Since I came home from Denmark, I’ve been resting a lot to get my body back to race-ready condition. The increased training load at Sk8skool did not really affect my cardio condition but the accumulated fatigue in the muscles began to show toward the end of my trip. My sleep schedule has been erratic at best so I can’t even blame jetlag for not resting well.
Usually I don’t sweat over this sort of things because we all have good days and bad days. However, my immediate concern is the Apostle Islands Inline Marathon this Saturday in Wisconsin. MW and I will fly to Thunder Bay on Friday and make the five hour drive across the border. Prior to this race, I have only raced the Texas Road Rash and Mount Forest 10K this season. You can say my race instinct is getting a little rusty.
Word from the organizers is that there will be over 300 racers at the event. My main focus is to have a strong start to get into the right pack and finish with the same pack. I’ll have to remember that I am capable of bridging a gap as well as dealing with repeated surges in speed. Both scenarios were simulated at our training sessions in Denmark and I handled them well. Those are convincing arguments that I will have no excuse to give up the race before my time.
Last night I went to Toronto Inline Skating Club practice and shared with PD some of the drills we did at Sk8skool. The few days of rest I’ve been enjoying seem to have positive effect. Although I wasn’t happy with how sloppy I felt on skates, at least my shins did not lock up like they did last week. Rest continues to be my number one focus this week.
This season I have been a little late in finalizing my race calendar due to indecision. Traveling cost is on the rise and to be honest, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about racing. I’m good with doing my homework (i.e. training) but over the years, all the negative thoughts and voices have taken their toll. At home, I’ve been carefully surrounding myself with a circle of supportive coaches, mentors, and training partners. They never hesitate to offer me constructive criticisms yet they are also generous with recognizing my strengths and accomplishments. While I was training in Denmark, the unfamiliar environment brought much of my insecurities to surface. Between long talks with coach SZ and evaluating my performance in more objective light, I’m now more comfortable with myself as a competitive skater. Racing will continue to be challenging, of course. At the same time, if it is too easy, what is the point of working hard?
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