I walked the route (1.5 miles) to check for sticks, stones and other debris on the country road. Then, I adorned all protective gear, except the elbow pads (I forgot them) and hit the road. The downhill, half-mile slope made me gain way TOO much speed, even though I carved. Then, the uphill skate tested my conditioning. Happily, I'm in better shape than I thought. 😁 I did this hill twice. Would have completed it more times, but a dog decided to join me and was nipping at my skates. 😳

Yesterday I got up early, had a light breakfast, took some supplements, did some stretching, fed the cats (most important), made a little lunch to take with me and got out to the courts earlier than usual. There was only one other guy in the whole 8 acre park (who was doing well shooting hoops - best I've seen there). I kept stretching as I warmed up... and started to feel it... I was skating better and feeling better. I went through drills - everything going well. I took breaks when I felt tired, had lunch and still the park was empty - nice and peaceful. I thought "Where is everyone? Am I missing something?". No, this is where it's at. I was feeling strong, balanced and energized. I got back on the court and skated my a$$ off! Like I'd been wanting to since day one. I skated another hour, and as I left, then people started to trickle in. Perfect timing... I like it when it's not too "peopley" out. My only regret was not getting this session on video; it would have looked better than my others. But, it's not just about how you look though (yes it is) it's how you feel... (okay both). And later, I still felt good, great actually, not tired or achy, I didn't over do it. I hope you guys have these kind of days too. Upon reflection, I never played basketball much, but me and that kid on the court had something in common... we practiced, alone, without help or distractions. I wish I'd told him I admired his playing. Maybe he thought the same about me, but I think we respected each other's space and time. Anyhow, it took me ten months, but I managed to have a really good skate day... finally.

I saw a post earlier and there were a couple people mentioning the importance of “off-skate” routines- I like to work on eagle in both directions against a wall to help the flexies and stretch- what are some things y’all are doing off-skate that is proving helpful when you get back in skates?!

If you recall, I initially bought the 120 (Uptown) with the PowerDyne Thrust Nylon plate based on research for the best beginner setup. The rationale was that the Uptown nylon plate has flexibility that beginners may benefit from vice the hard and rigid (Juice) aluminum plate that is less forgiving if you make a mistake. Obviously, being a newbie to the craft, I chose the first. Even on Riedell’s site, they list the Juice as “… ideal for intermediate and advanced skaters upgrading to a performance-focused rhythm setup.” They also describe the Uptown as “This reinforced boot combines with the sturdy PowerDyne Thrust nylon plate for a skate that’s built to support your moves and encourage you to try new ones.” When I tried on the Juice, it didn’t feel sturdy enough and when I was testing the edges, it just felt like it wanted to collapse when I leaned on my right skate. This was upsetting to say the least, considering all the research I did and the amount of money I spent. I would have just returned them and purchased the Juice but I can’t use UPS from out here in China so I bought the Uptown to replace them (only to later on find out that I may have gotten away with just replacing the stock cushions with harder one…obviously I didn’t know that was a thing). Anyhow, I’m not going to use the new ones yet until I feel like I’ve got a grasp of all of the fundamentals down. But I’ll have my upgrade in hand when I’m ready to move forward. P.S. I got harder cushions so I’m going to replace them on the Uptowns and see if they feel more stable.

I attended an interest meeting in my city for Roller derby last week. The new recruit program will start in a couple of weeks and I'm excited about it. I don't know how the sessions will be conducted, but I'll try to post my progress. I hope to level up my skating skills with the 12-week program. 😁