.

See, the thing I haven't gotten used to yet in my NIT is the fact that I can get really tired even though I'm not frantically moving my legs as fast as possible.  I'll be cruising along, feeling like my legs are moving rather slowly, when all of a sudden I'll realize that I'm completely exhausted.  I think of it as kind of a relaxed agony. And it leads to some interesting workouts.

Take yesterday, for example.  My endurance workout was somewhat shortened due to this upcoming weekends' racing--I was supposed to do 3x3k, the first 3k at warmup pace and the next two at 70%.  A fairly relaxed evening, I thought.

Not.

The first set, at warmup pace, went well--once I got going, all the laps were between 44.2 and 45.3 seconds--a pretty consistent pace.  The next set, the first 70% one, was where things fell apart.  I don't look at my lap times until I'm done with a set, because looking at my stopwatch while skating carries all sorts of risk, so I didn't know my times until I was done.  All I knew was that I started off feeling nice and relaxed, working the NIT, feeling good.  Until lap four, that is, when I suddenly hit the wall.  Completely out of breath, heart pounding, legs heavy.  Ugh, I thought, as I struggled through the last three laps.  What the Hell?  I looked at my final lap time as I finished the last lap, and it was 44.3.  Same range as the first set, so I figured something must have happened...perhaps my heart arrhythmia acting up (I get PVC's that mess me up for a lap or two sometimes). In fact, I was so convinced it must have been PVC's that I headed into the warming house to throw on my heart rate monitor so I could see what was going on (although I have no idea if the monitor would show a higher rate with PVC's--usually I can feel them so there's no doubt).

Once in the warming house, though, I looked at the other lap times. The first one was a 42, which is right about where I wanted the 70% laps.

The second lap was a 40.

Oops.

Turns out I didn't have PVC's, I just went too fast the second lap.  And I didn't do any better the second set--the first 3 laps were 41, 39, and 40.  Then the last 3 were 43, 42, and 44.

Clearly, I need to figure out what it feels like to skate hard when not churning my legs as fast as humanly possible.  I need to learn what level of "relaxed agony" corresponds to what lap time.

Otherwise Sunday's 3K race is not going to be pretty.

Still, it's a fun problem to have...I'm going too fast  at some point in my workout.  Sure, I pay for it a couple laps later, but let me repeat...I'm going too fast at some point in my workout.

Sweet.

Dog-o-Rama

Since I haven't been skating in 5 days, I need to find another way to amuse myself.  My parents' three little ankle-biter dogs (and my dog Keira) did the trick this weekend.

Here are the three...Bronko, the oldest, biggest and mellowest, is a 9-year-old Chihuahua-Jack Russel mix.  Birdee, the black MinPin, is two, and way too smart for her own (and her owners') good.  Belle, the puppy, is a smart, bossy 7-month old MinPin.

I'd fix Belle's red eye, but it's kind of fitting...

They're not always playing.  Here they are, staking their claim to my mom's new recliner...

I'm not sure where my mom plans to sit.

Meanwhile, Keira decides that her own bed, brought 600 miles from home, is no longer acceptable.  Instead, she prefers the "little guys" bed...overhang notwithstanding.

The MinPins are loud and bossy, but they're friendly, too...especially when it gets a little chilly in the house.

Clearly, I won't be going anywhere soon.

The pups love to eat, too.  My mom is chief treat-dispenser.

Notice Belle sneaking in for a freebie while Birdee is getting rewarded for "shake."

Belle sleeping off Thanksgiving dinner with my dad.

Meanwhile, Birdee monitors the Hubster's surfing.

MinPin bookends (only lacking the books)

And finally, I leave you with my favorite picture from the weekend which, if I knew how to caption photos, would be captioned "My Ninja moves...let me show u dem"

(Not to worry--I have three workouts this week and two days of racing next weekend...I'm sure I'll have something skating-related for you soon!)

