The Heat is On.

For the first time, I had to drag my ass out to skate. The temp neared 100 today, and I just don't fare well in the heat. There is no AC in my home, so I spent the day in front of a fan with a pit bull panting beside me. I get depressed when I don't have a schedule, a routine, a purpose, which probably says something negative about me, but I'll pretend otherwise.

It had been two days since my last (awesome, bruise-filled, tear-up) night skating, which is close to a record for me. The only other time I think I took that much time off was when I fell on my tailbone. And maybe when I hit my head. That hurt. So, I lugged my sweaty self to the rink. Mood: Foul.

I took my sweet time suiting up, which takes a decent amount of time as it is. I took a phone call. I stretched. I got water from the fountain. I watched the basketball players miss shot after shot. Then I did a 5 minute endurance skate, and I use that word loosely. Endurance is relative, really. I only had half the rink and when you hit the middle there is some warping, so I wasn't going full-out. In fact I doubt I was even going half-out. But after a few minutes it felt so good to be out there! I am finding my feet, and some days little things just click into place. Like when I finally turned around. When my crossovers suddenly got a lot smoother. When I hit my stride one day and got going really fast...before falling on my tailbone and feeling like I could simultaneously pee myself or throw up. My skates are beginning to feel like a second skin.

At the end of my 5 minutes Koco and Laney-Dee showed up. Perfect timing. We did some suicides and some weaving and a few more endurance skates. The sweat was impressive.

But, somehow, somewhere in there between massive Poweraid consumption and catch-up on how much we hate Bele Chere, I began to feel better. As we stripped off out stinky knee gaskets and soaking wrist guards, I felt ok for the first time in a few days. Now I am back in front of the fan with italian ice and chocolate chip cookies because, damn, I deserve it.