Well last night went great, at least while I was there. We sold several calendars, got a lot of donations, and had a good time. Although I didn't end up announcing after all. I sold calendars and just basically got to run around and talk to everyone. Thankfully I have an amazing boyfriend who helped me sell the calendars so that I wasn't left out of the fun with the girls as they mingled with everyone. I got to be there for the announcement for all the girls but when it came down to the actual demonstration I had to go to work. I'm glad I left then, because if I didn't I wouldn't have made it to work on time.
Today was another bust on working out, but it's okay. Still not feeling perfect, and decided that in the grand scheme of things I need to make sure that I still have a great relationship with my boyfriend. Especially since I just added derby three nights a week instead of hanging out with him before work. So we went out and had a date. Sometimes you need to just live your life and make plans on the go.
Tomorrow is derby practice, and I get those butterflies just thinking about it. I want to do a good job there and prove to everyone I am worth being on the team. I know that I am a member of the team, really no matter how well I skate right now, but I want to be a productive member. One that may eventually get to play. I would love to be on A squad, although I don't know if I will get that far anytime soon. We have several skills we have to be able to accomplish to move to different levels. Right now I am not even a level one. I would be very happy to get to level four eventually, but I think right now that is a LONG way off. But still something to work toward. (See below for Level Breakdowns)
But on another note, I was voted League Secretary. So I am in charge of our entire league and all the paperwork, organization (which has a LOT to be done), and keep everything figured out. It's going to be tough, but I am very excited! Once we get everything organized and figured out I think it will be a smooth journey.
Level 1
Successful/safely execute all falls ( upon passing may start performing contact with other skaters)
1 knee fall ( right)
1 Knee fall (Left)
Baseball Slide
four points
Barrel/monkey roll
Successful/safely execute 2 stops
t-stop
Snow Plow
Skating posture and form
Skating "the Track"
Practice attendance of 75% or higher
Crossover/Stride
Minimum of 1 month skating with League
Level 2 (eligible for scrimmage )
Clear/Pass Skills/Evals Test Level 1
Practice attendance of 75% or higher
Minimum of 1 month skating with League
25 laps in 5 minutes
Execute legal hits
Execute Safe assists
Backwards skating
Toe Stop Stop
Join and/or Lead a committee
Jumps/Hops/Juking
Level 3 ( eligible for team placement and bouting)
Clear/Pass Skills/Evals Test Level 1 & 2
Practice attendance of 75% or higher
Minimum of 1 month skating with League
Join and/or Lead a committee
25 laps in 5 minutes
Able to execute strategic jamming as blocker & Jammer)
Utilize both a jammer and Blocker positions
Actively Scrimmaging and/or bouting for a minimum of 1 month
Level 4 ( Eligible for Travel team and all stars)
Clear/Pass Skills/Evals Test Level 1, 2 & 3
Practice attendance of 75% or higher
Join and/or Lead a committee
Minimum of 2 months skating with League
50 laps in 10 minutes
Actively Scrimmaging and/or bouting for a minimum of 2 months
Actively mentoring as Big sister ( Jr Derby, if Applicable) for a minimum of 1 month
Attend Minimum of 3 events ( excluding bouting and/or scrimmaging)
Level 5 ( top rating )
Clear/Pass Skills/Evals Test Level 1,2, 3 & 4
Practice attendance of 75% or higher
Join and/or Lead a committee
75 laps in 13minutes
Minimum of 3 months skating with League
Actively Scrimmaging and/or bouting for a minimum of 3 months
Actively mentoring as Big sister ( Jr Derby, if Applicable) for a minimum of 3 months
Attends Minimum of 4 events ( excluding bouting and/or scrimmaging)
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Train Wreck
So this week kind of ended up being a train wreck, especially when it came to working out and practice. Wednesday was a not derby practice day and it stayed that way. Slept most of the day and worked. Then last night WAS derby practice night, but I felt horrible. So I tried to sleep a little extra before going to work. I hated missing last night, especially since tonight is so important.
