So, I joined the roller derby. How are you?
I had just moved to Tampa for the new job, and my husband hadn't been able to move down here with me yet. I really love my job, but my social life was a little... lacking. I always enjoyed the roller derby in DC, so I decided to go ahead and join the derby here. Why not? I wasn't doing anything else in the evenings, believe me.
I bought all the necessary gear - skates, helmet, mouthguard, knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, tights, knee socks, sports bras. (I should've also bought out an entire CVS' worth of bandaids and neosporin, but hindsight is 20/20.)
Practices are 3 days a week, for 2 hours each time. I was put with 20 or so other girls interested in joining the roller derby, and we were given a team name - the Quadkillers, or QK for short. It's a play on words - the skates we use in roller derby are called quad skates (as opposed to rollerblades), but the training is also notoriously tough on your quad muscles in your legs from all the squats. Our training program lasts 10 weeks, and then there's another 4 weeks of rookie training after that.
Last night, we had our halfway point evaluations - I can't believe we're 5 weeks in already! I did OK. There were some things I was even pretty good at (T stops, weaving). Last night also happened to be my first night with my new inhaler, so I could actually breathe about 9000% better than I could before.
To celebrate, I went online today and bought padded short shorts (sex-ay!) and new wheels for my skates. The idea of padded shorts seems kind of hilarious - I might do some pictures when they arrive. :)