http://services.datasport.com/2015/velo/maradolo/LANDH.HTM
138km, 4230m
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3 years ago
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
...è qualcosa di più...
Chiunque può provarci:
http://services.datasport.com/2015/velo/maradolo/LANDH.HTM
138km, 4230m
http://services.datasport.com/2015/velo/maradolo/LANDH.HTM
138km, 4230m
Friday, September 30, 2011
Spring and summer, 2011
Well I did not write too much about Peter's training during the spring or the summer... I'll try to recap a bit now:
There was a slight rest after the last race (Celje, Slovenia, end of March), then came training on inline skates (the ice rink in Szeged closes by April). Long steady distances and lots and lots of technique. Although there were 3 inline races in the spring-summer interval that our club wanted to attend, but none of them were given top priority. Luckily enough, 2 races were held here locally, so we didn't even have to travel at all :)
The first race, the student's olympic brought only fair success. I know, we did not prepare much for it, but in several cases our girls or boys missed the podium only by a narrow margin. It was very disappointing but we must learn to get over it, like some bonze in meditation, because the kids had a long and tiring shorttrack racing season behind them. Peter came in 4th both on his distances, and it was clearly visible that he got unused to the harsh and violent races in inlines, like getting a push or knock at the start... instant penalty in shorttrack...
Early June our club was given the opportunity to show off skating in a big multi-sport festival in Szeged, where several thousand people could see and several hundred could even try out skating (on inlines). Well we tried, but it was quite hard to promote ice skating in 30+ Celsius... :)
We were on holidays in the second half of June, in turn the second local race was held in that time. So I cannot even tell much about that - but the sea is nice and good :) Only 1 week after we've gotten home, there was an Europe-Cup race in Tatabánya, but it would have been useless to race there after 2 weeks of lack of training.
Mid-July the kids attended a dryland training camp in Budapest-Normafa for one week, just like in the previous year. It was brutally hot then, Peter fell every 2nd day and earned war scars during the forest runs, so he did suffer this time. :( Then came 1 week of well-earned rest and again a period of 5 trainings per week.
We've managed to travel to hols again early August for a week, then Peter attended a 5-day training camp on ice in Budapest. From this point inlines were forgotten, just to not mix the two different skating styles. At the end of August, yet again 2 days on ice in Budapest, only to make school start easier :D
September was very tense and intense: 5 dryland trainings each week with running, working on stairs, imitation, cord-assisted imitation... and on 2 weekends head to Budapest, the ice rink, 2 ice sessions in 2 days. This is how we've reached the end of the month and today, when we start and drive to Zagreb, Croatia for our first race of the season.
There was a slight rest after the last race (Celje, Slovenia, end of March), then came training on inline skates (the ice rink in Szeged closes by April). Long steady distances and lots and lots of technique. Although there were 3 inline races in the spring-summer interval that our club wanted to attend, but none of them were given top priority. Luckily enough, 2 races were held here locally, so we didn't even have to travel at all :)
The first race, the student's olympic brought only fair success. I know, we did not prepare much for it, but in several cases our girls or boys missed the podium only by a narrow margin. It was very disappointing but we must learn to get over it, like some bonze in meditation, because the kids had a long and tiring shorttrack racing season behind them. Peter came in 4th both on his distances, and it was clearly visible that he got unused to the harsh and violent races in inlines, like getting a push or knock at the start... instant penalty in shorttrack...
Early June our club was given the opportunity to show off skating in a big multi-sport festival in Szeged, where several thousand people could see and several hundred could even try out skating (on inlines). Well we tried, but it was quite hard to promote ice skating in 30+ Celsius... :)
We were on holidays in the second half of June, in turn the second local race was held in that time. So I cannot even tell much about that - but the sea is nice and good :) Only 1 week after we've gotten home, there was an Europe-Cup race in Tatabánya, but it would have been useless to race there after 2 weeks of lack of training.
Mid-July the kids attended a dryland training camp in Budapest-Normafa for one week, just like in the previous year. It was brutally hot then, Peter fell every 2nd day and earned war scars during the forest runs, so he did suffer this time. :( Then came 1 week of well-earned rest and again a period of 5 trainings per week.
We've managed to travel to hols again early August for a week, then Peter attended a 5-day training camp on ice in Budapest. From this point inlines were forgotten, just to not mix the two different skating styles. At the end of August, yet again 2 days on ice in Budapest, only to make school start easier :D
September was very tense and intense: 5 dryland trainings each week with running, working on stairs, imitation, cord-assisted imitation... and on 2 weekends head to Budapest, the ice rink, 2 ice sessions in 2 days. This is how we've reached the end of the month and today, when we start and drive to Zagreb, Croatia for our first race of the season.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Bont Jet review
Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Almaty, Cologne, Paris, Budapest, Szeged - that is a 7250-mile trip that my new Bont Jet 2010 (3pt 100mm) has travelled. But it has finally arrived in 5 days!
