Well its been awhile and I haven't skated due to the foot injuries. I also haven't bothered to go to my doctor as my last experience with trying to get a skating injury treated resulted in an orthopedic opinion basically of "don't skate." I'm not confident that I will get referred to a competent orthopedic doctor who will actually care to treat the problem rather than tell me to take up another activity. I ordered an ankle brace as well as an orthopedic footbed and stretching video for heel pain and received them today. The stretching video is simply 1 basic calf stretch which in turn is supposed to stretch the achilles tendon which in turn takes the strain off the fascia underfoot which creates the heel pain. I put the footbed in my skate and may try it out this weekend if the weather permits. I'll update my progress with these treatments in a few weeks.

Well folks, I guess since I haven't written about last Tuesday's skate you've gotten the idea that things didn't go to well. My right foot felt great on the way out to Jones Beach, but my heel area began to ache on the way back. Also, the metatarsil area that I thought would resolve with the increase in padding began to hurt again soon after the heel began to ache. Moreover, the pain has continued post skating when just walking in normal shoes and even when just sitting. Needless to say, I haven't skated since last Tuesday and it looks like its time to get a referral from my doctor for an orthopedic consult. This has been very distressing and makes me wonder once again whether I will ever be able to skate on a consistent, training basis ever again.

Not the way I wanted to start off a new month. Today's skate was fairly distressing. While my left foot felt great, the problems with my right foot persist. The bone in my metatarsil area began to hurt after about 7-8 miles about the same time that my heel/ankle area began to become uncomfortable. On top of that, I was having some trouble keeping my heart rate down again. The problem in the metatarsil area historically has been a problem of not having enough natural padding over a bone with a sesamoid on it. In the past, finding the right combination of padding between footbeds and socks have resolved this problem. Accordingly, I stopped on the way home to pick up a flat, sport footbed that could be trimmed to the size of my skate footbed and placed underneath my existing footbed to create more padding underfoot. This seemed to work well with a nice fit and trying on the skates afterward in my apartment they still felt comfortable without being too snug and my metatarsil area, which was still flared up from the skate a few hours earlier felt comfortable without pain when I put pressure on it (lets keep our fingers crossed regarding that issue). As far as the heel/ankle area, I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm hoping (though I think its a longshot) that the extra padding which extends to my heel area as well helps, but I'm not banking on that. We'll have to wait and see how that problem plays out. I'm planning to check out the skate adjustment this Tuesday when I head back out to the Jones Beach bike path .

I tried to talk my friend Jason (who just had a baby boy yesterday) into getting out on his skates this year so he can join me in skating Athens-to-Atlanta next year. With a new baby here, thats pretty unlikely I guess. It kinda sucked going down there 2 years ago by myself and skating without any support. Unfortunately, I don't have any friends who are into long distance skating. Peace.

Just a quick note to let you know that if you would like to see a picture of the K2 Escapes that I'm using, go to my inline skating links page. If you want to see the skate at all angles, click on the K2 skates link, go to products, skates, mens training, Escapes and use your mouse to turn the skate around!!

Well, I got a bit greedy yesterday. I went out to the Jones Beach bike path and felt pretty good, but a bit chilly after 1 lap. I had made a final change to the skates by putting some new wheels on them. I had just received in the mail a set of Explore Evolve wheels. They are an 80mm. wheel, but the durometer (hardness) is 81A. I had been using a softer (78A) wheel for several years, but decided to try the harder wheel because it is faster. The downside of the harder wheel is a less smooth ride, but on a very smooth surface, this difference is neglible. The skates did indeed feel faster. I felt pretty good on the first lap. My heart rate was back to normal and I was able to keep it for the most part in my target aerobic zone (130-140). There was an irregular, opposite wind with a stiff headwind coming back from the beach and a nice push from the wind on the way to the beach. My feet felt fine and since I was keeping my heart rate in a good range, I decided to try another lap. I felt pretty good with the wind at my back going out to the beach, but the way back in against the wind was a bit problematic. First, I felt a bit out of gas. Second, my ankle/heel area felt slightly uncomfortable, but not painful, however, an old nagging problem in a metatarsil bone in the ball of my foot began to ache. On top of that it had gotten pretty chilly and going into the wind I was fairly uncomfortable. Not the way I like to end a skate, however, the good news is that my ankle really didn't feel bad for having skated about 18 miles and my heart rate was back to where it should be. The skates again felt very comfortable and fast. I'm taking a 2 day recovery (that kills me as when I'm skating normally I like to skate about 5 days a week) and will be back on the blades this Sunday. Anyone want to skate at Jones Beach or Central Park this weekend?

