RoadSkater.Net - Comments for "outdoor inline speed"

Some things have changed but here are some tips

In reply to A2A Athens to Atlanta Road Skate Survival Strategy:

Thanks to Gustavo for reminding me of this. I use a CamelBak brand waist pack that holds about 48 oz I think it is. I really like this pack and am generally glad I've dropped the m.u.l.e. 100 oz. I used to use. If you have tried fanny packs but not a recent model of the CamelBak, give it a look. One great feature is you can loosen the side straps when you fill it, then as you drink the contents, just pull forward on the straps and it keeps it all tight and not sloshing. I got the optic yellow version and I think it can't hurt and probably helps people see me. I have a second pack of the same style and will likely leave it at 38 to pick up, either the pack or just the bladder. Not sure but it's an idea.

A bit Old but I am sure Great Tips for A2A

In reply to Athens to Atlanta A2A Skate Strategy Guide:

A bit Old but I am sure Great Tips for A2A Thanks for sharing. I'll be doing the 52m A2A this year
GustavoAMH

Hi! We hope that you all

In reply to Skate of the Union 2007:

Hi!

We hope that you all can join us at Skate of the Union again! The date is Sunday, June 15th. Learn more and register here: www.skateoftheunion.org.

We look forward to seeing you on skates soon,
Krista

An Awesome Day

In reply to Inline Skating "Marathon through the Gardens": Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia (GA):

You guys missed an excellent event. The weather was perfect, the winds not too bad and partly cloudy skies that waited until all skaters were off the course before it rained. THANKFULLY the site also has two large covered areas for the award ceremonies.

With a full marathon, a half marathon and a flat track mini-race for the kids this event is certainly family oriented.

APRR was in the house strong this year with 17 skaters. Two of us in the top 20 and we went home Age Group medal heavy. One of our Ringers even got 3rd place overall in the ladies division on RECREATION skates.

Yes this skate is lovely. Lakeside views, open fields, a good 35mph downhill, that yes you go up it too :-(

It's still a small event that can make a great weekend out of. Callaway Gardens itself is pretty and with the race registration you get the days admission. the Butterfly house and the Birds of Prey exhibit/show were on my To Do List. There is a State Park with very reasonable rates for 6 and 10 people cabins. So you could in effect come in Friday night and leave Sunday morning. There is a two night minimum stay for the cabins.

Good reviews last year

In reply to Inline Skating "Marathon through the Gardens": Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia (GA):

This event got good reviews last year from those who attended. I remember Jay from the Atlanta Peachtree Road Rollers liked it a lot. As I recall he really liked the road surfaces, the route in general, and especially, the scenery. I spent some time after last year's event looking at aerial photos of the area online, and it looked like a good venue. I can't remember if laps were involved. Maybe someone who did the event will shed some light.

The Callaway Gardens Race

In reply to Inline Skating "Marathon through the Gardens": Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia (GA):

Just a brief note regarding this marathon. Yes! It looks great. Last year's first race fell on my 40th Birthday, and I wanted to attend to try to feel good about turning 40. However, the fear of having to get out of bed at 4am stopped me, and I decided to be lazy and drive 320 miles to Greensboro, instead. Yeah, that was logical, captain. I'm under the impression that there will be swarms of stick-figure indoor speedies at this race, so if I signed up I'd be resigned to finish la bonne derniere.

Great thing about this race is that it's not close on the calendar to any other local outdoor long-distance speed skate races. Good way to kick off your training! When I can surface from the work that is threatening to drown me I will look into this further. The Sparkles (rink) speedies down the road from me were unsure if the event was going to happen this year as it had a potential conflict with a major indoor meet. But it looks like they've sorted that out.

I have never been to Callaway Gardens, as close as it is to where I live (a few hours' drive), but the odd subdivision neighbor or two has urged me to go in the past, sputtering "It's great! You can even ride bikes there!". Cuz heaven knows ya can't anywhere else around this ergonomically-unfriendly city.

Quick Welcome and Suggestion

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Hi and welcome, AziBlue, and thanks for thanking eebee and the rest of us. We look forward to meeting you soon. I am not around just now and have been heads down working on a project so I could not answer sooner.

One suggestion is a simple one, to enter Country Park from the northernmost Lawndale entrance, via Orman. Go to the end of that and turn left and veer left into the lot there. It's a flatter, gentler way to get started on loops at Country Park.

Here's a link to the Orman Street lot map.

You may want to go back and forth on the saddle to the left as you face the lake. Generally, traffic on wheels is supposed to go to the right (counterclockwise as viewed from above), but when starting out it's OK to go back and forth in that area, and even further to the left up to the flagpole or so. This will give you a chance to view the downhill there that descends from the parking lot where you practiced the other day.

Also there are some nice parking lots available for something a bit more flat. I've always wondered how the pavement would be on the north side of Target between the store and the huge former Sears warehouse...looks nice and I think the old through street is blocked back there. I also thought that the street behind Target might work too if they didn't kick you out. But Country Park is the best place we know for now, and we stay out of Battleground Park (unless taken through there on a charity ride) as they'll kick you out and there's no need for the negative vibes.

