:(

Surgery number four was Tuesday. That's four in four months. I am down for a week or two. Then off to Alaska for Christmas. I don't see me getting the chance to skate there so the training looks to be on hold till 2012. I am expecting my new skates today I hope they fit. It can be challenging buying online. I have an odd size, I need wides but since no one seems to make them I just have to go bigger. Hopefully these work and I won't have to deal with exchanging them by mail.

Skate 5

12.2.11 skating rink again. It has been raining most of the weekend, so the rink was about our only option. It turned out to be an off night for me. The rink was really slow and I was excited to see so few kids to be in my way but about three laps in I started hearing those familiar sounds. Yet again another hub bites the dust. I switched to my Bauers but there is a fit issue with them that continues to give me trouble. They are about 12 or 13 years old and have seen many a mile so I guess they have been worth the $100 I paid for them.

I ordered 4 more wheels to replace out the broken wheels as well as the others that I'm sure will go soon too. I also ordered some K2 Moto 84 for rink skates.

Even with the skate troubles I still managed to get in 2 hours of skating, all be it at a slower speed then I like to be training at.


Running totals

Hours Outside: 1
Miles: 3.2
Hours in the Rink: 9.833
Falls: 1
Broken Equipment: 4 100mm hubs

Skate 4

11.26.11 another night at the skating rink. I put in 2 and a half hours in the three hours they were open. I was able to get my GPS to work in there for a while and it was showing 5 mph. I'm not sure how right that is but it felt about right and I am being slowed by the others so I feel very comfortable in the idea of doing the 14.2 miles of the half marathon in under 2 hours. That is goal one under two hours for the half marathon at Texas Road Rash in Austin April the 22nd!

I hope to be making some big changes soon that will help me put more time in to my training.

I am down to 211lbs so I've dropped 15lbs already but I still have 21 to go before Austin!

I am really feeling the difference in my energy and my knees are hurting much less then before.

The best part of this has been seeing my son skate and play with new friends . He is getting much better and is really having fun so that makes me happy to watch him.

Day of Rest

Sunday we took for family time and rest. I have to go out of town today but I am packing my skates. I really hope to be able to get an hour in tonight but we will see.

Houston Warmup!

I wasn't able to skate Houston but I attended and took some pictures. This is one of my favorites!

Skate #1

11.17.11 Skate #1 I got in about an hour of skating. I use a skate app that monitors route, distances and speeds. So in that hour I completed 3.2 miles but my average speed was 5.4 mph. I had my son along on his bike and that slowed down the speed and actual miles. So I am very encouraged by the session. I am far from the 14mph average I need to complete the Marathon in 2 hours but it was a good pace to start.

I mentioned I had had two surgeries in the past 2 months, one of them was 3 weeks ago and  it hasn't completely healed so my wife was against me starting this now but I assured her it would be fine. I have a 3 inch opening on my tailbone, so she is afraid it will rip if I fall. I told her there is little chance I will fall I have skated plenty in my life. Well as they say 'famous last words'. Yeah you know whats going about five minutes in to the first skate and I bit it. It was a steep down hill and the little trail was narrow so when I tried to cut to stop the paving was a little damp, I couldn't hold the edges and down I went. I didn't hit my tailbone so no problem with my surgery recovery but I took a pretty good shot on my hip, knee and elbow. Nothing to bad some good bruising but mainly just a good 'I told you so' form my wife. I am not sore from the skate but I am a little sore form the fall.

Running Total

Hours 1
Miles 3.2
Falls 1 

Logistics :)

The town I live in is small so there isn't a paved trail around the lake or park type of place for me to practice. So I will be mixing street skates with some time in a local skating rink. I won't ever be able to get up to speed in the rink, so the rink skates will be used mainly just to put hours in on my skates and to work on stamina. Even though it won't be at race type of speeds three hours of skating, I hope, will still work to build the muscle memory.

I am using three different sets of skates for this one is a pair of K2 Radical 100's that I bought in '06, they haven't seen many miles yet, I will use them for the actual races and street skates. I also will use a pair of Bauer recreational street skates and a pair of Bauer hockey skates. The last two are going to be mainly for the rink skates. At some point in the year I will have to buy some new whels and bearings, I'm sure, but for now I think I am good for skates.

In preparing for the Houston Marathon I hope to skate the half marathon at Texas Road Rash in Austin in April. There may be a conflict with a wedding that weekend but even if I have to drive through the night to get there I plan to skate.

The Beginning

Today starts my journey. I don't know yet how many hundreds of miles I will get to put on my skates in the next year but the number that matters is 28.2. That is the number of miles in the 2012 Houston Inline Marathon and that is the amount I will train to be able to complete next November.  

For the stats, I will check my weight once a week. (I hope to reach 180lbs by the time of the marathon next November) My weight starting Day 1 is 226b lbs. I will lose 46 lbs on this journey!


Let the FUN begin!