weeks 5 & 6!

so, here's the big news....we've started HITTING!! after our monday newB practice romo cleared us to do contact drills, and it was so exciting! i am one step closer to getting out of my yellow shirt and being cleared to scrimmage with the big girls :)

eli wallop

week 5 was really, really intense for me. truth be told, i think i overdid it. i went to the practice on sunday, newb practice on monday, then practice tuesday AND thursday. i wanted to get in as many practices as possible since my mother would be in town the next week and i wanted to be able to take the week off and enjoy my time with her, but still get my minimum number of practices in. as a result, i was a total WRECK by thursday. i wasnt able to take the hits that the vets were giving us very well at all, and i was falling a lot. eli wallop and bevo kill explained to me that i was getting low, but giving myself a false sense of stability by putting my knees together, which in reality made me LESS stable. it was nice to get some useful, constructive criticism! however, being able to do contact has really taken things up a notch, and i totally overestimated by ability to fully participate at that many practices, especially when my body isnt used to this yet. it IS nice to not have to practice on my own off to the side so much though!

week 6 is really just monday, since i didnt want to miss a newb practice, and i wanted my mom to come watch and see what a practice is like for me. we worked on some more hitting drills as well as some situational stuff, such as when you THINK there is an opening in between two players on the opposite team, and they close up against you at the same time. working on some "dirtier" hits and situations is great practice for the real scrimmaging/bouting i will eventually be doing. we also worked on rotating blockers as you move around the track to protect the inside line. again, very useful! im really starting to get the hang of tactics and employing them as well.

i'll post again soon! theres a mens derby bout this weekend...very exciting :) the first local season of the st. louis gatekeepers!!

week 4

i know i'm super late with this post, since its already the beginning of week 5, but there's been a lot going on, although its been kinda low key all at the same time. hmmm... in short:

- monday night's newbie practice didn't happen due to a league meeting :( i was bummed since we were scheduled to start practicing hitting this night
- tuesday was a scrimmage in preparation for the upcoming bouts this past weekend, so i didn't attend because i'm not cleared for contact yet
- thursday wasn't very well attended due to the fact that everyone was resting up in preparation for saturday

chewblocka!!

sherry and i were two of the yellows that did attend thursday, however, and one of the highlights was that chewblocka gave us permission to start hitting each other a little bit! there wasn't too much we could do and we were both very careful so as not to improperly block and learn bad habits, or risk getting injured. but it was nice getting that little taste of hitting. we also did whips which i hadn't done before; previously i had only done hip whips. this is the "famous" one where you stick out your arm and the other person grabs onto it and you throw them forward like a discus, giving them a huge burst of speed. and, of course, where the movie "whip it" gets its name. that was fun too :)

then saturday came and it was time for the bouts!! i was working will call. i was a little stressed out about it beforehand but i just kept a smile on my face and before i knew it everyone was all checked in and watching the first bout and my job was pretty much over. i wish i could've had the chance to see a bit more of the bouts, but i'll just watch the online footage which bob so wonderfully records for us. every time i watch derby i learn something new, so the more i watch, the more beneficial it will ultimately be for me!

sunday was the first time i attended a travel team practice. probably wasn't the best timing on my part since they are preparing for a bout this upcoming weekend in colorado (and therefore wasn't able to participate in their multitude of contact and strategy drills), but i got a chance to warm up with them and get some good practice in on my turnaround toe stops, jumps, and weaving.

wait until you guys read about what i did THIS week...coming soon! ;)

week 3: and so it begins...

this week was....weird. a lot of highs and lows for me personally. i went to monday practice with lower back pain that had gradually gotten worse throughout the day, which i was blaming on PMS even though back pain is never a symptom of mine. so i just popped some ibuprofen and headed to practice even though i felt like ass.

