Fresh Meat: Week Seven

I am proud to announce that I can skate towards a cone, jump over it and land again without damaging myself!  Honestly, aside from the fact that I can now skate, I think this is my proudest derby moment to date.  When our coach said we were going to do jumps last night my heart sank a little.  I really felt like I had been sucking all evening.  During our warm-up laps I STILL couldn't get crossovers right.  Something about this skill completely freaks me out.  The first night we tried them I fell and fell and fell.  Now whenever I work up the nerve to try again, I chicken out halfway through.  It's more than a little frustrating.  If you're curious about what a crossover actually is, check out this video:

She actually gives some pretty decent advice, maybe I should try it?  Anyhoo, after laps we practiced skating on one foot.  I don't know what it is about my feet but they will not go in a straight line.  I feel so unstable when I lift my foot that I try and compensate immediately and throw off my centre of gravity.  This means that even though I can skate on one foot, I go off in all sorts of crazy directions.  Not good.  In light of this, you can imagine why my heart sank at the mention of jumping.  Bleh!  We started by jumping over a line on the track and it wasn't too bad.  When she asked who felt confident enough to jump a cone, my friend Liz suggested we just go for it to see what happens.  Best idea of the night!!  Managing that jump not once but several times (AND managing to fall correctly when I did eventually fall) totally made up for my earlier frustrations. 

Another cool thing about last night?  I can finally feel a change in my fitness levels.  The hour we practice always passes very fast but before I was completely wiped out at the end.  Now, I feel like I could go for longer and I feel more energetic than before.  So not only am I learning awesome new skills but it's paying off in other ways too.  Yay roller derby!!