Pinnacle of Skating Season: North Shore Inline Marathon

I have not been skating much this summer, like last summer. Last year I developed plantar fasciitis which meant my feet were in extreme pain for two days after skating. This year, my feet are a bit better, but still not great.

I've only been out on my skates a few times this summer. I did the Minnesota Half marathon the first weekend in August, and it was exhilarating. I had forgotten how awesome it feels to skate on an open road, without having to worry about bikers or others on the trail. Before I knew it I was at mile-marker 7; I couldn't believe the race was halfway over! I finished in a little over an hour and was surprised at how quickly it had gone by.

That weekend I signed up for the North Shore Inline Marathon, six weeks after my half marathon.

I only got on my skates once more between the half and the full marathon. I was not well-trained, but I didn't really care, I wasn't going for a certain time, I was going for the thrill of it. Kristi and the girls came up with me for support; my own cheering section!

The thrilled started a little early. The drive up Friday night was awful. About 20 miles outside of Duluth we hit fog that got thicker and thicker. Soon I was peering straight in front of the car, hoping to not lose sight of the lines on the road. There was no exiting the highway because I couldn't see where the pavement began or ended, and could not tell if other cars were nearby. That was not the kind of thrill I was hoping for. We made it safely to the hotel, nearly 1 1/2 hours after we should have arrived.

The morning of the marathon looked no better. We drove to the shuttle pick-up in dense fog. Once there, it began to pour. Lots of skaters were consulting with others on whether or not they were going to do the race. I had braved such terrible driving to go there, there was no way I wasn't going to try. I figured that unless they canceled the race, which they would only do for lightning, I was going to skate it.

By the time the bus got to the start line the rain had stopped, the fog lifted and there was no discernible wind. The pavement was wet but in good condition. Road improvements over the past year meant that the majority of the 26.2 miles was on smooth pavement -- no cracks or "tar snakes" to gum up wheels. Due to the wet pavement course marshalls were recommending no drafting, making what is usually a very social event one of solitude instead.

The first two miles are almost completely downhill. It felt wonderful to just tuck and go. The storm had churned up Lake Superior, which was visible to my left, angry and gray.

I had forgotten that for much of the course, skaters have to climb up and then the terrain flattens out, then climbs again. There's no coasting downhill for several miles. And then there was mile 11, a long, slow downhill, curving gently to the right.

The lake was practically in front of me as I began, sounding like an ocean in the crashing of its waves. I tucked low and began down the hill, gaining speed. Faster and faster, until I checked my watch and saw that I was going 24 mph. Cool air, crashing waves and speed=exhilaration.

The rest of the race felt wonderful until about mile 21, when my lack of training became apparent. I felt like I was using every last bit of strength and was moving in molasses. There are a couple of big hills near the end when we get off the interstate -- a volunteer walking along the side of the race course was going faster than me. How embarrassing.

Finally, the finish line! Kristi and the girls were cheering me on and I couldn't let them down. I completed the race in 1 hr 57 minutes, beating my goal of 2 hours by a few minutes. It was such a wonderful feeling, knowing I had made it through the sludge of the last few miles to finish with gusto.

I've already signed up for next year's marathon. This time, I'm going to train for it.

Just minutes after finishing. So great to see my cheer team at the end (including the one behind the camera).

Skating in the Rain

Skating marathons are few and far between, so when they happen I prefer that we have good weather.

Not this stuff.

The Apostle Island Inline Marathon was this past weekend, and we had quite the girls' weekend planned. My skating friends Mary and Megan and my sister Kristi were all carpooling together to Ashland, Wisconsin, and the three of us were going to skate it while Kristi spectated.

The forecast called for 100% chance of rain by the start of the marathon, and didn't waver from that every time I checked it during the week.

Sure enough, as we stepped off the ferry onto the island, the first few drops began. And then it started coming down steadily. At one point it was a complete downpour and I watched the rain pool on the road into long, shallow puddles. The pros were gliding up and down the practice course getting used to the pavement, and I thought they were crazy.

I have never skated in wet conditions. The few times I've encountered a puddle on my path my skate has always taken a heart-stopping slip. Mary and Megan convinced me to at least start. After all, the course was three loops, I could always peel off after 8.7 miles and call it a day.