Upon receiving I opened the box like a kid opens a Christmas gift. The boots, frames, wheels, bearings were all separated, there was a wrench included, too. Yohooo, Lego! :) Oh and a small gift, a wrapper for a soft drink plastic bottle that helps it make cool. Cool :)
It was fun to put all the parts together but when I put the boots on I quickly realized that they needed some melting before first use. Another strange thing I've noticed was the opening of the boot was quite narrow so putting my feet in them was not easy at all.
I was excited to put the boots in the oven. I have to admit I was also a bit nervous as I have never done such a thing before. I was a little bit worried not to overheat the boots so I kept on checking them every 3 or 4 minutes. After 20-22 minutes I decided to put them on. The next challenge was to stand in low position for quite some time. Nevertheless a chair in front of me helped to stay low for long enough but still it was almost a good static thigh-workout :)
I put the frames on again, in a neutral position and took the skates on a ride. However my first test session was plagued by my injury I have suffered the previous week when I fell on gravel. That's caused big pain in my os sanctum and it still made it hard to push my right leg properly to the side. However I simply couldn't wait and so I managed to skate about 2 miles. The test was good enough to make me sure that I had to melt the boots again. My main problem was in my left foot around my navicular bone that sticks out a little bit more than normal - due to my mid-serious flat foot. This time I've tried to put more pressure on the inner side of my feet to make more space for that bone.
The next test drive was much more enjoyable. Although the boot still annoyed my navicular bone - it went away after 5 minutes, I think mostly because I tried to skate as much on the outer edge as I could.
Generally I feel this is a brutally good piece of hardware. Due to the 3-point styling the centre of gravity remains very low. I was worried of the 84mm->100mm change beforehand, but it was literally impossible to tell the difference, as the skates are so stable, not wobbling, not showing any kind of shakiness! The length of the frame makes me go back and re-learn skating, but as this was the shortest frame, I should try to skate better :)
Now I am after the 4th melting already, I've put a small foot arch support in the left boot. I've cut off the toe- and the heel part of it, so it should affect only the (missing) arch of my foot, without lifting my foot in other areas. I still feel that damn navicular bone after longer skating sessions, but I am a little bit at a loss what I should do. Maybe I'll try to heat only that area with a hair-dryer and then push that certain point out some more.
Oh and due to my imperfect technique I've already rubbed off the nice white leather on the inner sides of the boots, so there are smudged red and black stains on it now. Well I did not buy them to be put on a show in a museum, but to use them instead. I've put 400 km in them already and I enjoy it quite a lot!
Upon receiving I opened the box like a kid opens a Christmas gift. The boots, frames, wheels, bearings were all separated, there was a wrench included, too. Yohooo, Lego! :) Oh and a small gift, a wrapper for a soft drink plastic bottle that helps it make cool. Cool :)
It was fun to put all the parts together but when I put the boots on I quickly realized that they needed some melting before first use. Another strange thing I've noticed was the opening of the boot was quite narrow so putting my feet in them was not easy at all.
I was excited to put the boots in the oven. I have to admit I was also a bit nervous as I have never done such a thing before. I was a little bit worried not to overheat the boots so I kept on checking them every 3 or 4 minutes. After 20-22 minutes I decided to put them on. The next challenge was to stand in low position for quite some time. Nevertheless a chair in front of me helped to stay low for long enough but still it was almost a good static thigh-workout :)
I put the frames on again, in a neutral position and took the skates on a ride. However my first test session was plagued by my injury I have suffered the previous week when I fell on gravel. That's caused big pain in my os sanctum and it still made it hard to push my right leg properly to the side. However I simply couldn't wait and so I managed to skate about 2 miles. The test was good enough to make me sure that I had to melt the boots again. My main problem was in my left foot around my navicular bone that sticks out a little bit more than normal - due to my mid-serious flat foot. This time I've tried to put more pressure on the inner side of my feet to make more space for that bone.
The next test drive was much more enjoyable. Although the boot still annoyed my navicular bone - it went away after 5 minutes, I think mostly because I tried to skate as much on the outer edge as I could.
