We're setting up a long slow skate that anyone is welcome to join in on. The emphasis is on fun, easy exercise, and technique, and won't leave you shattered if you do it properly. It's the perfect where-to-go now from technique lessons. Apart from building endurance, the major benefit of this session is that you get plenty of time working on getting a smooth flowing technique. The goal is to float smoothly and efficiently, and not buzz around wasting energy.

This is done by doing technique "intervals", where for a few minutes, we'll concentrate on doing just one element of good technique at a time, and then move onto a new item.  Your effort will be the constant low aerobic work of the long slow skate, but doing different bits of technique will keep it from getting boring and will help settle down good technique in your muscle memory.  That will help you to skate with better technique even when you're tired, skating fast, or on rough surfaces.

Is this speedskating - yes and no.  Many of the super fast street skaters use exactly these techniques to go so fast, so this is perfect for helping you to keep up on the fast winter skates.

What is a long slow skate?

• It's super slow skating, you won't get exhausted doing this.
• We skate at the speed where you can hold a continuous conversation, that's much slower than an ordinary streetskate, well below your ventilation threshold. If you're getting a red face and are starting to puff, you'll be skating too fast.
• In heart rate terms you're looking for somewhere between 65 to 75% of your own maximum heart rate.
• We should be able to have 2 groups, a slow group and a super slow group.

When you first start long slow skates, at, for example, a steady 135 heartbeats/min, you find yourself skating slowly compared with others. As the weeks of LSS go by, you stay at that steady 135 bpm, but your heart will have grown bigger and thus pumping more blood per stroke, and your muscles become stronger and more efficient, and the result is you'll be much faster for the same effort.  That's without even taking into account any improvements in your technique of course - an improvement in your economy of motion will also lead to a big speed increase.

Where and when?

Not currently running - too busy in the summer.

Cost?

Free. Of course we're hoping you'll have a good time and be persuaded to join the LondonSkaters Speed Team, but this isn't required, and nor is lycra.