Days of Hands

There was no practice Sunday since many of the girls attended a derby boot camp in Arkansas.  Instead, Mo and I got a big group together for open skate.  Her ex and her three kids, my cousin, a ref (Justa Prick) and his son came out and we all had a blast. 

We mostly just messed around, but I can feel my endurance and stamina growing bit by bit.  I’m getting more comfortable with speed too, which is thrilling!  The best comment I overheard:  one little girl to another, as I skated by in my striped knee socks, “She’s a professional skater.  You can tell by her socks!”

Monday would have been scrimmage practice, but the coach wanted to share some of the things that had been covered at the boot camp.  I was expecting an hour or so of drills and then keeping score for the rest of the time.  Instead, we had a full-out high intensity practice, and Mo and I got to participate with the seasoned skaters.  That was thrilling and humbling at the same time.  We worked on whips, pulls, pushes, edging and crossovers, and then got a little new-girl session on different starts.

I fell pretty hard several times in the same way, and I’m a little stiff and sore today.  It’s not nearly as bad as I had feared it would be, and I take that as a sign that I’m being whipped into shape and should continue to push myself.  There’s another boot camp this weekend, this time with the famous Texecutioners, and I look forward to seeing what our team mates bring back from this one!