Ow.

I'm not yet sure if it's derby fail or a derby badge of honor but I have managed to acquire my first injury, three practices in. We were doing a relay where we'd skate to one end of the rink and do a baseball slide, then skate back and do a four-point slide. Rinse. Repeat.

It was my second or third trip down the rink. I did the slide (which I feel like I'm getting better at - got to remember to keep the hip up!) and then went to get up. Standing fail. My quads were getting a bit spaghetti-ish and I went to push off my toe stop and lost my balance. I could almost hear Blue Danube playing in my head as my feet went out from under me and I landed hard on the floor.

I managed to avoid the tailbone but I got the wind knocked out of me. I thought that was all until I got up and started to skate back. My lower abs were KILLING me and my right hip felt really tight. Everyone told me to just take it slow and stop if I need to. I'm not as good as I should be at the "stopping when I need to bit" - I haven't been since basic training when my stubbornness led to a nasty pelvic stress fracture. I did another two trips through and then had to stop. It felt like there was a lead weight attached to my right foot.

While the rest of the freshies learned transitions, I had to sit and watch (or risk making things worse). Bettie got me an ice pack (thank you Bettie :-D) and I tried to stay still, and later stretch a bit. I'm having Ian get me a heating pad (and maybe some of those sticky heat packs that Vicious mentioned) tomorrow at lunch. I think I'm going to need them. The unofficial diagnosis is a pulled groin. Who knew that the groinular region extended up into your abs? Certainly not I!

I think one of the most frustrating things for me so far has been the current limitations of my own body. I'm very competitive and want to be able to "hang with the big girls" but it feels like I'm trapped in a fat suit. I remember being flexible and considerably more in-shape than I currently am. I keep thinking to myself, "I should be able to do this!" but my body just won't let me for the time being. I *will* get better at this stuff, I know. I'm just an impatient bitch and I want it to be better NOW!

Everyone in NHRD is just awesome. When I skated back after the fall, the entire league cheered for me. It was both embarrassing and completely awesome at the same time. Emabrrassing because I feel like I shouldn't be having this hard of a time. Completely awesome because it just further backs up everything I have ready about the camaraderie and sisterhood of derby.

I <3 you guys :-)