Week 7/Tuesday

I've been thinking a lot about balance lately. How many times a day and in how many different ways I can be thrown off balance. 

Let's start with the least complicated loss of balance for me....

We're skating in two long pacelines, close enough to the person in front of you that you can touch, and with a 3 or 4 ft space in between the two lines. The skaters at the back of the lines then move forward and hip or body check teammates, swerving back and forth and alternating sides. When you receive a nice, solid check you get thrown off balance, and definitely need to adapt and recover. On the giving checks side of it, if you are not on balance yourself or lining yourself up in the most efficient position as you attempt to deliver one then that is a whole other way of getting thrown off your balance. I feel like at the moment I am stumbling more as a result of this than when I receive a check. It probably sounds a teeny bit whacked, but I much prefer getting checked right now because somehow it's easier for me to adapt. Also, for some reason it's much easier for me to deliver semi decent checks with this drill than when I am skating side by side with a partner attempting it. I'm wondering if it has something to do with coming from slightly behind and having that split second to line yourself up. When I'm side by side I have a real tendency to bump wheels and then I end up going flying instead of the other way around.

Seriously, this training is the most fun I have had in years. I'm bonkers for it. These women are incredible, and it is energizing to be in their company and get to practice all these skills. Not only am I improving as a skater but all this impact/physical loss of balance and falling business is so empowering and incredibly helpful with my momming.

Here's where the loss/recovery of balance becomes much more complex...on any given day I am bombarded with unexplainable tantrums, refusal to eat or put on any number of articles of clothing, shifts in mood that could generate small earthquakes, monumental stubbornness, and just general fussiness. And have I mentioned that my one year old daughter is perhaps the most difficult child in the world to change or wrangle into a carseat? Seriously, it's like mixed martial arts. She is small but oh so mighty. I have bruises from her kicking me or inflicting her vice-like grip. She is a mini derby girl in pre-training, and my inspiration.

So in some strange way this dual existence really works well for me. I experience days where I am deeply doubting my skill as a mom and ability to balance all that can occur in a 10 minute span of time. Real "Calgon-take-me-away" type moments. You know, the pot's boiling over on the stove, the washing machine is leaking water as it spins and shakes, the dog's barking or tracking poop all over the floor where the baby is crawling, the phone and doorbell are ringing, the kid's screaming because you will not allow him to grab the dog's privates, the cat is yowling and/or spewing hairballs and making sounds like she has a demon emerging? Then I allow myself to think about the number of times I lose my balance at practice and somehow order is restored, both in my physical and mental/emotional existence.

The WFTDA test is Tuesday November 15th. Think of me that day from about 8 to 10 PM. Only about 3 or 4 more practices to go. I am psyched to report that I'm gradually assembling a better understanding of the mechanics involved in performing a plow stop. There may actually come a time when I feel comfortable relying on them as a method of stopping. I'm also less and less petrified of jumping, and I manage to get both feet off the ground fairly often. Blocking is coming along, if I can just duct tape my elbows to my torso or fashion some type of double arm sling I should be fine.

Another practice tomorrow morning. Woo hoo!!