Diary of a Derbalifer - Part 1

Derbalife Link.

I witnessed some pretty awesome changes in derby pal Indy or, Angela after she completed the DerbaLIFE 6-week program. So many changes that to be totally honest: I couldn't recognize her! She slimmed down, she toned down all that didn't go down was her speed. Which went up.

So, I went ahead and dove right in. Monday was the day it started and as I watched messages inviting us to join just as I was watching my belly jello-up I just went ahead and did it. I did it. I did, I did!

So motivated to kick start my new me I laced up my running shoes and hit the pavement. But, running was obviously not enough to achieve the new me: I made it a cross-training extravaganza. Being that I live on Harbor Island, I have access to a wonderful bike-walk path. This path is exactly 1.5 miles, give or take. So from one tippy top end of the island to the other, or from the river paddle boat to the lighthouse and back I get to rejoice in a true 5k.

Again, as I mentioned the run wasn't enough for me, oh no sirree boppy! I mentioned the cross training. Every park bench I crossed on my way back from the paddle boat (to celebrate that I was accomplishing the 5k) I added a work-out. Push-ups, dips, leg lifts, and when the bench was occupied - lunges.

After this wonderful work-out, my husband and I went sailing for 3 hours, thankfully I got back just in time to load up my gear and race out downtown for 1 hour of derby.

Overdid it? I did indeed overdid it. I did, I did, I did overdid it!

Tuesday was a day of pain. Total excruciating pain. But I was wiser - I skipped out on derby that night. I'm not a total idiot, just a partial one. But some could beg to differ.

And now I am looking forward to my fitness profile and goal assessment with my new AWESOME coach On-Ya. Life is grand for a Derbalifer... life is grand.

p.s. I need an accountability partner (and a spellchecker for every time I write out that word)
p.p.s. as I was making a cheese quesadilla for breakfast I happened to spot an apple glaring out at me with the angry eye, so I generously handed the quesadilla to my husband and ate dry toast with apple slices
p.p.p.s. the quesadilla looked yumalicious, but my apple was better

Marr's Golden Rules to Derby Bootcamp

In celebration of my first 6 months of derby, I've come up with (cue for the trumpets: ta-ta-ta-taaaaa!) MY very own RULES to derby bootcamp! Tighten those skates, strap on your (no, not the strap-on bleeeeep! but the pads) cover your head with your helmet and sit back AND READ. Then follow the rules. I beg of you to:

-1-

STAY LOW

God gave you knees that bend, use them wisely and often. Stay low, bend down, and if your back doesn't hurt (that lower portion?) then chances are you're just not bent down low enough. And when in doubt for why a skill is just not working out for you: chances are, it's because you just aren't assuming the derby stance.

-2-

LOOK

Look behind you, around you, not just ahead of you. The action is behind you. Its all about what's coming up - the jammer passing you, the blocker getting ready to catch up and *ouch* slam into you. Use that neck of yours and turn around. Practice doing laps where you are constantly looking behind you. And, then look behind you from the other side. Get used to it - the more you practice looking behind you the more you'll actually enlarge your perception width.

-3-

SHARE

Come on, share with Sugar Bear! And I'm not talking about your candy bar or your Pacifico, although THAT would actually be nice... Share the info. Tell your teammates what's going on. Even if you are looking behind you, there are things you may not notice, "Jammer - coming up!" "On your inside!" You get the drill, don't ever assume others know what you know. And it'll make you a better teammate - others will know they can rely on you and they'll (hopefully) want to play with you more.

-4-

GET UP!

We all fall down. All of us. It's not if you fall that matters, its what you do after you fall. Your team relies on you and needs you. Every player on the track is actually indispensable to each other. If you fall and stay down, then you are letting your team down. And every time you let your team down, they slowly learn to not count on you. And that sucks. You may still be in bootcamp (like me) so now is the time to make it a habit. Get the fuck up. Fast. Quick. If you're hurt, then get off the track - the least you can do is not become an obstacle.

-5-

HURRY!

Derby is a sport. And most sports involve speed. Hurrying isn't solely about how fast you can skate but how fast you react. And as long as you're still in bootcamp, this often means how quickly you respond to your coaches commands. I know, "command" sounds harsh and military'ish. But, it is called bootcamp for a reason after all. Practice time is so limited, add up those wasted minutes it takes everybody to get on track and in a pace line when asked, and those minutes quickly build up to hours. Hours of wasted time waiting... Again. Take everything you do in bootcamp to build positive habits. A positive habit is easier to keep up than to undo a bad one. (Yeah, trust me, I've got the flailing arms to prove you I am so friggin right here!)

