Those've you who read this blog (wherever you may be) know that I hate the warmup jogging on Sunday mornings more than anything else in the world.
That's your backstory.
So today I figured I would go to the gym after work and do my elliptical THANG, but it's such a bright sunshiny day out there I said "No. Today I am going to go out to the 0.4 mile loop behind the supermarket and JOG A MILE WITHOUT STOPPING."
So I went to the 0.4 mile loop behind the supermarket and JOGGED A MILE WITHOUT STOPPING.
I didn't do it in a fantastic time - a hair under twelve minutes - but still. I JOGGED A MILE WITHOUT STOPPING.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
hmm...
I should probably go to the gym today or do some sort of exercising.
I know no one asked, but here is my PLAYLIST THAT GETS ME THROUGH THE EXERCISING:
Do You Want To - Franz Ferdinand
I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys
In the Hall of the Mountain King - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Social Network soundtrack)
March of the Pigs - Nine Inch Nails
Mombasa - Hans Zimmer (Inception soundtrack)
The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
Transmission - Joy Division
Until it Talks - Divide & Kreate*
How You Like Me Now - The Heavy
*This is an awesome mashup of "Until It Sleeps" by Metallica and the Thin White Duke remix of "Talk" by Coldplay. Like I said, it's awesome.
I tried putting "Bohemian Like You" by the Dandy Warhols on this playlist, but it's just not clicking. It's not angry/driving/inspiring/whatever enough.
I know no one asked, but here is my PLAYLIST THAT GETS ME THROUGH THE EXERCISING:
Do You Want To - Franz Ferdinand
I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys
In the Hall of the Mountain King - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Social Network soundtrack)
March of the Pigs - Nine Inch Nails
Mombasa - Hans Zimmer (Inception soundtrack)
The Hand That Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
Transmission - Joy Division
Until it Talks - Divide & Kreate*
How You Like Me Now - The Heavy
*This is an awesome mashup of "Until It Sleeps" by Metallica and the Thin White Duke remix of "Talk" by Coldplay. Like I said, it's awesome.
I tried putting "Bohemian Like You" by the Dandy Warhols on this playlist, but it's just not clicking. It's not angry/driving/inspiring/whatever enough.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
si teh tuesdayzar
at first I thought last night that either my wheels were completely shot or I had lost all ability to skate - I'd go in for a hit and be all WHOOPS NOW I'M ON THE FLOOR. but then I discovered that other people were having the same issue, so it was probably just that the team practice before ours sweated up the rink.
I'm going to ECE this year! Wahoo!
I'm going to ECE this year! Wahoo!
Monday, March 28, 2011
it's the start of another week
Saturday we had another bout - my team was not playing in this one, so we were in charge of Bout Production and all that. It was at a different venue from where our bouts are usually held (the place we usually have our bouts was booked every weekend in March), so we had it at one of the local colleges. We had to borrow sport court from a nearby league and lay it down (at 7 in the morning; whee fun). We were told it would take anywhere from 2 hours to 10 hours to get it down; we did it in an hour fifteen. WE RULE.
The venue was really good - they ran the box office and had oodles of security and the sound system was nice and loud - but, as one of the volunteers said, it wasn't the same. It lacked a little bit of the rough-edgedness that makes roller derby roller derby. If that makes sense.
Anyway, we had a blast, we had great attendance (no word on exact numbers but the venue holds 2300 and I'd say the place was at least 3/4 filled) and I can't wait until our next bout, when it's our turn.
(Amusing amusery: after the bout, one of the local cable sports channels interviewed some of the players, and did a camera-eye view of a jam, which involved the camera man running around the track holding a camera down at knee-level. He managed to do about two laps before he fell over, and apparently later when he was doing the actual interviews, he was still out of breath.)
So yesterday was Sunday, another Death Paces. I keep meaning to show up late so I can avoid the warm-up jog, but I always end up being on time. Sigh. Anyway, we jogged for about ten-fifteen minutes, and only really dropped out at the very, very end, so that's something. I would've been able to do it if Anton Apolo OhHELLno hadn't thrown in all this extra stuff (run this stretch of the rink side-stepping, run this part backwards, do grapevines, etc.). He said that when we do all that extra stuff, it proves that we could just plain run for the entire time. Anyway.
