roadskater.net

I ran across this link to Bont's site the other day on a skate forum. I realize many of you may already be doing a lot of these stretches in your warm up routine, but many of the new people to skating and this site might find a stretch or two they could add to theirs.

http://www.bont.com/news/featurearticles/stretching/stretching.htm

Whilst snooping around the personal finance and get-out-of-debt blogs, I tapped into the personal weight-loss blogs. In following the ADHD links to the maze of other such webpages, I found some funny blog titles, like "Over 40, in debt and overweight". Yes, in 2007 there are countless people still struggling in vain to lose excess weight. They all seem to believe that food deprivation and other people's idea of exercise are the only solutions. Will this hopelessly cruel and debilitating cycle ever end?

I hesitate to use the four-letter word 'diet' here, as that connotates restriction, sacrifice and misery. I also hesitate to call myself an athlete! However, in this bodyweight equation and given the unusually high number of skate-training hours, let the athlete = EB.

After several years of seeing the Tour de Kale flyers and jerseys out and about in Greensboro, I had the pleasure this year of finally taking part in this very well-run event. Denton, NC is a little town out in the country, Southwest of Greensboro, and a few miles southwest of Tour de Lions country, i.e., slightly more mountain-side, i.e., slightly hillier. Distance options this year were 120k, 110k, 60k (which Blake and I skated), and 25k (which Andy skated). Tour de Kale offers cash prizes for 1st, 2nd & 3rd male and female, spread over 4 categories for the 'Summit Challenge', which includes a Bubba division (male over 200lbs). Price is $35 for pre-reg., $40 the day of, plus a $10 deposit on the timing-chip, to be reimbursed after you turn it back in again. For this you get a bib #, meal ticket, event T-shirt & sponsor goodie bag, 120k of support vehicles & rest stops, and a beautiful country course.  

We roadskaters have at times had social skates at Country Park and elsewhere (NYC Central Park in Manhattan, Philly, Miami, DC). These events are great fun but it is always hard for us to find a true sweep who doesn't mind being at the back. In Manhattan, I have fond memories of a man a bit older than even myself who rode his bike quite happily at the back of several hundred skaters. He was always smiling, wearing his Aqueduct tee, with his nice easy way.

 I've been knocking these rather trivial, large-scale thoughts around my head for some years now and wanted to write something about them. Last night, whilst watching 20/20, was the final straw! This post might complement KJG's questions in Monotony of Training.

During a week of smoking hot temps in Greensboro, I finally got a chance to go back out to my beloved Greensboro Country Park, where by the end of the season I'm sure to know lots of new people, and to have seen many familiar and friendly faces as well. This week included some fun times.

I recently purchased a recumbent exercise bike to ride after my daughter goes to bed, as it is hard to get out as much as i would like with a 2.5 year old.  Its nothing fancy, a Proform XP110 from Sears.  I had a magnetic trainer for my road bike, but it's noisy and it just feels unnatural to be in that position on a normal road bike and not move for 30 minutes to an hour. 

I am not pregnant, nor have I been, nor do I expect to be, but I found this information interesting. OK I feel pregnant after the winter! I don't know if this info is all accurate but I think it is a nice start at thinking about getting some exercise. The article contains more, but here's the part that mentions skating:

Of course you already are on the lookout between 9am and 9pm (and the rest of the day), but now there's extra good reason. I have no dog in this fight, as I have no dog any more and have not been hanging in the city of late, but I've been afraid of dogs off the leash before of course. My typical reaction is to say "hey puppy" in a helium voice a la Broadway Danny Rose no matter how big the dog.

Hey anyone, I'm just curious about training on slide boards. Does anyone use these? Did you buy one, or make it yourself? Do you have any particular exercises that you do BESIDES just sliding back and forth?

Well, the latest attack against personal responsibility is underway...  Now the pharmaceutical companies have coined a new 'illness' for doctors to diagnose:  'metabolic syndrome'...  I guess calling people fat doesn't sell as many pills...

Any skaters who find themselves amongst the lonely mansions and shiny metal boxes of Gwinnett County, GA, might want to check out Tribble Mill Park as a little piece of heaven plus hills.

 

I've added Current Air Quality to the left sidebar of Roadskater.net as a test of usefulness. There are two graphics, which represent the current Ozone and Particulate Matter 2.5 readings for the USA.

I just thought I would share some of my thoughts regarding dieting and skating, since I seem to go through this alot... For the past several years, I've been caught in a bit of a cycle where I put on quite a bit of weight over the winter (20-30 pounds) and then spend several months in the spring trying to work it off, only to put it on again the following winter. In 2005, I vowed that it would not happen that year, but I ended up moving and that threw off my exercise routine for many months, during which time I put on my winter weight, as usual...