skating

I’ve been putting off writing this post, but I can’t stand it any longer.

In my brief vacation from computers in general, I had a lot more free time and took a good look at stuff that I really wanted to do, but never did do because I’d be sitting in front of the ‘puter waiting for it to entertain me. Well, one thing I finally got off my buns and back into doing is skateboarding. Hard to believe, I know.

Believe it or not, I love skating more than almost anything. I used to skate back in the day, though I was still a beginner back then. I quit after a rather unfortunate accident hurt my head pretty bad, but I’ve always wanted to do it still.

What happened is the other Saturday I was sitting around trying to think of something to do, and as I was thinking about going back to do stuff that I always wanted to do, but never do, skateboarding came to my mind. The same old reason that I’ve been putting it off for so long popped back in my head (“You’re too old”), but this time I said, “Screw it, I don’t care … I enjoy it, I’m gonna do it.” So I went down to the local skate shop, plunked down some cash and bought me a brand new skateboard.

And since then, I’ve been trying to learn to skate all over again. This time I’m actually making an effort and not quitting and even though I realize I suck I’m learning, I am having the freaking time of my life. I’ve never had so much fun.

Sure, there are times when I feel a little awkward, mostly because I’m an old fart out here with the skillz of a 5 year old just starting out, but it’s such a blast that after actually getting out and doing a bit of riding I get over all the anxiety and just plain have fun.

I’ve been trying to go out for at least an hour every night after work, either around the streets near my place or up to Liberty Park, which is a great place to go. What’s really been cool so far is how quickly its coming back to me, and how I think I’m getting better at a decent pace. I’ve never been really good at sports at all, and I’ve always blamed it on poor coordination skills, but if I don’t think about it too much, I manage to do alright and not fall down. That’s really the hard thing there, is to just focus on doing your best and doing it over and over again to train your body. It’s all about patience.

One thing that has helped is YouTube. I can go on there and check out lots of videos of how to do stuff, and see where I am doing something wrong, like positioning my feet or whatever. Something else that has helped a lot is that one sport / activity that I’ve always been naturally good at is roller skating. I’ve been doing that for years on and off, and I’d actually say I’m a bit of a natural when it comes to that. I can boogie and zoom with the greatest of ease, so having that sense of balance has been a big help in learning to skate on a board. It’s easy for me to keep my balance when I’m just on a flat surface. Not a big deal overall, I know, but it gives me some confidence, at least. I’m going to have to start learning how to ollie pretty soon here, and it’s anything that involves air that makes me nervous.

Still, I’m loving every minute of it, and I’m not gonna quit this time. I’m having a ton of fun, and I see people do cool tricks and all I can think of is how awesome that must be to do. I think if I keep practicing every night I’ll be able to make a go out of it.

Another thing I did last night is I went and checked out some of the skate parks. I had no freaking idea that Utah had so many of them! Two, in fact, are really close to where I live. One of them is a block behind the grocery store I go to every week (Fairmont Park). Sheesh, I had no idea! I drove around last night trying to find the two closest ones and my eyes just about popped out of my head when I saw them both. They look to be a lot of fun.

So there you have it. As my little sister says, “you need to find a hobby that doesn’t involve a screen.” Right on. 🙂