My friend Mary had trained hard for this -- she was hoping for a new PR, beating her old time of 1:38. But with the conditions being what they were, she had to re-adjust her goal. We decided to have a collective goal: 1) Stay safe 2) Stay together 3) Have fun. And so we took off with the rest of the pro/advanced women.

By the end of the second mile my feet were swimming in lakes in my skates; I think each skate weighed 3 or 4 pounds more from the water collected in them. I grumbled, I considered, I thought about peeling off after a single loop.

And then I thought about how amazing it would be to skate a marathon in the pouring rain. How many people can say they've done that? How many people would think that was the absolutely craziest thing they've ever heard?

Once I committed to skating the whole thing, my outlook changed, my energy changed, and I was all in.

It went from being disappointing to being exhilarating.

We accomplished our goals: We stayed safe. We stayed together. We all had a blast.

We did it!

Grit and dirt everywhere.

The rain let up about half an hour after we were done. We had to stick around for the award ceremony as I had taken 2nd in my division, though I really share that with Megan, who was 7/10th of a second behind me. Mary pointed out that if we had registered in the open/recreational skate all of us would have placed.

In three years of doing this marathon I still have never seen the sun from Madeline Island, but I can guarantee you we'll be back next year.

There's This Thing Called Ignite

Most people I know have watched at least a few Ted Talks, wherever they would have been recorded. They are usually 18 to 25 minutes in length, and can cover any number of topics. The ones I've seen are really powerful and often moving.

There's also a format called Ignite which is much shorter, but less forgiving. Ignite talks are only 5 minutes long; each speaker provides 20 slides which automatically advance every 15 seconds, whether or not the speaker is ready for the next graphic. So while shorter, they require more planning, less extemporaneous speaking, and really, really good graphics.

The event takes place in a theatre in Minneapolis to a live audience of 600 people and is live streamed to hundreds online. Tickets go fast -- the first wave of tickets sold out in less than a minute. Audience members are encouraged to tweet throughout -- the Twitter handle of every speaker is given at the beginning of their talk, and social media is a big component of the event.

I've gone to a few IgniteMpls talks and have enjoyed the variety of topics and the bravery of those who have given them. I've also seen how forgiving the audience is. A few haven't gone off as planned, and the audience has been nothing but encouraging and supportive, which is pretty impressive considering how nasty people can get on Twitter.

After attending my first, I thought I could see myself up there. But what topic? Well, if the theme of the event is "pick your passion," then I know exactly what I'd talk about: inline skating.

It's my passion, it's something most people don't even know exists, and there are tons of different ways to go with it as a subject.

I had submitted that topic for IgniteMpls last fall and it wasn't accepted. However, I re-submitted it for the spring event and it was accepted.

Gulp.

I spent the next few weeks working on the outline, writing, re-writing, getting graphics help, revising graphics, and practicing practicing practicing.

The night of the big event arrived. I had invited my friends to attend, and they turned out in full force -- 10 in all. I was so grateful and appreciative of their support. Wayne and I had special VIP seating for speakers, while everyone else found seats elsewhere.

Eeek!

It was such a trip to see my photo on the speaker placard in the lobby. Sure, I've spoken at industry conferences before, but never to a crowd this big, or had my talk recorded, produced and put on YouTube for all to see and judge for years to come.

It was supposed to be funny, would they find it funny? My friends promised to laugh if no one else did, so there was that.

I was third from last in the line up, which meant that while I enjoyed the talks before mine, I was also nervously awaiting my turn. I most feared that the talk before mine would be incredibly emotional and that I would need time to compose myself before taking the stage. Luckily the one before mine was funny and sweet, so I took to the stage with confidence.

People laughed when they were supposed to laugh, which was a great sign. I had great feedback via Twitter, which was also cool.

When I was done I sat down in my seat and got a text from our babysitter who had let the girls stay up and watch it online. "Way to go!" it said, "They loved it!" Whew, I'm glad I edited the "f" word out of my talk.

Friends make trying new things less scary.

The next day I got an email from the organizer thanking me for speaking, that my talk was fun and engaging and I would be welcome to submit a talk again anytime. Maybe he wrote that to everyone, but I'll take the invitation as a compliment.

Hmmm....next topic?

Overheard at the Inline Marathon

This past weekend I skated the North Shore Inline Marathon, my fourth or fifth year (I've lost count). And unless you know the sport of inline skating, there are lots of things you can overhear at a marathon that you might take the wrong way. Things like...

