so, my pads gave my knees VD.
are you sure you still want to read?
haha. so like, it's been hot as a motherfuck in baltimore recently. like, way too hot for the first week of june. i think of the kids in elementary school or high school sitting in mostly un-ac'd classrooms and want to pour out a solo cup of country time for them. i went to catholic school as a kid and those polyester jumpers and wool knee socks were no joke. once in a while they'd let us wear our "gym suits" to school if the temp was over 900 degrees or so. red shirt, blue shorts. sometimes, friendly teachers would let us make fans out of construction paper. unfriendly teachers would stipulate that the energy you expended waving the fan would actually make you HOTTER. this is wrong. grammar and spelling make you hotter.
so the rink where we practice is minimally air conditioned. monday night's practice was basically a full house, because it featured team scrimmages, and there's a bout on saturday!! so, it was about 97,000 degrees in skateland monday night, and i'd estimate that there were about 65 girls there.
we did a very long blocking snake drill that warrants its own post. i don't know how to block, or get blocked, and this was kind of a rough intro!! but more on that later.
after the snake drill it was time for "falls n sprawls." here is what falls and sprawls is all about: you start out lying on your tummy at one end of the rink. whistle blows and you sprint to the other end of the rink, fall on all fours, spin around, get up, sprint back to the other end of the rink, repeat for 2 mins. that doesn't seem like that long, but trust me, it is. it's a lot of falling. and getting up. getting up, and then breaking into an immediate sprint.
after that, the teams did a scrimmage/mock bout while the noobs worked on more drills in the dark corner of the rink. we did some pack drills and some "synchronized skating" drills and some backwards skating work coached by Joy Collision. I suck at backwards skating, by the way.
Anyway when the time came to take off our pads at the end of practice, I noticed that my knees were a little bit red.
Cut to tues morn. I woke myself up by scratching my legs bloody. my knees were covered in this hivey, itchy, painful, raised rash. ew ew ew!! i slathered some neosporin + pain on it and wore shorts to work.
Next day it wasn't any better. I cringed at the thought of putting my kneepads back on. i posted a question to ask metafilter and also to the charm city mailing list, asking if anyone knew how i could make this ouchy itchy rash go away. ask metafilter berated me for not washing my pads. CCRG berated me for not washing my pads. i should have washed my pads. why didn't i wash my pads?!?!
One of the CCRG skaters replied with a story about a former skater who got a terrible staph infection from skateland. I immediately got terrified and started calling every doctor in the area. No one would see me. I ended up going to an urgent care place in Lutherville, MD on the recc of another rollergirl, and they were GREAT. (PatientFirst, in case you were wondering.) They said it wasn't staph or anything horrible like that, just a bad case of contact dermatitis. i know that sounds lame but they thought it was severe enough to give me a shot of steroids in the butt, and a big dose of steroid pills, and some steroid cream. should i hit the gym or something?
the steroid pills made me feel totally crazed, and actually i still feel totally crazed. those pills mess with you, for serious. but my legs are looking and feeling a whole hell of a lot better. dudes, wash your pads. i know it's kind of funny to talk about our rink stink but it turns out that you can actually get quite sick from it. there is some grody stuff up in there.
sorry so gross! less grossness next time.
here is something about hockey players and their gross pads.
see you at the bout tmw,
sicky nixx
Friday, June 13, 2008
you hates me
man, you know when people are all "oh i am sorry i have not updated my blog for nine years" on their blog and you are all "cut the shit we ain't feeling sorry for you either have a blog or don't have a blog either you will tell us about your gross minor injuries or not, it's not like our RSS readers are exactly empty or anything"
so like, hi! maybe i'm back or something.
derby hard, yo.
so like, hi! maybe i'm back or something.
derby hard, yo.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
a lot of updates!
1. tryouts were saturday
2. i fell 2 laps into the 20 laps in 5 minutes drill. (this drill is important. if you can't pass it, you can't play roller derby.)
3. as i was getting up, i immediately fell again
4. i almost lost my mind and considered quitting right then and there. no more derby. fuck it.
5. i remembered how much money i'd spent on my skates and how i've told everyone that i'm totally going to make the league no problem
6. i hurled myself to my feet and kept skating
7. i made 24 laps in 5 min even with 2 falls!!!!!