So we did dynamic stretching and hopping and this evil, evil thing where we had to do a certain number of burpees in thirty seconds, and then do that number in a minute (if you finish quickly you get more time to rest) for ten minutes. I HATE THOSE.
So we did more crap like that, leg work and core work and other stuff to thoroughly exhaust us and make us miserable. Then we had to do a jogging cooldown, and for some inexplicable reason, I had absolutely no problem doing it. I kept up near the front of the pack, fine as could be. Weirdness.
Usually for the second half of Sunday practice we put on our skates and do drills, but no one really wanted to do that (a surprising number of people at practice had bouted the night before), so Captainess Awesome led some yoga stuff. And I realized just how bunched up and stressy I am (one of the other women in the league was trying to help me out with my posture and she was like "relax your shoulders" [I'd relax my shoulders] "no, relax your shoulders" [I'd try it again] "now your neck is all stressed"). Sigh.
The venue was really good - they ran the box office and had oodles of security and the sound system was nice and loud - but, as one of the volunteers said, it wasn't the same. It lacked a little bit of the rough-edgedness that makes roller derby roller derby. If that makes sense.
Anyway, we had a blast, we had great attendance (no word on exact numbers but the venue holds 2300 and I'd say the place was at least 3/4 filled) and I can't wait until our next bout, when it's our turn.
(Amusing amusery: after the bout, one of the local cable sports channels interviewed some of the players, and did a camera-eye view of a jam, which involved the camera man running around the track holding a camera down at knee-level. He managed to do about two laps before he fell over, and apparently later when he was doing the actual interviews, he was still out of breath.)
So yesterday was Sunday, another Death Paces. I keep meaning to show up late so I can avoid the warm-up jog, but I always end up being on time. Sigh. Anyway, we jogged for about ten-fifteen minutes, and only really dropped out at the very, very end, so that's something. I would've been able to do it if Anton Apolo OhHELLno hadn't thrown in all this extra stuff (run this stretch of the rink side-stepping, run this part backwards, do grapevines, etc.). He said that when we do all that extra stuff, it proves that we could just plain run for the entire time. Anyway.
So we did dynamic stretching and hopping and this evil, evil thing where we had to do a certain number of burpees in thirty seconds, and then do that number in a minute (if you finish quickly you get more time to rest) for ten minutes. I HATE THOSE.
So we did more crap like that, leg work and core work and other stuff to thoroughly exhaust us and make us miserable. Then we had to do a jogging cooldown, and for some inexplicable reason, I had absolutely no problem doing it. I kept up near the front of the pack, fine as could be. Weirdness.
Usually for the second half of Sunday practice we put on our skates and do drills, but no one really wanted to do that (a surprising number of people at practice had bouted the night before), so Captainess Awesome led some yoga stuff. And I realized just how bunched up and stressy I am (one of the other women in the league was trying to help me out with my posture and she was like "relax your shoulders" [I'd relax my shoulders] "no, relax your shoulders" [I'd try it again] "now your neck is all stressed"). Sigh.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
hmm...
so three days of hard practice/exercise/skating in a row, and I feel.....not too bad! My right elbow is feeling weird, I must've done something to it, but it's not keeping me from functioning today or anything like that.
So last night's practice. We have this one drill that's called Four Corners. Basically everyone gets into 4 groups, one at each corner of the track. The jammers start at turn 4, skating around. A skater from the group at turn 1 starts in front of the jammer, then a skater from turn 2 joins in to form a wall with the skater from turn 1. When the whole group has passed the skater from turn 3, she joins in, sprints to catch up and hits the jammer that is presently being held by the wall.
To not be humble for once, I fuckin' ruled the drill last night.
