photo by Steve Penland

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Of Thyroids and Rookies and Brave/Crazy Friends

Skating Mid-Life Crisis (see my previous post) notwithstanding, it's been a pretty good weekend of skating here.  Note that I didn't say "a good weekend of workouts," because I don't think that it would be technically accurate to refer to what I did yesterday and today as "workouts."  There was skating, but it was laid-back, unstructured, and generally non-strenuous. Clearly NOT my usual "workout."

Yesterday turned out to be another bump (hill?) in the thyroid-med-adjustment road.  I had realized, during work on Friday, that I was once again feeling the "dang, I'm overmedicated" symptoms.  So I had cut back on the fast-acting med on Friday and again on Saturday, but clearly my body had not gotten the message by the time I skated Saturday afternoon. Alternating one lap "up" (standing up and basically coasting) with one lap "down" (down in correct skating position and attempting correct technique but not aiming for a specific time) produced a max heart rate of 190.  This is probably 30 beats per minute above what I'd expect, and that, coupled with my weak, shaky legs, confirmed that I was, indeed, overmedicated.  Hmm, let's see, that makes 6, yes, 6 times I've adjusted the fast-acting thyroid med since the slower-acting med was adjusted August 1.  I'm definitely feeling like Goldilocks again here, except that when I do land on a "just right" (as I did, fortunately, for the North Shore Inline Marathon last month), it doesn't stay "just right" for long.  Sigh.  Back to the drawing board.  Anyone know a good endocrinologist who understands athletes?

Today, I met my friend Mel at the oval for some dryland.  It's the last day the oval is open for the inline season; it will reopen for ice on November 9.  So even though I'm really not feeling the "workout" thing, I figured it would be fun to see Mel, do a few laps by myself, and then do some dryland with her. I'm going to the Master's Long Track Skating Camp in Salt Lake City in less than two weeks, so I really need to do a little dryland before then if I want to avoid the dreaded "first dryland in a long time" pain marring my four days of camp.

When Mel and I got there, she met up with a family that had contacted her about long track skating.  They live several hours from the metro area, but their daughter loves to skate and is interested in long track skating so they had arranged to meet Mel at the oval.  The daughter had brought her inlines, so Mel convinced her to go out on the track and try them. It's always fun talking to new skating enthusiasts; it makes me remember how excited I was when I first started, and even though I'm not the best at figuring out what advice to give new skaters, I always enjoy trying to help them out a bit and supporting their interest.  So I wasn't paying much attention to what else was going on as Mel and I talked to the new skater and I put my skates on.

Then, as I walked down the steps to the oval, someone on skates came flying down the ramp on my left.  Momentarily confused, I wondered "who is that other skater, and why didn't I see him/her before?"  My next thought was "hey, she's wearing the same jacket as Mel."  Then, of course, I realized: Mel was back on her skates for the first time since her crash!  I wasn't sure whether to cheer at her bravery or to question her sanity for taking chances, given that her jaw is still wired shut and all.

I went with the cheering.

So Mel and I skated, alternating a lap "down" here and there with talking to the new skater and giving her (hopefully helpful and not too much!) advice. It was fun, and despite the 35 degree temperature, a beautiful day.  My heart rate for the "down" laps had dropped to 177, so that was a positive sign.

All in all, a nice final day of the oval inline season.

3 comments:

  1. and I didn't regret it one bit! ;) I knew that skating with you for the "season finale" would be, to borrow from the Goldilocks theme, "just right." (or am I getting my fairy-tale characters confused? lol) :) And thanks so much for all the useful advice for a beginner skater... I think you are really a great learn-to-skate coach!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nope, you're right, that's Goldilocks! Glad it went well; it's great that you could get out there before the season ended. As for the useful advice...I hope I didn't talk too much...I tend to get going in those situations! If I get too wordy, just tell me to shut up! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh! *That* Melissa! Just figured out from a facebook post...between the people I can't recognize in a skinsuit (everyone looks the same with the hood up) and the people I can only recognize in their distinctive skin, I'm always confused.... She's awesome!

    ReplyDelete