Assessments: How close am I?

URGE was in the Easley Christmas parade December 1st!  We brought our kids and many of us skated.  It was so much fun!

Well, it's been a while, but don't worry.  I'm still skating!  Over the past few weeks I have gotten a lot more comfortable and excited to be at derby, like I was in late summer, and have gotten a lot more comfortable with certain hang-ups of mine such as hitting.

First of all, I have been meaning to announce for anyone who is wondering that the Triple Eight Bumsaver WORKS.  I would recommend it to anyone who is somewhat new and doesn't want to risk a tailbone setback like the one I had.  I was withholding my opinion until I truly fell on it, but now I've fallen on the tailbone pads a couple of times and everything was fine!  It is a bit annoying to put that extra layer on, but I'm going to keep wearing it until I'm better at falling forward.

Last night at practice I got to go through the assessments list with two amazing veteran skaters, Raven Maniac and Full Metal Arsonist.  I think I am closer than I thought to passing!  Here are the WFTDA minimum skills requirements.  I can do all the basics, although there are a couple of things I need to work on, and we got through some of section four, skating with others before we ran out of time.  I can do all the whips now without falling over, and no longer panic when pushed.  Excited to finally pass assessments soon!

It was fun working with Raven and Arson.  Raven is our new team captain, by the way!  She is fabulous and has always encouraged me to go just a little bit further than I thought I could.  Being on a team with ladies like these is one of my favorite things about derby.

At the end of practice last night I tried for my 25 in 5.  Last time I was over by about 15 seconds, skating with several other fresh meat skaters, so this time I skated with Arson leading to set the pace.  5:02.  Sigh.  I had it in exactly 5:00 over the summer and I know I can get it again!  I was told I needed to pick it up a little, and I did try, but after a practice like the one we'd had, my left thigh was burning after about lap 10.  Looks like I need to get back to running and do some squats while watching TV to help with my derby position.  Next time!

Butthurt

Two weeks ago today was such a crappy day for me. The kids drove me crazy all day and a bunch of little things kept going wrong. My husband, Jordan, had class after work, which meant I had to wait an hour longer than usual for him to come home and help me. I decided I probably wouldn't go to roller derby. I just couldn't. I felt tired and awful. I posted a message to that effect to the team and tried to muddle through the afternoon. But by the time Jordan came home, I was so frustrated and angry I just wanted to scream. I knew I needed to skate it off, so I took off by myself and made it to practice a few minutes late.

It was a fun practice with some interesting drills, and I was so glad I went. One of the last things we did was a hitting drill, using the football pad instead of each other. It's definitely something I need to work on! I missed the pad, grazed the pad, and then the last time around I got mad and sprung up into it. Just as I was thinking yay, I finally got it right, I realized I was also completely off balance. And, whammo.

I usually fall forward. The times I have fallen on my butt or some other awkward way, I've been fine--just some big bruises that I'm honestly kind of proud of! But this time was different. I tried to skate it off, but it just was not happening. Two weeks later, my tailbone is still not right and I'm getting impatient to skate again! I miss it!

At first I thought it'd be better in a couple of days. I had no idea, leaving practice that night, that I'd still be out two weeks later! It's mostly just annoying at this point and isn't stopping me from doing anything other than sitting on it a certain way, but I just don't feel I can risk falling on it again and really hurting myself. I've got three little kids to take care of. The thing is, I really want to skate. Bad.

Yes. It's come to this. I am going to see if I can order them tonight, and I'm hoping I'll be able to remove all the pads except the tailbone one. I never thought I'd be wearing a pair of styro-packed shorts a la Ice Princess, but I am buying some now. Skating always trumps no skating, and these things are hopefully going to get me back to practice this Monday or the next at the latest. Luckily these are made for roller derby and are not as funny looking as the ones in the movie. I already consulted with a friend who has told me they worked well for her. In the meantime, maybe I'll go running.

New helmet!

Got a shiny blue helmet! Now that I have my own, I can eventually cover it in stickers. Yay!

A terrifyingly awesome night at derby practice

June 25, 2012

Saturday night I went skating with a couple of friends to break my new skates in. It was open skate night, so I didn't wear pads. However, I did get the crossover! It felt great. I also came to the sad realization that I can no longer stop effectively. Plow stops and t-stops are both very difficult with my new skates! I'll have to work on that--a lot. Overall, though, it's amazing to skate in something comfortable and familiar. Yay, new skates!