I kept up walls that the jammer couldn't get by. I kept knocking the jammer out again and again (to the point where when I was working with one particular jammer again, she said "Oh no, it's you again!" and then told me later I was her worst nightmare during that drill).
I got a very nice e-mail from Captainness Awesome this morning telling me that I owned the drill.
So yeah, yay me. :)
In other news, I've ordered new cushions for my trucks. Apparently you're supposed to change them every once in a while. Who knew? I hope it turns into a situation where I switch them and am like "OMFG I NEVER REALIZED SKATING COULD BE SO MUCH MORE AWESOME" and not "hm, I can't really tell the difference...."
So last night's practice. We have this one drill that's called Four Corners. Basically everyone gets into 4 groups, one at each corner of the track. The jammers start at turn 4, skating around. A skater from the group at turn 1 starts in front of the jammer, then a skater from turn 2 joins in to form a wall with the skater from turn 1. When the whole group has passed the skater from turn 3, she joins in, sprints to catch up and hits the jammer that is presently being held by the wall.
To not be humble for once, I fuckin' ruled the drill last night.
I kept up walls that the jammer couldn't get by. I kept knocking the jammer out again and again (to the point where when I was working with one particular jammer again, she said "Oh no, it's you again!" and then told me later I was her worst nightmare during that drill).
I got a very nice e-mail from Captainness Awesome this morning telling me that I owned the drill.
So yeah, yay me. :)
In other news, I've ordered new cushions for my trucks. Apparently you're supposed to change them every once in a while. Who knew? I hope it turns into a situation where I switch them and am like "OMFG I NEVER REALIZED SKATING COULD BE SO MUCH MORE AWESOME" and not "hm, I can't really tell the difference...."
Monday, March 21, 2011
so, hi!
Went to Syracuse for a scrimmage. They have their own space (an old Fashion Bug store in a mall) which was pretty nice but tiny (you go one skate-width out of bounds, you hit a mattress they have put up). Everyone warned us "it's really slick, bring your grippiest wheels" but I found the floor delightful (once I got used to the ripple-ripple-ripple rata-tat-tat of the sportcourt tiles on my feet).
So, anyway. There were 14 of us, a combination of first, second and third year skaters. There were six lineups, I was pivot in 2, 5 and 6, which was fine and groovy.
Then our bench manager was like "okay, in lineup 2, you and the jammer are gonna switch positions."
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooookay.
So I jammed for, like, 3/4 of the game. I think I broke out of the pack twice. Guh. (Add to that the fact that I ran out of water after the first half, and their drinking fountain was broken, double guh.)
I also got a buncha penalties, including one because I kinda hit their jammer in the jaw with my shoulder. (It wasn't my fault; she was tall!) I had some good hits and some amazing whiffs (see what I said before about hitting the mattress). So that was fun, I had a good time.
Saturday evening Maverick wanted to go ice skating, so I said "sure".
Ice skating and roller skating are not the same.
"FINALLY, something that I'm better at than my Mom," Maverick said as he lapped me on the rink for the twelfth time. (I didn't fall, but it's kinda hard to fall when you're clutching the edge of the rail on the rink.) My feet were KILLING me. I started with figure skates but kept catching the little rough edge of the blade on the ice as I skated, so I switched to hockey skates, and the pair I got kept pushing into the side of my foot, and I don't think I laced them tight enough because my ankles kept knocking around the inside, and my feet were killing me, like I said, so I gave up about 45 minutes in.
Then yesterday was Death Paces with Coach Anton Apolo OhHELLno. I brought my iPod to help with the jogging part, and it did help (except that the earphones I have suck and they kept popping out of my left ear). While we're jogging, we do other things, like jogging backwards and grapevines and other stretchy-type things. It's very amusing to listen to "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" while you and thirty other people are skipping across a roller skating rink.
Then we had to do this thing where we all lined up on one side of the rink, and when the whistle blew, we had to run backwards to the other side of the rink, and then run forwards back. The quicker you did it, the more time you had to rest, because we were doing it once a minute.
FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES.