5 Days Off

I have 5 days off skating for the holiday weekend, because the Hubster (and Keira) and I are visiting my "snowbird" parents in northwestern Arkansas.  There are not a lot of opportunities for skating in northwestern Arkansas.  (I know I could do dryland.  My hip and leg hurt when I do dryland.  So shut up).  My only exercise since Wednesday night has been going for walks with the Hubster, my parents, and our collective four dogs; fending off the "MinPin Avalanche" that greets me every morning when I step out of the spare bedroom at my parents' house; getting up from the table to get more food; and surfing the net.  Couple this with two 10-hour days of driving (you do remember that I get 75 Miles Per PopTart, right?  10 hours of driving equals a lot of PopTarts), and I may need to let out my skinsuit before next week's American Cup races.  Maybe I'll remove the jackets that are hanging from my dad's exercise bike and spin a bit...do some stretches and PT exercises...I suppose I could even risk aggravating my hip/hamstring/back and do a little dryland...

Or I could just eat a couple more cookies.

I Have a Screw Loose

Note: Fellow middle-aged-lady-speedskater and skate blogger Sharon was kind enough to include me in  a series of posts she's doing that feature interviews with a "committed, full-time speedskater" (Kevin Jagger)  , a "totally obsessed but has a day job" skater (me), and a "just starting but soon to be just as nuts as the rest of us" skater (Sharon herself). Check it out, and the rest of Sharon's posts as well...she's very funny and insightful!  And the first post in the interview series, I think, demonstrates nicely something that I might have been told a time or two...I truly don't know when to stop talking.


So.  I have a screw loose.  Well, technically it's a bolt, and technically it's not loose, it's out.  As in "lying on the ice" out.  As in "gosh I hope nobody skates over it and kills themselves" out.  As in "thanks so much, fellow masters skater, for finding my bolt for me and sparing me from a lawsuit" out.

Tonight was night two of the 2011-12 season, and I was looking forward to seeing if my interval times would be any faster this year.  Ever since I started skating my interval times have pretty much been 40 seconds per lap.  Inline or ice, Milwaukee or Roseville--it didn't matter.  I couldn't break that damn 40 average.  And sometimes, in hypo-ville, I couldn't even come close to it.  So I thought that tonight, with my "new and improved" technique, might be interesting.

Before I set out onto the ice, I performed a little skate maintenance.  As I've mentioned here, I tend to be a bit perfunctory in the tighten-that-bolt department, so I figured that, even though I'd just tightened the bolts when I was in Salt Lake, it might be prudent to do it again.  So I tightened all the bolts on my skates.

All the bolts that I knew about, anyway.

And then I went out and skated.  And the first 400's were great--38's and 39's.  Hmm, things are looking up. After my "set rest," I launched into the 600's.  The first one was good--the full lap was a 38--but something about my left skate felt and sounded funny.  "Oh, well," I thought, "I must be pushing funny with my left skate. There can't be anything wrong with it; I just tightened everything."  So I continued on, doing two more of the prescribed four 600's.  They were slower, at 40 and 41 seconds, and my skate was sounding and feeling increasingly funky.  "Maybe I broke a spring," I thought, "after all, nothing else can be wrong; I just tightened everything."  So I looked, but both springs were intact.  But when I grabbed the blade and wiggled it, there was a definite wobble.

"Damn, " I said to anyone who would listen as I clomped unevenly back across the walkway to the warming house, right skate "clapping" robustly with each step, left skate slopping and thumping, "I just tightened these bolts--I don't know how they came loose in less than 15 laps."

Inside the warming house, a fellow master's skater grabbed my left skate and examined it.

"Here's your problem," he said.  "One of these bolts fell out."

What bolts?  Where?  Oh, you mean these two bolts, that hold the front of the blade to the frame?  These two bolts that I've never, in 10 years of skating on clap skates, noticed nor tightened?

Yeah, those.

