St. Vivienne and the Quarter Mile Markers

Vivienne Hell was kind enough to escort me on my first Marine Drive path skating excursion.

As predicted, I was winded after about 300 yards. Or was it 200? Fortunately, the path is marked at quarter mile increments.

St. Vivienne is blessed with a lovely amount of patience, which I benefitted from. I had to stop at each quarter mile mark to get my breath, take a rest, and convince my legs to stop shaking. She stopped and skated around in circles.

Well, if nothing else, I have a starting point to build from. As Vivienne said, next time I do an extra quarter mile. Then I skate a half mile without stopping. There is so much room for improvement.

I was feeling a bit down and I was talking to my friend Julia. She said "Don't forget that you broke you ass six weeks ago." Sometimes I think I do forget that I didn't just take a month off because I felt like it. I did it because I needed to. And I'm working from a different starting point after the injury.

I'm excited to get out on the trail again and see what the benefits of the hard work I plan on putting in.

Trail skate

Vivienne Hell and I are going to go skate on the Marine Drive trail tomorrow.

I'm kind of nervous. People skate on this trail and go miles. I'm concerned about being about to go feet. OK, maybe I'll give myself yards. But still, I hope there's a nice patch of grass for me to fall down when I'm totally out of breath.

I'll have to remember to bring some reading material in my survival kit. So, along with donning all of my pads, I'll have a backpack stuffed full of water, band-aids, skate tools, cell phone, chap stick (thanks, Viv), and flares. OK, I'll leave the flares at home.

If you want to see something really cool

You should take a few minutes to watch the helmet cam footage on the Rose City Rollers website.

I'm a fan of the Betties vs. Heathers video for a few reasons:
1) You get to see two Portland teams in action
2) The camera was worn by Ava Sk8trix, who is a rad girl and an amazing skater
3) If you pay close attention, you catch some glimpses of a chick in a ref shirt with a pink skull on the back. That's me!

Really, the video gives such a cool view of the action on the track. Go watch it. Seriously.

Oh, and buy your dang tickets for the bout on the 19th. You're not going to want to miss it.

Hooooooooly shit

I'm not one to use expletives in the title but dang, I just got back from watching a Wednesday Rose City Rollers scrimmage practice.

Watching the game without, for the lack of a better word, the "pageantry" of the monthly bout shows what a gritty and rough game it is. Damn, these girls are so tough and my respect for all of them continues to grow.

The endurance and fitness the teams demonstrate at Sunday practices is remarkable, but the sheer athleticism of the scrimmages... well, damn, I'm having trouble finding the words to describe the awe.

I am so ready to work harder. I am dying to be out on that floor. I need to be a part of this.

Dear butt,

I'm sorry that I worked you so hard yesterday. Gym in the morning, skating in the afternoon. It was a long day. I hope you liked the security of the Azzpad, even with the constant slippage.

I'm kindly giving you a day off today and some ice sitting time, but we're going back to the gym tomorrow morning.

Thank you, dear butt, for healing up so nicely and giving me the chance to drag you out on the rink again.

xo

Kate

Rink time

I went to watch derby endurance practice at Oaks tonight and skated a little bit before.

You know, skating was not as bad as I thought it would be. My endurance is awful, but I felt much more comfortable on skates than I thought I would. I was probably out there for 20 minutes going at a very light pace. I got winded very easily taking even a couple of fast strides. But it's OK. I thought for sure that I'd be back to February when I could only do a couple of laps and my calves would start burning. I got a bit shaky after 20 minutes, but I didn't feel awful.

Speaking of awful, it had to be about 95 degrees at the rink. Considering it's 104 outside, that's good, I guess. The first passing drill that the girls did lasted about 20 minutes and it was sweltering in there. I am so impressed by these girls. They are true athletes and I have the utmost respect for every single one of them.

I am so glad that I have a few months to build endurance before I try out again. I'd say I'm at 2% of where I need to be. OK, maybe 5%. I'm feeling generous today.

I heart my body

Seriously, I can't believe what it can do. My recovery from my fall has been humbling, has tested my patience, but has been really amazing.

I went to the gym for my 5th workout this week. I did a 40 mintue interval workout on the elliptical. The machine is gorgeously easy on my back and my chances of tripping and falling off are slim.

Britt, my trainer, is trying to ready me for getting back on skates. Since skating makes my heart rate sore, we're doing a lot of work in my 75%-90% target heart rate zone. It's tough at times, but oh so neccessary.

I LOVE it that my body is capable of bouncing back like this after a month off and an injury. I sweat like a pig and I count the seconds on some of the intervals, but overall I couldn't be happier with my progess.

Saturday Morning Gym

I'm happy to say that I spent an hour at the gym this morning doing a long-ish cardio session and my weight routine. We went about 9am and it was already 85 degrees outside.

While at the gym, I did manage to totally biff it on the treadmill again. I didn't fall off, but it was pretty damn close. I slipped and grabbed onto the rails. Such is life. Perhaps I should post some photos of the myriad of random mystery bruises on my body. I'm not the most coordiated lady in the land and I have large rounds of yellow and purple to prove it.

I wanted to skate some this weekend, but I think I'll wait for Oaks tomorrow. I can't imagine squeezing into my pads in this weather. Hope y'all are staying cool.

Heat

It's 104 here today. I'm not made for this kind of weather. My sugar coating tends to melt in these conditions.

Luckily, my gym is nicely air conditioned and I will be spending a couple of hours there tomorrow.

I took a pity day off from the gym because of my scratched cornea. The eye doc poked at me a lot and turned my eyelid inside out, so I figured I deserved an afternoon nap. And I have these icky drops that I can taste after I put them in my eyes. I know it's all connected up in there, but it's so, so wrong.

Lift and squint

I'm writing with one eye closed tonight. Apparently, I can't go without some sort of injured body part for more than a few days. Who hurts their eyelid? Me, apparently. I'm that smooth.

I did my new weight routine for the first time this morning. It's really amazing. Almost all of the exercises are built to strengthen my core along with my extremities. I freaking love lifting weights. I find it ridiculously empowering. I love not being afraid of mixing it up with the boys in the weights area.

Congratulations, Ace!

My friend Megan was chosen to be a Breakneck Bettie tonight. I am so proud of her. They are a great group of girls and she is a great addition.

She's a real inspiration to me. Her level of committment to derby is amazing. I haven't seen her skate in a while, but I know her hard work has paid off and she is going to be really, really good.

Megan, I'm glad I met you, got to know you, and am so happy to have you as a friend. I'm just thrilled for you.

Rewind

When I look back on the post I wrote on Sunday, I kind of want to delete it. I'm slightly embarrassed that I can get that pouty and sappy and whiney. Blech. But I'll keep it up there. It reminds me of how good my good days can be. And how much I'd like to punch somebody like me in the neck on my bad days.

Let's talk about my good day today.

I went to the gym at 6am today. I did my first cardio of the month of workouts laid out for me. It was 30 mintues at a pretty high level of exertion moving between 3 different machines. And boy howdy, I'm sore. I'm sitting on a whole lotta ice right now. The only part that hurt during the workout was my butt hitting the bike seat. The actual exercise felt awesome. Well, not awesome. It was hard. My endurance sucks. Just sucks. The fact that I did it was awesome.

So, yes, good day. Very good day.

Tell us how you're really feeling

I am really happy for all of the new fresh meat girls. Really, I am. I think it's so cool that there are so many girls interested in derby and a lot of good skaters.

But I am also insanely jealous. I've been trying to fight it, I tell you. Jealousy is an ugly emotion and has never served me well in the past. It was almost easier when I thought I would be out for 3 months. Like I missed try-outs by a long shot, and I might be ready for the next time or the next time.

But now I want in. Very, very badly. And it sucks because I missed the last bout and I'm probably going to miss the next bout because I'm going to freaking Orlando for work. I'm feeling a little distance from the league right now so I think I'm going to go to watch the scrimmage on Wednesday.

It's not helping my mood that I'm getting winded walking laundry up and down the stairs. Like my trainer reminded me, the heart is just one more muscle with memory that we need to get back in shape.

Why does this seem further away right now than it did in February before I even strapped on skates? Maybe now I know what I'm up against, including my out of shape body and the plethora of amazing skaters out there.

OK, fine. So maybe I need some mood elevating exercise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Boohooing and whining does not a derby girl make.

Count down

I met with my trainer Britt yesterday to plan out my next month of workouts.

It made me realize how much I've been limiting my body movements. I've done stretching and some minimal weight work, but I'm sore this morning from the stuff that we did yesterday.

I think it's going to be a great month to get me back on track. Cardio workouts on M/W/F with weights on T/Th. The cardio workouts are pretty tough and a bit different than what I was doing before. I'll be working on a variety of machines and getting in quite a few bursts of speed starting in the last 2 weeks of the month.

I'm going to spend the next couple of days icing my butt and getting ready for Monday. It's time to get serious again and start treating my body well.

If you see me, feel free to ask me if I worked out that day. If I don't say yes, pinch me really hard.

I skated

That was a lot harder than I thought. Mentally, for the most part.

First, I will point out the irony of taking about 20 minutes to get on all of my pads and skating for 10 minutes.

Let me just say that the combo of the crash pads and the azzpad is mighty hilarious. I suppose that each pad system alone is not noticable under clothes, as they claim, but together look like I'm smuggling a small child under my skirt. It's pretty silly. I could only see it partially in a my semi-obstructed mirror, but I need to get someone over here to get the full view and tell me how truly ridiculous it is.

I was all finished padding and lacing up and I had some fleeting thoughts. I am 33 and I just broke by butt. I'm not in good shape and I'm significantly over weight. And I'm about to stand up and go skate again. It struck me as crazy for a few moments until I started rolling.

I have lost a lot of strength and even more confidence, but I loved the feeling of being out there. I was unsteady and not sure of footing at all.

But I did it. And I'm SO happy that I did. I've been fighting it in my head all day. I'm very happy that I just went and did it.

Did I mention that it didn't hurt my back/butt at all? Yep.

Pinch me?

I can skate again. I should say, I'm allowed to skate again. 5 laps, very slowly at first. See how I feel. Try not to fall. Check in with the physical therapist after.

I'm a mix of these things: surprised, happy, scared, concerned, hopeful, excited, nervous.

Frankly, I'm shocked that my PT told me that I could skate again. I told her how I was feeling, how my workouts had been going, and how happy I had been with my progress. I kind of asked jokingly if I could put the skates back on, and she said "sure, why not?" I really had it in my head that I was going to be out 3 months, I suppose protecting myself from disappointment if it really did take that long.

I'm not sure when I'm going to do it. I'm still harboring some resentment toward that blacktop across the street. I might wait until Sunday at Oaks, but that seems so far away.

I'm still stunned. But I guess doing all of the stretches, exercises and following the doc's orders really paid off. Wow.

Bringing in reinforcements

My crash pads arrived today. I was very happy to see that they were made in Oregon. I was so excited that I had to strip down and try them on at work. I will be wearing those babies every time I skate. I punched myself, albeit lightly, in a few places and they seem to be able to take some heat.

I know I'll feel better skating with those on. Granted, I know they won't protect me from major injuries but every little bit counts.

I hope able to do more soon so I have more to write about. Talking about my ass is getting old. Talking about moving my ass is good.

I think it's time

I'm going to ask my physical therapist on Wednesday if I can start skating again.

I'm feeling 98% better. I still have minor pain *maybe* once a day when I sit down or stand up too quickly. That's it.

I just want to go to Oaks Park and scoot around. Just get used to the feeling again. I will, of course, follow the doctor's orders.

And I know there is a good chance that they'll want me to get my "land legs" back first, get a bit stronger, and then skate. I know that's probably reality and I will do what I need to get back on skates. Sooner or later.

Missing

Ah, I was so bummed to miss the derby last night. I did spend it at another very worthwhile activity (watching one of my greatest freinds debut as a happy bride) and I caught up with the girls at the after party.

I am, however, a bit brain dead today. I kept ending up with PBR tallboy in my hand at every turn. I had better enjoy this now, because when I get back to training I will not be able to do this. I was utterly useless today. I went to see Vivienne and her devil dolls at crafty wonderland, and then took a 3 hour nap. Semi-pathetic on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

Oh, and some exciting news! I talked to Chocolate Thunder last night, one of the coaches for the derby, and asked him about training. I was elbow deep into PBR, but I'm pretty sure he said yes. He is a sick skater. I've heard a rumor that he can jump over garbage cans in his skates. Yessir, that's who I want training me.

Happy Assiversary!

One month ago, I took the fateful fall and broke my ass. I reread the blog entry that I wrote that night, and I must have had a ton of adrenalin pumping through my system. It's pretty crazy that I got up and skated some more that night.

It's been a hell of a month. I just realized that I'm sitting here with my dog on my lap with one of my legs tucked up under me. I would not have dared sit like this a month ago. I can move and shift around without intense pain. I was afraid to move at all 3 weeks ago.

I am so fortunate to have access to an amazing team of doctors and my physical therapists. I'm recovering at a good clip. I still have some soreness, but I'm hopeful that I'll be skating again later this summer. I'm ready to get myself back in shape and focus on endurance and getting strong again.

I'm starting to learn the lesson. I didn't appreciate and respect my body enough to take care of it for a long time. And nothing makes you appreciate it more than getting it back again.

I've got

nothing.

Except an apparent compulsion to blog even though I have nothing to say.

Oh, I do have a slight update. I'm not exceptionally sore from my workout yesterday and I'll be meeting with my trainer on the 14th to get a new plan going.

Tomorrow is on the one month anniversary of my fall. Hot dog.

Long time, no gym

I went back to the gym today.
I loved lacing up my sneakers again.
I loved the feeling of accomplishment just walking into the gym.
I loved watching Valley Girl while I'm on the elliptical.

It was a good first visit back. Definitely a test run day. I was on the elliptical for 15 minutes and did my physical therapy assigned leg exercises. I'm allowed to do upper body work now, so I did triceps, biceps, lateral pull-down, and chest press on machines. The only part of the workout that hurt at all was the sitting down and standing up from machines.

I felt awesome. I was sweating again and feeling almost normal. It's a wait and see for the soreness factor, but right now I am pretty damn happy with being back to the gym.

Quit yer whinin'

So, after reviewing my "poor me, I can't walk" post yesterday, I told myself to cork it and headed for the pool this morning.

If I can't walk, I'll swim. If I can't swim, I'll do those damn chair aerobics. Actually, those would hurt my ass more than swimming.

Anyway, I got in a solid half hour of laps at the pool followed by a 15 minute whirlpool session. My brain and body are headed in the right direction.

My missing virtue

Patience. I really, really need to find some.

I know getting back into exercise is going to be tough. I figured my first "exercise" after my PT release would be a nice walk with the dog around the park. About 5 minutes into the walk, I started to ache. Not shooting pain, but enough to make me walk a bit slower. This is going to be a long haul.

Or, perhaps, I could try the PBR induced "pain, what pain?" method that I worked with last night. My hobble turns into a swagger when I have enough beer in my system. I met Vivienne, Megan and some other Betties on Alberta last night. They were selling tickets and I was tagging along. It's one of those bittersweet situations where I love the girls, but wish I was part of the league. They in no way make me feel like an outsider, but damn I wish I was going to see them all at practice on Sunday.