As much as I want to shed tears of joy and dance around the parking lot in my hot pink tutu that my skates are amazing I am going to hold back for a few more practices. The preliminary results from practice #1, however, are a tentative "hallelujah". :-)
For the first time in many practices I was not afraid to get out on the tracks as soon as I had my gear on. Lately I've been hesitant to do so because the sooner I started skating, the sooner my arches would feel like they were tightropes being sawed through.
They rub a bit on my ankle bones - more so on my right foot than my left which causes a little tenderness but that will change as the leather softens up and breaks in. I bought some terrycloth wristbands for my ankles to try to mitigate the pain but they just ended up riding up my legs (as Mr. Carnate predicted).
We did a brief session of "Skater Sister Says" followed by a "Diamond" drill - skating in the most efficient path possible around the track, crossing over the whole time. While I felt like I was getting back to where I was with crossovers on my old skates I had some of the faster skaters flying by me which made my confidence drop through the floor.
Afterward us Level 0's retreated to the freshie corral to work on slides and stops. Work in the freshie corral always involved a lot of standing - especially with 19 of us (16 newbies and 3 holdovers) waiting our turn to go. Toward the end of skating my feet started to get a little tender but it was NOT my arches. It felt more like my heels and the balls of my feet - the same place that gets tender after standing a long time in street shoes.
I ran into a little numbness so I am currently experimenting with lacing pattern #3 (Lace 1-3, Skip 4, 6, and 8, Lace 9-10). I'm also wearing thicker socks at the moment to help stretch things out a bit. I'm having Mr. Carnate help around the house because, while I want to get these broken in, I don't trust myself with a pan of hot sausage from the oven while skating around a teeny tiny kitchen.
Showing posts with label foot cramps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foot cramps. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Round 2... ding ding!
I saw myself in some of those freshies. I saw the frustration at not being "better". I saw the nervousness. I saw the determination. I saw the desire to consume every piece of derby information they could get their minds on. It was awesome and definitely put a lot of things in perspective.
There were four of us skating last night that have not passed our level 1 assessments yet. We were asked to participate with the freshie classes rather than skate with the league. At first it might seem like a step back. Yes, I know how to plow stop, T-stop, knee-slide, etc. It never hurts to practice more in a controlled, observed environment though.
I have to say that skating with the freshies helped put what progress I've made in perspective. Three months is not a long time in the grand scheme of things. Three months ago I was where they are now, only knowing about derby what I'd managed to voraciously read.
I executed my slides (*LOVE* the new kneepads) and toe-stops with ease. Ease that I did not have three months ago. We did a very slow paceline drill. I used sticky skates the entire time. Three months ago I didn't know what sticky skating was. I tried to give encouragement to the girls who were falling. Three months ago I fell and couldn't get off the floor - even with Hazel and Bettie helping.
I heard that our attendance person tracked 70 people for attendance last night. Ho. Lee. Crap. There were 16 new girls last night - enough to make their own team! As was with the case with my class, the infusion of fresh meat (pun intended) really energized everyone from old stinky meat to slightly less than fresh meat. It was wonderful to see!
Going at a slower pace in drills also allowed me to concentrate more on what the heck is going on with my feet. I noticed during the pace line drill that I have to apply quite a bit of force to my skates to get the trucks to turn. Because my skates are so big on my feet my feet were actually pronating in my skates (tipping to the inside) and getting stuck that way.
I tried to shake my foot out while skating so it would shift back into proper position and when I stepped back down my wheels became totally tangled. I took a big header into the middle of the track right on my shoulder. I think I turtled up appropriately but the act of turtling jammed my right shoulder into my jaw making me see stars and giving me a sore neck today.I'm trying not to let the poorly fitting skates be an excuse for crappy performance but I can't WAIT to get my new ones. If the gentleman from Riedell had his lead times straight I'll hopefully be getting a call from Dee at the Bruised Boutique during the latter half of next week. SQUEE!
