9-21-03 workout - Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC

For the past few days, the entire area has been trying to 'recover'
from Hurricane Isabel. Isabel knocked power out for a lot of people
(including some in my neighbourhood), and snarled traffic with blown
over trees. Fortunately for us rollerskiers, The US Park Service/DC
Authorities cleared Rock Creek Park of debris before the weekend.
(Thank you!)

The weather today was great - sunny, breezy and only just a bit of
humidity. Perfect weather for a morning workout.

The most noteworthy aspect of my workoout today was the sheer number
of rollerskiers out this morning. Not that DC is about the rival M/SP
with nordic enthusiasts, but there were 3 rollerskiers out today. I
think that is probably a record for us = by my count, there are at
least 4 'full-time' rollerskiers now in DC.

Other than that, my workout was just about the same. I start with
great intentions about form and speed = dreaming of making the
Olympic Team (well, at least if the top 5000 skiers all happened to
get sick just before the Opening Ceremonies). About midway through I
realise that speed is over-rated. Who needs it? Why not just
concentrate on form? And besides, I know the odds of everybody
getting sick is probably quite small, right?

At the turnaround point, I realise again that I'm only halfway done
and I need to carry more water/Gatorade. Mental note for next
weekend...carry more fluids. Wasn't that the same mental note I had
last weekend? Oh well, I can't remember anything because I'm too damn
thirsty.

Anyway, the last 1/2 of my ski is slightly downhill following the
downstream progression of Rock Creek. A few potholes to be mindful
of, but overall a much more comfortable ski.

Just before I start the last 1/4 of the course, I realise that I just
don't have a good story for the Olympics. Everybody knows that if you
are to win a medal you have to have a good made-for-TV story. NBC
just won't allow an American to win without a good story. So there
you go, in less than 7 miles, my Olympic Dream is shattered once
again. And for the last few minutes of rollerskiing, I realise that
I'm blessed to have such a great course on which to ski and that I'm
really improving my overall fitness.

Can't wait until next weekend for more rollersking!

Rock Creek Park is great. I rollerskied there over 10 times during
the weekends while I doing some work for NSF from October to December
of last year. I wish there were more places like it, where you can
rollerski for a long distance in one direction without having to worry
about automobiles. A great trick with Rock Creek Park and the
adjoining roads is that you can rollerski in two different states,
Maryland and Virginia, without ever crossing the border between them.
--Matt

(Brian) wrote in message om...
For the past few days, the entire area has been trying to 'recover'
from Hurricane Isabel. Isabel knocked power out for a lot of people
(including some in my neighbourhood), and snarled traffic with blown
over trees. Fortunately for us rollerskiers, The US Park Service/DC
Authorities cleared Rock Creek Park of debris before the weekend.
(Thank you!)

The weather today was great - sunny, breezy and only just a bit of
humidity. Perfect weather for a morning workout.

The most noteworthy aspect of my workoout today was the sheer number
of rollerskiers out this morning. Not that DC is about the rival M/SP
with nordic enthusiasts, but there were 3 rollerskiers out today. I
think that is probably a record for us = by my count, there are at
least 4 'full-time' rollerskiers now in DC.

Other than that, my workout was just about the same. I start with
great intentions about form and speed = dreaming of making the
Olympic Team (well, at least if the top 5000 skiers all happened to
get sick just before the Opening Ceremonies). About midway through I
realise that speed is over-rated. Who needs it? Why not just
concentrate on form? And besides, I know the odds of everybody
getting sick is probably quite small, right?

At the turnaround point, I realise again that I'm only halfway done
and I need to carry more water/Gatorade. Mental note for next
weekend...carry more fluids. Wasn't that the same mental note I had
last weekend? Oh well, I can't remember anything because I'm too damn
thirsty.

Anyway, the last 1/2 of my ski is slightly downhill following the
downstream progression of Rock Creek. A few potholes to be mindful
of, but overall a much more comfortable ski.

Just before I start the last 1/4 of the course, I realise that I just
don't have a good story for the Olympics. Everybody knows that if you
are to win a medal you have to have a good made-for-TV story. NBC
just won't allow an American to win without a good story. So there
you go, in less than 7 miles, my Olympic Dream is shattered once
again. And for the last few minutes of rollerskiing, I realise that
I'm blessed to have such a great course on which to ski and that I'm
really improving my overall fitness.

Can't wait until next weekend for more rollersking!