August 24th, 2018 @ 12:40 pm

remember how i posted that i got a skateboard a couple of months ago?… well, this summer was too humid and hot to go out and sk8.  that sounds dumb because skateboarding was basically born in hot ass SoCal, lol, but personally – after trying to do it 2/3 times in the heat, i decided to put it off for a while.  i hate summer heat, it makes me super nauseous and miserable.  however, the other day it was like 68° outside and cloudy, so i grabbed my board and went out.

as we do in 2018, i youtube and google searched stuff about and for skateboarding beginners beforehand.  i followed boarders on IG and slowly gained confidence.  i think what really gave me the oomph was watching alexandria’s video on boarding for 30 days.  she made me laugh sooooooo hard, inspired me the most and helped me get realistically ready goal-wise with the help of rachelle vinberg.  i watched that video a couple of months ago and even dm’d her on IG thanking her and we chatted it up.  she’s super sweet and i told her once i’m comfortable enough on my board, i’m going to harass her into going to a skate park with me, lol (which she agreed to!).

watching all of these videos, i retained certain information, but realized when i was finally out on my board that i did not pay attention AT ALL to stance or footing after pushing (duh, the most basic thing you need to know aside from pushing, lol).  luckily for me, my instincts kicked in and i figured it out on my own.

that probably doesn’t seem like an important triumph, but i feel like every little thing you overcome on a board is a triumph.

i remember from the videos i watched, that everyone was basically saying to just set baby goals.  even from other videos of pro-skater dudes, they were just like “just push around for hours, days, weeks”.  i don’t have the luxury of limitless time as a kid doing it, so now i have to as an adult and it’s not easy.  i just want to cruise, not do tricks or anything, but it’s still work to just learn how to do that as second nature.

my first actual triumph was kick turning.  i stood on my board and wanted to find balance before i even started pushing, but my first intended goal was to NOT baby push.

i remember there was a girl who used to skateboard around whitestone and she looked like such a vagina bc she just did these tiny little baby pushes the entire time (and didn’t cruise?).  i never wanted to be that chick.  so my first goal after my first triumph was then to big push.

i sometimes baby push on a start when i hesitate, but if i find myself doing that, i get off the board and start over.  i do notice that while i’m rolling after big pushing i’ll sometimes baby push to keep up speed, and i don’t really mind when i do it then?  i dunno why.

anyways, once i started pushing a little more naturally, i thought there was something wrong with me as to why i wasn’t able to just get my feet into position quickly enough to cruise.  i was working blindly, alone and youtubeless…  but then i realized that i could gain my balance and cruise after simply putting my back foot on the board and then turning my front foot right after, lol.  again, this is blaring common sense and a DUMB little triumph, but still a triumph.

i think when you go out with such confidence, it’s frustrating that it doesn’t just instantly click on how to skateboard.  it’s not like learning to ride a bike.  i mean i don’t remember learning to ride a two wheeler that clearly, but it’s definitely different and less difficult.

being that skateboarding is a big part of my subculture, i’ve always been a little envious watching my dude friends just throw a board down and go.  when you watch people that just know how, you feel like they were born doing it, like they’re natural pros.  i just figured after like two times i’d have it figured out, but it’s something you have to work on.

i also kept in mind that i would fall.  i think going in with confidence, your goal is NOT to fall…  i found myself thinking that way while i started, but that’s stupid.  you are going to fall and it’s normal and okay to.  i got over it and i scraped up my knee and did two split falls on my first session and didn’t feel stupid.  in the end, that left me with more confidence to just keep going.