Or - time flies when you are having the most fun ever! I've been part of the Fresh Meat 12 week programme for 10 weeks now and we've gone through:
- falls
- stops
- pack work
- core
- endurance
- speed
- whips
And yesterday we finally did hits! We all took our skates off, lined up and went down the line bashing each other. It was great! BUT I felt like I was holding back a little bit. It was the similar feeling that I used to get with kickboxing. Maybe I'm unsure, or just not competitive but I find it hard to give it 100%. Also, I'm probably the biggest lass there and I didn't want to hurt anyone. This is not the attitude needed for roller derby!
Kickboxing did fully prepare me for hits though. Being shoulder barged (in shoes at least) is nothing compared to holding a pad for a side kick from a man with something to prove. When we did that you'd have to plant your feet wide, brace yourself and try not to show fear. Oh and one or two people would also stand behind you to catch you. In derby there are no people to catch you, and you have wheels strapped to your feet. So actually, maybe it is harder but it is also 10,000,000 times more fun.
SO the Fresh Meat is going well but in other news I am not feeling good. I have allergies to food and/or pollen for the first time. I am feeling a little out of control around food and sugar is becoming an issue. I am sure I will drone about this many more times but basically I have become less and less able to use willpower to go low carb. I have been low, ill and down. I remembered about 3 years ago I read The Diet Cure by Juila Ross, which uses supplementation to deal with food addiction and low mood. I am eagerly awaiting my copy and hoping I can finally deal with my food demons once and for all.
Showing posts with label Kickboxing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kickboxing. Show all posts
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Monday, 14 February 2011
Primal Ninja Becomes Primal ROLLA!
Harley Davidson, American speed roller skater, 1912 / unknown photographer
Originally uploaded by State Library of New South Wales collection
Part of my getting back to being sane is my new found all encompassing obsession with the entirely fine and totally amazing sport of roller derby. If you are in the US you might know what this is. If you are in the UK and you are friends with me, the chances are roller derby is a total mystery. I'm not going to explain it all here except to say it is an awesome contact sport on skates that lets you dress like a crazy woman (or man - male derby is called, rather brilliantly, Merby) and adopt an agressive alter ego. What could be better? Like, really, name one thing.
See, you can't!
Some great introductions to this fine sport from the The London Rollergirls and The Hammer City Roller Girls
A bit of background: I moved house away from my beloved kickboxing as I covered here previously - so sad. Then I had a horrible year with job angst, family and generally went a bit cray cray as they say. With me crazy always leads to eating. Eat those feelings! Then one evening I insisted we watched Whip It, directed by Drew Barrymore. My hub loves Drew nearly as much as he loves me - or maybe more, but he is ever so slightly afraid of me so hasn't said so - and I liked the vibe from a trailer I'd seen. As an intro to the sport it is not 100% accurate, but then what sports movie is? It is a tale of young misfitty type finding her thing which turns out to be skating fast and knocking people over, as opposed to beauty pageants. There is also a love story bit which I was not as sold on, but is kinda sweet. At the end I said 'I have to do this'. So being me I got completely obsessed, threw money at the problem (in the form of skates, pads and non-essential coloured shoelaces) and asked to join the intake of a local league.
Fast forward six months and they finally had a new intake and I'm in! I had my first Fresh Meat intake on Saturday and learnt loads of great new moves and am super super super keen. In the run up to joining I met up with some other noobs and have had a great time finding my skating legs and getting to know them. They seem a group of really lovely peeps. I was surprised to see I am actually not too bad at basic skating. I have good balance and I have only fallen once at this point (and have a thigh/butt bruise to prove it - one side look slike the dark side of the moon). I can do crossovers, which I could never do as a kid, so cool beans. The actual derby skills are a different story...Sticky skating - where you keep all eight wheels on the ground, yet mysteriously move is hard! And we haven't touched on hits yet...
After the first practice I had weird asymmetrical aches - left thigh, right calf. My biceps hurt a little. My hamstrings feel like they my snap and slap someone standing behind me in the face. This is probably an illegal move in the sport itself.
I won't go into it all now, but suffice to say, I am considering getting back into primal living with a vengance. It is exactly what I need to whip me (haha!) into top shape to make the best of the 12 week course and to try out for a team!
Monday, 22 March 2010
No More Kickboxing for a While
For a little way this blog will be more Primal than Ninja. I have got a new job, which requires moving house. This means I will be leaving my much-loved kickboxing club, where I have been a member for the past two years. It's time to hang up my gloves, at least for now.
It does at least give me a chance to fully focus on the primal exercise plan, without risking over-training. Also time will be tight, and has been for the past six months. It has been frustrating not to be able to put in all the time I did prior to my purple belt. Hopefully I can take it up again some time in the future!
It does at least give me a chance to fully focus on the primal exercise plan, without risking over-training. Also time will be tight, and has been for the past six months. It has been frustrating not to be able to put in all the time I did prior to my purple belt. Hopefully I can take it up again some time in the future!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Overly optimistic first post!
Hello and welcome! I realise I am probably saying this to precisely zero readers right now because this is, for the time being, an entirely secretive squirrel blog.
So, what the heck is primal ninja all about? Let me explain about my self, my weight and exercise battles and the purpose of this here blog.
Primal is the diet/approach to life (not a fan of the 'd' word, but it is hard to get out of this mindset) that I will be trying out and discussing in this blog. Why on earth I am doing this crazy plan rather than just 'eating less calories' or 'watching my portions' (as advised by my Mum and most 'experts' 10 zillion times), is explained below.