8. i did the other stuff basically fine, i guess
9. sunday i got an email saying that i'd passed tryouts!!!!!
i will give tryouts a full write up soon -- just wanted to give a quick update. hooray for me.
2. i fell 2 laps into the 20 laps in 5 minutes drill. (this drill is important. if you can't pass it, you can't play roller derby.)
3. as i was getting up, i immediately fell again
4. i almost lost my mind and considered quitting right then and there. no more derby. fuck it.
5. i remembered how much money i'd spent on my skates and how i've told everyone that i'm totally going to make the league no problem
6. i hurled myself to my feet and kept skating
7. i made 24 laps in 5 min even with 2 falls!!!!!
8. i did the other stuff basically fine, i guess
9. sunday i got an email saying that i'd passed tryouts!!!!!
i will give tryouts a full write up soon -- just wanted to give a quick update. hooray for me.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
she got low
my right foot is really fucked up. i bled through my sock on thursday. before i went to the rink, i constructed an elaborate structure of band-aids and moleskin to attempt to cushion the inside ankle area of my right foot. well, it didn't uh, work...i tried to tuff it out but finally i couldn't stop my eyes from tearing up. i sat down and took off my skate and lo and behold, BLOOD. shit, i was distressed to see blood but i was secretly glad i wasn't getting upset over trivial pain. deathany (how is that for a rad rollergirl name) came to the rescue with her arsenal of medical supplies and wrapped up my foot properly with some stretchy foam tape and some regular athletic tape.
deathany's repair work allowed me to sort-of skate until about 9:15. shit, it hurt like hell though, i'm not gonna lie. loosening my trucks has made it possible to REALLY lean into turns. also, it has made it possible for my right (outside) boot to REALLY cut the fuck into my ankle and cause a horrific bleedy blister. rad.
it turns out that a lot of people have this same problem, especially with riedell r3's. r3's are great skates to get as a rookie but since they are not real leather, they don't break in at the pressure points. you see a lot of skaters with r3's also wearing these ankle bootie things. [not recommending this brand, just for illustration and shit.]
anyway it hurt like hell to keep skating on thursday night. weird thing is though, it hurt worse to STOP skating. the pain really rose to the surface as soon as i'd sit down to take a break. but skating normally for me at this point involves a lot of hard leaning on my right (outside) foot, and i didn't want to damage that already rough-as-hell spot any further.
so i decided to practice something that i suck at -- skating on one foot around the turns. going around the turns, i would lift up my outside foot and balance/lean totally on my inside foot. shoot, i was like miss wobble from wobblytown at first. it's hard to put all of your weight on your inside foot around the turns without your outside foot acting as a training wheel. it's very counter-intuitive. i gotta say, though, after a couple dozen laps, i started to feel a lot more confident about putting all my weight on my left foot. every couple laps i'd do a lap or two with regular crossovers...and all of a sudden i was able to push off from BOTH legs!!! finally! i think i may have finally mastered crossovers. we'll see for sure on thursday.
man, it's so hard to explain this stuff in uh, typing, cuz i am not even sure that i know what my legs are doing at this point. crossovers are hard to do well and i think that i've gone through a 4 or 5 step learning curve with them so far. (there are probably 19 more steps till i'm really rad at them.)
here's a rough draft of how i kinda learned them. i'll get more specific after skating on thurs...it's hard to think about this stuff while sitting on the couch.
1. take the smallest possible steps with outside foot, just kind of put it next to inside foot
2. same thing but lean in more
3. let inside foot slide towards the outside as much as possible before picking it up and stepping in forward
4. concentrate on bending outside knee to push off in order to gain speed during turns
5. concentrate on bending inside knee and pushing off after bringing it forward
the gap between 4 and 5 took a long time for me
anyway, check this out. looks like a good overview of basic skate technology.