Then there was all our core work and planks and leg raises and stuff like that, and THEN we had to put our skates on and do drills for about 45 minutes.
And then I've got team practice tonight. As I like to say, guh.
So, anyway. There were 14 of us, a combination of first, second and third year skaters. There were six lineups, I was pivot in 2, 5 and 6, which was fine and groovy.
Then our bench manager was like "okay, in lineup 2, you and the jammer are gonna switch positions."
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooookay.
So I jammed for, like, 3/4 of the game. I think I broke out of the pack twice. Guh. (Add to that the fact that I ran out of water after the first half, and their drinking fountain was broken, double guh.)
I also got a buncha penalties, including one because I kinda hit their jammer in the jaw with my shoulder. (It wasn't my fault; she was tall!) I had some good hits and some amazing whiffs (see what I said before about hitting the mattress). So that was fun, I had a good time.
Saturday evening Maverick wanted to go ice skating, so I said "sure".
Ice skating and roller skating are not the same.
"FINALLY, something that I'm better at than my Mom," Maverick said as he lapped me on the rink for the twelfth time. (I didn't fall, but it's kinda hard to fall when you're clutching the edge of the rail on the rink.) My feet were KILLING me. I started with figure skates but kept catching the little rough edge of the blade on the ice as I skated, so I switched to hockey skates, and the pair I got kept pushing into the side of my foot, and I don't think I laced them tight enough because my ankles kept knocking around the inside, and my feet were killing me, like I said, so I gave up about 45 minutes in.
Then yesterday was Death Paces with Coach Anton Apolo OhHELLno. I brought my iPod to help with the jogging part, and it did help (except that the earphones I have suck and they kept popping out of my left ear). While we're jogging, we do other things, like jogging backwards and grapevines and other stretchy-type things. It's very amusing to listen to "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" while you and thirty other people are skipping across a roller skating rink.
Then we had to do this thing where we all lined up on one side of the rink, and when the whistle blew, we had to run backwards to the other side of the rink, and then run forwards back. The quicker you did it, the more time you had to rest, because we were doing it once a minute.
FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES.
Then there was all our core work and planks and leg raises and stuff like that, and THEN we had to put our skates on and do drills for about 45 minutes.
And then I've got team practice tonight. As I like to say, guh.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
continuing on
I don't mind cardio. I went to the gym again today and did 45 minutes on the elliptical. I'd set up YouTube on my phone to watch some episodes of Toddlers & Tiaras, but I'd already seen them (phooey) so I listened to Girl Talk instead. Yay for long albums of mashups.
Saturday I'm going to Syracuse for a scrimmage, which should be fun.
Saturday I'm going to Syracuse for a scrimmage, which should be fun.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
breaking news
OMG YOU GUYS I WENT TO THE GYM YESTERDAY!
Yeah. Maverick is doing an ice skating club thing (which he loved) for five Tuesdays in a row, which means I don't have to pick him up from school until 5:15, which gives me about 3 hours in the afternoon. So I decided to go to the gym (I was going to go on Friday, when he was over at a friend's house, but [as I think I mentioned before] my dermatologist appointment ran half an hour late).
I know, right?
I only did half an hour on my beloved machine, the elliptical, but I got sweaty and felt great afterwards. (There seem to be two types of exercise for me - stuff like that, where I work hard and get sweaty and am all I FEEL FANTASTIC I AM GOING TO EAT NOTHING BUT HEALTHY FOOD AND DRINK WATER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE and the rest, where I work hard and get sweaty and am all GODDAMMIT I HATE THIS THIS SUCKS JUST KILL ME NOW FUCKING EXERCISE I HATE IT AND EVERYTHING ELSE.)
So yeah. Maybe next week I'll actually use the other machines!
Missing practice this Thursday because of child care, but it's okay because it's a league meeting and we really won't be skating much. I asked the league president if I could Skype in and she said sure, she'd bring her computer. Hooray for technology!
I think I might need new wheels. I know I just bought the Heartless ones a few months ago but on Monday I was skittering around in the turns. Or maybe I need new cushions for my trucks. I have no idea.
