Friday, April 14, 2006

getting in-line

A few things you may not have known about me:

I like in-line skating.

I live over a mile from any pavement, making in-line skating an unlikely pastime for me.

But my workplace is close to the head of the longest paved recreational trail in the world.

So sometimes I take a long lunch break and go skating.

That's what I did today. My skates have been in the back of my car since last summer, and today I had no excuse not to go. It's sunny and nearly 70 degrees, I had the time, I needed the exercise, and I felt like doing something more intense than walking. I suppose I could have backed out because my helmet and wrist guards were left at home, but that's never stopped me before. I know, probably not wise to go without.

I made it a short skate today, turning around after just one mile. I had forgotten how much my shins start to hurt when I haven't skated in a while. Not having cross country skied at all last winter, and only having ice skated once or twice, my legs were not used to the sudden burst of exercise. At least the trail is mostly uphill on the way out and downhill on a gentle grade coming back, so I can relax and glide along more then.

I did see a couple unidentified little brown birds, one red tailed hawk, and I heard a loud symphony of Western chorus frogs with a few wood frogs singing along.

Now if I can just do this three times per week or so.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kewl! Is that a rails-to-trails conversion? I'm surprised by the shin ache, but not being an athlete I guess there are all sorts of muscle aches I know nothing about.

R.Powers said...

Wow, that's a good skate. Your temps by the way were very similar to ours yesterday.

Pablo not an athlete? The image in my head is shattered...

Deb said...

pablo- yes it is an old railroad grade, which is probably best for someone like me who does not know how to stop very well! The shin pain did not last long, thankfully, I think it was just those muscles not used to the workout. Or maybe I had the skates on too tight.

FC- my thermometer says 74 today! So why am I sitting here in front of the computer? The pond beach calls...

RipSkater said...

Well Deb, I'm a bit envious of your paved trail: I have a pathway just 1.5km (one mile) long, and I gotta carry a broom to brush away the gravel before skating.

Luckily it's a nice strip of new asphalt with fabulous shipping views, so I don't mind doing the laps. But it'd sure be nice to have the option of a longer circuit, like you do.

Deb said...

RipSkater- I certainly wouldn't mind that view!

Unfortunately, beyond the one mile I skated to one way, they did some resurfacing (due to damage by studded snowmobile tracks...illegal on paved multiuse trails but it's hard to enforce), basically they put a layer of finely crushed rock on the trail, making it much less desirable for skating. I can do it, but oh the blisters. There are probably other parts of the trail that are still smooth asphalt though.