Riedell quad skate basics
wish me luck with my stupid foot.
deathany's repair work allowed me to sort-of skate until about 9:15. shit, it hurt like hell though, i'm not gonna lie. loosening my trucks has made it possible to REALLY lean into turns. also, it has made it possible for my right (outside) boot to REALLY cut the fuck into my ankle and cause a horrific bleedy blister. rad.
it turns out that a lot of people have this same problem, especially with riedell r3's. r3's are great skates to get as a rookie but since they are not real leather, they don't break in at the pressure points. you see a lot of skaters with r3's also wearing these ankle bootie things. [not recommending this brand, just for illustration and shit.]
anyway it hurt like hell to keep skating on thursday night. weird thing is though, it hurt worse to STOP skating. the pain really rose to the surface as soon as i'd sit down to take a break. but skating normally for me at this point involves a lot of hard leaning on my right (outside) foot, and i didn't want to damage that already rough-as-hell spot any further.
so i decided to practice something that i suck at -- skating on one foot around the turns. going around the turns, i would lift up my outside foot and balance/lean totally on my inside foot. shoot, i was like miss wobble from wobblytown at first. it's hard to put all of your weight on your inside foot around the turns without your outside foot acting as a training wheel. it's very counter-intuitive. i gotta say, though, after a couple dozen laps, i started to feel a lot more confident about putting all my weight on my left foot. every couple laps i'd do a lap or two with regular crossovers...and all of a sudden i was able to push off from BOTH legs!!! finally! i think i may have finally mastered crossovers. we'll see for sure on thursday.
man, it's so hard to explain this stuff in uh, typing, cuz i am not even sure that i know what my legs are doing at this point. crossovers are hard to do well and i think that i've gone through a 4 or 5 step learning curve with them so far. (there are probably 19 more steps till i'm really rad at them.)
here's a rough draft of how i kinda learned them. i'll get more specific after skating on thurs...it's hard to think about this stuff while sitting on the couch.
1. take the smallest possible steps with outside foot, just kind of put it next to inside foot
2. same thing but lean in more
3. let inside foot slide towards the outside as much as possible before picking it up and stepping in forward
4. concentrate on bending outside knee to push off in order to gain speed during turns
5. concentrate on bending inside knee and pushing off after bringing it forward
the gap between 4 and 5 took a long time for me
anyway, check this out. looks like a good overview of basic skate technology.
Riedell quad skate basics
wish me luck with my stupid foot.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
roller skate line dancing
At open skate on sunday night, something strange happened.
There i was, skating in a circle as usual, when
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
THE BLACK LIGHTS CAME ON
THE DJ PLAYED SOME SONG
then
NEARLY EVERYONE IN ALL OF SKATE-LAND STAMPEDED TO THE CENTER OF THE FLOOR (almost knocking a bewildered ROLLERKID right on her ROLLERFACE)
then
EVERYONE STARTED DOING THIS SYNCHRONIZED LINE DANCE THING to some hip hop song. It was dark so it was hard to see the steps but it looked more Electric Slide than Soulja Boy. It was one of those songs that tells you how to do the dance, IN THE SONG. (is there a name of that kind of song? DanceStructions?) God, I wish i could remember the song but all the songs at skateland kind of meld together in my head. I think it had the words "Left" and "Right" in the song. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so please let me know in the comments so I can learn the steps for next time.
Gotta split -- but I'm gonna post later about the fascinating subject of ADJUSTING YOUR TRUCKS. later doods
There i was, skating in a circle as usual, when
THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
THE BLACK LIGHTS CAME ON
THE DJ PLAYED SOME SONG
then
NEARLY EVERYONE IN ALL OF SKATE-LAND STAMPEDED TO THE CENTER OF THE FLOOR (almost knocking a bewildered ROLLERKID right on her ROLLERFACE)
then
EVERYONE STARTED DOING THIS SYNCHRONIZED LINE DANCE THING to some hip hop song. It was dark so it was hard to see the steps but it looked more Electric Slide than Soulja Boy. It was one of those songs that tells you how to do the dance, IN THE SONG. (is there a name of that kind of song? DanceStructions?) God, I wish i could remember the song but all the songs at skateland kind of meld together in my head. I think it had the words "Left" and "Right" in the song. Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so please let me know in the comments so I can learn the steps for next time.