Sunday night I went to practice again. First, I did my 25 laps in 6:15, skating with the pack. It was harder than skating alone, so I know if I can do it with them I can do it by myself a little faster. I need to get that down to five minutes. And you know all those weaving, skating in a pack drills that were scary to watch? I did them! The team went my pace and helped me along. There were still a few things that went completely over my head, such as 180 turns and some of the falls, but I've only been at it a couple of weeks. I will get there, and I think I'm going to love derby. I definitely love the people; they are wonderful.

I didn't realize quite how effective derby skating is for exercise until I got home and stepped out of the car. Owww. And it was so exciting and fun, it didn't feel like work at all while I was doing it. It's hard. But I love it.

~Jenny Two Shoes~

Washing stinky derby gear

Anybody that knows me personally knows how much I hate hate HATE BO. I have 10 sticks of deodorant laying around everywhere, take multiple showers in the summer, am constantly asking my fiance if I stink (he gets annoyed with this question), I hate to stink.

So when I joined derby, I didn't realize just how much I was going to start stinking. Holy crap!!!! My friggin gear smells worse than a landfill. Especially now that not only am I lasting longer in practice (more sweating), our a/c went out at the rink and we're enduring 100+ days until we get it replaced later this month (sh!t tons more sweating). My gear is smelling pretty friggin gross. I was also being pretty lazy and leaving my gear in my car (READ: BIG MISTAKE), even my fiance who knows how self conscious I am about stinking said to me "honey, you smell awful when you put your gear on". Oh crap! For Charlie (derby name: Moonshine) to say something to me about it means it really really really stinks. So I'm taking advantage of this holiday week since we have no practice, and washing these nasty things. But how?....

Good 'ol trusty google, you always come through for me. I came across this great blog post by Short Temper with Hellions of Troy on washing her gear (check out her blog here). Thankfully I have a mesh bag from the padded shorts I bought after I fell and broke my tailbone. Which no longer fit me BTW, whoop whoop! So if any followers need a pair of Triple 8 padded shorts in a size XL, hit me up.

Ok, enough with that crappy sales attempt and on to washing my pads.

So I couldn't find my mesh bag :(

Short says you can soak them in a tub of hot water with some color safe bleach, but I'm gonna go her route and chunk them the the washing machine. If you got a mesh bag, put them in it so they don't get tossed around too bad. and VELCRO your pads, so you don't have a stretched out pad train when you take them out. If you're like me and have the Killer 187 Pro pads, you can actually remove the plastic front of your knee pads (what are those things called anyways?) and put them off to the side.

Pretty neat huh?

Short says you can use your clothes detergent or color safe bleach, but in true crunchy mama fashion (shameless crunchy mama blog plug riiiiiight ... NOW), I decided to go with the cloth diaper detergent I use for my son's dipes and a few drops of tea tree oil (naturally antibacterial). If it cleans pee and poop, it should clean derby stink right? Make sure you wash in hot water and if you have the option for a soak, go for it.

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT throw your pads in the dryer (pretty obvious in my opinion). Hang them up to dry, outside if it's warm and sunny. It'll probably take a couple days to dry, so don't do this the day before you need them. I simply placed them on the chest freezer in the sun room in front of a window.

And that's it! Yummy smelling pads so you can stink them up all over again :/

Welp, since I'm a cleaning mood, I figured I could clean my mouthpiece. Especially after seeing the links on Short's blog, yuck!

You could soak it in mouthwash, or just give it a good brushing like I did. No picture, sorry.

How do you clean your gear?

Loving my new skates!

June 23, 2012

I have my own skates now. Yesterday Jordan took off work and my mom kept the girls so we could drive two hours to Atlanta to buy them. After talking with them three times on the phone, we visited Skate Escape and this really cool guy named Baby helped me find the perfect skates. I am so glad I didn't order them off a website, because my feet are very particular and I needed help and to try several different pairs on. I didn't end up with the ones I had in mind. The ones I got, Riedell Sparks, were a little more expensive, but I think they're worth it because they fit me better (firm, narrow heel but soft in the toes) and the soles are sewn on rather than just glued so hopefully they'll last longer. Also, they lace all the way to the toes. This will allow me to lace them looser or tighter all the way down, so they aren't falling off my feet and also aren't cutting off my circulation. Numb toes and hurting feet have been a problem for me with rented/borrowed skates. Either that or the skates one size up were slipping and wobbly. But no more.

