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.

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. 

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.

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.

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. 

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!

so...the off-season.

We're still practicing once a week, with the option to go help out at Fresh Meat 2x a week, but I haven't even looked at my skate bag since the last bout (which reminds me, it's probably horrifically stenchy now. Think the "Hey let's open the Ark!" scene from Raiders).

The season did not end on a particularly happy note for me, for various reasons, so I've been wallowing in a state of misery for the last two weeks.  Sort of "do I keep skating, or do I hang up my skates and call it a day?"

And my answer is.....keep going.

This season was craptacular because I tried to do too much (captaining and treasurering - neither of which I am doing next season) and because of various black swans that left me off skates for two and a half months.  So I think we're good for at least one more season.

I have to get new knee pads, though.  I'd been wanting to get new ones anyway (they're two years old) and one of them cracked at the last bout, so that kinda confirmed it.