Week One Training

Hi, I'm Kate and I am addicted to skating very, very fast.

When the coach said we should aim for skating 25 laps around the track in 5 minutes I almost spit my mouthguard out. What??

I'm whizzing around the track at a pace I would not have thought possible for me. Moving out to the edges on the straight-away and to the inside corners on the turns. Crossing over, leaning into the turns, arms gently swinging and opposing my legs as they cross. To those who study Alexander Technique I am working my monkey like mad, hingeing forward at my hips and bending in all 6 of my leg joints, keeping them available to adapt quickly if need be. The more I soften my jaw and neck and breathe into my back the faster I go, which is against my initial instinct because like I said, this pace is much quicker than I had ever considered possible and in some small part of my thinking I am reminded that I could fall at any moment if someone dodges in front of me, bumps me or if I shift my balance in a way that is not mechanically advantageous to this activity.

Whatever. I put that fear aside, throw it out the window and fully give myself over to this experience.

Bliss. I am free and grinning wildly, laughing in my heart.  I'm weaving in and out of the other skaters, enjoying that breeze on my face and the sound of my breath and skates on the floor. I realize I'm moving very quickly, but it's also like slow motion.  I feel an extraordinary sense of timelessness, like all my decisions to shift or weave or cross over are all happening in slow motion and that I have plenty of room to think. Heaven. Exquisite.

I went 27 laps in 5 minutes!!!!! Is it next Tuesday yet???