we did a quick off skates warmup that included skipping and jogging and some stretching, and then we put our skates on. i knew right away that something just wasnt right. my feet felt like they weighed about a hundred pounds each and the knee falls we did which are normally easy for me (although quite tiring, dont get me wrong), were suddenly REALLY difficult. we did some running on our toe stops which is very useful for a quick start. i need a lot of work on that because i am a super slow starter. i was a slow starter when i ran the sprint in high school too, so i was excited that we had that opportunity. but i could barely even stay balanced on my skates!!...and that's when i realized i couldnt feel my leg.

i sat down and squeezed my left buttcheek and upper thigh and couldnt feel it, and although i may have looked chill about it on the outside, on the inside i was FREAKING OUT. numbness is a very scary feeling! then i wanted to cry, not because of the pain, but because i was worried i would have to miss practice! then i felt outright angry. i took my skates off and watched the rest of practice. at least i had managed to get an hour of skating in, and even just watching can still be helpful.

i was feeling very upset about my injured back on tuesday, but then when i got home from work i had some very exciting news waiting for me on our league's forum: romo said that all of the girls who skated in practice on monday were cleared to skate in the st. patrick's day parade! OMG! i had already volunteered and had figured i'd be walking, since the general rule is that you must be scrimmage eligible to appear on skates at any ARRG event (we are still quite a ways away from scrimmage eligibility). but i guess romo was so pleased with our overall progress that she gave us the go-ahead! so next weekend i will be making my big "rollergirl" debut ON SKATES for the very first time. i couldn't even tell you how excited i am for all of st. louis to see me skating around :)

the girl in the front is doing great derby stance!

i went to a chiropractor for the very first time the next day, and went again today. i went to practice straight after my chiro session! the doctor said it was okay though, so i went ahead and did it. i could feel the back pain starting to flare up but i know its because im not skating in the proper stance. derby girls have to "skate low" so they have a lower center of gravity and are harder to knock over. what i have been doing is bending at the waist, which was putting a lot of stress on my lower back. what i need to be doing instead is bend at the knees. its REALLY hard, especially since i am so tall, and it makes my quads burn like hell, but they are a lot more capable of handling stress than my poor back, so i guess i am now forced to use proper derby stance! i took a little break, stretched it out, and re-entered the track with improved posture and i could notice the difference almost immediately.

the rest of practice was good. there was a crazy endurance drill where you skate two laps fast, and then one lap squatting, and then one lap doing alternating knee falls. we did that whole sequence ten times....woooo, did my legs hurt after that one! we also did some light beginner blocking exercises by skating along the wall and purposely bumping ourselves into it...i was glad i had my butt pads on because otherwise i would have some mighty fine bruises tomorrow! we also worked on our turnaround toe stops and 180 degree falls. now i am ready to take my weekend to rest and enjoy mardi gras with my friends!

coming up next week: our first REAL blocking exercises. i get to HIT PEOPLE!!

summary of week two

this week, for whatever reason, wasnt as intense as last week. i made it past thursday with minimal soreness! hooray! but also boooo, cause it means i probably wasnt working as hard as i shouldve been....

my new wheels: radar tuners!

monday was unfortunately a shorter practice, because our league holds a scrimmage once a month for the recreational league, which always falls on a monday. so we started the night on our skates and quickly ran through our essentials (stops and falls), and then worked a bit on turnaround toe stops, which was especially nice, since it was a review after working on it a LOT at thursday practice. a mere two months ago i thought i'd never be able to do them, but im learning quickly, and its nice. unfortunately for whatever reason i felt sluggish that night and probably didnt skate to my full potential; i told a couple of people my feet felt like molasses. to help combat this i also ordered some slicker wheels from romo, since my skating skills are better now and i dont need as much grip. the floor at the skatium has also been redone and is not quite as slick as it was before, making my current wheels feel kinda slow and "heavy". who knew wheels could make such a big difference?

