Now to jump back to the start of practice last night. Mouth wanted me to do laps in the pack to warm up...I totally get his reasoning and hope that by end of next week I will be able to do so without feeling like I am going to be run over or trip one of the other girls. But last night was ugly. To date I can't just pop onto the oval and get cranking...it takes a few laps of ugly skating to get the groove of my wheels. Like I said in my last post, part of it has to do with my wheels having no grip. I did a couple nasty laps and I am quite certain the other girls just wanted me the hell out of their way (I know I would) so I got out of the way and told Mouth that I was having problems because I needed better wheels. (I have been saving up for them...good wheels cost more than my cheap skates!) So Mouth pulled me to the side and has so kindly lent me out a set of Radar Flat Outs until I can get my own...he also showed me how to change out the wheels and bearings so I got busy doing that while the other girls finished their laps.
With the new (to me) wheels on and my trucks tightened (I swear the damn things vibrate themselves loose every time I skate) I did some laps outside of the oval. *insert sound of choir of angels singing here* After the initial 'whoa, these feel weird' lap there was a remarkable difference in how well my wheels rolled and how they felt on the turns. Now the only issue I have to overcome when doing my laps, besides overall endurance of course, is the fact that there comes a certain point where I feel like my body has a ton of inertia behind it but my wheels can't keep up and kinda catch. After doing some research about the ABEC rating and seeing what my bearings looked like (crud covered) my next step is to upgrade my bearings. You see, my cheap ass skates came with cheap ass bearings. Bearings are rated 1 (crap) to 9 (awesome) on the ABEC scale and my skates have ABED 1 rated bearings. The bearings affect how well, fast, and smoothly the wheels roll...changing my bearings out may very well be just what I need to loose that little catch in my glide.
So, since Mouth was awesome enough to lend me some better wheels I used part of what I was saving up towards wheels on a set of Bones Reds bearings. If what I see online is true (and these have very high ratings from other derby girls) these should be top notch bearings. As a matter of fact the company lists them as 'skate rated' over using the ABEC scale because, according to the manufacturer, they are specifically designed for skating use and are superior to ABEC 9 rating. We shall see...hopefully they get here before Tuesday.
I also ordered some gel insoles that are supposedly specifically designed for hockey skates (should work for quads too then, right?) because FUCK do my feet hurt like Hell when I skate! Another issue of cheap ass skates? No padding to speak of between your feet and the trucks.
Beyond that practice pretty much was just me off to the side working on weaving cones (no Karen again and Mel popped back and forth between me and the pack), working on stops, and skating a small oval to work on my crossovers. Aside from skinning my calf on my skate wheel I also had one ugly fall when I nipped a cone while weaving. I landed really awkwardly with my shoulder twisted and my right arm kinda pulled weird...it's a little off this morning but hasn't affected my mobility so I'm sure it will be 100% tomorrow.
PS...Mouth had me sprint at the end and said my speed has tripled since I started! =-)
This weekend I think I will just lay low and maybe hit the gym once for some strength training and then hit the rink again Monday.
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