Periodization and the Preseason - or: I Thought I Could Do Those Drills

So here we are in the Preseason, per Rob Bell's Periodization article I referred to for the Offseason. This should be a six week block of low-intensity technique work (drills), and cross-training (if you like that sort of thing). 

Just as I feared, the Offseason threw me out of my routine and into a funk-and-a-half. So it's taking me some time to get into the Preseason groove. Although there is something alluring about having nothing to do for half an hour except focus on rolling on one skate around half the football field (paved track). 

I am revisiting those Eddy Matzger workshop drills that improved my skating in leaps and bounds back in the day. It's somewhat demoralizing to realize my body doesn't remember how to do some of them any more, but it's encouraging to know that I can relearn them after about twenty minutes' focus in a completely desolate park where nobody can see me fall. 

Fear of falling ==>> Fear of trying.

Fear of trying ==>> Stagnation.

Stagnation ==>> Joylessness. 

Joylessness jumps back in at 'Fear of trying'.

On a side note: I have noticed being most fearful of dying at those times when I am most fearful of living. 

So interrupt the cycle and go out and fall! Make a complete idiot out of yourself! Fail miserably! But don't forget the helmet, wrist pads, elbow & knee pads, and mouth guard if you like your teeth... 

I am hoping to use this time to sort out why the heck I can't find my outside edges any more. Usually as training progresses each year and the summer months herald a combination of stronger muscles and less bodyfat, I suddenly find my outside edges. My skating technique makes sense and I feel myself making progress. I didn't feel any such progress this year and never got reacquainted with my outside edges. I probably need to move my frames for starters, and have been looking into buying some wedges, to see if that stops me from pronating like a n00b.

Drills, for those of you familiar with the Eddy Matzger Workshop/Clinic/Skatefarm:

- Glide on one skate for as long as possible, using hip placement to control balance. Be able to do it just as well each side (left/right). 

- Glide while rolling 'training wheel' (toe wheel) lightly on ground behind you, while attempting glide-leg knee-bend of as close to 90 degrees as possible. 

- Slow, exaggerated skate stroke, being mindful of each section: knee-bend, heel carve, hip placement/weight, recovery, set-down. 

It's good to revise these things while there's no reason at all to gun it. 

A post-Turkey, anti-shopping excursion today led us to skate a quiet trail by a shallow river, dotted with fishermen. Perfect!