As I sat and watched Jim skate 70 laps to my 30, I finally came to the conclusion that something had to change. As little as 3 years ago; I was 30 lbs lighter, in fairly decent shape, and looking back on a journey that had taken me 7 long years to loose about 70 lbs, vowing to never go through that again. Now, I am looking up that hill again, and this time it feels as if I am climbing K2 unsupported instead of being short-roped up Everest. Not to say that the last journey was easy, but for some reason, despite similar concerns, I was far more motivated and far less stressed.
I completed a time trial yesterday, both 500M and 1000M. I have decided that this will be my starting marker. Six winters ago, I had very little technique, but was very strong. My times were moderately slow. Now, after analyzing, modeling and practicing the technical aspects of speedskating for a good chunk of my spare time, I have found that I am out of shape and just plain slow, no matter how much of an improvement in technique there is. We'll see if there is a difference at the end of this week at the jack Shea Sprints.
Short Term goal: I am hoping to be in shape enough to comfortably Skate the Bay in Feb.
Long Term goal: Regain my fitness and improve my health. (Loosing the 30lbs would be nice too)