Tonight the ladies and I are having our first public appearance and fundraiser! Everyone is meeting at the skateway to buy our calendars, see a demonstration, and get autographs. I am very excited about this. Luckily today I don't feel as bad as I did yesterday. I'm still exhausted and not feeling wonderful, but life must go on. I had to make an important decision on Tuesday. To try to demonstrate what I do know in front of however many people: strangers, families, and friends; OR find another way to be useful without completely embarrassing myself. So I took the latter idea and ran with it. They didn't have anyone to announce the intros and the demonstration. So I volunteered. I know, I am a derby girl, and I am suppose to skate, but you know what? This was important to them too. I feel that I can still be a part of the group, just in a different dynamic. Anyway I have to leave early for work, and I doubt they want me coming in soaking wet in sweat. So tonight I am apart of something, just in a different way. Which is fine by me. Now I only hope that I don't screw up the announcing....
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
Tonight the ladies and I are having our first public appearance and fundraiser! Everyone is meeting at the skateway to buy our calendars, see a demonstration, and get autographs. I am very excited about this. Luckily today I don't feel as bad as I did yesterday. I'm still exhausted and not feeling wonderful, but life must go on. I had to make an important decision on Tuesday. To try to demonstrate what I do know in front of however many people: strangers, families, and friends; OR find another way to be useful without completely embarrassing myself. So I took the latter idea and ran with it. They didn't have anyone to announce the intros and the demonstration. So I volunteered. I know, I am a derby girl, and I am suppose to skate, but you know what? This was important to them too. I feel that I can still be a part of the group, just in a different dynamic. Anyway I have to leave early for work, and I doubt they want me coming in soaking wet in sweat. So tonight I am apart of something, just in a different way. Which is fine by me. Now I only hope that I don't screw up the announcing....
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Getting Better
When I used to play softball, before every game, I would get nervous. My heart would beat fast, my chest felt like it was bandaged tightly, and my stomach would have butterflies in it. For about an hour before until the game started and then every time I went up to bat. This is how I feel the hour before EVERY derby practice. I think I have figured out why though. I strive to do well, to not look stupid or fat, not fall on my butt repeatedly, and most of all to make my team proud. But I have noticed that at the beginning of our practice when we do our off skates workout it gets rid of those jitters and I am able to do a little better.
Thankfully, tonight Femme Reaper asked our workout leader to chill a bit and not do the four lengths of iron mikes across the rink. (We had so many falls after that workout...nobody could stand upright.) So the workout wasn't easy, but it wasn't a killer either. Then we started skating. Luckily there was another newby there tonight. So I wasn't alone in the middle of the rink practicing my skills that everyone else has down. But I was proud tonight!! I am finally starting to feel more confident in myself and in my skates. I think things are starting to come back. I haven't fully mastered my T-stops, but I am much closer in being comfortable doing them. I apparently can still do a tight turn and can still stop by turning. Which seems to be the only thing my feet remember how to do without me being off balance. And then it comes 'down' to the T-stop; Trying something that I used to do all the time. Something that I had to completely relearn. My body doesn't put my feet like that anymore. There isn't a single stance like that in karate, at least not with feet both flat on the ground and your weight on the front foot. O_o So anyway, I was practicing this move over and over and getting more comfortable. Then I start to second guess myself, I loose my confidence, my balance, and I looked down. If there is one thing that anyone teaches you, it's DON'T LOOK DOWN. It will completely set you off balance. So I did. Of course. And what happened? I wiped out and fell on my right butt cheek. Of course the one that is bruised from last practice. It wouldn't, couldn't be the other side. Nope, the right butt cheek is apparently my strong side, my go to side when it comes to falls. Oh joy.
But anyway, what is the biggest fear when you fall on skates? That you would fall while trying to get back up. Yup. Not a fear when it happens. That is when you give up, lay down for a second and just laugh at yourself. I think I scared them though. This crazy person just fell twice on the same spot and she is laying there laughing? Yup, I sure did and sure was. But I got back up and did some more. Yeah it hurt, but not enough to make me want to stop. For that to happen I have to almost break something, or actually break it. Although when I have broken bones and joints I don't think I cried even half the time. Guess that is something I will either never find out, or find out soon enough.
I do wish I was at the same level the other girls are. They were doing a GREAT job. They learned how to shoulder and hip check each other, how to pull themselves around a team mate, how to whip someone, and how to push. And they were jumping over broomsticks. The biggest kicker was when Polly Pounder laid down and had the girls jump her. I wasn't comfortable enough to jump the broom, and I sure as hell wasn't going to try jumping Polly. I know I would have planted a brand new skate dead into a rib.