OK I must go but please do post as you go and comment on anything. Thanks a ton for joining. Sometimes we think we might be typing into the vacuum, but we have to believe and express anyway. So far we met Andy because of the site and you'll enjoy meeting him too. We hope you'll start dreaming of 2 days of 45 miles each by September! (No pressure, ha!)

Good Folks at Bicycle Toy & Hobby

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

That shop was the host of a training ride for the Tour to Tanglewood last August, the last one before the tour itself. You can read my report on skating it here. They did a great job hosting and have always been extremely friendly and welcoming to us skaters. I'm glad that you had a positive experience there.

Dunno about visors. I've never taken one off but I've never had a helmet that had one to take off!

Sadly the weather forecast looks pretty grim for the near term. Maybe things will turn around toward the end of the month, but over the next ten days or so it looks like we'll be lucky to see 50 degrees. And that's no fun except maybe for an impromptu New Year's Eve midnight skate, and we won't be having another one of those for a while.

But hang tight and we'll find a time to get out there. I'm looking forward to having a new member of the local skating crew.

Hey Tim! Thanks for the

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Hey Tim! Thanks for the warm welcome. Gee, everyone's so nice, especially to someone just getting interested!

Let me know when you all go to the park and I'll try my best to show up. Sometimes I work late, sometimes I don't, so it's all depending on the day. I would LOVE to see what some experianced skaters look like in person, and take as much advice as possible. As for the parking lot up there.... my wheels just LOVED all those rocks! :) They need to be rotated anyways, so I figure not too much damage. :) But I probably will park by the natural science center, so I won't be afraid of the big hill next time. I get over 10 to 15mph, and all I can think is.. "Oh no, what do I do... and how do I not look like an idiot doing it."

Also, I helped a woman who owns the Bicycle Toy and Hobby shop in High Point with some labels at work, so I decided to stop in and see her about helmets. She was so wonderful, fitted me correctly with a helmet, and apparently skaters get a 10% discount. She told me not to mess with my helmet and readjust it, and if it became readjusted, to just come back and she'd help me fit it again. She was really wonderful to talk with, and... I did leave with a helmet of my very own. It's a Trek Vapor something or other. She said most skaters took off the visor. Any reason why? I think it looks awesome... but then again, I'm kind of a dork. :) Anyways, for a $35 (after discount!) helmet, it's not bad looking at all, though, I looked at it in the mirror, andI admit it's a bit goofy to see. I will go back for pads this weekend before I try anything crazy like... skating out of my driveway.

Enough rambling, thank you again for the invitation and I would love to go. My only request is that you laugh with me lots while I fall and trip and look stupid! Any help or advice you all want to give will definately be helpful. Thanks again for the warm welcome and everyone's help!

Welcome

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Hi Mike, and thanks for joining us here. I'm one of those Country Park skaters that Elizabeth mentioned and it would be great if you'd join us.

The big parking lot at the tennis courts (Jaycee Park) unfortunately hasn't been paved in a while so it's fairly rough asphalt with a lot of stones poking through--especially bad if you're going slowly and feeling every little bump. The pavement on the 1.6-mile loop around the lakes is much better, but also more challenging with hills and turns and dogs and children on trikes. But it's not an insurmountable challenge if you have a bit of experience as you seem to. With some time and persistance and maybe an oopsie or two...

Regarding teachers/coaches: None of us gives lessons on a formal basis, but as Eebee says, it's hard to get us to shut up about technique. We've been doing this and talking about it for quite a while and have a number of formal clinics behind us with some very good teachers (Blake has most of those actually) and we'll be glad to help you along best we can. Practice and experience are the main components anyway IMHO.

I've heard very good things about skatey-mark's clinic and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

We don't have much of a schedule these days with the short daylight and cold temps, but I've been trying to get out on reasonably wam afternoons for an hour or so. I was out last Monday (1/7) and had a nice 10-mile skate. Give me a shout next time we have a forecast of 60s or higher and sunny and we can try to arrange something. From spring onward, we'll have one or two evenings per week when we plan to meet up, and other days when we just do.

Regarding helmets: I've crashed and smacked my head hard in a $100 Giro and in a $10 Bell from Wal-Mart. They both broke but they both worked. I wear the $10 ones now because I'll never think twice about replacing one if I even suspect that it might have gotten damaged. (No cycling/skating helmet is designed to take more than one impact.) They look a little shabby if you're a helmet snob, but I do this as a service to the kids who won't have to worry about having the dorkiest helmet at the park as long as I'm around. :-)

South Beach Diet Rocks!

