![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Skating Goodness
Although I have been suffering from strange back pain recently, I have to say that yesterdays practice was fan-fuc*ing-tastic. After running the loop and doing a very light amount of plyo based exercises, we donned our skates (without stretching tsk tsk) and focused on pack skating. Love this exercise as we don't often get to practice lots of pack stuff over the winter. We try but the skill levels don't usually accomodate everyone on such a small indoor track.
Anyway, several times during the practice, I jumped onto the race team pack and managed to get about 3-4 laps with them before being dropped or dying from fatigue. (edit: a lap is just shy of 1km) Either way, sticking with them for 4 laps was totally amazing. I had to skate at about 90% of my ability but it felt grrrreat to be a part of that pack, even for just a small amount of time. The speed is a bit crazy and you have no time to worry about the surface you are on because you are focusing on keeping up and staying in a controlled peloton. Very different level of focus. At least for me. The great thing is the realization that at least I can do it. Even though I realize that they are only skating at about 60%, it is still a good feeling. Of course my legs are so sore today that I can hardly move but still, it was fun.
As I mentioned, I still had a few back issues but this time around it was a bit different. I was able to give my back a break from time to time by standing up and just changing position but at one particular point of the night I had a bizarre turn of events. Instead of my back being sore while skating, it spasmed when I tried to stand up. My laps were over and as I was rolling to a stop I tried to stand up and the pain was like a punch in the gut. No breathe at all. It took a good 2 minutes to finally be able to get up and once I did manage it, I tried to stretch it out a bit at a time.
I am still working on core strength off and on skates and I hope that with the more skating I do, the quicker things will fall into place. At least that is the goal. With tips and comments coming in from everyone (thanks) I will be putting many things into practice to see if that helps.
Anyway, several times during the practice, I jumped onto the race team pack and managed to get about 3-4 laps with them before being dropped or dying from fatigue. (edit: a lap is just shy of 1km) Either way, sticking with them for 4 laps was totally amazing. I had to skate at about 90% of my ability but it felt grrrreat to be a part of that pack, even for just a small amount of time. The speed is a bit crazy and you have no time to worry about the surface you are on because you are focusing on keeping up and staying in a controlled peloton. Very different level of focus. At least for me. The great thing is the realization that at least I can do it. Even though I realize that they are only skating at about 60%, it is still a good feeling. Of course my legs are so sore today that I can hardly move but still, it was fun.
As I mentioned, I still had a few back issues but this time around it was a bit different. I was able to give my back a break from time to time by standing up and just changing position but at one particular point of the night I had a bizarre turn of events. Instead of my back being sore while skating, it spasmed when I tried to stand up. My laps were over and as I was rolling to a stop I tried to stand up and the pain was like a punch in the gut. No breathe at all. It took a good 2 minutes to finally be able to get up and once I did manage it, I tried to stretch it out a bit at a time.
I am still working on core strength off and on skates and I hope that with the more skating I do, the quicker things will fall into place. At least that is the goal. With tips and comments coming in from everyone (thanks) I will be putting many things into practice to see if that helps.
Comments