And then there was skating

Having committed to this goaltending thing by spending so much money on gear, I was determined not to let myself defeat myself. That was one of the reasons I had been sure I couldn't do it in the first place; I have a habit of trying something new, and as soon as I'm not perfect on the first attempt, I get disgusted with myself and quit. I was absolutely determined not to let that happen with this. I wanted it too badly. And so, I set out honing what I figured was the first and most important skill; balancing on skates.

I should mention I'm something of a hockey fanatic. And that description doesn't even do my passion for the sport justice. I refer to summer as "the off-season" and spend most of it brooding and cursing the heat and lack of hockey on television. So it was no surprise to my close friends that I actually took a week off work to watch the Olympic games live. I timed it so that I caught the medal games for the women, and the final round and medal round for the men. But since the first games didn't start until 8 a.m., I decided to make good use of the time. I bundled up and brought my 15 year old discount "rollerblades" to a local park, and set to the task of becoming comfortable on skates. There's a mile and a half trail around this park, perfect for rollerblading, and at that early hour, no one was there to see me jerk awkwardly around as I got the feel for rolling instead of walking. On the first day I did one lap, but by the end of the week I had found the elusive center of gravity and did two laps with ease. Unfortunately, I never got the hang of skating backwards, which was disconcerting to say the least, since goalies tend to have to do that now and then.

Even when I wasn't out on the path as the sun rose, I was working towards my ultimate goal. As I watched the Olympics, I kept a sharp eye on the goalies at all times. I even strapped the pads on and tried to mimic what they were doing. Fortunately, I only did this while watching in my own house, not when I went to my best friend's house. She'd also taken a few days off that week and we watched some of the really important games together- Czech vs Sweden stands out for me, even though it wasn't a very good game since it was a complete rout.

(Next Up: Practicing... in front of PEOPLE?!? )