Congratulations to me

Tonight was my 2 month anniversary since starting roller skating. 4 weeks ago I started up with the new Chesterfield team, so I'm now skating twice a week. It's all going incredibly well; I have my skater name on my team tshirt and I finally managed to get off at the right stop by myself this week.

In 8 shorts weeks I have managed to learn lots of important skills which is vital if I want to play roller derby. So, lets take a look at what I can do . . . 

Staying upright :-)

Cornering (always a bonus) :-)

Stance & Stride :-)

Bending the knees :-)

Crossovers :-)

One Knee Slides :-)

One Knee 180 Slides :-)

2 Knee Slides :-)

4 Point Slides :-)

NOT using my hands to get back up after falling :-)

Bending the knees :-)

Sticky Skates :-)

T-Stops :-)

Did I mention bending the knees? It is quite important! :-)

Skating in a pace line :-)

Weaving :-)

Weaving in a paceline :-D

Recognising my gumguard was shit and replacing it with a better fitting one :-)

1 footed balancing on the straightaways (only the right foot- the left foot needs more work and the left trucks needs realigning) :-)

1 footed balancing (right again) round the turns :-)

Cannonballs (aka, shoot-the-duck) :-D 

Synchro Cannonballs with Bridget Von Jammersmack (we'll be the first RD synchro pairing, you watch this space!) :-D

Knowing that pasta is the dish of the day on skate days! :-)

Accepting that it doesnt do anyone any harm to walk rather than catch the bus, its the perfect warm-up :-)

I'm pretty sure there will be more thing's I've learnt that I've forgotten about here, but you can get the general idea that I've picked up loads in the small amount of time I've been skating.

So I may be boring people to death with talking about skating 24/7, but I'm actually glad I have something that I can pour my heart and soul into, something I can focus on. Not only am I keeping fit again (I've not been in such good shape since I was at school), but I have made new friends and am getting out at least twice a week rather than sitting and loafing in my room. I'm starting to get a social life again and I'm happy, pretty much all the time.

Last week's skate session will be cherished forever. Laura was inspiring, and she pushed me and encouraged me to go outside my comfort zone. Having someone push you, and shout words of compliment at you at the same time is a great feeling, and it's an even better feeling when the effort pays off. At the beginning of the session I was asked about a certain trick (cannonballs) and how cool it was. I remember saying 'ooh,they look amazing, but i can't do that just yet, it looks well hard'. Well, after a little push from Miss Jammersmack, and a few bums scuffed on the floor, we both had it nailed. And the best feeling was finding out that not even some of the hardened players can do it. Some people thought it might be beginners luck, but after we tried it again tonight, I think it's safe to say that I've got this one in the bag. I can confidently say that skating makes me feel like this . . . . . . 

Next week I'll be trying out something new . . . not yet decided what, but I'm thinking along the lines of transitions and toe stops?