Gotta split -- but I'm gonna post later about the fascinating subject of ADJUSTING YOUR TRUCKS. later doods
OW MY FEET
my right foot is in trouble. i have a WICKED blister on the bottom of my foot. I had to stop skating for a while on Sunday and basically paint most of the bottom of my foot in Liquid Bandage. (Maximum Bastard had some in his bag. Wait, i mean Magnificent Bastard. I can never remember his name. Doesn't Maximum Bastard sound better? Glad you agree.)
Liquid Bandage is this clear gooey stuff that smells like airplane glue. (meaning, DELICIOUS!) It comes in a little bottle with a little brush, nail polish style. it creates a layer of fake skin over your blister. at this point i am thinking about making a pair of socks out of liquid bandage.
Also, I keep ripping my tights. I realize that ripped tights are very punk rock. However, I would like to have my tights not fall apart. Why even bother with the tights? To explain, let's take a minute to remember Rollerskating Outfits I've Known.
1. First time skating - wore jeans. no pads. fell on my knees/ass several times. Hurt to wear pants for like 2 weeks and had bruise the size of my ass on my ass. Nunca mas.
2. Jeans and kneepads. Fell on my ass a few more times but at least started to learn how to fall forward. That was good. Bad: HOLY CRAP WERE MY JEANS FRICKIN GROSS UNDER MY KNEEPADS. if there is one thing i hate it is having my meticulous jean-washing schedule thrown off.
3. shorts and big-ol tube socks. i have these cool puma blue and white tube socks that go right up to my knees. i figured they'd be a good derby steez. i was right! and i get to show off my great gams. oh wait. my gams are actually somewhat mushy and blindingly white (sometimes with a lovely blue tinge from all the bruises!) Yeah, so I'm a little self concious, DO YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF IT Plus, since it's winter (and i am a total wuss about the cold) i have to wear regular pants, and then change at the rink. This is unacceptable because I am clumsy and invariably end up dumping the contents of my pants pockets all over the floor. Also, it's unnacceptable because I hate putting my jeans back on when I'm all sweaty at the end of the night. This might work better in the summer, though.
4. THE CURRENT LOOK. black tights, black tube socks with white stripes, and shorts. Looks pretty good and i don't have to worry about having busted legs.
Here's the problem. My knee pads fasten with velcro. The velcro catches on the tights and rips them. I look punk rock for a few minutes and then my tights basically self-destruct. Maybe that is what happens when you buy 2 dollar tights.
Anyway, to buy: liquid bandage and tights. in bulk.
Liquid Bandage is this clear gooey stuff that smells like airplane glue. (meaning, DELICIOUS!) It comes in a little bottle with a little brush, nail polish style. it creates a layer of fake skin over your blister. at this point i am thinking about making a pair of socks out of liquid bandage.
Also, I keep ripping my tights. I realize that ripped tights are very punk rock. However, I would like to have my tights not fall apart. Why even bother with the tights? To explain, let's take a minute to remember Rollerskating Outfits I've Known.
1. First time skating - wore jeans. no pads. fell on my knees/ass several times. Hurt to wear pants for like 2 weeks and had bruise the size of my ass on my ass. Nunca mas.
2. Jeans and kneepads. Fell on my ass a few more times but at least started to learn how to fall forward. That was good. Bad: HOLY CRAP WERE MY JEANS FRICKIN GROSS UNDER MY KNEEPADS. if there is one thing i hate it is having my meticulous jean-washing schedule thrown off.
3. shorts and big-ol tube socks. i have these cool puma blue and white tube socks that go right up to my knees. i figured they'd be a good derby steez. i was right! and i get to show off my great gams. oh wait. my gams are actually somewhat mushy and blindingly white (sometimes with a lovely blue tinge from all the bruises!) Yeah, so I'm a little self concious, DO YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF IT Plus, since it's winter (and i am a total wuss about the cold) i have to wear regular pants, and then change at the rink. This is unacceptable because I am clumsy and invariably end up dumping the contents of my pants pockets all over the floor. Also, it's unnacceptable because I hate putting my jeans back on when I'm all sweaty at the end of the night. This might work better in the summer, though.
4. THE CURRENT LOOK. black tights, black tube socks with white stripes, and shorts. Looks pretty good and i don't have to worry about having busted legs.
