Stupid Hockey

I don't think I've blogged about it before, but I've had a theory for a long time that if you don't do something for a while, the first time you do it again, it will be surprisingly good. However, the next few times you do it, it goes kind of badly, more like you'd expect considering the time off. I call that first time the "stupid" time. Stupid-running, stupid-playing (for my trumpet), etc. It's like your body is in shock over what it's doing, so it stupidly lets you do more than you should (or, you stupidly do more than you really should).

I found out last night that the same applies to hockey. The last time I played, things went surprisingly well (stupid-hockey), but things were rough last night. I didn't skate well, I didn't play the puck well, my legs felt like crap, you name it... For whatever reason, a lot of the other guys seemed to be struggling too, so I don't know what the deal was.

I'm getting so close to passing my FMS test. The movements are all getting so solid, but I still can't quite get the seated rotation far enough without my form breaking down a little. Looking back, I feel like the progress I've made over the past two months is pretty remarkable. Some of the tests that at first seemed impossible I can do easily now. (I wish I'd taken some before/after pictures.) My goal was to pass all of the tests by the end of this month; I still think that this is achievable. Even if I don't quite make it by my target date though, I feel like I'm close enough that I have very little concern about moving forward to add some strength and endurance.