One door closes and another one opens. This new chapter in my life is going to be so exciting. Over the next year I will set my sights on the “Canadian National Inline Speed Skating Championships”, masters event. Once I have more event information I will post it. Right now all I know for sure is location and requirements. They will be held in Calgary, Alberta and you need to be really fast.
It’s be awhile since I trained. I have emptied my head of all it’s garbage. I now have a coach to aid my training, Tyler Congdon is one of the top inline speed skating coaches in Canada. Tyler has volunteered to coach me, from afar. He resides in Calgary but will be in Victoria on August 16, 2009. After that it will be video high tech training.
Coach has already made a huge improvement in my skating, simply from a still photo. I need to correct my shoulder movement or lack there of it. It appears I keep my shoulders parallel with the ground, instead of my hips. It made a huge difference in my skate today.
Went out this morning to correct my form. It was so easy. It felt so natural and allowed me to cut sooner and deeper into my double push. I did some footing drills mixed some sprints and chases. Kept my shoulders parallels to my hips and got some really decent speed up today. I trained for a little over two hours covering 50+ km while having the time of my life. It’s great to be back.
It’s even greater to be totally focused on a single goal. My coach is preparing a workout schedule, with plyometrics, foot work drills and the like. Life feels really great right now, probably not so great during some of the up coming workouts. Stay strong Brothers, life is just beginning.
Thanks a lot bro’s. Kind of like getting a new set of batteries for your favorite toy. I’m feeling very positive about all the changes that have happened. Wasn’t really expecting them, which makes it sweeter. My mind is over flowing with thoughts of racing. The strategies of pack racing, drafting and sprinting have started to churn in my mind.
Most of the training I have done up until now. Has been all about time trialing. The thought of racing at pack speeds and drafting off everyone going faster than you. Then the chases and final sprints, this is going to be fun. Lots to prepare for.
Went out for 2 1/2 hours and skated just over 50km. Practiced form and did some foot drills, mostly just skated. Tomorrow I’ll do a lot more drills mixed with sprints. I’m finding it more difficult to control my shoulder movements when I sprint. I want to correct as much as possible before I meet Tyler. I don’t want to waste valuable time on things I can correct myself.
With new goals comes new logs. I’ll keep several stats; over all time, kilometers covered, over all km’s, time trials and personal bests.
A bit on the stiff and sore side today. About what I expected, I know all the new muscles I’m using. When out and did drills for the double push. Working at getting as much push as I can on the double. I didn’t push hard just got loose and worked on technique for 1.25 hrs. Covered 25km slowly trying to work maximum push through the various grades on the trail. I still need to focus lots of effort on technique. I’m constantly aware of every movement I make. I see at what points I start to lose concentration on technique and start focusing on effort.
It’s at these moments I see the lack of tactical training. I will work at this problem until my double push is as natural as walking. I’m sure Tyler will have a lot of different drills to keep my mind sharp. Until then I’ll do the ones a know and horn my skills the best I can.
Nothing like having a competition in sight to recharge the training. And let’s not start small. Let’s just jump right in and start with the “Canadian National Inline Speed Skating Championships”. And a coach, too. Real happy for you. I’ll be following your progress and rootin for you.
You guys are the absolute best. One week tomorrow I meet my coach and start training for the greatest journey of my life. I am psyched, focused and have the greatest support team of any athlete, you guys! Don’t let me slack off, even I need a kick in the ass at times.
I decided to start my own company. I need the do a title search and then register it. I will then sponsor myself at the nationals and put my logo on my skins. “Streamline Fitness, consulting & training”, it’s time to get out from under the yoke of others and work for myself.
Life is going to be so much more interesting now. Some many good things are happening. Just need to keep pushing forward and live the dream. Thanks for all the support guys.
SL, good luck with the training. Your coach won’t need to make any motivational speeches to you. He may have to get you to back off some times.
I hope your business venture takes off soon.
Tomorrow evening I will be meeting my coach for the first time. We plan on going for a short skate so he has an idea as to what he has to work with. Coach Tyler will be with his girlfriend Leah, who is a sprinting coach. Together they will evaluate my skating and give me some tips to correct what ever I’m doing wrong. Most likely more than I’m going to truly want to hear.
We will also spend sometime determining what my goals and expectations are. Then over the next week or so I will come up with a training plan. Tyler’s recommendations will be predominant in types of exercises I will be doing. Right now I’m just waiting to put it all together, trying not to form any preconceived notions. What ever the plan is I will be putting everything into it, surprise.