-6-

OWN IT

I so wanted to stick to a pretty number like 5 or 3. But I could NOT end this without talking about the primary rule to learning anything in life. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE for what YOU learn. And that - is golden enough, I don't need to explain it.

Simple enough? These are my rules and I'll see you at the track!

Two Sisters Face Off

Ever seen bees buzzing around anything sweet? Let me tell you… When the San Diego Derby Dolls (The Swarm) meet face to face with its sister league the Los Angeles Derby Dolls (Tough Cookies) you will witness firsthand what we’re talking about!

On September 24 The Swarm will face off with Tough Cookies in Wyland Hall, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. This rematch has been long-awaited since San Diego narrowly lost the championship bout to this Los Angeles team last year, as well as the year before.

"This is the most anticipated game of the year,” PT Bruiser said. “To come so close two years in a row, only to lose to the Cookies, makes me want this win that much more."

The on-going sibling rivalry started when an LA Derby Doll, Bonnie D. Stroir, created a sister Derby Doll league here in San Diego in 2005. Since then the Dolls have fought over trophies and titles determined by very close calls.

“The Swarm bested the Cookies in the 2009 regular season match up, only to be defeated in the championship game by one point,” Bruiser said. “Deja vu in 2010 as The Swarm spoiled the Tough Cookies undefeated record in regular season, but couldn’t quite crumble the Cookies who once again took home the trophy.”

Tickets are available at www.derbydolls.com or at the door if they don’t sell out. General admission/standing room is $15; bleacher seating is $20. Military, seniors and children 6-12 are $13. Children under 6 are free. The doors open at 6 p.m. The game starts at 7 p.m. Parking is $9 in cash. This is an all-ages family event with a full bar for those over 21. There will be raffle prizes, half-time entertainment, food, vendors and 1,500 screaming fans.

Focus On The Journey: And All That Jazz...

www.ryanscottlum.tumblr.com

For 4 years I worked in the career management industry in Canada. Oh those were the days... I gots to travel alls over the country meeting nice ladies and gentlemans even going aaaaaallll the ways up to Inuit Nirvana aka Nunavut (pronounced: So Friggin Cold) and hads me a doggy sled ride in the snowy blizzardy desert... yes them was the days indeed!

And during these glorious days I repeated clichés such as:

• Follow Your Heart
• Focus on the Journey
• If You Build it They Will Come

OK, so the last one is from a movie, only because this sweet life is so far away I can't remember all the wunderbar stuff I told people repeatedly. That and a new thing I've developed recently called "forgetting". Joys. Of. Aging.

Even if focus on the journey was a principle I believed in, practicing it was a whole nuther matter. Do as I say, not as I do. But recently I've come to the realization that (cue bright lights and angelic voices coming from the heavens, yes HEAVENS in plural one heaven for each religion) for once in my life I've engaged myself in something that is really about the journey.

I know you're all expecting me to reveal something deep such as re-kindling with religion, or taking on a new career, or whatever... but it isn't. What has finally made me shift into this new paradigm is roller derby.

I know. I'm sounding like a cheap late night infomercial as I'm dangling on some weird new exercise machine screaming "YOU CAN DO IT!" And I apologize for that.

But roller derby is what did it for me. Lot's of ladies join derby hoping to rush through bootcamp and quickly become league members competing in bouts. Not this little freshmeat bootcamper. I'm enjoying the challenges as I go through them one by one. OK, well, as I repeat them over and over and over until I kinda meet them is how I should put it. But still.

Whether it takes me 6 months, a year or if I never even graduate from bootcamp: just being there, doing the drills, meeting the challenges, and facing new ones regularly is my thrill. My new nirvana. Its the here and now no matter where it takes me simply because where I'm at is beyond my wildest imagination.

This is my journey...

Tips From a Dive Master - How to Rid Your Junk From it's Funk!

A "while" after joining the SD Derby Dolls, a more experienced skater overheard something I must have said, I don't remember what I said but she looked at me all serious and told me: "You know, you CAN wash your gear!"


*Head bends down in shame*

That was embarrassing. Further more, I won't go into details about how much longer it took me to actually wash said gear. What can I say? It just didn't smell! After each practice I'd lay all my gear out opened up to dry until the next practice. It was handy that it rested by a de-humidifier...

But then, it happened. The smell. And when you live on a boat in confined areas and a high risk of accumulated humidity, smells can be overwhelming. Love it when it's bacon hanging around all day, but hate it when it's that mildew'ish smell...