Generally I feel this is a brutally good piece of hardware. Due to the 3-point styling the centre of gravity remains very low. I was worried of the 84mm->100mm change beforehand, but it was literally impossible to tell the difference, as the skates are so stable, not wobbling, not showing any kind of shakiness! The length of the frame makes me go back and re-learn skating, but as this was the shortest frame, I should try to skate better :)
Now I am after the 4th melting already, I've put a small foot arch support in the left boot. I've cut off the toe- and the heel part of it, so it should affect only the (missing) arch of my foot, without lifting my foot in other areas. I still feel that damn navicular bone after longer skating sessions, but I am a little bit at a loss what I should do. Maybe I'll try to heat only that area with a hair-dryer and then push that certain point out some more.
Oh and due to my imperfect technique I've already rubbed off the nice white leather on the inner sides of the boots, so there are smudged red and black stains on it now. Well I did not buy them to be put on a show in a museum, but to use them instead. I've put 400 km in them already and I enjoy it quite a lot!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
4th. Tour de Tisza-tó
57km skate around the Tisza lake again. Last year it was almost fun.
Starting from Szeged at 06:30, we've arrived at Tiszafüred at 09:30. Registration, change to race dress.
This time organizers have provided a bus to transfer us from the finish area to the skaters' startline, about 5 miles away, near Poroszló, and they've even taken our shoes back to the finish so we did not have to paddle around in socks :) This worked great - almost, as it wasn't that great to stand there with skates laced tight from 11:00 to 11:30, feet getting numb. The bikers field stretched very long, we could have started after the first 10 minutes and not wait for all the young kids on bikes, cycling slowly...
We skaters were many more compared to last year, all in all 28 according to the results list. After the start I've started at 90% pace, not too exhausting, leaving time to get warmed up properly. I was surprised to see that Raimo & co. did not get away at all, so I jumped up to them with a little sprint and travelled with them in the following 7km. There was a light rearwind, the 6 'experienced' worked together flawlessly, changing lead from time to time, and we 2 with KP enjoyed the ride at the tail of the queue. I glanced back but there was no-one in sight - uh-oh, SSz, FZ, where did you drop??? At the 50km sign MZ left the queue (she was complaining already at the start about being ill the last few days) and we 3 got dropped a bit consequently. I thought we would group together and work on but this did not work, so I was left alone. The lead group was gone, thinking about it now I should have stayed with them longer :(
I was skating alone and started to feel warmed up now, then I caught a biker guy and we had a little talk - he told me we were doing 26km/h. This seemed OK, we even had some faster straights here and there. We caught & left a lot of bikers until we got to the dam near Kisköre. The refresh there was a bit quirky, as I did not brake at all passing the mass of cyclists having some water there, but luckily everyone jumped away :) I suffered a bit goind up to the dam, looking back I saw KP about 300m behind me. Going down from the dam the concrete is useless, I had to flounder in the dust on the edge of the concrete.
On the next few kilometres I did not find my tempo at all, so KP caught me with a friend of her on a bike. Then came the horror, Abádszalók. The asphalt there is so awkward that it is almost an art... by the end of that 1.5km my butts were in a cramp... but then it ended at last, I couldn't even see KP ahead. And what did follow? Turn North, right into the headwind, that got strong enough by then. Although the speaker at the start was quite happy with the weather and the lack of wind, I've checked the meteo after the finish and it showed 22km/h wind from NNE.
The last two experience was too much together - the bad asphalt and the headwind. But as the bike field was huge, I could find a biker easily to travel behind him and have some rest. In fact I had a 12km rest there... Meanwhile I followed a strict diet of glucose every 15mins and cyclist CH gels every 45mins, but during this rest my water got low. So I was eager to reach the 2nd refreshment station where I could drink some water and also fill some in my bottle. I started towards the finish quickly then, this time together with KP and her biker mate.
The last CH gel however made me feel almost high. At the 5km sign I've almost attacked but kept myself back. But at the 4km post a pair of bikers came in with good tempo so I've launched a small sprint and chased them down, leaving KP behind. We've reached Tiszafüred soon and I stayed with them until the last zig-zag. I've tried to push a bit solo (you know, a good finish photo...) but the bad asphalt shaked my brain like a mixer... I've finished with 2:40:55.
I wasn't as worn off as last year. I've taken off my gear, picked up my finish pack, went down to the podium area, phoned home and then saw SSz finishing. After the podium ceremony and some loiter got in the car and drove home. By 6PM I was already home, we even had time to attend the astronomy day observation night with the fam to check the Moon and the Saturn.
Next day I had some muscle strain in my butt but nothing serious. Thinking hindsight:
- should have travelled with Raimo's group longer
- after the Kisköre dam I should have picked up tempo quicker
- got to do something with the awful asphalt near Abádszalók - either in technique or in my head, dunno
- the K2 belt I wore wasn't really good, it didn't feel comfortable putting my hand on my back
- the new Bont Jet skates worked great, but after 2/3 distance I began to feel the muscles holding my ankle getting tired, causing some form degrade. Got to work on that endurance.
