The Summer of Derby

All I can think about is skating. Form, wheels, socks, laces, toe guards, form, form and form. And sporadically thrown in: Will it rain today and keep me from skating? I read the sky obsessively, and have a Firefox browser tab constantly open to weather.com.

Clouds rolling in at the rink.

One night I was running late but wanted to get out and skate some endurance exercises before dark. After I suited up, the rain began. Koco, Ima Killya and I laid down and did sit ups and back exercises under a heavy sky as the rain peppered our faces.

Rain on the rink

I can feel my legs getting stronger. But, as with most things worth having, the more I learn, the more I realize I don't know. I head out to the rink most nights around 7 - 7:30. The sun is still hot at that point, so I and whomever is out that night, try to warm up without overheating. I sweat like a motherfucker. Around 8:30 the sun dips low and I finally feel like I can get a decent workout in. We do suicides (begin laying down, GO at full spread to the halfway mark on the rink, do a double-knee fall, get up, skate to the end of the rink, fall on all four, turn around and do single-knee falls on the way back, and a 180 at the end which usually ends with us laying on the dirty rink floor again -- but only because we can no longer stand.) Poison SueSMAC introduced me to endurance skates where you go full on for 5 minutes and I really think that is helping. The BRRG girls have been so kind and welcoming. I want to thank them by kicking ass at the tryouts.

I love it. I have never felt this way about a sport. Tonight my derby baby sister Mallory (Eve L. HeartbreakHer) attended an open scrimmage in Hendersonville. We were able to watch the BRRG in a practice bout. It was my first time watching roller derby since I began to skate myself. I think I am a very visual learner, and I learned so much during those two hours. Seeing their smooth crossovers, how they use the oval rink space, watching them HIT (can't wait), seeing all the falling (worried about lack of health insurance), and the competitive nature of the sport. I was sad when it ended.

Mallory and I spent the 45 minute ride home writing down everything we saw so we can incorporate moves and warm ups into our practices. I swear I was so excited I almost peed myself. I can't wait to be out with the big kids!

I am meeting amazing woman, sweating through knee gaskets, pads, and socks, getting healthy and in shape and having a blast. It works my mind and my body to the max. I didn't know exercise could be fun. My tailbone still aches from when I fell 2 weeks ago for absolutely no reason, and my head aches from time to time from when it bounced off the rink floor, reminding me that I have a responsibility to my body through all of this.

I am snapping laces, and my gear is finally looking like it is used for what it is designed. My beloved unicorn, argyle, and whale socks are wearing thin, so with more excitement than is deemed sane I hit Target for more. I own four sports bras now, which is a lifetime record. My toe guards and knee pads are lookin' loved, and I dream on skates. Poweraid is my new drink of choice, and I go through it like a teenage boy.

I apologize to the people I never see anymore. The first meeting Candy Korn said, "We're not saying it's a cult, but we will make you wear funny clothes, change your name and never see your real family again." I am determined to be a member, even if they don't know it yet.

With my new $2 socks (hearts, some stripes and, duh, argyle), I will head out to the rink tomorrow and work even harder. I have roughly one month until tryouts, and I need every minute.