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

That's so funny. I dropped my last stubborn 10lbs last year in September alone thanks to trying the South Beach Diet for the first time. Although I'll have to say, with the training we were doing, such as 30+ miler bike events (on skates), going without any power gels, gatorade or other starchy carbs would've been a hospital trip waiting to happen. I tried to eat bananas though instead of wheaty stuff on phase I if I had done over an hour of skating. Right now I'm reading Chris Carmichael's Food for Fitness, hoping for a free pass to eat more toast :-)

You could knock out two birds with one stone regarding top-notch quality instruction in the Eddy Matzger Roadshow, if you wanted to do that. Otherwise, I don't believe there is an abundance of inline skate instructors in the Greensboro area. I'd like to be proven wrong on that one. There are several local skaters, however, who have attended the Matzger workshop enough times to pass on tidbits of info to you at the park for free. If you ask, I think you will be inundated with useful gems. I will let others reply as to their Country Park schedules. Otherwise, a good thing to check in an instructor (someone you'd pay) would be whether they have either the old IISA certification, or the newer one from United Skate Schools Group . As far as I'm concerned, those are both good credentials.

Also obviously it makes sense to be taught by an Inline skate instructor, as opposed to a roller skater or somebody who skates on Landrollers, or even ice.

You should be able to get plenty of good pointers from some of the skaters on this site who skate at Country Park and that'll help you make huge progress, confidence-wise. Which parking lot were you at - did you mean the Tennis Center parking lot or the one in front of the Nature-Science Center? There's another T2T cyclist veteran in GSO who wanted to learn to skate, and I had this dream of helping him out to where he was ready to skate T2T instead of biking it, but he just got married so we probably won't see him again for a few years!

Now that I think about it, Skatey-Mark offers a T2T fundraiser speedskating workshop in the Summer. I hope he does that again this year! I feel very good recommending Mark.

As far as helmets go, Cycles de Oro has plenty. The owner, Dale Brown, has been good to us roadskaters! I think I used a plain old Bell helmet from WalMart, though, for many years. Main thing is it fits well and it cracks when you hit the pavement instead of your skull!

Good for you, getting a bonus, and spending it on skate stuff :-). I can't find any pics of your present skates, but if they got you rolling again, that's excellent!

There are probably things I've forgotten to mention. But posting is free so I'm sure I'll drone on some more soon. I'm honored to have been part of you reconnecting with your deep-rooted inner skater!

Welcome and Congrats!

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Congratulations on losing 50lbs! Welcome to roadskater.net, thanks for signing up, and thanks for posting! Sounds like you're a skate-addict, so you've come to the right place :-)

I had completely forgotten about that post you commented on, which I wrote all of 6 months ago! It's great to hear about inspiring someone to skate more.

Before I say anything else...we are helmet-advocates here, so if you don't have one yet, get one for yourself so you can, as Blake says, 'protect your moneymaking asset'.

Nagging done.

There's a whole network out there of outdoor rec and speed skaters in various parts of the country. In New York, and Atlanta (where I am) there's some sort of group skate almost daily with email groups to give everyone a heads-up. We have skaters registered on this website from Greensboro, Raleigh, Asheboro, as well as other states like Michigan, Texas and Pennsylvania. There are other skating websites/forums, both nationally and worldwide.

There are indoor and outdoor speed teams to join and practice with, plus races to sign up for and scare yourself into a training deadline (which works for me each year!). If you'd prefer something more low-key there are several weekend skate festivals around, the bigger ones being the Great EsSkate in Miami (soon! Feb 8-10), the Philly Free Skate, the Athens-to-Atlanta Roadskate, the SkateBoston weekend, and the Big Apple Roll in New York. Depending on the location, you may need downhill skills including speed control and braking.

I don't know of any professional instructors in NC, but perhaps somebody else here does. I was a certified beginning inline skate instructor under the now defunct IISA. However, I am always happy to help beginners with braking, turning, basic stroke. If you're in Atlanta sometime it's well worth getting some instruction from Paul or Cindy of Bohemian Skate School. They were my first coaches, thank God! Skating behind others who didn't really get any instruction when they started skating, I see many bad habits I never had to unlearn because Paul and Cindy started us all off on the right footing in the first place. Well that sounds way too much like I'm bragging - I meant it as a compliment to Paul and Cindy! There's also the Eddy Matzger Roadshow, which is coming to Greensboro in April. This is an absolute blast, with more instruction than most can handle in one weekend.

If you're in NC, you may be interested to know that thanks to the hard work of Blake L and Craig M., inline and roller skaters are more than welcome to take part on skates in the local cycling Tour to Tanglewood Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser. This is a hilly, fun excuse to get out there every Saturday morning in July and August and get your rear in shape on the Training Rides (which are free).

Generally the outdoor speed and rec skaters love ridiculously long mileage. Many of us train for the 90 miles in 2 days Tour to Tanglewood, 87 miles in one day Athens to Atlanta, and Skatey-Mark did 274.3 miles over 24 hours at the Roller Montreal 24 hour race. With that many hours on skates, you can eat as many carbs as you want.

It's so great you posted! Welcome again. What diet did you follow? What type of skates do you have? Do you skate at your local park?

Thanks so much for the warm

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Thanks so much for the warm welcome!

A new helmet and pads are already in my budget for next week. (For now I have an old clunky borrowed one.) Any recommendations for helmets or great places to get them? I was gonna check out local bike places. As for my diet, I lost all the weight on the South Beach Diet. Or as I call it, "Mike's Struggle to Like Veggies." Now I'm proud to say I don't flinch at trying new stuff and I do tolerate veggies VERY well. Some could even say I prefer them. I'm happier with where I spend my money on food, the choices I've been making for the last part of last year, and I can't see myself ever being who I was again. (Fast food addict with 2 million excuses.) I hope getting involved in some professional lessons and maybe a group will help me to continue this new lifestyle I've started.

