Working hard...

Last night we worked hard and I am hurting like Hell today.  That could, of course, be partly due to my ugliest fall yet.  Grace is not my middle name.

We did a lot of work doing crossovers around a small circle of cones (which I really need to work on) and my skates felt wonky, for lack of a better term.  My right skate felt really shaky and loose.  I should have known that it was my trucks...those things constantly vibrate themselves half off.  Yet another example of cheap equipment biting me in the ass.  So anyway, the trucks along with the fact that I think my cheap, non-adjustable toe stops being in the way were making it difficult to get a smooth crossover.

And finally the inevitable happened, I fell.  I was trying to sprint back up to speed before the curve so I could do a faster crossover and I felt my toe stop snag the ground (still not sure how I managed that) and before I knew it I was hitting the ground.  Forget falling small, I wiped out in a glorious and painful way...full on belly flop onto concrete while sprinting.  Ouch. 

I totally knocked the wind out of myself and...I admit...worked really hard to hold back tears.  That sucked.  I was very grateful that Mouth (most likely sensing my need for a moment) sent us off for a quick water break.  He wouldn't let us dawdle though and came after us for taking too long.  I even appreciated that as it's far too easy to want to throw in the towel for the day after a fall like that and I knew I needed to get back up on the proverbial horse. 

I did finally show Mouth my trucks and he agreed they were way too loose so I took five to tighten them back up and after that it was a little easier to skate.  My toe guards are still an issue.  We don't really use them much (as freshies at least) so I may remove them before Thursday's practice.  I want to see what my crossovers look like without them dragging the ground.  Dear God...I cannot wait until next month when I can get some quality skates!!!

The rest of the practice we did more crossovers, some hard sprints, some endurance laps around the outside of the track, and some hitting drills.  I have to better my endurance.  If it weren't for the fact that I jacked my left quad up a bit again last night I would go do laps this afternoon, but I want to be my best Thursday so I will rest today rather than push it.  I will do some lunges and squats though and possibly hit up the gym tonight for some full body strength training.

One pleasant side note is that after swapping out my bearings I feel a big difference.  I didn't once have a moment while lapping that I felt like my skates were slowing down on me.  Quite the opposite actually, my skates have so much more roll now that when I am standing still they roll out on me.  Looks like I have to relearn how to stand still, oh my.   (;

Oh...and I don't believe Karen will be back.