Back in Berlin

So really, I barley came home, touched down just to take off again. I'm back in Berlin to enjoy my Fourth EROC... The annual European Rollerderby Conference. This is the place where things happen, where Europe meet and greet... It never really feels like we get enough talk, I wish we had more time to hash this out, to understand each others struggles.

Rollerderby in Europe is in a constant growth, it pulsates and it becomes something we can be proud of knowing we been a part of forming! Go fast and push harder, turn left.

Things are happening

Travelling with big plans in the back off head, it all involves rollerderby and taking over the world! Monday will be a really cool day - not one but two amazingly cool things are happening, and they aren't really even connected at all and at the same time they are totally connected! So it is! It's gay and rollerderby connected... I don't know what to do with myself - but I'm extremely excited.

Lesson learned

I know this already, I still do it at times... I should not go to the gym without eating properly before. Without eating properly the entire day, I never eat breakfast and when I end up only having cottage cheese and two apples for lunch... The workout is doomed to fail! Well, the lack of sleep might have had some to do with it too... I had to give up after 10 burpees and rest... Yikes... And the class I took at the gym is fairly chill... 40 sec and rest 20 in blocks of three exercises...  I block of strength, one block endurance and one block of core... Straightforward and I really should not be feeling lightheaded...

Well, I am still proud of myself going to the gym, instead of just going straight home and just laying on the couch reading a book... Or watching Heroes... Books sounds smarter, right?

An AMAZING trip

I had such a great trip, from a snowy Sweden to a snowy NYC to a overcast but warmer LA, with lots of rollerderby! I got to see some of my amazing friends and skate both banked and flat track with Team Wolfpack!
I got to skate with some amazing skaters from allover USA, and I had such a blast... I did get blisters under my feet, it has been about 1,5 years since I was on a banked track last.
Coming back to Sweden I'm just as pepp as ever to play more rollerderby, why is it so much fun!?

On Sunday we scrimmaged against ACDG

In LA I was staying with my friend Mad Dog, and she was jsut the best host ever and even better was that Demanda and her girl came down from SF to hang out! The only thing that was a bummer was taht I didn't get to go to Portland. 

Skating in NYC again

Scrimmage at the CrashPad!

Today I got to come and guest scrimmage with Brooklyn, it was superfun! Thanks so much to Brooklyn for haing me!  I really miss skating with Gotham, so it's awesome to come and see old friends once in a while, and skate is even better!

I felt good skating, even if the jetlag almost made me bail on practice, and the off-skate after the skating was gruesome... I always eat too little while on trips and jetlagged, I just don't seem to get hungry.

Tomorrow I'm going to hang out at Five Stride, get myself new wheels and probably something more... 

There is honestly a CRAZY amount of snow in New York!

Me and Freddie bonding

My own challange...

Sometimes a just doing something little everyday takes you a looong way... So I made myself a promise - I'm going to do this routine every morning for 30 days... It's not much, but it's better than nothing, and it will also get me out of bed and I probably will end up being in time for work more often.

20 sit-ups

10 push-ups

20 squats

1 min plank

10 burpees

20 lunges

And I will do it three time in a row.... Yupp... This is it! I probably will add in some exercises at times, but I have to make three sets of this everyday, and if I'm lazy in the morning I have to do it at work... Ha ha ha... Well, maybe when I get back home from work... I mean altogether it's just... 

60 sit-ups

30 push-ups

60 squats 

3 min planks

30 burpees

60 lunges

I am also thinking about getting myself a kettlebell, I like those things and they can be used for so many things. 

Writing this post makes me think about when off-skates in derby was unheard of, and barley any leauges did it... And now almost every competitive league does it... Times are changing, and it's a good thing!

We are going to Florida

We known for a while that Stockholm Rollerderby are going to Florida for the Beach Brawl, and we been very excited about it. We already got shirts and held two bootcamps, where the proceeds are going towards our Florida trip. So dont hesitate but buy a shirt here: http://shop.rollerderby.se/se/klader/linne/

We knew we were going to get three sanctioned WFTDA bouts , but we had had no clue what teams we will be facing off until yesterday. We are playing Steele City, Tampa and Houston... Such great and amazing teams... Can't lie and say that it doesn't make me nervous, but I believe in my team and that we can accomplish anything that we really put our minds too. It's going to be fun and amazing to play in US again, but this time with my Swedish team!  

