back on the ice

Unlike Kaili, I didn't rock my first hockey "game" of the year. It was a practice with scrimmage and I really appreciated having a coach. I'm at a stage where I can really benefit from getting instruction on even the most basic skills. I had a lot of fun, got good exercise and enjoyed seeing the crew again so you'd think the net effect would be really positive. It's odd how I'm perfectly content to do a lot of things half-assed (like housekeeping), yet the perfectionist in me surfaces at the strangest times (like hockey).

I forget during the off-season that I've only played a few years and was never really as good at it as I like to imagine. I get myself all wired up for the first outing of the year and, well, you can call me the queen of dropped passes and over-skating the puck. I can't count how many times I lost it in my skates and someone else took off with it.

Don't even ask about positioning. That's the challenge and beauty of a scrimmage, you end up playing everywhere at some point. I think I was playing them all at once and to put it kindly, I was a little random. I'm pretty lost playing defense but want to have a grasp on what I should be attempting at least. I love it that instead of discouraging me it only makes me want to put more effort into it. I'm looking forward to the next one.

For any of you who may question my sanity and readiness to play, Ezra is 6 weeks old now and I felt pretty good. I'm not too sore, two days later. My main weaknesses were my core muscles (obviously) which I could feel when we worked on shooting, and my overall endurance. I need basic conditioning, and honestly, couldn't all of us always use more of that?