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09/11/2003 Archived Entry: "Wednesday Night - September 10, 2003"
Our Skate, Skate, Skate
On Wednesday Night – September 10, 2003
By Sam F.
I agreed to write the weblog entry, even though I was going to be playing a basketball playoff game in Dunwoody at 7:00 PM, and knew that I might miss the skate in Atlanta if the game ran late. So, Marc St. Pierre said not to worry, that I could write about basketball if I missed the skate.
The Game: My three-point shot was stone cold. I don't know why. Last Wednesday, I had my best game in almost a year. Six of nine on three-pointers, and five of seven on inside shots. Twenty-eight points on just 16 shots. Couldn't miss. There were occasional glimmers of that Wednesday game, but not enough to make a dent on tonight’s. I was okay inside, but my three-pointer was gone. Made a couple in the second half, but that was it. We were all cold. Lost 50-47, after having lead the other team by 40-32.
We lost quite quickly, I might add. So I got out of the JCC in Dunwoody at 7:55 PM and was able to get to the Carter Center by 8:20. I changed from basketball shoes into skates using my patented lacing method seen here: Sam's Lacing Method
The Skate: There was a slow skate, with about a dozen people; and an intermediate one, with 20 or so (led by Carl C). Jenni X was in town and wanted to lead a fast skate. She had a starting delay, so it seemed like it was just Jenni, her friend Sara (who was on a bike), and me. Together, we caught the back of the intermediates at Little Five Points; and then, Jenni and Uwe pulled away from everyone else, while skating down Moreland and Dekalb avenues. Finally, on Edgewood Ave., Jenni and Uwe B created a splinter group with Sara, Bob L, and me.
Earlier, Thomas P and Bill B seemed uncertain as to with whom they wanted to skate with. Eventually, they caught up to us at the Georgia Dome, and skated with us for the rest of the evening. Jenni and Uwe continued to dust our small pack like we were scared kids - clinging to the carpeted walls of an indoor rink. I could hang with them for just a few seconds each time we started to sprint, but then a gap would open up between us. Perhaps this was due to Bill, Bob and I having skated 59 hard miles on Sunday, during the Wilson. And perhaps it was also due to everything else I have done since then. See my workout log at: Sam's Workout Log
But for the most part, I’d like to think that I couldn’t keep up with Jenni because she has actually whipped herself into fantastic skating shape. It's a bold prediction, but Jenni and Uwe look like solid sub-5 hour contenders for A2A- which is only in two weeks. Jenni's in Duluth this weekend with some APRR folks and her new LA teammates. You can learn about the Northshore Marathon in Duluth, MN at: Northshore Inline Marathon
(Is that Mark D in the picture at the left side of their website?)
Anyway, Wednesday was a rough, erratic skate with the fast folks. Jenni stopped twice for a loose frame problem. We saw the Slow Group several times, but we never saw the Intermediates until Carl, Paula, Marek G, Victor (from NY), and Brenda C joined Jenni, Sara, Bob, and me later at Fellini's. Carl's skate apparently eclipsed the 2-hour mark with no problem. However, the highlight of the pizza dinner conversation was that of dragging dining neighbors into our topic of some HBO show on real people going to brothels in Nevada. Carl gave us a recap.
Did I mention that I sucked at basketball earlier in the evening?