"You're so big, I could draft behind you forever."

"Want me to pull?"

"Did you squib the whole race? Oh man, that's embarrassing."

"Who wants to pull now? I'm beat."

"If you can't keep up the pace you should fall back."

"She's like a locomotion, get behind that engine."

"He's great at breaking wind."

I heard all (except the squibbing comment) just today.

Put in context:

Drafting in inline skating is just like drafting in biking: someone takes the lead and others fall behind, benefiting from the leader taking on the wind resistance. The person in the lead is called the "puller." If a person drafts the entire race and is never the puller, s/he is called a "squib." It's not cool to be a squib.

I am always faster in races than I am skating alone because of drafting. And, if you are built like me, I benefit from drafting behind tall, broad-shouldered skaters, usually guys. Even if I take the lead, they never get the benefit of drafting the way I do, because I can tuck behind them and be invisible to the wind. They never get that break when they draft off my 5'6" frame.

I ended up skating the majority of this race with a guy named Chris from Superior, WI. He is tall and broad-shouldered, and we both were skating about the same pace. We tried to get in with other drafting lines, and a couple of times other people drafted off of us, but for most of the race, until mile 24, we were together, taking turns being the puller.

Which was when I made the first comment I wrote. Yep, I actually said that to a man I do not know. And neither of us laughed, we totally took it in context.

We skated together from probably mile 4 or 5 all the way to mile 24, where the pavement gets really sketchy and drafting lines break apart for safety reasons. Last year I saw three people bite it because they were drafting on this part of the course and the girl in front went down, taking the two who were right behind on with her. Not a pretty sight.

Even though I skated with Chris the majority of the race I couldn't find him at the finish line, because I didn't know what his face looked like -- I never once saw the front of him. He was wearing a North Shore marathon shirt from several years before which many skaters were wearing, and I had no idea how tall he was when he wasn't tucked over or on skates.  If he'd put his helmet on turned away from me, I probably would have recognized his neck hairline.

Last year a friend of mine saw a t-shirt at the race which read (on the back) "Do my muscles make my butt look big?" Which is totally funny to us skaters, who spend the majority of races looking at other people's backs and asses.

For posterity, so I remember next year what I did.

My fastest mile was the first one of the race, which is all downhill. Before I knew it I had passed the one-mile marker. Turns out I skated that mile in 3 minutes and 18 seconds. My top speed of the race was going down a hill near the end of the race when I reached 25 mph. Such a rush. I'm going to have to do this one again.


This year Wayne decided to run the half marathon that starts at 7 a.m. He beat his goal time and had a great race. He loved it so much that our friend Junal, who lives in Duluth, has already decided to join him in the half next year. Because seriously, who wouldn't get up at 4:30 a.m. when this is what you get to see and you get to run or skate alongside of this for 13.1 miles?

NorthShore Inline Marathon

I've been busy. That's what happens when you prioritize fitness over non-fitness activities.

But this weekend was a big one, the NorthShore Inline Marathon, THE skating event for me. It's a full 26.2 marathon, along the same course of Grandma's marathon, from Two Harbors to Duluth, MN, with a view of Lake Superior for much of the race.

Last year was my first time skating it, and I completed in 1:58, beating the time I thought I would get by a good 20 minutes. I met a lot of good people, learned a lot about skating, equipment and the efficiency of drafting.

Conditions were ideal this year. Last year it was 29 degrees at the start and only warmed to 45 degrees by the finish. I had to buy lined tights at the expo the night before because I knew I would freeze if I wasn't properly dressed for the weather. It took a long time for muscles to warm up to get up to speed.

This year it was a nice 50-something degrees at the start and 65 at the end, with very little wind. I wasn't cold, and I never felt hot. It was perfect.

I had hoped to skate with a friend I had made at the Minnesota Half marathon a month ago, but she was put into a different wave than I and would be starting about 4 minutes ahead of me. We were very similarly paced and had drafted well previously, but it wasn't meant to be this year.

Despite not having anyone to start out with, I was amazed at the community and camaraderie that exists between skaters. Around mile 3 two women who were drafting skated past and asked, "Would you like to join us?" Why sure! I'll happily draft with a group.