All of a sudden it felt so real, it felt like we were on our way, and this will really happen! I'm excited and this will be one of the most exciting things that has happened to Stockholm Rollerderby. And it's really exciting that Berlin are going too... Berlin are such an amazing team, and I have many great friends in that team, they went to US two years ago and did amazing. Damn, time flies and it's amazing to see how far we all have come... 

And here you can see all the match-ups for the Beach Brawl... http://www.derbynewsnetwork.com/2014/01/beach_brawl_lined

Enough is enough

It's winter in Stockholm - FINALLY!

So today I skipped my gym session, my body needed to rest, so I went for a 40 min walk instead. When I woke up this morning I felt sore and my shins were aching. I still was redlined to go and do a strength class at my gym, but when walking there I just felt no inspiration and my body just felt VERY sluggish. Considering I had quite a hard workout both Thursday and yesterday, I decided that a walk was a better option.

It's important to push yourself and your boundaries, but ts also important to give yourself breaks when needed or you might end up hurt or mentally burn yourself out. It still is preseason and I know Im not completely out of shape, but I have to keep the fun in working out. 

So now I'm treating myself to juice, coffee and a sandwich at my favourite coffee shop watching the snow fall outside. Life is epic, and I am so happy to have rollerderby be a part of it.

Off-skate fighting to fit

Poor Alpha had to keep up with my terrible coordination

Like really, I totally enjoy working out, but as I've said before, I REALLY have a hard time motivating myself. So working out in a group is really what I love doing, and on Thursdays Fighting Fit is for Stockholm Rollerderby... It's about eight of us that come regularly... the first half is all about fighting and how too, I am seriously CHALLANGED in this part. Considering that I am as good in rollerderby as I am, you would like to belive that I have some sort of coordination... meh... I do have fast reactions... The second part is high intense workout crossfit stylish... Yesterday Asstroid, Kim, Thunders, Chaos, Slinky and Alpha showed up, feels like that is the usual crowd, and I like it!
Yesterday the exercise part was determined by the roll of a dice... yeah... we did roll lot's of burpees... Hella painful today, but I feel great, I'm coming back from Christmas/New Years hiatus and ready to get in better shape than ever. My hamstring IS still hurting, but I truly feel like I have the strenght back, making me feel more comfortble on the track and also while doing off-skate... I do have to remember that I need more of a warm-up than before my injury, and jamming still scares me...
I am also trying to eat better, and that really doesn't mean that I'm going to eat less, but rememebr to eat, and make good choices. Yesterday I got entrecot (it's a hunk of meat) and made a side salad of red peppers, cucumber and an avocado with soem balsamic vineger, olive oil, salt and pepper. It turned out to be yummy, but it really is so much LESS fun to cook just for yourself, sitting by the table eating alone really made me miss Eagle...
I've booked two classes at my gym this weekend, and they are classes I havn't attended yet, and I'm totally trying to coax Kim to come with me on Saturday. Me and Kim are spending Saturday making Chilli, you know one of those chilis that you cook for hours, and it becomes REAL yummy in the end!  SO looking forward too that!

Ready set eat... yum yum yum... 

And then I fell asleep in the compression recovery tights that I got from my mother for my Birthday... yesterday was a good day and tonight we have rollerderby practice, so it will be a good day today too!

I will soon do it...

November 2009 - you are welcome

Soon I will write a blogg called: "when I began rollerderby".

It will be all about how I owned a drawer full of fishnet stockings, several skirts, not to talk about the multiple kneehigh stockings in very many colors... It will be about how rollerderby was so much less pressure and that I just got better and better.
 No one expected me to know anything, because no one really knew anything and I just skated all day long... It was a delightful time!
HA ha ha ... we will see...

Treating myself...

Getting to work early, doing work... I miss my girl, I am cold, I forgot to have lunch, I had too much coffee... I want to buys something to create an artifical happieness. I don't need anything, maybe a pair of new wheels.. I acctually need new wheels... I contemplate what new wheels I should get, I want some real hard wheels I can use when I skate in USA and have to be on sportscourt. I think about it, I will get new wheels, maybe next week when I'm at Five Stride.. I deserve new wheels, I haven't gotten new wheels in over a year, I've spent my money on other things, on travels, on food, on gifts to my loved ones, on more travels...