I went for a relaxing skate today, did 30km and had a blast. I am looking forward to getting back into training as well as having direction and focus again. Aside form some gym work I have mainly letting my body heal up and get a few extra pounds on. I’m going to have a very productive training season followed by a very successful performance at the Canadian Nationals next summer.
[quote]streamline wrote:
Tomorrow evening I will be meeting my coach for the first time. We plan on going for a short skate so he has an idea as to what he has to work with. Coach Tyler will be with his girlfriend Leah, who is a sprinting coach. Together they will evaluate my skating and give me some tips to correct what ever I’m doing wrong. Most likely more than I’m going to truly want to hear.
We will also spend sometime determining what my goals and expectations are. Then over the next week or so I will come up with a training plan. Tyler’s recommendations will be predominant in types of exercises I will be doing.
Right now I’m just waiting to put it all together, trying not to form any preconceived notions. What ever the plan is I will be putting everything into it, surprise.
I went for a relaxing skate today, did 30km and had a blast. I am looking forward to getting back into training as well as having direction and focus again. Aside form some gym work I have mainly letting my body heal up and get a few extra pounds on. I’m going to have a very productive training season followed by a very successful performance at the Canadian Nationals next summer.
Needless to say I’m very stoked about tomorrow.
Total hrs: 7.25 Aug kms: 155km Total km’s 155km[/quote]
That is really neat, keep us posted on how it goes and the improvements you make.
Today was the day my life changed. I met with coach Tyler Congdon and his girlfriend and sprinting coach Leah. It went great, I learned a lot and met two dedicated speed skaters. They suggested I plan going to Calgary a week early to practice skating with their team. They have several skaters training for the world championships. So I’ll be holidaying in Calgary next summer.
My double push was analyzed and I have some work to do. I’m mainly doing one thing wrong but it will take four stages of drills to correct. Once I correct this big flaw my speed will increase considerably. I knew I wasn’t doing the double push right I just couldn’t figure out what. Basically I’m not cutting into the double push correctly. I need to land my skate center stride, get on the outside edge of the wheels and snap the heal around by straightening the knee. Thereby driving the outer edge of the wheels into the ground for a really solid push.
It is important that I minimize any upper body movement except rolling the shoulders with the hips. I will start drills tomorrow, the first drill will be making sure I start center stride on the outside edge of the wheels while getting the heal snapped around. This is a one skate drill using the toe wheel on the opposite skate for balance. I need to remember to cross the toe skate to the opposite side for maximum balance.
After going through some drills to get a really good understanding of what I need to do in order to correct my technique. Plus seeing it done properly helped me really understand the importance of this correction and how it relates to greater speed. I hear the works “sprinting at 50kmh is totally possible with a correct double push”. Say no more, this is going to be awesome. 50kmh gets me in the draft of pretty much any bike I want.
I have a lot of work to do and the out come is going to be amazing. I’m going to do the P90X program again. I believe the program will put me in the condition I need to be in. I really do love the intensity and depth of this program. The results, like any program depends on ones dedication and work ethic. I happen to have both plus a need for speed. The next ten months are going to be so much fun, I can already feel the burn. Going cardio crazy again as well. Which means it’s back to early morning workouts, I’ll plan that for next Monday. Tomorrow is all about the double push.
Streamline I think your enthusiasm is at critical mass! Thankfully it is contagious!
That sounds great…the coaching, the plan and the desire to get out there and do it.
I can’t wait to hear about the progress. Train hard. Train smart. And kick its arse!
Hello everyone. It’s been awhile since my last post. Mostly I’ve been healing my back and restructuring my goals. Spring is on the way. Making it time to get my ass in gear. I feel awesome, my back is completely healed as are all my other injuries (except my shoulder, of course).
It will be a great year, as long as I work my ass off and remain injury free.
Worked chest and back today. Lots of push-ups and pull-ups.
Balls push-ups, standard, wide, decline X 10 X 2
Pull-ups & Chin-ups, wide grip X 5 X 2; close grip X 5 X 2
Shouldn’t take to long to get back up to high reps. Looking for some dry weather to get out and do some technique training.
I am very happy to be back at it again. It’s time to take it to the next level. I need to be stronger and faster than I have ever been before. That will make this journey an awesome challenge. Lets do it!
