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trilliumgrlBoy this has been a long weekend. 1 skating meet and 2 parties make for a busy girl. For those of you who care, here's how it went:
Saturday- I got up at 3:00 AM in order to leave for the meet. Doors opened at 5:00 in Lynwood and I was in the first block of races (the 3rd race in fact), so I had to be on time. Most of my stuff was packed on Friday evening, so I showered, put the stuff in my cooler, and left for Lynwood with my mum driving. My first race was a 20 lap (2000m or 2 km for those who don't know) and it blew. I came off the floor nearly in tears because my knees decided they didn't like me at about lap 5. Buy the end I thought that my knees were going to give out from under me. After that I got a nice long break and I then raced a 5 lap (500m or .5 km) race, which was okay. I didn't get a great start, but I got some ideas on what I need to work on. In both of these races I took third because on or the other of my competition got themselves disqualified. Silly girls.
We got home from Lynwood at about 1:00. On the way home I stopped at 2 different sports stores. "Why?" you ask. Simple my helmet, which has held together for at least 3 seasons of usage decided to start coming apart at the meet. No helmet, no race, hence a new helmet was needed. After all that excitement it was time for a nap a then I was off to the Sag party at Tina's place. I wasn't able to stick around long, but it was nice to see a few people I hadn't seen in a very long while. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I really needed sleep before Sunday.
Sunday- I got to sleep in a whole half hour, since I didn't have to be in Lynwood until 5:30 (hey you take what you can get). The day started with the last of my individual races, the 10 lap (1000 m or 1 km), which proved that I really need to work on my start. Then the real fun began with the relays.
For those who don't know, in speed skating relays you don't pass off a baton, but rather you shove your partner. Basically you pass off your momentum, which is fun, yet scary. The first relay was the 4 mix (2 guys, 2 girls). It was pretty funny, with 2 of the 4 teams from Southgate standing on the line arguing about whom would be starting the race. Therefore, I somehow ended up starting (bad idea!). Needless to say we got our butts kicked. Next up was the 4 girl relay. Since there were only 2 teams entered in this race, both from Southgate, we got the race distance cut in half (5 laps once rather than 5 laps twice). My team took second, but I raced really well, so I feel like I earned the pretty shiny I got from that race. The next race was the 2 Mix. Here I relearned an important lesson: one must practice with ones relay partner before the meet. My partner and I missed all of our tags and I ended up getting pushed into the ground. It blew, but I came away from that race with and important (yet painful) lesson.
After all that racing ( I had about 10 to 20 minutes between races, at the most). I went home at about 1:00, had a long nap and then attended the annual Southgate Speed Team Christmas party. It was quite fun. We sat around, laughed, discussed the meet (in particular gossip and who fell and why), teased each other, and generally chilled. It was a nice ending to a very long weekend.
Saturday- I got up at 3:00 AM in order to leave for the meet. Doors opened at 5:00 in Lynwood and I was in the first block of races (the 3rd race in fact), so I had to be on time. Most of my stuff was packed on Friday evening, so I showered, put the stuff in my cooler, and left for Lynwood with my mum driving. My first race was a 20 lap (2000m or 2 km for those who don't know) and it blew. I came off the floor nearly in tears because my knees decided they didn't like me at about lap 5. Buy the end I thought that my knees were going to give out from under me. After that I got a nice long break and I then raced a 5 lap (500m or .5 km) race, which was okay. I didn't get a great start, but I got some ideas on what I need to work on. In both of these races I took third because on or the other of my competition got themselves disqualified. Silly girls.
We got home from Lynwood at about 1:00. On the way home I stopped at 2 different sports stores. "Why?" you ask. Simple my helmet, which has held together for at least 3 seasons of usage decided to start coming apart at the meet. No helmet, no race, hence a new helmet was needed. After all that excitement it was time for a nap a then I was off to the Sag party at Tina's place. I wasn't able to stick around long, but it was nice to see a few people I hadn't seen in a very long while. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I really needed sleep before Sunday.
Sunday- I got to sleep in a whole half hour, since I didn't have to be in Lynwood until 5:30 (hey you take what you can get). The day started with the last of my individual races, the 10 lap (1000 m or 1 km), which proved that I really need to work on my start. Then the real fun began with the relays.
For those who don't know, in speed skating relays you don't pass off a baton, but rather you shove your partner. Basically you pass off your momentum, which is fun, yet scary. The first relay was the 4 mix (2 guys, 2 girls). It was pretty funny, with 2 of the 4 teams from Southgate standing on the line arguing about whom would be starting the race. Therefore, I somehow ended up starting (bad idea!). Needless to say we got our butts kicked. Next up was the 4 girl relay. Since there were only 2 teams entered in this race, both from Southgate, we got the race distance cut in half (5 laps once rather than 5 laps twice). My team took second, but I raced really well, so I feel like I earned the pretty shiny I got from that race. The next race was the 2 Mix. Here I relearned an important lesson: one must practice with ones relay partner before the meet. My partner and I missed all of our tags and I ended up getting pushed into the ground. It blew, but I came away from that race with and important (yet painful) lesson.
After all that racing ( I had about 10 to 20 minutes between races, at the most). I went home at about 1:00, had a long nap and then attended the annual Southgate Speed Team Christmas party. It was quite fun. We sat around, laughed, discussed the meet (in particular gossip and who fell and why), teased each other, and generally chilled. It was a nice ending to a very long weekend.
