Can I get a hell yeah?

WARNING: I'm listening to Weird Al Yankovic's new album while I'm typing this so if I start going into a polka midway through this you'll know why :D

It was bit of a weird week for me. I got the MRI on my ankle and heel done last Saturday then I spent the next few days nervous as hell for the results to come in the post. Why the freak out? Well this ankle injury is the third ankle injury I've had in six months from roller derby since I started training in January (gosh think of all the time I've wasted stuck on the sidelines recovering). It's the second time I've injured my right ankle. I was dreading that the doctor was going to tell me that my ankles were too weak to cope with the rigours of roller derby and that I'd have to quit roller derby. On Tuesday I couldn't wait any longer so I went home during my lunch break to see if the results came in the post. The report only managed to confuse the hell out of me with words like anterior talo-fibular, subcutaneous oedematous. My initial reaction was can I still do roller derby, not have I caused any permanent damage or anything else. Roller derby has well and truely gotten underneath my skin! Some of my derby mates Dr. Rae, Dr. FiFi and Dr. Squeaks helped decipher the report for me. Looks like I sprained some of the ligaments in my ankle and I got some fluid build up in some of the joints. The doctor confirmed this morning and I'll be able to skate again once it heals after some physio, strengthening exercises and taking anti-inflamitory pills. No skating still but I am so happy it's not funny, my roller derby dream is still alive and well!! I would have been absolutely gutted if it was all over. In derby I found something that I thought I could be good at and if I got real good I'd get onto the H.A.R.D travel team.

I've decided to be productive while I'm off skates so I've been going through the rules and I've managed to pick a few new things. One rule got my attention, rule 6.8.11 - There is no penalty for blocking a skater who has jumped off both skates and left contact with the track from in bounds. So if someone is being a smartarse or trying to be tricky by jumping while on the track during a bout you can hit them with a legal hit while they're mid-air. The skater on the receiving end will be up for some serious air-time if you hit them at the right moment hehe!

I've been working on something the last couple of weeks that'll help me both on and off the derby track. My cousin Mark's girlfriend Suzie is a personal trainer and she's agreed to take me on as a client. The cool thing is that she won't take crap and I'll be given homework to do on my own. She covers everything including nutrition so having her help me out with everything when it comes to creating a healthy lifestyle will help make me a machine on the track, at least that's what I'm aiming for.

Last Sunday at training that had enough competant skaters to do scrimmage practise. It really sucked not being able to scrimmage 1) I haven't passed my Corporal test and 2) I'm out injured. Those of us that weren't scrimmaging helped out with keeping track of the score, penalties and I got to blow the whistle to start and end the jams and time the jams. While it may not be as 'fun' as scrimmaging I actually had a lot of fun doing it. It's also a good way of learning more about the rules. Another cool thing was it made me fall in love with my league and roller derby even more if that's even possible. Watching my team mates scrimmage made me want to do roller derby even more.

Lastly here's a really cool article on becoming a more agressive skater. It's a good read.