Falling for derby

Brain injuries weren't a thing back then...

Oh, blog, it's been a while. A lot has happened since I broke my ass back in October and almost all of it has involved complaining about how much my tailbone hurts. I'm about to blow your mind: It still hurts. I think my coccyx just hurts now, like, that is just its status quo.

Anyhoo, I'm sure I mentioned 50 or 60 times that falling so hard harshed my confidence mellow, big time. It took me some time to get back to regular skating, partly because of the intense amount of pain and partly because it is just hard to get back into a habit. I was in (literally) paralyzing pain for about 2 weeks and then just horrible, horrible pain for two more weeks. And then I had to eat cookies and drink alcohol for most of December. But, I am now (finally) back in the damn habit. I skate four times a week; two team practices, one derby class, and one solo rink skate just to work on skills with which I just can't dominate team practices. My transitions are crap so I need to work on that for a couple of hours by myself, just stuff like that that requires repition. I credit my Monday night 7-9 skate at the local rink with finally giving me my mother scratching plow stops. 

Speaking of plow stops (or "plough" as they call them in Canada) I seriously did not ever think I would be able it plow stop. Ever. It seemed like a ridiculously impossible feat, like I might as well climb the K2. Then I borrowed a friend's slightly harder wheels and viola! Plow stop. I can do two foot and one foot fairly reliable. I am working in walking plow and hard plow. Seriously though, the difference in the wheels was only a couple of digits. I started on Radar Bullits which are 93a and I switched it Atom Lowboy slims which are (I think) 96 and it was the difference in plow or no plow. Now I am using a combo of both with the 93a as push wheels. But, I digress... And, anyway, 27/5 is the new K2.

The best news I have is that I have started practing with a new team, The Camel City Thrashers out of Winston-Salem. I know it has been said, here and other places, that derby people are the best people but CCT are actually THE best people. They're so friendly you feel like you're just one of them even when they are awesome and you suck like the wind. They learned my name at the very first practice I attended (which might not seem like a big deal but it can feel like one when you are new) and when I actually came back for a second practice they did such a good job of pretending to be happy to see me I totally fell for it. The veteran skaters take time out of their actual real lives to come up with these practices where you cover all of the skills, the rules, endurance, agility... just everything with not a moment wasted. And they do it for free. Actually, they pay to do it because we all pay dues. And the coaches and vets are patient but they don't let you goldbrick... There's no wussing out on skills that scare you... Which brings me to the topic for next time: fear.