SKATES!!!

Alright! So first day of practice ON SKATES!
I picked up NEW in box safety gear - elbow pads, knee pads, wrist guards, and a helmet - on craigslist for half retail price. The skates are the biggest expense, even more so because of my weight. The less expensive plates (what holds the wheels and connects them to the boot) are plastic based and aren't meant to carry a skater over 200 lbs. The aluminum plates are heavier and quite a bit more expensive, but hold up better to more weight. So rather than shelling out $300 or more for a pair of skates, I opted to try out some loners from the team supplies. I got a great little black leather pair of Riedell's, with some funky green wheels and mismatched laces.

Once I was all geared up, sitting on the ground tightening the last bit of laces, I realized...

 I have NO IDEA how to get up.

 So I sat.

 Aaand I sat.

 Aaaaand I sat.

 FINALLY I got the courage to roll over off my butt and on to my knees. It was only a few seconds up on my feet before the coach called me over. Expecting me to SKATE to the rink. I made it though. No falls or anything! Just itty bitty baby steps.

The coach (Mel) was super helpful. She asked about what previous skating experience I had, and then had me skate a lap to see where I was skill-wise. I learned feet shoulder width or less apart,smooth rhythmic strides (even if they are short strides), knees bent, lean forward, shoulders back, and look up and where you want to go. It worked great! I was flying around the rink!

OK I was putzing, and the little kids who had come from the neighborhood across the street were lapping me even though they fell a lot. But I was moving! And better yet, I was NOT falling.

BUT - I had no clue how to stop. So I skated another lap, and at the coach's direction headed for the fence with a nice crash stop. Next I learned to knee stop. Drop a knee and skid to a stop (with a little more detail on what NOT to do). And then how to get up! After a little practice I moved on to T-stops, which I absolutely could not do. Not enough muscle and confidence to pick my foot up, put it behind me, and drag. So I practiced the motion as best I could and used the fence to crash in to.

Then it got hard.

We did side steps and vine steps and toe steps. Then stationary knee falls/get ups, then burpees (of which I did exactly 2), mountain climbers (again, 2, but on each leg, yippee!) and then I got to sit in the middle and watch. All of that from skates on to resting in the middle took about 90 minutes. After another 20 of sitting and watching and trying to catch my breath, I did 3 speed laps, the speed of a sugar high turtle, and I was done!

I survived PRACTICE #1

I learned I need stronger calves, but MOSTLY a stronger lower back. That "ready position" that ALL athlete's learn - legs bent, lean forward, shoulders back, prepare to shuffle! - is about a thousand times harder on skates. Just saying'. And it burned! But a good muscle building burn.

I fell twice (2 is my magic number today I guess) once I went down forward, yay wrist guards, and once down straight back on my butt, arms and legs flailing, all in slow motion of course. One of the girls has the butt/hip pad pants that I saw online during my equipment research, I think I'll be getting a pair of those suckers cause I like my tail bone intact.

Any other "fall" was really just a knee stop, which were all intentional.

All in all I think it was a pretty good practice. I did WAY more than I expected I'd be able to do, and I think it's going to be really fun! I'll be super sore tomorrow and Sunday, but by Monday I'll be ready for another practice!