He took fast track to skating success

Name: Edward "Fast Eddie" Wachter

Occupation: I run two businesses - Fast Eddie's Inline Skate School and Fast Eddie's Mobile Airbrush Refinishing Service. Keeps me busy.

Age: 40

Height: 5-7

Weight (before training): 140

Weight (at race time): 130

Background: Born and raised in Tucson. Raced bicycles for seven years before I got into skating. Love going fast.

Main fitness and competitive accomplishments: Skating (not cycling) the El Tour de Tucson in 1996 - 116 miles in 8 hours and 20 minutes. Athens to Atlanta road race in 2002 - 86 miles in 5 hours and 2 minutes for 11th place. The Duluth (Minn.) Marathon. The biggest skate race in the country that gets more than 5,000 skaters each year.

I've done it six years in a row and my best placing was this year in 2006. I did 27 miles in one hour and 15 minutes for seventh place. Being Arizona's fastest outdoor marathon skater for eight years.

How did you get into sports and fitness? My mom got me into fitness and cycling. One day she bet me that she could beat me in the El Tour de Tucson (1986). Well, being a guy and thinking I was cool, I said, "No problem."

She beat me and from then on I said, "No way is my mom going to hammer on me again." So I put down the beer and started training hard and never looked back. I got into skating to help my cycling and found out that there were races for skaters as well, so I was hooked and started racing skates.

What was your motivation to race? I just like competing and trying to get faster every year.

What changes did you make to improve your speed/technique? Getting some classes. Back when I started, I had to go to Cali for a lesson, but it made me tons faster and I could see results immediately.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in becoming a speed skater? Just finding places to skate 20 or so miles. Now we have great pathways.

How fast are you on skates? Last race - 27 miles, average of 23 mph. I can sprint up to 30 mph. My one-mile time trail can average 25 to 27 mph. Going down Kitt Peak I got going to 62 mph . . . scary.

What is your impression of the in-line skating sport? It's a great sport. Once you learn how to skate, you can go in many directions: off road skating, hockey, aggressive skating, figure and dance, or my fav - speed skating.

What advice would you like to pass onto others interested in the sport? Anyone getting into the sport should take their time learning the skills: stopping, turning, then going fast. Start off with $100 range skates. No need to get the $1,600 skates when learning. Always wear protective equipment: helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards. And lessons help a bunch.

What sort of diet do you eat during training? Lots of fruits and salads, chicken breasts, rice, broccoli.

Do you have any food weaknesses? Anything fried. Biggest downfall is cheese sticks and pizza.

Monday: Skate 12 miles at medium pace, weights.

Tuesday: Rest.

Wednesday: Cycle 40 miles, hard pace. Sometimes skate nine to 12 miles.

Thursday: Skate 12 miles, easy pace. Play hockey all-out, 30 minutes.

Friday: Skate 18 miles at medium pace, weights.

Saturday: Skate 12 to 20 miles at medium to easy pace.

Sunday: Skate 27 miles at maximum pace. Try to improve each week.

Note: I never set any of these in stone, except for Sunday. That is usually race day, so I always skate hard on that day. But if I'm really tired during the week, I might cut the miles down. It's very important to listen to your body.

Monday: Rest day or easy skate. Work on skate skills (turns, stopping, gliding).

Tuesday: Skate six to nine miles, moderate pace.

Wednesday: Skate hard for three miles; rest 10 minutes. Skate hard for three miles, rest 10 minutes. Skate hard for one mile. All done.

Thursday: Easy skate, fun skate or rest.

Friday: Skate nine to 12 miles, moderate pace. Try not to stop skating.

Saturday: Dry land skating or cross train and skate six miles, easy to moderate pace.

Sunday: Long-distance day. Try to skate as much as you can. You can break it up and skate nine miles in the morning and nine miles in the afternoon.

Note: Every month, you should add three to six miles to Friday and Sunday, as you approach race month. Once a week, work on skills: gliding, bending, turning and stopping. Once a week, skate with others and practice skating in a group. If you are with fast skaters, do this on your hard skate day. If you are with slow skaters, do it on your easy skate day.

Morning: peanut butter sandwich, one orange, one apple.

Lunch: salad, one piece of whole grain bread, power bar.

Dinner: rice or potato, chicken breast, steamed broccoli.