And Time Does Fly!

Holy crap, a month since my last post?! Well let me tell you, last weekend (Feb 19/20) was A_MAZ_ING! Though incredibly exhausting too. Let's start chronologically.

I signed up to be our league's PR person, wrote a press release for the February bout, and on bout-week actually started getting some response! I was tasked with recruiting people to arrive at the practice space at 5:30am (yes, AM) to do a few live shots with a Fox 25 employee. It's like pulling teeth to get people there that early - but it seems there is that core group of physical volunteers (separate from the mental volunteers, though a couple overlap) that show up... and I was VERY glad to see them! The shoot went as well as anything can that early in the morning, we had about 8 people total (started with 5, highest was 8, ended with 5). Then a radio interview that afternoon was a bit of a downer at only about a minute long and 3 girls showed up for it (great attendance, crappy air-time for our effort). Friday night we were allowed to go to the MMA fight at our bout space for free and hand out flyers, one girl cancelled (migraine) but two others showed up and luckily said I didn't need to be there.

On to the weekend... Saturday started out with the motorcycle show. This is a big event that draws a decent crowd at the fairgrounds. I was a newbie barely allowed back on skates last year, but at least I knew what was going on. Bad news was that our track this year was TINY (the center portion was just about 4 feet wide, we had to slice to hold the inner track line!), there were large pillars in the center, and only a few feet outside the track before some small stanchions with caution tape. Poor Taryn was in charge of staffing the motorcycle show, and with a bout that evening no one was very keen on scrimmaging that weekend. We ended up with 12 girls at the high point, 7 at the low - which lead to EXHAUSTING 20 minute scrimmage sessions every couple of hours.



And, as a mentioned, that evening was a bout - it was an intra-league bout with Blue vs Orange. AND I WAS ON THE ROSTER!!! That's right ladies and gents, my very first real bout with lots and lots of spectators. I'm really really happy it was intra-league, if we had been playing strangers I may have fainted on the first lineup. The bout was fantastic!!! Even though our team thought we were the underdogs (12 vs 14 plus one of the A-team girls assigned to us was injured), the score stayed super close the entire time, and we eked out a victory (with a single-digit lead). I was so tired before the bout started that I wasn't planning on hitting the after party, but I needed to celebrate that win! B said he'd drive so I had many drinks from girls' flasks (or bottles - lol) in the bathroom and was pretty toasty. Leg wrestling and lap dancing were the highlights of the night. The party was over about 1:30 when some dude tried to start a fight. Buzzkill.


(I'm number 928.)

The next morning I was sore ALL OVER. I really didn't want to go back to the motorcycle show, but Wicked said she'd be there, and when I arrived (not really intending to play) there were only 8 other skaters so I jumped in. I was so sore for days afterwards, but I can only be left to assume that my ass will look PHENOMENAL after all that exercise.

Sick Slacker

It seemed my enthusiasm waned along with my immune system. I made it to practice on the 11th and 13th (Tuesday and Thursday), but dropped out early on Thursday. Made it to practice on Sunday but dropped slightly early to head to Tulsa for a late lunch and shopping with my friend. I was slightly snotty during the weekend, but it turned into a nagging cough. A fellow rollergirl who's also a coworker had to go to the ER to treat an athsma attack and after a few hours there I wasn't up to practice and headed home. Thursday's was cancelled because schools were out. The snow and ice had gone away by practice time but by then it was too late. And I didn't make it to Sunday's after a late night with the rollergirls. Soooo it's been over a week since I practiced!

Back to Saturday night. We were supposed to have our first bout of the season on Jan 22nd, but unfortunately our venue accidentally double-booked and had a wedding scheduled that day so we were forced to reschedule. The bar said they had already advertised our presence so we scheduled it as a fundraiser instead! Guess the number of cheese balls and win a prize along with a bake sale. :) I went all out derby style: fishnets with silver derby skinz and a see through tutu with knee high boots! Derby really has helped my self-esteem. I thought it would help me lose weight, but instead I've become more comfortable in my own skin(z)!

So tonight is back to practice! We've also been having a lot of drama (some very public in the form of an absentee team member posting hateful things about another) so we're having a touchy-feeling get-it-in-the-open meeting on Wednesday. Thursday practice is cancelled, instead we're headed to CiCi's pizza to bus tables in skates and hopefully make a little money!

Busy Bee!

Okay, so I am so immersed in derby that I've neglected my blog!

The news - I did not make Lightning Broads :( and am instead am listed as a Storm Chaser (i.e. Fresh Meat). I did find out that the girl who scored lower than I did but still made LB had a bit of a mistake on her scoresheet, listing her as having been on our "B" team last season (which she wasn't). Anyway, I'm disappointed, but am going to work harder to make it in March!

