Put my skates on...

So I went to the doctor last week about my knee injury. It was good news all around. He said that he couldn't really detect any obvious tears or significant strain to the ligaments in my knee, X-ray showed no bony injury. Doc said that I should take it easy, continue taking anti-inflammatories, and continue applying ice to the area. He also said that I could start skating again when I felt like I was ready. He told me, a derby girl, to use my best judgement. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Like I have good judgement. I deliberately strap wheels to my feet and skate as fast as I can and intentionally run into other people.
Last week, I just wasn't up to the challenge. The knee was still fairly painful and a bit swollen, so I sat out practice, and just watched Manna beat my teammates into oblivion. I've never been so jealous of someone else's misery. I wanted SO badly to be out there. I need the work, I need the practice. With all the extra practices my teammates are getting in, my skill level has been surpassed by almost everyone in the league. Sad face.
So this week we had a league meeting, which went well, and were scheduled for scrimmage. I brought my gear, and geared up with the hope of being able to play, but the expectation that I'd warm up and probably sit out the scrimmage, most likely working as NSO.
I did a few warm up laps. It felt great to be back on my skates. I skated a bit faster, working crossovers, scissors, and a little weaving. If anything short of a full hit was going to hurt, it would be weaving, since lateral (side to side) motion was always the part that was painful after the injury. Felt pretty good overall, but just wasn't feeling ready to take a hit, especially considering we had a few visiting skaters from our sister league, and those girls hit like a train.
I made a mature and rational decision. I wanted to cry. I did work as NSO, sort of training another girl to keep score. the scrimmage was fun to watch.
I also worked as NSO for the final home teams game of our sister league, Wasatch Roller Derby last night. I was in a position that I don't often do, I worked as wrangler, catching penalties from the refs and making sure that the trackers got them down. This requires a lot of running around, and while a tough position, I feel like I did fairly well. I did make a few errors, but overall feel like I did okay. Our head NSO pulled me and a few other regulars aside and told us he was quite pleased with us overall and that he wanted to keep us as his primary NSO crew, and encouraged us to attend more scrimmages for WRD to get in more practice. A few of us are all interested in progressing to skating ref, but we will all be around for a while I think.
Went to the afterparty, had WAY too much fun. Sang a little Karaoke. Apparently, didn't make a total fool of myself. Showed someone something he didn't need to see, but really wanted to.
Tomorrow I have big plans to go skating in the park to test my endurance. I plan to take it pretty easy, but want to skate as long as I can and try to get some speed up.
We'll see how that goes before I decide whether or not I am up for skills practice with Miss E. Vil again this coming week. I hope so. I learned SO much from her last time, and look forward to another great session.