This week of derby boot camp started out feeling a bit brutal. I was really excited that my skates were coming in, but it turns out, they're still in mail limbo. That and my difficulty with one knees falls on Wednesday (which I blame on the rental skates, but if I'm honest I think are a little because I need to be doing more lunges) had me in tears almost by the time I got home. It wasn't just feeling like a complete derby failure, it was a combination of less than ideal performance coupled with an uber stressful week. Major projects due on all of my classes, papers to grade hanging over my head, not enough hours in the day.
But the week ended on a high note. We retested on our 5 lap tests on Thursday, and I improved my time by 8 seconds (even in the crappy rental skates!). I'd like to think this is partly attributable to my first night of enough bravery to rock my new purple Skinz, (fondly known as the "shiney hiney" in derby) sans skirt or anything else covering them, to practice. The night left me feeling a lot better about things--and more confident that I have a chance of passing the minimum skills test that's rapidly approaching.
We also started what I think will be weekly rules class, which is fab. I can always shine when it comes to tests involving the written word. It's what I do. And the ins and outs of derby (like what happens if you forget your helmet panties, or who wears the helmet panties, or what's a pack, etc.) are fascinating to me in a way that other organized sports are not (and way more full of innuendo, let's just be honest). Plus, I think I impressed the derby gal teaching us noobs with my questions about some of the finer points of derby that I had been wondering after last weekend at regionals (like the practice of taking a knee before the bout starts to create a no pack situation).
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