after the short practice was the rec bout. id been to several as a pre-newbie but this time i actually got involved, which i was REALLY excited about! i was a penalty timer, which means i sit in the penalty box and time skaters as they enter the box; they have to sit there for one minute. i tell them when ten seconds are remaining that they may stand, and when they are done and may re-enter play. it was kinda cool seeing the other side of the sport a little bit and eventually when my body cant handle the constant intense hits that are required of you in derby, i would love to be a skating ref!

skating backwards...where are her pads??

thursday's practice was HARDDDD. romo led it and she loves to skate backwards, so guess what we did? we skated backwards almost the entire time. my feet, especially the arches, were just KILLING me. i know i feel nervous skating backwards since i cant really see where i am going even when i look over my shoulder.  therefore, i dont feel as confident, causing me to use my feet to grip the bottom of my skates, causing a lot of cramps and pain. im working to try and unlearn that and relax my feet, and i can tell it is going to be one of my biggest challenges. i was able to pick up my speed a bit though, and i feel a bit more confident now.  the last part of practice was some positional blocking and using "lanes" on the track to create a wall that the jammer cant pass. of course all of us yellow girls couldnt do any REAL blocking, but it was nice to learn and go through all the motions and have a bit of strategy in our practice.  i got to feel a teensy bit of what contact was like when one of the girls kinda forgot herself and started shoving me around a bit. romo yelled at her that i was in yellow and she stopped, but hey, i am okay with contact! i can hardly wait to start hitting people!!

i skipped thursday practice, but it was a scrimmage and i felt i could use the rest. i did go to a local skating rink on wednesday though and skated around with a friend. any practice is good practice, right?

first league meeting

whether people realize it or not, there is a lot that goes into making roller derby actually happen. most people see cute girls skating around in fishnets with their intimidating names and kinda assume that's the end of it. when in fact, that is the end RESULT of a lot of very hard work behind the scenes. as a member of this league, as scary as this may sound, i am also now a part-owner of the league. scary, but cool! the fact that modern roller derby is "for the skaters, by the skaters" is one of my favorite aspects of the whole thing.

yesterday was my very first league meeting. we have them every other month as a way for all of us to remain on the same page, discuss concerns, give praise, share new ideas, revise policy, etc. i never realized roller derby has SO MANY committees! as a newbie i was immediately put on bout committee, meaning that on bout day, i am one of the people who makes things run smoothly, like setting up seating, taking tickets, etc. i kind of thought that was the main "chunk" of the organizational part of derby, and how very wrong i was! even when the girls aren't bouting, there is a lot that needs to be taken care of, such as publicity, merchandise, coaching, recruitment, events, insurance, safety, sponsorship, charity, graphics, website, etc.....whew! thats a lot of stuff!!! i was kind of intimidated at first, but realized that its not on my shoulders to do ALL of it; i just need to do my share. and if everyone does their share, we will thrive as a league.

the meeting was long, but left me very excited to be a member of this league. as a two-week old newbie, there isn't much i can do (yet), but in a few months i will have voting rights and i will really be able to get myself actively involved in running ARRG. for now, i can just be helpful and assist with as much as possible. i've flyered at events, talked to countless people about what modern derby is all about, pimped our league on my facebook page, and in a couple of weeks i will even be appearing in my very first parade as a rollergirl! i just need to figure out what my skillset is and how i will be best able to help the league, and join the appropriate committees. because if we didn't take care of this league, it wouldn't exist! and at the end of the day, ARRG exists because we love to skate, right? :)

coming up: second week of practice, st. patrick's day parade, and our march bouts!

first week of practice

so, umm....i currently can't move. let me take the following few paragraphs to explain why:

monday was our very first "official" newbie practice. it was great!! romo and some of the other girls came and brought us cupcakes and dressed up in tutus and capes to welcome us. that was a very sweet gesture :) the practice was good and we worked hard, and it was like an extension of the stuff we worked on at bootycamps. something new i worked on was cross-steps. this particular exercise is very helpful for me because i've noticed that during my crossovers my back foot gets kinda lazy and doesnt help propel me like it should, and since the back leg is really the only thing moving you forward during cross-steps, it really helped to isolate the skill i need to work on. but we continues doing falls and stops and jumps. for the first time, i jumped over a 6" cone!! before we were only jumping over the little "disc" style cones. since jumping was one of the things i was most scared of, it's really exciting to see myself making progress in that area.

