So I started PT today finally. I got my assessment and a list of home exercises to do. The assessment went very well, as a matter of fact.
My physical therapist seemed to think that I was already in pretty good shape and that my knee should strengthen up in no time enough to compensate for the lack of tendon. Apparently I still have some mild swelling in the back of the joint (but I think the straps on the brace are at least partly to blame for that) but no more than that and I only have a 10 degree difference in range of motion between the two legs (very good) and no excessive motion in the joint. I'm only going to see her once a week and I got clearance to hit the gym as often as I feel like it between sessions. I just have to steer clear of weight bearing cardio and stick to the bike or walking the treadmill. I can do light strength training as long as it causes me no pain or discomfort. Yay!
Guess where I will be tomorrow morning?
However, she did ask me to stay off the skates for at least 1-2 more weeks. She wants to get me running on a treadmill first to see how my knee responds to impact as well as get me in the pool for some hydro therapy exercise before I skate. She doesn't think I am at risk for further injury in day to day tasks and walking but does worry about another fall. I promised her I would stay off for another week for sure and that I would not be getting back on skates until I get a nice new set of pads and gaskets...I will be the queen of knee protection from here on out.
The one funny from today was when she measured my leg circumference. It turns out my left leg is bigger around than my right. Tee hee. I guess I am really turning into a derby girl of sorts after all.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Meh...
I haven't updated in a while...there hasn't been anything to update. This whole knee thing sucks ass. I've been in a holding pattern lately that I am dying to be able to break free of.
I've been a good girl and attended all my practices even though it bums me out to just sit on the sideline watching everyone else improve and have fun. It's so hard to feel connected while sitting there as I am still so new that I don't have a social connection with any of the girls outside of derby...and we barely know each other in that respect as of yet. But yet I refuse to stay home and be forgotten.
I have tried to be positive about getting back on skates as soon as I can and have stocked up on bandannas and made up some practice shirts. I now have both a black and a white racerback tank with my derby name and number applied to the back in team colors by little old me using iron-on transfers and fabric paint. The black one is exceptionally cute as I blinged it up some with a crystal skull and crossbones. *sigh* Hopefully soon I will get to wear them...
I've been a good girl and attended all my practices even though it bums me out to just sit on the sideline watching everyone else improve and have fun. It's so hard to feel connected while sitting there as I am still so new that I don't have a social connection with any of the girls outside of derby...and we barely know each other in that respect as of yet. But yet I refuse to stay home and be forgotten.
I have tried to be positive about getting back on skates as soon as I can and have stocked up on bandannas and made up some practice shirts. I now have both a black and a white racerback tank with my derby name and number applied to the back in team colors by little old me using iron-on transfers and fabric paint. The black one is exceptionally cute as I blinged it up some with a crystal skull and crossbones. *sigh* Hopefully soon I will get to wear them...
Friday, June 17, 2011
And the verdict is...
I have a ruptured PCL. Boo.
Now I am all braced up like Forrest Gump and won't be skating for at least another week. The good news is that I don't need surgery and it's a sports brace so I can skate in it once I get full range of motion back. I guess I will go through one week of rehab first before I get back up on my wheels just to be safe (but I don't wanna wait!)...and I should recover fully with no lasting problems.
Now I am all braced up like Forrest Gump and won't be skating for at least another week. The good news is that I don't need surgery and it's a sports brace so I can skate in it once I get full range of motion back. I guess I will go through one week of rehab first before I get back up on my wheels just to be safe (but I don't wanna wait!)...and I should recover fully with no lasting problems.
Monday, June 13, 2011
My leg, part deux...
So, After a night or R.I.C.E. I got up Friday and knew right away bad things were going on with the knee I had knocked against the concrete at practice. I could not bend it at all. Not an inch. Not without pain.
So I called my doctor and set an appointment up for later that afternoon to get it checked out and went about the rest of the morning laying in bed irritated as can be that I was laid up. Then I got up to pee. I managed to hobble my way to the bathroom and proceeded to sit on my dear old porcelain throne.
Dear. God. PAIN.
