AH Made It!

Just got word from my training buddy. She got the call from Surly! I'm so happy for her. She really worked hard for this. No call for me, and 8pm is fast approaching. Looks like I'll be cheering A on from the sidelines. 'Til next tryouts.

Congrats AH!

Number 36 Came to Roll

I was nervous the whole day, and then eerily calm. That’s when I know life’s about to bring it. I guess I could have been a good emergency room doctor, if it weren’t for all the blood and germs.

After everything, seeing everyone during Skills Nights, I knew that this tryout was a long shot. So I decided to just push it. Push myself. We geared up as we watched another group finish. Everyone seemed so casual from afar. When it was my group’s turn to hit the track, I entered with abandon and focused only on myself.

First off, warm up laps. Who knows, maybe no one was looking then, but I did my thing. Instead of just zipping around like some, I did rotations of every skill I knew we had to show, figure eights, low squats, slaloms. I even started mimicking the Gotham Girls who skated on the track with us. Mentally, I repeated, “look up, stay low.”

Next came the real deal. We were told to do figure eights, then sprint. I pumped those eights like I was Suzanne Somers QA-ing the latest thigh master. I actually zoomed by a bunch of girls. But it tired me out.

Sprint. Oh I did. And I took a digger. But I got right back up and kept going at full speed. “Pacing myself” was not in my game plan tonight. I wanted to go all out, while trying to maintain form, or nothing. I knew there was hardcore talent out there, so this was for me.

Next came one-legged glides on the corners. I swear, so many girls did the reverse of what Ariel demonstrated. Do I get points for listening and watching? Or did I zone out? They weren’t gorgeous glides be any means, but my left and right legs got decent air (for a semi-decent amount of time?) on each respective turn. I learned these skills for the first time this weekend. So I was psyched to get air at all.

And sprint!

Now slaloms. Again, a skill I tried for the first time this weekend. Genius AH put out shoes really close during one of our practices. It was the perfect distance. One side was exactly that far apart, the other much further apart. In between were cones to plow stop and T-stop.

We were told to just go. Go at a decent pace. I went first and totally missed the tight cones. I nailed every stop though! Plow stops too! That was a first. I rocked the far apart cones and kept circling through. I killed the tight cones every other time. If I was lower, I know I could have been better. I’m pretty sure I heard a “nice!” from one of the GGRD judges.

Now falls. One whistle, one knee fall. Two whistles, two knee fall. Three whistles, three point fall (baseball slide). Change directions after each fall. Easy enough directions, no? Apparently, no. Some girls seemed to be all over the place, doing the wrong falls, but I stayed focused, and didn’t copy other girls. I listened closely for the whistles and changed direction every time, and pushed myself to skate hard when I got up. I dropped my hand a few times, but I was up and going by people still down a few times too. I got another “nice” from a different set of judges…not sure who they were. Again, I was all me.

Final exercise was a two-minute sprint. Each judge picked a girl to count laps. I was panting from exhaustion. Others had better stamina or just didn’t go nuts like me. When the whistle blew I went off, my legs were already burning, but I pushed, trying hard to keep my form – “look up, stay low, crossover clean and push.” All was well for a few laps. Then girls got tired. Some fell. Others wobbled and flailed. This may have been happening all night, but it got to me then. I was at my breaking point. I totally had to zip through people and slow down to avoid others. Meanwhile, hardcores zoomed and zoomed around. At one point, a girl was literally leaning into me, pushing me off the track. I stayed upright; she apologized. And I tried to regain momentum, but the whistle was blown shortly thereafter.

I had to know, so I asked Ginger Snap, the girl counting my laps, how I did. She said, “8.5 laps.” You’re supposed to be able to do 5 laps in one minute and 20 laps in five minutes. I was smiling with glee anyway.

No matter what happens next, I have another goal to work on. No matter what, I set out and did.

I want to cry and laugh all at once.

No matter what, I’ll be back…eventually.

It takes work.