I was expecting a finish time of circa 2:30 but the headwind made it worse. I am a bit frustated for this, the mistakes listed above should be eliminated and then I can make it, for sure. Next year :)
GPX of the route
Starting from Szeged at 06:30, we've arrived at Tiszafüred at 09:30. Registration, change to race dress.
This time organizers have provided a bus to transfer us from the finish area to the skaters' startline, about 5 miles away, near Poroszló, and they've even taken our shoes back to the finish so we did not have to paddle around in socks :) This worked great - almost, as it wasn't that great to stand there with skates laced tight from 11:00 to 11:30, feet getting numb. The bikers field stretched very long, we could have started after the first 10 minutes and not wait for all the young kids on bikes, cycling slowly...
We skaters were many more compared to last year, all in all 28 according to the results list. After the start I've started at 90% pace, not too exhausting, leaving time to get warmed up properly. I was surprised to see that Raimo & co. did not get away at all, so I jumped up to them with a little sprint and travelled with them in the following 7km. There was a light rearwind, the 6 'experienced' worked together flawlessly, changing lead from time to time, and we 2 with KP enjoyed the ride at the tail of the queue. I glanced back but there was no-one in sight - uh-oh, SSz, FZ, where did you drop??? At the 50km sign MZ left the queue (she was complaining already at the start about being ill the last few days) and we 3 got dropped a bit consequently. I thought we would group together and work on but this did not work, so I was left alone. The lead group was gone, thinking about it now I should have stayed with them longer :(
Alone
I was skating alone and started to feel warmed up now, then I caught a biker guy and we had a little talk - he told me we were doing 26km/h. This seemed OK, we even had some faster straights here and there. We caught & left a lot of bikers until we got to the dam near Kisköre. The refresh there was a bit quirky, as I did not brake at all passing the mass of cyclists having some water there, but luckily everyone jumped away :) I suffered a bit goind up to the dam, looking back I saw KP about 300m behind me. Going down from the dam the concrete is useless, I had to flounder in the dust on the edge of the concrete.
On the next few kilometres I did not find my tempo at all, so KP caught me with a friend of her on a bike. Then came the horror, Abádszalók. The asphalt there is so awkward that it is almost an art... by the end of that 1.5km my butts were in a cramp... but then it ended at last, I couldn't even see KP ahead. And what did follow? Turn North, right into the headwind, that got strong enough by then. Although the speaker at the start was quite happy with the weather and the lack of wind, I've checked the meteo after the finish and it showed 22km/h wind from NNE.
The last two experience was too much together - the bad asphalt and the headwind. But as the bike field was huge, I could find a biker easily to travel behind him and have some rest. In fact I had a 12km rest there... Meanwhile I followed a strict diet of glucose every 15mins and cyclist CH gels every 45mins, but during this rest my water got low. So I was eager to reach the 2nd refreshment station where I could drink some water and also fill some in my bottle. I started towards the finish quickly then, this time together with KP and her biker mate.
About 15km to go
The last CH gel however made me feel almost high. At the 5km sign I've almost attacked but kept myself back. But at the 4km post a pair of bikers came in with good tempo so I've launched a small sprint and chased them down, leaving KP behind. We've reached Tiszafüred soon and I stayed with them until the last zig-zag. I've tried to push a bit solo (you know, a good finish photo...) but the bad asphalt shaked my brain like a mixer... I've finished with 2:40:55.
I wasn't as worn off as last year. I've taken off my gear, picked up my finish pack, went down to the podium area, phoned home and then saw SSz finishing. After the podium ceremony and some loiter got in the car and drove home. By 6PM I was already home, we even had time to attend the astronomy day observation night with the fam to check the Moon and the Saturn.
Next day I had some muscle strain in my butt but nothing serious. Thinking hindsight:
- should have travelled with Raimo's group longer
- after the Kisköre dam I should have picked up tempo quicker
- got to do something with the awful asphalt near Abádszalók - either in technique or in my head, dunno
- the K2 belt I wore wasn't really good, it didn't feel comfortable putting my hand on my back
- the new Bont Jet skates worked great, but after 2/3 distance I began to feel the muscles holding my ankle getting tired, causing some form degrade. Got to work on that endurance.
I was expecting a finish time of circa 2:30 but the headwind made it worse. I am a bit frustated for this, the mistakes listed above should be eliminated and then I can make it, for sure. Next year :)
Results
GPX of the route
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Jet-ways
You sure remember when I've melted seeing the new Bont Cheetah skates, right?