You gotta promise not to laugh at my skates, because they are very old. In March I get a big bonus at work and plan to get new skates, and I'm already looking and excited. The ones I have now are called Bladerunners, and it's Pro 4700. I have no idea what level they are, or if they are any good For rekindling my interest and getting me outside, they are doing a good job. As far as skating at my local park goes, I've went to Country Park since I live close and thought that I would skate in the big parking lot there to get myself familiar with the process again. I was too nervous to go into the park. Those little voices saying how silly I look were talking to me. I was only out there for maybe 30 minutes today and retreated back to the safety of my neighborhood streets. I have to work on being comfortable on my skates in public around people and looking like a lunatic. Haha, hopefully once I find lessons I'll be better about that. Maybe tomorrow I'll actually go INTO the park. Wish me luck!

I plan to post and ask the group about lessons in the area, but when I find possible coaches, what are some good questions to ask to determine if they are any good? Thanks again for the wonderful warm welcome. I know the only way to get involved is to jump in and discuss it with people who know what they are doing, so it's nice to have a group like this, where I won't feel too dumb asking noob stuff. Haha

Hey Eebee, I'm new here

In reply to The Secret to Weight Loss and Maintaining Your Target Weight:

Hey Eebee, I'm new here and just catching up on different topics that seem interesting. I was reading about some other beginners and I have to let you know you inspire me to really get involved with my skating. Especially with this post. I did the same thing you were just talking about. I've been on a diet and lost about 50lbs, and when the time came to really add a habitual workout to my life, I decided that the gym is GREAT.... for rainy days when I want to sit and listen to music. But for normal everyday keeping myself fit, it needs to be fun and actually involve me. As a kid I would skate and feel so natural. It was like flying. My own personal freedom from everyone else. So, I broke out my old skates from high school. (Which still fit... incredibly!) Now I'm looking for good places to skate, and I promise myself each day.. to strap them on, and skate... even if it's just for 20 minutes. I'm in the process now of looking for a professional instructor! Anyways, I wanted to let you know that you and the entire Roadskater team here, so far have really inspired me to relive what I felt when I was younger. Thanks!

Horrible Training Hills Equal Fair Roadskate Performance!

In reply to Inline Skating Hill-Training Progression:

Yeah I guess I was really vague, with no stats to back any of it up!

Starting in May I aimed to skate twice (1 hr each) on a flattish course (sorta like Piedmont Park type flat) and twice at Tribble Mill Park (check the elevation profile box) twice (1 hr each) during weekday evenings. However, I was either too busy or too tired to accomplish this. If I had pushed the issue, I probably would've either burned out or gotten sick! Looking back at my journal, I accomplished on average once a week flattish park and once a week Tribble Mill hills, plus a training ride roadskate (30 - 40 miles) on the weekends.

The longest, most murderous and migraine-inducing hill I practiced on once or twice a week was at Tribble Mill Park, and it was sandwiched in a route of up & downhills about half the length, but just as steep. This hill is about 1/2 mile long, and according to mapmyride, about a 200 ft climb. Depending on how I felt, I'd try to get up that hill twice or three times in an hour, with 'resting' by taking the more leisurely trail through the woods for about 10 mins. I think I only made it up that hill on average one in five times without stopping. I could've done it all at once all 5 times but it hurt and it was only training so I pulled over to the side for a minute. Since I was skating alone there was no competition or ego involved, and no other cyclist or runner at the park was ever nuts enough to ever go up it with me. I have no idea how many minutes it takes me to climb that hill, probably a good five. It takes me about 20 mins to do a 2.75 mile loop of these hills, which is pretty slow. However, sucking really badly on these training hills, on my own, midweek, translates to being able to keep a 12-13 mph pace on a moderately hilly roadskate for 3-4 hours on the weekends in a paceline (or just with Blake). This might not seem like much to most of you, but to me it's a heck of an improvement over last year's 9 or 10 mph.

This whole training schedule, light as it is, has lasted about 22 weeks so far this year. But it's like Snellville juggler Dan Thurmon says: if juggling 4 pins is too hard, try juggling 5 pins, then when you go back to 4, it'll be a breeze! The first "little" hill I couldn't climb back in May, only became relatively easy once I'd tried the murderous one a few times.

I just wanted to offer up something for somebody to digest, perhaps a beginner, instead of 'you'll get better at hills if you keep skating hills', or to just throw out a bunch of stats, since not everybody can translate numbers into linear thoughts.

