I'm back!

And I'm ready for a new derby year! After a long Christmas break (which I spent in bend due to a terrible cold) this week has been my two first proper practices this year. And they've been great! It feels soo good being back with my amazing team. This Monday we skated a LOT, and my groins have been killing me all week. I seriously had to lift my leg with my arms when I was putting socks on.. Ouch. Love it. We also tried 25 in 5, I managed to do 19 which I'm quite pleased about.

On Thursdays we usually start with 20 minutes of physical training (dunno if that's the right translation).Yesterday we focused on....legs. Haha, I feel okay today but I think I'll feel crippled by tomorrow. It was such a great practice yesterday, lots of laughing!

Our coach has also made us do both practices with small sponges in our armpits to stop of from using our hans and arms for balance and blocking. If you drop one = 5 pushups. I think it's absolutely genious and works really well!

Best practice so far :)

Saturdays practice was such a blast!! There was only 6 of us and no coach so it started out looking like we'd just skate around aimlessly but we worked really hard and had such a good time. I finally managed to do a couple of t-stops and we also made the best use of all the space by practicing cross-overs and 25 laps in 5 minutes x 2. Made it to 19 before time ran out, but I feel that it's more about working on my technique and speed than my grade of fitness, since I wasn't that tired by the end. Yay for having worked out a lot since the beginning of June! Had no idea then, that I would be a roller girl by October, but very thankful for it now! I also desperately need new wheels but I just can't decide what to get, plus I don't have very much money at the moment. Luckily Christmas is coming up!

Whipping, t-stops and woe is me.

Very pleased with the fact that last nights practice focused on skating skills, just as I wished! My back got a bit sore towards the end, but the thing that really bothers me is that I felt I was afraid of falling and twisting my back which meant that I felt restricted the whole time (and meant that I couldn't really work on toestop-walking or stopping). Otherwise it was a nice practice, and I'm really glad my back didn't start hurting! I'm quite sore today so it feels nice to have a doctor's appointment next week so I can get some help figuring out what's going on in there. Anyways, I got to try whipping for the first time last night which was a lot of fun! We also practiced skating backwards which at first seemed absolutely impossible but after a few rounds started to make more sense. This is something I like about rollerskating, what seems impossible often isn't. Apart from t-stops then, I just can't figure it out. Oh well, I'll blame that failure on my sore back ;)

Update on my back

Since I am such an hypocondriac I called a physiotherapist last weekend because I didn't feel that my back was getting any better. It has gotten a bit better now I think, but I'm gonna keep my appointment to ask about how I can avoid this happening again, and also how I should strengthen that muscle. I've been to see one before and she said that because of my scoliosis the left side of my body is weaker. I'm on her waiting list but wont get an appointment 'til early March which feels like for ever. What I'm wondering if that has played a part in me getting a muscle rupture in my left flank (sort of) or if it's just a coincidence.

My left side is not hurting as much at the moment, but it's sore and feels like it's clenching a bit? I dunno... My whole back is a bit sore biut that's probably because I haven't had time to work out. It hasn't helped that I've been swamped with uni work and have been spending most of my time at the library.

I am going to practice today just to try out how it feels -no falling or blockning today, so I'm really hoping weäll focus on skating skills, otherwise I'll be spending most of my time on the bench. But I really don't want to aggravate it, I just want to get well so that I can sweat my ass off during practice!

Ouch

Pulled a muscle in my back during Saturdays practice. Didn't really feel it at the time, nor did I feel it on Sunday but Monday and Tuesday were quite painful so I decided to miss out on practice yesterday. Boohooo. Felt sucky as hell but I don't want to make it worse so I know it was the best thing to do. I went anyways, figured it'd be nice just to watch and it was!

Our coach started out by telling us that were going to have a minimum skills test in January which was met by loud cheers by the whole team. I know I have no chance of passing it, but it's nice to have something to practice for. Coach also said each practice will focus on a couple of things from the minimum skills, and yesterday they did whips and hip-whips, and something else I just cannot remember atm. The girls were awesome, they all did really well!

Also - freaking love hanging out with giiiiiiiirls. Best thing I know.

Saturday is practice day!

The focus today was skating skills, which meant a lot of cross-overs and slalom. I think I managed to do a few decent cross-overs, but not sure. We practised stopping as well today, what a challenge! I can do an allright plough-stop and stop by dragging my toe stop behind, but we also got to try the t-stop and the turn around toe stop which was just impossible. So frustrating! I think I'm too chicken to get enough speed and turn fast enough for the turn around, but the t-stop? How the hell do people do it? I kept going sideways as soon as I put my skate behind me.

We also played dodgeball, a game I (not so fondly) remember from gym class. I've never really liked it but it was quite fun today and a good way to get used to being on skates 'cause it got my focus off the skating and onto the ball and the teams.

At the end of practice we practiced blocking again and as a finish we got try working our way through a pack which was SO MUCH FUN! That gave a real taste of what playing a bout will be like and I loved it. Good way to keep us all motivated I think :)

First practice!

Last night I had my first practice! I started off by googling and reading horror stories about terrible first times, then my gym bag broke and I got lost on my way there and arrived completely stressed out. We were as many old as new sluts there (my team is called Sluts United) which felt awesome!

After warming up we practiced cross-overs, walking on our toe-stops/skates, falling in various ways, weaving, skating in and through a pack, the shopping cart (at first divided into 3's and later on with7 players. I almost died!!!) skating at different speeds, did Simon says, We got to try blocking the oldies, and then they got to block us rookies - this was at the end of practice and oh man did I flail all over the track and crash onto the floor? Oh yes. It felt like we did everything except stopping (hehe hopefully we can do this next time 'cause I need to learn this fast!).

All in all I think it went well. I got my new toestops just that day which I am really pleased about. The first few steps on them felt unsteady but I feel like I made a lot of progress right away and lost some of the fear of falling as well. Also, when it was my turn to push 'the shopping cart' I had to run on them, otherwise it was just impossible.

And yes - I'm, very sore today, thanks for asking!