Foolproof Ways to Avoid Burnout, or Put the Cake Back Into Your Skating


Weird weather
Workout-wise, this winter was pretty unusual, to say the least. When was the last winter during which we were able to consistently skate and work on our tans at the same time? I thought winter was for sipping hot chocolate by the fire, not hunting down the ice cream truck!

Excellent trade-offs
Summer skies and paltry precipitation may have kept skaters hitting the pavement instead of the slopes, but if that's the case, then I'm all for it. I mean, for the love of life, there's nothing quite like a seaside skate-bunny in mid-winter, racking up those miles in a sports bra and shorts. Or else it's an head-to-toe-tatooed Tahitian, streaking on skates through city streets in a loincloth.

Tropical pattern
Bright moments like these made the millennial winter all the warmer. While out-of-staters were getting dumped on, we basked in 70 and 80 degree sunshine. While Nashvillians had their buggers freeze the instant they stepped out the door, we glided along the strand, deeply inhaling warm maritime breezes through wide open nostrils.

Too much of a good thing?
Skating throughout the what-should-have-been cold and rainy season was an unexpected blast. Too many consecutive months blading the beaten path can lead to a spring season of languor, however.

Avoid burnout
If spring has only just sprung and you're already tired of the same old same old, then inject some fresh fun into your skate workouts by mixing it up. Remember, being fit and going fast is not so much a function of how many miles you log, but more a question of how much time you spend on your skates. Build your base and your comfort level on skates, and come the fall classics, you'll never have been faster. The following are some suggestions on how to rekindle the fire-flower of fun that is inline skating:

Learn a trick
If you skate through a neighborhood where kids are playing in the streets and porch parties are in progress, you will inevitably be asked to perform a trick. "Do a trick!" they'll yell at you. If you don't have something up your sleeve, you may get cursed at: "I said do a @#$*% trick!" they'll say again. Worse yet, soap may come flying out a second story window at you. I kid you not.

Oblige them with a trick, though, and you'll be a hometown hero. Glide by while holding one skate over the back of your head, for example, and you're likely to get a round of applause. "Do another trick," they'll yell, and if you're not prepared, get out of there fast!

Sample tricks:

Basic spin
From a stopped position, get ready for counter-clockwise rotation. Start with your skates close together, and get up on the heel wheel of the right skate and the toe wheel of the left. Twist your trunk and arms to the right, as if you're winding up to unload a big slap across the face of an imaginary foe standing in front of you. The first slap is a backhand slap with the left hand, followed by an open-palm slap with your right.

This uncoiling should get you started spinning like a top. Take care to keep your arms extended, and parallel to the ground. Start with a half turn, and slowly work your way up to a bunch of turns. To increase your rotation speed, draw your hands in towards your body.

Crazy legs
This trick is generally the winner because it gives you magical rubber legs that spectators love. To practice for the big time, first chalk two overlapping baseball diamonds on the ground, one for each leg, and put a water bottle in the center. The left skate starts on second base and rolls to home plate via third base on all its wheels. Pivot sharply at third and your skate will steer back easily to home.

Meanwhile roll the right skate on the toe wheel only from home plate to third base and then up to second. Don't cut the basepaths and knock the bottle over!

With your left skate on home plate now, and your right skate on second base, you'll need to flip a quick change of directions with both skates to get going on the second half of the crazy legs. Staying on home plate with toe wheel of your left skate, rotate it 90 degrees so it now points to first base. Keeping the toe wheel of your right skate on second base, flip your heel around so its heel points to first base and set all the wheels down.

Now you're ready to draw the right skate to first base and back down to home plate with all wheels touching ground. At the same time you'll be rolling the left skate on the front toe wheel only from home to first to second. Then flip the quick turn and you're ready to start another cycle. Stay on the basepaths! Maddeningly difficult at first, crazy legs are worth the effort. They give you a goal to work for a workout while you're getting there!

See www.skatecentral.com and click on "Tips" or "Videos" in the sidebar to find a crazy legs animated demonstration.


Follow the leader
Range through the neighborhoods with a designated leader, zigging and zagging, and pretend to shop for a house. Admire architectural details and landscaping on your leisurely roll. If you see a "for sale" sign off in the distance, sprint for it and size up the house while you catch your breath and circle around. Guess the list price, then call the realtor on your cell phone. Whoever is closest to the actual asking price gets to be the new leader!

Skate for doughnuts
Find the hardest thing you can do on skates that takes about ten minutes. Climb a long, steep hill, whiz around a training circuit at top speed, or try skating the straightaways of a 400 meter track on one leg only, changing legs every straightaway (you have to wiggle your skate like a snake in order to propel yourself in this manner). Equate each completed ten minute block of time to two doughnut holes or one-fifth of an apple fritter. See who can earn the biggest portion of grease in a single workout, then skate to the doughnut shop and indulge!

Skate with a cyclist
Expand your territory by relying on someone else for a good draft and reliable braking. It's a lot easier to go farther, faster with a two-wheeled companion. Perhaps you can even convince a cycling buddy to carry your food and water on a long jaunt. Whether your cycling friend rides a fat-tires or skinny sew-ons, if they've got excess energy let 'em pull some deadweight every once and a while!

Skate with a runner
Be a jogging mate and accompany your marathon friend on one of their late-night training runs. Be their support and encouragement. Keep them well fed and hydrated. Tell stories to make time fly. If your running friend starts feeling especially grumpy or tired, skate up the road a bit, turn around, and show them the moon!

Skate in a group
A Friday Night Skate is tremendous entertainment, but an organized training session will also do wonders for your proficiency. Get together with other buddies and practice basics like balancing on one skate while gliding, or skating around with all your wheels always on the ground. Basic drills are no fun if you have to do them alone, but can be turned into a party when you do it as group, and are the quickest way to improve motor skills and muscular memory, making skating more enjoyable more quickly.

Eddy Matzger skated throughout the winter using TWINCAM bearings, Explore Wheels, Salomon skates, and Tranpack travel bags and sunglasses. Weekend workshops are Eddy's principal form of spring training. In the year 2000, his Access to Speed Workshops will tour over 18 cities in the US and abroad. For more information see www.skatecentral.com.