Well time has passed since then and now I can report I've ordered a pair of Bont 2010 Jets for myself. 100mm, AL frame, 3 pt.
I am very excited about it, checking the FedEx status several times a day. The pack has been to China, to Kazakhstan and now is in Cologne...
Well time has passed since then and now I can report I've ordered a pair of Bont 2010 Jets for myself. 100mm, AL frame, 3 pt.
I am very excited about it, checking the FedEx status several times a day. The pack has been to China, to Kazakhstan and now is in Cologne...
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Santa Claus Cup 2010, Budapest
The program started with the longest distance, 500m for Peter. There were 8 racers alltogether, divided into two semifinals. Peter started well in his race and traveled quite comfortably behind TA for most of the distance, advancing to the A Final easily. His time was 58:500~ish but it was declared NOTIME for some techical difficulties.
500m semifinal
Anyway he has to learn this aspect of racing, too. Referees, decisions, points of view...
Coach TT helped him get through this mental shock (first DQ in his life) and analyze what went wrong - and to concentrate on the next distance.
500m Final A
222m semifinal
222m Final A
On Sunday Peter started with the 333m semi-final, where he showed quite a good start. But then he didn't have a good transition speeding up in the first turn and that left a good choice for SzÁ to take him over. From then on it was a nice combat, Peter looking for takeover opportunities but never really finding a good one. He almost managed to finish an attempt in the last lap but it didn't come true. No problem, he got in the A Final again.
333m semifinal
333m Final A
His skating looked good and he showed good form throughout the weekend. Official results here.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Frustrated
I've planned to run a half-marathon the last weekend in Siófok.
I've dedicated most of October and November to set up for this race properly. Ran 30-40 km a week following a training plan, aiming at 1:50 or even better time to achieve.
Then came Friday last week, 2 days before the race. A rest day. And it hit - met some virus: sore throat, voice gone, general 'down' feeling. Then spent most of Saturday in fever. Classic pharyngitis.
So no half on Sunday, that was quite sure :((((((((((((((((((((((((
Now there's a 'hole in my soul', I think I am
I've dedicated most of October and November to set up for this race properly. Ran 30-40 km a week following a training plan, aiming at 1:50 or even better time to achieve.
Then came Friday last week, 2 days before the race. A rest day. And it hit - met some virus: sore throat, voice gone, general 'down' feeling. Then spent most of Saturday in fever. Classic pharyngitis.
So no half on Sunday, that was quite sure :((((((((((((((((((((((((
Now there's a 'hole in my soul', I think I am
REALLY FRUSTRATED
Maybe I should check if there's another HM nearby I could run. Oh btw by Tuesday I was fine again :s
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
1. Winter Jász Cup
On the 13-14th November there was a shorttrack competition in Jászberény that we attended. The aim of it was to set up a short series for the novice racers in Hungary, so that they do not have to travel far for racing opportunities, maybe even in towns where there are no shorttrack clubs. Well this year the latter is not true but the Union is planning to enhance the series the next years so we may see that happen, too. This year the series consist of 3 stages, 1st in Jászberény, the 2nd in Szeged early January and the closing stage in Budapest, late January.
Racing in Jászberény was interesting as it is the only open-air competition this season. Peter for example has never raced on open-air ice before (in shorttrack). We were happy to have this race in the schedule as the planned race in Trnava was cancelled and the Szeged race was moved to January, so without this race there would have been no racing in November at all.
Poor TR fell ill Thursday so we travelled only 5 - 2 racers (CD and Peter), two parents and coach TT. Spent Friday night in a student hostel, about 400m from the rink, so we could get up relatively late. The weather was very nice, quite hot for a November day - it was about 15C and clear midday. The ice melted quite fast so racing had to end about 12:00 both days.
Peter had 3 distances (500m, 222m and 333m). He started the 500m semifinal very strong and was leading clearly when he fell in a turn, 1.5laps before the end. Even though he got up and started again, his legs locked up completely so he was overtaken and finished 3rd, that meant he could not race in the A final.
In the Final B he was racing almost alone as he lapped his only competitor in the last lap. His time wasn't too good this way, it must have been much much better if he really raced someone.
Later the day he took part in a relay but with quite novice skaters from other clubs and so it was considered a good training only.
On Sunday he ran a quite strong 222m semifinal first, then grabbed 2nd in the final. He managed a new personal best in the semi - his start is really fine!
Then a new PB in the final, too - 26:42, 1.5 seconds shaved off the old PB!
Then he ran a similarly strong 333m semi, again a PB (38.90 - 2.5 seconds better than before).
In the final he was in 1st place for 1.5 laps but couldn't handle the fact he was in front and did not skate a nice style, so he was overtaken by TA easily.
