Skating with Wendy

Today was a short skating trip. Wendy and I hit the boardwalk at 11 ish today (I know, way later than normal!) There was a lot of traffic on the boardwalk which made me very nervous. I wanted to warn the passersby that there was a serious danger of them getting hit with a skateboard. We tried to wait until there were not so many people around before we did our laps of the less congested area. I'm still working on going faster. I'm trying to lean forward when I kick, but still not sure how to make myself go faster. Okay, I can skate faster than I can walk, but I don't think that's improvement enough.

I actually tried to show Wendy how to do kickturns today, although I still don't have them down at all. I'm going to have to get over my nervousness and be daring...

Andy Roddick

I was having an Andy Roddick Day today. Forgive me, for anyone who doesn't know tennis or who likes Andy Roddick. Andy Roddick is a good tennis player, but whenever he starts to do badly or makes a mistake, he lets it get into his head, and then winds up losing because he can't get himself mentally back. That's how my morning started. I was being really tentative and let myself be all nervous again, like when I first started skating. Funny, though, as soon as I made the Andy Roddick connection in my head, things got much better, and I stopped paying attention to the people around me. I think I'm just about back to where I was before I went on the cruise. Now I need to get back to my kick turns...

At last...

I got up this morning at 5:30 to get out to Venice. It's been about a week since the last time I skated, and I was quite excited to be able to get out on my board again. Unfortunately, Venice was a little like an obstacle course this morning. There was trash everywhere, trash trucks coming around, pigeons feasting on the trash and a small street sweeper. Not exactly ideal conditions.

I also found that I was making a lot of mistakes that I wasn't making before I left. It's as if I'd forgotten, some of the basics, like the feel of where my back foot should go on the board. There were a few times I nearly fell because my feet were right next to each other.

I didn't even work on kick turns today because I figured that was just asking for trouble. I already feel once today, when I was trying to dodge the sweeper and a man with a hose who was watering rather indiscriminately. I sloshed through the water, put my foot down on the board and had it slip out from under me. My board went sailing into a doorway. I wonder if it's possible to break my board. I'm a little worried that it's taking a lot of damage.

Rain???

So, I got up this morning at an unreasonably early hour that I won't post here. Hit snooze a few times but eventually dragged myself out of bed in order to try and get down to Venice to skateboard before traffic hit. Got myself all ready, grabbed my board and headed out the door...and it was raining. In July. In southern California. Unreal. I think that's happened maybe twice since I've lived here. I went ahead and got in my car, hoping that if I started my drive I'd find it was confined to this small area. I realized quickly that it was not letting up and that in fact traffic was already bad (everybody knows southern californians can't drive in the rain...) So no skateboarding for me until next Saturday. I think I've decided bringing the board on the cruise may not be worth it. :-)

Maybe One Day

I've mentioned Robby a few times in my blog. I just had to post the picture of Robby at a skatepark "getting air" (I think that's the proper term.) It's pretty impressive. And it's too bad that in skateboarding, the older you get, the less likely that you'll be able to do any of these cool things. And now I'll go run off and practice my kick turns.

Cruising

I'm going on a cruise tomorrow and have been thinking about the fact that I can't skate for a week. I'm wondering what would happen if I packed my skateboard in my suitcase... Skating around the ship could be fun. :-)

Skating July 21st

So, back to Venice today. I haven't skated in two days. It's funny, when I stay away from skating, I get all nervous again when I go back. I started out making all the same mistakes I was and forgetting what I had learned earlier in the week. It took me a little while to remember to turn my foot, and lean forward when I kick. I also started getting tired quickly again. And it's only been two days since I skated.

I worked on kick turns again. And fell again. Not a big fall, but enough that I was a little hesitant to go right back to working on kick turns again. I did, but only briefly.

I was actually going pretty fast by the time I stopped today. I was impressed with myself. I didn't skate a long time, but I'll be back again tomorrow.

