1/2 Marathon Training: Days 4 and 5

Thursday was a 1 hour skate at moderately fast tempo day.

I skated approx 11 - 12 miles in under 55 minutes which I'm pleased with.  A few days ago I was getting sick skating less time (although then I was skating with wild abandon and no pacing).  I could have skated faster, but I really didn't know how I'd feel at the end of an hour and this is, after all, just the first week of training.

Friday, I did doing two things.

 1.  I ordered a new deck and some rain wheels.  The deck is another Eastbilt pintail with cut-outs which is what I'm currently riding.  I will, however, modify the shape when it comes in.  I'm going to shorten the wheelbase slightly (from 32-ish to 29-ish) and I'm going to modify the back end so it won't actually be a pintail anymore.  The current pintail I'm riding will be transformed to my rain board.  I'm not going to modify the wheelbase or cut it, but I will be adding a coat or two of polyuerethane to protect from water damage and I'm going to throw on some Eastside Rain Wheels.

Did you know it rains just as much in Memphis as Portland?  Sure, it comes in bigger, less frequent storms instead of constant drizzly rain, but the rainfall is very close to the same.  That means, there are plenty of opportunities to use a set of rain wheels and NOT miss out on a training day or any ride.

2.  I had my long ride. 

I've been doing a 1 1/2 Friday ride most weeks for awhile.  It keeps me from skating transitions exclusively, and I usually ride my dancing board, but I decided to stick with the pintail this week.  Next week?  I'm going back to the dancing board.  Sure, Friday is the long day, but that doesn't mean it has to be the hardest working day.  In fact, this week I skated for an hour and a half without too much concern about speed or distance.  I did notice, however, that I (or we, I should say) skated faster today than previous 1 1/2 hour Friday rides.  Just getting into the groove of skating for distance has seemed to up the pace even when not trying.

Now, two days off to spend with my son playing Wii (we just got one...he is stoked) and some family cooking projects (we just got a new oven...I am stoked).  See y'all next week.

And remember:  two blog posts on luchaskate next week.  One Wednesday night.  One Friday.