I kid you not, I let out the mother of all horror queen screams when my knee bent to sit. I nearly blacked out.
My poor darling husband (who I think seriously sprouted about 100 new gray hairs instantly) came running into the room to see me bawling my eyes out and screaming at him to help me straighten my leg back out. At the door were two little voices asking if Mommy was okay. Bad scene, my friends, bad scene.
So, the decision was quickly made that we were just going to mosey on down to the ER instead of waiting to see my doctor.
Getting me down the stairs and into the car was an adventure in itself. I couldn't put a stitch of weight into that leg. But we managed, somehow.
So fast forward to the ER...I got x-rays done and the initial results were that there were no broken or dislocated bones. So they wrapped me hip to toe in a leg immobilizer device, decked me out with a pair of crutches, and sent me on my way with a prescription for Vicodin/Lortabs and a referral to an orthopedic specialist.
So now we fast forward once again to today...I saw the ortho and the initial diagnosis is that it is the ridiculous amount of swelling in my knee causing me to be unable to bend it. So I was told to remove the brace (but to sleep in it for comfort), keep using the crutches, take large doses of Ibuprofen to reduce swelling, and continue R.I.C.E.ing it. I will be returning tomorrow for an MRI.
Tomorrow we hope to determine which of two possible prognoses it is. The one I am pulling for is a deep bone bruise. For a bone bruise I simply lay low until I can comfortably skate again. The other prognosis is that I may have torn the meniscus in that knee (the cartilage). If that is the case then I will likely have to undergo surgery and be laid up and off skates for 4-6 months. Noo!!! That would be a really crushing blow.
I am fervently praying and hoping they tell me it's a bone bruise (or maybe not even that..?) and I can get back to skating in a week or two. Until then I will still go to practices and help at Saturday's bout any way I can. I may be down but I am not out, dammit!
So I called my doctor and set an appointment up for later that afternoon to get it checked out and went about the rest of the morning laying in bed irritated as can be that I was laid up. Then I got up to pee. I managed to hobble my way to the bathroom and proceeded to sit on my dear old porcelain throne.
Dear. God. PAIN.
I kid you not, I let out the mother of all horror queen screams when my knee bent to sit. I nearly blacked out.
My poor darling husband (who I think seriously sprouted about 100 new gray hairs instantly) came running into the room to see me bawling my eyes out and screaming at him to help me straighten my leg back out. At the door were two little voices asking if Mommy was okay. Bad scene, my friends, bad scene.
So, the decision was quickly made that we were just going to mosey on down to the ER instead of waiting to see my doctor.
Getting me down the stairs and into the car was an adventure in itself. I couldn't put a stitch of weight into that leg. But we managed, somehow.
So fast forward to the ER...I got x-rays done and the initial results were that there were no broken or dislocated bones. So they wrapped me hip to toe in a leg immobilizer device, decked me out with a pair of crutches, and sent me on my way with a prescription for Vicodin/Lortabs and a referral to an orthopedic specialist.
So now we fast forward once again to today...I saw the ortho and the initial diagnosis is that it is the ridiculous amount of swelling in my knee causing me to be unable to bend it. So I was told to remove the brace (but to sleep in it for comfort), keep using the crutches, take large doses of Ibuprofen to reduce swelling, and continue R.I.C.E.ing it. I will be returning tomorrow for an MRI.
Tomorrow we hope to determine which of two possible prognoses it is. The one I am pulling for is a deep bone bruise. For a bone bruise I simply lay low until I can comfortably skate again. The other prognosis is that I may have torn the meniscus in that knee (the cartilage). If that is the case then I will likely have to undergo surgery and be laid up and off skates for 4-6 months. Noo!!! That would be a really crushing blow.
I am fervently praying and hoping they tell me it's a bone bruise (or maybe not even that..?) and I can get back to skating in a week or two. Until then I will still go to practices and help at Saturday's bout any way I can. I may be down but I am not out, dammit!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Return of the dreaded broccoli...
Famous last words: "Sure, I'll be the sacrificial lamb and go first". But we'll come back to that...
