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A2A………Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on, brah!

Last week I completed my first Athens to Atlanta “skate”. To say the least, it was the most emotionally diverse event I have ever experienced in my entire athletic career. Name every emotion and I felt it…. some a little more than others.

Overall the A2A felt like a lifetime of memories. This annual event is a tradition I am proud to have taken part of. It was a celebration of skating. It was a test of true grit.

As I skated through the streets from Athens to Atlanta I felt a surge of energy when realizing I was going to be included in this camaraderie of skaters who have completed this “skate” over the past 28 years.

A huge thank you goes out to all of the volunteers that made this possible. I did not have any support people along the route and the volunteers at the check-points were my “rock”. I don’t know if they realize how much impact they had but when you are skating solo for most of the race and you come around a turn and you see these people who have no idea who you are and they are cheering it really picks your spirit up and helps you squeeze out whatever energy you have left. Thanks so much for the words of encouragement and the nourishment!

Due to my own struggle with navigation and an incorrect judgment call, with about 8 miles left, I made a mistake and skated off the route. So I did an extra 5 miles. This was the biggest challenge to my usual happy-go-lucky character. I had a lot of dialogue with myself…out loud. There were some tears and also some bursts of laughing. There was no way I could control or hide how my soul felt at that moment. As an educator I like to think there is a lesson to be learned that appears in all forms. What I received was greater clarity on why I skate, and taking a simple wrong turn was not going to spoil my experience.

As I skated into Peidmont Park I was relieved to see the orange cones, I knew I wouldn’t go off course again. Around the bend I saw the finish line that I would eventually skate across for the first time but not the last…

Lala how the life goes on. ☺

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Comment by Peter Cortiel on October 18, 2009 at 12:45pm: hello nadine! we have one national cup who called "Austrian Inline Cup". This is a series over 12 races in austria. in this series are timetrial, 21K,42K and rink-race. theres even more races called "bonusraces". in salzburg i´m living next to germany/bayern. so, in bayern there have an "bayern inline cup". this is a series up to 10 races. so, i can participate in austrian inline cup and bayern inline cup. i like races which are familiar, up to 100 competitor. thats funny. most of our races have a maximum of 200 participants.

one race of the "austrian inline cup" is in salzburg. so, you can visit to us, participate the race and make a sightseeingtour through salzburg. mozart is waiting....

Comment by Nadine on October 18, 2009 at 6:27am: Peter your english is very good! You will have to tell me about the inline races in Austria. I need an excuse to go visit! :)

Dean, I have discovered a few "frugal" ways to keep my costs down when going to the races .... I think it comes natural to me since I use to live in my van when I went to University. :)

Comment by Peter Cortiel on October 18, 2009 at 2:07am: I´m linving in salzburg (where Mozart coming from and the trapp-family). Yes, I know from the WC at soelden. but hermann mair is not starting again. Without him, Downhill-WC is going vapid.At least i hope bode miller is starting....

Comment by dean clark on October 17, 2009 at 8:28pm: Peter there is snow in Soelden. The first Alpine WC race is there next week on the glaicer. Your english is is just fine. Where are you located in Austria? I have been in the Arlberg. Very beautiful.

Comment by dean clark on October 17, 2009 at 8:22pm: Skate skiing is huge here. Lots of groomed trails and races. The trails I skate in the summer are always frequented by road skiers. We have had snow but it really does not stick until Thanksgiving. My lower back strengthing is a little crazy but is pullups in a pike position. I told you. And pushups.

A 6 month sabbatical, wow. You will really be a force to fear. Maybe the darn economy will turn around here in Michigan and I will catch up to you at a race (before or after the race) probably not during. Go Girl.

Comment by Peter Cortiel on October 17, 2009 at 8:29am: please forgive me my bad english...

Comment by Peter Cortiel on October 17, 2009 at 8:28am: there was no frost in austria, but snow till 500 metre over seelevel. the last trip on inlineskates was on wednesday last week. there was 27 degrees und sunny. i skated two hours, that was so pretty cool... and now? I could cry....

i guess counter clockwise is much better then clockwise....
last year i had an hard impact into ice and barrier. because there was an big hole into the ice and i hooked into with my left blade. it hurts for least three weeks...
:-)

Comment by Nadine on October 17, 2009 at 8:08am: Very unholy.... I love that term! Great way to describe it. We had frost warnings last week. Short track is a funny sport... if only I could convince the people I skate with to try skating counter clockwise. :)

Comment by Peter Cortiel on October 17, 2009 at 8:03am: hello nadine! here in austria we have 5 degrees centigrade. last week the warmest day was 27 degree centigrade. and its raining and raining.... so, the skating season is over. but since two weeks ago, the short track training was starting, and we have every sunday evening training for 1 1/2 hours. but on ice there is so cold.... very unholy.

but short track is a funny sport and a good training for inline skating.

Comment by Nadine on October 17, 2009 at 6:59am: Thanks Dean! I went to my first short track practice last Wednesday (first time I stepped on the ice in 20 years). It is getting way to cold here too. I am praying for snow. The worse weather is cold with no snow.
My legs and feet felt great but my low back was really sore. I realized that I need to do some core strengthening before next years season. Already talked to my boss(es) about next season. They are going to give me a sabbatical for 6 months. Yay!
If it is getting cold where you are, you must get snow? I would think that skate skiing would be awesome cross-training..... You take care too!