Week 6 Training/Sunday

I sure love the whooshing sound of wheels on the floor in an otherwise silent rink...I was the first one there today and got to skate all by myself for 10 minutes. Exquisite. The effect is even better when the rest of the team arrives and no one is speaking, just that smooth, collective whoosh....
Oh man where do I start? We had a bonus practice this morning. And it was an awesome one, chock full of drills that had me cackling with glee, sweating like a freak and wishing for more.
The first drill we did was entirely too much fun. We had to skate in a paceline, which requires skaters to keep the same pace and maintain about 2 or 3 feet in between us as we skate one behind another. The person at the front then had to break away and sprint a full lap around the track. When you caught up to the back of the line you had to then weave in and out of the skaters (distanced about 2 ft apart) maintaining the line. Once you wound yourself up to the front then you had to sprint around a lap again, until you came to the end of the line. Then sadly you had to slow down and let the person at the front take off and repeat the drill.
I was pouting about not getting to do this particular drill about 22 more times when the coach announced we would now learn to do arm whips. Before outlining the drill for you let me just tell you that all pouting ceased, and throughout the course of the following drill I was laughing out loud wildly and somewhat like a lunatic, perhaps frightening my partner slightly. There is a shirt one of my derby sisters told me she saw being sold at a bout that said "I like to be whipped." I must find and own that shirt.
But, as is par for the course in my everyday conversation and writing, I digress. So the drill was awesome. We were working with a partner. They skated up behind you, and called out "outside" or "inside." The person in front then turned toward that side and held out their hand, arm extended. The back skater then grabs the extended hand as if to shake hands and the forearm of the person in front. Then simultaneously the front person whips their whole arm forward and the back person pulls themself through. The effect is marvelous. The whipee goes flying, and it is best to get control by taking a few quick steps as you get thrown. Now the drill continues with the skater who was acting as whipper having to skate like hell to catch up to the person you just flung, yell out inside or outside and then get whipped. Let me tell you, if you are like Maverick in Top Gun and share his "need for speed" this drill will be your nirvana. I was whipping that poor chick with everything I had and then a little more, just so I could sprint around and catch her. This was probably the fastest I have ever skated, and I'm not certain, but I believe I may have ruptured the space-time continuum.....
Because I am an enormous Alexander Technique nerd (and just a big dork in general) the mechanics of this particular drill are super fun for me to dissect. Ideally the whipper wants to have a fair amount of speed going. Then the whippee (and that's what I yelled mostly to myself but sometimes out loud when in that role) grabs on and with the action of the whip is catapulted forward not only with their existing speed but the speed of the person whipping them. The whipper loses momentum and falls back slightly because the whippee has taken it all. If you are not actively working a deep derby stance (or monkey in Alexander Speak) you will very possibly fall as you take or give the whip. And those quick little cross over steps after being whipped are so useful to regain any balance lost. Whippeeee!!!!
After the whipping drill we practiced jumping. And I actually did it. No joke, this 40 year old out-of-shape mom picked her knees up like I was on the moguls (or how I imagine that would be as I have never skiied) while squatting in my stance and made it over repeatedly. Rejoice!!
Next we worked on what is called "booty blocking." This is pretty much self-explanatory. You get low and very wide in your stance, lunge or step side to side and use your tookus to impede anyone from passing you. It is mainly a positional block, just getting in the way so the jammer can't pass you.
Last we skated our 25 laps in 5 minutes. I made it with about 20 seconds to spare!!!
I have been thinking a lot about balance lately, in both my pedestrian and derby lives. How attached we are to it, desperate not to lose it. One of the things I really enjoy about this sport is that so much of it is about losing balance, and quickly righting yourself. Letting yourself sort of ride the loss of balance, and then quickly recover and keep moving forward. The boy is a tantrum maniac these past few weeks. It's exhausting. He just freaks out for minutes at a time for reasons I can't explain. His eyes get all wacky and unfocused and I'm considering yellow-paging an exorcist or nipping into the wine and then he's done and moving on with his day. That seems pretty in line with the skills I am honing in my derby training. You just can't be afraid of falling, be it in derby or in life. It is inevitable and in my opinion a good portion of the ride. Maybe I really am completely nuts or just blinded by my love of this sport but I'm not concerned about it. I was thinking back to several summers ago when I fell off a curb in Brooklyn and badly sprained my ankle. The Xray guy told me I would have been better off just breaking it the sprain was so severe. One month later I was practically healed, fell off another curb and sprained the other ankle even worse. At least if I fall with this activity I will have a fairly interesting excuse.
And now, this mortal form needs coffee.