Speed skating season started
Yesterday was my first speed skating race of the year—the National Championship in the Half Marathon. Ten years after my first marathon, I'm not as excited about competing anymore. My preparation also wasn’t the best. I did some foundational training on the bike but not much skating.
When I arrived, I felt a bit down. There wasn’t much excitement for what was to come. I got my starter pack, took a few pics for my Project 365, and sat in the car for a bit before warm-up, wondering if I should continue going to races.
However, my mood swung for the better when I put on my skates. The weather was nice (despite the wind being a bit too strong), and after a few hundred meters of skating on the track, I felt good. I still wasn’t sure how I would do at race speed, but I took pleasure in my own rhythm. I’m far from fighting for podium places, so I decided to take it easy and try to enjoy the race.
At the start, I lined up a few rows back to avoid getting caught up in the fight with those fixated on results. Maybe I was a bit too far back because, after the race started, I immediately began overtaking people. I wanted to find a group skating at a similar speed to mine. I saw a couple of people I knew who usually have a good pace, so I stuck with them and didn’t try to go faster. I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough stamina later on to keep up with an even faster group.
The first half of the race was looking good—maybe even a bit boring. The pace was okay, but I felt like I could go faster. After a sequence of corners where some of the guys slowed down too much, I decided to jump out and tried to lead the group at a faster pace. To my surprise, only one other guy joined me. We tried to break away for more than a lap, but unfortunately, the wind made it harder to keep up our strength for long. We were caught on the last lap, and the previous effort caused me to drop back before the final sprint.
The time wasn’t amazing either way. However, I felt happy with my performance compared to last year. It’s still not the level I was at a few years ago, but I feel like I’m improving, and maybe there’s still a way to get back there.
So, after the initial disillusionment, I came back feeling motivated instead. It’s hard to fit training into everyday life, but seeing that there is progress makes it worth it. The next race will be a full marathon in a few weeks, and I think I'll line up at the start with more enthusiasm.