Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Bad knees and faster skating

Bad Knees

So derby babies it has been a while. I have been trapped under a rock while fighting ninjas, or something like that. In fact while doing that, or taking my sailboat out of the water, I totally screwed up my knee.

So injuries are a royal pain aren't they? Having a knee that you are unable to bend makes doing pretty much everything derby a whole lot harder. Most basically it keeps me from being in derby stance. Then there is the whole part of how I can't fall onto my knees, thereby making proper knee falls a bit tricky. I can't even do the knee fall on the opposite knee because rising out of the fall means putting pounds of pressure on my bad knee which isn't happening. So, there is that.

I have been to the doctor and she told me that I had been handling the injury very well. That is, taking Aleve, icing it daily (more so on days of some strain) and doing some derby but not being an idiot and pushing past real pain. The knee has twice now improved after being pushed a bit at derby but I really need to get a physio appointment pronto! It's in the works. I shall physio and be healed.

Faster Skating

Besides that annoyance I have been slowly improving in my skating abilities. I started skating with Renegade Derby Dames/Misfit Militia in November and it's been nothing but good times. The people in the league are super, super nice and have been warm and welcoming to me.

Not only did they let me (and anyone else in the same situation) pay less to enter their freshmeat (very late) but also they have been really great about accommodating my needs with my injury. That is, we are having our test on Sunday but I will not be able to complete all of it. Specifically, I will not be able to do knee falls. But, there is nothing I can do about that, I have to wait for my knee to heal. Kerri Daway assures me that when my knee heals we will just finish up whatever parts of the test I was unable to complete.  I think I should be able to do everything else but we shall see how it goes.

Speaking of parts of the test, guess who finally did twenty-five in five? Yeah, that's right, me! Twenty-five laps in five minutes, yay me! This accomplishment has really made me so happy. I guess because I was stuck at twenty-three and a half for so long it was starting to feel as though it would never change. So, there ya' go, practice does make a difference, eventually.

Also, I picked a name and number. Deamon Star *00*

Well, I shall have more to write soon though finding the time for it is really the challenge.

Derby Love

2 comments:

  1. Dear Deamon Star,

    I am a knee injury vet. Completely torn ACL in 2009 with surgery. I'm completely healed but still sometimes have some problems with my knee. I have never done roller derby but I used to be really good on wheels before the accident. I was thinking about just wearing a mechanical knee brace but wasn't sure if the girls would go for my knee seeing that it might be weak. Should I or shouldn't I do roller derby? That is the question.

    Sincerely,
    Robot Leg

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  2. Dear Robot Leg,

    I feel that you really could do Roller Derby, you would just need to start with strengthening exercises and wearing your brace. I currently spend a lot of time doing all of the things my physio tells me to try and strengthen my knees. Obviously having had a torn ACL you know all about such things. You may not to be able to (or feel comfortable) to be super competitive and play on a A team, for fear of hurting your knee, but you for sure would be able to play.
    In most leagues there are the girls who are trying to reach the world cup level, but there are many who are just there to play and have fun without trying to become a superstar and/or really push their bodies to the limit (obviously sometimes due to injury as well). I think you should do it. Just take it slow. I found skating is not hard on the knee, skating in fact helps my knee, it is derby stance (squatting) that begins to ask things of my knees, but it is also how they are strengthened. So, there you go, my ten cents. : )
    Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
    daemon*

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