They passed a few more skaters and asked, "Would you like to join us?" and pretty soon we had a drafting line of between 12 and 15 skaters, men and women alike, but women were always in the lead. (Girl power!)

One woman led the line for about 4 miles, keeping a consistent speed up the hills and flying down the hills. Those of us in the drafting line kept encouraging her -- "You're keeping a great pace! Keep it up!"  Finally she was tired and fell back, to have someone else take the lead. I took the lead for about 3 miles or so, and it was a blast. Everyone was incredibly encouraging and very smart. No one took unnecessary risks and if they were speeding along too quickly they would pull out of line rather than risk falling and taking down the rest of the drafting line with them.

I stayed with this group from mile 3 to about mile 21, when I caught up to my friend who'd been in the wave ahead of me. Then she joined our group (or we joined hers, depending on your point of view), and we finished close to each other.

I completed the marathon in 1:35:08, or about 23 minutes faster than my time last year. Hmmm...maybe if I set my goal for 1:35 next year, I'll beat it again by 20 minutes? That seems to be the pattern.

Photo near the finish.

More than anything, I had an absolute ball. It was over far too soon.

Fitness Challenge: Week Six

It isn't all daisies and roses, is it? Or should I say, push-ups and dumbbells?

I have to admit, my week six of my fitness challenge looks an awful lot like life before I ever started the fitness challenge. Sure, I did one "Insanity:Asylum" workout. Sure, I got up a couple of mornings and got 10 miles of skating in. But that's only one workout more than I used to do before I did this fitness challenge.

The one constant has been my Shakeology shakes for lunch, but otherwise, I completely and utterly fell off the wagon this week.

And guess what: it happens.

What I've learned from this challenge group is that any effort is more than no effort. We all could spend our time berating ourselves for indulging in ice cream, or choosing to sleep in instead of working out. Or, we could just put it behind us and commit to do better tomorrow.

Because that's all any of us have, isn't it -- tomorrow.

That friend I was writing about that I met at the Minnesota Half marathon? She and I have been in touch and she is looking to set a PR at the North Shore Inline Marathon this fall, and wants to skate with me to make it happen. Her PR though, is a whole 20 minutes faster than my marathon last year. Do you know how much faster you have to go to make up 20 minutes in a marathon?

A lot. That's the most I can quantify it without having a calculator handy.

So now I have a new motivation. She and I are going to get together to train a couple of times, and she's recommended a place that has inline skating lessons for people like me who know how to stand upright and know how to stop, just need some pointers on technique.

I've got five more weeks to make it happen. As Tim Gunn would say, "Make it count."

Fitness Challenge, Week 5: The Race

So like I was telling you before I was rudely interrupted by a Shakeology commercial break, fitness is absolutely no fun at all.

Nope, not having a good time. None whatsoever.

On Saturday I skated the duathlon as a part of the Minnesota Half Marathon event. I skated 13.1 miles, followed by a 2.8 mile run. (I thought it was a full 5k, but the way the course laid out it was only 2.8 miles.)

This was my first race on my new skates -- it's the day after the race and I still have a swollen bump on my left foot where the skate wasn't quite right. But still, I managed to pull off a PR on the half marathon portion, finishing in 55 minutes 18 seconds, or about 14 mph. The woman in the photo above is someone I met at the starting line and we skated most of the race together, drafting back and forth until I lost her the last couple of miles. We exchanged contact info and hopefully will get together to train for the NorthShore Inline marathon, which we're both doing this fall.

At one point in the race the course does a 180-degree turn, and the hills you just went up become the hills you go down. We had just climbed a long hill when we got to the turn, and promptly got to go back down that same hill. As we were chugging our way up, a long train of people drafting were coming down it on the other side. Over the sounds of people clapping and volunteers warning of the turn, I heard a person who was already on the downhill side let out a "YEEEEE HAWWWW!"

And that pretty much sums it up.

Going that fast on skates is thrilling. I was grinning the whole way down, and the momentum from the downhills would push me through the uphills.

Seriously, why isn't this sport more popular?!

The challenge was in transitioning to the run. My dear friend Gianna was there to cheer me on, and I took the transition as an opportunity to take a short break, catch my breath and grab a quick bite since I could feel my body craving fuel. Others came in and out of the transition area while I was still there and when I finally headed out on the run my legs were Jell-o. "What have I gotten myself into?" I thought to myself. And the funny part is, running felt so SLOW after skating, that I found myself speeding past all the half-marathoners who were out on the course. After a while I realized I was running at an unsustainable pace (for me), so I slowed it down. But still, I finished at a 10-min pace, faster than I've ever run any other 5k.

