Random Stuff

I have a couple minutes to do a blog post on what is normally a skating night.  It's so cold (-25 windchill) that the oval is closed tonight, but even if it were open I wouldn't be out there.  Not because of the cold--last night's 2 degree workout was delightful--but because I'm doing my best get as much "taper" (that's athlete talk for "I'm sitting on the couch tonight") as possible before Saturday's 10K.

Yes, I caved to peer pressure-Mel and Sprinter Boy are not only fast, they're persuasive--and signed up for a 10K time trial in Milwaukee next Saturday.  And also for a 500 and a 1000 on Sunday, although I'm not sure what possessed me to do that since I'll be lucky to be walking, let alone skating, on Sunday.  Since I survived a 10K workout and a 15-lap mass start race in the past two weeks I figured I have at least an even chance of finishing the 10K, but I certainly will need all the help I can get and so last night was a short workout, tonight is no workout, and tomorrow is another extremely short skate.

Then it's down to Milwaukee to meet my doom experience my first (and likely only) 10K.

On a completely unrelated note, I should mention that I've started a masters (i.e., "old folks") speedskating club here in Minnesota.  Thanks to Inliner Boy's talent, we've got a really cool website at mnmastersspeedskating.com ; come check it out!  We've also got an open FB group "Minnesota Masters Speedskating" for anyone who wants to communicate with us.  Skating is absolutely the coolest sport there is (on a night like tonight it's downright cold!), and I'm hoping to help more people experience the joy of long track.  So if you're anywhere near Minnesota and want to skate...now you know how to get started!