Still he finished 2nd here, too, so in overall he gained a bronze medal!
Coach TT was quite satisfied with him minus the last final, it is still early season, so it all points to a good direction if he can evolve so fine.
CD had only one opponent in his age class, FT - also from Szeged. They've fought nice battles in all 3 distances and while CD finished 2nd each time he was really competent and skated much better style than FT. Again, a promising form for the season.
Ah and this race was the premiere for the new racing suits - black, green and silver.
The boys looked fine wearing them - what do you think?
Racing in Jászberény was interesting as it is the only open-air competition this season. Peter for example has never raced on open-air ice before (in shorttrack). We were happy to have this race in the schedule as the planned race in Trnava was cancelled and the Szeged race was moved to January, so without this race there would have been no racing in November at all.
The rink at noon
Ice - ice?
(C) Gémesi Balázs
500m semifinal
Later the day he took part in a relay but with quite novice skaters from other clubs and so it was considered a good training only.
500m Final B
222m semifinal
222m Final A
333m semifinal
333m Final A
Cat F boys podium
Warm-up
CD had only one opponent in his age class, FT - also from Szeged. They've fought nice battles in all 3 distances and while CD finished 2nd each time he was really competent and skated much better style than FT. Again, a promising form for the season.
Ah and this race was the premiere for the new racing suits - black, green and silver.
(C) Gémesi Balázs
(C) Gémesi Balázs
PS:
The new boots worked perfectly, according to Peter. And they did not hurt his ankle at all!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Shiny new boots
We've bough a new pair of boots for Peter, his first 'real' shorttrack boot.
He's been using a Powerslide R2 junior model so far both for inlines or ice. Recently he has been telling us that the boot was bit too wide and it touched the ice in the turns. Add to that the fact that coach TT has also told us Peter would need a new boot soon so we had to look & shop around.
In the end we chose a handmade model from Hungary, produced by ex-shorttrack skater Balázs Knoch. He's living in Pécs and produces either standard, semi-custom or custom boots for skaters along some accessories, too. We drew around the outline of Peter's feet on a paper, measured the biggest length and width (his left foot is 4mm bigger than his right one...) and sent that drawing to Balázs. We agreed on phone that the size was right between 33 and 34 and we'd choose the bigger one for practical reasons - a kid can jump 2-3 shoe sizes in a year if nature decides so... But Balázs told us he'd also make a size 33 boot, so we can also try that.
While there are several models to choose from, we picked the cheapest model, again for practical reasons. It costs only 150 € and made of leather & some kind of compound, in black/silver. There is a 300 € model with stiffened ankle section and then you can have a full custom carbon boot starting from 600 € - something definitely not aimed at kids :)
2 weeks later we were driving to Pécs to try and take away the boots. Peter tried them on in the morning (size 34 fit perfectly) and then Balázs told us they would be ready in the afternoon. So we spent some time wandering around in the town and then late afternoon Peter was the happy owner of the new boots. You surely know that smile one can not get rid of when he receives a new toy :) He even put it next to his bed when we arrived home, so in the morning he could keep looking at it...
The first training with the boots on was Tuesday and he was very satisfied with the feel. He said the boots worked very nicely in the turns and helped him get on the outer edges easier. He can point his knees further down & forward so it generally helps getting lower in basic position. Coach TT told us that the boot would also help in finishing the push movement properly, too.
As the cuff is much higher than that of his previous boots it was quite evident there would be some initial 'suffer' period and of course it arrived by the end of the training. There was a red swallow area over both of his ankles that we iced 2 times that day and tried to apply some magic cream (comfrey) to help heal them. Next morning it was quite a torture to put the boots on again but the afternoon we repeated the above cure. Came Thursday morning and the swallow was not as big after the training than before, still applied both ice and the cream later the day. By Friday morning it seems it is getting normal.
This weekend there will be a competition in Jaszbereny, the first round of the Hungarian Novice Cup (3 stages). I really hope Peter's legs will be able to cope with the stress and that he can use his new boots successfully during racing. I am really curious to see how it works, will report back of course. Until then, some pics of his new boots:
He's been using a Powerslide R2 junior model so far both for inlines or ice. Recently he has been telling us that the boot was bit too wide and it touched the ice in the turns. Add to that the fact that coach TT has also told us Peter would need a new boot soon so we had to look & shop around.
In the end we chose a handmade model from Hungary, produced by ex-shorttrack skater Balázs Knoch. He's living in Pécs and produces either standard, semi-custom or custom boots for skaters along some accessories, too. We drew around the outline of Peter's feet on a paper, measured the biggest length and width (his left foot is 4mm bigger than his right one...) and sent that drawing to Balázs. We agreed on phone that the size was right between 33 and 34 and we'd choose the bigger one for practical reasons - a kid can jump 2-3 shoe sizes in a year if nature decides so... But Balázs told us he'd also make a size 33 boot, so we can also try that.