I must say, even though I am not up there with the girls they are the most supportive team I have ever been apart of. It doesn't matter that I don't have the skills yet like them, that will come. But they are happy that I show up, do what I can, and keep trying. That is the biggest support system I have ever had. I am so thankful for this sport and for them. Keep it real! Next practice is sure to be even more entertaining.
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
Thankfully, tonight Femme Reaper asked our workout leader to chill a bit and not do the four lengths of iron mikes across the rink. (We had so many falls after that workout...nobody could stand upright.) So the workout wasn't easy, but it wasn't a killer either. Then we started skating. Luckily there was another newby there tonight. So I wasn't alone in the middle of the rink practicing my skills that everyone else has down. But I was proud tonight!! I am finally starting to feel more confident in myself and in my skates. I think things are starting to come back. I haven't fully mastered my T-stops, but I am much closer in being comfortable doing them. I apparently can still do a tight turn and can still stop by turning. Which seems to be the only thing my feet remember how to do without me being off balance. And then it comes 'down' to the T-stop; Trying something that I used to do all the time. Something that I had to completely relearn. My body doesn't put my feet like that anymore. There isn't a single stance like that in karate, at least not with feet both flat on the ground and your weight on the front foot. O_o So anyway, I was practicing this move over and over and getting more comfortable. Then I start to second guess myself, I loose my confidence, my balance, and I looked down. If there is one thing that anyone teaches you, it's DON'T LOOK DOWN. It will completely set you off balance. So I did. Of course. And what happened? I wiped out and fell on my right butt cheek. Of course the one that is bruised from last practice. It wouldn't, couldn't be the other side. Nope, the right butt cheek is apparently my strong side, my go to side when it comes to falls. Oh joy.
But anyway, what is the biggest fear when you fall on skates? That you would fall while trying to get back up. Yup. Not a fear when it happens. That is when you give up, lay down for a second and just laugh at yourself. I think I scared them though. This crazy person just fell twice on the same spot and she is laying there laughing? Yup, I sure did and sure was. But I got back up and did some more. Yeah it hurt, but not enough to make me want to stop. For that to happen I have to almost break something, or actually break it. Although when I have broken bones and joints I don't think I cried even half the time. Guess that is something I will either never find out, or find out soon enough.
I do wish I was at the same level the other girls are. They were doing a GREAT job. They learned how to shoulder and hip check each other, how to pull themselves around a team mate, how to whip someone, and how to push. And they were jumping over broomsticks. The biggest kicker was when Polly Pounder laid down and had the girls jump her. I wasn't comfortable enough to jump the broom, and I sure as hell wasn't going to try jumping Polly. I know I would have planted a brand new skate dead into a rib.
I must say, even though I am not up there with the girls they are the most supportive team I have ever been apart of. It doesn't matter that I don't have the skills yet like them, that will come. But they are happy that I show up, do what I can, and keep trying. That is the biggest support system I have ever had. I am so thankful for this sport and for them. Keep it real! Next practice is sure to be even more entertaining.
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
Monday, March 26, 2012
The days in between practice
So I know that as a big girl I don't have all the muscles I need in all the right places. I have to work on my upper thigh muscles, above most other things. Ugh. Well anyway, tonight is not a derby night, and instead of going to the rink today on my own, I ended up sleeping. Which will happen when you work nights. So I know that I *should* get up and so some squats and work on those things. Maybe some iron mikes.
I never liked them in High School when 1SG made us do them, and I sure didn't like the day we did four lengths of the skate rink either. But, the no pain no gain crap is stuck in the back of my head. And it's not like I am doing this for anyone else other than me. This is for me to do so that I can be better. I maybe sore from last night, but I need to do this. And the weird part of this is that the more I type on here, the more I have convinced myself to get up and do something. I may not be feeling up to practicing falls right now (especially at 12am), but I think some squats and iron mikes is a good idea. And it is some what of a selfish reason. Yes, I want to be good at derby, I want to prove to people I can, and I want to be a good player, maybe eventually make it to A team. But I also don't want to be the one that can't get up when she falls down and needs help, I don't want to be the slowest person getting up, and I sure as hell don't want to be the weakest member of the team. But it doesn't always matter the reason, if the over all thing is good right?
