Derbyderbyderby

T-Shirt trade?

Hey derbies, who is interested in doing a team/league t-shirt trade? We mail each other one in the size we want. No money involved, just an even trade. Message me if you wanna work something out.

Vending Machine: 0; My Ass: 1

I won a fight with the vending machine at school today with hip checks. This guy got his fruit snacks stuck and I felt compelled to accept the vending machine’s stand-off. I hip checked it so hard, homeboy got his fruit snacks, and I got some fruit snacks, chili cheese Fritos, and a Twix. WIN.

I get home from practice and all I want to do it skate again. So I watch derby YouTube videos and that just feeds my skating craving even harder. Then it’s time to sleep and I lay there and all I can think about is how to get better get better get better. When I actually fall asleep, I fucking dream about playing.

Hi, my name is Queen McLightning and I’m addicted to Roller Derby.

After every derby practice:

warpspeedromeo:

1. AW YEAH LET’S SKATE FOREVER I AM SO PUMPED LET’S GO LET’S SKATE ACROSS THE WHOLE WORLD

2. Get home. EAT EVERYTHING. 

3. Realize you are fucking exhausted and never want to move again.

For REAL.

Speaking of skating. I’m itching to skate. I think I’ll do it outside today if it doesn’t rain. If it does I think I’ll go to adult night open skate tonight after work.

(via makingofcyborg)

I can not wait for the training camp in Grand Rapids in a couple weeks. I need some tough derby love from some ladies other than my league.

That awkward moment when you put 110% of your effort into something and then when you really honestly think it’s finally going to be your time to make something of it, and then it’s not. And your crushed and heartbroken and devastated. I wanted this more than anything or anyone.

I feel like I’ve been cheated on by 24 women - my team. 

I came, I saw, I reffed.

It’s old news now, but I did end up reffing that bout on May 12th. It was a good time! I think I did a very fair job and got a few compliments and tons of thank-you’s.

I can no longer refer to my lady as “My adorable freshmeat girlfriend”, because she’s not freshmeat anymore! She passed her skills test and is now eligible to be drafted to a team. What shall I call her? I don’t even think I can start calling her by her derby name. That’s, weird…

And using that as a segue into my next point, I’ve been nominated as the captain of my home team. The voting has taken place over the last week and the results should be revealed soon by our training committee. If I’m chosen as captain, I’ll be working with our old captains during the drafting process so see how it’s done. That awkward moment when you might be on a different team than your girlfriend. Oh man, what a mixed up household this will be. What else is going to suck, is that if she’s drafted to the other team, their practices are on Tuesday’s (my team is Monday), and that will totally eliminate our one and only “family day”. She comes home from work and we spend the evening with my daughter. Getting rid of that is going to suck. But! There’s still a possibility that she could be on the same team as me. We’ll have to wait and see. We’ve got about a month before the draft anyway.

I’m really really excited to participate in the Grand Raggidy Roller Girl’s training camp on June 10th! This is going to be my first training outside of my league and the one guest trainer we’ve ever had. I’m really looking forward to learning some advanced skating stuff. This camp is for “skaters with bouting experience” so hopefully it’ll be right at my level.

Then, Bonnie D Stroir from San Diego coming to give my league a training clinic on July first. So awesome!

So many good derby things happening lately. I just hope something doesn’t fuck it all up.

flyyywithme asked: oh my loooord you are a life saver! i've been looking for 25 in 5 endurance tips and that post you recently posted was exactly what i was looking for! i haven't even tried it yet because i'm a little terrified....ok a lot. lol

I’m glad you like it! I hope it works for you :) I ended up with exactly 25 in 5 when I tested the other day. I think it was because I switched to brand new wheels right before, thinking I would have more grip because my old wheels are bald. Turns out even though they were a lower durometer, the factory coating make them feel like I was skating with ice cubes. Very uncomfortable and slippery. My feet kept cramping up because I had to skate unnaturally to keep from sliding everywhere. 

So, some side advice is to never replace your wheels on the day of skills test. Learn from my mistakes!

Edit: So I found out today that I actually got 27.5 laps instead of 25. I counted in my head and told my lap counter that I didn’t need to be told how many I ended up with. Derp derp. Ok, so, always ask your lap counter for a final tally, unlike me!

Five Minute Endurance

So, I have to take the WFTDA skills test, tomorrow, for the 3rd time. The first time was April 2011 after going through a 12 week Freshmeat bootcamp. The second time was August 2011 to try out for my league’s travel team. My league is very serious about skater safety, so everyone in the league must take the skills test every year to have their safety reevaluated. Piece of cake.

I hear a ton of skaters totally freak out over the five minute endurance: managing 25 laps minimum within 5 minutes while maintaining proper form including arm swings and continuous cross overs. 

So, how do you do it and keep your sanity? Here’s what I do. Note: this works for me and may not work for all skaters. As a quick profile, I’m 207lb, 5’7”, size 16. I’m one of the heavier ladies on the league, and I skate 28 laps in five minutes with this method…

First, you should be skating the track in a diamond form. The track is a large oval, so to help you visualize, think of nearly straight lines forming a diamond within oval. Here’s a (terrible) diagram:

If you can, start on the jammer line, near the outside line. It’s easier to cross that line in the home stretch. Sprint off the line aiming for the inside apex, then come out of the corner aiming for the outside middle of the straight away, then the inside line of the second apex, then the outside middle of the other straight away. Forming this diamond means you should only have to do cross overs the entire time. Each side of the diamond should be 6 or 7 cross overs.

Here’s a breakdown of what I do in the five minutes:

Minute 1- Toe stop run as far as you can then sprint your hardest. Minimum is 5 laps in the first minute, I do 6.

Minute 2 and 3- Pack speed for two minutes, catch your breath, find your stride and breathing rhythm.

Minute 4- Elongate your stride. Extend your left foot much further behind your right foot and when you pick up your right foot, place it further over your left than you normally would. Push down with your feet instead of kicking out.

Minute 5- Sprint like you’ve never sprinted before and get a minimum of 6 more laps.

When finished, it is very important to cool down for several laps, and if you can, do it in the opposite direction. You might feel like you just want to drop down and take a nap, but don’t do it! Your muscles will hate you. They will seize up and cramp. Cool down for 3-5 laps then sip some cool, not cold, water. 

Good luck!