An entire years worth of updates!

Since I haven't updated since January, I'm going to give you a quick overview of my derby in 2012 thus far!


2012
January 14th- Mixer at home- Ice Psychos (Blue) vs. Tiki Torturers (Green).  I was on Ice Psychos. Tiki Torturers won. No MVP's awarded.

February 18th- Mixer at home-  Justice (purple) vs. Power (Gold).  I was on Justice. Power won. No MVP's awarded.

March 24th- Krush vs. Hellcats at Escanaba.  Krush won. No MVP's awarded.

March 31st- Sour Punch Wheelers vs. Funky Monkeys (junior teams I coached)- Sour Punch (my team) won

April 21st- Krush vs. Hellcats at home. Krush won. I got MVP Jammer.

May 18th- Krush vs. Wisconsin River Valley at home. WI River Valley won. I got MVP blocker.
Jr Double header- Sour Punch Wheelers vs. Funky Monkeys (junior teams I coached)- Sour Punch (my team) won

July 28th- Bruised and Confused Mixer in Sault Ste Marie Canada- black vs. white.  I was on white. White won. I got MVP blocker.

August 11th- Krush & Friends vs. Mid State Sisters of Skate's B Team at Mid State. I was alternate to captain. Krush won. I got overall MVP.

August 25th- For a few Bruises More- Krush & Friends vs. Kalkaska in Kalkaska. I was captain. Kalkaska won. I got MVP jammer.

October 6th- House of a Thousand Derby Girls mixer at WI River Valley. I was on red team. My team lost the first round. There were six teams.

November 24th- Hunt for a Cure Mixer in Escanaba. Pink vs. Black. I was on team Pink as captain. Our team won. I got overall MVP.






Excited for the new rules.  I will probably be using this page mostly just for myself now since not too many people read it anyway, and also because I don't want to forget the outcomes of my bouts and what I've done and how I've improved.

2012 is looking good so far....

Yes, I am finally more focused on losing weight again.  I'm doing a biggest loser contest with my dad and so far I am down about 15 lbs and he is down about 20 lbs.  I'm back on Weight Watchers.  I'm feeling good.

As for roller derby, that is going well too.  Our last bout (Oct 30th) went well overall- we sold out in 24 hours, and had a packed house and pumped crowd!  Our next bout is only 10 (!) days away.  We are in a bigger venue this time, so instead of around 250 people we may have close to 500.  It should be amazing.

Here are some videos from the last bout!

http://www.youtube.com/user/puresholtz/videos

It's a link to my you tube site with videos from the bout on there.




Now as for running- I'm going to start again tomorrow.  I have a 5 K to run in about 9 or 10 weeks, so I need to be back in shape for that. I'm running with my dad!  I'm so excited.   I'm hoping my endurance from roller derby is going to carry over a little for me and make up for the fact that I haven't ran since June.  Typing that made me feel dirty.

And....finally....a few pictures from our bout in October.  Remember, it was Zombies Vs. Vampires...and I was a Zombie!

Jamming my heart out

Braaaiiiiiinnnnsss

*Gurgle grrrrr*

This foot is yummy...but I could really use some BRAAAAIIINNNNSSS!

Roller Derby for Beginners...

So, if everyone is going to continue to read my blog after the focus shift from running to roller derby, you should know the basics of the sport so I'm not leaving people behind.

First, I'll explain with words, and then I'm going to link to a video that will explain a lot (and is helpful for more visual people).

First things first- this ain't your grandma's derby.  It is no longer WWF style- no hair pulling, elbowing, punching, or fighting allowed folks- it's a legitimate sport.  We have a rule book and everything.  There's also divisional playoffs and international championships...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Second of all, most derby is played on a flat track.  There are many advantages to this- you can play anywhere (just mark off the area), you don't have to invest in an expensive banked track, it's easier to learn for new people, and it's a little safer.  The disadvantage is it's a little slower than a banked track...you can still get crazy speed, but not as much as a banked track (it's just physics).

Third- it's still crazy fun and full of attitude.  Fishnets and boy shorts are worn frequently, as are massive amounts of eyeliner.  So, it's girls kicking ass and looking good doing it.

Now- how the heck do you play?  Broken down to the basics, there are five players from each team on the track at any given time.  Four from each side act as blockers, and one from each team acts as a jammer.  The jammer is the girl who gets the points.  To do this, she gets through the pack once (while they try to hit her and stop her), and then when she comes back around she begins to score- 1 point for each opposing player she passes.  The first jammer out of the pack is "lead jammer".  If the other jammer still hasn't made it out of the pack and the "lead jammer" passes her, it is a grand slam and she gets 5 points instead of the normal 4.

Lead jammer is the most strategic position on the track because she can call off the jam (round) at any time- often used to get points for her team and then call off the jam before the other team can score.  If she doesn't call off the jam, it will last for 2 minutes...and then the whole thing starts over again!  There are two halves that are 30 minutes long a piece.

So those are the basics- please ask questions in the comments if you have any!

Video explaining what I just did in words...

And...a video of a ridiculously awesome block...stay till of the end of it, they show it in slow mo...

So, a lot has happened...

