Far Too Long.....

So I have been away from blogger for far too long and missed writing about some of the most amazing things that have taken place in the last few months. So I guess I will just write about the most amazing thing that has happened. I am no longer FRESH MEAT! That's write I graduated and I am now a rookie along with my 3 amazing freshie sisters. Seriously, I love them each so much. It was such a huge deal for us. Immediately following graduation we also got to play in our first real bout against the Pinellas County Roller Girls. Don't we look cool.

We all got a lot more playing time than I expected and they even put all four of us in at once to block and they didn't even score one point. I am so proud of my derby sisters. This was the last game of the season and also our only win this season. It was a really amazing feeling to be part of it all. I just remember every part of my body trembling after going in the first time. It was an amazing rush and it is amazing how you just seem to remember to do certain things. There is so much more that has happened but I will save that for another post so I am not overwhelming you with information and text.

Roller Derby Catch Up!

Okay so I had this grand idea of blogging about each practice. Well, to be honest that is going to get really boring for you. Our FM coach has missed a few practices and we have had a few canceled due to the last bout, so we have been working on a lot of the same stuff for a while. I can only say so much about crossovers and tstops.

So for a quick catch up of practices. Nothing new has been taught or learned except for last night we learned how to do turnaround toe stops and we got into some pack skating. I am feeling like this class started at a really bad time for the league and there hasn't been a lot of time devoted to us.

The bout: What a weekend that was. We spent about 12 hours getting everything set up over 2 days. I worked the merch booth with April. It was a good place to be. Got to see all of the action. :) Watching the OSDA game was very interesting. The have 4 quarters instead of 2 halves and the pivot can become the jammer at any point without having the swap helmet panties. Now, one to our bout. It was bad, really bad. The first 5 jams or so, our jammer ended up getting sent to the penalty box for various reasons. Also, our best blocker was sent to the penalty box for the first 3 jams I believe. So it started out really rough for us and I think we had a hard time coming back from that. There was also lots of things that were not called and maybe some things called that should not have been, but that's sports. We also beat ourselves. Lots of track cutting penalties and a no mouth guard penalty. All very preventable and since these were all penalties on our jammers they were very detrimental. On the upside there were lots of big its and it was a very passionate game. One of the best that I have seen and one that derby fans love!! :)

I am going to stop here. I have another post to rant about practice, but I will save that for another time.

Fresh Meat: Week 1: Practice 3

So I know I am way behind on my practice recaps, but this particular practice was way less than interesting and for the most part not effective at all. So I showed up for practice Friday and there were maybe 4 people there. That number increased slightly, but not much at all. There was a lady there that was showing the fresh meat stuff and while she is a good skater, she knows nothing about derby. She used to be a figure skater and where a figure skater keeps her weight and where a roller derby girl keeps her weight are completely opposite. There was a lot of random skating and no specific instruction. Although, I did get to see Cam and Bo do some leg whips. If you have never seen one...check out youtube. So that was Friday. Nothing special.

Fresh Meat: Week 1: Practice 2

So practice was much, much better last night. I feel like I got so much more out of practice last night than I did Monday night. GB our fresh meat coach was not there so we were left with the speed skating coach and his brother. They have both been skating for longer than I have been alive. It was nice. They broke things down into smaller parts. Since there were only 5 of us in the pond there was a lot of 1 on 1 time. I feel like my crossovers improved quite a bit, enough that I finally started to realize just how slippery the crappy wheels on the crappy skates I have are. We did more of what we did on Monday; crossovers, tstops, falls & skating on one foot. He had us trying to change direction on one foot which really made me nervous, but I was able to do it pretty well. Candy was there to remind us to stay in derby position. That is one thing I really need to work on. I always feel like I am pretty low and then Candy yells get lower. It is so hard when you can't see yourself. That was the other thing I liked more about this practice than the last one. We were constantly receiving feedback from someone. It's nice to know when you are doing something right or wrong. On Monday we just skated in a circle for hours with out anyone saying anything other than let me see you do a crossover, which, IMO isn't very helpful. If there is no one giving you any feedback are you to just assume that you are doing it right. I guess this week I will be breaking down and ordering some pads. My knees are taking a pretty bad beating from all of the falling with my crappy pads. I am feeling less tired today than I was Tuesday after practice. Looking forward to Friday's practice...wondering what we will be doing. If we will be skating with the big girls. Loving it!!!

