Last night we attended Rolling Vikings’ training session at the Premier Outlets Center in Ringsted. For some reasons, I never associated outlet mall with Europe but there we were, big box mall with (slightly cheaper) apparel from most chain stores. Okay, so the photo above was not taken last night and the Viking in the shot was not at practice last night. Just play along, okay? It was a beautiful sunny Friday after skating 42km. Teammate NCJ and I even coordinated our outfits to proudly represent Asphalt Beach. Of course I need to work this photo in the blog somewhere.
Anyway, training last night. After enjoying a run of warm sunny days, the forecast finally turned against us. The ground was damp at the mall parking lot with the occasional puddles here and there. With the early closing hours, our little loop around the parking lot was quite deserted. Just perfect for the 500m repeats TB had in store for us. I was not too keen on skating since my shins quickly locked up during warm up. That usually happens when I’m tensed or nervous about the skating surface. I skated the warm up slowly at my own pace, trying hard to relax the body. With a bit of stretching, my shins loosened up just enough for me to get into skating position.
During warm up , one of the Rolling Vikings took a hard fall as he stepped down from the curb. His face must have hit the pavement because he was all bloodied and spitting out blood. I involuntarily cringed at the thought of losing teeth in a crash. That is one of my biggest fear on skates. I am very attached to my nice set of pearly whites. I sincerely hope this skater return to 100% soon. Le Mans is fast approaching and the Rolling Vikings need their skaters to be at their best.
For the 500m intervals, we basically skated at 90% effort for half a loop then rolled our way back to the starting point for about 40 seconds. One set of 15 times is not too demanding since I have similar intervals in my training program anyway. I was not terribly confident with my stability last night so I skated more conservatively than usual and kept my distance from the pack. I did not want to cause a crash with so many skaters getting ready for a big race this coming weekend.
Keeping my distance from the pack forced me to skate with more awareness of my technique. I focused on stronger more powerful pushes and mindful of how to approach the corners without losing much speed. It was definitely a useful session though I could have use a second set of 15x.
What I admire most about the Rolling Vikings is the friendly and inclusive atmosphere. There are skaters of all abilities yet everyone is supportive of each other. It is too bad that the organized skating community in Toronto no longer has enough skaters to support a more fitness and social-oriented group.
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