Bill will enjoy this... As I was skating near the end, a 30 something guy skated down right in front of me, turned to me and said, Wow, you're out early. I'm assuming it was not normal for him to be out so early, or otherwise his comment was just weird. Then he watched me for a minute and proceeded to carve back and forth in front of me, ride up on the curb (I know there's a name for that, just can't remember) and flip his skateboard in the air. He fell at the end, which made me a little happy. Can't help it.

Oh, and I got another "You're getting better" today. This guy I didn't recognize at all, but apparently he's seen me skate before. That's the good thing at just starting out at something like this. There's really nowhere to go but up. Although, the comments from the passersby at Venice still freak me out a bit. I want to tell them to avert their eyes while I'm learning to skate. I suppose that's unreasonable, but still...

July 18th

Nothing very exciting today skating. Went to Venice for about an hour. I worked on going faster, which I think I am. I have the foot swivel thing down, although I sometimes forget to do it. I also worked on kick turns. My kick turn to the right is getting better. I am for some reason unable to do the left at all. But I'll keep working on it.

Oh, and I fell last night working on the kickturns. Now my right elbow matches my left. And man does my right foot hurt.

Skating with the gang in Venice

Today I convinced Tonya and Colette to come skating with me in Venice. I got to the boardwalk at 6:20 so I could practice a bit before they got there. My goal once again today was to try and learn to kick better so that I can go further on one kick. I did pretty okay, but still not moving as far or as fast as I think I should be. I did pass a homeless person who apparently had seen me skate before, who commented that I was doing better.

Colette and Tonya weren't terribly impressed with the boardwalk, but both of them got on the skateboard and did really well, despite the fact that they were wearing flip flops. That's something I haven't even attempted yet. I think both of them were a little nervous about it, but I have to say, they did better than I did the first time I hopped on the board.

Bill and Robby joined us for a bit, and we got to watch Robby do tricks. I'm still amazed at how good Robby (who is seven) is. Absolutely fearless. I know a little bit of fear is healthy, but I want to move closer to Robby's level of fear. Robby was awesome, when everyone else was standing around talking, he came to me and said, "Come on. Let's see you skate."

I worked on kick turns with Bill and Robby. I'm still a little freaked out about lifting the board up, but I have to say the tips from Bill make them seem much more doable. My goal is to have them mastered by the time John comes back since that's what he was trying to teach me.

Doh!

My plan this morning had been to get up and go skate in Venice. However, i did a little entertaining last night, and plans changed. So instead, I got up a bit later and went to my mall parking lot that I've been skating. I was already feeling groggy and not really into it, but had to skate a bit to make myself feel better. I was out for about 20 minutes before Security pulled up to me and told me I couldn't skate there. The guy I talked to was actually really nice, and told me I could skate until 10-- just for today.

I tend to follow the rules, so I have a feeling that despite the fact that the other security guys have just let me be, I'm going to need to find somewhere else local to skate. I like Venice, but I can't drive there *every* day.

Early morning skating in Venice

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning to go skate in Venice. I really wanted to avoid people as much as possible. In addition, I decided I wasn't going down Washington again, since I carried my board part of the way last time. There were fewer people this morning and I got to park much closer.

Today, my goal was to work on going faster and going longer on one kick. This was sort of a frustrating challenge because I had to keep stopping myself to see how I was doing, or what I was doing wrong. I worked on this for about an hour and a half today, and I think I saw some improvement. I'm working very hard on not putting my whole foot down, but instead just putting my toes. I know, even now, when I put my foot down I know I'm partly stopping myself when I do that.

There is a slight hill near the skating area, and I went down that today. At the end of it, was an enormous mud puddle. Halfway down, I started going way faster than I wanted to, and jumped off the board, then watched my whole board get covered in muddy water. My board was unhappy with me.

It's amazing to me how much effort goes into skating. I didn't really realize that it really is a very physical activity until I started doing it. I notice it especially in Venice, where the sidewalk I'm traveling is pretty flat.