While there are several models to choose from, we picked the cheapest model, again for practical reasons. It costs only 150 € and made of leather & some kind of compound, in black/silver. There is a 300 € model with stiffened ankle section and then you can have a full custom carbon boot starting from 600 € - something definitely not aimed at kids :)
2 weeks later we were driving to Pécs to try and take away the boots. Peter tried them on in the morning (size 34 fit perfectly) and then Balázs told us they would be ready in the afternoon. So we spent some time wandering around in the town and then late afternoon Peter was the happy owner of the new boots. You surely know that smile one can not get rid of when he receives a new toy :) He even put it next to his bed when we arrived home, so in the morning he could keep looking at it...
The first training with the boots on was Tuesday and he was very satisfied with the feel. He said the boots worked very nicely in the turns and helped him get on the outer edges easier. He can point his knees further down & forward so it generally helps getting lower in basic position. Coach TT told us that the boot would also help in finishing the push movement properly, too.
As the cuff is much higher than that of his previous boots it was quite evident there would be some initial 'suffer' period and of course it arrived by the end of the training. There was a red swallow area over both of his ankles that we iced 2 times that day and tried to apply some magic cream (comfrey) to help heal them. Next morning it was quite a torture to put the boots on again but the afternoon we repeated the above cure. Came Thursday morning and the swallow was not as big after the training than before, still applied both ice and the cream later the day. By Friday morning it seems it is getting normal.
This weekend there will be a competition in Jaszbereny, the first round of the Hungarian Novice Cup (3 stages). I really hope Peter's legs will be able to cope with the stress and that he can use his new boots successfully during racing. I am really curious to see how it works, will report back of course. Until then, some pics of his new boots:
Monday, November 8, 2010
XI. Pick Street Running Festival
Early October there was a running event in Szeged named after the local salami trademark, Pick. You could choose from a 6km distance, a 3.4k or a 1.2k family group run. And of course there were several fill-in programmes in between, and some lottery at the end, all the usual stuff.
I opted to run the 6km as I knew beforehand that the 3.4km would be very crowded to achieve any decent time. And of course I was feeling kinda running-pro (Gebre beware) so there was the übermensch feeling of 'yeah I run the long one' added, too :) I've entered Peter and myself for the shorter one, too but as Peter had a training that time it was obvious we would skip running together this time.
In the morning it was quite chilly but clear so I was a bit uncertain what to put on - I chose the long outfit however. It later turned out to be the perfect choice, sometimes it was wee bit too warm but in a minute it would cool down due to the wind. Ah yes, the wind was quite strong, 18km from the North. But at least it was not raining :)
Due to organizational problems I had to solve this event all alone, so there were no cheer-girls (Moira and Aniko) this time. Too bad, they could have made quite a few photos entitled 'Daddy suffering' or 'Dad is dead'...
Drove there, warmed up, had a light jog and some gymnastics - and bang, The Urge hit me: where is the looooooo... only 10 minutes left... trick or treat... or is it dare to win?... nah, let's be brave, no time for such crazy things. Got near the starting line where many of the folks were facing the wrong way??? Something I did not know of before, some late changes to the route??? I've taken a place at the second part of the field and then in a moment the organizers told the majority that they were facing the wrong way - yessssss, I was right \o/. So I found myself in the 6th or 7th line at the start :)
Off went the gun and we were running. I tried to keep calm and chose a pace I knew I was OK with. Some early birds left me of course but I knew I could not run that pace so I did not bother. When we reached the river and turned North on the quay the headwind hit us. I was using good old cyclist tactics, hiding behind someone for some time and then leave him/her and jump up a position. You may call this opportunism or un-ethical but I've learned this all my youth and it was a race after all... I've run this way till the first turning point and then almost enjoyed running tailwind, but started to feel not-so-good. Running didn't feel comfortable at all. Well I've climbed the ramp up, left the quay and then soon came another turning point and I was quite afraid of the headwind quay section waiting for me. But at this point I've just reached up to a man and decided to start the headwind section behind him. And in fact I traveled there from this point onto the finish line, suffering badly.
