A Story From The Road

Right now I'm coaching in Australia, on a 2 month tour.

On the way to Australia, my flight had an emergency landing. Someone on-board had a medical issue and all 400 passengers had to spend a day in a hotel in Honolulu, HI so the flight crew could rest up after all the hub bub.

Would you believe there was complaining from the other passengers???

Most of them, actually, were complaining. I guess they just enjoy complaining, because I've been all over the world and STILL think Hawaii is the best real-life paradise the entire world has to offer!

I put my headphones in (positive speakers or happy music, typically) and grabbed my breakfast voucher. All 400 of us got them, but for some reason, only 5 of us saw the Starbucks off the beaten path to luggage claim...

The young man in front of me in line was doing the same thing I was. We were adding up totals and seeing just how many things we get from this Starbucks with the $15 voucher. We started comparing strategies, and continued talking as we made our way to the shuttle area.

He was Australian. A tall, blond and handsome, athletic young dude, in his early 20's. He had that star quality that people sometimes do. I asked him what he was doing in America.

He told me he was a semi-professional Australian Football player, trying out for the NFL and my whole body got goosebumps. I tried to keep my cool, and after listening quietly to his story said, "Kid, I'm pretty intuitive, and have a feeling you're totally gonna make it!"

He beamed, didn't even blink at the "intuitive" part, and told me more about the try outs process.

As we were chatting and waiting for the shuttle, I noticed a guy in a business suit looking around. He had that lost look going on, so I smiled at him and nodded to the coffee in his hand, "Got your breakfast?"

He smiled back and chatted with me and The Kid a bit. Then he led the two of us away from the shuttle line, explaining that he was getting a taxi and we could share it with him. His work would cover it, and then we could beat the crowd checking in to our hotel.

The "taxi" was actually a limo.

So I'm in a limo, with a future NFL player, and an Executive, in Hawaii and I think for just a second... WOAH, THIS IS KINDA CRAZY!   

But is it, really? Is it crazy that good things happen when you're always open to them? Is it SO CRAZY that when I choose to be positive, actively deny negative thinking, and be friendly with people, the results are also positive?

Turns out me and The Kid (who I am quite sure is gonna be a big star in NFL in the next few years) both have birthdays in December, and both listen to positive speakers when the headphones are in.

This is one I hadn't heard of, The Kid told me about him. I thought, What an awesome gift this has been! So I share it with you:

3 Ways To Prevent Injuries

You know how people say "It's not if you get injured but when in roller derby."

What a fucking awful mantra to carry around! Please, if you've been known to say this, just stop. And start working on things that plant positive suggestions in your mind. Like:

1) Be More Agile

Agility is not as elusive as people make it out to be. It's just a matter of testing the boundaries of what feels safe and reasonable to do on skates, and then going just a little bit farther than that. Practiced in manageable amounts of scary, this can be an incremental and gradual process. 

Try this: Test the limits of what feels safe and normal for just a few minutes, every time your skates are on, and then get right back to what you'd normally be practicing. That way increasing your agility becomes a more integrated part of practice. Water breaks are a great time. Or while waiting for your turn at a drill. Practicing lots of transitions, stumbling and one footed feats especially.  There's also a DVD out now: http://shop.bonniedstroir.com/

2) Get Strong

Roller derby drills, practice, and games will build up certain muscles like your quads and lower back. But it does very little to work out other muscles that are needed to support your derby muscles. Like the muscle groups around your knees, hamstrings, inner thighs, glutes, and core. 

You need that stuff to be balanced and hold up all the derby muscles. Otherwise, it's like asking stilts to hold up a mansion. Put under pressure, they'd prefer not. 

3) Enjoy Yourself and Pay Attention

There is danger in crashing into other people on wheels. If you can respect that, without letting that become a ruling fear, you'll be able to prevent all kinds of injuries.

ENJOY your time on skates, but don't have so much fun that you forget you're doing something that requires your complete and full attention.  

4 Resources:

1) Agility for Roller Derby DVD: by Bonnie D.http://shop.bonniedstroir.com/
2) Roller Derby Workout http://wickedskatewear.com/rollerderbyworkout.aspx
3) Derby Cross Training Support Group: http://www.facebook.com/ShinyHappyFaces

4) Roller Derby Athletics on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/rollerderbyathletics?feature=watch

There's a difference between getting hurt and being injured. Bumps, bruises, scrapes... who cares. That stuff all makes you stronger. 

The bigger injuries, though are often preventable. There are fluke accidents, for sure. But the staggering number of injuries happening now in roller derby are not because of how inevitable injuries are. It's because many of us didn't know there was a way to prevent a lot of that stuff.

But now... YOU KNOW! So go get strong, get agile, pay attention, and enjoy yourself! : ) 

Tattoos and Working Out

I had this crazy thought when I was on the stationary bike the other day...

The first thought wasn't so crazy, it was pretty normal: Ouch, this sucks, I kinda wanna quit now. But I had a goal of how many miles I wanted to achieve in so many minutes so I *also* really wanted to keep going.

The crazy thought was: You can sit down and get tattooed for 4 hours at a time... even learn to enjoy the pain and relax enough to sleep through it... but you can't sit here and ride this bike for another 5 minutes?? That's just crazy!!!

