Heat and Water

So I've mentioned that I live in Charlotte. And that I practice in an unairconditioned warehouse. It's really important to hydrate, but replenishing electrolytes is also important. I've studied the subject a little and I know that there's a lot of words I don't understand involved in the science, but I understand the principles.

Exercise takes a lot out of the human body. Drinking water is good, but it's not enough. If you're leaving sweat stains on the floor, you should probably replenish.

There's a lot of science to how much you need. You shouldn't try to over-replenish. Your body naturally refuels on its own. If you try to put too much in, your body will totally stop refueling.

When most people think electrolytes, they think Gatorade. But it's far from the only option. Coconut water is gaining notoriety these days, but I have a big problem with it. Coconut water tastes disgusting. Luckily they come in delightful flavors. I like O.N.E. Coconut Water's Pink Guava flavor. There's a flavor for everyone.

My other favorite option is a powder. I tried a couple different ones before I discovered Ultima. It's sold at the Healthy Home Market (I haven't found it anywhere else yet) and comes in several flavors. My favorite is grape. The different flavors do have different levels of electrolytes though. It's sweetened with stevia and natural flavors. Instructions say to add it to 8-12 oz of water, but that's a little strong for me. I add it to my 25 oz water bottle and go.

The difference between when I replenish electrolytes and when I don't is noticeable. It's the difference between feeling engaged and present in practice instead of feeling sluggish.

If you've found other ways to hydrate and replenish, let me know. I'm happy to try out other things!

Today, The Derby Happened

This was perhaps the best bout ever. (That almost became "boutiest," which is not even remotely a word.) Both CLTRG teams posted wins. The All-Stars won a sanctioned game and B-Dazz beat their rivals. I got an MVP award. I could not be more pleased or exhausted. I promise for this post to be fully written manana.

Update: Awake and refreshed this day.

I would now like to tell you about the day that was yesterday.

I did not feel on it all day. Setup was confusing. I had no clear plan of what I wanted for lunch. I did a sort of driveby past Lacey and Sassy teaching their pseudo-son Armando to use the atm. I had an interesting talk with a leaguemate I cried some. I thought about the last time we played Charleston. I wasn't even sure I wanted to play. I felt low.

Team warm-ups made it better. For the first time ever, our B-team bout was to be second. So we did our offskates warm-ups upstairs. It was clear we weren't exactly taking it seriously. So, we had a little dance party. I think that really got everybody pumped up. This may be a new tradition.

Our onskates warm-ups felt a little scattered. I don't think anybody was focused. I know I was contributing, but I couldn't get into a better head space. A teammate got some bad news that morning and was trying to get herself right.

The A-team bout started off well. They took a knee at the jammer line in the first jam, got lead and scored a quick 14 points. That was exciting. It's nice to see our All-Stars be rockstars. They continued to dominate the whole game. After the first half, I didn't want to get too involved in the game or tire myself from watching, so I went and chilled in the locker room and started to get geared up.

We decided to try a scrum start in the first jam to get lead fast, but that sort of backfired on us. However it became a powerjam or something. I think it was in that jam when our jammer, Hitstera, was charioting off me and I hit one of the blockers out of her way and opened up a whole and then swung across and hit another one of their blockers and cleared a wide path for her. That was one of my favorite moments from the evening. We posted 9 points or something on that jam.

I jammed a lot last night. Pretty successfully too. I didn't really get stuck in the pack for too long. I did go down a few times, but I absorbed more blocks than that. They were hitting me, but it just wasn't strong enough. We took an early and managed to increase it. We got up 50 points and really started making it happen. Charleston seemed to get a little desperate. There were a lot of jams I saw where they got lead, but didn't call it immediately and scored points but let us score too. There were a bunch of jams that were basically 1-0 for them, but after we'd gotten a significant lead.

My second favorite moment of the night was in the last jam. They called a timeout when there was something like 28.7 seconds on the period clock, so we got one more jam. Leah/Hits jammed and I was blocking. I think Alley Capone and Mustang Stella were out there. It turned into a powerjam. I kept telling them not to chase goats and just caboose instead. At one point, "NO PACK" was called and Ringo Stardust turns around and skates backwards in reforming. The game was won at this point. I just looked at her and smiled.

Great job to both teams. It was amazing to have two wins for a home crowd.

The afterparty was lackluster. We were promised karaoke but that did not happen. So we had dry chicken instead. And after all my hard work, I received an award. The "Unforeseen Threat" award. I suppose that's a Most Improved kind of thing from February to now. Also, we sort of stormed Jackalope's next door as they had karaoke and I got some free Rock of Ages swag, but the karaoke machine went down and would not come back before I could sing. I did get to hear O. Fine's rendition of "Baby Got Back" which is on the list of my favorite things in the world.

Here it is, a tiny skateboard.
Sorry it's sideways, I apparently can't rotate it here.
In case you were wondering, the trucks don't pivot.

So, that's the picture. Let me explain. I'm on the Bout Production committee. I've noticed that in the NFL, MVPs get like a Corvette as their award. I thought it would be clever if we did little toy cars, as in, 'Here's your free car." MVP Jammer got a little sports car. MVP Blocker got like a Hummer. The Unforeseen Threat award was an idea we kind of took from Charleston. Thanks, guys! And our head of BP, Tasty Murder, wanted to have it be like a white windowless "Creeper Van." But hey, the store doesn't sell them. So it's a skateboard instead. What's more unforeseen than a skateboard? And Hell Vetica Bold found this website that prints these little cards, hence the tag. On the reverse, it has the logos of both teams and the date.

I set this goal for myself, that I would consider moving up to the Charter when I received an MVP award, because it would then mean that my peers were also recognizing my growth. It might be time.

Roller Derby Saved My Soul

Hi, my name is Rita and I play roller derby. I joined the Charlotte Roller Girls almost two years ago and made my debut this past Feburary. I have given a lot to roller derby and my league, but they have given me just as much. I couldn't ask for a better group of women to skate circles with several nights a week. Sure, we have our disagreements, but we're doing this thing together and I respect that.

Roller derby lets me live a world outside the norm, and not just because of the shiny pants and fierce name. I'm a little bit neurotic, truly. I probably have OCD, and my rituals tend to interfere with my daily life. I'm also a bit of a germaphobe. That, coupled with the fact that I work in food service, means A LOT of hand washing. I always have several bottles of hand sanitizer with me.

But derby cancels that out. Our Warehouse is our home, but it's got its challenges. There's bugs that crawl across the track sometimes. There's bit of cobweb that float down from the rafters during practice. There's dust in the corners that we just can't clean. But when I'm at practice, I don't care. I left my mouthguard in the Warehouse (on the floor, of course) for more than a week and when I found it, I put it back in my mouth. Building up my immune system, you know?

I've come to terms with turning left most of the time, since I did so many right turns back when I danced. I figure my equilibrium is balanced enough now.

I have a little quirk about cracks. I won't go into it because it will only make me obsess about it more, but if I step on cracks, I freak out. Needless to say, there are cracks in the floor. I don't notice them. I don't get all obsessed and have to go even things up.

Roller derby has strengthened my muscles. It has increased my determination and drive. It is a hobby that has given me several other hobbies. It has given me a network of friends and family. And it has made my brain calm down. There's no room for neuroses when you have to kill the jammer.