nah i’ll be ok. but as u can probably guess i did fail the white star. this will hopefully be the last and only emo post of this blog but to say i’m not quietly devastated would be a big fat lie.

i got 2.91 out of the required 3. which is very close i think but still a big fat failzor !

the things i need to work on include : getting up quicker from knee falls and slightly increasing my speed in endurance. (half a lap would have got me over the line apparently. arrrrrgh)

another downer is that because i’m scheduled for an operation next thursday i can’t make the resit. Even if i could make and pass the resit i would still be out of action for a few weeks which would probably put me too far behind the pack.  i WILL however be back for next years  intake. hopefully much leaner and meaner then this time.

i’ll be putting my name down for volunteer duties and such until next intake. i love the sport and still want to be involved in some way until i can actually skate it up like a mofo !

a big congrats to all the girls that made it or will make it by next Wednesdays resit. and my condolences to those like myself that are out until next time. keep with it girlies !! we’ll get there !

i’ll try and keep this blog somewhat active with progress updates, general derby news and finds until the next bootcamp.

but until then it’s time to stamp my feet a little bit more and get this frustration out of my system.

<3 see yall soon.

the air was so thick with nerves you could chew it. everyone was scared shitless, myself included.

i headed over early to get a decent warm up with the 2 becs. we got there, kitted up and paid our monies and got out on the floor. Started out shaky as usual but got down and just tried to keep my mind off the white star test.

We started out stretching and i got possibly the 2 best pieces of news i’d had all day:

1) If we fail today we get to have another shot at in in just over a week
2) We are not being tested on cross-overs in the reverse direction.

At this stage reverse cross overs are the bane of my existence.. i’m just too awkward for them. I felt pretty much the entire group breathe a little bit easier after this announcement. However the relieved smiles were quickly wiped off peoples faces minutes later when it came time to start the actual white star tests. eeep !

So this is how it went down yo! :

STOPS: specifically plow stops and t-stop. I think i did these ok… well by that i mean i stopped and didn’t stack. But my plow stops are something i think i’m going to have to cultivate over a long period of time before they look any good.

FALLS: specifically one knee (each side), double knee and 4 point falls (both knees, wrists and elbows). These again i think i did ok on. Not perfect by any means but i managed to do the one knees on both sides without any major incident, the double knees were ok with one knee going down just before the other and the 4 point.. well it’s not my strong point but they were better than they were last week.. which isn’t saying that much

ENDURANCE: 5 minutes around the track sprinting, focusing on form(stance, cross-overs) and basically trying to do as many laps as possible with 2 – 4 other ladies on the track. omgomgomg i was so scared of this one, especially seeing as i tend to over heat and become a sweaty mess. But it ended up alright i think. I had a few uneasy moments but was able to keep the same brisk-ish pace the whole time with a few crossovers included for good measure… i think.  special shout out to peta for yelling out to me and making me panic lol <3

JUMPS: what we had all been dreading. Jumping over cones. This was my major downfall of the day. I DID the jumps and i DIDN’T fall over but the style was ridiculous. Jumps are the thing i am most concerned about but i’m sure i can put in a bit more work on them if i have to.

After jumps it was warm down time and the realisation it was all over. everyone seemed relieved, like a polar opposite of how we were when we came in. the strangest thing was that i just wanted to keep on skating.

All in all i’m not prepared to speculate about whether i’m going to pass or fail. We won’t know for a couple of days most likely so i’m just going to continue skating and try not to think about it (yeah right).

I think the favourite part of my day though was heading over to the local pub with some other lovely freshies to relax, have a drink and a good laugh at ourselves. The bar wench was not impressed with the stench apparently which provided many lols.

I wish all the girls that were there today the best of luck and hope to be skating with them again very soon. Also the coaches were awesome, every week we were encouraged and helped with everything. They were all approachable and patient and willing to dispense the same advice over and over and over and over again.

Seriously this was the best experience i’ve had in a long time and whatever happens after today i WILL be involved in one way or another with the VRDL. I think i’m becoming obsessed…

I was pretty sore up until Wednesday when i ventured out and did a little bit of form practise at rollerama. no derby girls to chat to so i didn’t stay long and came back on thursday.

thursday was awesome. met a lot more girls and had lots of good chats. it’s become pretty obvious that most of us are as nervous and unsure as everyone else which is kinda reassuring.