Unfortunately, even though one friend found the errant bolt on the ice, and two others provided me with the correct tools (I carry tools in my skate bag, but the bolts-I've-never-noticed require a wrench-I-don't-have), I couldn't re-assemble the skate-- skating on a loose bolt had messed up the threads in the blade.  Fortunately, though, Mechanically Inclined Hubster has drilled into me the concept of "if it doesn't turn, for God's sake don't force it," so I didn't make things worse by following my usual "I'll make it fit" approach.

Clearly, there was nothing to do but head home.  So I took a picture of the oval...

...and drove home to present my tale of woe to the Hubster, whose task it would be to fix what I had broken.

Here are my skates, one all forlorn with its unattached bits...

One of these things is not like the other...

The Hubster, while expressing willingness and ability to fix the skate, couldn't help but marvel a bit.  "There are only so many parts to skates," he said, "and I think you've now messed up all of them."

What can I say...I'm an overachiever.

With a screw loose.

It Never Gets Old

Tuesday, November 15, 2011--the first night of the new season at my home oval.  I'm still a little tired from the Salt Lake Camp, but there is no way I'd miss opening night.

As I turn out of the driveway onto the familiar route--30 miles that I travel at least three days a week, ten months of the year--everything seems exciting...the cold air, the starlit sky, my long track skates in the back seat and my skating playlist on the iPod.  By the time I turn onto the freeway 10 miles later, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning--except my Christmas will last until March.  My heart pounds as though I've had three cups of coffee, and it's all I can do not to punch the accelerator and sing along to my iPod at the top of my lungs (I do give in to the latter urge, but resist the former).

Thirty minutes later, when I catch my first glimpse of the oval floodlights and the carefully-placed "windbreak" of evergreens that surround the ice, already wearing their festive Christmas lights, I can't stop grinning.  And it only gets better from there--seeing old friends, being the first one on the ice, discovering that despite the 40 degree temperature I can comfortably skate without socks and despite the 30 mile an hour wind I can still maintain decent lap times.  And then the best part--having two fellow masters skaters come into the warming house at the warmup break and say "Wow!  What's up with the new technique?  You're gliding now!"

November 15, 2011.  Heading home from the first Roseville workout of the year--heater and iPod blasting, legs cold and faintly aching, empty bottle of recovery drink rattling in the cupholder--there's nowhere I'd rather be.  Skating has brought me some of my highest highs and lowest lows; it has made me fit and it has injured me; it has brought me tears of frustration, pain, and joy.  A fellow masters skater said, at camp last week, "skating is what I do, but it isn't who I am."  I understand what he's saying...but I think it goes well beyond "what I do" for me.  It's an addiction, and one that I hope never fades.  I love skating, and I especially love the first night of the season.

It just never gets old.

SLC Camp Day 4

Sunday, Day 4 of the Camp.  Fortunately my legs felt much better on Day 4 than they had on Day 3.  I'm going to credit the ice bath (if you can call a bathtub full of from-the-tap cold water and two motel-room ice-buckets of ice an "ice bath.") on Saturday night. Anyway, I was glad my legs felt better, because I wanted to do a 3k in the end-of-camp time trials.

First, though, I had to get through the 500.  OK, I didn't have to do a 500, but I consider it a vital part of my warmup for longer races.  I really don't like 500's...they're short, but there's still plenty of time to screw up in plenty of ways, and I usually do.  This 500, though, went pretty well--not terribly fast, at 48.3, but  technically probably one of the better ones I've done.  And since this was an informal time trial and thus we could sign up for whichever lane we wanted, I was able to select the coveted (by me, anyway) first inner/last outer starting position, which allows me--by virtue of having the bigger-radius last outer turn in the final corner when I'm going my fastest--to have the best chance possible of executing the corner correctly.  And I did execute it correctly, more or less--at any rate, it wasn't my usual complete disaster of a final-corner-in-the-500, so I counted that as a success.  That final corner is the only place the Salt Lake oval video cameras don't capture you when you're skating, so I was spared a dissection of that part of my race...but the rest of it looked pretty decent to me--for me, anyway--and Derek Parra, who was reviewing everyone's videos, didn't disagree.

