I can sticky skate! Finally!
I've had a huge issue with my sticky skating from the very beginning. I thought I would be fine. In the skate classes I took at the skating rink, they called it "scissors." Your feet simply go in and out in an almost circular motion, both feet at the same time. It wasn't the way the other girls skated though, and I always fell behind them when doing it. The person who was helping me said she thought it was slowing me down because it's so similar to plow stopping over and over again. So she took the time today to show me various methods of sticky skating and I feel so much more comfortable doing it. This is the best and most confident I've felt after practicing in such a long time. ("Best" being in reference mostly to confidence. My legs are sore as all hell.)
Will I pass testing after Labor Day? No. No, definitely not. But I'm a step closer to being competent. Now that I know the basic move, I can practice whenever I have some free time so I can improve on the movement.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Secrets
Cardiovascular Health
Let’s take a look at the components of the sport of roller derby. First and foremost, you must be able to roller skate, and you must be able to do it well. Skaters, even those with previous experience, spend hours doing laps to learn the mechanics of speed and agility on eight wheels in the physics of the flat track.
Roller skating is a form of cardiovascular exercise approved and encouraged by the American Heart Association (AHA), and those that skate enjoy the same full body benefits as runners (1). Most government bodies recommend that an adult should do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week to maintain cardiovascular health and keep obesity at bay, any more than that (or any more intense) will lead to an increase in health and a shedding of pounds (2).
Since most leagues practice twice a week minimum, skaters are already going to get about 175 minutes of pure skating or drill work (two practices a week turns into 240 minutes of practice does not usually equate to 240 minutes of skating). However, many leagues have three practices a week, and most skaters are serious enough about their sport to seek cardiovascular and strength workouts OUTSIDE of practice times as well (3).
A healthy heart means increased blood flow. This allows the body to clear arteries naturally, repair muscles more efficiently, and strengthens the immune system. This all equates to lower blood pressure (great for stress) and a control on blood sugar (great to avoid diabetes). (3)
From Why roller derby? by Kristie Grey
I've mentioned numerous times that I'm extremely out of shape. Extremely. It's hard for me to keep up with the rest of the group as a result. Well, one thing I haven't really mentioned was my recent scare when it came to my heart's health.
This past fall and spring, I had numerous occasions where I'd be lying around my apartment and would be able to feel my heart randomly start beating harder than normal for one or two beats, often skipping a beat. I'd just lay there freaking out that I was about to have a heart attack at any moment. This was part of my inspiration to start losing weight. I started back in January with a slow weight loss plan (slow because drastic changes to my diet never work for me longer than a few weeks.) I still had problems all through the spring despite losing a little bit of weight and a bunch of inches thanks to the physical activity involved in my renfaire performances. By the summer, they finally went away after I started learning to skate. I've sworn I'd never get to that point again. (The weird heart beats started up this week as I start freaking out due to school/work/derby, so now I know that it was never actually my heart. I suppose that explains why my cholesterol was never elevated and my blood pressure was normal.)
But the whole thing started me on what will hopefully be a lifetime of increased cardiovascular health. Roller derby has been great in that way. While I know now that the issues were never really my heart, I can feel how much I'm starting to shape up. I'll always be a chubby girl, but at least now I'm a chubby girl who is at least semi-healthy.
Let’s take a look at the components of the sport of roller derby. First and foremost, you must be able to roller skate, and you must be able to do it well. Skaters, even those with previous experience, spend hours doing laps to learn the mechanics of speed and agility on eight wheels in the physics of the flat track.
Roller skating is a form of cardiovascular exercise approved and encouraged by the American Heart Association (AHA), and those that skate enjoy the same full body benefits as runners (1). Most government bodies recommend that an adult should do at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week to maintain cardiovascular health and keep obesity at bay, any more than that (or any more intense) will lead to an increase in health and a shedding of pounds (2).
Since most leagues practice twice a week minimum, skaters are already going to get about 175 minutes of pure skating or drill work (two practices a week turns into 240 minutes of practice does not usually equate to 240 minutes of skating). However, many leagues have three practices a week, and most skaters are serious enough about their sport to seek cardiovascular and strength workouts OUTSIDE of practice times as well (3).
A healthy heart means increased blood flow. This allows the body to clear arteries naturally, repair muscles more efficiently, and strengthens the immune system. This all equates to lower blood pressure (great for stress) and a control on blood sugar (great to avoid diabetes). (3)
From Why roller derby? by Kristie Grey
I've mentioned numerous times that I'm extremely out of shape. Extremely. It's hard for me to keep up with the rest of the group as a result. Well, one thing I haven't really mentioned was my recent scare when it came to my heart's health.