I spent most of the sesh just skating around and trying to plow stop, which now i can kinda do. not that well but maybe enough to get me over the line… i’m really not sure.

this brings us to sunday. it wasn’t hot this week which was a plus but we started with jumps, i don’t think i was too warmed up because i was the first girl to stack on my first jump no less. but after that i found something resembling a rhythm sorta. i over heated like i tend to do and needed to take my helmet up and drink more than most people. SO WEAK ! i feel like i constantly need to apologise to the instructors because i feel like i’m going to pass out. hopefully as my fitness improves i will be able to handle the heat better… or maybe i just need to cut my hair ._.

after the jumps it was falls. i think i’ve improved on these a little. just need to practise the 4 point falls a bit more. need to be more compact… like i’m in a bloody great nutshell.

after falls it was stops. t-stops are alright and plow stops are getting there unbelievably. more practise this week required but i’m feeling more confident for a change.

after the stops it was pace weaving. i could feel my eyes widen and mouth drop at the thought of moving round the track weaving in and out of people. i was almost literally shitting myself. but once we got going it was alot easier than i thought. the hardest bit was actually staying the right distance from the first person in front.

then came the “air traffic control” where basically once person stood at the end of the track making signals. each signal related to a skill. eg) arms left = strafe left/lateral movement, arms down = double knee fall, arms up = jump. we all lined up and got ready to go. i was first in my line and for some reason when the whistle went i just started going… i was however way to early and was taking part in the instructors demonstrating. i didn’t realise till half way down that no one else in fresh meat was with me. i felt like the biggest douche… so i skated to the end turned arnd and sheepishly returned to the front of my line. OMG HOW EMBARRASSMENT !!!. most definitely the biggest faux pas so far. i just hope people just think i’m just an idiot rather than an arrogant idiot.

after that disaster it was endurance while practising our cross over form in the anti clockwise direction (normal derby direction). it was all fun and games until we changed direction.. i can not cross over going clockwise. probably the thing i will need to practise most this week.

all in all i left the session feeling soaked to the bone in sweat, still cringing but also feeling a little bit better about my abilities. i know next week i’ll be a nervous wreak for the white star assessment but right now, tonight, i’m going to kick back and pretend everything’s going to work out fine.

it’s going to be a week full of skating me thinks, on any day i’m physically able to.

on Monday i shared the huge rink with 2 primary school girls and a group of 3 older gents who i will refer to as “lemon party” . even though there was only a small group of people I’m sure they got a kick seeing me fall over multiple times practicing falls and plow stops (of which i still find impossible). i only stayed for an hour as it was still over 30 degrees and vowed to return on Thursday to skate with some of the VRDL ladies and fellow freshies.

Had a lot more fun on Thursday and i met a girl (donna kebab) which whom i used to play in an all girl gaming clan with years and years ago. spoke to a few girls and got some more tips and had a good hard skate.

then came Sunday….. dum dum dah !

It was a little cooler and more comfortable to skate this week and we went over everything we did the week before with additional skills:

lateral movement – moving efficiently from one side of the track to the other.

endurance - sprint skating (can do it but i need to work on my form)

jumps - over little cones  (can kinda do this)

skating on one leg - going to need to practise standing on one leg for a while on this one.

what i learned :

• Be  very careful when i fall forward, keep fists clenched
• Try not to fall backwards onto butt/tailbone (did this twice, very sore bot bot)
• Skate lower,  i stand too tall and will need to build leg muscles
• Balance, i need to practise standing on one leg and being more comfortable.

so there’s a lot of need to work on besides grasping the basic skills. i’m going to skate at least twice this week before the next training session. i would do more but i’m actually still sore today.

part of me felt i had improved upon last weeks efforts and part of me felt like i was falling behind. i’m sure a lot of the girls are going through similar emotions. i get over excited and then just over it. my body won’t do what i want it to.  all i know is i still want to roller derby whatever it takes.

Next Update : Boot camp Week Three

it was however awesome fun. was good to meet some of the girls i’ll be spending time with over the next 4 weeks but it really did show me how much i need to practise to keep up with the curve.

the stuff we were taught included was :

falls – one knee, two knee and 4 point ( i can do one knee but am a little unco on the others)

stops - t-stop (which i’m a little shakey on)  plow-stop (omg impossible)

stance - bend those knees !!! and cross over turns (which i can sorta do)

weaving - through cones (which i can sorta do)

i pretty much can’t do anything perfect and on top of that i almost passed out once but it’s given me a better idea of the stuff i need to learn. there was so many talented people and i don’t want to sound defeatest but i may not make this round of intake. i will of coarse be trying my hardest to improve and if i don’t make it i will be super ready next time with a good few months more time to practise the skills we need.

now it’s time to spend a couple of days recovering from the pain of using muscles i didn’t even know were there ^_^

Next Update : Boot camp Week Two