Still not dead... mostly

So it has been literally a month since my last post. While I was off skates for over 2 weeks of that time, obviously skating and derby have been happening. This will be a LONG post, working my way towards the present. As I have no way of knowing who, if anyone, is reading this I'm choosing to not feel too bad.

6/22-7/10:
No practice, or I was out of town (Denver, then SLC). I think I managed to get in an open skate once or twice at most. No serious working out, but I did get paid in food in Denver, so I got to exercise my table muscles and put on 5-7lbs... Damn it. Killa'Volt is still off skates with a possible knee injury, summer in Portland means that people are busy and we cancel the 7/4 practice as well.

7/11:
First practice back. Just Kill Nye, Next of Ken, and myself. The Whip/CDW/Anarchy (all three personalities in the same space!?!) is attending a surprise Tool concert with Demon for his birthday, awesome party follows that evening. Really awesome. El Guapo pops in briefly but is injured and will be out till the end of July.

Scrappy go Lucky & ITSO EZ are guest coaching us. We work on plow stops, which to date remain something that happens to other people. Some agility work with cones follow, being the most oafish and least experienced skater present I am bringing up the rear on these drills. Lots of good one-on-one instruction, both Scrappy & EZ are patient teachers with lots of good observations and assistance.

7/12:
Monday practice. Since RCR is taking July off (except travel teams, they need to stay sharp) we (PMRD) are able to snag a couple extra 1-hour practices. Joy! And by Joy I mean Anarchy has us (the 5 on skates: Demon, Kill, Next, Bubba, and myself) doing 3 vs 1+1 baby whale/momma whale drills. All sorts of fun and didn't get old over the 45 or so minutes we were doing them, constantly rotating positions after each drill. For only a 1-hour practice, I am tired and nearly puke. Apparently I can get out of shape MUCH faster than I can get in shape.

7/14:
Another 1-hour practice. Several of us decided to warm up by going to the open skate preceding practice (9pm practice, 7pm open skate across the parking lot...) so we could hit the track running... or whatever. Next, Kill, Bubba, Free Will & myself all hit up Oaks, but Free Will couldn't stay for practice afterwards. Unlike Monday's practice, which in retrospect seemed easier, Anarchy said she had missed us and proceeded to put us through the paces something fierce! Agility drills, endurance drills, floggings, and then more drills. Probably one of the longest hours in my life, but a much needed workout none the less.

Anarchy informed Captain Obvious and I that we had sprawls in our future if either of us splayed out like spiders when we fell, which until that point was my signature move. Also, I received a strongly worded letter from my legs the next morning threatening outright mutiny if I did that to them again... which I didn't intend to repeat until Sunday or so I thought.

7/16:
Open skate at Oaks. Nothing spectacular except...
MY HUGE GODDAMN FALL DURING PACE SKATE! Fuck.
If I had to pick a least favorite moment to fall it would be during pace skate. This particular moment combines the two least likable ingredients for a fall: speed and everyone watching. I wish I could claim someone cut me off or some sort of a mechanical skate failure but I can't. My left foot simply decided that it hated my right foot and it was time to take that other bastard out. Fortunately, the sound of 50+ Boys & Girls Club kids watching from the outside of the track made it all worth while... that and the ugly bruise it left on my lower right gut. Fortunately, I had my wrists & knee pads. Unfortunately, I also managed to lose a couple postage-stamp sized chunks of forearm and elbow because I wasn't wearing my elbow pads...

After my demonstration in how to properly clean the recently resealed/resurfaced/extra grippy floor, it was a regular open skate again. I tottered a bit, shaken by the fall, but got back into the routine of left turns at an extra medium pace.

7/18:
Practice, with people... Had a moderate turnout for practice, people were still busy with family/vacation/etc. Speed Dealer from Lane County Concussion surprised us, but we were happy to have him there. Unfortunately, he broke the kingpin on one of his skates (apparently this was the 4th or so time this had happened to him) and was out for part of the practice until he was able to have it replaced at the Oaks Park skate shop. Killa'Volt was back on wheels, wisely taking it easy after the MRI/x-ray/Dr indicated that he had a strained ACL. He avoided the drills, but was eager to get back in the mix once he is at 100%.

Anarchy flailed us through various pace-line skating drills and an assortment of other masochistic exercises involving us sweating and learning what despair tastes like. We discussed offensive versus defensive pack work, particularly when the jammers approach and how to react depending on a number of factors. During this drill I realized that derby seems to be about paying attention. Not just paying attention to the jammers, but to their position & status, to the refs, to your coaches, to your teammates, to the opposing blockers, to the penalty benches, and any number of other factors which come and go during a jam. So to that end I am buying some glue-on decorative eyes for the back and sides of my helmet cause I seem to be lacking in my field of vision.

