Last Sunday, I skated 10.4 miles, my longest skate to date. I was where I needed to be in my inline marathon training plan. I was less freaked out about hills, my endurance was improving, I had an ever-improving stride, and I was mostly ready (and productively anxious), about my upcoming inline half- marathon.

On Tuesday, I went to my favorite local lake with a 3ish mile bike trail with the plan of putting in 6 miles. About a half mile into my skate, I slowed down a bit as I went across a driveway, then started to pick up speed again. Suddenly, I felt something in the middle of my back, and I was knocked to the ground trying to figure out what just happened. A moment later, and I was standing up in the grass with a few more dings on my safety pads, looking at a boy on a bike. My best guess is that he was going faster than he should have been and not paying a whole lot of attention to anyone or anything else on the path. The main “anyone” on the path was me—an adult women in an obnoxious cycling jersey and a blue helmet. I stood there, taking personal inventory of where it hurt (which was barely anywhere because of the fun that is an adrenaline dump), and looking at him, and his seemingly disinterested mother, in disbelief. 

What followed was an interchange that went something like this:

Boy: AAAGGGHHH!
Me: You hit me with your bike and knocked me down.
Boy’s Mom: What happened?
Me: He hit me with his bike and knocked me down.
Boy: My brakes didn’t work.
Me: You hit me with your bike and knocked me down!
Boy’s Mom to Boy: Oh no! Let’s look at your brakes.
Me, to Boy’s Mom: HE HIT ME WITH HIS BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN!

[Silence as I waited for the mother or the boy, or really anyone, to ask if I was okay or show any sort of acknowledgement or remorse for the part where the boy HIT ME WITH HIS BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN.]

Me, to Boy’s Mom: In case you’re wondering, I’m okay.
Boy: My brakes didn’t work.
Me: YOU HIT ME WITH YOUR BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN!

In the end, I got nothing from the mom, and the boy continued to try to explain to me about how his brakes didn’t work. I skated ahead to get away from them, and when they caught up with me as I was waiting to cross the street, the boy stopped--funny how his brakes worked then--and his mom didn’t make eye contact with me and apparently was busy trying to locate her other child (who I think she was also trying to locate when the boy initially HIT ME WITH HIS BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN).
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I decided to skate only 3 miles that night since I was feeling a little off after the boy HIT ME WITH HIS BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN. I was happy to skate/walk away from the issue, but the interaction bothered me for all of the reasons. 

I woke up the following day and realized that, although I am durable and tough, getting hit made a real impact on me. (Pun intended.) My back was a little sore, and later in the day, I had a headache and was extremely tired. I went home and slept a bit. The day after that, I noticed neck and back pain, and realized that this is what whiplash feels like. I scheduled a chiropractor appointment for Friday morning, and skipped skating Thursday night.

On Friday, I went to the chiropractor, and told her my situation. She told me it was my call whether or not I wanted to skate in a week, and we could see how it went and make a call later in the week. I have a couple of specific stretches to do, ice to use on my back and neck twice a day, and a directive not to skate or anything equally strenuous until at least Tuesday. 

20, and probably even 10 years ago, I may have pushed it and done the race knowing that I could tough my way through it. While I have no doubt in my ability to play hurt and work through pain to achieve a goal, it’s also important to know when that makes sense, and when that is just dumb. I had planned for a week of training to achieve a few more things (a longer skate on rolling hills, an even longer skate on a flat surface to surpass the half marathon distance before the event) that I’m not going to be able to do. There is the pre-race taper, but I’m a little too pre-race to call this a long taper. There is also the pain that you play through (like soreness and aching rather than “I messed up my neck and back because someone HIT ME WITH HIS BIKE AND KNOCKED ME DOWN.”)

While one of my goals is to skate an inline half marathon, that was really a sub goal on the way to skating an inline marathon. Knowing myself and my body, I’m going to sit out the half marathon (which kills me a little) and heal up so I can come back strong and do the full marathon in September. Sometimes one goal has to go away to reach another, more important goal. I’ll also skate the half marathon distance, just not with the pomp and circumstance of finishing an event as planned.
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Skating is the most recent manifestation of one of my longer term life goals: continued wellness and mobility. One of my other core life goals is to be able to retain mobility and fitness throughout my lifetime. Currently, I’m not willing to put “complete inline half marathon in 2019” over “ability to walk when I’m 80 and live relatively pain-free.” This is one of those cases where adulting sucks. I know enough that I need to give up an interim goal to hit two, larger (and more important) long term goals. I'm still not happy about it. 