This past fall and spring, I had numerous occasions where I'd be lying around my apartment and would be able to feel my heart randomly start beating harder than normal for one or two beats, often skipping a beat. I'd just lay there freaking out that I was about to have a heart attack at any moment. This was part of my inspiration to start losing weight. I started back in January with a slow weight loss plan (slow because drastic changes to my diet never work for me longer than a few weeks.) I still had problems all through the spring despite losing a little bit of weight and a bunch of inches thanks to the physical activity involved in my renfaire performances. By the summer, they finally went away after I started learning to skate. I've sworn I'd never get to that point again. (The weird heart beats started up this week as I start freaking out due to school/work/derby, so now I know that it was never actually my heart. I suppose that explains why my cholesterol was never elevated and my blood pressure was normal.)
But the whole thing started me on what will hopefully be a lifetime of increased cardiovascular health. Roller derby has been great in that way. While I know now that the issues were never really my heart, I can feel how much I'm starting to shape up. I'll always be a chubby girl, but at least now I'm a chubby girl who is at least semi-healthy.
Friday, August 19, 2011
ACK
We're getting closer and closer to final testing (September 6th and 8th). I'M SO NOT READY. After we pass testing, we start scrimmaging. Awhile ago, the coach said if we're not ready for it by that point, we'll have some one on one time to get us up there but now I'm wondering if that's going to happen. We seem to have lost some people yet again and I suspect the only reason I'm not getting pulled right now despite my complete and utter failure at pack skating is because they need more fresh meat skaters in the beginners scrimmages (well, that and the only way one learns to pack skate is to, well, practice skating in a pack.) But *flail* SO NOT READY.
1. I can't keep my feet down on the corners. I can sticky skate or I can stay with the pack. I can't do both. When I go skating this weekend, this is what I'm going to work on. If I have the energy tonight and can talk my roommate into it, I want to go to open skate and work on it after work today.
2. My speed blows. I'm getting closer! I can just almost keep up with the pack. However, my endurance blows as well, so I'm getting tired way before I should. Again though, it's something I'm very slowly improving on each time. (If I can pass on any advice to future derby girls, it's WORK OUT AT HOME BEFORE YOU GO TO RECRUITMENT. It's awful to feel like you're always holding people back.)
3. I feel pretty okay with blocking. I wasn't sure I would until last night we practiced drag blocking while skating around. I was with one of the Psycho Sisters and was able to successful drag block her, but she couldn't push me out. (Of course, this might be in part due to a probably 100 lb weight difference between us, BUT STILL. I might not be able to get my fat ass around the rink but at least I can push people out.) I think it helped that most of my experience drag blocking was with Itzel, who is pretty much an unmovable force when she wants to be. However, I only seem to get low right around the time when I feel like I'm going to get hit, so I'm going to be caught unaware at some point while skating.
This is my last weekend before school starts so I'm not sure how much skating I'll get in, but I know it needs to be A LOT. At the very least, I need to sticky skate until I feel like I'm going to vomit. One of the Psycho Sisters tried to show me how to sticky skate like I'm skiing, so I'm going to give that a try sometime this weekend to see if I can manage this. I have two weeks to catch up with the pack. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...
1. I can't keep my feet down on the corners. I can sticky skate or I can stay with the pack. I can't do both. When I go skating this weekend, this is what I'm going to work on. If I have the energy tonight and can talk my roommate into it, I want to go to open skate and work on it after work today.
2. My speed blows. I'm getting closer! I can just almost keep up with the pack. However, my endurance blows as well, so I'm getting tired way before I should. Again though, it's something I'm very slowly improving on each time. (If I can pass on any advice to future derby girls, it's WORK OUT AT HOME BEFORE YOU GO TO RECRUITMENT. It's awful to feel like you're always holding people back.)
3. I feel pretty okay with blocking. I wasn't sure I would until last night we practiced drag blocking while skating around. I was with one of the Psycho Sisters and was able to successful drag block her, but she couldn't push me out. (Of course, this might be in part due to a probably 100 lb weight difference between us, BUT STILL. I might not be able to get my fat ass around the rink but at least I can push people out.) I think it helped that most of my experience drag blocking was with Itzel, who is pretty much an unmovable force when she wants to be. However, I only seem to get low right around the time when I feel like I'm going to get hit, so I'm going to be caught unaware at some point while skating.