Fresh Meat: Week 1: Practice 1

So last night was my first night of Fresh Meat practice with the Lakeland Derby Dames. I had been awaiting that day for so long. Skating as much as I could and learning as much about roller derby as I could. I was pretty excited when I woke up at 9 yesterday morning knowing that in a few hours I would be a my first practice. However, as the day went on the excitement settled and nerves began to kick in. I could feel my stomach forming knots, my legs were trembling, and I couldn't focus on anything. I am not really sure what I was making me so nervous...I guess it was just a combination of things...Had I remembered to pack all of my gear, what would we be doing, was everyone going to be better than, were they going to be nice? I finally arrived at practice at 7:30 got all of my gear checked & paid my dues. Everything was good except I need to try and reform my mouth guard. Finally, 8:00 time for us to start practice. GB our fresh meat coach just had us start skating around in a circle for a bit, just to see our skill level out of the gate. She then when over double knee fall, derby position, and t-stops with us. We stretched, had very few water breaks, & skated around in a circle for what felt like forever. It was exhausting and to be honest a bit boring...I am sure it will get better. I got used to all of the fun drills that April and I were doing that just skating in a small for almost 2 hours isn't very fun. I know, I know, it's not supposed to be all that fun in the beginning...it's hard work! The one thing I am thankful for is that I am not sore....not even a little (well, except for that blister thing on my toe). I guess all of the skating and working out I have done for the past 1.5 months has paid off. I am looking forward to Wednesdays practice and what it may bring with it.

Roller Derby

It has been a while since I posted I have just been so busy with Nerd Wars, Work, Life, & Roller Derby. I went to my first Roller Derby Bout on April 3rd. It was amazing!!! I knew that it was either going to make me terrified to play Roller Derby or more eager than ever to play....and well, I am more eager than ever to play. It was so exciting to watch. The Lakeland team is still young and not as good as some of the other teams, but they seem to have lots of heart and I love that. The are fighters. They didn't do so well the first have of the bout, but came out swinging the second half of the bout. It was so much fun to cheer for them and there were a few moments that I actually had goosebumps. Yep! Goosebumps were the moment that I knew for sure that this was for me. I have been skating, skating, & more skating. It has been really great getting prepared to do this with April. It is so much easier to stay motivated when there is someone doing it with you. Also, thank you so much to Walt! He has been fantastic. Going everywhere with me to skate, getting up at 8am to skate, teaching me how to do things on my skates, seriously he has been fantastic!!! ONLY 26 DAYS LEFT until recruit night. We were really lucky to have Candy (a real roller derby girl) come out on Sunday and show us some things. We worked on T-Stops, single knee falls, double knee falls, single knee 180 falls, crossovers, and just skated. I did learn that having better knee pads is going to be really important as I had a pretty good bruise on my left knee after all of the falling drills. She said that we are well ahead of most of the Fresh Meat that comes in. That was such a relief to hear. We really have been working hard and learning so much about roller derby. Yesterday we skated some local walking/biking/running trails. It was a nice change from just skating around in a circle at the hockey rink. I also learned that our balance is much better than we gave ourselves credit for. The hockey rink is smooth a usually free of debris, but the trails not so much. They were full of rocks, leaves, acorns, sticks, and the surface itself just wasn't that pleasant, but I did have a blast skating the trails nonetheless. We must have tripped and stumbled 50 times each and well, there was only one actual fall. This makes me hopeful that we will be good at taking a hit and staying on our feet. I am now hoping that my endurance will be improved enough over the next 26 days so that I won't feel completely miserable after my first Fresh Meat practice. My goal is to get in 30 minutes of cardio everyday for the next 26 days.

Lots Going On!

So it has been about 3 weeks since I last posted and it seems like a lot and nothing at all has really happened. I feel like there is big new exciting news to tell, but past that I am not really sure what to say. So the big exciting news......ROLLER DERBY!!!! Yep, that's right I am going to be going to recruit night for the local roller derby team on May 9th. I am excited and nervous. My skating skills need a lot of work between now and then, but the good news is I have a buddy. April is also going to join me in roller derby...so we have been working out skating schedules and learning as much as we possibly can about roller derby. I am excited to being playing a sport again. I have played sports as far back as I can remember and have always had a blast playing them.

Let's see what else?? Abby's 4 month heartworm check up is officially scheduled for April 12th. I am really excited to get her checked out. I really curious to see how much she weighs. She is doing so well though. She really is the most amazing dog I could have ever dreamed up.

March nerd wars has 9 days left. I have 2 projects almost completely finished and one more to cast on and finish. Wow! I really need to get busy. Speaking of knitting....I sent in a application to GWR to try and break the current World Record for the longest hand knit scarf...the current record is 2.15 miles. I also got a bunch of yarn from Julie at her destash. So thankful for it. I am already using some of it for Nerd Wars projects!!

Still need to finish getting all of my crap for school together.