Good Hill Climbing Review

In reply to Inline Skating Hill-Training Progression:

Hey, eebee. Good info there. I can vouch that you are less worried over climbing hills and enjoy them more than in past years! Our long distance training may be a bit less this year but the hill training is good, especially yours. Do you have any count of how many sessions of hill work this includes and a summary of what those were like? I know you started out doing relatively short loops on a very hilly circle at Tribble Mill (wish I could have been there) and opted later for a larger loop. I think people pondering this may wonder how many sessions it has taken to get where you are. Also, what is your longest uphill you regularly do in terms of distance or time? Any idea of how much work it took for you to see results might be encouraging to others. Thanks for documenting what you have done, and as much detail as you'd like to offer is welcome here.

St. Paul Inline Marathon

In reply to St. Paul Inline Marathon Skate Race 2007:

St. Paul weather is usually nice, but it can be chilly in the morning. I doubt that will be a problem this year.

The route is a two lap course with some hills, tight turns at each end, and a tough finishing climb to test your resolve. You can see by the elevation profile (http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/123953) that you will have some moderate climbs.

Don't try to skate down the very steep downhill from the hotel to the course. It is a very steep and uneven. I saw more than one person fall before the race.

The staging area is good with room to get ready and lots of porta-toilets. Head down early enough to warmup on the course and see the pro start.

Stay to the left in water zones unless you are getting water. They hand out the water bottles with the tops removed, which causes lots of spills. The areas were hazardous last year between the wet roads and some improperly discarded trash.

The turn-arounds at each end could certainly be better, so be careful. Last year, one was in a rough bank parking lot and the other went under a bridge over some very questionable pavement in an industrial area. The under bridge turn-around was also narrow. They changed it to eliminate the formerly tight U-turns, but I am not sure it was an improvement.

I listed a few issues, but it is still a very good marathon. Some of my fellow skaters from St. Louis are headed up, but I am skipping it this year while transitioning to larger wheels.

Have fun...Jb

US10k Classic Elevation Profile

In reply to US10k Classic 2007: Bike, Skate, Wheelchair, Run, Walk races:

In case you wanted to know ahead of time...here's a Mapmyride.com elevation profile of the US10K classic course. Click the box on the left that says "display elevation". I had difficulty pinpointing the exact place for the start line...so in reality you will jump off the start line down the first hill - so ignore that slight uphill at the very beginning of the elevation profile.

Since You Asked

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

The official names of the Montreal race are "Les 24h Roller Montreal" and "The 24hrs Inline Montreal."

I've been speedskating for 2 years, although I played hockey as a kid and have always been comfortable on skates. Previously, running was my racing addiction of choice -- 9 marathons and a 50-mile ultra. I was training for a 100-mile race when I got injured and bought a used pair of K2 4x80 rec skates for cross-training. I quickly learned that I liked going fast for a change and a few months later I raced at the 2005 NorthShore. I put a 2-hour expected finishing time on my entry form and got slotted near the back of the field (wave 6, I think). It was a pleasant surprise to pass skaters the entire race and finish in 1:34. I was hooked!

Montreal was my second race. I would love to do A2A, NYC100K, Defi, etc., but my travel budget is shot and those races will have to wait. Also, to be honest, I'm a little sick of skate training right now. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the summer improving my technique and doing other sports I've been neglecting. In October I will start training for next year's Montreal 24hr with an eye toward first place and 300+ miles.

I got my first pair of speed skates last October -- a 5x84 setup with Powerslide R2 boots and 13.4" K2 Straight 84 frame. I race on Hyper +G 85a wheels and Twincam ILQ-9 bearings. The R2's are quite comfortable; even though I had swollen ankles and a couple of large blisters by the end of the 24 hours, ankle/foot pain did not affect my performance. I will be buying a new setup soon, probably custom boots (maybe one of the Bont 3-pt?) with a 4x100 frame. I think I'll start on 90s and evaluate from there. If you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.

I did a lot of long-distance training for Montreal. The centerpiece of my training plan was a weekly long skate that got progressively longer, culminating in a pair of 11- and 12-hour overnight skates (6pm-6am) of 130 and 142 miles. Not only were these long skates great training, but they helped me sort out the myriad details of 24-hour racing (pacing, nutrition, hydration, protecting my feet, etc.) and built mental strength (read: tolerance for boredom). Next year I will use a similar plan, with more speedwork to boost my cruising speed.

I have mostly recovered from the 24-hour. My ankles were back to normal after about a week, and the blisters have callused and peeled. My left big toenail is completely loose but hasn't detached at the base, so I'm keeping it taped down so it won't catch it on anything (yeeouch!)

Thanks for welcoming me to the site, and happy skating!

'Eat for Health and Performance' calories for men

In reply to A Liberating Nutritional Program for Athletes (Diet Exercise Weight Loss):

To be more specific than the above post...if you're following any of this at all...I realized I left some things out.

If you read this far, you're probably wondering where the logic is in my statement that my insufficient calories caused my weightloss to stabilize. I left out that each insufficient-calorie night about 11pm I find myself in the kitchen with the toaster, a loaf of bread and a tub of margarine, churning out an impressive production-line of hot buttered toast. It's comparable to taking $200 out of your monthly pay and putting it in savings, only to come up short by the same amount on your monthly bills and then charging your credit card up a storm to bridge the gap. It's one of those laws of the universe that I don't have a phrase for. How 'bout Save Now, Pay Later (in excess fat or credit card fees). So the plan is to head off hunger at the pass by including a few more preferably healthy portions of carbs and protein, and successfully side-stepping your body's panicked perception of starvation.

