American Football

Me and Kim all done with catching balls

So in the wake of the excitement of Super Bowl (seriously not interested but it seem like all my American friends are, thanks Facebook for teaching me everything about Seahawks) we decided to go to an American Football practice. Well, to be honest, my friend Kim is dating a girl that plays American football, and asked if anyone wanted to come and try it. So about 10 Stockholm Rollerderby girls showed up. And it was superfun, I tried rugby last winter and LOVED it, and I must say that I might jus like all he drills, I'm not too sure I'd feel about actually putting all that gear on and play it...

Well, I think a few of us are keen on trying it again... I like that the ball isn't round and that you can run with it... Yeah... Yeah... It was a real good time!

The drills were lots of footwork, running back and forth and getting the non-round balls thrown at us, expecting us to catch them. Yeah... 

Amy got attacked by a ball... staying with rollerderby...

The funniest part of the practice was that the girls kept on telling us "take it easy, we don't have the pads on"... Hm, and I think they were really impressed about our fearlessness in running into each other, maybe a little less impressed by our fear for balls... 

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!

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...

2013 here I come...

And it of course involves physical activity - and that is not only the kind of activity that happens on the derby track... I have signed up for Tough Viking... It's gonna be CRAZY! And we all know since Team Cruz, I am all of what a viking can be... otherwise Demanda wouldn't have invited me to play with them... it might also be the way I handle a big hammer... or my war-makeup...
I really don't know why I think this is gonna be a good idea, but I guess it will keep me motivated... also in mid-March me and this awesome girl Britta have a face-off challange. We still have not decided on the exact 8 challanges that we will face off against each other in... but I am quite sure it will be tough.. and I am planning on winning. I told my PT all about it yesterday, and then he made me do all those crazy exercises involving chins, inverted burpees and planks... Britta you are soooo going doooown...

I also have found a place where I can get my breakfast smoothie/juice and right now I'm drinking something that is warm and involves a banana and almondmilk... just can't be wrong... it taste so good, and I've decided that it's good for me! Beach 2013 and Tough Viking, you will NOT know what have hit you...

Rollerderby practice has also started, it is still really mellow with focus on our Fresh Meat that have their minimumskills test in 2 weeks. I haven't really had the time not the energy to focus much on our FM, I think I'm at the point in my derbycareer where I acctually mostly wanna focus on the highest level play possible within my leauge. Can't wait to do windsprints tonight... and some scrimmage... some scrimmage will be AWESOME!!

So my plan is two onskate practices a week, one session with my PT (crazy guy called Cai) and then at least one or two other off-skate activities... it might be ice-skating, playing rugby, Nordic Military Training or somethign in the line of that... I am getting a gympass to SATS and I know that Kim has a pass to there... adn she is about as work-out crazy as I am... so I think that is a good idea... I just don't like to work out by myself, it is just no fun at all! And yesterday I wore yellow to the gym to show of the last tad of my tan... yeah...

So it is...

Time to make decisions, time to move forward, time to figure out what I want. It's hard when there is so much I want and only limited time!

Spent the day with Becky, Kix and Kim watching lesbian movies and eating - now off to scrimmage with new rules...

Drinking coffee with Kristina and Becky 

There is snow and cold outside... I love it! 

WFTDA Champions watching...

Waiting for Gotham vs. Denver - Becky, Kim and Kix taking a nap...

During Oly vs. Minnesota

Me and Becky - we are broh's

Vegan venison stew... Becky, Dingus, Amy, Red and Kim

If you one day wanna play like the best, then you gotta watch and learn... so we spent all of the Saturday watching Championships... and it was great... Well, first me and Becky went running intervals, and then we went and watched the Royals bout...