Here's the problem. My knee pads fasten with velcro. The velcro catches on the tights and rips them. I look punk rock for a few minutes and then my tights basically self-destruct. Maybe that is what happens when you buy 2 dollar tights.
Anyway, to buy: liquid bandage and tights. in bulk.
Monday, March 31, 2008
shut your face
okay, i totally didn't go to open skate sunday night. it was my one year anniversary with jes, geez, stop needling me, all right?
also i was sore as all hell from skating way too much on saturday. i've got a wicked blister on my foot and uh, my dog ate my roller skates. how many more excuses do you need?? geez, leave me alone.
man, real quick -- i'm an IT PROFESSIONAL. however, i can't seem to get blogger to decide whether to single-space or double-space my posts. sorry about how this blog is all shitty-looking right now. maybe i'll fix it, maybe i'll just continue to make this blog all eye-hurty. oh my god i guess you will just have to check back and see!
also i was sore as all hell from skating way too much on saturday. i've got a wicked blister on my foot and uh, my dog ate my roller skates. how many more excuses do you need?? geez, leave me alone.
man, real quick -- i'm an IT PROFESSIONAL. however, i can't seem to get blogger to decide whether to single-space or double-space my posts. sorry about how this blog is all shitty-looking right now. maybe i'll fix it, maybe i'll just continue to make this blog all eye-hurty. oh my god i guess you will just have to check back and see!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
hang on to your ego
after practice this morn i ate some food at Paper Moon. (warning -- flash based website that is crazed.) Then Peter came over. He and my bf Jes are working on a wonderful record of children's music together. I decided to uh, rest my eyes for a minute and ended up napping until about 6pm. Damn.
You know how sometimes you lie down, wanting to nap? But instead of napping, you THINK? Since I've started skating, most of my pre-sleep thoughts involve uh...skating. I'll lie there and visualize the techniques i'm having trouble with, and then come up with possible solutions about how to master them. There are pros and cons to this sort of brain activity.
So...I woke up and decided that after visualizing how to skate backwards for a couple hours, I should probably be a professional at it. I put my outdoor skates in my bag, hopped on the motorbike, and zoomed down to my work parking lot, which is pretty nice concrete.
Turns out that just visualizing does not in fact make you an expert. I am still having a lot of trouble with 1. switching from forward skating to backwards skating and 2. propelling myself while skating backwards.
I did skate around for about an hour though. When I got home, I was even more completely wiped and sore. Dunno if skating all out 2x a day is productive for me at this point.
You know how sometimes you lie down, wanting to nap? But instead of napping, you THINK? Since I've started skating, most of my pre-sleep thoughts involve uh...skating. I'll lie there and visualize the techniques i'm having trouble with, and then come up with possible solutions about how to master them. There are pros and cons to this sort of brain activity.
- Pros: it can be slightly more productive than enumerating the things that make you a sucky person
- Cons: it makes you want to GO SKATE NOW NOW NOW. Actually, this probably is only a "con" if you're already wiped out and sore from practice earlier in the day.
So...I woke up and decided that after visualizing how to skate backwards for a couple hours, I should probably be a professional at it. I put my outdoor skates in my bag, hopped on the motorbike, and zoomed down to my work parking lot, which is pretty nice concrete.
Turns out that just visualizing does not in fact make you an expert. I am still having a lot of trouble with 1. switching from forward skating to backwards skating and 2. propelling myself while skating backwards.
I did skate around for about an hour though. When I got home, I was even more completely wiped and sore. Dunno if skating all out 2x a day is productive for me at this point.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
first practice
Today was my first actual practice with the rollergirls. I was so nervous that I had a hard time getting to sleep, so I took half of an ambien at 3am.
In case you're wondering, 3am ambien is not a tactic entirely conducive to getting out of bed when your alarm goes off 5 hours later. Getting ready to go felt like trudging through molasses, but by the time I hopped on the motorcycle I was fresh as a daisy (that has been in the garbage can for sixteen days underneath a pile of filet-o-fish.)
Got to skateland with time to spare. Seeing the rink all empty was a bit shocking. And....QUIET! No sean kingston tellin me that if i want to go to the chicken-box carry out, it's cool, baby he can take me there. No T-Pain wanting to buy me a drank. I'll probably post my current skateland top 10 jams after sunday's open skate so wait for it, dudes.