I also forgot to mention that I'm going by the Eat for Health and Performance section of the book The Lance Armstrong Performance Program, by Lance Armstrong and Chris Carmichael. It's all very vague how I have decided to compare an 87 Mile A2A training program with the "Fast Recreational Rider" program in the book. On an A2A 87 mile skate-training schedule, we blow their Fast Recreational Rider out of the water on the weekly mileage, but this is still way more calories than most sports books that I've read have recommended. I haven't read any Ironman type nutritional books, so I'd be interested if anybody out there has, and could comment on that.

I also neglected to mention some numbers men can use. In the book they recommend for a 9 week training plan:

Weeks 1-3 = 13 calories per pound (of your bodyweight, e.g. 175lbs x 13 = 2,275 cals/day)

Weeks 4-6 = 14 calories per pound

Weeks 7-9 = 15 calories per pound

For the women Fast Recreational Rider, they suggested 12, 13 & 14, which is where I came up with my portion quantities in the previous post. Doing the portion thing is so much easier than calorie amounts, and what percent of that is fat, protein, etc.

Upping the Portions

In reply to A Liberating Nutritional Program for Athletes (Diet Exercise Weight Loss):

Since I have managed to skate more days than not over the past month, my metabolism kicked up a notch and the above eating schedule has been insufficient. My weight has stabilized. I have consulted the Lance Armstrong Performance Program by Chris Carmichael & Lance Armstrong and according to their recommendations for calorie intake on a 9 week training program, have upped my portions intake thus:

For the next 3 weeks:

Carbs = (previously 6) 8 portions of 80-100 cals each. Oh what the heck, just go with 100!

Protein = 4 portions of 100 cals

Fruit = 3 portions of 60 cals

Veg = 6 portions of 25 cals

Treat = 3 portions of 100 cals

After this 3 weeks I should have lost a few more pounds, which other clueless 'diets' take as a sign for you to reduce your daily calorie intake, as you'll weigh less. Well honestly, where's the fun in that?! Why would anybody stick to anything like this only to be deprived and not rewarded at the end of it?! Chris and Lance say as I progress in my training program for weeks 4-6, I should actually increase my calorie intake. Yay. And this makes perfect sense, because the more embedded I get into my skate training, the more I approach wild abandon on the carb cravings. So for the middle 3 weeks I'll up the portions thus:

Carbs = 8 portions

Protein = 5 portions

Fruit = 3 portions

Veg = 6 portions

Treat = 3 portions

I know I should be more exact, and spread out the portion increase more evenly, but this whole schedule is about usability and ensuing longevity.

The last 3 weeks I'll add another portion to the treat section, which sounds like something to look forward to :-)

Les 24 Heures Roller Montreal 2007

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Another excellent achievement and report, thanks Lawrence! Your last lap being your fastest - that's so funny! That's a great testament to 'pacing yourself' or 'not going out too fast'. How are your feet coming along...are you back on your skates yet?

Awesome 24-Hour Third Place Overall Lawrence

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Hi and welcome, Lawrence! Thanks for sharing your story of the Montreal 24-Hour Inline Skate (I don't know the official frenchy name, I fear, does anyone? We should get that into a title of a posting perhaps so people will see these great endurance stories. Also digging might help too.)

Lawrence, I have a few questions (please forgive if I missed the answers or forgot them from your post):

How long have you been skating?
What was your previous record outside of this event, on the roads?
Have you done A2A, le Defi, NY100k?
What kind of equipment do you skate in, what do you like and hate about what you've used along the way?
How much distance training did you do in preparation for the 24 solo?
What else would you like to tell us? We're interested!

Thanks again for your story, and for joining here to share it!

Tribble Mill Park MapMyRide Route Mileage & Elevation

In reply to Chris Carmichael & Lance Armstrong's Cycling Hill-Training Adapted for Skate Training:

Here's a real slap-dash effort at a new and improved hill route for my skate training at Tribble Mill Park, Gwinnett County, GA. Check the box on the left to show elevation, if you care.

It's interesting, although I don't fully understand it yet. Instead of doing the endless loop in the center, I have added a trip down a twisty, slick and bepeopled trail (not marked on this map) to get to the 'flat' path alongside Ozora Lake. The plan is to stabilize my heart-rate yet still keep skating and then haul my rear end up the longer parking-lot hill (bottom right hand road).

I'm posting this after having searched online unsuccessfully for somebody's GPS/elevation details of the roads in Tribble Mill Park. Mountain bikers were the most likely to mention going out there with their GPS to get some numbers on their workouts, but none of them posted their findings. I don't have a GPS, but MapMyRide provides an eyeball at the elevation.

What an Amazing Accomplishment

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Thanks for the detailed report, Mark. That's a tremendous achievement and I enjoyed learning all the details. You really did something to be proud of there. I hope that your recovery is still going well.

