Assessments and other musings...

Warning: I am going to ramble. There are a lot of derby-flavored things on my mind tonight so it will all come out in a likely incomprehensible order while I eat some beef stroganoff (YUM!).

So we freshies have hit our 8-practice mark (yay us!). This means it's assessment time. I'm a little apprehenvises because I *want* to do well but I know there are a couple of things I still struggle with (balancing on my right foot, T-stopping with my left foot, getting off the ground in 3 seconds, etc). Transitions also fall into the "bane of my existence" category but that's a level 2 skill.

I'm trying to stay positive - "Do or do not. There is no try" and all that but I know that I'm going to run into some challenges. It's difficult to think positive while mentally/emotionally preparing yourself for the possibility that I might not pass on the first go. The competitive bitch in my wants to do EVERYTHING on the first try but it doesn't always work that way and I need to make sure I'm ok with that.

That being said, I double checked with Empress tonight and she said that she or Vicious will talk us through the results of the entire assessment afterward so that's really helpful for me. I feel like I've gotten a LOT of encouragement (thank you, by the way) but not all that much constructive criticism so I'm really looking forward to the "review" bit.

Pause. God I love this Beef Stroganoff recipe. Rachel Ray *actual* 30-minute meal that is fabulously easy and super yummy.

One of the toughest things for me to get used to/deal with is the fact that I currently feel like I'm going through life with one of those marshmallow-man snow suits little kids wear permanently bonded to my body. I wasn't always this size. In my head I feel like I should just be able to unzip this fat suit, step out, and everything will be fabulous. Yet another thing that doesn't quite work that way in practice.

I *know* this will help me lose weight and I *know* it will get better but, as usual, I'm impatient. I was describing trying to do crossovers to L-Train today. It quite literally feels like I have pillows welded to the insides of my legs. It's not that I have clunky knee pads or anything, it's literally that my legs get in the way. I can do them (crossovers) but they feel clunky and awkward.

Progress is being made though. I think I mentioned last post that the first time we had endurance week, I was a puddle of cooked spaghetti that couldn't get up off the ground, despite Bettie and Hazel's help. This week, it still takes me a bit to get up but I *can* get up so hooray for small victories. This was also another practice without substantial back pain. I don't think I've seen the last of it but I'm hoping that I'm doing something right.

Pause. Lick stroganoff plate before the cats get to it.

I am amazed on a nearly daily basis how many people are interested in roller derby. I was at an offsite work meeting today and we had to say one interesting thing about ourselves. While there are lots of interesting/quirky/weird things about me (saved for another blog or ask me on facebook) I decided to say that I am learning to play roller derby since, looking at me, it's something somewhat unexpected.

At lunch time, I had a group of about three or four people from the meeting sit with me and ask me non-stop questions about derby. One older woman said she used to love watching it in the 70's and 80's and had no idea people were still doing it. "I would love to see a game!" Insert pimping of our first home bout in April. I ended up explaining everything I knew about it from the basics of the game to how we get assessed for safety purposes. The people I was talking to couldn't get enough. The more I told them, the more interested they were.

Looking at it from a marketing perspective there is massive potential out there to not only increase our number of skaters and volunteers but to grow our fan base by miles. It has me thinking of what could be done to raise awareness of roller derby as a sport and then pull the multitudes of intrigued people into our lovely world and get them hopelessly hooked. I will have to ask the old stinky meat if we have any sort of "roller derby basics" flyer on hand at bouts for the uninitiated. If not, I would love to design/write something like that. I think that people will be more likely to come back if they knew what was going on during the bouts.

Again, I tend to get really wound up about ideas and get carried away. Derby just has me TOTALLY excited and I want to help other people get totally excited too. That was why I joined the PR Department. Since I can't stop talking about derby, I may as well put my mouth to good use!

Six practices in...

After three weeks I am pleased to say that I am still in one piece, although not progressing as fast as I would like to be. We (the January class of freshies) have started to learn some "derby skills" like swoops, Johnny Rockets (the non-contact variety for us), hip whips, and pushes.

Tuesday evening was a great small-group practice as it was made optional due to snow. Me, FM Kiersten, and FM Jesenik represented the freshmeat and there was a nice selection of old stinky meat on hand to help out. We did our first pack skating and I finally think I'm getting the mechanics of "eight on the floor" - where you propel yourself without lifting your skates off the ground. We did a really fun drill where we lined up and hip whipped ourselves from the back of the pack to the front of the pack. I was a little timid at first and not really pulling on the person in front of me but I caught on after about three or four people.

My back continues to be my achilles heel (if that makes any sense). I feel like I have the mechanics of what we've learned so far down, or close to down but I can only sustain things like low pack skating for five minutes or so and then my lower back completely cramps up. Betty has said that is about lack of core strength (and the extra belly weight probably doesn't help) so after I finish writing this I'm off to clear a spot in the living room to do some crunches - there may be a big exercise ball purchase in my future.

If I understood correctly, after twelve practices the freshies are eligible to choose a derby name. I'm halfway there and to be honest, it feels like twelve practices (six weeks) would be early. I don't feel like I've done enough to earn one yet. I'm completely serious about derby - it's fantastic - and I plan to do it until I can't (and then ref or volunteer once I can't) but I don't fully *feel* like a derby girl yet. Maybe it will be better after I pass my level one assessment. Maybe it won't be until I don't have to drop out of a drill because it feels like my back is seizing up. I know that eventually I will feel like I'm getting there, I just don't quite yet.

I have been known to obsess over things I'm excited about. I have to remind myself that I'm new and people might not always want to hear my ideas for things. I feel like I should spend a bit more time with my ears open and my mouth closed but sometimes ideas leak out anyway. I work on little things on my own and file them away for a time when I feel comfortable asking the league or committee if they would find xxxxxx project or idea helpful. The last thing I want to be is the annoying new person who won't shut up. I just get really excited, that's all!

I will talk about roller derby to anyone who expresses the slightest interest. I've told at least five  people (three of them complete strangers) about our next recruitment night. I get warm fuzzies when I'm able to put to rest some people's miconceptions or outdated ideas of what modern WFTDA derby is. "Do you skate around punching people in the face?" Nope. "You must have to really big and rough to do that!" Nope. Small and rough works too! I went to hang a Ball flyer in a salon in Milford and ended up writing the website and recruitment night information on a card for one of the stylists. It's infectious in a completely awesome way. We need a derby pandemic!

I find these days that even though practices are mentally tough for me (I'm very hard on myself when I don't perform where I *think* I should be) I have a great time and look forward to them every week with a mix of giddiness and a pinch of worry. I can't get on skates enough. I get frustrated when I try to go to a Saturday morning open skate and the parking lot is so full I can't get a space and can't skate. It sounds like I'm going to miss the Sunday open skate since I'm helping out with the photoshoot tomorrow and we're going out for beverages after.

Six practices in and I'm still loving derby and the lovely ladies of NHRD that make it so awesome! <3