I zone out during the tattooing process because when it's done, I'll have something I want. Same thing can apply with working out... but the 4 hours comes over a week instead of a day. And the something I want takes about 3 months to be apparent.

The cool thing about having my knuckles tattooed is that I can look down at them any time as a reminder. Tattooed or not, I share that reminder with you, for when it gets hard:

You can put up with a lot more than this... Even learn to enjoy it! Keep going... Go get what you want!!! And take a victory pic of your shiny, smiling face when it's done! LiveLoveDerby!

 Live Love in Portuguese, thanks to Ladies of Helltown, Sao Paulo Brazil!

I've Got a Very Big Stick

People have different ways in which they measure success in life.

Some are interested in spirituality, or popularity, others money, we all have our different drivers. For a very long time, my main driver has been, "What does it feel like to hang around me? Make sure that I feel good to be with."

But the truth is, I want it all. I have a VERY large stick by which I measure success. I want to be spiritually enlightened and monetarily beefy. I want to feel good to be around and I want to laugh my ass off every day. I want the body of a goddesss and the mind of genius. I understand it will take time reach both ends of this very large stick... but I still carry it around with me every day.

Someone asked me a couple blogs ago what my inspiration is. Here's the answer:

"I'm inspired by the idea of being the best version of me that's possible. So... I'm just gonna do everything I can to see how awesome I can get in one lifetime."

You know how they say we only use 10% of our brains? I say fuck that. I've spent the last 10 years actively sculpting my mind, spirit and values. Now I'm sculpting my body and physical abilities. What I love about roller derby is that is offers the opportunity for all of that.

You just gotta grab those opportunities when you see them. You gotta grab them by the... stick!

Through the community you get to hone your social/human skills. (Nothing like learning a little conflict resolution to hone your emotional endurance!) Through the sport, your physicality is tested. I guess that's why I'm a lifer in the sport. It just keeps making me a better person, how I could I knowingly walk away from that???

Watch out world... here comes a lot of awesome!!!! One step at a time, one day at a time, I get closer to my potential. Will I ever be perfect? Nope! But... I will be a little closer every day!

What inspires you???

Trial and Error: Totally Overrated!!!

Do you know why I "blog"?

Several reasons, but mainly so others can get the benefit of my experience and I can feel good about saving people some of the grief in life. Trial and error are totally OVERRATED! If there are people who'd like to learn from me, I'm happy to share.

Coaching skaters all over the world has been extremely rewarding. But I've been dealing with the frustration (at times) that many Coaches in roller derby aren't getting the coaching that THEY need!

I wanted to host an event where COACHES get to learn from the trade tools, and experience of other coaches, and not have to make the same mistakes over and over again in cities all over the world.

So the Coach Coaching Seminars were born!!!

I did extensive polling of Coaches and what they needed to learn, and based off my own observations, crafted a SEMINAR EVENT that has become SUCH A VALUABLE GEM that I think ANY COACH IN ROLLER DERBY would be bat shit crazy to miss it, if they could come.

I would also encourage LEAGUES to start making training their Coaches a priority, and put it in the league budget to send your Coaches to these events.

Eventually, yes, I will get them online eventually. But nothing will ever really compare to the energy and inspiration that fucking CRACKLES in a room full of that many passionate Coaches in one place, pens and laptops poised for note-taking; all investing their time, energy and even dollars for the love of their teams and leagues.

Seminar Testimonials can be found on the right side of: http://www.facebook.com/rollerderbycoachcoaching

The previous two events in Hunstville, AL and Bloomington, IL were pretty derby-life-changing for many of us. If you're a Coach or Team Captain in the South, make every effort to be there and you'll be glad you did!

REGISTRATION: http://tinyurl.com/OrlandoSeminarRegistration

Just Breathe?

I've been watching a lot of work out videos on Youtube, and reading articles to find new methods and strategies to getting in shape. So far Jillian Michael's theories seem to make the most sense.

There's one thing that keeps coming up, though, that was super frustrating for a long time: that whole "breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth" thing was really starting to piss me off!

You see, friend, I've been blessed (again!) with a combination of some lovely Hungarian genetics (thank you, Grandpa) and a couple lucky punches (you know who you are, haha!) to the nose.

Basically, my nose leans very much to one side. Making breathing in through it very much not possible in cardiovascular, gasping-for-air situations.

I'm inexplicably aware of the term "deviated septum." Well, unlike many of my Californian friends, I have a fear of doctors that outweighs my vanity by, like, a million percent!

I was trying to regulate my breathing on the treadmill yesterday, and went for the in-nose, out-mouth thing, and finally realized: THAT IS NEVER GOING TO WORK FOR ME!!!

So... I just told my body, "it's ok, just breathe how you need to," and you know what? My whole body relaxed. Even as I increased the speed on the treadmill. Hm... I was tempted to do a bunch of research on the subject, but have decided to just call it a lesson on listening to my body and be done with it.

If there's any other left-side-leaning-nosed-mouth-breathers out there... I won't say I know what's best for your body, but I will say that this was SUCH a huge relief and revelation for me, that I just had to share it!

BTW: There will probably be many stories that revolve around working out in the coming months. I'm not fucking around when it comes to training anymore, I'm going all the way!

If you'd like to come along, check out this new FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/ShinyHappyFaces