Monday, October 25, 2010

Ice Skating

Ever since Kate got her inline skates she always rhymes about going to the ice rink. The nearest to us is over an hour away, so it's a bit of a project just visiting the place.

We went at the start of the year as a family, and we each had varying degrees of success, Kate of course walked out onto the ice as if it was as easy as walking, and I struggled a bit, but got on reasonably by the end.

Today we decided to go again, just the two of us. Kate again had no problems from the outset, but I took a few circuits to get going. By the end of 3 1/2 hours I was getting on pretty well, although I'm sure like the kitesurfing it looks a lot better to me than any spectators.

I can go pretty well in a straight line, striding nicely, and round the corners still could do with a bit of work, but getting there. No way of coming to an unplanned stop yet, just aim for the side. Getting a bit better at skating around obstacles, but still able to crash into them if they are completely unexpected.

Clothing - couldn't quite remember from the last time, but my recommended clothing would be jeans, tshirt, light top, gloves and a hat. It's a pretty warm activity, but its cold on the hands and head.

Felt it in my legs today too, although not too bad now, sore ankles where the skates were rubbing a bit, and my Achilles on my left is really sore, a super workout for the legs. Also, not nearly as risky injury-wise as I would expect. I saw some people falling pretty hard, and nothing bad to report. Far more likely to get far worse injuries on the water :)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Lunchtime Kitesurf - new wetsuit

Today the forecast looked good, so I arranged to work from home.

About 12 I set out to the beach, and was pleased to see the wind was blowing nicely, cross on, which is perfect for me.

Today was a bit different to any time before as I got a new wetsuit at the weekend. I bought an O'Neill Psycho 2 winter suit from Troggs. It certainly seemed snug in the shop, it was time to see if it made much of a difference at the beach.

Set up the 9 and went out and the difference in the wetsuit was immediately noticeable. Much warmer straight away. After a while I switched to the 12 as I was a little underpowered on the 12.

Didn't really do much today, just back and forth, trying to jump a little over the waves, and trying not to let the waves on the way in put me down. Only fell a couple of times in about 2 hours.

Definitely a worthwhile trip.