I was talking to my dive master about how sometimes if I don't let my dive gear dry completely before loading it inside, it just smells so petrified! Like my roller derby gear - how is it that us humans can have such a smell???

She recommended this miracle of a product called Mirazyme. Don't know if it's pronounced "zeem" or "zyme" but what I do know is it starts with "MIRA" as in "MIRAcle". She told me 1 capful to 10 gallons of water and a 15-minute dip was enough to ... rid your junk of it's funk!

Where to buy this miracle cure? Sport Chalet for $8.99. And no, don't dip your stinky wet poodle* in there, I don't think Fido would appreciate the overdose of enzymes!

*stinky wet poodle is not code word for some weird sex thang, it's just that - man do wet dogs smell BAD!

What's Your Excuse?

www.mycathatesyou.com

I learned last night that one of our coaches is a cancer survivor. She battled that nasty breast cancer like a seagull will fight for the last leftover french fry after a beach picnic.

And she's a bad ass derby coach, a badass blocker, just an all-round badass chick in a positive way. The kind you want for a best friend. The kind that if you're ever in trouble, she'd be the first person you'd want to call because, well just because you know she'd not only know what to do but be willing to do it.

And she's not out there playing the poor-me as a post cancer victim and shit. She's fighting her way through a simple happy existence. And I was inspired when I heard about this and thought - hold your horses now...

I started roller derby just one month shy of my *cough* 45th birthday, about the same time I went and got a scuba diving certification. And know that when you see me walk it is in itself nothing short of a miracle.

I was hit by a car once on foot when I was 8 years old then twice on my bicycle. The first cycling incident was during a bike tour in the Magdalen Islands off Canada's East Coast. I was staring at the sand dunes and how they covered a 7' fence. Somehow I found myself face to face with a car doing 70. Last thing I saw was a 3" Virgin Mary standing on the dash and a string of light blue pompons in the rear view window. And the look of fear and shock on the faces of the young couple staring right back at me. Next thing I knew, I was sitting on the gravel shoulder, my bike thrown over 50 feet away playing hide & seek behind the dunes.

Not a scratch, not a bruise just wicked charlie horses on both legs. But if you'd seen my bike! It's chilling.

Then 2 years later I was riding my bike to a job interview. It was rush hour. Cars were driving at a speed around 50 mph. A cop drives by me and waves. I guess he felt the need to let me know he agreed I was being safe... Then BOOM! I get hit from behind. It looked big and the first thing to go through my mind was "Not again!" and off I went flying over the truck who never even knew he hit me. I landed behind him and lucky me the car following saw me airborne and stopped a mere 3 feet before driving over me.

My memento from this one is a light scar on my knee. Basically unscathed.

I won't even go into the details from when a car literally fell ON me when I was working as a race car mechanic. That broke my finger. And my pride, because it was my own fault for putting myself in that stupid situation in the first place. But still, when a car falls on you, it hurts.

But see, the point is this - why is it that it's always the people who've had this kind of ordeals that go out and DO stuff? But those who sit on their couch all day have a list as long as Santa's shopping needs for excuses as to why THEY don't go out and exercise! Go out and do it. Stop the whining and the excuses.

Sorry. It's not my style to be sermon'y, but I had to get this one out. And the worse thing is I feel I'm preaching to the choir because if you're reading my blog, chances are you're into derby yourself...

Lean On Me

www.ozguru.mu.nu

I was a race car mechanic prior to moving out here. The entire time I was working on the car I was fully aware I had the driver's life in my hands. One bolt left unchecked could easily leave my guy sitting on a different pair of wheels... This outlook totally changed how I viewed teamwork.

And now? Roller derby is bringing a whole new perspective to what I thought I mastered. In derby you depend so much on your team. Constant communication is a must. It's not about yelling "She's comiiiiiiing!" but about sending a clear message "Jammer on the inside!"

And its about trusting your teammates. Trust when they tell you to slow down, speed up, go to the inside or the outside, etc. It's not like you have time to debate and second guess because by the time you come to say "Well, I thought we'd be better off if" and boom you got slammed by a she-truck or passed by a speedy jammer. Or worst, you let your jammer get slammed. And game over.

Imagine how bad you'd feel if that slam cost your jammer a major injury... Now you know how I felt as a race car mechanic!

This level of teamwork goes beyond Oprah's "You go girl" attitude. It's about knowing your team trusts you because you will not let them down. It's about knowing if your pivot tells you to move forward it's for a sound reason. And then it's tasting the glory of watching your jammer clear the pack because you know you did the right move.

Teamwork. It's much more than those silly black motivational posters. But you'll never really know what it is until somebody you barely know trusts you with their life...