Training Log Archive: Anna

I PASSED SKILLS!!!! Very exciting. Not only did I pass the scrimmage version, but I also passed the full version bc I did 27 laps in 5 minutes instead of 25 :D So now I can play in scrimmages and [technically] games. Not sure exactly how it works bc I hadn't passed skills when we did team assessments, so there's still a bit of uncertainty.

Also WOW I got so tired during laps!!! I think it means I'm better at skating now :) But very glad I don't have to do them again!!!

C • Congrats!!! 2

Celebratory run in Rose Canyon :D Knees could've been warmer, so hope it doesn't catch up to me. Had 2 Advils before bed.

Knee exercises.

Did the skating equivalent of a pre-meet to get my legs used to the crossover motion but not get tired. A month ago I probably couldn't even do crossovers "easy", so it was fun and I felt accomplished!

Did both directions, did some slow short steps, fast short steps, slow long steps. Then just skated and kind of did whatever I felt like out of one-side-tennis-court loops, full-tennis-court loops, changing direction.

ALSO finally did some backwards crossovers! I think the key was starting from a slow speed, not like what we did at practice. >:( Nick was having us do easy things but then he alluded to having gotten push-back from people, so now doing more advanced drills where there are lots of pieces to put together, and I can't do the individual pieces. Definitely feel like it works better for me to start from things I can do, repeat them a bunch so I can do them without thinking, and then do the more complicated things after!

Before going to a party for my long-lost cohort-mate Kathleen who left but is now visiting from Canada!!!!!

Along with having done a lot of other stereotypically Canadian things, she used to play hockey, and was showing me body checks!

Lots of helpful feedback/things to work on at practice today, and going to take a stab at trying to write all of it down!

- Stagger my feet front-to-back when I'm going over the massive crack in the court and then I'll be less likely to fall.
- Lean backwards (direction I'm traveling) when skating backwards. (Which I know, just hard to do.)
- Learn backwards crossovers (opposite foot crosses over from what I expect).
- When doing a mohawk around a blocker, there's a thing you can do where you shuffle sideways on your toe stops. Don't actually know which foot is supposed to stop me/what I'm supposed to do w my feet before I shuffle. But seems like something that probably has a name and I could find on YouTube.
- When doing it the way without the shuffle, extend the mohawk and actually do it instead of immediately transitioning.
- Make my toe stops not rotate out of position.
- For transitions, learn to not over-rotate my body. Can practice holding my arms in and keeping my head direction in the same direction as I turn my body. (I guess also useful for when I'm going around blockers.)
- Practice doing more controlled stops with turn-around toe stops.
- Keep same foot forward and one backward when transitioning (body will change orientation, but feet keep same positions relative to direction I'm moving).
- Bend knees when doing turn-around toe stop.
- Also hitting people out, there's a little pop-around toe stop thing I can't do, so will need to figure out how to do that.

That's it for now unless I think of more!!! There were a number of drills that were a bit above my level, I think bc there were too many different things to focus on. I think that means I have to pick out the building blocks that aren't automatic for me yet, like:

- the diagonal-y turn-around toe stop, where it's not a 180 but you're still using your toe stops while moving kind-of backwards.
- shuffling on toe stops (lots of jammer drill YouTube videos I can google)
- backwards skating *without* crossing over
- SLOW backwards skating with crossovers, maybe even in a straight line
- transition things are low-hanging fruit bc I could do it all when he showed me, and I just need to pay attention to what I'm doing.

Other life update: fancy fitness tracker I can use for skating is officially cracked but they're replacing it for free but recommend I don't do anything where I could fall... :( maybe won't listen. And mayyyyyyybe could keep using cracked one for exercise, just not for sleep? Not sure how syncing works.

Other life updates: figured out weirdness in EEG data, + finished collecting fixed version of mturk data (meant to start writing methods section on bus to practice today, but computer makes me carsick and think I should stick to reading printed-out papers...). Need to consult w other labmate who's an expert at looking at EEG data before figuring out definite next steps.

Had half a basketball court this time.

Spent most of the time doing crossovers in both directions (even slightly more in non-derby direction!!!). Was very lean-y bc not a huge area, which I think was good for me! Focused on having a constant push during each stride, to avoid wheels slipping out. Also focused on arms.

At the end, did a bit of accelerations and stops.

Didn't do anything too intense. Was super windy out, so no basketball players.

Did some laps, focusing on crossovers. Was mostly doing derby direction bc more fun (woops). Then worked on some plow stops, and I actually got the good-plow-stop sound to happen a bunch! Yay! Next step will be to do them narrower, but not quite there yet with coordination/ankle strength.