Random thought for the weekend.
I was getting ready for bed last night, and happened to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I wear jammies with short bottoms when spring comes (yeah, I know, wishful thinking but they were clean). There in the mirror was a girl with well defined thigh muscles. Wait, what? That can't be me. I have thick thighs. "Well padded" as my husband likes to say. Who is that girl with muscles and why is she wearing my jammies? Who knew, I might actually SEE some progress? I was getting discouraged since I hadn't lost a single pound, nope, not one. I have actually gained weight, making me give up on the Roller Derby Workout challenge (well, that and the fact that I couldn't do the workouts with my stupid knee and actually walk the next day).
Yay for muscle!
OH! And, congratulations to Wasatch Roller Derby for a crushing win at their first sanctioned bout of the season! Go Midnight Terrors!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Our first "take a knee" moment.
Last night the Red Rockettes had their first on-the-track nasty fall injury.
We were finishing off Basic skills testing for all the Toffuti Cuties (there are twenty-some-odd of us) and the lovely Cherri Chokehold somehow slipped and fell so hard on her backside that she heard a crunch in her sternum. She tried valiantly to get back up, but she had the wind knocked out of her and her chest hurt just to move. Bless her heart, she was so brave. She has sprained her ribcage and will be able to skate again once the pain subsides, but it was a sobering moment for all of us. We find it easy to forget how quickly rollergirls can be injured. We play for fun, not for an audience, so we tend to play a little bit easier. As a result, we tend to have fewer serious injuries and a more relaxed attitude.
Cherri stayed and watched the rest of the girls for a while, but eventually realized that she was hurting just too badly to hang around.
The rest of the ladies seem to have skated even harder after the fall. We all worked hard and have pretty much finished the testing. Everybody did so well. Then after we more or less completed the testing, we played a few games.
Did you ever play red light, green light as a child? WAY harder on skates. Then we played a game Wanton referred to as "Last woman standing". I did okay, for a while, I was able to stay in the running simply by outrunning everyone who tried to hit me or knock me out of bounds. Oddly enough, four of the strongest skaters all went down in a big pile almost immediately. In the end, there were about five women left after I went out of bounds (not without a fight). I feel like I did well evading people's hits, and escorted a few ladies to the outside boundary.
It was overall a good practice, with one horrifying moment.
Love you Cherri! Heal quickly girl, you still have to annihilate me.
We were finishing off Basic skills testing for all the Toffuti Cuties (there are twenty-some-odd of us) and the lovely Cherri Chokehold somehow slipped and fell so hard on her backside that she heard a crunch in her sternum. She tried valiantly to get back up, but she had the wind knocked out of her and her chest hurt just to move. Bless her heart, she was so brave. She has sprained her ribcage and will be able to skate again once the pain subsides, but it was a sobering moment for all of us. We find it easy to forget how quickly rollergirls can be injured. We play for fun, not for an audience, so we tend to play a little bit easier. As a result, we tend to have fewer serious injuries and a more relaxed attitude.
Cherri stayed and watched the rest of the girls for a while, but eventually realized that she was hurting just too badly to hang around.
The rest of the ladies seem to have skated even harder after the fall. We all worked hard and have pretty much finished the testing. Everybody did so well. Then after we more or less completed the testing, we played a few games.
Did you ever play red light, green light as a child? WAY harder on skates. Then we played a game Wanton referred to as "Last woman standing". I did okay, for a while, I was able to stay in the running simply by outrunning everyone who tried to hit me or knock me out of bounds. Oddly enough, four of the strongest skaters all went down in a big pile almost immediately. In the end, there were about five women left after I went out of bounds (not without a fight). I feel like I did well evading people's hits, and escorted a few ladies to the outside boundary.
It was overall a good practice, with one horrifying moment.
Love you Cherri! Heal quickly girl, you still have to annihilate me.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Finally a picture!
This was taken for a blog one of my derby sisters writes. The only good picture ever taken of me on skates, where I don't look like a confused hippo.
I love whips, see why?
Basic skillz assessment part one!
We started taking our basic skills assessments this week. It was intimidating, and exciting and scary and wonderful.
There are apparently 28 of us Toffuti Cuties in this session, and we all need to demonstrate safe skills to be able to scrimmage. We weren't able to complete the testing for anyone, and about half of us still have about half of the test to go.
I was in the group that mostly completed testing.
We started with 25/5 laps. I didn't get 25/5, I got 25/6. I shaved a full minute off of my last time, but I skated more aggressively than last time, weaving around the less stable ladies more. I always skate faster at the end of the evening, and I have been sick all week. No excuses, just a little info to put things in perspective.
Next my group did stops, T-stop, plow stop. I had never tried the plow stop before, and had no confidence in my ability to do them. I wasn't able to do them for the vets administering the test, because when I was getting the hang of it, two girls went down right in front of me and I had to dodge first then stop. I don't know if my vet was watching, but I DID do one as soon as I got past them. (Manna, are you reading this? Did you see?)