Yeah. Maverick is doing an ice skating club thing (which he loved) for five Tuesdays in a row, which means I don't have to pick him up from school until 5:15, which gives me about 3 hours in the afternoon. So I decided to go to the gym (I was going to go on Friday, when he was over at a friend's house, but [as I think I mentioned before] my dermatologist appointment ran half an hour late).
I know, right?
I only did half an hour on my beloved machine, the elliptical, but I got sweaty and felt great afterwards. (There seem to be two types of exercise for me - stuff like that, where I work hard and get sweaty and am all I FEEL FANTASTIC I AM GOING TO EAT NOTHING BUT HEALTHY FOOD AND DRINK WATER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE and the rest, where I work hard and get sweaty and am all GODDAMMIT I HATE THIS THIS SUCKS JUST KILL ME NOW FUCKING EXERCISE I HATE IT AND EVERYTHING ELSE.)
So yeah. Maybe next week I'll actually use the other machines!
Missing practice this Thursday because of child care, but it's okay because it's a league meeting and we really won't be skating much. I asked the league president if I could Skype in and she said sure, she'd bring her computer. Hooray for technology!
I think I might need new wheels. I know I just bought the Heartless ones a few months ago but on Monday I was skittering around in the turns. Or maybe I need new cushions for my trucks. I have no idea.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
sigh, argh, bleh, thud
When you're worried you're going to puke during the practice's WARM UP routine.....sigh.
Anyway.
The parade was fun. I ended up not skating because when I woke up Saturday morning my street was wet and puddly so I figured it would be like that downtown, but the downtown streets were dry, so I was bummed. I wore my black long underwear so I didn't freeze. It didn't start sprinkling until we finished, which was nice.
Next year (if I do this next year) I have to remember to park at the END of the parade, not the start. Lot of extra walking that day.
Our local PBS station is doing its yearly fundraiser THANG, and the last two years our league has gone and answered calls on-air and stuff. This year they're tailoring the programming to us and showing Roller Derby Chronicles while we're there. (It probably would've been better if they were showing Blood on the Flat Track or Hell on Wheels, but beggars can't be choosers.) They're also letting us skate in the studio, which is cool.
Anyway.
The parade was fun. I ended up not skating because when I woke up Saturday morning my street was wet and puddly so I figured it would be like that downtown, but the downtown streets were dry, so I was bummed. I wore my black long underwear so I didn't freeze. It didn't start sprinkling until we finished, which was nice.
Next year (if I do this next year) I have to remember to park at the END of the parade, not the start. Lot of extra walking that day.
Our local PBS station is doing its yearly fundraiser THANG, and the last two years our league has gone and answered calls on-air and stuff. This year they're tailoring the programming to us and showing Roller Derby Chronicles while we're there. (It probably would've been better if they were showing Blood on the Flat Track or Hell on Wheels, but beggars can't be choosers.) They're also letting us skate in the studio, which is cool.
Friday, March 11, 2011
weekend weekend weekend
I love scrimmage night. I think I did pretty well - I concentrated on keeping with my partner, forming walls, etc. I didn't get any majors (don't know about minors).
We play in a round-robin format, so there's one stretch of time where each team does not play. During that time, the referees have invited one skater from each team to shadow them. Given the choice between shadowing a ref and doing calisthenics, I was like PICK ME PICK ME I'LL DO IT! (Former Fearless Leader and I ended up splitting the time.)
Talk about a mishmash of clusterfuckyness. I have a new respect for the referees now.
Oh, I never mentioned what happened with my kneepad. I e-mailed the guy who runs the company that the rivet had ripped out of the fabric, and he was like "ok, send me a check for $25 and I'll fix 'em" and I thought "WTF the kneepad broke through no fault of my own and there's no warranty WTF" but I said "okay, fine"...
..but then I realized I hadn't described what had happened very well, because I'd told him the rivet had ripped out of the fabric but what actually happened was that the rivet separated in half. So I wrote a note explaining what had really happened, and wrote the check (including $15 for a set of caps in the amount, so that's $40)....
