Two new rides get tested.......

Well, I guess I am somewhat committed to my new adventure cause after skating on my new, now old skates for only 3 weeks, I have already upgraded in a big way and made a new purchase of Bont X5 moldable boots and a set of Maple Aluminum Comet blades......that is my first new ride. I purchased those from a buddy of mine Randy Plett who runs his business Red River Speed out of Winnipeg......anyone who needs inline or speed skating equipment of any kind should definately look him up www.redriverspeed.com, you'll get good prices and good service and of course, good stuff.
I recently tried my new equipment out in Calgary at the Oval as I had managed to get get 2hrs of fresh ice almost to myself, thanks to my friend Graeme out there. I must say, the skates felt way different than my beginner ones. I felt a lot more skitty on this stuff than before but it may come down to my technique, albeit the boots are cut way low and they are higher off the ice than my other ones so some adjustment period is necessary. I will get another chance to try them out and then figure out what's going on.
I didn't fall though and I had a great workout skate. I did a fullout 500m sprint, a fullout 1,000m sprint, then a fullout 1,500m sprint with minimal recoup time just to blast the legs....by this time I had a bit of snot coming out of my nose. I cooled down with a few basic laps before coming down the other way with another 1,000m sprint and another 500m sprint. Then I just settled in with some basic technical laps and finished my day with two 400m tempo drills......I was spent but loved every minute of it!!
While out there, I also made some contacts for apts....now I just have to figure out how to put all the logistics together of family, work, living arrangements, finances, and of course, committment......crunch time is coming!!
The second ride tested was the rising rocket ride with my daughter in Marineland.....that is an actual candid shot.....I love it!! She is a brave girl as she went on the Dragon roller coaster also which had 4 loops.....with that ride, my wife couldn't understand how I ever did skeleton......then I told her that skeleton was alot faster than the roller coaster and then she almost puked but on that note......I am glad to say that we have no hoarkers in this family.....we all kept our meals down.
So, I am looking forward to my next trip to Calgary already and I don't anticipate to start timing myself until I get very comfortable with my new stuff, so stay tuned and hopefully we will all see an improvement soon.

Peace.

New stuff from Calgary....

So I thought I would put into practice what I saw the elite athletes doing in Calgary concerning cornering and getting good technical pushes from both legs while in the corner. This exercise is done with two people with a long strap and one holds the other one up while he slants over and does the exercise so obviously, it is a question of weight distribution and balance, finding the tipping point.
So I ask my lovely wife to help me out thinking this would be a good way to really get her invovled with my dream by helping me workout and being part of the dream.......needless to say, it didn't quite workout as she was working harder than I was but the bright side to that is that she is just not heavy enough to keep me from falling so that is like music to any womans ears I guess.
So, I packed on the weight on my sled and off I went, I even included an extra 45lbs named Melia.....truly a good technical workout......what a corner should look like.
Anyways, still thinking about lots of stuff and this week I am hoping to find out a few things that will help me decide if I am moving out to Calgary or not......work issues, support, family, finances, a place to live, new equipment, etc.
This is definately more serious than the skeleton adventure cause things were happening right now with skeleton and speed skating is a little more thought out as there are still a good 2 years to go before any attempt is made in reaching my goal.
And of course, ultimately, it will come down to 'do I really want to do this and for the right reasons'..........decisions have to be made, and very soon......life is funny.

Peace.