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Asticou - First Time
Practice last night was held at Asticou. I had never been there before so I was looking forward to grading the pavement and the facilities as I had heard nightmare stories of this place for the past year. Although it has its patches of rough, overall it was an okay loop.
I wasn't 100% happy with my skate yesterday but it wasn't as bad as I thought once I chatted with Greg on the way home and calmed down a bit. Sure I had some back issues but they were relieved (for the most part) when Dan D and Alicia gave me some great tips. Alicia reminded me to get even lower and to suck in my bellybutton to give my lower back a break. Worked like a charm. Dan D reminded me that if you are in a pack and you are in the middle or at the end, there is really no need to stay super low all the time. If you need to, stand up and give your back a break. Once I did that and took advantage of the bigger guys in front of me, I was able to increase my distance on the first try.
I couldn't complete all the sets that Dan had us doing but I did put in an effort. I completed about 25km of the 30+km that were required. It seemed that about every 5km I had to break in order to rest my back or stretch out. That still seems to be my challenge thus far. I am going to work on strengthening my core as much as possible on non-skate days and see if that helps at all. And as Alicia mentioned, I might just need to push through that wall and see if maybe my body can adapt. Lots of things to try, lots of things to learn. I am hoping that it is just "new season" aches and pains. Regardless, I WILL prevail.
On a more positive note, I did manage to do a 2k loop with Stephane. Although it was his warm up lap, the pace was still pretty fast for me. I had to give my 80% just to match his speed. It was great fun.
The Corner Kid Killer struck again last night and Benoit was the latest victim. I guess he was getting to close and she kicked him to the curb. Poor guy. Although he kept on skating, he did have some nice road rash as a souvenir of this senseless attack. I think I will have to rename this skater the Corner Kill as she now seems to be going after adults as well. There seems to be no discrimination now. When will it ever stop? Something has to be done!
As always, the race team were pretty focused and were just blurs of speed the whole night. You can tell that they are stoked that the outdoor season has begun. The fun and games are over. Training time has begun! I am bummed that I can't train with them on Wednesday mornings because I totally think I could benefit from it but this damn job of mine keeps getting in the way. But I am looking forward to when the Saturday morning sessions start. I will totally be there! No one is going to question my intentions this summer, let me assure you.
Lastly, I have to give some props to Shannon. I am totally jealous of his endurance improvement over the winter season. Speed and distance are looking great buddy. I think you are the next "skater to watch".
And Greg, I am going to take your advice and let go.
I wasn't 100% happy with my skate yesterday but it wasn't as bad as I thought once I chatted with Greg on the way home and calmed down a bit. Sure I had some back issues but they were relieved (for the most part) when Dan D and Alicia gave me some great tips. Alicia reminded me to get even lower and to suck in my bellybutton to give my lower back a break. Worked like a charm. Dan D reminded me that if you are in a pack and you are in the middle or at the end, there is really no need to stay super low all the time. If you need to, stand up and give your back a break. Once I did that and took advantage of the bigger guys in front of me, I was able to increase my distance on the first try.
I couldn't complete all the sets that Dan had us doing but I did put in an effort. I completed about 25km of the 30+km that were required. It seemed that about every 5km I had to break in order to rest my back or stretch out. That still seems to be my challenge thus far. I am going to work on strengthening my core as much as possible on non-skate days and see if that helps at all. And as Alicia mentioned, I might just need to push through that wall and see if maybe my body can adapt. Lots of things to try, lots of things to learn. I am hoping that it is just "new season" aches and pains. Regardless, I WILL prevail.
On a more positive note, I did manage to do a 2k loop with Stephane. Although it was his warm up lap, the pace was still pretty fast for me. I had to give my 80% just to match his speed. It was great fun.
The Corner Kid Killer struck again last night and Benoit was the latest victim. I guess he was getting to close and she kicked him to the curb. Poor guy. Although he kept on skating, he did have some nice road rash as a souvenir of this senseless attack. I think I will have to rename this skater the Corner Kill as she now seems to be going after adults as well. There seems to be no discrimination now. When will it ever stop? Something has to be done!
As always, the race team were pretty focused and were just blurs of speed the whole night. You can tell that they are stoked that the outdoor season has begun. The fun and games are over. Training time has begun! I am bummed that I can't train with them on Wednesday mornings because I totally think I could benefit from it but this damn job of mine keeps getting in the way. But I am looking forward to when the Saturday morning sessions start. I will totally be there! No one is going to question my intentions this summer, let me assure you.
Lastly, I have to give some props to Shannon. I am totally jealous of his endurance improvement over the winter season. Speed and distance are looking great buddy. I think you are the next "skater to watch".
And Greg, I am going to take your advice and let go.
(Anonymous)
I liked Asticou a lot more than the NRC. Asticou has a big loop, nice turns, rolling hills and you can just get in a pack and roll until the cows come home. I think the NRC loop is boring and dangerous.
Greg