So, on to the 3k.  My legs were pretty sore and tired at this point, so I really didn't know what to expect.  Since I had done a 5:02 in the first 3k of my 5k a couple of weeks ago in Milwaukee, and Milwaukee is at least a second per lap slower than Salt Lake, I figured that, to be conservative, I'd tell myself to be happy with anything under a 5:00.  I've only ever done one 3k over 5:00 in Salt Lake, at a very disastrous (possibly because of undiagnosed hypothyroidism) Masters meet in January of 2010.  So I figured that, even with the preceding 3-day's worth of hard workouts, a sub 5:00 should be pretty much a certainty.

Not so.

The 3k turned out to be an exact clone of both the disastrous 3k of January 2010 and the disastrous 5k of March 2011...starting out OK, then within a lap or two quickly segueing from painful to excruciating to I-can-barely-put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, when-will-this-nightmare-end.  Together, these three races--my most recent three in Salt Lake--make up the total of my most disappointing, most excruciating, most frustrating, most confusing races of all time.  If all my long distance races felt like these three, I'd become a sprinter faster than you can say "I love the 500."

As I coasted past Derek on the backstretch, where he had remained, after starting the race, to yell encouragement to me and my pair (who skated a fantastic race), I responded to his "nice job" with "man that sucked!  I think the first 3k of my 5k in Milwaukee was faster than that."

And, when I checked the times--indeed, it almost had been.  My time was 5:01...so I had now skated over 5:00 twice in Salt Lake.

Disappointing, to be sure, and baffling as well.  When Derek went over the video with me, I really didn't see much more wrong than usual.  Sure, I couldn't get my hip into the corner and my straights were a bit, um, high tempo--but nothing out of the ordinary for me; in fact, my technique in this race looked better than what I had done in 3k's in Milwaukee last year--3k's that were significantly faster than this one.  So despite how horrible this race felt and how slow the time was, I can't blame it on technique implosion.

So I'm not sure what to think.  Could be just coincidence that my last 3 Salt Lake races have been my worst 3 races ever; there certainly could be 3 different causes (undiagnosed hypothyroidism, length of time at high altitude, fatigue from the camp) for the 3 disasters.  But they all felt horrible in exactly the same way.  I don't know...maybe sucky races all suck the same.  Or maybe there's something else going on..

But, whatever.  I'm going to follow the advice of Coach TieGuy and the sports psychologist--focus on the positive.  I had two fantastic races in Milwaukee so far this season, and tomorrow night is the first night of practice on my home oval.

That's all I need to think about.

SLC Masters Camp--Days 2 and 3

OK, today I'm going to have to abandon my usual attempt to be witty or to at least have a coherent focus for my blog entry...because I'm just too tired.  (What?  You haven't noticed that I usually try to be witty and/or have a coherent focus?  Well, then, today's entry will just seem like business as usual to you!) .  So instead, I'll just try to hit the high points of the past 2 days.

Yesterday, Day 2 of the camp, didn't get its own entry because after 2 ice workouts and one dryland workout  in one day, I was too tired when I got back to the motel to do anything but eat some granola bars, call the Hubster, and fall into bed.  Day 2 was a lot of fun, though--I managed to surprise myself by doing pretty well on some skating drills (I discovered I can now do a one-legged squat when gliding on my skate...I've never been able to do that before).  So I felt better about the drill portion of the ice workouts.  And then...we got to skate.  Six minutes of skating, focusing on the things we'd learned.  I think I smiled the whole six minutes.  And then we got to do it again...but this time I only smiled for the first 4 minutes, because after that my legs were so tired it was all I could do to keep skating.  But still, it was fun, and after we got done skating I got a comment that made my day; Marian, one of the assistant coaches (who I've skated with in masters meets, so she's seen my "bunny on crack" technique before), told me that my skating is very different from what it was a year ago.

In a good way.

So that was nice.

