Fresh Meat: Week 1: Practice 2

So practice was much, much better last night. I feel like I got so much more out of practice last night than I did Monday night. GB our fresh meat coach was not there so we were left with the speed skating coach and his brother. They have both been skating for longer than I have been alive. It was nice. They broke things down into smaller parts. Since there were only 5 of us in the pond there was a lot of 1 on 1 time. I feel like my crossovers improved quite a bit, enough that I finally started to realize just how slippery the crappy wheels on the crappy skates I have are. We did more of what we did on Monday; crossovers, tstops, falls & skating on one foot. He had us trying to change direction on one foot which really made me nervous, but I was able to do it pretty well. Candy was there to remind us to stay in derby position. That is one thing I really need to work on. I always feel like I am pretty low and then Candy yells get lower. It is so hard when you can't see yourself. That was the other thing I liked more about this practice than the last one. We were constantly receiving feedback from someone. It's nice to know when you are doing something right or wrong. On Monday we just skated in a circle for hours with out anyone saying anything other than let me see you do a crossover, which, IMO isn't very helpful. If there is no one giving you any feedback are you to just assume that you are doing it right. I guess this week I will be breaking down and ordering some pads. My knees are taking a pretty bad beating from all of the falling with my crappy pads. I am feeling less tired today than I was Tuesday after practice. Looking forward to Friday's practice...wondering what we will be doing. If we will be skating with the big girls. Loving it!!!