Well, I went back this past Sunday to the Jones Beach bike path to test out the skates and my foot. On Saturday evening I opened up the bearings and sure enough they were grease packed. After a good soaking in eco-friendly citrus solvent, I lubed them up with some good oil and threw them in some used 80mm wheels I had laying around. They were definitely a little faster on Sunday, but not as fast as I had hoped. I think its not the skates that are a bit sluggish, but being a bit out of skating shape, it's probably me that's a little sluggish.

Anyway, the good news is the skates felt even more comfortable and responsive and my foot felt fine. I'm trying to be conservative by only skating short distances and only did one lap out to the beach and back (about 9 miles). It's killing me to do this because it doesn't feel like much of a skate to me. My typical skate workout over the past several years on weekends when I have the time is usually more in the area of 18 to 27 miles, but I think I stand a better chance not to reinjure my ankle if I take it slow. So far so good. I wanted to skate this week, but things have come up. Tommorow looks good for getting back out to the Jones Beach.

Well I suppose everyone's waiting for the report on the new skates. I took them out to Jones Beach yesterday afternoon and have the following to report.

First, the skates. The K2 Escape is a great skate. It is easily the smoothest, most fluid skate I have ever used. The fit was glovelike, yet unlike other skates that when you tighten to get that type of fit, there were no spots that were too tight. Plenty of width for the upper third of the foot (where I am often squished when I tighten too much), lots of toe room, yet firm around the heel and ankles with no heel lift! Wow! The skate is a steal for the price (list at 399., discounted from anywhere from 280. to 349.). It has a speed skate quality aluminum frame with a flex ("clop skate") which gives a secure, hug the road feel and lengthens the end of the stroke by keeping your front wheel on the pavement a bit longer and a hybrid boot cut lower than a recreational skate and higher than a speed skate. There is even thermoplastic in the skates ankle counters for possible heat molding for a more custom fit. The skate seemed just a bit slower than what I'm used to, but this is likely to be caused by a smaller stock wheel (77.5) than I customarily use (80) and bearings that likely come grease packed whereas those of us who maintain their bearings generally use the faster oil lubrication.

On to my feet. After not skating for the past 2 months, I felt only the slightest discomfort in my right ankle ligament toward the end of a 9 mile skate. My heart rate was completely out of target range (way high), but the excitement of skating for the first time in 2 months and wearing a new pair of skates made controlling my pace impossible.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Jones Beach bike path on Long Island, New York, this is a spectacular 4.5 mile each way bike path from Cedar Creek Park to Jones Beach. With the Wantaugh Parkway on on your right side and marshes on your left as you head out toward the beach, you cross 3 short bridges with tremendous views of massive expanses of water and marsh. The path is one lane (about 6 ft. wide) going in each direction with a center marking and the blacktop surface is as smooth as you will find. Having been an avid Central Park skater for most of the past ten years, I now greatly prefer Jones Beach. First, the pavement at Jones Beach blows away the quite overrated pavement of Central Park which has never been the same after it's poor resurfacing job about 5 or 6 years ago. Second, the Jones Beach path is flat and a much better place to train your heart rate. Finally, Central Park has become increasingly overcrowded, making it more dangerous than ever with skaters heading in both directions in no specified lanes. Each and every summer weekend you can see a nasty spill requiring the presence of an ambulance at Central Park. By contrast, Jones Beach is never crowded to the point of interfering with my skating/training.

I'd love to hear where any of you out there skate (cause if its good I want to skate there too!). Also, if you are more interested in the Jones Beach skate, e-mail me for more specific directions, info, etc. See you soon.