There's a skater friend of mine who never ceases to surprise the living daylights out of me. He's actually a klutz. Get him out on a running track and he's so gangly and knock-kneed he that he trips me up just watching him. On a bike his hands regularly slip off the handlebars and he lands in a twisted mass in the middle of oncoming traffic. In the pool he flounders and gasps in an effort to stay afloat, let alone swim a single lap.

But on skates this guy moves like a ballad, simple strokes like well-chosen words, always on the mark, in a smooth recurring refrain.

In the beginning, however, this skater was just as coordination-challenged on his in-line skates as in any other sport. I remember I couldn't help but wince at how badly he pronated, how far apart his knees were, or how every time he tried to stop it looked as if he was going to crash.

My friend (I'll call him Jon because that's his name) got where he is today because he went skating over and over again until he got it right. He's a success story because of his persistence and desire, not some predetermined genetic code which dictated how his body was going to move through space.

We all have the ingredients to become faster and technically superior skaters. It's just a question of actually doing something about it. Skating at a high level -- whether in a race or on the bike path, in heavy traffic or on the half-pipe -- just takes practice. Unfortunately, the secret to being a better skater is no secret after all. On the surface, it requires attention to fundamentals. Deep down, it all hinges on an intangible thing called mojo, or motivation.

The embers of motivation exist in all of us, but they sometimes take a little fanning to burst into flame. I keep my skate mojo in full conflagration by training in three separate ways: working out by myself, training with a friend or in groups, and getting guidance from a coach.

Some people are completely self-motivated. They've set a goal and go about working towards it unswervingly. Like an author who won't give anybody a peek at the manuscript until it's done, the self-motivated skater wants to put everything in place before being seen in public.

Other people have a harder time getting out of bed and need to have a friend or a group to gather up sufficient courage to strap up the skates and go. This is generally an excellent motivator, however group training can be dangerous at the extremes of intensity. At too easy a pace, the skate degenerates into a social gathering with no athletic benefit. When it becomes too competitive, the workout escalates to the point where you can destroy your fitness.

Another type of skater responds well to coaching. Coaches can motivate us to achieve a higher level by giving pep talks, yelling out lap splits, or barking out commands. But not all coaches are strict disciplinarians. Some are nurturing types who simply give a few words of encouragement or who are just there as another pair of eyes which keep us from begging out of a workout early.

When I feel my motivation beginning to wane in spite of all these different ways to work out, it's usually a signal that it's time to back off a bit on my training. I won't stop training altogether, but I'll decrease the amount of time I spend on my workouts and increase the intensity. That way my training is short and sweet but of high quality where progress can be measured in an empirical way.

I recently began the interval training phase of my yearly workout regimen, a phase designed to increase my average speed, improve my acceleration, and up my lactate tolerance during high intensity work. No racer is complete without these attributes.

A spot called Golden Gate Fields is the site of my mid-season speed buildup. It's a horse racing track on the water's edge in Albany, CA, in full view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. I chalk the lines of an oval track of about about 500 meters in length, which allows me to engage in intervals while maintaining a high degree of consistency.

My good friend Mr.Ceely, 59 (whom Dan calls "dude" because he's one of us), has accompanied me lately and times each effort with a stopwatch. He yells "stay low!" and "full extension!" and "go! go! go!" to the tempo of my skating. He counts upwards as I approach the line struggling to maintain composure "45!, 46!, 47!, 48! . . ." then gathers me back and coaxes me back to the line with a "good effort -- keep it up" when it's time to begin the next interval.

John and the clock are great motivators. Mr. Ceely puts his heart and soul into it and yells himself hoarse from vocal encouragement. After only 3 workouts, the clock is also egging me onward because my times are dropping. I'm not only shaving tenths and half-seconds but and I'm also delaying the point of failure until later and later in the session (I've worked my way from four up to eight one-lappers repeating every third minute -- that works out to a rest period roughly equal to twice the work period).

In my first interval session, I was only able to skate one sub-50 second lap before my lap times started creeping steadily upwards. My fourth and last interval was a discouraging 54.8 seconds. Three weeks ago I was able to skate 3 laps under 50 seconds before experiencing a dramatic decrease in performance. My sixth and final lap was a more palatable 53.5 seconds. Three days ago, when I upped the number of intervals to eight -- I skated seven laps under 50 seconds, with a fast lap of 47.8, a PR by .7 seconds, before skating a 52.5 last lap. That's progress that's measurable.

Just finding the time to work out can be a victory in and of itself. But suppose you've been putting in your miles yet still feel like you have to drag yourself out to do them? Or maybe you've gotten leaner and meaner but are still looking for that extra kick that's been eluding you when the hammer really goes down. Perhaps it's because you've been overtraining, and all you need is to chill a little before putting more pep in your step with intervals.

Eddy Matzger, sometimes referred to as the "grandfather" of in-line skating, is a 28 year-old seasoned racer for Super Team TWINCAM. He travels the national points circuit thanks to unflagging support from Roces Roadskates, PowerBar, Breathe Right, and Transpack. Those who wish to immerse themselves in a weekend of skating with Eddy Matzger can call Bob Flynn at (813) 443-3038. Eddy has workshops planned this summer in Seattle, WA, San Diego, CA, Cary, NC, and New York, NY.