Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Free as a Bird

Hey I finally got my "new old" skates repaired. Remember many months ago when I bought my bad ass skates on ebay? I had tried to wear them and it turned out that a tear in the tongue was what was torturing my feet. I had to take them to a particular repair shop as there aren't many that work on roller skates. It took me forever to get out there and drop them off, but they repaired the tongue quickly and cheaply. Last night was my first time wearing them at the rink in months.

I was excited because I knew I would have three months more skating experience from when I had worn them last. As you know, I have been skating much faster in recent weeks, but that is on my old skates. These skates have really heavy plates on them and super hard wheels, making them very slick on the wood. So I laced up and was pleased to see that the skates felt great on my feet. Of course there was a learning curve but overall, the skates felt fantastic. So smooth!

I tried to pick up my pace a bit closer to what I have been accustomed to. Whoops, not too good at braking in these skates! Have to practice that. My level of control is greatly reduced but I will get it back with time. I had some major close calls coming around the corners because I can't slow down the way I'm used to. One of the areas I felt strongest was when I was backwards skating. Just felt much more confident with the new skates. But don't feel bad about my old Chicago's, they will still get their roll on at the weekend as my outdoor skates.

In other news, I skated in the Pacific Beachfest last weekend. What a blast! I had a fantastic time. The floor on the stage was really nice for skating, and they let us skate around for a few minutes to get a feel before we began. Honestly, walking up the rickety steps to the stage was the scariest part. It was awesome to look out and see the crowd gathered to watch us. Once the music started, I just got into the zone and had a blast. Looking out and seeing my little boy in the audience was a great feeling. He was proud of his mommy. I didn't fall although I did have a bit of a close call in the middle of the Fly. Still though, didn't fall!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

My Other Car is a Unicorn on Roller Skates

Yes, it's Tuesday, my very favorite day of the week! So excited to get my roll on tonight at the rink. It was so fun last week, I can't wait to build on what I learned. I am such a little speeder now, it's too cool! I get such a rush from skating, I'll go 30, 40, 50 minutes without a break - as long as the music is good.

Amazingly enough, I have even stopped drinking Red Bull before I go skating! Wait did you hear what I said? I'm not taking a stimulant before I skate anymore! This is a big deal. I used to down a giant Monster before skating back when I was a beginner. I felt it was the *only way* to have enough energy to skate all night.
I was able to wean myself down to the 8 oz. sugar free Red Bull, but this was still a needed item to go skating. A few weeks ago, I needed to be able to sleep right when I got home so I went without the drink. I was worried I would have no energy and would have to keep resting but something amazing happened - I felt even better than I did with the Red Bull. No shaky legs or super fast heart beats. No having to use the bathroom at the roller rink because I drank so much before I got there (trust me, the bathrooms are a scary adventure that I would like to avoid). This is a very positive change health-wise and also in saving money too!
In other news, Pacific Beachfest this Saturday! I guess I'm ready! I will be doing just three routines; we have to do the strongest routines and even though I know other ones, the important thing to do is what everyone knows. It should be fun and I'm sure I will be nervous as heck but it will be great to get my feet wet for my first time performing before a group.
Sorry for the gap in postings...but I don't want to bore you guys to tears when I don't have much to report...ride your hide people