This after skating a half marathon. Which only goes to show you -- it's all mental.

I finished with another duathlon completer, and we exchanged congratulations. Then he said to me, "Man, it's hot out there when you're running! I don't know how those runners do a half marathon like that." And this was on a relatively cool day, compared to the prior year.

Which tells me that the grass is always greener on the other skate. Or something like that.

A few minutes after finishing. I am sweaty but happy!

After a shirt change and meeting Wayne after his finish.

To sum it up, I had a ball, I made a new friend, and I beat my husband by 2 minutes in skating a half and then running 2.8 miles, including an unusually long transition time. (I'll know better next year!) And he ran a damn good half-marathon, finished in 1:32. I got to see him finish his race as well, which was also awesome.

We ended the adventure with a lunch out with other members of the Minnesota Running Wild team, which was, like the rest of the day, not enjoyable in the least.

All before 10 o'clock in the morning.

Like I said, fitness is not fun.

Geeking Out With Inline Skates

They are finally here. My skates. You know, inline skates? Oh don't think of those things you wore in the 90's. Those clunky black things that weighed 10 pounds each, with the neon laces that you had to tie halfway up your calf to put on?

Not those.

Circa 1988. My friend still uses these. She books it, too.

These are Bonts, the ones the pros wear. Oh, you didn't know that inline skating was a pro sport? Well, it is, thank you. Not that I'm a pro, but I like to think of myself as a pretty good skater. At last year's  inline marathon I realized that moreso than in other sports, equipment matters. You can go faster with better equipment, even if you never train. Add the training factor and look out, you've got yourself one fast skater.

I've always loved skating from my very first pair of quads, the term us skating geeks call traditional skates that were around before inline skates were invented. I used to skate up and down our driveway and all around on the sidewalks, and in the winter I would skate all around our ping pong table in our unfinished basement. You can picture me, right? Long hair in ponytails, glasses (just to confirm the geekdom here), all elbows and knees with skinny legs in between? Yep, that was me.

As a newlywed in 1995 I bought my first pair of inline skates. I remember going skating for what was probably a little under a mile and paying for it the next two days with burning legs that refused to go up and down stairs. But I strapped them back on the next weekend and the next weekend, and used those things for 10 years, through four houses and two babies, countless wheels and a multitude of bearings.

After baby #2 was born in 2005, I treated myself to a new pair and retired my old ones after 10 years of service. The new ones were amazingly light, faster, and much easier to put on. In the early years I would circle Lake Harriet twice in 50 minutes and it wiped me out. I wished I had the stamina to go farther, because I loved the feeling of speed, being outdoors, and enjoying the ride.

Seven years later so much has changed, but still not the skates.

I am still skating on that second pair from 2005, but now I'll cover 10 miles in 50 minutes, or hit the greenway and get 14 or 16 miles in. Last year I competed in my first inline marathon, and finished in 1:58, or an average speed of 13 mph.

It was time to change the skates.

Come to mama!

I finally invested in some equipment, buying Bont semi-race boots with 100mm wheels. The jump from 84mm to 100mm is dramatic -- most skaters take the in-between step of 90mm wheels to get acquainted. (FYI, basic physics here: the larger the wheel the less energy it takes to get it spinning and the more distance it covers with each rotation.) I decided that I probably should've spent the last two years skating on 90mm, so I was going to take the big leap.

Another skating geek factoid: racing skates do not have much padding in them because the more padding there is the more your energy is absorbed by the padding and not transferred to the wheels. The less padding, the more of your physical energy transfers to your wheels, increasing acceleration. Also, the lower the boot the more you can bend your leg, lowering your center of gravity. The lower your center of gravity, the more aerodynamic you are and the faster you go.

Can you tell this is all about speed? And people say I can't do science...hmph!

The skates have a hard outer shell, and they have to be heated to 180 degrees for 10 minutes before you  slip them on. Once you lace them up, they mold to your feet and re-harden in that shape.