A word from #3

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Hello people of RSN type! My name is Lawrence Pelo, nom de skate More Cowbell, and I recently lost a friendly but pitched battle to Skatey Mark for 2nd place at the Montreal 24hr (final score: Mark 274.1 miles, me 268.8 miles). What follows is my race report for the SkateLog forum. It's not as detailed or as entertaining as Mark's post, but I hope you enjoy it. I'll also post some further comments and reactions to Mark's piece.
*****************************************************************
LONGEST...
SKATE...
EVER!

268.8 miles in 24:06:49 (11.1 mph), HR 74%.

What an amazing day! The race started under beautiful sunny skies on a dry surface in moderate temperatures. (None of this was to last, but how kind of the skate goddess to let us start in pleasant conditions.) I had expected most of the solo skaters to start fast, but I was still surprised to find myself in last place after the first lap, with nearly the entire field out of sight. "That's okay," I told myself. "Just stick to the plan."

Halfway through lap 4, a paceline of four solo skaters lapped me. They ripped past at 16+ mph, jockeying and swinging their arms as though the DECC was around the next bend. Solo skaters lapped me many, many times over the first several hours. My thoughts alternated between "What am I doing wrong?" and "What the f--k do these guys think they're doing?" Stick to the plan, stick to the plan.

I didn't feel good. Nausea was a constant companion, and several times I feared I would vomit if I forced down one more sicky-sweet gel or bottle of sports drink, but everything stayed where I put it. My legs had some bounce but several muscles felt like they could cramp at any moment. My skates' familiar hotspots slowly burned blisters into my left heel and right arch. I gobbled sodium/potassium caps and concentrated on making it through the next hour. You can always skate one more hour, you see.

By nightfall I had risen from last (17th place) to eleventh place. A few hours later, after a steady rainshower soaked the track, I took my first real break (that is, I sat down) to change wheels and socks, bandage my blisters, and pull on a pair of long johns, which killed the cramps. As I left the paddocks, my sister told me I was in seventh place.

I had thought the deep night would be the toughest section, and it was. Hour upon hour of darkness and wet pavement, and four times an hour the surreal scene of the exchange zone -- a Fellini-esque carnival of staring headlamps, shouting in two languages, glow sticks and blinkers in every possible color and shape, and my blessed crew ringing the cowbell. At the halfway point I had skated 134 miles. I slowed to save energy for the daytime push. While my opponents rested on their butts, I rested on my wheels and kept moving forward.

As the race wore on, I learned the value of drafting. This must sound ridiculous to you more experienced skaters, but I had barely ever drafted before and I had to learn on the fly. What a revelation! Unfortunately, it was difficult to find a draft; most of the relay skaters were too fast, and the solo skaters were spread too thin. I estimate I skated by myself 80% of the time -- my biggest strategic error of the race. Most relay skaters were happy to pull, but distressingly often I had to hunch uncomfortably behind some tiny québécoise rec skater who obviously disliked having a sweaty, panting man lurking within inches of her rear end at 3:00 a.m.

The sun rose and dried the track. I took my second real break to change wheels and clothes, and my sister told me I was running fourth -- one spot off the podium. With six hours to go I increased the pace and soon I gained and then cemented the bronze medal. Weary but happy, I began to cruise and relax.

With 51 minutes to go, something strange and wonderful happened. I stopped to exchange water bottles, and as a result of crossed conversations; miscommunication with my crew; and exhaustion-induced stupidity on my part; I became convinced that not only was I was four laps behind leader Eric Gee, but that Eric had left the track. If I could spin four laps before the clock struck 24 hours and then add another lap, I would win the solo division.

This was not true. I was actually four laps behind the second place skater (that is, Mark), who was still skating; I had no real chance to improve my placement. But I thought I could win, and that spurred me to the finest athletic achievement I have ever produced: with 254 miles and 23 hours of skating in my legs, I crushed five laps in 57 minutes and crossed the finish line gasping and twitching. During that final push I maintained my heart rate at 93-97% of maximum, and my 96th and final lap was my fastest (15.5 mph). I wouldn't have thought it possible. But Speedy was right -- I was stronger than I knew.

There is so much more to tell. But why not find out for yourself how fantastic this race is? If you love speedskating, you must do this race at least once, either on a relay or as a solo skater. For those of you who did the relay this year and are thinking about soloing next year, I encourage you to make the jump. Train hard and follow a smart race plan, and you will amaze yourself.

And now for the thank-yous:

Thank you to my crew, especially my wonderful sister Dawn, and also Renee, Andrea, and Maria. I literally could not have done this without you.

Thank you to my American Invasion compatriots: Mark (2nd place), Bryan (AustinSkater), and Brian. We didn't sweep the podium, fellas, but two out of three ain't bad.

Thank you to the SkateLog team! It was awesome to meet everyone, and your support kept me rolling. I wish I could have spent more time with you guys. Congratulations on your achievement!

Thank you to the Skater's Quest teams, especially Howard (Intrepid), Donald, and the young woman taking photos who shouted encouragement every lap Sunday morning. Keep it rolling, Howard! You rock.

Thank you to Christine (sk8crazy), for your kind words and encouragement.

