Summer Derby Lovin'

So, I managed to escape the Arkansas borders this summer and skate with the Sintral Florida Derby Demons throughout the month of July. Those ladies are fantastic. I was scared to DEATH about going in to skate with a new bunch of rollergirls (after all, my team's used to my obnoxiousness, but who knows how complete strangers would react?), but they went out of their way to be welcoming and understanding. Even scrimmaged with them during practices, during which several skaters (especially super-blocker Penny Pincher) gave me some great hints and advice, for which I was really grateful. And props to C.C. Sunshine, who worked with me on footwork. I owe you guys big. :)

I was thrilled to be able to catch SFDD's home bout. Getting to see strong skaters like Little Arson Annie and Sixgun Susie in action was really inspiring. And while I'm thinking about it, a question for the readers here-- is it typical for visiting skaters to assist in setup and breakdown for a bout? I showed up three hours before the bout with the rest of the team to lay down the track, set up suicide seating, fill ice chests, and so on. Several people seemed genuinely surprised, especially when I stuck around to clean up afterwards. It just seemed like the right thing to do. But then, I'm weird like that.

So, after a few return trips back to FL, here I am back in landlocked Arkansas. Still working on getting my speed up to where it should be. I've been working on cardio and plyometrics, which has helped with my endurance, but no real change on my speed. I'm also told that I need to skate with "more confidence." Any advice in that arena?

Ok, back at it.