This Saturday is the NHRD season kick-off party at Penuche's in Nashua. I will be there from at least 3-9, maybe later depending on how I feel. I hope the day is BEAUTIFUL! I'm making a HUGE sign out of some cardboard that Kenya gave me and will be camped out on Main and Canal waving at people in my derby gear.
I hope to see you there and at our home season opener bout on 4/24 at 6pm. It's the Skate Free or Die! All-Stars vs. the Ironbound Maidens of Garden State and the Queen City Cherry Bombs vs. the Petticoat Punishers of Central Mass.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
My feet betray me...
Foot cramps are a pain in the ass, or more literally, a pain in the foot. Any time between the finishing of this post and the beginning of Lost will be spent googling foot exercises and foot stretches.
Something has changed in the last couple of weeks causing really bad pain in the underside arches of my feet. It was so bad on Monday after only warm-ups that I didn't properly stretch because I was desperately trying to uncramp my feet. The result of me not stretching properly was that most of my muscles from the waist down felt like they were made out of wood last night. Not cool.
Last night marked the start of an agility week. I really enjoy agility weeks, even though I still can't do a lot of the drills properly. Small victories last night: weaving around at least one or two cones on one foot, mostly avoiding back pain by skating with better form, doing a successful transition from backward to forward (forward to backward, not so much), mini clockwise crossovers, and not looking down when I skate.
I get frustrated with myself when I have physical issues and I KNOW that I can technically do the drill. I know I am making progress and I know that I am stronger and faster than I was just seven weeks ago. Similar to what DKB has recently written about, I need to remember that I have been doing this for ONLY seven weeks and I shouldn't be so hard on myself.
Tank had great words of wisdom at open skate the other night (and her secret to skating the way she does). Fall more. Fall until you don't care about falling. If I'm worried about falling, I'm NOT concentrating on the skill or drill I'm doing. I definitely need to fall more.
As mentioned in my previous post, I got my very first bout recap published on DNN (Derby News Network) so that's cool. You can read the short version HERE. The full recap will eventually be up somewhere. If you want to read it, just let me know and I can send it. I've never done any sports writing before so that was a challenge for me. Lucky for me that challenges make me happy - it's the competitiveness in me.
Goals for the next month or so: Go through one whole practice without dropping out of a drill. I can slow down or take it easy if I need to but I will not stop. Skate on the "real" track during warm up laps. I skate around the outside because I'm slow but it makes me feel EXTRA slow since I have to skate faster that everyone else to even feel like I'm going the same speed.
Thursday is a normal practice with scrimmage. I signed up to do stats again; I really enjoy it. Thank you to EVERYONE in NHRD for their encouragement these last seven weeks. Hopefully I can look back seven weeks from now and be pleased at how far I've come!
Something has changed in the last couple of weeks causing really bad pain in the underside arches of my feet. It was so bad on Monday after only warm-ups that I didn't properly stretch because I was desperately trying to uncramp my feet. The result of me not stretching properly was that most of my muscles from the waist down felt like they were made out of wood last night. Not cool.
Last night marked the start of an agility week. I really enjoy agility weeks, even though I still can't do a lot of the drills properly. Small victories last night: weaving around at least one or two cones on one foot, mostly avoiding back pain by skating with better form, doing a successful transition from backward to forward (forward to backward, not so much), mini clockwise crossovers, and not looking down when I skate.
I get frustrated with myself when I have physical issues and I KNOW that I can technically do the drill. I know I am making progress and I know that I am stronger and faster than I was just seven weeks ago. Similar to what DKB has recently written about, I need to remember that I have been doing this for ONLY seven weeks and I shouldn't be so hard on myself.
Tank had great words of wisdom at open skate the other night (and her secret to skating the way she does). Fall more. Fall until you don't care about falling. If I'm worried about falling, I'm NOT concentrating on the skill or drill I'm doing. I definitely need to fall more.