Mibbs Breakin Ribs and Holly Go Hardly were the main coaches today. There were a bunch of other veteran rollergirls there today too, like Harlotte's Web, Siouxie Slaughter, Minnie Piledriver and Cindy Lop-Her. (There were more, I just have a shite memory for names.) The rest of the girls were skatertots (like me) and some fresh meats (girls who have passed tryouts but may not be on a team yet.) There were ~25 girls there, I'd say.
Here's what we did at practice today:
1. Skate around the track. When Mibbs blows the whistle, do a squat and keep skating. When she blows the whistle twice, turn around and start skating in the other direction.
WHAT? YOU CAN SKATE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION? as soon as Mibbs blew the whistle twice, half of the skatertots (myself included) turned into wobbly noobs. Roller derby normally involves skating around a track counterclockwise, and at open skates everyone moves around the rink counterclockwise. Fantastic, but god help you when you have to re-calibrate your balance/lean/crossovers to work on the other side. It was pretty shocking how unstable I felt skating in the other direction. Something to work on, for sure.
2. CROSS OVERS.
Cross-overs are a method of taking the turns on the track. Here's what the Charm City Rollergirls "Drills and Skills" document says about crossovers:
I am not sure if I'm doing them with the correct form. However, I'm sure that I'm accomplishing what crossovers are supposed to be good for -- gaining speed around turns. When i first started doing crossovers, I was basically just stepping over myself, not pushing off or gaining any power. Now I am sure that I am pushing off with my right (outside) leg because I can get like scary-fast around those turns. I'm not sure if I'm using my inside leg correctly though. I don't see how you're supposed to push off with it. I'm going to work on this tomorrow at open skate, so if i figure it out i'll post it here.
3. How to fall! We worked on 3 different falls today...
4. Stops. 3 kinds of stops.
5. SKATING BACKWARDS.
Okay, I cannot skate backwards. At all. I just can't do it. My 2 main problems with skating backwards are these.
1. can't start. if i turn around from skating forwards, i pretty much stop within 2 seconds. usually i pick up my right foot and place it down with the heel facing my left heel. that starts me spinnin around. i know that the next step is to pick up my left foot and place it parallel to the right foot but i can't seem to do that correctly. also i'm scared to do the turn around with any amount of speed so any momentum i have is basically shot.
2. can't propel myself! when i skate backwards here is what happens:
my legs get re a l l ll y f a r a p a r t and then i can't pull them back in and i like, stop. rats!!!
i really need to work on skating backwards. It's just so hard to work on at open-skate at skateland!! Also, when Mibbs was demonstrating how to skate backwards I was trying to get a drink at the water fountain. B-more's finest agua made me miss the elusive secret. Figures.
6. The Twenty Laps In Five Minutes.
Pretty self explanatory. Do 20 laps around a regulation track in 5 minutes. I've been practicing this at open-skate and can do it with no problem even while dodging kids and jam-skaters. Today I did 24 laps in 5 min! Give me a present.
SO THAT WAS PRACTICE. afterwards, i let melanie's 2 adorable kids (boys around ages 5 and 7 i think) sit on my motorcycle and honk the horn and all that. Then i zoomed home, woke jes up, and went to paper moon for breakfast. i had Eggs Lucy Fur.
I'm so glad that I've gotten my first practice under my belt. last night felt like the night before the first day of school, where you're so excited and worried that you have no chance of sleeping. since i am a big fat worry wart, the mental anguish of not knowing what the fuck to expect is usually several orders of magnitude worse than the actual thing that was making me worried. i'm glad the first practice is done, cuz there's no way i'm gonna be so scared again.
except for tryouts. oh shit.
In case you're wondering, 3am ambien is not a tactic entirely conducive to getting out of bed when your alarm goes off 5 hours later. Getting ready to go felt like trudging through molasses, but by the time I hopped on the motorcycle I was fresh as a daisy (that has been in the garbage can for sixteen days underneath a pile of filet-o-fish.)