On the "work harder" front, in December I had the 7th highest ranking attendance (7 out of 36 isn't bad!) at 13 points (hours). Considering we didn't start practicing again until December 13th I'm really proud of myself! (I would have made 16 except I stayed home with my boyfriend's daughter for the last day she was in Oklahoma.)

This month I'm 3 for 3! Even though Monday practices don't count toward our attendance requirements (because they are new recruit nights), I definitely need the practice and was even sore after Monday.

Sunday there were only 5 of our girls there; two other newbies (Zooey & Mary), a returning girl (Balthazar) a visiting skater from Florida, one of our coaches (Anomellie) & Banana, a transfer skater who was a newbie trainer before joining our team. It was actually a very enlightening practice - I learned what really is derby stance, practiced plow stops, and we did a neat 3 woman waterfall exercise with both a jammer and a jammer with an assisting blocker. Our coaches really are wonderful for giving us the opportunity to practice every day of the week. I know it's frustrating when there are so few attendees.

Monday was newbie practice! I was elected to serve as one of three skater representatives (created this year to help solve problems amongst our team-mates) and so I was able to email the new girls and really try to make them feel welcome. Even though it was new recruit night we still had a helluva workout! Dodging newbies in itself can be trying when the track is full, but we did a lot of lunges, butt-kicks, high knees in addition to the falling and stopping they were learning.

Tuesday I was sore but made myself attend practice. Brian had us do lunges, butt-kicks and high knees as well as the crazy ab+arm workout. Then pace line that I dropped out of quickly (my toes felt really weird! and I couldn't make my legs do what I wanted them to), then a pyramid partner lap thing. I partnered with Jo, a gal who went through basic training with another team but then found out she was pregnant and had to quit. This exercise is where she does 1 lap, I do 1 lap, she does 2 laps, I do 2 laps all the way to 10 and THEN all the way back down to one. We were the last to finish, but by God we finished!!! When we were "resting" (i.e. the non-skating partner) Brian had us doing oddball calistenics. As if laps weren't enough! Next up was a 3-wide paceline, where we lined up on the track 3 wide and had to weave WITH our line through the other lines. Sweeny had to whip me when I was on the outside, I'm slow! Then scrimmaging, practicing partners. It was fun and I'm glad I stuck it out no matter how much I wanted to quit (and believe me, I did).

Today is a day of rest. WHEW! I am NOT attending off-skates workout!

Tryouts. Hmph.

So I went to practice last Thursday, and apparently the schedule was a bit rigorous early in the week because only 10 of us showed up! LOL! We did falls, of course, then packwork so we can establish some sort of cohesion and actually play together. 5 mediocre girls playing together can be more adventageous than 5 awesome individuals!

Anyway, during drills our team of 3 worked really well blocking Daniel, then were tasked with a play requiring one to booty block Rose and another to hit her. Um, I'm scared of hitting Rose. She weighs less than I do, but I just bounce off of her! And sure enough, that's what I did, came down on my knee and a shooting pain went through it. What's weird is that it was my RIGHT knee, not the left one that I hurt at the expo bout. I sat out the rest of practice, pissed at the world.

So Sunday comes around and I'm so nervous I don't know what to do with myself. I am VERY happy to make it through tryouts, but I have NO IDEA what my score will be. I don't even know how many laps I completed. But whatever, it's over! (I also managed not to have shooting pain through my knee until the next-to-last jam - and Mike our magical EMT hit a pressure point that made the pain ease up much quicker than normal. Let's not talk about the 1000 mgs of Naproxen I took to ease the pain in my back during tryouts.)

Yesterday I met with Ruby, Mya & GI at a sushi place to discuss marketing stuff before the team meeting. After the team meeting we got our results. 2.6 out of 4 and 24 laps in 5 minutes. Eesh. Our new rules specify that to transition from new recruit to Storm Chasers (our version of Fresh Meat) you must skate 25-in-5 and score a 3.0. Lightening Broads (LB), 26-in-5 and 3.1, Tornado Alley Rollergirls (TARG), 28-in-5 and 3.5. So if we were being strictly judged, I'd be back in the new recruit section. LUCKILY I know from the last tryouts that many many of our members are being placed on a team (LB or TARG) when they don't make the requirements, and have a 3 months probation period to bring up their scores, skills and speed to desired levels. I really really really hope they put me on LB probation, but we won't find that out until sometime Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed. :)

Here are my scores:
Basics: 2.75
Falls: 3
Balance & Agility: 2.85
Skating with: 2.37
Blocking: 2.16
Laps: 2.5
TOTAL: 2.6
(24 laps in 5, 5 laps in 1)

Tryouts this weekend - EEK!