As mentioned in my previous post, I got my very first bout recap published on DNN (Derby News Network) so that's cool. You can read the short version HERE. The full recap will eventually be up somewhere. If you want to read it, just let me know and I can send it. I've never done any sports writing before so that was a challenge for me. Lucky for me that challenges make me happy - it's the competitiveness in me.
Goals for the next month or so: Go through one whole practice without dropping out of a drill. I can slow down or take it easy if I need to but I will not stop. Skate on the "real" track during warm up laps. I skate around the outside because I'm slow but it makes me feel EXTRA slow since I have to skate faster that everyone else to even feel like I'm going the same speed.
Thursday is a normal practice with scrimmage. I signed up to do stats again; I really enjoy it. Thank you to EVERYONE in NHRD for their encouragement these last seven weeks. Hopefully I can look back seven weeks from now and be pleased at how far I've come!
Monday, January 25, 2010
A bit of progress...
Today started the fourth week of derby practices. That means we've cycled back around to endurance training. On endurance weeks we spend the first 30 minutes or so of practice doing plyometrics - squats, lunges, mountain climbers, iron mikes, and all sorts of other hellish things that one day won't be quite so hellish.
We did a loooooong drill called "The Black Widow". If it sounds ominous, that's because it is. 30 minutes (apparently it's *supposed* to be 45) of non-stop skating. Things get mixed up - sprints, figure eights, sticky skates, squats,knee-touches - but you're going for 30 minutes. Correction: you *try* to go for 30 minutes.
I made the mistake of putting my Dr. Scholls arch support doohickeys back in my skates thinking they'd help my feet. They didn't. In fact, they made them cramp up faster than ever before. After only a few minutes of skating I had to stop, pull them out, and flex my feet until the cramps went away. The damage had been don't though as my feet were mostly cramped all night. I'm sitting here sipping chocolate milk and writing this and they're still somewhat cramped!
I ended up having to stop a few times during the drill. The good news is that it wasn't because of my back *small victory*. The bad news is that I had to stop. My goal for the next endurance week (three weeks from now) that I won't have to stop during the drill. I tried to concentrate on skating low but keeping my torso more upright to ease the back cramps I've been having. It seemed to work, although the three advil I took an hour before practice may have contributed as well.
The back thing I know will be ongoing until I get into better shape. My immediate stumbling block appears to be transitions. I can skate forward and I can sort of skate backward, but moving between the two is eluding me. I seem to be able to do them while standing still but as soon as I try them while rolling I just end up stopping myself. I guess I have my work in open skates cut out for me for a while!
We did a loooooong drill called "The Black Widow". If it sounds ominous, that's because it is. 30 minutes (apparently it's *supposed* to be 45) of non-stop skating. Things get mixed up - sprints, figure eights, sticky skates, squats,knee-touches - but you're going for 30 minutes. Correction: you *try* to go for 30 minutes.
I made the mistake of putting my Dr. Scholls arch support doohickeys back in my skates thinking they'd help my feet. They didn't. In fact, they made them cramp up faster than ever before. After only a few minutes of skating I had to stop, pull them out, and flex my feet until the cramps went away. The damage had been don't though as my feet were mostly cramped all night. I'm sitting here sipping chocolate milk and writing this and they're still somewhat cramped!
I ended up having to stop a few times during the drill. The good news is that it wasn't because of my back *small victory*. The bad news is that I had to stop. My goal for the next endurance week (three weeks from now) that I won't have to stop during the drill. I tried to concentrate on skating low but keeping my torso more upright to ease the back cramps I've been having. It seemed to work, although the three advil I took an hour before practice may have contributed as well.
The back thing I know will be ongoing until I get into better shape. My immediate stumbling block appears to be transitions. I can skate forward and I can sort of skate backward, but moving between the two is eluding me. I seem to be able to do them while standing still but as soon as I try them while rolling I just end up stopping myself. I guess I have my work in open skates cut out for me for a while!
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