No injuries today. :-) And only one onlooker comment- asking me if I can do tricks. :-) Uh,no.

Why I'm skating

I didn't just decide to skateboard, like it would be some fun thing to do and I should try it. I don't think I put a lot of thought into it at all. Bill bought me a gift-certificate to Arbor, a skateboarding store at exhibitions this year. He told me that the store sold clothes too, so if I wanted to, I could just use my gift-certificate there. I think he told me I could do that if I was a sissy, but no matter, I don't think I would have gone that route, no matter what.

It's important to note here, that just a week before exhibitions I had been released from the hospital. I'd been in the hospital for an intestinal infection that was bad enough I had been ill for week sand in the hospital for five days. I'd never been in the hospital before and it was a big deal to me. It was one of the most frightening experiences I'd had in my life, even though I knew that I was going to get better. But I think the stay in the hospital made it clear to me that I was not invincible, that life is short and that frankly my priorities are screwed up.

I know how cliche and trite all of that sounds, but I felt all of those things really strongly for the first few days I was home from the hospital. Even though I started to become me again as I got better, I was still very aware that I wanted to approach life differently. So when Bill gave me the gift certificate, it made perfect sense to me. Despite the fact that I'm a 34 year old woman. That I've never skated before (except when I was very young and would ride my big brother's skateboard around the driveway.) Despite the fact that I generally don't like things with wheels.

My friends almost all told me I was crazy, some in nicer ways than others. At first, that annoyed me. I did soon realize that the people who were worried about me getting hurt had some basis for their concerns. I have gotten scraped up a bit.

The fact is doing something physical that's totally out of the norm is liberating. yeah, people look at me like I'm insane. But the only people I know who skateboard have all been super supportive and have all given me tips and lessons on skateboarding.

Besides all of that, I'm having fun. I wouldn't keep doing it if I weren't. I love the challenge of learning a little bit that's new everyday. I may never do a skating trick (although, who knows?) but the journey is fun.

Skateboarding

My first skateboarding lesson.

Skating in Venice

July 13, 2007
So after my most recent fall while skateboarding, Bill suggested I try skating at Venice Boardwalk. Which I frankly thought was quite crazy. I like the Boardwalk, but part of what I like about it is the fun shops and crazy people and going to watch the crazy people doing whatever they are doing. And since I've been avoiding skating in front of people, I had to think that going to the boardwalk might not be the best move. But, since Bill tends to be right a lot, or at least is able to convince me that he is, I decided I'd give it a try.

So I got up very early this morning, hoping to avoid both traffic on the freeway and people on the boardwalk. First thoughts- the sidewalk near Washington was rough. Call me timid, but I wasn't about to put my skateboard down on that. I was pretty nervous to skate in front of so many people, because I think frankly some of the people sleep on the beach and therefore never really go away. Once I actually put the board down, I was able to concentrate a lot more on skating and less on the people, except for the ones who insisted on stepping out in front of me. I nearly ran right into a lady with a poodle who decided to step in front of me. I understand pedestrians think they always have the right away. But I'm on something with wheels and I'm *clearly* not an expert yet. I managed to swerve and hop off the board to avoid her. I also had some fun when a group of twenty something guys decided to cheer me on while I was skating. The first time I wound up stopping right in front of them. Their response was to tell me I had to get back on. Then every time I stepped off after that, they would boo and tell me to get back on. Good that I've decided to ignore those around me...

The main thing I learned today while skating is that I have to get better at kicking. I'm having to do it a lot, and I'm sure a lot more than I should. Since I've started skating, I watch every skater I see, look at how they stand, how they push, how they turn. I saw quite a few skaters come by me today traveling pretty far on what looks like a pretty slight push.

The other thing I noticed, and something that I think I'm going to feel compelled to get involved in is the fact that I have been watching for a couple of weeks and in that time I have seen one female on a skateboard (aside from me.) This is something I'm going to explore as I skate more, and hopefully meet and talk to more skaters.