Got to skateland with time to spare. Seeing the rink all empty was a bit shocking. And....QUIET! No sean kingston tellin me that if i want to go to the chicken-box carry out, it's cool, baby he can take me there. No T-Pain wanting to buy me a drank. I'll probably post my current skateland top 10 jams after sunday's open skate so wait for it, dudes.
Mibbs Breakin Ribs and Holly Go Hardly were the main coaches today. There were a bunch of other veteran rollergirls there today too, like Harlotte's Web, Siouxie Slaughter, Minnie Piledriver and Cindy Lop-Her. (There were more, I just have a shite memory for names.) The rest of the girls were skatertots (like me) and some fresh meats (girls who have passed tryouts but may not be on a team yet.) There were ~25 girls there, I'd say.
Here's what we did at practice today:
1. Skate around the track. When Mibbs blows the whistle, do a squat and keep skating. When she blows the whistle twice, turn around and start skating in the other direction.
WHAT? YOU CAN SKATE IN THE OTHER DIRECTION? as soon as Mibbs blew the whistle twice, half of the skatertots (myself included) turned into wobbly noobs. Roller derby normally involves skating around a track counterclockwise, and at open skates everyone moves around the rink counterclockwise. Fantastic, but god help you when you have to re-calibrate your balance/lean/crossovers to work on the other side. It was pretty shocking how unstable I felt skating in the other direction. Something to work on, for sure.
2. CROSS OVERS.
Cross-overs are a method of taking the turns on the track. Here's what the Charm City Rollergirls "Drills and Skills" document says about crossovers:
- Regular Cross-Over: Used while you are skating around the track in a counter-clockwise motion. Bend your knees as you are rounding the end curve of the track. Pick the right leg up, bring it down in front of you and down to the left of your left leg. Now pick up the left leg, bring it behind and back towards the beginning position. You will essentially be stepping over yourself and it will feel more natural as you get some speed up and confidence.
I am not sure if I'm doing them with the correct form. However, I'm sure that I'm accomplishing what crossovers are supposed to be good for -- gaining speed around turns. When i first started doing crossovers, I was basically just stepping over myself, not pushing off or gaining any power. Now I am sure that I am pushing off with my right (outside) leg because I can get like scary-fast around those turns. I'm not sure if I'm using my inside leg correctly though. I don't see how you're supposed to push off with it. I'm going to work on this tomorrow at open skate, so if i figure it out i'll post it here.
3. How to fall! We worked on 3 different falls today...
- the one-knee slide and hop back up (I am much better at sliding on my right knee than my left knee)
- the two knee slide (also known as the Rock Star). Slide on yer knees and do a pelvic thrust. fun as hell.
- The four point fall...like the Rock Star but then continue the fall onto your elbows and wrists. Tuck yourself into the smallest package possible so you are not a danger to other skaters -- you don't want to fall with one of your legs all splayed out and trip people and get a penalty and then have your team be mad at'cha.
4. Stops. 3 kinds of stops.
- Plow stop -- to do a plow stop you spread your legs wide, point your toes inward, and really lean on the inside wheels of your skates. This stop is really important because it allows you you control your speed without coming to a complete stop.
- Turn around toe stop -- spin around, skate backwards for a second, then hop up on your toe stops. I can do this except for the skating backwards part. As soon as i turn around backwards, I basically stop on my own. More on this later. I can do this well enough to...do it....but i know i should be doing it with better form.
- T-stops -- drag the outer wheels of your back foot behind you. It's weird to drag your outer wheels, you want to drag your inner wheels, but I hear that can lead to broken ankles. I shall try to remember not to drag my inner wheels.
5. SKATING BACKWARDS.
Okay, I cannot skate backwards. At all. I just can't do it. My 2 main problems with skating backwards are these.
1. can't start. if i turn around from skating forwards, i pretty much stop within 2 seconds. usually i pick up my right foot and place it down with the heel facing my left heel. that starts me spinnin around. i know that the next step is to pick up my left foot and place it parallel to the right foot but i can't seem to do that correctly. also i'm scared to do the turn around with any amount of speed so any momentum i have is basically shot.