Ninja relates to the fact that my exercise of choice is American Kickboxing, and I kinda liked the way 'ninja' juxtaposed nicely with 'primal'. NB I don't claim to be an actual ninja, so please don't comment saying if I'm a ninja then so is your Grandma etc, or that kickboxing doesn't = ninjahood. I KNOW that, and I know martial artists can be very pissy about their method and how much better it is than your's an all that - I just like the sound of the name and it is in recognition of the fact that I want to be a hell of a lot fitter and more impressive. I have a purple belt in American Kickboxing. and am working on blue.
About Me
As I said I am a 28 year old female, entirely new to blogging. I am a research student and work part time in the voluntary sector. I LOVE to read about exercise, nutrition and all that jazz. I am also into fitness (though running makes me actually cry). I love fiction, films and cooking. I am into current affairs and campaigning around human rights, more of that later I'm sure. I have a soft spot for Murder She Wrote like you wouldn't believe, no more of that later, I promise. I will happily watch any show about weight loss or fashion and I am partial to dressing a bit retro. I love the idea of meditation, but somehow am always too busy to do it.
This is not one of those blogs where I weigh a whole load and readers will be amazed by my losing like half my body weight - though there are a number of really great blogs out there that are like that and hopefully when I have a vague clue how blogging works I will link to some of them.
Ok, so weight issues: ten years ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was 18, just started uni and in a new relationship and I gained 3 stone pretty darn quick. Surprisingly, this was not brilliant for my confidence or self-esteem. When I eventually began to feel better I felt like I had emerged from a cloud of blah and was amazed I had looked and acted like such a big slob to be honest. I was amazed to look back and think 'woah, dude, I was that me who went to seminars in dressed like that?!' I struggled to function well for a while - I aged overnight, my skin was dry, my clothes didn't fit, I didn't notice. I barely did any work for uni. I took up karate and weezed my way through each class and kind of half-passed my FIRST belt! The instructor was kind to me, and very encouraging, but I couldn't figure out why - he was treating me like some enduring lardo - but I wasn't that big, was I? Well, yeah I was kind big. Not huge, but not happy either. I got up to around 15 and a half stone (217lbs, 98kgs). I am 5ft 7in.
Luckily the relationship continued (I am now married to the same great guy, Mr Primal Ninja, who will probably feature here with vomit-inducing regularity because as someone far more famous and skinnier than me once said, he is my rock, but I think she was actually referring to someone else). Also the uni course went ok once I was treated and I went on to be in uni for the next squillion years and to make a great set of awesome friends who were as into sitting around drinking tea and pretending to be at uni in the 19th century as I was.
I should break up this stream of consciousness. I'll put my expansive diet history in a whole new post.
If you've read this far thanks so much!
So, what the heck is primal ninja all about? Let me explain about my self, my weight and exercise battles and the purpose of this here blog.
Primal is the diet/approach to life (not a fan of the 'd' word, but it is hard to get out of this mindset) that I will be trying out and discussing in this blog. Why on earth I am doing this crazy plan rather than just 'eating less calories' or 'watching my portions' (as advised by my Mum and most 'experts' 10 zillion times), is explained below.
Ninja relates to the fact that my exercise of choice is American Kickboxing, and I kinda liked the way 'ninja' juxtaposed nicely with 'primal'. NB I don't claim to be an actual ninja, so please don't comment saying if I'm a ninja then so is your Grandma etc, or that kickboxing doesn't = ninjahood. I KNOW that, and I know martial artists can be very pissy about their method and how much better it is than your's an all that - I just like the sound of the name and it is in recognition of the fact that I want to be a hell of a lot fitter and more impressive. I have a purple belt in American Kickboxing. and am working on blue.
About Me
As I said I am a 28 year old female, entirely new to blogging. I am a research student and work part time in the voluntary sector. I LOVE to read about exercise, nutrition and all that jazz. I am also into fitness (though running makes me actually cry). I love fiction, films and cooking. I am into current affairs and campaigning around human rights, more of that later I'm sure. I have a soft spot for Murder She Wrote like you wouldn't believe, no more of that later, I promise. I will happily watch any show about weight loss or fashion and I am partial to dressing a bit retro. I love the idea of meditation, but somehow am always too busy to do it.
This is not one of those blogs where I weigh a whole load and readers will be amazed by my losing like half my body weight - though there are a number of really great blogs out there that are like that and hopefully when I have a vague clue how blogging works I will link to some of them.
Ok, so weight issues: ten years ago I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I was 18, just started uni and in a new relationship and I gained 3 stone pretty darn quick. Surprisingly, this was not brilliant for my confidence or self-esteem. When I eventually began to feel better I felt like I had emerged from a cloud of blah and was amazed I had looked and acted like such a big slob to be honest. I was amazed to look back and think 'woah, dude, I was that me who went to seminars in dressed like that?!' I struggled to function well for a while - I aged overnight, my skin was dry, my clothes didn't fit, I didn't notice. I barely did any work for uni. I took up karate and weezed my way through each class and kind of half-passed my FIRST belt! The instructor was kind to me, and very encouraging, but I couldn't figure out why - he was treating me like some enduring lardo - but I wasn't that big, was I? Well, yeah I was kind big. Not huge, but not happy either. I got up to around 15 and a half stone (217lbs, 98kgs). I am 5ft 7in.
Luckily the relationship continued (I am now married to the same great guy, Mr Primal Ninja, who will probably feature here with vomit-inducing regularity because as someone far more famous and skinnier than me once said, he is my rock, but I think she was actually referring to someone else). Also the uni course went ok once I was treated and I went on to be in uni for the next squillion years and to make a great set of awesome friends who were as into sitting around drinking tea and pretending to be at uni in the 19th century as I was.
I should break up this stream of consciousness. I'll put my expansive diet history in a whole new post.
If you've read this far thanks so much!
Posts
