I have an injury. :(

This week was skate practice. YIPEE! I live for these and always have fun. Warm ups always suck. Always. But I always tell myself that if I get through those then the fun starts. Today was a hit heavy practice. We played queen of the rink with Vue (VueDoo Prodigy of MNRG) and Tiki. Lydia (Lydia Punch of MNRG) and a few other vets soon joined in. I'm quite sure the vets aren't hitting us as hard as they can YET, but it was fun to see some fellow Debs (Amelie and Lush) lay down some hits that took out a vet or two! Debu-Taunts were invited to do Queen of the Rink for the preshow on MNRG's April 2nd bout. WHAT an honor! I guess it's linked up to some kind of meat raffle and it should prove to be entertaining! Only those who were scrimmage ready were allowed to sign up. Yeah for hard work paying off! I signed up for an extra practice- i.e. clinic- after our 2 hour hard practice. I knew that skills would be broke down and I knew that I had a few that I was hoping to get some good feedback on. One is snow plows and the other was left knee taps. We spend time initially (after warm ups on and off skates) on cross overs and stride. Kimbers (Shiver Me Kimbers of MNRG) worked with my group of 3-4 and I think I finally realized that I "get" cross overs, and need to stop being so wussy about them. She said my from is good, I'm digging in with both legs. Now I just need to make myself DO THEM. We did cross overs skating the wrong direction. I can do them but, man, are they U.G.L.Y. Next station my group went to was Wet Spot and we worked on stopping. I.E. Snow plows! Something he said clicked with me. And I think it's because Tiki kinda yelled at us today saying we all need to work on them cuz it shouldn't take us 5 feet to stop. She's right. But it's just so darn hard!. Anyway..I finally got the where to push from (wheelwise) so I was really pushing myself...sprinting and then cranking out a stop. BAM..I roll an ankle. It was like pain I've not felt in my adult life. I had to get all first respondered up and everything. Ump was on duty and fixed me up good. I AM SO DISAPPOINTED THAT I WILL PROBABLY NOT BE ABLE TO DO THE PRESHOW!!!! Stupid Ankle. Stupid me for pushing it. As of now I'm laying low. Trying not to walk on it and trying to baby it. I don't want to miss practice on Sunday too. :(

03/20/11- Sunday- Never stop moving your feet.