This is my last weekend before school starts so I'm not sure how much skating I'll get in, but I know it needs to be A LOT. At the very least, I need to sticky skate until I feel like I'm going to vomit. One of the Psycho Sisters tried to show me how to sticky skate like I'm skiing, so I'm going to give that a try sometime this weekend to see if I can manage this. I have two weeks to catch up with the pack. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Awkward skating
Some days I feel like I'm the most awkward skater there could ever be. I've been shown how to do a crossover a million times. Yet I still can't do it! I feel like I've reached this point where I simply can not improve any more (which is too bad, because there are so many skills I still need to work on.) I can't do crossovers, I can't skate on one leg... hell, sometimes I feel like I can barely balance on two legs. Without crossovers, my speed won't improve (I slow down massively on the corners and just glide my way through.)
At the same time though, there are improvements. For example, I can t-stop now! I worked so hard to try to get t-stops and they finally just... clicked. They're still very new for me so I feel like cheering every time I nail one, but I'm still trying to play it cool like it's not a Big Fucking Deal that I can now do this awesome stop.
We've also had a change in venue for practices, so now we're indoors all the time. While it's a big yay in some ways (OMG, no more outdoor skating in August in Florida!), we're now skating with the Psycho sisters on a regular basis. It's so intimidating sometimes! We do our 20 in 5 each practice and even in the slow skater area, I'm being passed at such high speeds. I always know when someone's coming up behind me because I hear the surprised sounds as people all of a sudden have to go around me. I'm afraid to get in anyone's way. While I know I need to keep up with them, I'm always crossing my fingers that they'll finish their 20 when I'm still at lap 10 so they'll go down and stretch and I can try to push my way through the last few laps. (I know, I know. I need to get over that. I'm never ever going to skate in a bout all by my lonesome. But I am SO not ready to skate with everyone else yet! Why couldn't I have a recruitment with a bunch of other girls who can't skate so I'm not the only one who sucks balls? Why do I always have to be the last one done with every exercise, the one who can't keep up? ::headdesk headdesk headdesk::
It's been almost 1.5 months and I *still* can't do a crossover. What. the. hell. is. wrong. with. me???
At the same time though, there are improvements. For example, I can t-stop now! I worked so hard to try to get t-stops and they finally just... clicked. They're still very new for me so I feel like cheering every time I nail one, but I'm still trying to play it cool like it's not a Big Fucking Deal that I can now do this awesome stop.
We've also had a change in venue for practices, so now we're indoors all the time. While it's a big yay in some ways (OMG, no more outdoor skating in August in Florida!), we're now skating with the Psycho sisters on a regular basis. It's so intimidating sometimes! We do our 20 in 5 each practice and even in the slow skater area, I'm being passed at such high speeds. I always know when someone's coming up behind me because I hear the surprised sounds as people all of a sudden have to go around me. I'm afraid to get in anyone's way. While I know I need to keep up with them, I'm always crossing my fingers that they'll finish their 20 when I'm still at lap 10 so they'll go down and stretch and I can try to push my way through the last few laps. (I know, I know. I need to get over that. I'm never ever going to skate in a bout all by my lonesome. But I am SO not ready to skate with everyone else yet! Why couldn't I have a recruitment with a bunch of other girls who can't skate so I'm not the only one who sucks balls? Why do I always have to be the last one done with every exercise, the one who can't keep up? ::headdesk headdesk headdesk::
It's been almost 1.5 months and I *still* can't do a crossover. What. the. hell. is. wrong. with. me???
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
This is not my best day ever.
I feel awful. This was one of those nights where I questioned why I wanted to do this. Is hardcore exercise where people come up and hit you really the way I want to get in shape? Perhaps I should start out as a ref or NSO before I become a skater.
At the same time, I know I need to just push through. At the very least, that's what people keep saying. "You've improved so much!" Sure, I've improved a lot. But I'm still so very very far behind. I'm in this awkward phase now where I can do t-stops... most of the time. I can *almost* do a crossover if I'm going slow and I really think about every movement. The crossovers part is what's killing me right now. We had to do our 20 in 5 today. I failed it so hard. I was keeping up at first, but halfway through, I just freaked out every time I tried to do a crossover. I don't know why. Then I fell so far behind everyone else that I wasn't sure I'd ever catch up, so I sort of gave up. Sort of. I mean, I kept skating, but I didn't push as hard as I could have. At the point where the whistle blew signifying the end of our 5 minutes, I was at about 16 or 17 laps. I kept going and was the last one to finish. Ugh.