Day 3 started painfully.  My legs and low back were not happy with what they'd endured for the previous two days, and were letting me know their displeasure in no uncertain terms.  Fortunately today's first workout was on-ice...it's a lot easier to ignore pain when you're having fun skating than when you're slogging through dryland.  And today, I finally figured out (OK, someone else figured out for me) my problem with corner entries.

After some fast 500's, I told Derek that I was still blowing every corner entry at high speed (as I did in my 500 and 1000 meter time trials in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago).

"That's because your hip is out in the corner," he said, and proceeded to demonstrate while I skated behind him.

So I tried doing what he had done, and lo and behold...I could enter the corner without losing speed, and I could actually lean in the corner.

Now, I'm quite certain that Coach TieGuy has mentioned, once or a thousand times twice, that I should get my hip into the corner.  Why I could do it this time but not before I don't know...but I do think that I've got more balance and maybe a bit more body awareness this year than I had before, which is enabling me to do things differently on skates than I've been able to before.  And I'm sure I'll continue to blow corner entries at speed for a while, but at least now I've felt what it's supposed to feel like a couple of times, and now I can pursue that feeling every time I skate.

After our workout in the morning, we had an interesting lecture from a Sports Psychologist. There wasn't a whole lot of new information for me, because TieGuy is well-versed in the mental side of skating (and apparently needs to be, because, as he often tells me, many of my skating problems originate between my ears). So I've been doing visualizations and relaxation exercises and banishing negative self-talk for several years.  Still, it was an interesting talk, and Derek Parra told several related stories that had us riveted--he's a very entertaining speaker and his passion for the sport comes through loud and clear when he talks.

This afternoon was slideboard, which was fortunately not too intensive of a workout but more an opportunity to work on our slideboard technique.  And tomorrow, the last day of the camp, we get to do time trials.  I really want to do a 3k, despite how trashed my legs are, because, well, 3k's (and 5k's, but I don't think I have one of those in my legs this weekend) are kind of my thing.  So we'll see.  Just in case I do a distance event tomorrow, I've sucked it up and made myself carbo load tonight--pizza, a couple of PopTarts, and a few Reese's Pieces.  Just another one of the many sacrifices we make for our sport...

And now, time to visualize a few high-speed corners, try to convince myself that an ice bath would be helpful for my aching legs, and to rest up for one more day of fun on the fast ice.

SLC Masters Camp--Day 1

Random thoughts after the first day of the Masters camp in Salt Lake City:

• The TSA is now happy to allow you to carry on your speedskates--complete with their 16.5-inch blades, honed to surgical-scalpel sharpness.  They will not, however, allow you to carry on your mini-Leatherman's tool with its dull 1.5 inch blade.
• Subaru Imprezas (my car back home is an older Impreza) now have automatic transmissions with the stupid "I want to pretend I'm driving a manual, without having to use a clutch" option.  If you do not know this and accidentally shift into this mode instead of into "Drive," you will be baffled as to why your "automatic transmission" vehicle suddenly appears to be in need of a shift as you accelerate down the road leaving the airport.  Fortunately, if you paw blindly at the shifter, you are likely to accidentally push it into the much-needed higher gear, thus averting disaster and allowing you to complete the rest of the drive to your hotel (prodding the shifter whenever the engine begins redlining)--although still none the wiser as to how to get out of this mode, or indeed, whether it's even possible to get out of this mode.  Acquiring this vital knowledge will require a phone call home to car expert Hubster, and a quick perusal of the Impreza owner's manual.
• When you're using your Garmin "Nuvi" GPS, and you're ignoring Nuvi's directions because you "kind of know where you're going" and don't like what she's telling you, after the third or fourth time you disregard her direction you might expect to hear a hint of exasperation in her voice, perhaps even a "bitch, if you're just going to ignore me anyway, why did you turn me on?"  But no--Nuvi will continue to deliver her "ReCALculating" in the same calm, patient tone.  Nuvi is obviously not a perimenopausal woman.