Then we moved off the track and let the next group do their testing, and we were working drills with some of the other vets. My knee was still bothering me and I wasn't really able to do a lot of the agility stuff. Toe stop walking and side stepping. I don't know if that was part of the testing or if we were just trying to keep warm while we waited for the next step of testing. I hope I will be given a chance to repeat that portion if it was part of it, because my husband and kids walked in right at the beginning of that part.
After that, we moved on to falls. One knee, two knee, 180's, and baseball slides. I hadn't done baseball slides either, because plow stops and falls were covered when I was out with my stupid knee. I feel like I did fairly well on falls, though I still need work on getting up. I'm still slow.
Then we got the whole group together and did whips and pushes. I gave some whips, received some whips, took a push, went out of bounds, but didn't fall, and just went right back in bounds without missing a beat. I love whips! I love watching the girl you've just whipped fly like the wind. I love the feeling of flying like the wind when you have just been whipped. Whips are cool. (side note, Bow ties are cool... mandatory Doctor Who joke, sorry, had to do it.)
Then we did a pace line, weaving and hitting each girl we passed. I took a few good hits, gave a few little baby hits. I need to work on using my awesome ass to hit with. I was given this gift, I need to learn how to use it. No more shoulders Indy!
All told, I knew going in that I wasn't likely to pass this go round, and we have a few more things to test, but I feel pretty good about what I have learned. I now know what I need to work on. I am SO proud of the other Toffutti Cuties. Some of those girls had never worn skates before this session started six weeks ago, and they were skating hard and getting up after falls. If you're not falling, you're not trying, and they work HARD. Love you ladies! (another side note, I fully plan to annihilate you Cherri, just as soon as we can both take it! So there! You started it!)
Let's see what next week brings.
There are apparently 28 of us Toffuti Cuties in this session, and we all need to demonstrate safe skills to be able to scrimmage. We weren't able to complete the testing for anyone, and about half of us still have about half of the test to go.
I was in the group that mostly completed testing.
We started with 25/5 laps. I didn't get 25/5, I got 25/6. I shaved a full minute off of my last time, but I skated more aggressively than last time, weaving around the less stable ladies more. I always skate faster at the end of the evening, and I have been sick all week. No excuses, just a little info to put things in perspective.
Next my group did stops, T-stop, plow stop. I had never tried the plow stop before, and had no confidence in my ability to do them. I wasn't able to do them for the vets administering the test, because when I was getting the hang of it, two girls went down right in front of me and I had to dodge first then stop. I don't know if my vet was watching, but I DID do one as soon as I got past them. (Manna, are you reading this? Did you see?)
Then we moved off the track and let the next group do their testing, and we were working drills with some of the other vets. My knee was still bothering me and I wasn't really able to do a lot of the agility stuff. Toe stop walking and side stepping. I don't know if that was part of the testing or if we were just trying to keep warm while we waited for the next step of testing. I hope I will be given a chance to repeat that portion if it was part of it, because my husband and kids walked in right at the beginning of that part.
After that, we moved on to falls. One knee, two knee, 180's, and baseball slides. I hadn't done baseball slides either, because plow stops and falls were covered when I was out with my stupid knee. I feel like I did fairly well on falls, though I still need work on getting up. I'm still slow.
Then we got the whole group together and did whips and pushes. I gave some whips, received some whips, took a push, went out of bounds, but didn't fall, and just went right back in bounds without missing a beat. I love whips! I love watching the girl you've just whipped fly like the wind. I love the feeling of flying like the wind when you have just been whipped. Whips are cool. (side note, Bow ties are cool... mandatory Doctor Who joke, sorry, had to do it.)
Then we did a pace line, weaving and hitting each girl we passed. I took a few good hits, gave a few little baby hits. I need to work on using my awesome ass to hit with. I was given this gift, I need to learn how to use it. No more shoulders Indy!
All told, I knew going in that I wasn't likely to pass this go round, and we have a few more things to test, but I feel pretty good about what I have learned. I now know what I need to work on. I am SO proud of the other Toffutti Cuties. Some of those girls had never worn skates before this session started six weeks ago, and they were skating hard and getting up after falls. If you're not falling, you're not trying, and they work HARD. Love you ladies! (another side note, I fully plan to annihilate you Cherri, just as soon as we can both take it! So there! You started it!)
Let's see what next week brings.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Derby, derby everywhere!
We all know how obsessive derby girls are. We love what we do, and it takes over our lives. I have spent the weekend (which for me starts on Thursdays) immersed in derby goodness.