Did you catch the NY Times article? Last night was the Gotham Girls Roller Derby Championship. The NY Times ran a timely piece. Undefeated for the season Bronx Gridlock against reigning champions Queens of Pain. Bronx took the Golden Skate! These girls came out fighting and never let go of their lead, even after The Queens miraculous almost comeback. The Bronx girls, many of whom have been a great help to me at Skills Nights, embody what the sport is about for me. Relentless resolve, teamwork, and kickass skating. Bronx knew they had to work for it, and they worked it in every jam.

___

After Friday night's Skill Night debacle, where about eight girls from other state teams made their presences known, I met up with AH for practice up by her house on Saturday. We worked on slaloms and one leg glides -- the kind we're actually expected to do.

We met up again in the afternoon for a lesson with the Skate Guru. We weren't the only girls trying to get last minute derby tryout advice from him.

When I got there, he was finishing up with two girls. One was doing powerhouse slaloms across the park. As I put on my gear, Lezly came over and gushed about this girl, "the best he's ever seen." Comforting, for sure. It didn't stop there. I'm not sure if he realized I could hear him, but the girls asked he he had another class, and he mentioned that he did, with more derby wannabes...but don't worry. Basically, he was glad she was leaving so as to not intimidate us.

I don't intimidate easily. Sure this girl never skated on quads, but she plays competitive ice hockey. The skills overlap. I've been skating since October. Before that, I skated on roller blades...and that was to go forward and fast, no skill involved. I don't need the Guru's praise, I need his training. Same with the GGRD Skills Nights. The biggest takeaways are the lessons learned. From there, it's up to me to make things work. It takes dedication, which I have in excess, and practice, which I'm not afraid of.

I realize that Monday is a long shot, for this year, and I'm at peace with that. But I'll go and I'll try. I'll accept life's next adventure. And I'll be back next fall vying for a spot.

Skills Night: a blur

Skate around the track a few times doing figure eights (aka coke bottles or egg shells).

Sprint 1 lap.

Skate around the track a few times pushing with only your right leg.

Sprint 2 laps.

Skate around the track a few times using your left leg.

Sprint 3 laps.

Slalom around the track. Slalom!

Sprint…I’m not sure how many laps.

Oh wait, was the lift left leg out on one corner, hold right leg tucked on the other corner for a few laps before or after slalom? It was the first time picking up a leg was allowed is all I know.

Sprint…

And that was warm up.

I’m not sore. It is some kind of miracle. Or practice paid off. Or, more likely, the Tylenol I took was super duper extra strength. Or, even more likely, I sucked big time and didn’t push myself hard enough?

Off to practice with AH. There’s a lot to work on.

Tryout Time Locked!

Surly says:

Tryouts are Monday, November 19th, 2007.

You are in Group C.

Your time slot will be 7:45pm.

I’m freaking out like it’s a first date…and I’m 12. Heart-pounding nerves, excitement, self-doubt and a healthy dose of giddy pride. I made it this far! I prepped and primped. Sure I’d like more time to work my moves. Sure I realize I'm up against more experienced girls. Sure I’d like to be in AH’s group…if only to cheer her on. (I’m actually happy I don’t have to compete against my training partner.) But it’s do or be dateless to the winterball time.

Okay, that was a lame metaphor.

Bring it!

I hope I don’t throw up.

Thrown for a Loop

Another 6:30am wake-up to cold, gray rain that turns into a gorgeous New York day, leaving me tired, bitter, and jonesing for eight-wheel action.

Evidence of Abnormal Obsession
A coworker asked, "throwing a jammer?" I stared at him vacantly with visions of me checking some opposing girl somewhere far off in a hazy future. It took a minute, and the question repeated, for me to realize he was talking about my upcoming birthday party.

It Burns

I decided my ankles were unnaturally straight, shins ridiculously weak and quads an embarrassment to leg muscles everywhere. This is why my squat position isn’t squatty enough and my feet invert during my block stance.

I took corrective measures.

And now I should probably take a Tylenol before bed.

On a side note, I have some interesting bruising on my upper left thigh. Apparently Sunday's practice went better than I first assumed.