on Monday i shared the huge rink with 2 primary school girls and a group of 3 older gents who i will refer to as “lemon party” . even though there was only a small group of people I’m sure they got a kick seeing me fall over multiple times practicing falls and plow stops (of which i still find impossible). i only stayed for an hour as it was still over 30 degrees and vowed to return on Thursday to skate with some of the VRDL ladies and fellow freshies.

Had a lot more fun on Thursday and i met a girl (donna kebab) which whom i used to play in an all girl gaming clan with years and years ago. spoke to a few girls and got some more tips and had a good hard skate.

then came Sunday….. dum dum dah !

It was a little cooler and more comfortable to skate this week and we went over everything we did the week before with additional skills:

lateral movement – moving efficiently from one side of the track to the other.

endurance - sprint skating (can do it but i need to work on my form)

jumps - over little cones  (can kinda do this)

skating on one leg - going to need to practise standing on one leg for a while on this one.

what i learned :

• Be  very careful when i fall forward, keep fists clenched
• Try not to fall backwards onto butt/tailbone (did this twice, very sore bot bot)
• Skate lower,  i stand too tall and will need to build leg muscles
• Balance, i need to practise standing on one leg and being more comfortable.

so there’s a lot of need to work on besides grasping the basic skills. i’m going to skate at least twice this week before the next training session. i would do more but i’m actually still sore today.

part of me felt i had improved upon last weeks efforts and part of me felt like i was falling behind. i’m sure a lot of the girls are going through similar emotions. i get over excited and then just over it. my body won’t do what i want it to.  all i know is i still want to roller derby whatever it takes.

Next Update : Boot camp Week Three

it was however awesome fun. was good to meet some of the girls i’ll be spending time with over the next 4 weeks but it really did show me how much i need to practise to keep up with the curve.

the stuff we were taught included was :

falls – one knee, two knee and 4 point ( i can do one knee but am a little unco on the others)

stops - t-stop (which i’m a little shakey on)  plow-stop (omg impossible)

stance - bend those knees !!! and cross over turns (which i can sorta do)

weaving - through cones (which i can sorta do)

i pretty much can’t do anything perfect and on top of that i almost passed out once but it’s given me a better idea of the stuff i need to learn. there was so many talented people and i don’t want to sound defeatest but i may not make this round of intake. i will of coarse be trying my hardest to improve and if i don’t make it i will be super ready next time with a good few months more time to practise the skills we need.

now it’s time to spend a couple of days recovering from the pain of using muscles i didn’t even know were there ^_^

Next Update : Boot camp Week Two