Road America Inline 20k and 13k

Don't forget to register for the Road America Inline 20k and 13k.
This my favorite race because the course rocks. For more info:
www.allcommunityevents.com

Metrodome Team Trial 2007

With one marathon under the belt I was ready for a second attempt later on in the day. Although this time it would be with my club, Team Rainbo. This was a very fun event last year though our result did not put us on the podium. With no expectations this year, Dan Zaker, Cale Carvell, Murphy Quinn, Greg Major and I planned to race our own race and let the pieces fall where they may. We started out the race at our own pace staying around a 63 to 64 second pace while as expected Adam’s Inline Started to pull away and they quickly passed us after starting behind us. Though to our surprise Pyroapperal was close on there tail and posting strong lap times. In the mean time we battled with team Aloe Up as they followed closely behind attempting many times to pass us but never having enough to do so. For the first part of the race we all were pulling one lap a piece and then the power house of the team from last year said he was having trouble hanging on. This was all to our surprise and we quickly reformatted our order so I could push Cale a little so that he could let his legs rest for a little. It is easy to become a victim of pain in a time trail due to the relentless nature of the event and just being able to rest for a few seconds can do wonders for restoring energy to the muscles. After a couple laps of this it was Cale’s turn to lead and instead of falling back and retiring his turn as the lead man he pushed hard breaking the wind for the rest of us. At this point he must have known that he would not be able to complete the distance at this gut wrenching pace so he was trying to work as much as he could for the team before he fell off. Then after his lead he dropped to the back of the pack and I started to lead. I heard teammate Greg Major yell, “Cale’s off.” “Damn” I thought to my self. This is a team event and as a team we want to race together. I’m sure that Cale was mentally broken but sometimes the legs just are not there. I slowed up and checked back and he was no where to be seen, when the body cracks there is nothing one can do. We quickly brought ourselves back into formation and asked my team how they all felt. I felt great my legs still felt real fresh despite the race in the morning. At this moment team Aloe up past us in the brief moment of disorganization. The team all responded positively and I dropped the hammer. We started clicking off consistent 62 second laps. I stayed in the lead to allow my other teammates legs to stay fresh. After about 6 laps Dan Zaker took the lead and kept the pace strong, followed by Murphy Quinn, and Greg Major. We fell into a good rhythm and while listening to the battle unfold between pyroapparel and Adam’s Inline. They were both posting consistent 63 second laps. But the announcer was not saying much about the fact that we were going consistent 62 second lap times given to us each lap by my brother. Then Greg Major said that we was feeling fatigued. I did not want our times to change so Murphy and Dan quickly took over exchanging leads keeping our lap times extremely low while I assisted Greg by pushing him so that he could rest. I gave him a GU Gel that I had to help with his muscle locking up. Even with me pushing Greg was still battling the fatigue being inflicted by Dan Zaker’s and Murphy Quinn’s brutally fast leads. It was our plan to stop for the mandatory water break after 50 minutes but we stopped 5 minutes early to give Greg a chance for his legs to come to a complete rest and rehydrate. On our way into the water stop another team slipped into the water lane right before us so in a last second decision we stepped out of the lane to avoid a traffic jam. We quickly got back in formation after the very intense moment and cranked out another lap before stopping. Instead of doing a splash and go on our stop we all took a good amount of water to refuel are systems, for the next twenty laps were going to be a pain train. Murphy led us out, followed by Dan. We needed Greg to stay rested so he retired his turn to lead. Once I got to the front Greg found my rhythm easier to maintain as I pulled our team for about 10 laps at consistent 61 second laps while the announcer still concentrated on the battle between Adam’s Inline and Pyroapparel. Though there lap times were 1-2 second slower than ours. The crowd cheered every time we past and we became more and more excited as we knew we were catching them. At ten laps to go I dropped to the back and gave Greg some much needed rest with a push here and there while Murphy and Dan continued the chase. Dan and Murphy pushed us harder than we could go and Greg kept pushing despite the pain that he refused for a shot at beating these guys. When you put the chance of winning in a competitor’s eyes dangerous thing can happen. Then all of a sudden there was Pyroapparel. We were going to pass them. Murphy jumped into the lead and pulled with everything his body owned. It was five laps to go and we were skating faster than everybody. Then three laps to go. I started to shout every piece of encouragement I could. The crowd’s cheers drowned the pain and we were practically sprinting. We then past Adam’s Inline we were on fire. On the last lap Greg jumped to the front and we dead out sprinted the last lap. Crossing with confusion because the announcer did not announce that we were finished so after we skated one last lap again giving all that was in was and finishing with a mix of fatigue and pure joy of the time we made up and the way we worked together as a team like a well oiled machine. This is truly one of the highlights of the year. We felt like champions even though we finished second with a time of 1 hour 14 minutes and 48 seconds. Adam’s Inline finished first with a time of 1:14:20. Pyroapparel finished third with 1:15.24

Metrodome Individual Time Trial 2007

The first event of the year is always one filled with a lot of excitement. Before the event your mind is filled with question, “how strong am I this year?” A question that will only be answered by this race. This is not just any race, it is not just a question of tactic and speed, it is a Time Trial. A time trail is the true test of a bodies form, endurance, strength, and most of all individual will.
I arrive at the Metrodome, a site that on my third visit has become familiar to me. After my equipment has been put together I lace up my skates. After a short warm up I stand at the line listening to the count down. After five counts my legs accelerate at a steady pace. The first lap will tell me a lot and it does as it clicks off at 62 seconds. I don’t feel like I’m pushing too hard and the belief that this is a pace that I can hold fills me with excitement. The first 12 minutes go by fast as my watch keeps me in check with continual splits being busted out in the 62 to 63 second range. The original goal was to maintain 65 second laps which was now a distant thought. My closest competition Tom and Kara Peterson were running, at this time, about 65 second laps. I felt good at this point with the knowledge that this race was mine and my only competition would be the clock and the pain inflicted from the continual exertion assisted by absolutely no rest, not even a second.
The race neared the half way mark and to my surprise the Peterson duet showed their long distance strength and good utilization of the draft as they started to clock some fast times at 63 seconds. At this point my splits were waning clocking 64 and 65 second laps. This pushed me to drive harder and every push was given more power than I thought I had stamina for. Though I knew that I had to conquer the thoughts that fatigue were putting into my head.
The fifty minute mark came and it was time to make my mandatory water stop. I skated hard stopping in a manner more traditional than previous years. In the past I would skate real hard up to the water stop and at the last second sit on my butt and slide along the smooth concrete wasting no time at all. Though this time the announcer warned me not to do this and so in 16 seconds I skated in drank 2 cups of water and accelerated out. Now it was go time. The announcer’s voice echoed down the concrete corridors the impressive splits of the Peterson duet. “…And Peterson goes 1 minute and 4 seconds and Starykowicz is now crossing the line…” My legs ached, the crowd cheered, the air howled past my ears, but I could still just barely make out the announcers voice, “and his time is 1 minute 3 seconds.” I hammered out the last 20 laps denying notions of pain and fatigue. The last three laps I pushed with a power justifying the 4 months of training before this race. The final time for my solo completion of 26.2 miles was 1 hour 15 minutes and 37 seconds. Fifty four seconds later Tom Peterson crossed the line followed 9 seconds later by Kara Peterson. The question had now been answered and with a three-peat victory