Summer hiatus is over! The teams are practicing again and the next bout is just around the corner. Get your tickets now, VIP seats are selling out fast!
As for me, I’ve been out of practice for most of this month thanks to 1) a badly sprained ankle and 2) a horrible ear infection. Both are on the mend now. Try outs are tomorrow! I’m not feeling as confident as I have been but I’m gonna give it a shot. I figure the worst that could happen is I don’t make it. That means another few months as Fresh Meat. That ain’t so bad. I can still skate which is all that really matters. I can’t wait to get back on the track! So wish me luck tomorrow! I’ll check in and let you know how it goes.
Last night marked a milestone in my roller derby career. I got track-cleared! Basically, once fresh meat skaters master a set of skills and show that they can scrimmage with other skaters safely, they get evaluated to be track-cleared. Once you are track-cleared, you can join the all skate practices with more seasoned derby girls and you can also practice at the track whenever you feel like it – as long as someone else is there with you. So this is great news for me! The next try-outs are at the end of August and now I can practice more to prepare for them. And I really need to. I’m not so great at stopping. In fact, I suck at it. I skate really strongly and I’m definitely in control but the perfect stop has so far eluded me. Not for long though, cause I’m gonna hit the track as much as possible over the next 2 months.
If you want a sense of what a 2 hour roller derby practice is like, these are the drills (as best as I can remember them) that we went thru last night:
30 seconds as fast as you can
rest (still skating)
45 seconds as fast as you can
rest
1 minute as fast as you can (need to do 5 laps for tryouts)
rest
1:15 as fast as you can
rest
1:30 as fast as you can
rest
1:15 and … all of the above all the way back down.
20 laps in opposite direction as fast as you can
20 laps in regular direction as fast as you can (must be under 5 minutes for tryouts)
stretching
blocking one on one partner
blocking/jamming 2 on 2
blocking/jamming 3 blockers, 2 jammers
blocking/jamming 4 blockers, 2 jammers
wall of pain:
20 crunches
20 side crunches on each side
20 bicycle crunches (much harder in skates!)
20 flutter kicks
20 scissor kicks
30 squats
30 seconds of squat pulses
hold squat for 30 seconds — ooooowwwww!
stretching
Then, after all that (2 hours), a few of us got back up on the track to get cleared. It was a tough and inspiring night. After watching the bouts at the tournament over the weekend, we were all really determined and had a great practice! This shit is crazy fun.
This upcoming weekend is probably the biggest weekend the LA Derby Dolls have had so far. In a first tournament of its kind, the best skaters from Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County are having it out on a banked track. Not only will there be tons of games throughout Saturday and Sunday, there [...]
All-female roller derby elbows its way in as a legitimate sport – USATODAY.com – Looks like I got on the bandwagon just in time. This shit is getting hot!
Back on a roll in L.A. with Derby Dolls – Los Angeles Times – Awesome article about the Derby Dolls and the upcoming tournament.
Get $10 off tickets by using this code: ladd2day when you buy your tickets online. Limited number of discount seats available. Hope to see you there!
In other roller derby news, the next [...]
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Thanks to everyone who supported my fundraiser! I can’t wait to try these bad boys out on the track. Apologies for the crappy video quality and hissy audio. All I had with me was my point and shoot.
I won’t give you the whole sob story but Yuri and I have been dealing with a bunch of personal and family issues lately that have necessitated a lot of travel and time off work. We’re broke. And dammit, I want to be a roller derby girl! I went to [...]