Sunday practice
Phew! I am so tired, exhilarated, and hungry! Geez! But what a wonderful day!
I went to practice this morning. Today begins my second week as a roller girl. And it's starting out so great, too. I'll try to go chronologically with what we did. But it's a two hour practice, and I stayed an hour after. So there's a lot to tell!!!
I got all padded up and skates on and began warming up! I was using new insoles to try to keep my feet from rolling in. My ankles have been rubbing on the edge of the boot and bruising somewhat. The correct positioning of my feet threw my balance off a bit. But I was doing OK. Then we switched the direction we were skating, and all the muscles in my legs screamed simultaneously, "what the hell are you doing to us?!?!" Then it was time for the official warm up, where we were supposed to skate fast for 30 seconds then squat for 30 seconds. Yowza! So I slipped over to the side and took out the insoles and stretched some. Still, even after going back to normal, it took a while for my legs to quit screaming and spazzing out. But I persevered as much as possible.
Next, they began a drill of suicides that either involved stopping or falling. I bowed out of this because we hadn't yet been taught either. I only knew how to stop using the toe stop. Hrm. And I got a little worried because it was my understanding that today was to be a Beginners' Workshop since most of the grannies were just coming back into town. However, after the suicides, they set up for a live-action demo of the positions and jobs and a bit of the strategy. It was awesome! I skated in 3 of 4 of them. There was next to no contact. But we learned a LOT that is hard to catch when the girls are zooming past so fast. I had a lot of questions, like once the jammers get through, why does the pack slow down. It seems to make it easier for them to score more points. And I also wondered if there could be two packs, but I'm still not completely sure if the rules about being within a certain distance of each other only applies to the team or to the whole group of roller girls. Still it was awesome. I fell once and almost did a split. But as they said, the squatting down low keeps it from hurting as much and makes it easier to get up. So I got back up and caught up to the pack.
During those drills, I noticed something peculiar. My mom was sitting on one of the little mushroom seats. Oh my goodness! I had sent her directions, but I really didn't expect her to come. She even took a picture of me, but it's while I'm bent over straightening my knee pads. Then, Jessica (Eris), tipped me off a bit to how to stop with my skate wheels. Next, we did a few zig zags between cones, and I felt like I did pretty well. I know I need to get better at doing that while skating faster, but still. I'm really staying up on my skates pretty well.
At this point, Mom decided to leave because the mushroom benches weren't comfortable to sit on. And the experienced skaters scrimmaged, while JD did a few drills with us newbies. This was so very helpful!!! I even got to practice my stopping since we were at one end of the rink for a lot of it. We practiced skating on one skate and coasting. Oddly skating on the left skate was easier than skating on the right skate. And we practiced staying on one skate then switching to the other. We did a few zig zags where, when we skated on our left skate, we angled to the left. And we skated on the right skate and were supposed to veer to the right. However, on that one I had a hard time veering right. We also did some more squats. Great!
All in all, it was a GREAT practice! I was so glad to feel challenged in these ways. I wonder how much longer until I will be ready to test for level one. I think after I pass those tests, I can scrimmage and stuff. Of course, I'm hoping to get some feedback on how I'm doing before I have to take the test. I did get compliments today at practice, though. Kitty Crowbar had been at practice yesterday. And she said before she realized I was already joining the roller girls that she saw me skating and said, "I have to recruit her". I giggled cause it makes me feel like all my practice is really showing. I've made a point to stay after practice an hour each time to get more and more comfortable on my skates. I have even done a few crossover drills in the living room trying to get to the point where I was comfortable keeping my weight over my front foot and my legs strong enough to feel steady on the one foot. And the best thing is that as hard as I'm working, I'm loving every minute of it!
After practice, not many people stuck around, unlike last Sunday. Bevin stayed and skated with a friend of hers. I had a good time skating with them for a while. And I tried asking her about her skating backwards technique, but when I went to try it, I just couldn't get it. I end up curling my right foot, but I can't really use my left foot to generate motion. It's just a rudder. Maybe this week, someone can help me with this skill. I kindof feel like I'm more on my toes and some of the movement feels jerky, and I half expect to lunge to the ground. Speaking of lunging to the ground, there was a lot of that going on, There were tons of kids out there not really knowing how to skate well. we got a few laughs out of some of it. And still other maneuvers nearly gave us heart attacks as they either nearly hit us or landed in some position that didn't seem possible unless their bodies were made of rubber. Anywho. Mary Catherine came back out. She came to yesterday's skating lessons. And she and I skated for a while, and when I was finally worn out enough, she and I sat on the bench and talked a lot. She's new here from Tallahassee. I think she's thinking of joining the roller girls but is one of those people who wants to be sure they can get good first. I'm not sure if she's coming Tuesday for or after practice. But we shall see. She said Tuesday she was coming out again.
This week, I'm definitely doing practice on Tuesday. I want to do speed skating practice on Wednesday, but there's also a gathering at a friend's house for thanksgiving celebration that I want to attend. I wonder if I could clean up quickly and go after practice. It'd definitely be a challenge. I'm wondering if they'll also have speed skating practice on Friday. We're doing our own Thanksgiving meal on Friday, so it might be tough to make it. I guess I'll have to play the speed skating practices by ear this week. But I was actually feeling brave enough to try to keep up with everyone this week, so I really hope that I'll get the chance.