Our tiny new hall

T-Rex founf t heir way to practice

So I have written many times about Stockholm Rollerderbys struggle to find a place to skate, find a place to practice, and we ahve practices pretty much everywhere at this point, go-cart halls, empty malls, dry hockey rinks... you name it.. we have done it... So this winter we got times in a school gymnasium, and we got there yesterday just to realise that it's really small and that the floor is really slick. And this is by NO means a permanent hall, this is a hall we get to be in for TWO hours every Monday for a few months...

I was coaching, so I had to re-write practice and make it work, and so I did... and we totally made it work and I think everyone left feeling like they got a good workout and improved their blocking... The season has started and I am SOOOO excited for this year! The year of 2014 is going to be amazing, and I will try to stuff it with lots of rollerderby and good times!

It's great to have a hall that fits a track, but if you can't get one, you gotta do what you can. So on Mondays we will just have to do something different! I belive that you can make things work, you just have to be a little smart about it, or VERY smart about it. Most of the time it's our own creativity and fantasy that limits us! 

Booking flights...

Flights to NYC/LA, Berlin, Dresden and Helsinki are booked... gotten a train ticket to Malmö...  I am on my way once again, a constant movement towards the future. Rollerderby is what makes me really happy, I tried to quit, it made me more determined to continue, this is what I know, what I am good at and what I belive in.

Looking forward to a very busy winter/spring and it makes me real happy! I do wish that one of the flights I booked was taking me to Portland... 

My Birthday

So my birthday was amazing - Eags woke me up with coffee and then I went to work. I had early dinner with my mother, stepdad, brother and Eags...

And then we went to practice... It's probably the best fun to do on your birthday, to skate. And after practice Eags took me for kebab pizza, a true Swedish dish...

This is all I wanted for my birthday 

Fighting Fit

So it's time to get into shape again, I keep on saying that, I probably never be in the crazyass shape that I strive for... one day... one day... as long as my body is just fit to play derby I'm a VERY happy gal. I did realize the other day that I am in better shape now than when I moved to New York and started to play with Gotham. It has been a constant goal to strive for better fitness and better skills, sometimes it has been hard to push myself, but it has been worth it. Tearing my hamstring has been a challange to coem back from, and the constant pain, and pushing through but not too hard has been a struggle. Well, well... I was going to write about our new off-skate class.

So in a tiny basement in Stockholm, there is a small exercise room and a class called "Fighting Fitness" lead by a stout Australian woman named Jo. She's got a background in both rugby and martial arts... and the class "Fighting Fit" is half fighting techniques and half crossfit inspired during 90 amazingly fun and challanging minutes. Yesterday we wrestled, and in the future we have to bring our mouthguards... good thing we all have them. To be honest, I am not a person that goes to the gym just because I like to work out, I really am not, I go to the gym, to off-skate to become stronger and in that way become a better derbyplayer. I prefer to get in shape by doing fun things... like rollerderby OR snowboarding, I just happen to be hypercompetative, so the fun and easy fast turns into becomming better. I don't mind, thaty is where teh fun is at!

Jo just got a pup... very distracting  for all of us

Yesterday at Fighting Fit it was me, Kim, Thunders, Slinky, Chaos, Alpha and Eags who showed up. Oh, and Jo just got a puppy that also was present, chewing on everything and distracting us all from what we were supposed to do... It was superfun to do off-skate with Eags, and that girl can wrestle... but she just wait... she just wait... I am out to get her... It's fun to do this with a bunch of other competative derbygirls, we all push each other and ourselves, no slacking here, and lot's of soreness the next day!

From now and on I'm preparing myself to be in fighting fit condition for the upcomming season, and this is such a fun way to do it, together with teamates, it does such that the tiny basement can't fit more than eight of us... but eight is better than none! Watch out world... I am back! The upcoming few months I hope every week will be two days at the gym, fighting fit once and rollerderby two or three depending on the times we get from Stockholm City.

After practice I made Swedish Meatballs for Eagle, serving it with all the traditional fixings, even if I don't think she's ready for the lingonberry jam just yet.

Fighting Fit in the bathtub...

Sticking a hole in your toe

So the winter bootcamp was amazing and fun, but being on skates three days in a row after almost three weeks with new skates did not work out so well for my right toe.