In the last four months since I wrote here.  The biggest thing is...well...I'm not much of a runner lately.  I've gained a lot of weight since last fall, and it has made it uncomfortable and not fun to run.  Not a good excuse, but it really is what is keeping me from running.

That, and I have a new love in my life.  I new love that I dream about, think about during the day, research in the evenings, and yearn to be doing when I'm not.  My new love is roller derby.  In the end of July, I started going to practices in my town here for the Kingsford Krush roller derby.  My only athletic talent in life has always been roller skating (growing up I don't ever remember losing a race), so to have this in my life as an adult is thrilling.

I will return to running, but probably not until next spring.  Running will probably be a cross training activity for roller derby for me. 

I'm not doing the Chicago Marathon next weekend like I had planned...I'm woefully under-trained for it, and I have a roller derby scrimmage that same day that I would much rather be at!!

Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone (all 5 of you that probably read my blog, lol) on what I've been doing. 

I will probably begin to blog about roller derby now, and much less about running.

It feels great to have a love for a sport that actually loves me back by allowing me to be talented at it...unlike running!  :)

Enjoy the pics below of our practices!!

Cruisin Baby!

I just got back from a week long cruise.  It was AMAZING! I didn't run at all even though I had planned to.  Meh.

Only gained about 2 lbs on the cruise.  Not too bad.

Triathlon in less than a month!!

When I lose weight again, this will be a "before" picture...since I look super fat and somehow pregnant in it!

Runner's Blue Balls

Ever start a run, just to have to stop less than 5 minutes into it?  That is what I call blue balls for runners.  Specifically, the trail I run at has a 0.1 mile path that leads you to the trailhead.  I use that 0.1 miles as a walking warm up.  Two times in the last two weeks, I've had to stop as soon as my feet touched the trailhead and began to run.  Lame.

Time Number One:
Run...run...phone rings...crap.  Nate:  "Nipper (our dog) is in a lot of pain and is shaking.  I'm at the vet."  Me: "Sigh. Crap, I'll be there in a minute."  Remember, I work at the vet, and I JUST LEFT 10 minutes ago to start this run after work.  Ugh.  (Nipper was totally ok, she was sore after her vaccines I had given her the day before).

Time Number Two (TODAY)
Run...run...*burp*...oh god!  That burp brought up some stuff!  Body: "Oh, looks like we are puking.  I guess we should continue."  Brain: "Oh, ok.  I'll get right on that." 
So I hurled.  Awesome.  It should be noted that I've never puked on a run before.  I have a stomach that is usually made of galvanized steel.

After I finished puking, I looked at my Garmin (to restart it, since you know, I was doing more expelling of food and liquids than running at that point)- and it had died.  Batteries, no more. 

I said "FUCK IT!" and walked back to my car with my head hung in shame.  Totally planning on doing the run later tonight.  It didn't happen.  Why you ask?

While I was cleaning my house (waiting for the Garmin to charge), I found this mystery substance dripping down my refrigerator.

What...the...??

So, I open the cabinet, look on top of the fridge...nothing!   Then, I remember. There are two boxes of coke on top of the cabinet above the fridge from Christmas 2009.  That must be it! I move the first one- totally fine.  I moved the second one...pay dirt! 

Moldy Christmas Coke Box.  Fantastic.

So, my question is...how the hell do collectors have those 50 year old coke cans?  This was inside my house, it's not like they were sitting in my car, expanding with the weather or something.

After pulling out the fridge, scraping 12 cans of coke worth of jellified sugar shit off the floor, and washing the cabinets, the fridge itself, and then MYSELF because I got it all over my arms....I was pretty tired.  And not interested in running anymore.

The running gods were not with me today, folks.

How'd everyone else do?

New trail!

I ran a new trail today.  It is also out at the trail system that I frequently run, but I've never ran that trail.  I did however cross country skied it one time.  I feel that the snow evened out some of the hills- which were killer!  They were however the reason I ran this trail- I really wanted some good hills.  Yes, I know how sadomasichistic that sounds. 

The elevation chart from my Garmin.  Note that the biggest difference is about 850 feet- 500 of which was covered in less than 0.1 miles.  Oh yeah.

One of the hills

 It was a beautiful run today.  I have a lot of pictures...so today is going to be a mostly picture blog!

Pretty flowers

Part of the trail ran across a clearing made for some major powerlines

Bridge that I don't think was there when I cross country skied this trail

What the bridge was over

Tree that was growing out of a rock!  How awesome is that??

Pictures of the Lake- all the wind made whitecaps which was pretty neat

This run was great!  I found out the issue I had with the super tiredness the other day was most likely due to Zyrtec- I tried it for the first time this week, and at first it was fine (for like two days), but since then everytime I've taken it I've passed out for like 8 hours.

At the end I even pushed to a 8:30 min/mile time for about 0.2 miles, and finished at a sprint at 5:30 min/mile.  However, my average time was still 13 mins/mile since on the crazy hills I walked a lot of it.

I even only had two ticks attached to me by the end of the run!  Not too bad!


I'll leave you with a video of the waves on the lake.

How was everyone else's latest run??