Until this week, I didn't realise just how many laps that is.
Actually I'm pretty pleased with myself, because on my first ever attempt I clocked 15 laps. Considering that four weeks ago my roller skating technique looked and sounded like a nervous penguin wearing high-heeled shoes, or Bambi On Ice (you know, like this) I think this is a very respectable first try. I even fell down (on my first lap, no less), skidding into a marvellous four-point-slide, but managed to control the landing and jump straight back up to skate on. With all this in mind, what is that is that lap score, Scottie?
Damn straight :)
A couple of the senior skaters left Facebook comments for us and it's reassuring to hear that they all hit similar figures on their first set of laps. Whenever I find something difficult or hard to grasp, I make a point of reminding myself that five weeks ago I could not skate AT ALL. Everything I can do now I have learned from scratch, and so every tiny step forward is more than I could do the previous week. Fifteen laps is a great start, and works out at roughly one lap every twenty seconds. To hit the goal of twenty five laps I'll have to be going at a rate of one lap every twelve seconds, so almost twice at fast, but I think this is very doable because:
- My goal at the moment is getting my technique right rather than focussing on speed. I'm still learning the basics of roller skating and building up new muscles, and I know that if my technique is bad now it'll only get worse when I'm under pressure and tired after twenty consecutive high-speed laps. Good technique now will only make me faster, stronger, and more stable later on.
- I feel like I'm going insanely fast right now, but that's only because this is the fastest I've ever been before! There were moments during my fifteen laps when I lost focus, or seemed to forget how to skate for a second or two. Part of that's simply because I'm not used to having the track coming at me this quickly! My brain didn't seem to know how to process so much information at once. After another few weeks of skating at this pace I'll have acclimatised and be able to push harder.
- My wheels slide a bit on the corners. My housemate commented that the borrowed skates I'm currently using probably aren't helping, but also sliding is another new thing for me. I think it's probably better to get used to dealing with it now rather than avoiding it, but when I slid it freaked me out a little, which meant I lost my low 'derby stance' posture. That in turn affects your stability and ability to push out with your legs.
- I don't have crossovers yet, and neither do most of the other newbies. Crossovers allow you to keep pushing around the corners of the track, so you can keep your speed up or even accelerate. Right now we're coasting or straddling our way round the bends, which is very uneconomical in terms of speed and stability, since we have to brake in order to make the turn and the consistent wheel-contact with the track is adding to the sliding problem. We're learning crossovers in a few weeks, and once we've mastered them (which will probably take a few more weeks after that!) I feel like that will add a good few laps to everybody's time!
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