Did It

May has been a pretty good month for blading. The weather has not been great, but my body has finally started to be good to me.

My month record was 350km, set last June. I was getting close finishing off last week at 308km. The weather was predicted to be ok so I had intentions of running 23km each of Monday and Tuesday to break my record. However, the weather changed.

Monday was ok and I pushed it and managed 30km, the longest single-blade distance I have done this year. It rained most of Tuesday and was not looking good. All of a sudden, at 6:00pm, the sun came out and dried the road and I was able to get out again. I pushed it again and did another 30km run.

So, my May total is 368km.

Really nice to be doing longer blades. I had wanted to make 23km my standard distance and I will still try to do that. If I could extend that to 30km, great....but it is not my plan. I still have plans to do a couple of ultra-long distances this year, 45km which would be equivalent to a marathon distance.

Hoping that the weather improves for June....maybe I can break 368km.

Back on Track

Finally.....it has been a tough year for blading. With breaking in my new blades and the new position that they asked my body to assume I have been fighting all sorts of issues. With the new blades, as they are low-cuff boots, they were rubbing my ankles. This created a nice little area, about a loonie in size that was very, very painful.
This same issue caused me to reduce my blading distance last year dropping me short of the 1,500km I would have reached. Now, 30 blades into 2005 I have finally built up enough scar tissue and the boots have finally softened to the point where they are working great.
To compound matters, my lower back was giving me trouble. I assume this was due to the new position that these blades asked me to assume.

I was all very, very frustrating. However, maybe this has come to an end. Yesterday and today were wonderful. My back was fine and I even managed a 38:45 for 15km today. That is pretty quick. The best 15km I have done to date is 38:16, so this was pretty quick.

My goal this year is 1,500km towards which I have 470km. Last April and May I managed 242km each of those months. This year I had an awful April, only managing 132km. However, May has been a turnaround with 263km so far, and a possible 5 more blades. All going well, I might even make a run at 350km, my record month set last June.

Normal Life

I don't often write about some of the issues with which I have to contend over the past 3 years.

When Sandra and I separated, and I agreed that she could move away I implicitly agreed to a few things. My time with my children would be less, but as I was an important factor in their lives Sandra and I negotiated an agreement which coordinated that time.

Once moved, things began to change. No longer was Sandra interested in the agreement and as time progressed she started to become more and more difficult. When my first summer schedule came about Sandra refused to allow me to see the kids. I had to go before a judge in order to obtain my summer access.
I realized at this point that I needed to gain closure to our affairs and a stronger agreement that the private one which we had. It took 14 months and a lot of money, but we finally came to an agreement.

The agreement is stronger and includes some guarantees. Unfortunately, Sandra does not like it. The main issue is that she cannot control what I do. She feels that she should have the right to control when the kids can see me and when they cannot. She does not have this power.
At this time she is threatening to go back to court and one of the primary things she will attempt to do is have this component cancelled. If she is successful, then I will no longer see the kids on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, she is also playing games with their access to other people. Of most note is her own mother. She halted all contact between her mother and the children forcing her mother to initiate court action. She won her initial appearances but somehow Sandra managed to convince a judge that the disagreements between herself and her mother were harming the children. The judge ordered them into court counselling. After two sessions, her mother was able to get some access to the children, on a regular schedule. Unfortunately, it was not written - it was a private agreement.

Now, Sandra has decided to cancel this agreement as well - Sandra has difficulties with agreements. Not sure what her mom will do now...but it is very frustrating that after 3 years Sandra just simply cannot get on with her life.

Blading

It has been a slow start this year for blading. I am finally starting to get some kms, but it has been a battle to date.
Adjusting to the new blades has been a slow process. My ankles were still sore, but are finally starting to build up some scar-tissue....but my back was also sore. I think it was adjusting to the different position that I am asked to hold with these blades as opposed to my previous pair.
Today, for the first time, my back was not sore for the run...and my ankles were doing ok....

What a great blade.

My goal this year is 1,500km. It should be doable as I accomplished close to that last year. In making this goal I counted on doing more than 15km in an average outing. I counted on being able to up that to 20km with my new blades. So far, with my back and ankles that just has not happened. Maybe now that can begin.
At the end of the season this year I plan to get a new pair of wheels and bearings. Probably will get these whether or not I reach my goal.

One of the other things I wanted to do this year was do at least one marathon. Not sure I can afford the cost or the time this year, but it was one of my goals. The distance is 42km, so I would like to do 1 or 2 runs of that distance this year to prove to myself I can do it.

Anyways, as of today I am 20% towards my goal. Getting there....

politics

I have not posted in a while. A lot of things have been happening, but time has not permitted my posting.

The big things happening in Canada at this time are related to our political crisis. Despite the fact that Canadians are not interested in another election, our opposition parties seem determined to force one. I can only hope that they pay for it at the polls if they should be successful.

I am not impressed with our political parties at this time. Government should work, but the opposition parties of this country seem to have discovered that by making the government impotent they can score points. The scary part is if they should win in the subsequent election...

Shudder the thought...