Nothing I could do tonight was right. I couldn't lean properly. I couldn't hit properly. I couldn't hit hard enough. I couldn't sticky skate very quickly around the corners. I didn't have time to drink at work today (all I had all day was a cup of coffee and a medium Pepsi) so all I could think about while skating was how delicious water would be. We had junk food before the match, so at times I was so close to vomiting that I could taste my burrito supreme again (never again will I eat Taco Bell before skating.) And, of course, junk food just left me feeling icky all night. That's on top of the fact that I'm just not in shape enough to keep up.
Yeah, this is not my best day ever.
At the same time, I know I need to just push through. At the very least, that's what people keep saying. "You've improved so much!" Sure, I've improved a lot. But I'm still so very very far behind. I'm in this awkward phase now where I can do t-stops... most of the time. I can *almost* do a crossover if I'm going slow and I really think about every movement. The crossovers part is what's killing me right now. We had to do our 20 in 5 today. I failed it so hard. I was keeping up at first, but halfway through, I just freaked out every time I tried to do a crossover. I don't know why. Then I fell so far behind everyone else that I wasn't sure I'd ever catch up, so I sort of gave up. Sort of. I mean, I kept skating, but I didn't push as hard as I could have. At the point where the whistle blew signifying the end of our 5 minutes, I was at about 16 or 17 laps. I kept going and was the last one to finish. Ugh.
Nothing I could do tonight was right. I couldn't lean properly. I couldn't hit properly. I couldn't hit hard enough. I couldn't sticky skate very quickly around the corners. I didn't have time to drink at work today (all I had all day was a cup of coffee and a medium Pepsi) so all I could think about while skating was how delicious water would be. We had junk food before the match, so at times I was so close to vomiting that I could taste my burrito supreme again (never again will I eat Taco Bell before skating.) And, of course, junk food just left me feeling icky all night. That's on top of the fact that I'm just not in shape enough to keep up.
Yeah, this is not my best day ever.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Part of me wants to be really down on myself right now. We were doing pace lines with some of the Psycho Sisters at practice on Saturday and I just couldn't keep up. Even worse? I was the *only* one who couldn't keep up. I'm the only one who can't get the speed necessary to do the freaking exercise! I could cry. What's getting me through it though?
A month ago, I could barely move on my skates. Sure, I couldn't keep up. But I wasn't all that far behind them! I'll get the speed. It's just going to take some additional practice. We tried to go trail skating in my neighborhood today only to discover - surprise! - trail skating requires decent sidewalks (aka trail skating can't happen in a cheap apartment complex.) We're going to try again next week with Shae at one of the parks in the area.
Fun fact about me: I'm a total Ravenclaw. I'm always up in my head, and it's no different with derby. Even the most basic of exercises (like practicing t-stops) never goes well because I overthink it. I can t-stop. I can! Really! But in front of people, if I feel like they're watching me or waiting for me to do it, I can't. It's terrible. We had the first part of our minimum skills test the other day and, even though we haven't heard results yet, I feel like I was a complete failure. I can't even do a proper stride when I'm being judged. Right now, I feel like I'll be lucky if I make it on a team by December. I also find that I don't like to experiment as much with things I can do on my skates when other people are around watching. I might try to take some more time this week to go to Barber Park while my schedule allows it. If I can get up there sometime when we have the facilities pretty much to ourselves, I want to start playing more on my skates. At least when I bust my ass then, my failure will be private.
A month ago, I could barely move on my skates. Sure, I couldn't keep up. But I wasn't all that far behind them! I'll get the speed. It's just going to take some additional practice. We tried to go trail skating in my neighborhood today only to discover - surprise! - trail skating requires decent sidewalks (aka trail skating can't happen in a cheap apartment complex.) We're going to try again next week with Shae at one of the parks in the area.
Fun fact about me: I'm a total Ravenclaw. I'm always up in my head, and it's no different with derby. Even the most basic of exercises (like practicing t-stops) never goes well because I overthink it. I can t-stop. I can! Really! But in front of people, if I feel like they're watching me or waiting for me to do it, I can't. It's terrible. We had the first part of our minimum skills test the other day and, even though we haven't heard results yet, I feel like I was a complete failure. I can't even do a proper stride when I'm being judged. Right now, I feel like I'll be lucky if I make it on a team by December. I also find that I don't like to experiment as much with things I can do on my skates when other people are around watching. I might try to take some more time this week to go to Barber Park while my schedule allows it. If I can get up there sometime when we have the facilities pretty much to ourselves, I want to start playing more on my skates. At least when I bust my ass then, my failure will be private.
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