2012 Southern Spring Fling Inline Speed Skating Races

Since September 5, 2009 I have greatly waited for this day with anxious anticipation. This will be my first inline speed skating race since separating my right A/C joint (shoulder). It just happens that this race is at the very same skating rink where the accident happened so long ago. Even though I have been going to Smyrna the past few Sunday's to practice at the rink, I haven't raced there, which is a totally different feeling than just practicing. The nerves, the speed, the NEW guys to race against. And of course, the FEAR of IT happening again.

After having a great evening visiting with my kids in Auburn, I headed up to Powder Springs, Ga. to spend the night with my good friend Jerry. Since I arrived late, Jerry was already asleep, so I snuck in and passed out.

The alarm on my phone seemed to go off as soon as I hit the pillow. 4:15 comes early no matter what time you actually go to bed. The races start at 6am sharp, so I had to get up, shower and get to the rink around 5am claim my spot and get ready to skate.

I am scheduled to race the Elite Veteran division and the Novice Master Men division. Elite divisions start at 6am sharp, and the Novice divisions will start immediately following the Elite awards ceremony. It really makes for a very LONG day. We have 240 participants registered to race and we have to get them all in by 6pm. So as soon as one race is over, the next race is called to the start line.

For the first time since going to Nationals in 2008, my age group has heats. There are 14 Veteran Men in 3 heats, WOW. And one of them includes Jim Larson which is the reigning World Record holder!!! Oh well, who isn't up for a challenge.

Well he wasn't in my heat, so he wasn't the one that I needed to worry about. Most of these guys I didn't know, so I had no idea how good they were. Well I quickly found out and placed 4th in both my 500 meter and 1000 meter heats. Which didn't qualify me for the finals (top 3 go). I wasn't too disappointed though being my first race in 2-1/2 years. My starts were terrible, so at least I know where I need to concentrate my training for next time.

So now I have wait around until the Novice races start, approximately 3 hours!!! I know alot of these same guys are going to be racing in the Novice division too, so the thought of leave did cross my mind a little. I quickly tried to distract myself from the thought and walked around to find some of these guys to go talk to. Kind of break the ice so to speak. Skaters are all a good bunch of folks and are very nice, at least off the floor that is. LOL

After a seemingly endlees waiting period, my warm-up is called. So it time to get the head straight and warm-up those muscles. My legs are feeling ok up to this point. I hit the floor and get several warm-up laps in and then go check-in at the starting line. I find out that Master Men has heats too.

I'm in the first heat, but this time I come in 3rd. So the confidence is building some! My start was actually pretty respectable and I am happy with it. The final comes around pretty quick (even though it was an hour later). I get aneven better start this time and place 3rd in the 500 meter final!!! YAY I am exstactic! LOL I seems that as the day goes, my starts and skating in general are getting better and better. Now I am axiously anticipating the 1000 meter races.

When I go to check-in for the 1st 1000 meter heat, the girl tells us that some guys have bailed out of the race and there is going to be only 2 heats with 7 guys in each. WOW, I don't think that I have ever had that many GROWN men on the start line since I started racing! I am in the 2nd heat this time. I start thinking about strategy and decide that I need to put all of my effort towards the start and get out as fast as I can.

So we are now called to the line. The gun goes off and we race down the line to the first corner (cone). I am in 3rd position and am happy with that. As we come around to start the 2nd lap, the 2 guys in front of me go a little wide and I make the pass for 1st. Some how I was able to hold the off and finish the heat in 1st. I think you could have seen the smile on my face all the way back in Columbus! Top 3 qualify for the finals.

So the 1000 meter finals finally make it around about 5:45pm. Remember we have to be out of the building by 6pm. Master Men is always the last race of the day, unfortunately! So we come to the line and the gun goes off. I start the race in 3rd position again. I some how am able to hold off a late charge by one of the guys and finish in 3rd being unable to catch the 2 guys in front.

By now my legs are totally shot and hurting, but my overall feeling is grand. I had a great day with no incidences or injuries. AND my performance improved with almost every lap during the day. It was also good to see alot of my skating buddies that I haven't seen in several years.

I finished 3rd place overall for the Nocive Master Men. I am now looking forward to the next race and to see what I can do there. Possibly the Tampa Classic April 6-7. More to come then...

US 10K 2008 Atlanta

Well the big day finally came and went and it only took 21:41 minutes!!! It is touted as the hardest 10K in America and I have to agree with that statement. Even though it is the hardest race, it is also the shortest (thank goodness!!!). This being a personal best for me also. This was my 3rd time skating in this race (which was also my very first inline race ever, 2 years ago). I finished 12th overall and 1st in my age group. The last 2 years I finished 5th and 3rd, so I really wanted that #1 spot this year. Accomplished 2 goals in one race! Man what a rush!!!

I have to also say that I am very proud of our GT Speed Team from Columbus. We dominated the field for a team. If there was a team competition, we would have won 1st place hands down!!! All 5 GT skaters today finished in the top 12. How great is that. So here goes the finishing order for us:

2nd - Matt Stewart 18:03

3rd - Kamani Griffin 18:08

7th - JD Coleman 19:34

9th - Teymur Etimadi 21:15

11th - Jacob White 21:20

12th - Scott Burkhalter 21:41

So here are the official results.

I am also proud of all of the other skaters and thank them for coming out and participating. It was great to see some new and old faces again. Hope to see everyone again next year.

Well I guess it is time to start practicing for the North Shore Inline Marathon coming in less than 2 weeks. Well maybe start tomorrow that is. Gotta start putting in the miles now and hopefully get another personal best!

Training for the US 10K race in Atlanta

Started training last week for the US10K race held each year on Labor Day in Atlanta. The race starts at Cumberland Mall and goes straight up Hwy 41 and finishes at White Water, 6.2 miles. It is touted as the hardest 10K in America because of its monster hills, 6 of them to be exact!!! This will be my 3rd year in this race. I placed 5th in my age group in 2006, 3rd in 2007, so guess what I am going for this year.



Of course our training must consist of the hills. It doesn't matter what hills as long as they are long and steep. We reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour going down them! Oh, did I forget to tell you that I am inline speed skating this race? Yes I am an inline speed skater. I am a member of GT Speed skating team in Columbus, Ga. So we started training over at the Northside Elemetry School entrance road last week. It is a 1 mile loop or lap, meaning that it is a 1 mile round trip up and back down. And it is a killer to say the least.



I did 4 laps on 2 different days last week and did 7 laps last night. I felt pretty good except for my heart rate getting as high as 187. It averaged 166 for the entire 7 laps which took 35:42 minutes. This is what I call extreme training, but it has to be done for this race.



Some of my fellow skaters joined me last night to train. They included Matt Stewart, JD Coleman, Teymur Etimadi, and coach Steve Stewart. They only did 5 or less laps (ha, ha, ha). I thought that Steve was going to puke!



I am really looking forward to this race because I really want to try to inprove my time from last year. Even though I finished 3rd in my age group, my time was 1:30 slower than in 2006. I attribute that to not being able to get into a pack or pace line early into the race. Oh well, I guess I will have to wait to see what happens this year.



I also just signed up for the North Shore Inline Marathon held in Duluth, Mn. on September 13, so this training will be a good start for that race also.