2. can't propel myself! when i skate backwards here is what happens:
my legs get re a l l ll y f a r a p a r t and then i can't pull them back in and i like, stop. rats!!!
i really need to work on skating backwards. It's just so hard to work on at open-skate at skateland!! Also, when Mibbs was demonstrating how to skate backwards I was trying to get a drink at the water fountain. B-more's finest agua made me miss the elusive secret. Figures.
6. The Twenty Laps In Five Minutes.
Pretty self explanatory. Do 20 laps around a regulation track in 5 minutes. I've been practicing this at open-skate and can do it with no problem even while dodging kids and jam-skaters. Today I did 24 laps in 5 min! Give me a present.
SO THAT WAS PRACTICE. afterwards, i let melanie's 2 adorable kids (boys around ages 5 and 7 i think) sit on my motorcycle and honk the horn and all that. Then i zoomed home, woke jes up, and went to paper moon for breakfast. i had Eggs Lucy Fur.
I'm so glad that I've gotten my first practice under my belt. last night felt like the night before the first day of school, where you're so excited and worried that you have no chance of sleeping. since i am a big fat worry wart, the mental anguish of not knowing what the fuck to expect is usually several orders of magnitude worse than the actual thing that was making me worried. i'm glad the first practice is done, cuz there's no way i'm gonna be so scared again.
except for tryouts. oh shit.
Friday, March 28, 2008
practice tmw
Tomorrow, I'll be going to my very first League Practice. It's at 10am at Putty Hill Skateland, about 10 miles away.
10am on a saturday. HALP! when was the last time i saw 10am on a saturday? (saturday mornings that are still technically friday nights because i haven't gone to bed yet don't count.) I am not very good at waking up. Also I am not very good at sleeping when I'm excited or nervous about something. Also I'm pretty nervous about practice. I'm worried that I'm going to topple over as soon as Joy Collision or Dolly Rocket looks at me. I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to keep up. I'm worried that I'm gonna get in some kind of motorcycle accident on the way there (both right-hand turn signals are busted on my bike, due to some jerk knocking it over and leaving it in the street) and I'm worried that I am going to oversleep.
I'm going to see the Raveonettes at ottobar in a few minutes. Also, the Thrushes are playing. I'm psyched, should be a good show. Must force self to go home early. MUST. MUST. MUST!!!
10am on a saturday. HALP! when was the last time i saw 10am on a saturday? (saturday mornings that are still technically friday nights because i haven't gone to bed yet don't count.) I am not very good at waking up. Also I am not very good at sleeping when I'm excited or nervous about something. Also I'm pretty nervous about practice. I'm worried that I'm going to topple over as soon as Joy Collision or Dolly Rocket looks at me. I'm worried that I'm not going to be able to keep up. I'm worried that I'm gonna get in some kind of motorcycle accident on the way there (both right-hand turn signals are busted on my bike, due to some jerk knocking it over and leaving it in the street) and I'm worried that I am going to oversleep.
I'm going to see the Raveonettes at ottobar in a few minutes. Also, the Thrushes are playing. I'm psyched, should be a good show. Must force self to go home early. MUST. MUST. MUST!!!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
HAY GUYS
FRIST POST
So, i'm suz. I just moved to Baltimore and i'm hoping to try out for the Charm City Roller Girls -- that's the women's roller derby league in B-more. I'm pretty new to skating for real. I haven't skated since i was a kid, used to roll around Kendall Park Roller rink on the birthday party scene and later the burnout/bad kid scene but that's it -- and that was way back in the days of lunch money and the school bus.
Now I'm 30 and when I fall down it like, hurts!
Anyway I decided to start this er, Web-Log because I couldn't find too much roller-noob info out there. And shoot, the world of derby is a bit intimidating, to me at least. so hi.
So, i'm suz. I just moved to Baltimore and i'm hoping to try out for the Charm City Roller Girls -- that's the women's roller derby league in B-more. I'm pretty new to skating for real. I haven't skated since i was a kid, used to roll around Kendall Park Roller rink on the birthday party scene and later the burnout/bad kid scene but that's it -- and that was way back in the days of lunch money and the school bus.
Now I'm 30 and when I fall down it like, hurts!
Anyway I decided to start this er, Web-Log because I couldn't find too much roller-noob info out there. And shoot, the world of derby is a bit intimidating, to me at least. so hi.
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