I picked them up tonight, and seriously, it's like Christmas in July. I do not remember a time when I was so excited for a material purchase. When I got the call today that they were in, do you think I could wait until the next day to pick them up? Of course not! So after dinner off I went to get them fitted and bring those babies home.

If you've made it to the end of this post, I have to applaud you and award you the inline skating geek fan award. I'll give it to you next time I see you. You'll be at the Minnesota Inline Half Marathon, right?

My Fitness Challenge Inspiration

So why a fitness challenge? Why me?

My co-workers will tell you they already think I'm crazy. On Monday mornings when people ask "How was your weekend?" I talk about 5ks, inline skates, family fun runs, all kinds of activities. One of my co-workers told me, "I get tired just following you on Facebook!"

So why would I want a fitness challenge, and what inspired me to do so?

I have to be honest. I am inspired by fat people.

I wrote it in that way to jolt you. But in a way, it's true. Not because I'm afraid if I don't do these things I'll become fat. That's not it at all. It's because I see overweight people doing things I would never dream of if I were them.

I've seen overweight people run 5ks faster than I do. I watched a man competing in a triathalon with his knees hitting his belly as he rode in the biking portion of the tri. I witnessed a man crossing the finish line at the Boston 5k with gasps and small steps, to great cheers and encouragement.

I can tell you now: if I were as overweight as they were, I would never have dared.

I would have resigned myself to my fate as an overweight person, destined for diabetes, heart disease and whatever else may follow. But I see these people out there on the trails, pushing themselves beyond their limits.

Here's the thing: they have so much farther to go than I do. And they aren't quitting. They aren't hanging their heads down in despair. They are pushing to that goal with every ounce of their body and souls. My God, what is stopping me when they are pushing themselves so hard?

Every time I see one of these people around the lakes I want to cheer them on. I want to tell them how proud I am of them, how I admire the dedication and commitment they're demonstrating.

But of course I don't, because they might not see themselves the way I see them.

So I silent go on, pushing myself farther and faster to try to keep up with the effort that they put into the changes they are making in their lives.

I am humbled by their will, and aspire to meet it.

That's what inspires me.

This video is only one example of why I am taking on this challenge. I plan to see it through.

Fitness Challenge: Week One

It's been one week since I've begun the 60-day fitness challenge that my friend Gianna began. Everyone who is doing this is trying something different, something that is appropriate to his/her level.

For me, that means I'm doing the "Insanity:Asylum" workouts and replacing my pathetic lunch choices (read "Lean Cuisines") with a Shakeology shake.

I was completely intimidated starting the Asylum workouts. If you've heard or read anything about them, you'll know that they are intense. The warning at the beginning of each DVD is enough to scare you away, if you didn't believe what you'd heard.

In my first workout I was gasping and sweating in 3 minutes...and that was just the warm-up. The coach during the video, Shaun T, told me, "If this is making you sweat, you're in for a real workout."

Gulp.

After my first workout I emailed Gianna and asked if she would loan me her "Insanity" for this challenge. I did not think I was up for this. But she convinced me that you do not have to do the first "Insanity" workout to take on this one, and that I was probably already at a fitness level that could handle this challenge.

At the end of the day, as I reflected back on the start of my morning with this workout, I was pretty proud of myself. My muscles were kind of sore but not TOO sore, and I felt like I was going to make myself stronger if I stuck with it.

So I plowed on, day after day. The program is four days of workouts, one day of rest. This is on top of your other physical activities, not in place of them. So if I spent my morning workout time inline skating, that meant that I got to spend time in the evening getting my Asylum workout in.

Speed and Agility. Strength. Vertical Plyo. Back to Core.

I had to improvise in some cases. I can't use the jump rope provided in our basement with 8-foot ceilings, so I jump along and pretend. For the first strength workout I didn't have any weights, so I used a gallon of paint that was half full. I have to keep moving my equipment around in my small little space. Instead of making excuses and saying "I can't do this one, I think I'll sit it out," I found a way to make it work for me.

Saturday came and I was feeling great. So great that when I hit the lakes for an inline skate, I managed to skate 10 miles in 51 minutes, an average speed of 12 mph, in considerable foot and bike traffic. Every time I got tired and thought of slowing down, I heard Shaun T in my head, saying, "Push it push it push it! You've got it in you!" Or if I took a break, I would take short one and hear, "That's enough of a break for you. Get back at it."

