Roller Girl Boot Camp – Final Night On Skates

Posted by: Jodi Laird on: June 12, 2009

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It was one hell of a week, but I did it. I hung in there; I refused to give up even when my body kept reminding me that my 43^rd birthday is only weeks away. I friggin’ did it! And not only did I do it, but I had the time of my life and made some great friends along the way.

Tonight we worked on endurance, but before we could begin the drills we had to learn the “rock star fall.” If done incorrectly it hurts like hell. Guess what? I did it incorrectly. My right knee is bruised like hell and is beginning to swell. Thank goodness I work at a physical therapy facility. I am going to have this bad boy looked at first thing in the morning.

The endurance drills combined the basics we learned this week with continuous skating. The vets would shout out a drill, for example, “derby stance!”, and we would have to get as low as we could and self propel until they gave another command. All the while trying to remember everything we have learned. I felt a bit schizophrenic as I tried to listen for instruction and my head kept playing a loop of, “shoulders over knees over balls of feet.”  At one point Felony Melanie shouted, “Trust your stance and trust your falls!” The tumblers clicked. With that one sentence, I was finally able to kick my fear to the curb.

At the end of the evening they set the newbies up into formation for a jam. Felony Melanie tells me to take the position of jammer. The whistle blows and the pivots set the pace. The second whistle blows and I take off. With my fear gone, I get down and I just skate. We didn’t actually fight through the pack, we were instructed to go around. I work my way around the pack and the ref blows her whistle points at me and screams, “Lead jammer!” I skate with everything I have left, which is not a much at this point. I could hear everyone cheering and I skate until I hear the four whistles marking the end of the jam.

Now I know if any of the vets read this, they will probably laugh their asses off. But that one moment marked a milestone for me. I accomplished everything I wanted, and I did indeed find out exactly the stuff of which I am made. This week I was a Roller Girl. One, two, three, “Raise Hell!” Tomorrow, we party!