For the next week, my main physical activities will be sleep, yoga, stretching, and walking. It's killing me a little bit already, but better to take a week to really recover than pushing it too soon and hurting myself worse. After that, I'll reassess. Then I may do shorter skates on flat, controlled surfaces (like a local inline skating track that is well-maintained), try out my easy hills trail (which is a mile long), and see how things are looking. I'm also going to take full advantage of the chiropractic arts and have a massage between now and then. I may also walk and put in some elliptical time to keep my fitness level up while I heal. 

How do you heal from an injury? How to you manage your headspace? Include your thoughts in the comments.

In previous blog articles, I outlined my 3-phase inline marathon training plan.  Having a high-level plan is not enough, though. In order to be successful, I must put that plan into action. This means getting from weekly mileage and a list of cross training activities on a page into specific appointments on the calendar. This also means factoring in the weather, work activities, parenting, and spending time with family and friends. I also find that if I don’t think ahead, it’s way too easy to not make training a priority.

I have a detailed outline of my specific training plan. It plots our week by week how many miles I should be skating, and additional training activities and frequencies. Within a given week, my goal is to skate outside 3 times, have 1 cross training day, incorporate working on hills, maintain flexibility, and do some strength training. I also need to have at least 1 rest/recover day in addition to daily stretching. As I get closer to the inline half marathon, here is what an upcoming training week looks like:

Growing up on a farm, I was used to having a contentious relationship with the weather. Farmers are always trying to work it out so that they can cut hay, give it a bit to dry, bale it, and then haul it out of the fields and into the barn—ideally without it getting rained on along the way.

As a city dweller, I have not had to care as much about the weather for years. Now, though, since I need to train outside (and skating in the rain is not a thing), I need to pay more attention to the weather. When might it rain this week? If it does rain, how much? Can I sneak in a skate early morning or later evening skate before or after the rain? With that information in my head, and my training plan in front of me, it’s time to do some research and scheduling. 

Not only do I need to find 3 days where I can skate outside, but I also would like to have 3 days with at least 1 day off in between. I also need to stay flexible enough that as the weather forecast updates, I can revise my scheduled days as needed. Right now, it looks like Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning have the greatest chance of rain. On the day of my 3-mile skate, I also want to be sure to do some practicing on hills (my stopping downhill skills need some work) and on the longer skate day, I’ll focus more on distance on a relatively flat surface. As weather dictates, I can also possibly work on stopping on hills and going up hills, on a different day.
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Also, this past weekend, I did a longer skate on Saturday, and a skating lesson on Sunday, so I need to take Monday off from skating to let my body recover. That means that later in the week, I may need to skate 2 days in a row depending on the weather. I will tentatively push out my longer skate until Sunday so I at least have a day off from skating before that longer, potentially more taxing training day. With all those things in mind, I check out the week's forecast:

After looking at the weather, I considered my work schedule, social plans with friends, fitness classes I wanted to go to, and the family calendar. After factoring those items in, here's the schedule I landed on:

Recovery Activities
My recovery day can be whatever it needs to be. Sometimes, recovery involves guarding the couch and watching Netflix followed by an Epsom salt bath and a little extra sleep. It could also include a massage or a leisurely hike with a friend. For my next recovery day, I’m planning on foam rolling and a little yoga.

Flexibility Training
When it comes to flexibility training, I do basic stretching every day. In addition, I like to go to at least one yoga class per week. This helps me to make sure I’m not doing the same exercises all the time and pushing myself to use different muscle groups. As needed, I can also do flexibility training on a day when I’m also doing skating or cross-training.

​Strength Training
For Strength training, I have multiple options. I can take a strength class, do circuit training at the gym, or I can do a kettlebell routine at home. This is the most flexible component of my workout since I have the option of doing this at home as schedules permit. As needed, I can also do strength training on a day when I’m also doing skating or cross-training.