I got knee and elbow pads and wrist guards, too. Had to wait on the helmet. Baby adjusted my skates and showed me how to loosen the wheels a bit when I'm ready. If we'd ordered online we would've had to pay shipping anyway, so I highly recommend making the trip to Skate Escape if you need skates and are even sort of nearby Atlanta. They are great!

Last night I had fun skating around our house, doing laundry and stuff in my skates. (I didn't go upstairs, though!) They feel so awesome. I love them and am looking forward to skating in them for a long, long time.

~Jenny Two Shoes~

Practice #3: Dreaming of new skates

June 19, 2012

Last night was kind of a drag because the rental skates I borrowed at the rink didn't fit right. I've skated in a different pair of skates every practice--sometimes two different pairs! The problem is that I'm a half-size. The eights feel floppy and wobbly, and the sevens make my feet go numb and hurt like hell. Also, every pair of skates is a little different, so I haven't had the opportunity to get used to any. I was offered two different pairs to borrow from others on the team, but they were both too small.

Last night I tried to do sticky laps and practice stops at the end of the rink while the others practiced for the upcoming bout. The skates didn't feel right, though. Then my feet went numb after a few minutes, so I had to keep taking the skates off to let the blood back into my toes. Anne R. Ki's husband, who played hockey and worked in a skate shop, told us that having your own skates is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your skating. I definitely believe it!

The good news? We are going skate shopping on Friday! We had a yard sale Saturday and are going to use the money we made to help pay for my derby starter package. Jordan is taking the day off work, the girls are staying with my parents, and we are going to Atlanta to buy me some skates. Friday cannot get here soon enough! I truly hope I can find some in our price range that fit. I'm going to be very disappointed if I can't!

When I get my skates I'm going to just wear them around the house. Yet another reason I'm glad we got laminate floors last fall! This will help me get comfortable with them, and I'll have plenty of time to learn how to stop, change direction, and all that. With skates I know personally and have the freedom to adjust to my liking, it'll be a lot easier to build on my skills from practice to practice. Yay! Can't wait!

~Jenny Two Shoes~

Roller derby practice #2

June 15, 2012

I went back to roller derby practice Wednesday night. Jordan and I took all the kids with us. Other than that it was mostly the same as last time--I skated around the outside of the track (the derby track only takes up the middle of the rink) and hung out at the ends practicing T-stops and plow stops. I had a bit of a breakthrough with these, realizing that it's not only the placement of your feet but rather a change in your entire body's position that gets you to stop. One of the veteran skaters helped me with this and it made a big difference. I can still only stop when I'm going slow, though, and it takes a long time.

I'm still working on crossovers, which I will need to master in order to complete the 25 laps in 5 minutes. This is one of the many assessments one must pass in order to participate in a bout. I'm hoping to find a little time next practice to do 25 laps and see how long it takes me. That'll give me a starting point and I'll know how far I need to come.

I found a pair of skates, borrowed from the rink, that work for me and I'm hoping I can use them again next time. There is a small chance I could have my own skates by then anyway. We're having a yard sale Saturday and I'm hoping to make enough money to buy them! I also need knee pads. The ones I've borrowed are not very thick and because of this it's been hard for me to commit to falling on them over and over. In roller derby, falling--and falling correctly--is required! The best way to buy derby equipment is in a rookie package that some retailers put together at a discount for new skaters who need almost everything. Skates and skate accessories, possibly a set of outdoor wheels, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet. Getting the package also means spending more money all at once though. Luckily my birthday is coming up soon!

The only piece of equipment I have of my own right now is a mouth guard. The first one I had made it so I couldn't close my mouth or talk. Then I got a Protech Dent. Love it! Now I can protect my teeth during practice and communicate at the same time! Teeth protection won't be much of an issue until I start participating in drills with the team, but now I have it just in case.

Last time I spent a little while watching the experienced skaters skate in a pack and do drills that required precision as well as speed. I long to jump in and join them. I am not ready to do these; I'd be a danger to myself and others. Soon, though. Soon.

~Jenny Two Shoes~