One more dryland under my belt. This week, again, we had Ump as a guest speaker to try and finish the rule talk. The rules are over 40 pages long and we all have questions so it's a slow go. Top that with girls who don't read the rules (as requested) before practice asking questions. Or top that with girls who weren't at the last practice asking questions that were covered in the last practice. Frustrating for Flik. We met in the meeting rooms again for dryland. I think we do this when the Roy is booked with other stuff...as in the roller girls get the boot and we make it work. Actually, dry land is REALLY good for us. If we don't work on core strength and ankle strength (gathered from lots of jumping) we are going to get hurt, and aren't going to be able to improve as a skater. I am amazed at how many girls skip the dry lands. (I know some have occasional conflicts but there are defiantly girls who frequently miss drylands...and they, coincidentally? are the same girls who complain that they "just aren't getting any better") Our warm up this week was killer! Tiki took us out and down the stairs to the main concourse at the River Center, she then took us across to another (double) flight of stairs and told us to SPRINT up the stairs, jog to the the flight we had just come down, WALK down that flight and jog again to the bottom of the this flight...SPRINT up, jog over, walk down, jog over, SPRINT up and repeat...until we hear the beloved four short whistle tweets indicating the end of action (or the end of a jam during a bout). I did better than some, and worse than others...but you know what? I didn't quit. I never stopped. By the third sprint up the stairs my sprint was more of a moving-my-feet-as-fast-as-i-can-while-feeling-the-burn-and-wanting-to-quit kind of pace. But I did it. I saw many girls start walking, especially on the lower floor where no one was watching (Tiki was at the top of the steps loudly reminding us to move our feet...faster) but I didn't let myself do it. I received encouragement a few practices ago about how to work on my endurance. (One of my major downfalls). I was told that when I get that feeling that I need to quit, or when I get that thought that I can't do it I HAVE TO PUSH THROUGH IT. Each time I do this I'm going further, faster, etc. Then...some day I'm gonna look and me like...wow...I did and I didn't die. The point is...if I make myself go that extra 30 seconds, or that extra two minutes even though I'm exhausted, eventually my body will find that as a normal pace/distance. And..of course there will always be a little faster or a little further that I can push myself for. It's a never ending cycle, which is why I just need to get over it.
We were then allowed to recoup while listening to the rest of Ump's rules talk. After that we did a few sprinting relays and also side shuffle relays. These were done in pairs to help us really concentrate on form and pace, and also to have someone there critiquing us as needed. Thank you Rolly for being a great partner! After that was wall squats. UGH! I am seriously getting stronger at these though and I'm happy for that. Kind of fun to feel how defined my thighs are getting. Now to work on those dreaded inner thighs! Ha. Then was sprawl jumps (or burpees). These are my nemesis. I can't keep up with the pace of the group...we were to do 20 and I maybe got in 15. But, again, I didn't stop and they seem to be getting easier (please let that be!). Then was line jumping. These are definitely getting easier, although one foot jumps still burn way before they should. We then cooled down with some core. We all sat in a circle and did circle core. Each girl, one at a time, chooses a core exercise and then we all do 15 reps. I like it, it's kind of bonding like. So..it wasn't even 2 hours of working out, but it sure felt like it.
In other news- tryouts are right around the corner and, man, is there ever a lot of talk about it. I won't be trying out this year. Due to circumstances in my own life, I just do not have the time to commit to practices multi times a week, or time to commit to committees and volunteering. I sure wish I did. Although, I'm pretty sure my skills aren't quite ready for MNRG...yet. I'm not really sure for NSRG, but I guess it doesn't really matter. I love the Debu-Taunts and am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thankful for it.

03/13/11- Dryland

So this week's practice ended up being off skates or- Dryland as we call it. We did an hour of kick boxing lead by MNRG's own Gogo Galore. It rocked my socks off. I was dripping with sweat and had fun the whole time. It went fast too=BONUS. Second half was rule talk with head referee Umpire Strikes Back. Let me tell you it was full of laughs, mostly because of Tiki (one of my coaches- Tiki Torture also of MNRG) and Ump's interactions. So...I think next week is dry land too and THEN I get to make good on my goal that I posted last week.

03/05/11- Sunday Practice

I sort of think it's a good idea to post after each practice so I can log my achievements as well as my failures. I was moved to scrimmage ready after the first practice of session two. Since then we have only been able to scrimmage twice and let me tell you I feel SO LOST in the pack. I feel like when I look one way is when I'm hit from the other. Or I feel like when I look to help my jammer is when the other comes through. I'm assured by all of the coaches that this is NORMAL. In fact, they tell me that I will feel lost for a good year. Really? really? Skills worked on today: Sprinting- proper form, stepping, etc. Pushes- FUN!. Scrimmaging and Queen of the Rink. I actually feel semi in control of myself when it comes to Queen of the Rink. This is a game where we are all on the track (all the scrimmage ready people..not the entire Debu-Taunt roster..) and we partner up and then it's every team for it's self. If you fall, or get pushed out you are down and need to wait until your partner skates around and tags you to come back in. If she is down before she gets to you then your team is out. Last team standing wins. I love this! Today I really felt in control of my body and was timing hits and receiving hits well. Scrimmaging...well...scrimmaging is another story...I feel like a failure. I took out my own Jammer not once, but twice. There is just SO much to watch for! As soon as you open a window for your jammer is when the other jammer slides through. As soon as you get past one girl, another flies by you. My goal for next week: I will stop the white Jammer ONCE. Legally. :D

Flik

Who is Flik? The first thing any roller girl hopeful thinks about is a derby name. I'm here to tell you first hand that it was way more complicated than one would think. Not only is it a name that will follow one through her entire derby career, but also, needs to be completely unique from ANY OTHER registered name. There are way around it...such as writing for permission to use the same or similar name...but who wants to do that? I tried on a lot of names before settling. I even made a name official, before scrapping it and going with something entirely different. Much thanks to Ferret Wrench for putting up with the endless "what about this name" and "what do you think about that name?" conversations. Once a name is settled on, then that is who one becomes. I'm that girl who is going to say the wrong thing sometimes. I'm that girl who likes things how they are supposed to be. That girl with the short line of patience. Who am I? I am Aries A. Fliktion- a girl who is seriously afflicted with being an Aries. And- that's ok with me.