Weigh-in went moderately well on Nov 29 - I lost 2.8 lbs for a weigh-in of 197.4. My situps and pushups went DOWN though, I think Aunt Flow had something to do with the situp decrease.

Monday we started practice up again. Each session begins with 30 minutes of "Brian torture" where we are made to complete strange exercises rumored to have come from the P90X routine. Mondays are "newbie" days, so we refined basic skills. We're also re-learning falls so that we land less on our knees (rockstars are now banned!) and it's very odd to do a superman / four-point fall that starts with landing on your wrists. We did this both Monday and Tuesday and I'm wearing holes in the side of my wrist guards already. Our new "go-to" fall is a barrel roll. Say what?! Fat girls flail, which is not conducive to barrel rolling. Tuesday we scrimmaged, though I dropped out after my knee cursed at me a little. I refuse to voluntarily hurt myself before Sunday!

I am so sore today. Every muscle in my body hurts. I haven't been this sore since starting derby. Stupid off-season.

And then tryouts are on Sunday. I'm still super nervous about laps. :( I will probably make the Lightning Broads team, but put on probation (which means in 3 months I have to try out again and show improvement in my problem areas).

Oh yeah, did I mention we are now renting a warehouse?! So practice is available 7 days a week, which is pretty damn awesome. The downfall is that the space is not climate controlled (but neither was our other location) and it's incredibly dusty. The floor is concrete and it's also slick, so we're encouraged to use hybrid wheels.

No Try Outs for Me

I can't honestly say I'm disappointed - because I am scared to try out! BUT it was my knee and not my fear of failure that held me back this time. I still haven't tried skating on the knee, but yesterday was our first day of our derby biggest loser type challenge! $20 to enter, and top 4 winners get a portion of the total (50/30/15/5 I think). And even after just situps and push-ups, my knee hurts today. Sooo brace is back on, naproxen on schedule. AND the worst news of the night (even though I knew what was coming) was the number on the scale - 200.2 lbs. All time high. Now I know why the people on the Biggest Loser cry when they see that starting number.

So here are my starting numbers:
Weight - 200.2
Waist - 42"
Hips - 46"
Situps - 24 in 1 minute
Pushups - 4 regular, 19 on knees in 1 minute

My goal is 5 lbs the first week, and 1.5 lbs each week thereafter.

Off Season?

Our off-season consists of one month without scheduled practice... but during our "off month" we have an expo / demo bout and tryouts! My good intentions of working out and skating every day quickly fell by the wayside - by the time the November 10th came around (the day of the expo bout) I hadn't skated in over 2 weeks. EEK! I was psyching myself out so bad that I almost didn't attend the bout.

But BOY am I glad I did!!! I was on the orange team, with V, Killa (last minute addition), Bella, Rican, Taryn, Electra, Southern Belle, Scarla (sick), and Zooey (her first bout!). (Other team Kitty, Rosie, Wicked, NiTrick, Tori, Banana, Sweeny, Malice, BABS, Hell'N.) Before the first jam we do an explanation of game play, and I thought I was going to vomit! Literally had to take my mouth guard out and stick it back in before the first whistle blue to really start the game. I'm definitely one of the worst players on the team, but I really worked my ass off.

Highlights:
- Keeping a fast pack with Killa
- Booty blocking a couple people including jammers :)
- With a push from V, shoulder blocking Hell'N (jammer) OUT and DOWN, right in front of B & Dad, it was AWESOME!!!!!

Sub-par performance:
- Being back-blocked (fallen on!) by mAlice, sticking a revenge hit and simply bouncing off of her!
- Falling over Killa and tweaking my knee. But I got up, caught the pack, but had to take corners with just my right leg because my patella was doing weird things. (Mike our EMT rocks though, he iced it and popped it back in.)
- Slow recovery after falling. I want to be one of those girls that bounce back up sprinting

So yes, I popped out my kneecap, and while it didn't hurt that night (just felt really strange), the night and the next day it was SORE. Luckily Friday it's back to feeling weird with twinges of sore, but hopefully I'll be good as new soon. I also broke a blood vessel in my right hand during first half. Wednesday night it looked like a lightening bolt (a sign of the Lightening Broads?!), Thursday it was a cool purple covering half of my palm, today it's fading fast.

League-wide tryouts are the 21st. Ummmm, EEK!!!!!