Right before the last turning point that was positioned at the end of the quay (so you even had to run up the ramp) we've caught a tall girl (FSz, I know she's been running for quite some time) and later I learned she was the 6th in the women's race and even she couldn't keep up our pace. Then about 300m from the finish we caught the women's 5th and 'my rabbit' and she seemed to know eachother, as he told her she was 5th and keeping that pace would finish under 25 minutes. Now I looked at my watch and was really shocked to see it was true - too bad the heart-rate was blinking at 100% :) Well we finished soon, and I thanked my rabbit the help immediately. Too bad there is no official ranking for outside-top-10 finishers so I don't know his name :(
I felt completely tired and exhausted but tried to keep on walking. From time to time I glanced at my watch and couldn't believe: 24:54??? I slowly came to realize it was only a little bit worse than 4 min/km pace. OMGWTF, I hoped for a 28:00. Yet I felt very tired, completely useless but very happy. This whole event didn't feel good at all. Mid-distance I was like 'ah forget it, stupid me, just ease off and walk away'. But still somehow managed to finish and achieved such a good result. Wohooo!!!
Then I had a choco bar and some water and met an old classmate from secondary. We talked a bit though talking didn't feel right either and it was getting chilly again, being wet. Then I jogged to the car and drove home. Up the stairs it was very hard but later the day I've regenerated completely, so next day I could do an almost 15km run at 5:40/km pace with Peter following on bike, talking. Superman, right? :D
I opted to run the 6km as I knew beforehand that the 3.4km would be very crowded to achieve any decent time. And of course I was feeling kinda running-pro (Gebre beware) so there was the übermensch feeling of 'yeah I run the long one' added, too :) I've entered Peter and myself for the shorter one, too but as Peter had a training that time it was obvious we would skip running together this time.
In the morning it was quite chilly but clear so I was a bit uncertain what to put on - I chose the long outfit however. It later turned out to be the perfect choice, sometimes it was wee bit too warm but in a minute it would cool down due to the wind. Ah yes, the wind was quite strong, 18km from the North. But at least it was not raining :)
Due to organizational problems I had to solve this event all alone, so there were no cheer-girls (Moira and Aniko) this time. Too bad, they could have made quite a few photos entitled 'Daddy suffering' or 'Dad is dead'...
Drove there, warmed up, had a light jog and some gymnastics - and bang, The Urge hit me: where is the looooooo... only 10 minutes left... trick or treat... or is it dare to win?... nah, let's be brave, no time for such crazy things. Got near the starting line where many of the folks were facing the wrong way??? Something I did not know of before, some late changes to the route??? I've taken a place at the second part of the field and then in a moment the organizers told the majority that they were facing the wrong way - yessssss, I was right \o/. So I found myself in the 6th or 7th line at the start :)
Off went the gun and we were running. I tried to keep calm and chose a pace I knew I was OK with. Some early birds left me of course but I knew I could not run that pace so I did not bother. When we reached the river and turned North on the quay the headwind hit us. I was using good old cyclist tactics, hiding behind someone for some time and then leave him/her and jump up a position. You may call this opportunism or un-ethical but I've learned this all my youth and it was a race after all... I've run this way till the first turning point and then almost enjoyed running tailwind, but started to feel not-so-good. Running didn't feel comfortable at all. Well I've climbed the ramp up, left the quay and then soon came another turning point and I was quite afraid of the headwind quay section waiting for me. But at this point I've just reached up to a man and decided to start the headwind section behind him. And in fact I traveled there from this point onto the finish line, suffering badly.
Right before the last turning point that was positioned at the end of the quay (so you even had to run up the ramp) we've caught a tall girl (FSz, I know she's been running for quite some time) and later I learned she was the 6th in the women's race and even she couldn't keep up our pace. Then about 300m from the finish we caught the women's 5th and 'my rabbit' and she seemed to know eachother, as he told her she was 5th and keeping that pace would finish under 25 minutes. Now I looked at my watch and was really shocked to see it was true - too bad the heart-rate was blinking at 100% :) Well we finished soon, and I thanked my rabbit the help immediately. Too bad there is no official ranking for outside-top-10 finishers so I don't know his name :(
I felt completely tired and exhausted but tried to keep on walking. From time to time I glanced at my watch and couldn't believe: 24:54??? I slowly came to realize it was only a little bit worse than 4 min/km pace. OMGWTF, I hoped for a 28:00. Yet I felt very tired, completely useless but very happy. This whole event didn't feel good at all. Mid-distance I was like 'ah forget it, stupid me, just ease off and walk away'. But still somehow managed to finish and achieved such a good result. Wohooo!!!
Then I had a choco bar and some water and met an old classmate from secondary. We talked a bit though talking didn't feel right either and it was getting chilly again, being wet. Then I jogged to the car and drove home. Up the stairs it was very hard but later the day I've regenerated completely, so next day I could do an almost 15km run at 5:40/km pace with Peter following on bike, talking. Superman, right? :D
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