My Aha! Moment

My roller derby journey started in the fall of 2009. A friend invited me to go to a Minnesota Roller Girl bout and I said "Huh- roller derby actually exists out side of TV?" This was right after Drew Barrymore's infamous "Whip It" movie debuted. I accepted the invitation and not even 10 minutes into the bout did I realize that I not only WANTED to be part of this rough and tough sport, but also, that I COULD be. There were two local leagues in the metro and each held open tryouts once a year.
I strapped on skates for the first time since I was 9 on February 14th, 2010. What an adventure. I was never a great skater even as a kid, but to my surprise falling didn't happen half as much as I remember as a child. Thank you adulthood and coordination. Through talking to people I found that the sooner I got out of rental skates and into my own proper fitting derby skates the better. This was a big decision. Jumping into Roller Derby, unlike other sports, is a big monetary commitment. There really isn't time to "see if I like it" before investing in gear. For obvious reasons safety is very important and the expense of gear goes to enforce that. If I wanted to try out for a league this year I would need to have my own gear, which only added to the urgency. Thankfully, I am lucky to live in the Twin Cities metro area which is home to not only one, but two derby stores. I've heard many stories of the frustration of buying gear and skates through online venues. Many, many roller derby girls world wide still only have online means as an option. But here I was, able to walk into either of these stores and not only try stuff on, but also have actually seasoned derby athletes help me. I suppose I got my skates and most of my gear in April or May of 2010. I don't really remember. I do remember the big difference good wheels and good skates made.
By this time I was starting to learn skills beyond just skating forward: Namely crossovers. Boy, am I ever glad I had knee pads! I remember attending clinics for both leagues to see what kind of skills were needed before I could consider trying out and (hopefully) making a team. BOY! Did I ever have A LOT to learn. When try outs rolled around I did go to try outs for North Star Roller Girls- not because I thought I had enough skills, but mostly because I wanted to be prepared and wanted to know what to expect for NEXT years (2011) tryouts. By that time I had heard about a recreational league (Debu-Taunts) that was being started by the Minnesota Roller Girls that would be open to any girl of any skill level.
Debu-Taunts officially started in August of 2010 and this is when the trials and fumbles truly started happening! MNRG had put together a formidable coaching team that seemed to know exactly what steps to teach us. Safety was their number one goal and they spent much time with us on dry land (sneakers and no skates) in attempt to strengthen our bodies and get ready for the wonderful sport of roller derby. They taught us how to fall properly, how to stop correctly, and generally how to not be a hazard to us or our teammates. That first session of Debu-Taunts there was over 50 girls standing there, learning just like I was. I can't say enough good things about the rec league. I learned that who I was - was a.ok. I didn't need to be someone else, I didn't need to impress people. Derby has a way of really empowering self. I would have never said I was a self conscience person...but I can see now that I am more confident and more...content. There is so much benefit from derby-way beyond the obvious exercises-is-good-for-the-body aspect.
Fast forward to January of 2011 and the 2nd session of Debu-Taunts starts. We add almost 30 more girls to the roster and learn that there is almost 60 more girls on a waiting list to get in. UNREAL! Now I am just so THANKFUL to have gotten in when I did. And that is what brings me to this blog. I want somewhere to track my fumbles and my challenges. That way, when I have an off practice (ooooh...does it ever happen...a lot) I can come back here and read where I started and how far I've come and to remember that there will ALWAYS be challenges and if I ever get to the point where I think I've got it all down---then that is the day that I've stopped trying.