Speed Dealer returned from the skate shop ready to go and we did some scrimmage jams. I was teamed with Speed Dealer and Kill Nye while Bubba Fett, Carpe Demon, and Next of Ken (NoK) made up the opposing side while Free Will changed between teams a couple times. Having previously seen Speed Dealer in action, I kinda knew what to expect and had told my teammates that he was likely the best skater for LCC, but seeing it live was an eye opener. His speed and maneuverability make him a seriously impressive positional blocker, and while I would have liked to have gotten the chance to go head to head, it was nice having him on my team. Demon played solid the whole time, regularly moving me out of his way, though I did manage to push him out a couple times trying to draw a cut penalty. Bubba and I took turns pounding the shit out of each other, he seems to subscribe to the school of cement for breakfast and bricks for dinner cause every time he hit me it felt like I was running into a friggin' wall. Despite his increasingly solid presence, I still managed to mix it up a bit during the jams. NoK and Kill Nye were well rounded both jamming and blocking, and continue to be excellent jacks-of-all-trades during practice. For my own part I managed to play as a decent (by my lowly standards) blocker, but simply lack the speed to excel as a jammer. Still, I managed not to puke at practice despite my stomach's threats, but seriously considered it a possibility during a couple points, so the day was a success.

Once attendance jumps back up to normal, we should be able to do 5 vs 5 scrimmages in preparation for setting up a scrimmage with Lane County. Speed Dealer said they were eager to play with us, and I would definitely like to get in some sort of full fledged scrimmage sooner than later.

7/19:
Skating at Oaks Park. Again another open skate which was attended by several members of PMRD, nothing too exciting except...
I fell again. Seriously, WTF!?!

7/20:
Next of Ken, Captain Obvious , and I skated a trail in SW Portland, hoping to find something suitable for a skating event coming up in August. Unfortunately, the trail is going to be partially closed for a sewer line beneath it to be repaired so no luck. Plus the long ass skate uphill returning to the parking lot was a bastard.

Goal for next week: Stop falling at Open Skate and when I inevitably do, fall 'small'

Loving the new boots

So finally got to put in some wheel time on the new boots. After the left of my XL-55's decided it wanted nothing to do with it's sole, Beki had them warrantied, but Sure-Grip apparently no longer made my size so free upgrade to XL-75's! In addition to a more cushy collar area they included a beefy tongue and a velcro strap to hold the ankle in place, something I put to use at open skate today.

Since Weds is my usual open skate day I was excited to try the new setup out, so excited that I left the apartment without my precious crash pads. Turns out I am rather used to wearing them when I skate and I felt vulnerable without them. I had the trucks considerably looser than my previous setup, hoping to improve my cuts from side to side. After a couple laps I decided that there was such a thing as too loose and gave them each a bit of a turn to snug them up some more. The first 30 minutes I just tooled around, taking a few gentle crossovers and cuts, just getting a feel for the new boots and wondering when my feet would stop complaining about how long it had been since I was on wheels... Fast forward another 30 minutes and things were good to go. The looser trucks definitely let me make seemingly effortless cuts, but at the cost of requiring a bit more concentration in the crossovers. Once the feet were feeling good about the new boots, which I think are more comfortable than the old pair (no more angry rubbed-red line around my ankle from the cuff), I started going after some of the drills and testing the waters.

All those mind-numbing horse-stances while listening to youtube music videos are paying off. I was able to get, and stay, lower than usual, something which definitely helps with side-side maneuverability. I felt more stable in an aggressively low stance with my back more upright and thighs near parallel to the floor. Later in the day I tried my luck with toe-stop sprinting starts. I can get about 3-5 strong steps before I need to start skating, but at that point I am moving at a pretty good clip, so I am happy with how those went. Also, I was happy to see that the new boots with the strap seem to hold my ankle down more effectively, no more feeling of my heel lifting out of the rear of the boot. Ghetto-tomahawks and backwards skating also felt better, eventually I hope to be able to do toe-stop sprints to immediate tomahawk stops. Very happy with the progress considering the time spent off skates (almost 2 weeks, boo-hoo... I know) and looking forward to a weekend of watching bouts and going to practice. To put a cherry on top I am going to go to the 1-5pm Friday open skate as well. Oh happy day!