Thursday night's practice was great. I love seeing how much my fellow Toffutti Cuties are improving, and I love feeling myself improve. We did hitting drills. I can't say how much I needed to hit something this Thursday. I had come from a long week of feeling taken advantage of and abused at work (which doesn't happen often but SUCKS when it does happen). I walked in to practice and strapped into my gear and skates. I felt the weight of the week lift from my shoulders as I stood up and started my warmup laps. I was free! I was fast! Nothing can stop me!
Hitting drills were great, we were paired up and instructed to practice hits, some of us did little bumps just to get the feeling of hitting and being hit. Some of us are still working on confidence and so we hit gently. I was first paired up with Blueberry Crush. We are pretty evenly matched though I out weigh her by probably 100 pounds. She is more stable and has been skating longer. We did some good hits, but mostly managed to continuously get ourselves wheel locked and landing in ungraceful piles on the floor, giggling the whole way down. I loved every minute. If you're not falling, you're not trying right?
Then I was paired up with Cherri Chokehold (Sorry If I messed up your name Cherri!) We are also fairly evenly matched. We did gentler hits, but managed good form while doing so. More giggling ensued. I needed some time with my girls to cool off from a tough week!
Friday night was spent catching up on all my derby bloggy friends' blogs. There are a lot of great ones out there. See? ------->
Saturday night I ditched out on our weekly gaming session, and went to the WRD season opener at the Salt Palace. I volunteered to act as an NSO for the bout, which I love to do, and missed after the split from Salt City. I was placed in what must be the awesomest job for an NSO, Lineup tracker. I wrote down the number of the blockers and pivot and jammer for each jam and kept track of trips to the sin bin (penalty box for those who didn't already know). This job is awesome, because once you write the numbers down, you can just watch the jam as long as you are paying attention to who's in the box. The sad part was that I had to sit far away from my league sisters, who had come in as a group and sat trackside together. All told though, it was great. I went to the afterparty for a while, and talked with some of the ladies I hadn't already met. I was able to talk to some girls I had grown to love in Salt City who had left for one reason or another or had come to cheer former teammates on. I love it! There were a few hiccups for me in trying to get there, as there was a hunting convention and a Utah Jazz game (basketball for my out of country or state friends)both going on and little parking was available, all was expensive.
Did I mention that I love derby?
Love to the Black Diamond Divas and the Hot Wheelers, who played a great first game of the season, and to the awesome junior derby girls who played an excellent min bout at halftime! Can't wait to do it again.
Thursday night's practice was great. I love seeing how much my fellow Toffutti Cuties are improving, and I love feeling myself improve. We did hitting drills. I can't say how much I needed to hit something this Thursday. I had come from a long week of feeling taken advantage of and abused at work (which doesn't happen often but SUCKS when it does happen). I walked in to practice and strapped into my gear and skates. I felt the weight of the week lift from my shoulders as I stood up and started my warmup laps. I was free! I was fast! Nothing can stop me!
Hitting drills were great, we were paired up and instructed to practice hits, some of us did little bumps just to get the feeling of hitting and being hit. Some of us are still working on confidence and so we hit gently. I was first paired up with Blueberry Crush. We are pretty evenly matched though I out weigh her by probably 100 pounds. She is more stable and has been skating longer. We did some good hits, but mostly managed to continuously get ourselves wheel locked and landing in ungraceful piles on the floor, giggling the whole way down. I loved every minute. If you're not falling, you're not trying right?
Then I was paired up with Cherri Chokehold (Sorry If I messed up your name Cherri!) We are also fairly evenly matched. We did gentler hits, but managed good form while doing so. More giggling ensued. I needed some time with my girls to cool off from a tough week!
Friday night was spent catching up on all my derby bloggy friends' blogs. There are a lot of great ones out there. See? ------->
Saturday night I ditched out on our weekly gaming session, and went to the WRD season opener at the Salt Palace. I volunteered to act as an NSO for the bout, which I love to do, and missed after the split from Salt City. I was placed in what must be the awesomest job for an NSO, Lineup tracker. I wrote down the number of the blockers and pivot and jammer for each jam and kept track of trips to the sin bin (penalty box for those who didn't already know). This job is awesome, because once you write the numbers down, you can just watch the jam as long as you are paying attention to who's in the box. The sad part was that I had to sit far away from my league sisters, who had come in as a group and sat trackside together. All told though, it was great. I went to the afterparty for a while, and talked with some of the ladies I hadn't already met. I was able to talk to some girls I had grown to love in Salt City who had left for one reason or another or had come to cheer former teammates on. I love it! There were a few hiccups for me in trying to get there, as there was a hunting convention and a Utah Jazz game (basketball for my out of country or state friends)both going on and little parking was available, all was expensive.
Did I mention that I love derby?
Love to the Black Diamond Divas and the Hot Wheelers, who played a great first game of the season, and to the awesome junior derby girls who played an excellent min bout at halftime! Can't wait to do it again.
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