Derby fueled weekend

Morning! Lots to catch up on today so here we go! Friday we had an impromptu training session to make up for Monday's cancellation. After a few adjustments I'd made to my skates in the daytime to counter the numb toe thing I'd had going on I was looking forward to testing them out (I'd also discovered that not only had the plastic lacing grommets broken at the top but that they were eating through the boot - noooo!) and as I'd been having some pain in my heel too I'd fitted some memory foam insoles. So on arriving at the hall, I collected the NSO manuals that Amanita Massacre had kindly printed for me ready to get people rolling on that. Skates and pads on, lets see if the adjustments worked.......3 laps and out went the insoles! The only difference they made was to make my feet go dead quicker! Another couple of laps without them and there was a bit of an improvement, no dead toes, feet a little uncomfortable but bearable. Did some warm ups and as I was the only B* member there I went to work on my stops and cross overs so I wouldn't be in the way of the rest of the girls. TBH after an hour I admitted defeat, my heel felt like I'd stomped on a plug so I figured it'd be a good time to get the manuals in order ready for the next day (still keeping the skates on while sat, I figured it might help).

Saturday, new frame of mind, 'party feet' gel cushions and a 4 hour training session! After fun and games getting to the hall (damn you Heineken Cup!) I realized that 1, I'd forgotten to bring my lunch with me (doofus!) and 2, today was going to be interesting as CRoC's Cardiff Roll Crew had their first (albeit closed) bout against Tiger Bay Brawlers B Team. I sat and sorted out the gel cushions into the heels of my skates, keeping fingers crossed, and signed off all the disclaimers that needed doing then kitted up. Noticed an immediate difference with the gel cushions! Happy feet :D Got my warm up laps done and we were split off into our own groups again to work on skills. One footed skating up first, a bit wobbly as my new lacing system is a bit looser, I got just over half the straight done but I'll get back to my usual in a week or so (PMA). From there to t-stops, practicing the 'zombie walk' not sure if it helps me so am going to keep working on it in the house, I'm more annoyed with myself for getting it one week and not the next - work that one out! After that, the B*'s were split in to and put in opposite corners outside the track to work on lateral movements and turns - laterals to the left are much easier! As for turns, I'm slowly getting them too, I've gone from 'eh whaaa' to continually turning on the spot to get the move down, now just to add in some forward momentum!

TBH the time seemed to fly, after we' d eaten and chatted about strengths/weaknesses/team stuff for the bout there was less than an hour left so the B* group took NSO roles while the rest went in for scrims - fun fun fun!

I loved having the 4 hour session, hopefully it'll be a regular thing! As for the afternoon, I was off to watch the Bristol Harbor Harlots home teams play some exhibition derby! But that's for the next blog ;)

Thanks for reading

xx