On the Saturday I got kicked quite hard on my big toe, but didn't really think too much about it. I got home and it was hurting but not more than I was ok with. I did notice that I probably should trim the nails, but got distracted. When I took my skates off on Sunday it was at the point that it was painful to walk in my trainers... I noticed that the toe was swollen and the nail seemed utterly unhappy... Still on Monday I managed to get the foot into skates and skate for two hours... But afterwards it was even more painful. After some Internet research and the very eager wannabe doctor Eagles advice, I realised that there was fluids under my nail, since it looked like it was ready to spring off the nalbed. Eagle did offer to drill a tiny hole in the nail with a gigantic power tool. I politely declined the offer. After being a big scared pussy for about an hour and after been prompted to watch gigantic zits getting popped on YouTube I finally decided that it couldn't be the worst thing to stick a needle just lightly under the nail... And it wasn't..  Lots of clear and yellowish fluids rushed out from the tiny little hole I poked... I cleaned it up and went to sleep... 

Toe is feeling much better today! Yay!

Yeah, I know... it is not a sexy picture...

My Birthday is a BIG deal

Ok, I admitt it, I love my birthday, probably too much for a person that doesn't like to talk about her age.  Either way, I just like having this one day when it's all about me, so very NON Swedish... On my birthday I want presents, presents and more presents, I don't care much for Christmas gifts, but I do VERY MUCH care for birthday gifts.It's a littel over the top maybe, and I am probably totally overdoing it!

I guess I already got a really great and fantastic Birthday gift, Eagle is staying for for my birthday, it wasn't really the plan, but due to the extreme weather in USA at the moment, she got stranded in Stockhoml until this weekend. So I sort of can say I got an exotic and amazing bird for my birthday!

So, FRIDAY it is, it's my birthday! On my birthday I will go to rollerderbypractice, and after practice I will go for a few beers with friends that I can coax into late beers and then I will fall into soft and comforting wings. And along the day I am hoping for lots of small and big presents and many congratulations on the impressive task of accomplishing another year of living!

 I am excited about 2014... Ah! 

Stockholm Winterbootcamp

Stockholm held a two day bootcamp this past weekend, and it was fab, Scald Eagle from Rose City Rollers was here and coached two sessions each day and myself coached one session each day. This year felt really awesome and less stress than the last time I did it. I had a really good time coaching, first class was on briding and offence, while the second one was on reaction, communication and ass towards the jammer. And Eagel had some really fancy footwark classes, jamming and all that stuff she's good at, she has for sure a fiiiine step, and on Sunday I was lucky enough to be able to step in on her morning class, she is a really great coach. Bootcamp was fun, everyone in the leauge worked really hard to make this happen, and hopefully we will be doing the same thing next year. It felt like we all got something out of it!

Eagle jamming 

We also had a referee camp that was lead by Cherry Fury, so we decided on having as much of scrimmage as possible, because it's fun to scrimmage with people you don't know, and referees need as much practice as possible. It was also a way of making it able for all of our Stockholm Rollerderby members to get to skate. The bootcamp was more advanced and participants had to been bouting for at least a season, which made the scrimmage  more challanging and it was great to see that both some of Swedens finest and Finlands finest where there. On the Sunday we did let our rookies in on the scrimmage, they got their own rookieline and got to play against each other, and they did soooo good, our rookies are going places! Europe look out!  I had SUCH a blast. A SUPERHUGE plus was of course that I got to skate with Eagle, and since we both are such derbynerds, it's about the best date ever. (like really)

The bootcamp was also real fun because of the simple reason that lots of fun people were participating, my very missed friend Only from Kallio was there, and her gf Pygmi, so I got to practice my Finnish that still is not very good, I guess I really need to go to Helsinki more, or even better have them move here. Sigh... I wish... 

Eags, me and Becky at Wintergames

We also had Eagle coach two Stockholm Rollerderby practices, and that was awesome, and it was so much fun to have an external coach come in with new drills and ways of thinking. I learned a few new things and got a few new things to work on, it is so awesome to get pushed and the feeling of getting better. Todays session was superfun, and we did some one on one that I forgot how much I like it. Reminded me that it is something we need to practice more often, just a few min every practice can take you a LOOONG way!

So tomorrow will be a very sad day since I have to drive Eagle to the airport and then go to work. The past three weeks been truly amazing, and I don't even know how to put words to how much I have learned about myself, how great my friends are and also that regular iceskating is hellafun!

HAPPY NEW 2014