I was damn proud of myself, until 3 hours later when my legs seized up. My hamstrings were strung so tight you could pluck them. My quads were killing me and my calves were mooing. It was surprising how my body reacted to this workout after no break for the entire week. Ow ow ow!

I told my loving and supportive husband how sore I was and he said, "Well you stretched, right? You do know to stretch?" in his usual loving and non-sarcastic way.

Uh...yeah, I know that! That doesn't mean I did it, though.

So I put in the "Relief" DVD and did 20 minutes of stretching, along with additional stretches before bed. Aahhh! Much better! I skipped that day's workout and did it on Sunday instead, which was supposed to be my day of rest.

So I'm a week in, and feeling pretty good. I'll let you know how I'm feeling at the end of week two.

Kinda Proud. A Little.

Okay, so I don't plan on getting a tattoo anytime soon, like my husband did to commemorate his qualifying for the Boston marathon.

But I am kinda proud of my recent accomplishment of completing an inline skating marathon. So I commemorated it by buying a couple of magnetic bumper stickers for my car.

I couldn't find a sticker that put the skating and the 26.2 together, so I did the best I could.

Left side.

Right side.

"Real" marathoners might be offended that I claim to have done a full 26.2 when I skated it instead of running it.

Tough shit.

Underpromise, Overdeliver

That was one of our mantras in the client service world: you will always exceed your clients' expectations if you underpromise and overdeliver, no matter the product. Works for me in business and perhaps also in life.

Take this past weekend, for instance.

Months ago I signed up for the NorthShore Inline Marathon to be held in Duluth, MN on September 17th. It's a marathon on inline skates. And in case you don't know, a marathon by definition is 26.2 miles. There is no such thing as a 10-mile marathon. If it's 10-miles long, it's a race but not a marathon. If it's 13.1 miles, it's a half-marathon. So I always find it funny when I tell people my husband (or I) are training for a marathon and they ask how far that particular marathon is. Same as the other marathons: 26.2 miles.

I digress.

I trained for it. Kind of. I tried to log about 20 miles per week over the course of the summer. I felt silly when my skating miles were put up against those of others I know who are training and they logged loads more miles than me. Because, of course, they are running, not skating; their miles are infinitely more difficult than mine, and they are logging twice as many as I am. God I'm a wimp, I thought.

I went on a few long skates, my longest being 22.8 miles which I completed in about 2 hours. I did the math: if I had to complete 26.2 miles that means I would finish in around 2 hrs and 15 mins. Works for me. And I will not feel wimpy about this, I told myself. It may not be as difficult as running a marathon, but it depends on your point of view. I heard lots of people (veteran runners included) tell me they could not imagine being on skates at all, much less covering that kind of ground while staying upright on wheels.

I signed up for Wave 5, for those who expected to finish between 2:11 and 2:20.

Except I didn't.

I finished in 1 hr 58 mins 22 seconds. My average speed was a little over 13 mph.

I surprised myself in a good way, and that feels great. I was really, really happy with my time. I wouldn't have been if I had expected to finish under 2 hours and did so. I would've just met my expectations. Instead, I exceeded them.

Maybe that's just wrong -- set the bar low so you can get over it. But I don't feel like I set the bar incredibly low, and it was grounded in data (per previous training).

I actually had energy at the end of the race; I passed lots of people the last 4 miles, I was so thrilled to be near the end. I probably could've gone faster the whole way, but I didn't want to chance a faster pace at the beginning only to peter out at the end.

Best of all, I had fun. I met fantastic people. And I got to know my co-worker, Becky, much better, as she was gracious enough to let me stay at her house the night before.

If you know me you know I'm not usually one to toot my own horn, to pat myself on the back. But I was really proud of this accomplishment. It felt GREAT.

I will be signing up again for next year. This was too much fun not to do it again.

Loving the Lakes

I will continue to get up and hit the skating trails before work every now and then, even though my "big event" is done. And here are some reasons why.

Ducks.

Boats.

Stillness.

Colors.

Peace.

15 years of Rollerblading Tested

Today I participated in my first-ever inline skating competitive event. I signed up for this months ago, and have been diligently waking up at 5 am every day  now and then to skate the lakes and put some miles on.