​Cross Training
Cross training can take multiple formats. My favorites include running outside and running or walking uphill on a treadmill at the gym. As I work on getting better at hills, using the Stairmaster at the gym, or walking around Minnehaha Falls park and doing multiple flights of stairs, helps increase my cardiovascular capability as well as my hill climbing muscles. 

Once I have my general plan set, I figure out exactly what I’m going to do and make an executable plan. Writing down details helps me to complete each planned activity. It also gives me the specific information to enable me to not have to think through details in the moment and risk not following through. Here are my specific activities for the week:

• Monday, I’ll do my foam roller workout at home starting no later than 9:00 pm.
• Tuesday, I’ll attend a scheduled 1-hour yin yoga class at my gym.
• Wednesday, I’ll leave work, then do my 3-mile skate on a trail close to work before I come home. I’ll also spend 15-minutes practicing downhill skating (including slowing down and stopping).  
• Thursday, I’ll hike with a good friend (which nicely combines friend time with cross-training).
• Friday, I’ll come home after work, have a snack, then go skating around a lake about 7:00 pm. I’ll practice slowing down and stopping on hills during that 6-mile skate.
• Saturday, I’ll do a kettlebell tabata workout at home. I’ll start doing that workout by 10:00 am.
• Sunday, I’ll get up, have a snack, bring hydration for the longer skate, then go skating around a lake by 11:00 am. I’ll do lake laps and skate nearby trails, until I have skated 11 miles. 

What concrete plans do you make to make sure you'll meet your fitness goals? Include your thoughts in the comments. 

Today, I went on my first skate since my 10K inline skating event. I went on a different route with a few more hills. On one downhill slope, while I was focusing on technique, my front right skate wheel hit the grass, and I went down. Fortunately, I was wearing safety gear. What could have been a broken wrist, a messed up knee, and a lot more blood ended up being way less dire. It was also a good reminder of how quickly something can happen, and how safety gear makes the end result more manageable.

If you see competitive inline skaters, they usually wear a short-sleeved cycling jersey, biking shorts, a bicycle helmet, wrist guards, and their skates. Most inline events require a helmet and wrist guards. Bicycle helmets are popular due to their aerodynamic nature. These are also experienced, pro skaters who place in world-class events. I am definitely not at this level. 

Here is my current safety gear for when I inline skate (or roller skate) outside:

• Triple 8 Sweatsaver Helmet
  After trying many, many different helmets, I settled on this helmet in blue for outdoor inline skating. My derby helmet, which I crashed with once, is also this helmet in black. (I thought blue would be less hot than black.) It also has a liner that absorbs sweat, mitigates the fragrant odor that comes along with said sweating, and keeps me cool. It's even a multiple-impact helmet, so it can take more than one blow. I also feel more comfortable with a helmet that protects more of my head than a bicycle helmet. Since I use my head every day for things like thinking, I want to be sure to keep it safe. 
• Triple 8 Saver Series Wristsavers Wrist Guards
  When I started doing roller derby, I read a lot about wrist guards, and tried a few different types. My overall preference are these Triple 8 wrist guards. These fit me well, are easy to put on, and can be adjusted with a Velcro strap. The biggest thing I like about these are that they have two metal braces--one on each side of my wrist. This helped save my wrist from being broken. They are also roomy enough that I can still wear my Fitbit under my left wrist guard and still be protected. Also, at about $20, they are affordable as well as durable. My wrists, which enjoy things like writing and not being broken, are very happy with these.
• 187 Killer Fly Knee Pads
  For roller derby, I have a bigger, fancier pair of 187 knee pads. I like those because they are durable and dare I say "pillowy" for all knee-hitting-the-floor related activities. 187 Killer Fly Knee Pads are a smaller version of those knee pads. They are still substantial (and some people don't like them because they stick out), and they were the right choice for me as I started skating outside and I often "took a knee" once per trail skate. Today, I was glad to have them there to cushion the fall. After today's fall, my knees are very happy at their status of being to bend, straighten, and bleeding-free.

​What safety gear do you wear or not wear when inline skating outdoors? Include your thoughts in the comments.