This week was a full recap of everything we can expect in the test.

• t-stops
• plow stops – note to self : try to get better at this using soft pushers.
• one knee falls
• two knee falls
• 4-point falls
• jumps – they still scare the poop out of me everytime but I can do it 8 times out of 10.
• endurance and form – I think I either made 24.5 or 25.5 laps this time which is a pass..but my form does seems to suffer the more tired I get.

We also did some weaving again and some practise starts for jammers.

• toe stop starts -  starting on both stops, break into a run on the stops for a few strides then back onto your wheels. kinda fun but hard to get into position quickly.
• duck starts – feet point out, crouch and then pound your feet into the ground for take off. I would like to say this was my favourite just because of my recent obsession with ducks but I think I liked the toe stop starts better.

I think i’m ready for the test this time. In hindsight last time I really don’t think I was, mentally or physically. I could do most things but I wasn’t confident enough and it was more of a hit and miss on skills like plow stops and jumps.

But as much fun as bootcamp was this week it kinda didn’t match up to the experience of…

THE GREAT SOUTHERN SLAM

IT WAS AMAZING !! It was also my first time in Adelaide and for a major city it sure is small and sleepy. Everything was in walking distances and the locals couldn’t wait to say hello to you so badly they feel the need to scream out of car windows every 5 minutes, day or night.

The event was held at the show grounds taking up 2 pavilions with 4 tracks all on the go at the same time. It was pretty hard to decide which bouts to watch and which ones we would have to miss but obviously the Victorian teams took priority along with securing delicious merch. I spent way more money then I intended to but my derby tee collection just got an awesome boost.

It was great seeing skaters of various skill levels all jumping in and having a go. So many girls were having their first ever bout here which I think was awesome. If it had been me, I don’t think I would have made it out of the bathroom. It was alot of fun watching some of the girls I did boot camp with last time in their first challenge bouts. Seriously impressive stuff.

The amount of derby love was overwhelming, so many really cool people all together and enthusiastically talking about derby related topics, everyone was so positive and friendly, it was just the greatest atmosphere to be in.

It was so hard to watch the final against Sun State Roller Girls and the VRDL. The skill level of the players was amazing, so many strategies I have never actually seen in front of my face before. the best word I can use to sum the game up is INTENSE. It was so good to see the Victorian girls take it though, It was the perfect ending to and awesome trip…well besides the after party, but that’s another story..

If they run another great southern slam next year i’ll be there in a heartbeat whether I can skate or not.

I took some photos and videos that are linked to over on the left. but please be warned that the quality is not great due to an iphone being my medium. You may also want to turn the volume down on the videos as the screaming may just blow your mind..literally.

SO NEXT WEEK… white star test !!! *nerves*. fingers crossed it won’t end in tears or injury and there won’t be another emo blog post incoming…wish me luck :) ]]> http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?feed=rss2&p=306 5 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=218 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=218#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 12:13:47 +0000 blitzkrieg deluxe http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=218





videos





Big derby related weekend ahoy ! (more nautical references… I can’t help it)

The bout : Metal mayhem at puckhandlers. Dolls Au Go Go Versus Dead Ringer Rosies. It was a great bout with lots of strategy. I’m getting a better idea of the rules and penalties which makes it much more interesting to watch. Dolls won with an impressive margin but there were a lot of ring-ins on both sides due to injuries. Unfortunatly the next VRDL v VRDL bout will be a while off but next month it’s the great southern slam where the travel team will play (and own !) interstate teams over 2 days. It’s going to be an awesome trip.

The bouts half time show was erm…monkey inspired air guitar… An interesting performance but I chose to believe it could have been improved with the addition of poop throwing or a recreation of THIS

Highlight : The 3 D’s … Dragonforce, Dethklok and Dio. Best Metal Dj set ever \m/ I took some very shitty photos and videos that you can click on over on the left there.

And then came the second week of bootcamp.

While thanks to my derby wife yawning on the trip over which in turn made me yawn and subsequently feel tired, she more than make up for it with a little bomb of caffeine before we got skating. <3.

We all started out stretching but then came the dum duh DAH push-ups, sit ups and body bridges *horror movie scream* … I always knew this day would come… I was fairly woeful as I expected I would be. It may be time to actually start doing them in my own time without being forced to. nuts.

We recapped all the stuff from last week but then got to do some cool things I hadn’t done before.

• 180 degree single knee slides : Took a while to get my head around this one but I look forward to practising these more. Many times I ended up sprawled on my side. It was good to learn something new but these were not quite as fun as the 180 double knee slides we attempted for funsies at ‘rama with hilarious results.
• pushing a plow-stopping wench : 2 laps each. Hard work if your doing the pushing and sore ankles if you are the pushee.

The remaining part of the session was games related. Skills relay in groups of 6, a weird “stop and go” game where you had to stop (t’s and plows) within 3 seconds while racing to the opposite wall and my favourite.. “the game when you race to capture cones by doing 4 point falls faster then your opponents”. catchy name.

The games were awesome. Everyone seemed to be having fun and it was pretty hilarious watching the competitive spirit come out.

So things to do before next week: more situps and push-ups (guh), more squats and more 180 slides. Looking forward to week 3 already.

In other news: I also decided on my next tattoo. Well that is IF I get into SSRD and IF no one takes my name before the 3 months waiting period. The second if seems slightly more unlikely.. but you never know.. suffice to say that if it does get taken at least my new arch nemesis will have a rad name. ]]> http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?feed=rss2&p=218 2 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=129 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=129#comments Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:25:10 +0000 blitzkrieg deluxe http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=129 it’s been a big kinda month in derby wannabe land so i’ll try and break this down into little bite sized pieces.

DERBY CLASS

It’s been a completely awesome experience. It’s helped me lose a bit of weight, increased my fitness and strength and spurred my motivation that little bit more. We’ve learned so much in such a short time. I can sort of do transition stops now and am working on my backwards skating of which at this stage is snail pace at best. We’ve been doing lots of pace-lines and pack drills and it all makes me realize more and more that derby, or skating at the very least is totally my bag.

I purchased the roller derby workout dvd and have been doing that once a week at home (sans skates). It’s tough on the legs but once I can get through the whole session without my body pussing out on me I’ll start doing it with skates on.

NEW GEAR

With my new job came more money, more money means more gear! It’s been a while since my last splurge so I invested in : some new 187 elbow pads, a set of sure grip sugar wheels to skate outside on, some harder green fugatives and abec 9 bearings to increase speed and some fugitive pushers to help me with my confidence on corners. As well as that i grabbed some much needed gaskets for my knees and some spare parts and tools so i can stop scabbing off my wifey all the time. Oh and a big trolley bag to replace my back breaking backpack to cart everything around in. Oh and i also grabbed some huge green web toe stops that leave huge green marks at every rink/parking lot i go to. phew maybe too much money spent but i’ve wanted/needed this stuff for so long. At least now i won’t have to buy anything for a very long time.

I also decided once and for all to buy some of berzerker’s roller derby jewellery, i know my name isn’t final yet but it WILL have blitzkrieg involved in some way. I chose to use the wolfinstein font for the letters just to be a little extra nerdy (<3 wolfies). It looks pretty sweet, like the rest of her range but I dare not wear mine out in public until I can actually call myself an official derby girl which is a while off yet but If you’re interested in securing a sweet ass necklace checkout berzerker’s roller derby jewellery facebook page.

BOUTS

My first bout of the season was in Daylesford to watch some of the VRDL girls fill in for the 2 Ballarat teams (libertines and gold diggers). It was great to watch but makes me realize i really need to read up on the rules so I can get a better understanding of the strategy and penalties. Libertines went out to take victory in the end thanks to some awesome jams from swish.

The second bout was the first VRDL bout of the year with the Toxic Avengers v’s Dolls A-Go Go. I was also volunteering as roving merch at the game, trying to make people buy my derby wares with varied success (i think I bought more for myself then I sold j/k). The best part of this job (besides the free ticket) was that I didn’t have to work during the match so I could watch it in all it’s gold and sparkly glory. Dolls won by a huge margin but there were awesome plays by both sides. Very much looking forward to the next one ! If your interested in going to see any bouts this season get your tickets quick because they sold out in 5 days! watch the vrdl site for more information.

And now i head off overseas for a few weeks. I’m going to miss skating, especially seeing as I seem to be doing it 3-4 times a week minimum now but I’m sure there will be plenty to do when i get back. Lets hope I don’t unlearn it all when i’m chowing down on In-N-Out burgers.

xo ]]> http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?feed=rss2&p=129 0 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=57 http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=57#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:00:57 +0000 blitzkrieg deluxe http://blitzkriegdeluxe.com/?p=57 a productive week i think.

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.

so fingers crossed i make the cut and got my email in quick enough !

UPDATE : my first minor derby sucess ! emailing back in a timely fashion wins again, although i’m not sure where this skill is going to help me in the future. Anyway turns out they are breaking up the freshies in 2 groups (nearly 60 girls per group). i will be in group one which does their thing in about a week from 5pm to 7pm. starting to get pretty excited/nervous now !

i can’t really describe how excited i am, i’m sure theres alot of girls in a similar position at the moment. i just can’t wait to get started. It seems like i’ve been waiting forever for something like this to come along.

i look forward to getting to know some other freshies. right now i really have no clue on anyone elses ability and where i fit in.  There seems to be a huge number of girls that want to join the VRDL this year. This leads me to believe there will be a little bit of competion to get a spot. This is a scary thought seeing as right at this moment i can only really skate in a circle.

So my check list for bootcamp is :

learn to do at least one stop, buy some decent knee pads, invest in another helment for my abnormally large skull/hair and stop stressing out.

I’ve decided that if i don’t make it this round i’m not going to be too heart broken. whatever happens i’ll stick with it and hopefully make it in sometime in the next 12 months. either way i really am just enjoying having a good skate !

Next Update : Boot camp Week One (eeep!)

It’s 2 weeks from the official information session for the VRDL (Victorian Roller Derby League) fresh meat intake.  I put my name down a few months ago,  bought some skates from Sin City Skates to replace my 8+ year old puma street skates (that i used about 2 times) and have been pretty much starting from scratch.

I used to love skating when i was little whenever i got the chance. i got my first and only broken bone from a skating related incident. I decided on roller derby this year after trying to find a sport to get into.  I was lost and one day looked down at my dusty old skates and decided to see if there was anything local happening.

So now the wait begins…the boot camp starts in November and roller derby in Melbourne has become increasingly popular so the competition to get a spot for 9 months worth of training will be tough.  Will i get in? I hope so..otherwise this will be a very short lived blog  and my already chosen skating name  “Betty Blitzkrieg” will be going to waste.

I kinda hoped i would take to skating like duck to water…That was not the case. My training has consisted so far of my forcing various friends to come to the local rink with me for a social skate and so i can practice the basics. This has led to some spectacular falls, minor injuries, near misses and hilarious situations.  I really should take a lesson but hopefully boot camp will get me over the line.  If not.. there’s always next year right?