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
I never liked them in High School when 1SG made us do them, and I sure didn't like the day we did four lengths of the skate rink either. But, the no pain no gain crap is stuck in the back of my head. And it's not like I am doing this for anyone else other than me. This is for me to do so that I can be better. I maybe sore from last night, but I need to do this. And the weird part of this is that the more I type on here, the more I have convinced myself to get up and do something. I may not be feeling up to practicing falls right now (especially at 12am), but I think some squats and iron mikes is a good idea. And it is some what of a selfish reason. Yes, I want to be good at derby, I want to prove to people I can, and I want to be a good player, maybe eventually make it to A team. But I also don't want to be the one that can't get up when she falls down and needs help, I don't want to be the slowest person getting up, and I sure as hell don't want to be the weakest member of the team. But it doesn't always matter the reason, if the over all thing is good right?
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
Welcome to the dark side of skating!
I have had a few practices already. Enough to know that I love Derby and being a Derby girl, and enough to know that it doesn't fully like me: yet. I have only had one of the four practices where I walked away uninjured and unbruised. Let's see, the first practice I bruised the bone right under my knee it took two weeks to heal enough to wear the pads when I finally got them. The second practice I slipped in a quite humorous way, against the wall and sliced my finger open. Although, at the time, I didn't know I was the one bleeding and proceeded to ask who was. And my fourth night (tonight) I finally got my skates. So of course learning how to skate on new skates, as oppose to rental skates, creates a little more of a learning curve. And my right butt cheek has a nice bruise to show exactly how hard of a learning curve.
But all in all I am enjoying myself and completely enjoying my team. We are a start up team right now which is wonderful news for me. This takes a lot of pressure off of me to be "perfect" for a tryout. Which is good news for the plus size person I am that is relearning everything. I finally have all my gear and am ready to keep practicing and trying.
I was afraid that they wouldn't have pads for big girls like me. But I was wrong. Thanks to 187 pads I have knee pads that fit and protect me. Which is very important in ANY contact sport. There is an awesome skate shop not too far from where I derby at that helped fit me to the right size helmet and pads. I couldn't suggest anything better than having the right style and the right fit safety pads. You have got to protect the joints that let you play.
Practice in general tonight was great, at least for the other girls. Don't get me wrong, I improved over last week with rental skates, but I didn't get to work on the skills. I'm not upset that they get to and I don't, I'm just upset at myself that I am not good enough. I know, I know: keep at it I'll get better. But tell that to my mind that I can't seem to get out of my head. I keep second guessing myself and that makes it difficult to skate with confidence. My plan for the next few days until our next practice is to walk around the house, do chores, and just basically everything in my skates. That way A) I can break them in and 2) can get more confident. I will leave you with something that our founder's son told her. He is a jam skater and very confident. She asked him how he got so confident. And he said. "It's all about trusting your skates."
~ <3 Kiss My Blarney
But all in all I am enjoying myself and completely enjoying my team. We are a start up team right now which is wonderful news for me. This takes a lot of pressure off of me to be "perfect" for a tryout. Which is good news for the plus size person I am that is relearning everything. I finally have all my gear and am ready to keep practicing and trying.
I was afraid that they wouldn't have pads for big girls like me. But I was wrong. Thanks to 187 pads I have knee pads that fit and protect me. Which is very important in ANY contact sport. There is an awesome skate shop not too far from where I derby at that helped fit me to the right size helmet and pads. I couldn't suggest anything better than having the right style and the right fit safety pads. You have got to protect the joints that let you play.
Practice in general tonight was great, at least for the other girls. Don't get me wrong, I improved over last week with rental skates, but I didn't get to work on the skills. I'm not upset that they get to and I don't, I'm just upset at myself that I am not good enough. I know, I know: keep at it I'll get better. But tell that to my mind that I can't seem to get out of my head. I keep second guessing myself and that makes it difficult to skate with confidence. My plan for the next few days until our next practice is to walk around the house, do chores, and just basically everything in my skates. That way A) I can break them in and 2) can get more confident. I will leave you with something that our founder's son told her. He is a jam skater and very confident. She asked him how he got so confident. And he said. "It's all about trusting your skates."
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