26.28 miles in 3 hours 5 minutes. It was pouring rain the whole time. I would get jelly legs every now and again making it difficult to skate properly. The first 5 miles were horrible, I couldn’t see myself finishing it. But then Andrea, Ruth and I stuck together sticking to a pace we knew we could manage. We sang Disney songs, shared strawberry laces and energy gel packets and made sure no one quit. There was a killer hill that we tackled by screaming the whole way up. We even did a short video at mile 15 which we uploaded to the NRG page whilst skating because we’re skilled like that. We definitely weren’t the fastest but we completed it and I’m pretty damn happy about that. It was awesome crossing the finishing line together knowing we’d stuck together the whole time. We’ve been able to raise £1,270 so far for Inspire Nottingham which we’re really pleased about. It’s not too late to donate, so if you’d like to then please do: www.justgiving.com/nottinghamrollergirls
Over and out.
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Today’s purchases; arm pocket and marathon socks because in a week’s time I will be skating a marathon. 26 miles on quad skates. The me from 5 years ago would never have believed that. I have roller derby to thank for giving me this drive and energy to keep challenging myself.
My training could have gone better considering that I’ve only made it up to 9 miles so far. I know I should have put more time in, I know this is going to be a struggle, I know there will be a point where I no longer feel like I am in control of my legs/skates. But I also know that I can do this. I am significantly fitter than I used to be and have good endurance which counts for something here.
Either way, I will need to keep going! It will help that my fellow team mates are participating and that we’re doing this to raise money for local charity Inspire Nottingham. If you’d like to sponsor us any donations would be massively appreciated! http://www.justgiving.com/nottinghamrollergirls -
Progress
I am extremely critical of myself. I’m constantly comparing myself to others in roller derby and rarely in a productive manner. I have only recently realised the progress I have made over time and how it really is all in my hands. It’s an obvious thing but difficult to make it sink in. I’ve started to make note of my accomplishments and areas to work on whenever I play a bout or participate in a scrim. It really helps me focus my effort and also shuts me up whenever I get negative about my ability.
My accomplishment at our rematch against Sheffield Crucibelles in November was that I wasn’t terrified when jamming, that I didn’t pick up too many penalties, that I was stronger and that I had decent endurance. I could now take hits and keep going. Next focus: jamming.
I didn’t expect to jam at all at the Co-Ed tournament given that our team’s line-up meant that we had sufficient strong Jammers but I mostly jammed. My accomplishment is that I survived. I had played Co-Ed within NRG but playing against male players from other teams would be a different story and this was an experiment for me. The teams in the tournament had really strong female and male players I wouldn’t normally expect to be playing against. I’m quite proud about the fact that they were trying to hit me off track and for the most part I held my ground and stayed on track.
Next focus: Agility and moving across the track more to get past walls.
In our game against Hereford a few weekends ago (which was our first win as NRG!), I definitely darted around the track more. I had a clearer idea of what I was doing and used some tactics we had gone over. Next: work on starts/initial pass so I can get lead more often. Actively push through/ destroy walls on my way through. -
Nottingham Roller Girls Harlem Shake…
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Co-Ed Roller Derby Tournament
I’m on the NRG Co-Ed team for this Co-Ed tournament and cannot wait. 10 days to go!
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I’m very excited about this and really hope I get to be on the team for this one. I know there are people in the roller derby community who have their reservations either about guys playing roller derby or about playing co-ed, but I personally think it’s awesome. We’ve practised co-ed ever since the guys stepped in to help us make up numbers so we could practise scrimming back when we were a tiny team. Our guys are awesome, respectful and I love skating with them. I’m all up for the challenge of playing against/with guys. Besides, an incoming hit from the The Ruth Hurts scares me way more than any hit from the guys ever would, she is brutal!
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Photo by Jason Ruffell
Last month the Nottingham Roller Girls took on the Sheffield Crucibelles in Sheffield in a rematch of last year’s ‘Dodgebrawl’ bout. It was lovely to play those girls again. It was my first public bout in over a year and although we lost I left on such a high.
Last year, I had lost all confidence after that bout. I got ‘Jammer’s block’, I felt useless and really didn’t think I was any good which is such an unproductive mindset to get in. But now I can see that I’m miles better than I was and I am so much more focused. I wasn’t scared and felt like I knew what I was doing. I was being more vocal and directive. Whether or not it did any good, I don’t know but I know it’s a massive improvement on last year. I can’t wait to get even better. Also, I managed to skate 30 laps and 3 quarters in 5 minutes the other day!
So I felt pretty accomplished on a personal level but also as a team team we have accomplished so much in this year. For the first time ever there was competition to make the bout team, we actually had enough players! We realised that only myself, Ruth Hurts and Helenback remained from the original roster last year and we now have a brand new team. The newer skaters have progressed at an incredible rate with some of the bout roster only having been with us for 6 months. I am so proud of our team because we’re constantly progressing, constantly learning, constantly encouraging each other and having fun. We’re a bunch of dorks on 8 wheels - I have the perfect team.
WE BLEED GREEN!
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I’m really looking forward to Orangefest this Saturday. The lovely people from the Orange Tree have asked if we’d like a stall to promote our team, so we’ll be there representing and partying of course. Myself a few others are also going to be waitressing on our roller skates. My face says it all really.
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Last weekend my team mates and I joined forced with the Hellfire Harlots to play against the Birmingham Blitz Dames. One of my favourite things about roller derby is this community and how willing teams are to invite each over. I’m pretty much covered in bruises and slightly ashamed of how many trips I took to the penalty box but it was a lot of fun.
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