While Victor's lessons were going on, my husband started getting into it. Buying equipment, finding an adult team. Practicing.... practicing.... practicing.... since he had no real experience. He is currently on an adult team and he really enjoys it.
At one of these practices one of the other guys on the ice mentioned another ice rink he was unaware of. Ethan did some research and pointed out an interesting class they were offering. Co-ed hockey lessons for people over 18. It runs 5 sessions, each session ending with getting to play a game of ice hockey.
Lately I have been trying to think of things to do with my husband. Looks like we found it. So we signed up. We bought equipment. Let me tell you, putting on hockey equipment makes you feel RIDICULOUS.
This is not me, but I look just as goofy. The jersey I wear is red. Much cooler.
I should also mention- I have only been ice skating 3 times. Total. Ever. So I get suited up with some very friendly ladies in the locker room. All very kind, all inexperienced, nearly all with husbands who are on the ice.
I stand there, about to step onto the ice and start to think "What on earth possessed you to participate in this? You can't even skate?"
Then I step out onto the ice. I really can't skate. Just the first lap around was painfully embarrassing. So glad the helmet hides my entire head. I did not fall but I sure was slow and obviously unstable. My arms kept waving around to keep my balance. I probably looked more like I was doing an unsteady walk than skating.
Next up, skate as hard as you can to the blue line then stop. Same thing to the next blue line, then the red. Stop? Stop!? I am not stopping! That is pure lunacy.
After that humiliation came the drill where you skate hard, drop on your knees then hop back up and keep on skating. Right.... hop up again. Fast as you can. Don't wait for me guys.
Then came the awesome drill where you drop to one knee then get right back up. Yea, I'll get right back up as soon as I stop spinning in a circle.
Thank you again for a full face mask helmet.
I did eventually get more stable on my feet. I never did stop correctly. I did what the coach called "a whirly bird" which he specifically told us he did not want to see. But he kept on smiling and encouraging. I kept on crashing into walls or doing whirly birds, spinning around to stop.
We did games where we lined up and raced each other for the puck and tried to be the one to shoot it at the net. Due to the odd number of woman vs men Mr Coachman had me go over and over again each time there was a woman on the other team up.
I kind of enjoyed getting to go more than anyone else. It was probably painful for everyone to watch. I never fell down and I was gaining confidence. After it was over Ethan told me one of the guys on our team had told him " She just gets better every time she goes." Felt good to hear that.
We did lots of skating around. Lots of shooting pucks, passing pucks, stick handling and weaving. Then we got to play hockey.
It was awesome. Oh, I was still terrible. There is something so incredibly cool about being able to skate as fast as you possibly can after the puck knowing that even if you fall over it won't hurt. I did fall over a few times. At one point the person I was pursuing turned around at the last minute and we crashed right into each other. Hockey pads are great. The ice is cold so you don't get terribly hot. The pads stop so much potential pain. You just play.
Victor didn't like taking hockey lessons. He said he didn't like the drills. He loved it when they played real games though. I completely agree. Until we started to actually play, I had my doubts about the wisdom of participating. Once that puck dropped it was so fun. I can not wait until next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment