&%#%*(&^%^&

Germy airplanes, freaking head cold. Resting up tonight, hopefully better by Wednesday. Humph.

Back to basics

I put a lot of Chocolate Thunder's teaching into action tonight. I just kept thinking about the fundamentals of my strides and it really helped.

I did what he recommended-- do as many laps as I can in proper, low form, and then used some lower energry strides to keep going. He checked in with me during practice which was really rad. I really focused on doing what I could do well tonight, instead of worrying about not keeping up.

I just love love love going to practice. I see improvement every time I skate, and that's all I can hope for now. Well, I can hope to be really good, so I guess that's all I can expect for now.

Chocolate THUNDERRRRR!

I had my first private lesson today. Chocolate Thunder is the shit. The shit, I tell you.

I learned so much in an hour. I am sore, happy, and very hopeful. We spent the first half hour working on my form and technique. I am in awe of how much I learned. My body position, my feet, my cross-overs. Wow, I can't believe how much I learned and I'm so happy that my body does what my brain tells it to! After a week and a half off skates, I felt like I hadn't skated in years. But he was patient and just had me do what I could and gave me plenty of breaks.

And then we did the dry-land training. My legs are burning and sore, and I can't wait to do it again tomorrow! I will be spending a lot of time in the squat position, working on quad strength, balance and my core.

Oh oh oh, and we worked a little bit on hits. I completely trust that Chocolate Thunder will teach me to use my size to my advantage. Just the couple of things that he suggested made a ton of sense and makes me believe that I'm going to be the shit someday too.

Back into it

I went to watch the Betties/Travel Team/Heathers practice last night. I should probably warn the rest of the country that the Rose City Rollers travel team is sick. Speed, strength, hard hits, smarts, and some damn great style. I've never seen them skate together as a unit before and they are amazing.

I'm hopefully having a lesson with Chocolate Thunder tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous about the one-on-one attention and being able to get my body to do what my brain wants it to do. But I know that working with him is a neccessary step to my success. He'll be able to teach me how to use my size to my advantage and to become a better skater.

Bad ideas

I have a new least favorite thing: Boilermakers. Or perhaps my least favorite thing is my inability to say no to chugging contests. Either way, whiskey + beer = me sleeping in a hotel lounge awaiting my flight in 4 hours. Oh, and I did kick the dude's ass in the aforementioned chugging incident.

I can't wait to get home and start skating again. I am worn down from this week of travel and being events manager maniac girl. Here I am in lovely San Diego, and realized last night that I hadn't been outside in 3 days. No fresh air. No walks by the bay. Such a glamourous life.

Oh, and so random! A lovely lawyer lady from New Jersey was talking to my boss in our booth, and they started talking derby. Turns out her daughter is a Rose City roller, a Breakneck Bettie and named Megahurtz! We talked about what a supreme athlete and lovely girl her daughter was for a while, and how much I love being part of the team. I had a nice picture taken with MegaMom. So random and SO cool. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Fatigue

I've noticed after pulling a couple of 12 hour days that when I get tired, my tailbone starts to hurt. I'm not doing anything that strains my back, but I start to ache there when I feel fatigued.

I was talking to a co-worker and he had shoulder surgery a few years ago. And when he gets tired, his shoulder aches.

I'm not sure what to make of this. Will I be able to strenghten my back enough that this won't happen? Will it last forever or will it go away with time?

I just get frustrated when I have to stop skating because my back hurts and not because I'm physically tired. I hope I can get this figured out.

The incredible shrinking booty

For the past couple of years, I haven't been so comfortable in airplane seats. I always pray for an empty middle seat so I put the arm up and not worry about my ass pressing against my neighbor.

Anyhoo, I did luck out in that scenario today but I fit much more comfortably in the seat than I did at the end of August. I haven't dropped much weight, but I have seen changes in my lower body over the past couple of months. I'm not svelte or even close to it but I'm definitely more compact that I was even a month ago.

I'm going to get my fat composition measured when I get back to Portland. I think that will be beneficial for me to see when the scale isn't moving.

I am so bummed that I'm going to miss the next 3 practices. And I wish I had time to skate here. I'm near the waterfront and there is a gorgeous skate path. I miss my derby girls...

I wish I had time

To skate on Marine Drive this morning. It's gorgeous outside.

But I must go to the airport in a half an hour. Sigh...

Two big nights

On Tuesday night the Rose City Rollers held try-outs. When I get back from my biz trip, I'll have 31 new friends to skate with! The turn-out was awesome and the talent pool is really fabulous. The ones I've met so far have that glow that I had when I started. Yes, the old sage that I am with a whole month under my belt...

Last night was a skills practice in Gresham. Chocolate Thunder is spending time working on fundamentals. I learned so much last night. Basic things about skating on your heels and balance with cross-overs. I made it through half of the practice before my back started hurting. I got in a solid hour and I'm so happy about that. Then I had to put the ice bag down my pants...

We were about to do a final drill where we raced for a full lap. I was excited and ready to go with my group, and my dang toe stop flew off. Luckily Sk8 Tech saw it and came over to help. I have to find a washer to get them back to normal, but all is well and I managed not to injure myself. All is well.

Well, dang

I went and watched a couple of teams practice tonight. Very different styles of how they spent their hours of practice, and I learned a lot from both. My pads are still drying and I wish I could have skated a bit tonight.

Try-outs are tomorrow night, and it's so great that I can go and watch, without feeling wistful or sad or nauseous. I can go and help out, and hopefully find a girl with big feet who needs to borrow my skates.

Wash day

I washed my pads today. Yes, for the first time, but I swear they didn't smell until after I skated on Marine! I keep them in a mesh bag and usually bring them inside. I left them in the trunk for a few days and that was not a good idea. It wasn't an uber-rank smell, just vinegary. Ick.

So, they're happily hanging and drying in the bathroom right now. I put them in pillow cases (thanks Viv) and ran them through a gentle cycle. Aside from a little lint, I think they'll be fine.

I'm mildly obsessed with my pads. Is it obvious?

Double time on Marine Drive

July 29th was the last time I skated on Marine Drive. I did a total of 1.5 miles, and I remember that it was pretty horrid. My legs were shaking and was out of breath almost immediately.

Today, I decided to go out by myself and see how far I could make it. I still took breaks at the quarter mile markers to check in and see how much further I could go. 3 miles, baby! I know lots of girls go out and know out 7-12 mile skates, but the fact that I did 3, double what I could do two and a half months ago is awesome! In my head, I now believe that 7 is possible. With hard work, I can absolutely do it.

Wow, that last paragraph looks like a 6th grade math word problem.

The downside was the back pain. At about 3/4 of a mile remaining, my left lower back started seizing up. I was determined to finish, so I decided that I could stop every 10 feet if I had to. It took me a while to finish up that last bit, but I did it with frequent breaks.

I'm going to talk to my trainer and maybe dial-up the physical therapist to see if there is something I can do to counter-act the back pain. It may just be time and training, and I'm willing to do that.

Blister Free

The first couple of times I wore my new skates, I only lasted about 20 mintues in them because of the leather digging into my ankles and rubbing them raw. Then I remembered that my friend Vivienne had these hot little booties. The amazing Ezeefit Booties.

The don't look like much, but I don't feel a bit of digging, rubbing, pain, and/or potential blistering since I wore them at the Sunday endurance skate. I got the 2mm thickness version and I couldn't be happier to be blister free, because my dang size 12s are ugly enough as is...

Moving along

I went to drop in on a Betties practice at the armory tonight. I was just going to watch, but there were only 5 people there so I strapped on the skates.

I spent most of the time skating around the perimeter. My back was a little tweaky. I know that I'm holding a lot of stress in my lower back and tensing there a lot I even *think* about falling. I was able to do some drills (albeit slower than the other girls) and got to practice some squats and falls.

I've been struggling with my cross-overs and I think I got feel for it tonight. I'm feeling confident enough to let my back leg slide behind and rely on my leg crossing over. Apparently this practice makes, um, perfect (or better than before) thing is true.

They fenced paradise

My parking lot is gone. Not gone, but no longer available for my personal skate use. They fenced it in with storm fencing and barbed wire. They're starting to tear down the school and have put a fence around the whole damn thing.

Pinch me

I just spent the evening celebrating 80+ of the coolest girls and staff. The derby awards dinner was tonight, and I was fortunate enough to be invited.

It was amazingly touching and hilarious and raucous and just reminded me exactly why I want and need to be part of this group.

We watched a couple of videos about the Rose City Rollers. During the documentary, one of the girls said, in essence "you either show up at the first practice and think, 'yeah, this is cool, I might be able to do this' or you show up and think 'I have to do this. No question'. " I'm so glad that I fall into the latter group and I will do whatever it takes to kick ass personally and help the league continue to kick ass.

It's about time

for a random thought blog entry.

--I need to lose some weight. Period. I'll move easier and it won't be as taxing on my body. If I want to move as fast as those girls yesterday, I need to do some serious streamlining. I can't decide if posting the weight I've lost each week will help or hurt. There is that public pressure thing that might help. Or completely backfire and make me anxious. So I dropped a half a pound this week and my clothes are fitting much looser. This is the time for me to get my bod in shape. If I'm putting so much work into myself to become physically fit, I shouldn't be dumping cheez-its down my gullet.

--I have so many random bruises on my body. Thing is, I kind of like them. I should take pictures on post them. I have a big one on my hand, below my thumb. I have no idea where it came from and it's a really pretty purple color.

--I am way sore from practice yesterday and I threw a weight routine on top of it at lunch time today. I still can't do those damn camel things, but I felt much stronger in my squat and lunge exercises. All bajillion of them.

--I have to travel for work soon and I just want to stay here and roller skate. I mean, I'm sure San Diego is lovely this time of year, but I'd rather stay in rainy old Portland with my Rose City Rollers. But now I just realized that I can hopefully catch up with the derby team there. Nice.

Respect

First, I am the luckiest girl in the world to be a part of this league.

I know I've written a bunch of times that I am in awe of the girls in the league, but I watched some amazing athletes kick ass at practice tonight.

Again, I couldn't make it through the drills (get ready for a 3-6 month broken record), but I kept skating the whole 2 hours and I feel dang good about that.

It got me

The gross cold that's been going around the office finally caught me. Instead of taking speed skating class and lifting like I'd hoped, I'm stuck home on the couch with an achy head and stuffy nose.

I plan on putting enough meds in to make it to practice tomorrow. I've heard a rumor that this thing runs it's course quickly, so I'm hoping for the best.

Mink oil and skate massage

My new skates lasted on my feet about 20 minutes of practice on Tuesday. They are just really, really stiff.

Tonight I spent about an hour rubbing mink oil into them (I don't want to think of how mink oil is extracted) and massaging the heck out of the leather. They're drying right now, but I'm hoping for the start of nice, soft skates in the morning.

I'm going to the gym to lift weights tomorrow and go to a speed skating class at Oaks tomorrow night. My guess is I again won't be able to keep up in class, but I'm hoping to work on my form and to get an extra skate in this week.

Practice Improvement

So, last week I only made it through 20 minutes of practice. Tonight, I didn't make it through the drills, but after some good stretching, I kept skating on my own. I didn't need to sit out at all.

The big news though... I made it through a whole jam and I kept up with the pack! I know it's only 2 minutes, I know it's not a big deal to a lot of skaters, but to me -- yahoo! Two weeks ago, I could only keep up for about 2 laps of the jam. I'm really comfortable looking behind me and skating. I can't really DO anything about people coming up behind me at this point, but I see 'em, dang it!

So I am remaining very hopeful. Very, very hopeful.

If I didn't know better...

I'd think my trainer hated me and wanted to hurt me just a little bit. Fortunately, I know that she only has my best interests at heart and is doing this for my own good.

My new workout is a killer. Squats and lunges and more squats, then some torturous thing on the ball, and then the afore mentioned camel, that caused me to collapse after the first one. Not two my friends, but one.

But, this will be the hardest workout I have this month. I'll get stronger and it will be better next time. My new workout schedule is killer. 3 nights of skating, 2 days of weights, and 1 day of cardio interval training. That adds up to 6. Yep, 6 days a week. Wish me luck.

Championship bout

Wow. Holy wow. Couple of hours of the most amazing roller derby. I was doing a flag position, and thank god it wasn't the really important one in the middle, because I kept getting swept up in the action and kind of forgetting what I was doing.

And as the highlight of my year, I got to skate out at half time and get introduced. I was so nervous and excited that I could barely stand up on my skates. I thought for sure I would biff it over a power cord or the edge of the track. I had on my new skates with really high toe-stops and I knew there was no stopping for me. But it was fine.

I know there will be many more laps that I skate on that floor, but those could be the most important 3 laps ever. I am so grossly, annoying, sickly happy to be a part of this.