Thursday, December 30, 2010

My knee pads

are Pro-Designed, specifically the Mini Ramp Knee Pads.  The only thing with these is that apparently the guy who makes them will call you up about your order and talk to you for hours on end.  (I weaseled my way around it by saying that I had a cell phone with only a limited number of minutes on my plan and not to call unless it was an emergency.)

Most of the women on my league use these, or Smith Scabs.  I tried those on (someone had a pair they were selling) and but they didn't feel quite right, so I went back to my Pro-Designed.

Monday, December 27, 2010

MARY XMIS

So my little hip bag is totally awesome (and FAAAAAAAAAST with the shipping - I ordered it Wednesday and it arrived Friday).

I bought the black Stalker Heartless wheels yesterday, and did a little bit of skate maintenance.  Moved my right toe stop to my left skate and vice-versa (since I'm left-handed, I stop with my left skate 99.9% of the time and it was really worn down) and took my bearings out of my skates since they are FEELTHY again and need to be cleaned.  Roy has commandeered the basement for the week ("I AM GOING TO FINISH THE DINING ROOM REMODEL THIS WEEK, DAMMIT" was pretty close to his exact words) so I wasn't able to actually clean the bearings last night.  Maybe I will do it when I get home from work.

My Vanish wheels (the white ones) are more worn down than I remember them being - I might stick with the yellow Chasers again.  Will have to try 'em out.

(edit: just got word that we're not having practice tonight, so that means I won't get around to cleaning my bearings until right before next practice [which is the first official practice of the 2011 season]).

Thursday, December 23, 2010

merry christmas

I bought myself this because I need something into which I can put my phone and my keys and my wallet and my skate tool when I go outdoor skating.  (Which isn't going to happen until, oh, probably like MAY or JUNE, considering where I live.)

I had to go to Michaels yesterday, so I also bought myself a little rhinestone bling sticker in the shape of a crown that I put on the back of my phone.  (Spent time looking for queen/crown/roller skate type stuff in the scrapbook aisle.  Lots more princess stuff than queen stuff.)  Some day, there will be roller derby-themed scrapbook stickers, just like how there's soccer/basketball/cheerleading stuff now.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

hee

so you can tell I'm excited about roller derby again because I'm posting more often. :^)

So!  I'm trying to decide what wheels I should get. It's pretty much a given that I will stick with Heartless, because they have done very right by me and I like the narrow wheels.  I have a set of white (96A Vanish) that I believe I used once, so I'll put those as my outside wheels.  But what to do for the inside?

When I started out, I used the wheels that came with my skates - Blue Tuners (93A).  Then I switched to Fugitives, gray pushers (they're basically the same as the orange ones) (88A) and red outside (92A).  Then, as I said before, I went to Heartless Voodoo (86A) and Chaser (92A).

I'm thinking that while I like the grip level that I had with the Voodoo/Chaser, I could probably go up a hardness level, which would bring me to Stalker (88A) or Creeper (90A). I don't want to go much beyond that, I don't think.  I can buy either set at the rink where we practice. 

I will probably end up getting Stalkers.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay roller derby

I went to practice last night.  Offseason stuff is basically a free skate, but it was nice nice nice to put on my skates again.  And my kneepads? OMFG.  KITTENS AND CLOUDS AND SPRINGS AND SOFT PUFFYNESS! I'd go down, I'd bounce right back up!  It was amazing.

I do need new pusher wheels, though.  They're pretty worn and I was sliding around quite a bit.  (For those if you scoring at home, I use Heartless Voodoo [maroon, 86A] and Chaser [yellow, 92A].)  I also have a set of Vanish (white, 96A).  At the beginning of last season I tried using 92/96 and that was just a nightmare, so I went with 86/92.  Maybe this season I'll try 90/96.  (90A would be the green Creeper.)  They sell them at the rink where we practice, so I will probably just buy them there, rather than trying to find the best deal online, wait for them to ship, etc., etc., etc., only to save $5, if that.

I should probably also get a new helmet.

Monday, December 20, 2010

three guesses what this entry is called

I got on a team, yay (I wasn't 100% sure how the draft was going to be run - there was talk of drafting only 14 people on each team at first and then everyone who didn't make the cut would be put into a draft with the fresh meat).  I am on the same team as last year, with awesome people. 

Friday, December 17, 2010

MARY XMIS TO MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

My new kneepads showed up, hooray hooray!  They are like falling on clouds.  Or kittens.  Or kittens made of clouds.  Or clouds made of kittens.

Draft is on Sunday evening.  We'll see where I end up.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

and so, again

At the last bout of the season, I got a crack in the cap of one of my kneepads.  It's about 2" long, going from one of the grommets to about the center of the cap. 


I've ordered new pads, but until they arrive, I don't know if I should skate on these, since I'm worried that if I fall, a shard of plastic will break through and stab my kneecap.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

um...why don't we call this one "so"

the talk has begun about the draft for next season.  We're starting up in less than a month (after the 1st of the year) so the players need to be divided and all that (backstory: this season we had two home teams and then our A team.  This upcoming season all the players will be equally divided amongst three home teams, and then for the second half of the season we will have an A travel team and a B travel team). 

The coaching committee's theme this upcoming season seems to be "if you work out, you will be rewarded."

Sigh.

I hate working out.  I hate working out in winter.  I hate the cold.  I hate everything. 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

so wow, it *does* work

I know that I've mentioned before that unless I can see actual concrete number-type proof that exercising and all that is beneficial, I won't believe it.  My clothes can fit better, my clothes can fit worse, whatevs, but if that number on the scale stays the same, DAMMIT IT'S NOT WORKING.

(That is the back story #1 to the following.)

The last time I got bloodwork done was in June 2005, before I started this derby thang.  Keep in mind that my dietary habits have not changed that much.

(That is back story #2 to the following.)

I had a physical yesterday, and today I got the bloodwork results.

Cholesterol - was 218, now 191 (they like it under 200)
HDL (good cholesterol) - was 47, now 50 (they like it between 35 and 60, higher is better)
LDL (bad cholesterol) - was 129, now 126 (they like it between 120 and 129, lower is better)
Triglycerides - this is the big one.  They like it to be below 150.  An increased level is a sign of lack of physical activity.  Back in June '05, mine was 209.

Now? 73, baby!

 I AM FULL OF WIN AND HEALTHINESS WAHOO!