So, tonight we practiced at the Toyota Center (where the team bouts) so that was pretty awesome. It's the home to our local minor league ice hockey team and they had removed the ice for the time being so we were skating on concrete. No biggie there. Actually it was intriguing to me to feel the difference in grip between it and the concrete we normally skate on outdoors...much better feel at the TC, maybe because it was so dirty.
So the first thing they were doing was to do some small jumps while skating laps. There were both pool noodles and some square cushions at various intervals around the taped off track.
Come again..? You what me to what..?!
I did a very good job at avoiding both, lol. So not feeling the whole jumping while in motion thing. But since it is a minimum skill requirement, and a handy thing to know when girls are falling left in right in front of you during a bout, I tied a couple noodle jumps. Yeah. I suck. While I did manage not to fall doing them I by no means did them well or right. I basically did a little skip hop over them and even then was not at all stable in my landings. Que sera sera. I'll conquer them...eventually.
Next up was doing some crossover technique work. The bane of my existence.
As a pack we all skated in a line doing crossovers. As usual I was pulling up the rear and struggling on my technique. Several of the girls as well as the coaching and ref staff were giving me tips and pointers and trying to help me along. Still no go so Frank pulled me off to the side to help and get me going better. After he went off to coach the pack as a whole one of the refs (I wanna say his name is Jacob but I can't remember for sure) also worked with me. Still not getting it. I kept telling them...the information is there but I can't for the life of me translate it into my body doing as it should. Finally Mouth comes over to work more on crossovers with me and a couple other freshies. And in doing so he has us go about it a little differently by gliding on our left then sort of hopping onto our right in a crossover motion.
Hallelujah, we figured it out! Or, more precisely, Mouth did.
I finally managed to find the words to describe the sensation I was feeling when trying to crossover. It's like as my right leg comes over and I a edging on my left and getting ready to lift it I feel a catch, like maybe I have some bad bearing in one of the wheels kind of grinding me to a halt. This causes me to do the little 'donkey kick' Mouth has been trying to get me to correct. This happens every time I try to crossover as well as periodically while I am simply skating along. Me left foot seems to catch on some invisible thing and halt my momentum dead in it's tracks.
It's not me. It's my skates.
It's my crappy, cheapo skates. Nothing more, nothing less.
I knew it!
Apparently the trucks on my skates have zilcho clearance. My wheels, as I am edging (or leaning hard to one side, in layman's terms) are literally grinding into the sole of my skate boot. So much so, that when I do a cross over it causes my left front wheel to stop turning at a certain point because my foot is actually pressing down onto it as if I were standing on it (which I basically am). Good catch by Mouth!
So I tightened my left front truck as much as I could, while still retaining circulation in those toes, and tried again. (side note for my non-skaters: the truck holds your wheels on...a loose truck allows your foot to lean over the wheels more giving you more maneuverability. To drastically tighten them makes it so your foot can't really lean in the skate and decreases your manueverability.). Nicey nice. Suddenly I could do crossovers!
Now my left foot felt more stable and without my wheels being stepped on I was doing it and doing it pretty well! What a relief. Man, I am going to be able to keep up so much better now. Not fully, since my endurance still sucks...but better. I'll take it. =-)
We did some down and ups for strength training and some hitting drills. WeEvil and I were having fun trying to knock each other around a bit tonight...I even sent her sprawling once(!). I also picked up some more tasty nuggets on how to step into a hit and keep low enough. I did some decent positional jockeying against WeEvil as well, I think. I like working with her at practices because even though she doesn't bout for ACRG just yet she has done bouting in the past so she's a wealth of information and very encouraging when drilling.
And finally we return to my famous last words. At the end of practice Mouth grabbed a big blocker pad to knock us over with. The idea was for him to come up from behind and hit us with it hard enough to knock us over so we can get used to taking a hit and falling small and safe. So I decided to be the first in line...and it would have gone swimmingly had I noticed the shift in my knee pads. But, alas, I did not remember to properly adjust them before starting (they've stretched some and no longer fit over my kneecaps as snuggly as they should so they slide about some). And so when I landed, on my knees as I should, my right knee hit more concrete than it did pad.
Ouch.