....and the kneepad sat in my car for about a month because I didn't have a box to send them in and then finally I got a box to send them in....
....and about a week later, I get the kneepad back, with my $40 check attached.
Which is cool, because I didn't have to pay to get it fixed, but annoying, because I really wanted the caps.
Ah well.
We play in a round-robin format, so there's one stretch of time where each team does not play. During that time, the referees have invited one skater from each team to shadow them. Given the choice between shadowing a ref and doing calisthenics, I was like PICK ME PICK ME I'LL DO IT! (Former Fearless Leader and I ended up splitting the time.)
Talk about a mishmash of clusterfuckyness. I have a new respect for the referees now.
Oh, I never mentioned what happened with my kneepad. I e-mailed the guy who runs the company that the rivet had ripped out of the fabric, and he was like "ok, send me a check for $25 and I'll fix 'em" and I thought "WTF the kneepad broke through no fault of my own and there's no warranty WTF" but I said "okay, fine"...
..but then I realized I hadn't described what had happened very well, because I'd told him the rivet had ripped out of the fabric but what actually happened was that the rivet separated in half. So I wrote a note explaining what had really happened, and wrote the check (including $15 for a set of caps in the amount, so that's $40)....
....and the kneepad sat in my car for about a month because I didn't have a box to send them in and then finally I got a box to send them in....
....and about a week later, I get the kneepad back, with my $40 check attached.
Which is cool, because I didn't have to pay to get it fixed, but annoying, because I really wanted the caps.
Ah well.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
oh dear
Our poor team is shrinking. Once upon a time, we were at 20 skaters. Now we're at 15 with one injured.
Saturday is the St. Patrick's Day parade and I am praying for good weather because last year was quite miserable. So far the forecast isn't fantastic (snow later in the afternoon, high 36) but we'll see what happens.
I'm able to go to practice again this Thursday (yay) but won't be able to go on Sunday because Maverick has a bowling tournament and Roy has been put in charge of organizing all the bowlers and I might have to drive some of them to the alley (which is about half an hour away). I'm really crying about missing that practice, lemme tell ya.
Although, to be honest, while the corework and all that is really annoying, what I hate most is the warmup jogging. I DON'T JOG. (Well, I did at one point - I did the Couch to 5K - but I don't anymore). It does nothing but make me tired and make all the people who do jog cheerfully encourage me to speed up, which makes me shoot death daggers at them.
Saturday is the St. Patrick's Day parade and I am praying for good weather because last year was quite miserable. So far the forecast isn't fantastic (snow later in the afternoon, high 36) but we'll see what happens.
I'm able to go to practice again this Thursday (yay) but won't be able to go on Sunday because Maverick has a bowling tournament and Roy has been put in charge of organizing all the bowlers and I might have to drive some of them to the alley (which is about half an hour away). I'm really crying about missing that practice, lemme tell ya.
Although, to be honest, while the corework and all that is really annoying, what I hate most is the warmup jogging. I DON'T JOG. (Well, I did at one point - I did the Couch to 5K - but I don't anymore). It does nothing but make me tired and make all the people who do jog cheerfully encourage me to speed up, which makes me shoot death daggers at them.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS NEXT WEEKEND HELLS YEAH
so this morning was Sunday Morning Hell, and I went and gasped and plodded and thudded my way through it. Sigh.
Friday, March 4, 2011
and we're back!
sorry, I had a huge life crisis in my head that I need to work through but we're good now.
My Dad was able to watch Maverick last night so I could go to a full scrimmage night. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I really miss it so. Roy only has about six more weeks of Thursday night bowling left so THERE'S A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL AND IT'S NOT AN ONCOMING TRAIN (or a prison guard watching me dig).
My Dad was able to watch Maverick last night so I could go to a full scrimmage night. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! I really miss it so. Roy only has about six more weeks of Thursday night bowling left so THERE'S A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL AND IT'S NOT AN ONCOMING TRAIN (or a prison guard watching me dig).
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