I went to practice this morning. Today begins my second week as a roller girl. And it's starting out so great, too. I'll try to go chronologically with what we did. But it's a two hour practice, and I stayed an hour after. So there's a lot to tell!!!
I got all padded up and skates on and began warming up! I was using new insoles to try to keep my feet from rolling in. My ankles have been rubbing on the edge of the boot and bruising somewhat. The correct positioning of my feet threw my balance off a bit. But I was doing OK. Then we switched the direction we were skating, and all the muscles in my legs screamed simultaneously, "what the hell are you doing to us?!?!" Then it was time for the official warm up, where we were supposed to skate fast for 30 seconds then squat for 30 seconds. Yowza! So I slipped over to the side and took out the insoles and stretched some. Still, even after going back to normal, it took a while for my legs to quit screaming and spazzing out. But I persevered as much as possible.
Next, they began a drill of suicides that either involved stopping or falling. I bowed out of this because we hadn't yet been taught either. I only knew how to stop using the toe stop. Hrm. And I got a little worried because it was my understanding that today was to be a Beginners' Workshop since most of the grannies were just coming back into town. However, after the suicides, they set up for a live-action demo of the positions and jobs and a bit of the strategy. It was awesome! I skated in 3 of 4 of them. There was next to no contact. But we learned a LOT that is hard to catch when the girls are zooming past so fast. I had a lot of questions, like once the jammers get through, why does the pack slow down. It seems to make it easier for them to score more points. And I also wondered if there could be two packs, but I'm still not completely sure if the rules about being within a certain distance of each other only applies to the team or to the whole group of roller girls. Still it was awesome. I fell once and almost did a split. But as they said, the squatting down low keeps it from hurting as much and makes it easier to get up. So I got back up and caught up to the pack.
During those drills, I noticed something peculiar. My mom was sitting on one of the little mushroom seats. Oh my goodness! I had sent her directions, but I really didn't expect her to come. She even took a picture of me, but it's while I'm bent over straightening my knee pads. Then, Jessica (Eris), tipped me off a bit to how to stop with my skate wheels. Next, we did a few zig zags between cones, and I felt like I did pretty well. I know I need to get better at doing that while skating faster, but still. I'm really staying up on my skates pretty well.
At this point, Mom decided to leave because the mushroom benches weren't comfortable to sit on. And the experienced skaters scrimmaged, while JD did a few drills with us newbies. This was so very helpful!!! I even got to practice my stopping since we were at one end of the rink for a lot of it. We practiced skating on one skate and coasting. Oddly skating on the left skate was easier than skating on the right skate. And we practiced staying on one skate then switching to the other. We did a few zig zags where, when we skated on our left skate, we angled to the left. And we skated on the right skate and were supposed to veer to the right. However, on that one I had a hard time veering right. We also did some more squats. Great!
All in all, it was a GREAT practice! I was so glad to feel challenged in these ways. I wonder how much longer until I will be ready to test for level one. I think after I pass those tests, I can scrimmage and stuff. Of course, I'm hoping to get some feedback on how I'm doing before I have to take the test. I did get compliments today at practice, though. Kitty Crowbar had been at practice yesterday. And she said before she realized I was already joining the roller girls that she saw me skating and said, "I have to recruit her". I giggled cause it makes me feel like all my practice is really showing. I've made a point to stay after practice an hour each time to get more and more comfortable on my skates. I have even done a few crossover drills in the living room trying to get to the point where I was comfortable keeping my weight over my front foot and my legs strong enough to feel steady on the one foot. And the best thing is that as hard as I'm working, I'm loving every minute of it!
After practice, not many people stuck around, unlike last Sunday. Bevin stayed and skated with a friend of hers. I had a good time skating with them for a while. And I tried asking her about her skating backwards technique, but when I went to try it, I just couldn't get it. I end up curling my right foot, but I can't really use my left foot to generate motion. It's just a rudder. Maybe this week, someone can help me with this skill. I kindof feel like I'm more on my toes and some of the movement feels jerky, and I half expect to lunge to the ground. Speaking of lunging to the ground, there was a lot of that going on, There were tons of kids out there not really knowing how to skate well. we got a few laughs out of some of it. And still other maneuvers nearly gave us heart attacks as they either nearly hit us or landed in some position that didn't seem possible unless their bodies were made of rubber. Anywho. Mary Catherine came back out. She came to yesterday's skating lessons. And she and I skated for a while, and when I was finally worn out enough, she and I sat on the bench and talked a lot. She's new here from Tallahassee. I think she's thinking of joining the roller girls but is one of those people who wants to be sure they can get good first. I'm not sure if she's coming Tuesday for or after practice. But we shall see. She said Tuesday she was coming out again.
This week, I'm definitely doing practice on Tuesday. I want to do speed skating practice on Wednesday, but there's also a gathering at a friend's house for thanksgiving celebration that I want to attend. I wonder if I could clean up quickly and go after practice. It'd definitely be a challenge. I'm wondering if they'll also have speed skating practice on Friday. We're doing our own Thanksgiving meal on Friday, so it might be tough to make it. I guess I'll have to play the speed skating practices by ear this week. But I was actually feeling brave enough to try to keep up with everyone this week, so I really hope that I'll get the chance.