I love inline skating because there's a little bit of speed involved which means a little bit of risk, but not a huge amount of risk. It's not like I'm flying on a bike at 40 mph, I'm just going 8 mph, maybe 10, and having a good time. I've been skating since the summer of 1995, when I bought my first pair of Rollerblades when I was between jobs and had no health insurance, which I remember my mother being very concerned about.

Some months ago Wayne found a half marathon that had a skating element to it and encouraged me to sign up. I was already skating 7 miles on my normal skating routine, I was sure I could train up to a half-marathon distance.

Like I said, I've been getting up and doing my routes, going on some longer trails and completed a couple of 10-milers. I was able to finish those 10-milers in about an hour, so both Wayne and I figured that I would complete the half-marathon in about 1 hr 20 minutes.

I had registered as an advanced skater but ended up being lined up with the open skaters. This was mostly by accident, as they didn't put the wave signs up until literally a couple of minutes before the start, and prior to that people were milling about wondering if they were in the right place. I was near the front of the pack of the open skate and didn't make a move to get up to the advanced skaters. Those women looked like they knew what they were doing -- they were all suited up in professional suits and had the nice, NICE skates, the ones that look like little sneakers with 100mm wheels on them. Yep, I was pretty sure they were going to leave me in the dust so I didn't try to move up to that group. I was completely intimidated and wondered what the hell I was thinking registering as an advanced skater.

The course was pretty hilly; I heard from some skaters after that it was "brutal." I had been concerned beforehand about the hills because I'd heard it wasn't very flat and had a couple of hairpin turns, but it turns out that the hill that I take both up and down between Lakes Harriet and Calhoun was actually steeper than any hills we skated today, and I've done hairpins before, it wasn't that big a deal.

At mile three I saw a huge pack of people pass me up while we were climbing a hill. It was a little disheartening and I was tempted to push myself to pass them, but I already felt like my legs were burning so I decided to hold out and save my energy for later in the race.

Later on I passed that entire pack.

I also had skaters with those sweet $1,000 skates pass me by on the down hills -- their wheels were so fast that they ate up the pavement and flew by me.

I passed them on the inclines.

I finished the half-marathon in 56 mins 51 seconds. I had no intention of breaking the 1-hour mark, didn't even know I could.

I was 92nd overall out of 375 skaters (top 25%), and had 6 advanced skaters finish AFTER me, despite the fact that I had lined up with the open skaters. I definitely could have done better had I actually started with the advanced skaters  -- there were only 10 women who self-identified as advanced, so the road would've been clear at the start had I had the confidence to start with them.

Now I know.

Half-marathon skates are apparently few and far between, but I'm going to be on the lookout for them, and who knows, I'll probably move up to the full marathon skate next season.

I was incredibly proud of myself and of this accomplishment. But just to keep myself humble, I had to check out the top finishers. They completed the race in 36 minutes, or a little over a half an hour. That's an average speed of 21 mph...on skates. (My average speed was 14 mph, in case you're wondering.)

Crazy.

On Your Left

The way in which some people lose all sensibility and manners when they get behind the wheels of their vehicles has been the subject of many a stand-up comedian, a blog rant, a conversation around a dinner table.

And then...there is the biking/skating trail.

I inline skate around the lakes frequently, moreso this summer than others since I'm training for a half-marathon skate in August. There is a walking path and a biking path -- the biking path has a top speed limit of 15 mph. Sure, it sounds slow when you're in a car, but try it on a bike; many bikers are cruising faster than that.

In the Twin Cities, the unwritten rule is that bikers/skaters stay on the right-hand side of the biking path. If someone is going to pass that person, they yell "on your left!" so that the person knows that someone is coming up on their left and they should keep right. It's a nice courtesy so that you don't stride wide and catch a biker in the wheel. Or, just so you aren't startled and lose your balance in your surprise.

Now that Lindsey's got her own pair of rollerblades, I've been taking her out skating with me. I taught her about staying on the right, how people may call out to pass, et cetera.

Being the very cautious girl that she is, when she was in the lead we were going so slowly we should've been on the walking path. So after a little bit I passed her, calling on "on your left!" as I did so. I got in front and went just a little faster, so she could push herself to go faster too.

I heard nothing from her as I passed her, and eventually looked behind to see how far behind me she was.

Much to my surprise, as I turned to look I heard a little voice saying, "on your left!" and there she was, passing me back.

Sweet. Maybe someday I'll have myself a skating partner.