Seriously...ouch.
But, I got back up. Then I decided I was done for the day. Leg straight = good. Leg bent = much discomfort. I couldn't even move my leg enough to get my skate off at first. But I managed and got out of my gear and up on my feet. I even made it home...although I did all the braking with my left leg, lol.
I came straight home and got started with the Rest Ice Cold Elevation technique and we'll see how it feels in the morning. As of now, it doesn't hurt when I am still or standing on it. It only hurts (and feels weird) when I bend it. But no visible marks, swelling, or bruising. So...here's hoping!
And yes, Mouth, it did give me something to write about (you smartass).
So, tonight we practiced at the Toyota Center (where the team bouts) so that was pretty awesome. It's the home to our local minor league ice hockey team and they had removed the ice for the time being so we were skating on concrete. No biggie there. Actually it was intriguing to me to feel the difference in grip between it and the concrete we normally skate on outdoors...much better feel at the TC, maybe because it was so dirty.
So the first thing they were doing was to do some small jumps while skating laps. There were both pool noodles and some square cushions at various intervals around the taped off track.
Come again..? You what me to what..?!
I did a very good job at avoiding both, lol. So not feeling the whole jumping while in motion thing. But since it is a minimum skill requirement, and a handy thing to know when girls are falling left in right in front of you during a bout, I tied a couple noodle jumps. Yeah. I suck. While I did manage not to fall doing them I by no means did them well or right. I basically did a little skip hop over them and even then was not at all stable in my landings. Que sera sera. I'll conquer them...eventually.
Next up was doing some crossover technique work. The bane of my existence.
As a pack we all skated in a line doing crossovers. As usual I was pulling up the rear and struggling on my technique. Several of the girls as well as the coaching and ref staff were giving me tips and pointers and trying to help me along. Still no go so Frank pulled me off to the side to help and get me going better. After he went off to coach the pack as a whole one of the refs (I wanna say his name is Jacob but I can't remember for sure) also worked with me. Still not getting it. I kept telling them...the information is there but I can't for the life of me translate it into my body doing as it should. Finally Mouth comes over to work more on crossovers with me and a couple other freshies. And in doing so he has us go about it a little differently by gliding on our left then sort of hopping onto our right in a crossover motion.
Hallelujah, we figured it out! Or, more precisely, Mouth did.
I finally managed to find the words to describe the sensation I was feeling when trying to crossover. It's like as my right leg comes over and I a edging on my left and getting ready to lift it I feel a catch, like maybe I have some bad bearing in one of the wheels kind of grinding me to a halt. This causes me to do the little 'donkey kick' Mouth has been trying to get me to correct. This happens every time I try to crossover as well as periodically while I am simply skating along. Me left foot seems to catch on some invisible thing and halt my momentum dead in it's tracks.
It's not me. It's my skates.
It's my crappy, cheapo skates. Nothing more, nothing less.
I knew it!
Apparently the trucks on my skates have zilcho clearance. My wheels, as I am edging (or leaning hard to one side, in layman's terms) are literally grinding into the sole of my skate boot. So much so, that when I do a cross over it causes my left front wheel to stop turning at a certain point because my foot is actually pressing down onto it as if I were standing on it (which I basically am). Good catch by Mouth!
So I tightened my left front truck as much as I could, while still retaining circulation in those toes, and tried again. (side note for my non-skaters: the truck holds your wheels on...a loose truck allows your foot to lean over the wheels more giving you more maneuverability. To drastically tighten them makes it so your foot can't really lean in the skate and decreases your manueverability.). Nicey nice. Suddenly I could do crossovers!
Now my left foot felt more stable and without my wheels being stepped on I was doing it and doing it pretty well! What a relief. Man, I am going to be able to keep up so much better now. Not fully, since my endurance still sucks...but better. I'll take it. =-)
We did some down and ups for strength training and some hitting drills. WeEvil and I were having fun trying to knock each other around a bit tonight...I even sent her sprawling once(!). I also picked up some more tasty nuggets on how to step into a hit and keep low enough. I did some decent positional jockeying against WeEvil as well, I think. I like working with her at practices because even though she doesn't bout for ACRG just yet she has done bouting in the past so she's a wealth of information and very encouraging when drilling.
