Double time on Marine Drive

July 29th was the last time I skated on Marine Drive. I did a total of 1.5 miles, and I remember that it was pretty horrid. My legs were shaking and was out of breath almost immediately.

Today, I decided to go out by myself and see how far I could make it. I still took breaks at the quarter mile markers to check in and see how much further I could go. 3 miles, baby! I know lots of girls go out and know out 7-12 mile skates, but the fact that I did 3, double what I could do two and a half months ago is awesome! In my head, I now believe that 7 is possible. With hard work, I can absolutely do it.

Wow, that last paragraph looks like a 6th grade math word problem.

The downside was the back pain. At about 3/4 of a mile remaining, my left lower back started seizing up. I was determined to finish, so I decided that I could stop every 10 feet if I had to. It took me a while to finish up that last bit, but I did it with frequent breaks.

I'm going to talk to my trainer and maybe dial-up the physical therapist to see if there is something I can do to counter-act the back pain. It may just be time and training, and I'm willing to do that.