Skating this week

I have skated a *lot* this week! On top of derby practice on Monday and Wednesday nights, I also went to Sick Town's Friday practice (which was an informal, rink-style skate -- normally, Friday practice is for intermediate and above, and I'm not at that level yet). And then Charlie and I went to the rink today for the Sunday open skate.

At both open skates, I spent almost the entire time (two hours on Friday, three on Sunday) skating, minus short breaks to stretch or use the bathroom, or at Lebanon, breaks for the guys' skate and the kids' speed skate. I *totally* skated in the adult speed skate, though.

This week's accomplishments:

- Hitting practice with Cruel Anne (I think that was Monday?)
- Pack practice with St. Nick. This was new to me. She numbered us off, 1-4 (there were 8 of us). We skated in a pack, and she would call out numbers and falls. For example, "Twos! Single knee!" Both twos had to immediately fall; the other girls had to skate around them, still in a pack, and not fall themselves. The falling girls had to get up quickly and catch up to the pack.

Skating in a pack means that at any given time, you're close enough to touch three different girls. So you can see why being able to get around someone who falls is an important thing.

- Getting closer to having a crossover. Brick worked with me on it on Friday and corrected a bad habit (I was leaning way back to try to get my outside leg over, putting myself badly off balance). Now what I'm doing is sort of a half-crossover, where I get my outside leg in front of my inside leg, but not all the way over it. It's still faster than coasting around the turns. It's not where I need to be, but it's a step in the right direction (sort of literally).

- I also invested in a set of indoor wheels, which are harder and therefore faster than the outdoor/hybrid wheels I was skating on. I really noticed the difference at the Lebanon rink, which has a very grippy wooden floor. I was nervous before my first night skating on the new wheels at the CDC, but I got used to the difference pretty quickly.

On Monday, two of my friends from the beginner group, Claudia and Emily, moved up to intermediate. I was happy for them, and it also lit a fire under my ass. I'm going to try to push myself harder so I can move up soon too. Skating four times this week can't hurt! And starting next week, I'm going to go to three Sick Town practices per week instead of just two (they have a beginner/intermediate practice on Saturday afternoons, and so far it's been poorly attended. There wasn't one this week because of the bout in Southern Oregon, but next week, there will be, and I will be there.)

Oh, and about the Southern Oregon bout? It went great. The Southern Oregon girls were good hosts, and everyone had a great time. I wish I had gone. Next time there's an overnight bout, I probably will go.