And finally we return to my famous last words. At the end of practice Mouth grabbed a big blocker pad to knock us over with. The idea was for him to come up from behind and hit us with it hard enough to knock us over so we can get used to taking a hit and falling small and safe. So I decided to be the first in line...and it would have gone swimmingly had I noticed the shift in my knee pads. But, alas, I did not remember to properly adjust them before starting (they've stretched some and no longer fit over my kneecaps as snuggly as they should so they slide about some). And so when I landed, on my knees as I should, my right knee hit more concrete than it did pad.
Ouch.
Seriously...ouch.
But, I got back up. Then I decided I was done for the day. Leg straight = good. Leg bent = much discomfort. I couldn't even move my leg enough to get my skate off at first. But I managed and got out of my gear and up on my feet. I even made it home...although I did all the braking with my left leg, lol.
I came straight home and got started with the Rest Ice Cold Elevation technique and we'll see how it feels in the morning. As of now, it doesn't hurt when I am still or standing on it. It only hurts (and feels weird) when I bend it. But no visible marks, swelling, or bruising. So...here's hoping!
And yes, Mouth, it did give me something to write about (you smartass).
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Scrimmages...
Last night's practice was a lot of hard pushing endurance and scrimmaging bouts (in preparation for our upcoming bout next weekend)...man did it wipe my ass out!
Normally we start up with 25 laps then a stretch out but last night the team leaders pushed us all on some hard moving pace line drills for a good long while. I can't tell you how long precisely but I can tell you it was a Hell of a lot more than 25 laps. Since I am still too slow to keep up with pace line I skated the outside with some of the other freshies. At one point we were going to head off to the side to lay out cones to practice our weaving and cutting but then Mouth informed us that if the rest of the pack were pushing it then we had to as well and sent us back to the outside for more laps. And, he was right...in retrospect I am glad he didn't let us off that easy. It was very tiring, especially so since it was a very windy day. Struggling against 20 mph winds sucks. By the end my legs were shaky, my back hurt like hell (skating an oval half bent and half twisted in one direction wreaks havoc on your lower back), and I was panting like a dog, lol.
The bulk of the practice was spent scrimmaging against each other. Mostly we did freshies (I am the 'rawest' of the freshies but they use the term to describe anyone who has yet to bout) versus veterans. Frank (the coach) prepped us by saying that if he felt anyone of us was a danger to ourselves or the rest of the pack, or were simply not able to keep up as we should, he would tap us out and put us to outside laps rather than scrimmaging. So I was pretty well sure that I would scrimmage once then get sent to laps again.
I was very surprised that he didn't tap me out after my first attempt at scrimmaging...I was about a half a lap behind the rest of the pack the entire time. Man, those girls fly! They were going especially fast (for a pack) because the vets were not playing with a jammer (and therefore had no reason to slow down). But, while I heard a few shouts from the sidelines to move my feet, I did not get sent for laps so I waited my turn for a second go round.
In all subsequent turns I kept up better. Still slow in comparison but able to push it hard enough to stay within 20 feet of the pack. I didn't get any real solid hits in but I did get a couple of decent bumps on a few girls. I did, at one point, have their jammer (when they started using one) positionally blocked even if for a brief shining second. If there had been another member of my team there with me to keep her trapped it would have been an awesome play. And on several occasions I even managed to squirt up to the front of the opposing team's wall to try to slow/control them...I'm not effective at holding people back yet but it's nice to know I can get forward enough to try.
I never got tapped out. Yay! And at the end Frank came up to tell me that I had done a really good job. Super yay!
It was a great practice as I learned a lot about the game and bouting. I also picked up some good nuggets to store away for future use from some of the vets about how to better myself. Good times!
-----
I also got to participate in my first team meeting on Monday. I was intimidated at first, being the n00b and all, but it was great to feel like an active participant. I may not be able to bout or even keep up in all the practice drills yet but I am determined to be an asset to the team in any way that I can off skates as well.
