Pep talk

I needed one last night, big time. The last couple of practices have been hard on me, psychologically. My arch pain has been taking a toll on my ability to complete drills lately and I was sort of feeling like I'm never going to be able to move forward and that everyone thinks less of me because I keep having to drop out of drills.

We started off doing a pace line drill (which always kicks my butt anyway). We had to line up and then the first person in line sprints around the track to catch up to the back of the line. It will suffice to say that I am definitely NOT jammer material at this point in time. I was trying out an ankle bootie that wasn't working well with the new Superfeet insoles that Trixie was having me try.

Bettie sat down with me after another pace line drill (pushing and pulling) when my feet were SCREAMING and offered to take a look at them. She has some experience working in an industry that used to do custom orthotics. The verdict was that I have wonky feet (shocking, I know). The foot exercises that people have been given me won't fully help because it sounds like my feet are crooked.

I had an encouraging chat with Bettie after she finished squeezing my smelly feet. As I mentioned above, I have been really frustrated the past couple of practices. I know I am making progress, but I feel like my feet are holding me back from making further progress at the moment. Betty said that I need to have patience because I need to let my body catch up with the rest of me in terms of muscle strength and endurance.

Empress told me a few weeks ago when I was having major back issues that the hill I have to climb is probably a little bit longer and a little bit steeper than the hill that the other freshies were climbing so it will seem like I'm going slower, but really I just have a longer way to go.

When I started eight weeks ago, the thought that I would ever be able to skate around even a single cone on one foot seemed preposterous, yet I did it last week. I didn't think I was going the be able to push a line of four ladies around the track once but I did it yesterday (granted, I needed to take my skates off after but I still did it).

I was worried about the "football drill" that PutUNya had us do while Bettie and Woody laid the track because I have such a hard time getting up off the ground, but I did it, albeit slower than everyone else. I was on the floor and had to stand up at least 10 different times but I did it. I couldn't push myself off the floor at my first practice.

I feel like I slow everyone down. I feel bad for whichever line I'm in during relays because I'm slow and make us lose. I feel guilty being the last one to make it across the track during stepping drills because everyone is waiting for me so they can work on what THEY need to do.

I need to get over it. That's going to be hard for me.

I know I won't have a good practice every time, I just don't like having several bad practices in a row. Yesterday actually turned out OK as we got to work on some freshie stuff in the corral while everyone else did contact drills.

I think I'd like the opportunity to work on some stuff in a smaller group without the pressure of knowing you're in the "slow group" on the track - something like pack skating with the five of us non-contact people in the corral with speeding up and slowing down. There are few other things that are components of larger drills that I wish we n00bs could do mini drills with.

Thank you to everyone who has given me feed back or advice so far for my feet. I'm doing combinations of all of these in an attempt to get to the bottom of this foot thing. Part of it is strength and I'm just going to need to tough that out but another part is variable.

In other news, it sounds like I'll be skating with the Fox Cityz Foxes WTFDA-AL when I'm in Wisconsin in a few weeks. They know I am non-contact so it'll be interesting to see what other groups are like.

Blood drive Saturday and then a very exciting recruitment night on Sunday - we may have up to 14 new people in the next freshie class in April! :-D

Goals for tomorrow

1) Stretch properly

I know that I have not been stretching properly the last couple of weeks. I got some great advice this evening on some potential reasons for the foot pain I have been dealing with. It's been so bad that I haven't been stretching properly which is causing all sorts of other problems when I skate.

Thursday I will show up extra early to stretch a bit off skates. I will concentrate on skating with my knees out/straight and not push off with my toes. Hopefully this will keep my feet from cramping so I can focus on stretching properly on skates.

2) Good form

I will sit into derby stance and not lean forward, putting undue stress on my back. I will skate low on straightaways and extra low doing crossovers on corners. I will concentrate on not letting my knees bend into the middle.

These things may seem simple or basic to an experienced skater but to a newbie like me, focusing on all of this at once will be a challenge. I hope that eventually I won't even need to think about this and I can focus on other things.

Hazel posted some cool stuff on her blog about "flow" - that happy place where you are pushing yourself to the edge of your limits but not beyond. Despite the pain on Monday I feel like I might have made it close to flow.

I was really nervous about trying the one-foot cone weave. I made myself try it and although I wasn't 100% successful, I feel like I did better than I thought I would. Next time we do that drill I need to push myself to make it around two consecutive cones and not just one.

Irate posted to me yesterday that she sees potential in me. That little five-word sentence meant a lot to me. It made me feel like there's a chance that one day I WILL be able to take part is something like SFOD's 79-72 win over GMDD. I have loved every minute of my derby experience but I don't always feel like I have the chops to make it all the way. Thanks, Irate, for making my morning when I got your post! :-D