artemischief

well, since monday nights always leave me pretty tired/sore, i felt kind of insane going to a league practice the VERY next day. but, as a member of the league we are required to attend at least 7 practices a month, which means i can't just rely on my monday newB practices. so i went, and the first 45 minutes were an off-skates workout, which was led by one of the league's top skaters (in my opinion), artemischief. teel had warned me in the past that she was insane, but i didnt realize how insane until last night. her workouts are TOTALLY BRUTAL. i was seriously about to vomit and had to quit halfway through; i still had another 2 hrs of skating ahead of me!

so i caught my breath and got my skates and gear on, and then julia ghoulia took over for regular practice. that was also tough. much tougher than newbie practice! its obvious the veterans have been doing this for a while and as a result, are much more agile, faster, and in WAY better shape than i am. i was huffin' and puffin' all over the rink, but i did my best to keep up. then a little later the newbies went off to the side and worked on jumping, weaving, lateral movement, and hip whips while the vets worked on contact-based drills. there were 8 out of 15 newbies there, so it was nice having some company. a few of the vets even came over to check on us from time to time to give feedback and some instruction. i really love the support and appreciate that they are looking out for us, the future of ARRG (as romo always puts it).

so i woke up this morning, after two straight nights of practice, and i felt like absolute hell. it took a serious amount of motivation to even get my body out of bed, thats how sore i was! but no matter how much it hurts, its a good kind of hurt, cause i know it's from working hard. still trying to decide whether or not i'm crazy enough to attend thursday practice as well. guess we'll see how i feel tomorrow!

february '11 bout

last night was my first bout as a member of the league! i was very excited to make my big "debut", but little did i know that would become much more literal than i had imagined it to be...

these bouts were the beginning of the ARRG season playoffs: RSA (rebel skate alliance, and our newest local team) vs the M-80s, and the Smashinistas vs the Stunt Devils. I knew it was going to be a great couple of bouts before i even made it to the all-american sports mall (where all our bouts are held); i had heard that we had completely SOLD OUT!! there's been a few sell-outs before, but it was always because of ticket sales at the door. this time, we were sold out through online presales! our cap is at 1100 fans, so it's pretty incredible to realize that derby has become so popular, and that our sport just continues to thrive and grow every day.

didnt want to pull a "christina"!

i made it to the venue early, since i was volunteering. i signed in and was shown to the merch table (yay! as a member of the league, im allowed to handle money now!), and stayed there for about twenty minutes until trippity hooha, one of the bout coordinators, pulled me aside. i TOTALLY thought i was in trouble for something, but it turned out that she wanted to know if i would be okay with singing the national anthem! it was pretty cool that they put so much faith in my singing talents, especially since i'd never formally auditioned or anything; i had merely expressed interest. so here i am, about to sing in front of over a THOUSAND people, and all i can think about is "i hope i dont forget the words!"

of course it went great, and i did fine (although i probably couldve done a little better, but it was a LOT of people, okay??), and i got a lot of compliments afterwards. but now, there were bouts to watch! i finished up my merch table duty and watched the second half of the first bout as well as all of the second. i feel like every time i watch derby (and i've watched a LOT, believe me) i learn something. i'm really starting to understand the fine points and strategy of the game better now.

the afterparty was a lot of fun as always, and i was able to talk derby with lots of different people. i got to hear some feedback about my tryout from one of the judges, and she told me she could tell that i had been working very hard on my skills, and that i was ahead of the pack as a result. that was really, really nice to hear. i just have to keep working hard and show everyone in the league now how passionate i am about this, and when the time rolls around, they will be fighting to draft me! haha

first newbie practice tomorrow...so excited!