Normally we start up with 25 laps then a stretch out but last night the team leaders pushed us all on some hard moving pace line drills for a good long while. I can't tell you how long precisely but I can tell you it was a Hell of a lot more than 25 laps. Since I am still too slow to keep up with pace line I skated the outside with some of the other freshies. At one point we were going to head off to the side to lay out cones to practice our weaving and cutting but then Mouth informed us that if the rest of the pack were pushing it then we had to as well and sent us back to the outside for more laps. And, he was right...in retrospect I am glad he didn't let us off that easy. It was very tiring, especially so since it was a very windy day. Struggling against 20 mph winds sucks. By the end my legs were shaky, my back hurt like hell (skating an oval half bent and half twisted in one direction wreaks havoc on your lower back), and I was panting like a dog, lol.
The bulk of the practice was spent scrimmaging against each other. Mostly we did freshies (I am the 'rawest' of the freshies but they use the term to describe anyone who has yet to bout) versus veterans. Frank (the coach) prepped us by saying that if he felt anyone of us was a danger to ourselves or the rest of the pack, or were simply not able to keep up as we should, he would tap us out and put us to outside laps rather than scrimmaging. So I was pretty well sure that I would scrimmage once then get sent to laps again.
I was very surprised that he didn't tap me out after my first attempt at scrimmaging...I was about a half a lap behind the rest of the pack the entire time. Man, those girls fly! They were going especially fast (for a pack) because the vets were not playing with a jammer (and therefore had no reason to slow down). But, while I heard a few shouts from the sidelines to move my feet, I did not get sent for laps so I waited my turn for a second go round.
In all subsequent turns I kept up better. Still slow in comparison but able to push it hard enough to stay within 20 feet of the pack. I didn't get any real solid hits in but I did get a couple of decent bumps on a few girls. I did, at one point, have their jammer (when they started using one) positionally blocked even if for a brief shining second. If there had been another member of my team there with me to keep her trapped it would have been an awesome play. And on several occasions I even managed to squirt up to the front of the opposing team's wall to try to slow/control them...I'm not effective at holding people back yet but it's nice to know I can get forward enough to try.
I never got tapped out. Yay! And at the end Frank came up to tell me that I had done a really good job. Super yay!
It was a great practice as I learned a lot about the game and bouting. I also picked up some good nuggets to store away for future use from some of the vets about how to better myself. Good times!
-----
I also got to participate in my first team meeting on Monday. I was intimidated at first, being the n00b and all, but it was great to feel like an active participant. I may not be able to bout or even keep up in all the practice drills yet but I am determined to be an asset to the team in any way that I can off skates as well.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Cruz to the rescue...
Tuesday's practice was a good one. I was dreading it a bit since my wrist still hurts some and I know how much Bunny hates excuses...and since my wrist is not wrapped telling her I couldn't do any sort of hitting drills probably looked like nothing more than an excuse to her (do we bring doctor's notes to derby??). That and also because I had loosened my trucks some which made me nervous. Loose trucks feel super wobbly to me and even though I know I need to get more comfortable with them for a variety of reasons I was still leery of skating in a pack with them like that.
I also still felt like a total douche after having to be pushed and pulled by the team leaders during pack drills in order to keep up. My pride still stings from that one.
Thankfully Bunny didn't seem too put off when I told her I couldn't do any hitting drills. Also Cruz and Keela were there as well and Keela isn't able to do much pack practice due to a knee injury...so it just made more sense for us to head off to the side of the court to do some drills on our own.
Bunny came over at one point and gave us a little pep talk and let us know that she did not expect us to be able to keep up, cut hard, hit hard, or manage all of the drills yet. That was nice to hear. It's nice to be part of a team lead by women that genuinely seem to want you to succeed. I read other blogs by freshies who are part of bigger organizations where it's "hit such and such milestone by such and such date or hit the road until next year's freshie training camp" so I feel grateful that the ACRG leadership is so willing to keep you around until you get it...or, if you simply can't, find some way in which you can still be a part of the fun.
