Summer Ice 2010

There is nothing quite like some really good ice cream (if you are in Rochester NY, read "Abbott's Custard") on a hot summer day.  Unless, of course, it is having the chance to have summer ice to train on.   Same cold, no guilt and no brain freeze!  Two weekends in a row, I've had the opportunity and the luxury of clinics with lots of ice time and lots of dryland.  As the advertising campaign goes, Life is Good.

On the weekend of July 31st, Anthony Lobello came in to Rochester to lead us in two days of ice, dryland and inline--a opportunity taken by about twenty of the masters skaters of the Rochester and Buffalo teams, and one young skater who is determined to show her (considerable) speed.  Anthony was a patient and very informative teacher, and I think will one day, when his competitive career is done,  prove to be a fantastic coach.  He gave us exactly what we needed after several months without ice:  a return to basics, breaking down the elements of skating and working on the small pieces that, done right, should improve the skating form of each of us.  Anthony did a great job of explaining and presenting  word pictures  of what the positions, done right would feel like.  Having stepped on the ice with great trepidation, fearful of a recurrence of last season's injuries, after several hours with him, I felt both more comfortable and much more psyched for the coming season!  The Rochester Speed Skating Team has a pretty intense dryland program under Coach Tom Rossborough, but Anthony presented some variations that will serve us well as we move closer to the start of the ice season.  Thank you Anthony!

This past weekend, it was off to Morrisville State College IcePlex where members of the Center State, Rochester, Syracuse, and Buffalo clubs had two perfect summer days, and that fast, terrific Morrisville rink to work on ice; and  a new astroturf football field for dryland skills, this time with Coaches Jenn Barber, Marty Medina, Tom Rossborough and Mikey Burdekin, who came in to show us what he's been learning over the past year in Salt Lake City.      I am so looking forward to the start of our regular season!

A Wonderful Feeling

I've written before about older athletes.  About what Dara Torres wrote about training as an athlete ages.  My relative quietness on the blog recently has largely been the result of having to work through the injuries that cut last season short, the hospital in December, and a blood pressure problem this spring.  So, it was with some trepidation as much as with anticipation that I finally took the field Tuesday with my Rochester Speed Skating teammates (and some Roller Derby colleagues) for dryland.

 Now, I am not an accomplished athlete, and probably never will be, and I'm fine with that.  The gifts God gave to me are different than the balance and coordination of a natural athlete.  Competitive sport, for me is mainly about the friendship, fun, health, being part of a team,  and setting goals that are just a little beyond what was possible the season before.  I also know that in every practice, and in every meet, I get a lesson of some sort, to use and to build upon.  For all that, after several months, it was daunting to think of trying again.  To think of reinjury.  Or of embarrassment at failure, or of being too far behind.  Of being 60 this time.

It turns out that there was nothing to fear.  My teammates were, as they have been from the start been welcoming and supportive.  Our coach's admonition to adjust your training to your condition is the same in execution as it is in theory.  I've got a long way to go, but the reality is that my carcass worked better than I'd expected, on the first day back.  And twenty-four hours later, there is the stiffness that is normal to getting back into it, but none of the injury-type pain I'd feared.  Having made a new beginning just feels really, really good.  Lactic acid and a little tenderness in the usual places never felt so good!

Stalling Over, Dryland Begins at the Yoga Center

Hearing Tom Rossborough talk about his rowing, and John Diemont his biking, and the folks in SLC talking about their aching,  it very slowly dawned on me that it was time to get going on dryland.  So, with a little time before Rochester or Buffalo dryland begins, I decided to try something new (for me).  I signed up at a little club in Buffalo to take 12 yoga lessons in the next six weeks, beginning last night when I met with about a dozen other neophytes and our instructor, Sara, for a couple hours.  Cannot say that it was fluid, but it was interesting, and fun, and a surprising mix of strenuous and relaxing.  We learned quite a bit about the concept of ujjayi breathing, and practiced it throughout the session, figuring out to extend a stretch on the exhale, and pressing weight to the rear foot, not the lead, which seemed counterintuitive, but clearly helped extend the stretches.  A lot to absorb in a first session, but it was really engaging and I'm looking forward to Thursday night!

Birthday 5K

7:30 AM on my 59th birthday, at the starting line with about 300 runners in the marina park embarcadero in San Diego harbor, for the National School Boards Foundation annual 5k run.  I could not have picked a better way to both celebrate my birthday, have the first running race of the year, fly the Rochester Speed Skating Team flag (well, T shirt) on the West Coast and let my teammates know that I have not turned into a couch potato! It was a fun race, with sun, a nice breeze and mid-60s temperatures, through a really beautiful park that runs along San Diego bay facing Coronado Island across the way.  In the harbor, a Dole container ship probably loaded with pineapples, the USS Ronald Reagan and another aircraft carrier, and several other Navy vessels.  It was a lot of fun, and while my time was about average for me, it was in the top half of the finishers, proving that there is merit in picking the races where most of the runners are over 30. In the post-race picture with me is Tim Kremer from the NY State School Boards Association, who was also flying his flag on the west coast, in his case the emblem of the New York Giants.  Jay Worona had racing #1.  I would have asked how he got that, if only I could have caught up to him!