OK, on to skating!  On Thursday, we had a skating session and a dryland session.  Here are some observations from Thursday:

• It is apparently possible to become quite fatigued and out of breath when doing static on-ice skating drills (gliding on two feet in proper skating position, etc.).  I was amazed to discover that I was breathing hard after doing two laps of pretty much not moving any body parts.
• I was not amazed, although nonetheless unhappy, to discover that, while I apparently assume and hold the skating position just fine when not moving, as soon as I try to move a body part things go to heck.  In fact, I somehow managed to do the first "moving" drill completely backwards (pushing with the wrong leg) for  four laps before realizing what I was doing (the fact that every other skater in the camp had cruised past me like I was standing still in the course of those four laps was my first clue).
• Derek Parra and his able assistants Robert, Josh, and Marian are doing a fantastic job of explaining the intricacies of long track skating.  However, I am continuing to experience the same malady I've experienced with Coach TieGuy over the past 5 years--the almost-complete inability to process information about physical skills.  I watch, I listen, I pay very close attention--and it all goes in one ear and out the other with no understanding taking place in between.  I think this goes a long way towards explaining my lengthy quest to conquer the finer basic points of long track technique (and it also highlights the fact that Coach TieGuy has patience unrivaled even by Nuvi).
• When you take a bunch of old skaters, work them hard, then put them in a warm room and feed them a very good lunch, you risk having many of them fall asleep during the subsequent lecture on nutrition.  I'm afraid we didn't give the presenters quite the undivided attention they deserved. (Although we did manage to focus quite nicely on the carrot-cake bars.)
• No matter how well you think you may have mastered the technique of a dryland drill, the video camera will prove otherwise!

All in all, it was a great first day.  I'm pleased that I'm not too sore today (actually, my neck is the most sore, thanks to the, as Hubster calls them, NeckJackerSpecial pillows in my motel room).  I was cautious in executing the jump-type dryland exercises yesterday because of my low back/hip/hamstring issues, but all prone-to-injury body parts feel pretty good this morning.  Today we have two ice sessions and one dryland session, though, so that status may very well change by tomorrow morning...

And now, off for another day of fun!

I'm Going to Camp

The long track life has been a bit quiet, workout-wise, this past week.  I've been simultaneously resting on my laurels recovering from my 5k and hard workout last weekend in Milwaukee, and resting up for my upcoming four days of fun--on Wednesday, I'm flying to Salt Lake City for a Masters Skating Camp led by Olympic Gold Medal winner Derek Parra.

I've been to one masters skating camp before, at Calgary back in 1995.  My main memory of that event is that, while it was a lot of fun, it was also insanely hard (and I was only in my early 30's at the time!).  We had two dryland and two ice workouts a day, for, if I remember right, 5 or 6 days.  Of course, few of us had done any dryland before the camp and thus we were immediately plunged into that lovely "my ass and legs are on fire" post-first-dryland state, where we remained for the rest of the camp.  Compound the issue by adding more workouts every, oh, four hours, and we were hurting units by the time we got back on the plane.  I remember that, when we were out at a restaurant in the evening and a group of us women would head to the bathroom, we would fight over who got the handicapped stall--you know, the one with the higher toilet and grab bars, to make standing up easier.

I'm hoping that this camp will be more focused on learning how to do dryland exercises properly and on improving our skating technique, rather than just putting us through nasty workouts.  Coach TieGuy puts me through plenty of nasty workouts as it is.  Basically, I'm hoping to have fun spending a long weekend with some other obsessed old skaters, get some time on fast ice, and hopefully learn a few things (Coach TieGuy, of course, has taught me pretty much everything I know...but I'm a slow learner, and sometimes someone will say something that you've heard a thousand times, but will say it in a different way--and it will suddenly sink in.  In particular, I'm hoping that a way to avoid freaking out when I hit a corner at 500 or 1000 speed will sink in...but I digress...) .

So...time to sharpen the skates, do some laundry, and pack.  I'll try to do a few updates from the camp, if I have time and energy!