So Cruz took the helm and lead the three of us in some basics. It was good to do some more basic muscle building drills like sticky crossovers, knee drops, and weaving. Turns out I have been leading with the wrong foot while weaving so I did even learn something new. Thanks to Cruz's drilling I even learned where I was screwing up while doing my plow stops so I feel much more confidant in that and can stop a lot quicker.
She was even making plans with me to meet a little early for tonight's practice so she could count off and time my 25 laps so I can get an idea of where I am with that minimum requirement. The problem is that it has been raining all day so I can't imagine how icky the court is. The rain has stopped but I am sure the court has to be puddled up...and it's cold and windy. It feels closer to March than June out there today...bleck!
Also, Karen (who is officially out due to a tailbone injury) is selling me her Poison's today for $10 less than anything online. Woot woot!! I have been itching to get my hands on some quality wheels, yay!
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Also...I think I have decided on upgrading to the Sure Grip Rebel Invaders. They're leather, so they will hold up better, but also padded so they should be a lot more comfortable than what I am rolling on now. They also have the DA45 plates that Mouth is so in love with. I'm looking forward to having a more solid metal plate rather than a cheapo nylon one (not that nylon is bad...but the ones on my skates are super-de-duper cheap) but am a little nervous about the fact that they are forward mounted. I tend to lean back some while doing crossovers so I fear my ass will be meeting the concrete while I grow accustomed to having my wheels more centered beneath my feet...but I also know that I won't be able to help but correct my form then. And they're going to be so much more responsive than the ones I have now...I will probably try to go a little to the left and end up across the court a few times before I learn their nuances, heh.
So now the choice is green boots or black. Decisions, decisions...
I also still felt like a total douche after having to be pushed and pulled by the team leaders during pack drills in order to keep up. My pride still stings from that one.
Thankfully Bunny didn't seem too put off when I told her I couldn't do any hitting drills. Also Cruz and Keela were there as well and Keela isn't able to do much pack practice due to a knee injury...so it just made more sense for us to head off to the side of the court to do some drills on our own.
Bunny came over at one point and gave us a little pep talk and let us know that she did not expect us to be able to keep up, cut hard, hit hard, or manage all of the drills yet. That was nice to hear. It's nice to be part of a team lead by women that genuinely seem to want you to succeed. I read other blogs by freshies who are part of bigger organizations where it's "hit such and such milestone by such and such date or hit the road until next year's freshie training camp" so I feel grateful that the ACRG leadership is so willing to keep you around until you get it...or, if you simply can't, find some way in which you can still be a part of the fun.
So Cruz took the helm and lead the three of us in some basics. It was good to do some more basic muscle building drills like sticky crossovers, knee drops, and weaving. Turns out I have been leading with the wrong foot while weaving so I did even learn something new. Thanks to Cruz's drilling I even learned where I was screwing up while doing my plow stops so I feel much more confidant in that and can stop a lot quicker.
She was even making plans with me to meet a little early for tonight's practice so she could count off and time my 25 laps so I can get an idea of where I am with that minimum requirement. The problem is that it has been raining all day so I can't imagine how icky the court is. The rain has stopped but I am sure the court has to be puddled up...and it's cold and windy. It feels closer to March than June out there today...bleck!
Also, Karen (who is officially out due to a tailbone injury) is selling me her Poison's today for $10 less than anything online. Woot woot!! I have been itching to get my hands on some quality wheels, yay!
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Also...I think I have decided on upgrading to the Sure Grip Rebel Invaders. They're leather, so they will hold up better, but also padded so they should be a lot more comfortable than what I am rolling on now. They also have the DA45 plates that Mouth is so in love with. I'm looking forward to having a more solid metal plate rather than a cheapo nylon one (not that nylon is bad...but the ones on my skates are super-de-duper cheap) but am a little nervous about the fact that they are forward mounted. I tend to lean back some while doing crossovers so I fear my ass will be meeting the concrete while I grow accustomed to having my wheels more centered beneath my feet...but I also know that I won't be able to help but correct my form then. And they're going to be so much more responsive than the ones I have now...I will probably try to go a little to the left and end up across the court a few times before I learn their nuances, heh.
So now the choice is green boots or black. Decisions, decisions...
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