I meet the Brawl Monitor

The month o'derby is finally winding down. It's been a while since my last post because I've been super busy and just haven't really felt like writing. I've been practicing with the more advanced girls for almost a month now and I think the extra practice has made a big difference.

My turns are improving, though speed is still an issue. For some reason I kept thinking I had to keep all 8 wheels on the ground. I finally figured out I wasn't shifting my weight from one leg to the other while turning, and also not turning my hips with my shoulders.

Once I realized  I had to actually pick up my feet, shift my weight, and turn my hips that made all the difference. I mean, think about it: when you turn around off skates, do you keep both feet on the ground at all times and weight on both feet? Try it sometime! You'll feel silly.

Last Sunday was UDL's interleague bout. I thought I might be skating in it, but about two weeks before I was asked to manage the penalty box. No biggy I still got to be part of the bout and have fun. It was the first bout in which we went rogue! We shook things up by cutting the penalty times to 30 seconds (instead of 1 minute) and the maximum jam time to 90 seconds (instead of 2 minutes). That meant much faster bouts, a lot more skating time for the girls, and a lot more scoring opportunities for the jammers. I liked it a lot--it suited my impatient nature!

I wore my one and only Cystic Ferocious shirt for the bout and at the end of the night one of the refs (Brawl Monitor) noticed the name and asked who I knew with Cystic Fibrosis. So of course I said, "Me!" Turns out two of her cousins have CF so we compared notes about breathing treatments and such. It was way cool to meet somebody who also had CF in their lives. It's a small world after all!

The next UDL bout is March 20! If you are in the Olympia area, or really anywhere in western Washington, please come out and see it. It's only $10 from a UDL derby girl. Chances are you know one if you have come across this blog.

I may be skating this time! I know I've said that before but hopefully I will actually be assigned to a team soon. I may even know by Saturday.

Raw Meat

Well I've survived my first two senior derby practices. I've decided that I'm more "raw meat" than "fresh meat." At least I feel like I've been tenderized.

I still need to work on my endurance--still getting a little breathless after paceline and some drills. I know my lungs will never be as good as the other girls but I think with enough practice I can at least keep up. The good news is all the exercise is helping with airway clearance (fancy term for coughing up junk).

The more I exercise, the clearer the airways, which means I can exercise more, etc! At least that's my theory.

Tonight at practice we had a special guest, Quadzilla! I'm a little starstruck. I almost asked for his autograph but didn't want to be a complete derby nerd. So who is Quadzilla, you ask? Well he's an awesome skater/coach who has worked with a lot of great teams including Rat City (Seattle), Dockyard (Tacoma) and Oly Rollers (Olympia).

And if you want a demonstration of his jumping capabilities check out this jump of 10 people!

I'm going to go marinate myself in some epsom salts now.