#Janathon Day 10 – Back on Skates

HURRAH!

Today I finally got back on my skates after a whole 3 weeks off over Christmas, and wonder of wonders I haven’t forgotten how to skate!

We actually started with the Roller Derby Athletics Fitness test as we hadn’t done it since about August and apparently it’s good for us to have a baseline score to start the year. I can’t remember what I got last time we did it, but I don’t think I did too badly for the first day back after Christmas and still with the end of this f*@king cold! I made it 2 minutes into the plank test, which means I managed to do it with each leg raised, after 17 press ups on my knees my arms staged a revolution, which was disappointing and the endurance portion took me 5 minutes 42 seconds, this one I REALLY wish I cold remember what I did last year!

It took me a while to recover after the fitness test, personally I think that should probably be part of the test, recovery time, but don’t tell anyone because I suck at it.

My sweaty post Roller Derby face.

We did quite a bit of endurance stuff, laps working on our crossover form, a “game” that involves chasing another team around the track at speed (it’s not a game, it’s torture) and basically quite a lot of going fast, so today definitely counts as cardio!

I’ve been having problems with my crossovers since I sprained my ankle as I’m finding my ankle doesn’t bend sideways as much so I tend to flick it backwards on my under push and then trip over my own toe stop. Someone suggested  loosening my trucks so my wheels stay in contact with the floor longer, and by jiggery it actually seemed to work! It also made transitions and laterals seem easier as well. I might even experiment with some softer cushions. I like to live life on the edge.

If none of that made any sense to you then I do apologise. Suffice to say fiddling around with your roller skates can make a big difference to how well you skate.

I am only wearing one knee pad and my laces are undone in this photo as I very nearly forgot to take it at all, and how awful would it be to have a Janathon post without a photo of my feet?

So now I am home, and a third of the way through Janathon, woo! Now I need to scoot off as I am still wearing my stinky Derby kit and I need to leave to go to the pub and get drunk in about 20 minutes. Speedy!