Crossovers and other maladies

Suzy crossing over like a boss

Back to skate class tonight, the tattooed goddess returned from her jamskate trip which is fortunate as I was in desperate need of a class again. It was so good to be back on skates I almost forgot for a while I had been a couch-guzzling sloth for 2 weeks.

It was back to basics for most of us given almost everyone in the class hadn't skated either, so focussing on kindy skating - scissoring backwards, T-starts and stops, split leg turns around markers, and trying to master the form and stance again.

Given there were a mass of gunna-be derby skaters who have tryouts next week (Sunstate), at the end some tried to skate the 5 laps in under a minute. All were successful that had a crack and it was awesome to see what pace this 5 laps should maintain. I didn't try, and I'm thinking about it now and it was all because of one tiny hurdle I haven't conquered yet. Fucking crossovers.

The key to crossing over fearlessly I'm told is being comfortable on one foot. Knowing this I've worked a lot on getting my right foot up for longer periods. I've done this by squaring my shoulders, picking a high spot to focus on and striding out. THAT works. Then I try to overexaggerate the crossovers, crossing both left and right in a swaying motion.

Brain go: WHOAH, WH-O-A-H, W-H-O-A-H MUST.TRY.ARGH.FUQ.CAKE.NO.FOCUS BITCH CROSSOH-OH-NO. MEHR. wtf?!

Like any breakthrough I've made with skating so far, it's tied to 2 things

1. Muscle memory
2. Fear

Once I've figured out which muscles I need to activate, where to shift my weight to and what stance I should be in there's usually a lightbulb moment where my body did it and knows it. I haven't gotten there yet with crossing over, and, rather embarrrassingly, I think I'm doing it but can't be sure and am too self conscious to ask.

So I'm taking all tips on board. What can I practise at home? What routine can I establish so I'm doing the same way everytime?

HELP!

Starting freshmeat training!

Since I started considering derby I looked into what leagues were available in my region and for Brisbane there are 3 (Sunstate, NBR, and BCR). Each had different merits, I suppose for me it wasn't about skating with the best league but more one that meets my travel needs, one that accepts beginner skaters, and were inclusive of all kinds of freaks. I was fortunate in that I got some really good insider info from some derby girls I met that ruled one league out.

I won't overly politicise this blog, that's not what this is about but I will make one statement. I won't ever want to skate for a league that discriminates against the rainbow spectrum of women. Binary or non, I'm cool with either.

I narrowed it to one and sent off a nervous request for more info on their upcoming freshmeat intake. My timing was stellar because I got a group reply the next day asking for a show of hands and the first 30 lucky hands would be accepted. I replied faster than the Hadron Collider smashes particles. So now I have my invite to the info night to discuss the ins and outs of the league, insurance and all the other juicy details to start freshmeat training the following week!

I could have punched out a concrete wall I was so fucking excited.

Up until this week I've been super good at getting up at 5:30 and skating for about before work and it really started to pay off. My confidence has soared and I'm look far less like I'm running from Blair Witch and more like a skater which is always nice. Then the rains came. And my rink cancelled 2 weeks of lessons. I felt like a kid, standing at my window each morning hoping the rain was gone so I could go out and play. So I was at least doing something, I did my back exercises and knee strengthening stuff. My knees are in a happy place.

This is probably because I'm more than a week off skates. I feel cryogenically frozen and the thaw is frustratingly slow.

Now I have 15 days to become a pro skater. I'm sure we can all agree this is at least a 3 week job ; )

I'm breaking myself in tomorrow, once I've dealt with sick children and messy kitchens and no spare underwear. That considered, it's nice to share a dream with a whole bunch of women who go to war with life/skate balance.

Army of me trudges on!

Watched my first live bout yo!

On Saturday I took my tribe of midgets down to see a Sunstate bout (Riots v Defiants). It was amazing to watch live, despite my squinting a lot from having no glasses on. The live atmosphere was like 80% better than youtube :)

I learned heaps from it, but feel like it really reiterated hows much more work I need to be putting in on a daily basis. Those girls are brutal, in the peak fitness of their lives, and amazing skaters.  I cant yet tick any of those boxes (well I'm brutal in a non-derby way). Yet anyway. I tried to pay particular attention to the way they skate; what skills they most frequently use and referenced this to what I've been learning in class. The two most important aspects I found to be stops and starts. How to quickly recover from a fall. Learning to skate fast can wait, being able to dynamically change direction is imperative.

I've broken this into exercises I already know and am going to really focus on:

1. T-stops and starts
2. Falling safely on my butt (getting up without hands)
3. Turning to face behind me (as in turning using my skates)
4. Braking backwards onto stoppers
5. Crossovers

Then I started to research skate-specific training, I've read a lot about doing interval training but how? I stumbled across Fartlek training and whilst a lot of specific drills require a group, it can definately be done alone. Of course I'm more in favour of group punishment, it's too easy to give up when it's just you (a bit like a bikini wax, you just cant do that shit to yourself). Dem's the brakes I guess. Hence now my plan its to make myself a training schedule by the week. 

My plan feels something like this:

3 x skate sessions a week (2 focussing on the skills as above and one free skate with fartlek elements)
2 x off-skates sessions based on fartlek/interval training, with quad killer exercises like wall sits, squat jumps, or maybe a bike sesh to mix it up..

Plus of course my weekly class with the tattooed goddess. I'd like to have the luxury of a daily skate but I have kids, and therefore schedules coming out of my arse as it is. I think the 5 sessions might be slightly hopeful but I gotta have goals right? I figure I'll do 2 skate sessions and an interval training during the week, with the last two over the weekend...

What do you do and how is it working?