Huge thanks to Andrew, Randy, and George of Canadian Racing and Performance (CRAP), who arranged several custom full-lap pulls and made me an honorary member after the race, complete with T-shirt and a "You are one sick f--k" from George.

Thank you to all the anonymous skaters who tossed a "Go solo!" or "Allez solo!" my way as they zipped past.

Thank you to my Wash Park homies Spero, Eddie, and Rick. It might be a little while before you see me out there again, guys.

Thank you to all you SkateLoggers who offered your support over these months of training and dreaming and worrying.

Thank you to anyone who helped whose contribution might have slipped my mind at the moment.

And now for a few numbers:

Calories expended: 15,235 (635/hour)
Calories consumed: 7,200 (300/hour, less than I thought, with no ill effects)
Fluids consumed: 10.0 liters (417 ml/hr)

Toenails I will lose: 3

First 8 hours: 93 miles (11.7 mph)
Middle 8 hours: 77 miles (9.7 mph)
Final 8 hours: 98 miles (12.2 mph)
Time spent not skating (potty, water/food pickup, equipment/clothes change, etc.): ~60 minutes

Congrats!

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Congrats on a job well done! A fantastic achievement that I'm sure you'll remember for a long time.

Reading about that first lap was unreal. I can hardly believe people were seriously skating that fast starting out for a 24 hour event. I mean I know we all have adrenaline when we start, but 18mph? What were they thinking? Shows just how strong the pressure of the crowd is. I guess it's probably hard to judge your competition if you have never done an event of this type before. Then there's wanting to stay in the draft, the effect of teams vs solo, etc. Probably a hard dynamic to sort out. Sounds like you did the right thing before you burned too many matches!

I'm also surprised that you mentioned (offline) that no one used those famous Defi' rain boot covers. After all, it is Montreal. ;-) Maybe the Defi people and the 24 hour people are two different crowds.

Reading the description of the aftermath was heartbreaking. I am glad you made it back ok despite being alone the whole time.

Toenails and blisters are one thing, but please make sure you give yourself enough time to heal (esp things like that tendon) before doing serious skating. Your call, but remember enough rest/recovery is as important as the skating time. Don't let your obsession for skating cloud your long-term judgement. ;-)

Looking forward to skating with you again!

physical & mental fatigue

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

I have to say, I felt surprisingly good for the majority of the race. I think the cool temperature helped tremendously. My mind started to get a little low around hour 7, but the Red Bull countered that nicely. I felt strong & alert all through the first 13 hours, when I made my first stop. Even after that I felt good, all through the night. The sleep deprivation never really hit me.

Probably somewhere between 16 or 18 hours is when I started feeling the effects, and at that point it was mostly physical. The blisters were pretty bad from the rain, and my feet started to ache just from being on them for so long. Mentally, I was still pretty alert though. My brain definitely started to turn to mush in the last couple hours. It was getting warmer, and the sun was pretty intense. (At least it felt like it was.) I never felt like I wanted to quit until those last two hours. I had to dig pretty deep to keep going.

I think events like these really show what someone is made of. Sometimes you get an injury or have something come up (like stomach problems) that you truly can't prepare for and have to stop. But I've seen many people quit events "just because". Maybe they knew they weren't going to do as well as they hoped, so they just stopped. Everyone has different goals in doing any kind of event, but I think it takes a lot of heart to finish an event even when you know you aren't going to do as well as you wanted to. I always say it will take putting me in an ambulance to keep me from finishing A2A. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but pretty close to the truth. That was one of the reasons I skated that last lap with Brian -- I had signed up for a 24-hour event and I decided I would be doing myself a disservice if my watch read less than 24:00:00 when I stopped it. Or maybe I'm just stubborn... :-)

- SM -

98 Laps!

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

How cool of 24inline.com to post the participants' data! 98 laps of anything is a remarkable achievement. 98 laps!! I would imagine that would really mess with your mind after a while.

How long before the crash? Jalapeño chips!

In reply to 24-Hour Inline Montreal Race Report:

Fantastic article worthy of some digg.com action. I'm sure this will be a long-term favorite, and thanks for sharing it here. It sounds like your feet took the worst of it! Ouch! I sealed the bottoms of my boots where the Verducci have extra mounting holes and they don't get nearly as soaked as before. I don't know if that's a factor with your setup, and of course if it rains enough you're going to be soaked, and if you sweat enough, your feet will be soaked anyway.

I have lots of questions but for now my main one is kind of a silly one but something I'm curious about. How much harder was the second half, say, compared with the first half? I'm asking for some vague guess like 3x as hard or whatever. How many hours did it take before you had any sort of mental "breakdown" of sorts, meaning sleep deprivation or something like that. These questions are not put so well but that's what I'm wondering.

Oh yeah! Jalapeño chips! I recall from our second long skate day that I had bought jalapeño chips and they REALLY hit the spot big time late in the day. How strange is that? They were one of the highlights of the afternoon and when I think about them now I associate them with skating. Funny. I could see how after skating forever and having mostly gooey stuff, they'd clear the head via the tastebuds rapido.