Gothenburg vs. CCR B

Last weekend I took a roadtrip to Gothenburg with Kix and Kim, to go watch CCR' B-team play Gothenburg...
It was great to spend soem time just driving through a very beutiful Sweden, it always strikes me how amazing and striking my native country is, dressed up in orange, yellow and red leaves falling off. The sun is still just a tad warm, and winter is just sneaking up on us... Ahhh...
 last time they met about 8 month ago, CCR beat Gothenburg with over 100 points or somethign like that, I did have a feeling that Gothenburg had gotten much better, sicne tyhey been working really hard the past month... and that really showed during the bout.
It was a nailbiter, and both teams were fighting really hard, there was really great derby played, and I didn't know who to cheer for... CCR were better at pointprotecting while Gothenburg had amazing walls, that worked fantastic together.
It really isn't often that I get to watch derby, and I forgot how much fun it is to sit in the audicence and just watch... and I am acctually allowed to scream at the referees... (not that I ever would... right.... )

Four minutes left and it could go either way... (GBG to the left and CCR to the right)

CCR showing off their new bout shirts! 

Ready set go! 

Kix gives teh game and the afterparty two thumbs of two! 

Another day in my life

This is a table I just made... I feel very creative... it's aperently in style and called shabby chic..

I got a haircut by Lady Lovley Blocks... excited, it just turned out as I wanted it too! 

My moms dog Morris... I am a dog-sitter

Kim and I went to test moussles and were more impressed by the Kwak beer! 

I am wearign a skirt and I am walking home on rainwet streets... I truly LOVE Stockholm! 

Night out with Fisti and hot laaadies...

I miss skating with Fisti soooo much,  but she is not only an AMAZING skater but a freakign funny and hillerious person, and we both share the attentionspan of a five year old, so we have about as much fun as five year olds in a playground together. Usually people don't give five year olds alcohol... but we just treat ourselves, because that is just the kind of people we are.
I had Kim, Only and Becky over for dinner - and right when we had finished dinner Amy came with Swedish cinnamon buns... the plan was to go to a bar and have a few after dinner. Since we aer not so much on point we left the house hours after we planned, but still found a great place to have drinks and Amy could sing along and dance to various music...

Today Fisti is running our practice, and that will be supernice, to have someone different, and that isn't me to run practice... yay... and Fisit really is one of my favorite skaters, so I am totally looking forward to it... LOVE rollerderby!

Fisti makes awesome rings, now we all have one!

Vampires and great drinks - night and alcohol

Amy is sharing her hair with Only

Fireball - a very stupid idea I totally blame on Kim

After dinner you instagram about it

Heading to Södermalm after dinner

Fisti and Kim are VERY goodlooking

Mushroom picking a' la Swede, Kim and Only

So in Sweden we go into the woods and pick mushrooms - usually you spend a day during the weekend doing that. Since my weekends are CRAMMED the next few weeks, and by the time I have a weekend free - the mushrooms will be gone, I rallied the troops after work on Friday evening and took the subway line to the ends statuon (to Akalla if anyone was wondering). Kim had brought us beers, so we wold not get thirsty in the woods, it's very important to bring the right things.
Kim had a been told by someone at work that there would be mushrooms to pick in the woods in the area... This was probably true, we just seemed to be unable to find those mushrooms, but a lady did bike past us with a basket full of mushrooms, so we are quite sure that there were mushrooms somewhere in the woods, just not where we were calling for them... (yes, we resorted to calling for mushrooms).
We did not leave the woods emtyhanded, we found the total of four gooseberries, a few rasberries, a bunch of uneatble mushrooms, ballons from a wedding the previous week, hazelnuts and a few emty beercans...
Oh, and we found a Persian restuarant and decided we should go back there someday, it seemed really nice.

Ballons that were frm a wedding... not mushrooms

Trying to find the woods

You need a beer to be able to find the mushrooms

Cheers and still not mushrooms

This is how most horror movies starts

Hazelnuts but not mushrooms

We left the woods for some beers... 

Off skate with Kimizooka

I am still limping and feeling sorry for myself...I still kept up with the other two... I am never hurt, so it's really weird that my leg is healing so slow and I have to be careful at all times... VERY frustrating... Kim is really awesome with running off-skate, I'm sore days after her work-outs... and I like it that way, why work out if you aren't going to give it you 100%... I am also starting to hang out more and more with Kim, and she is a delightful person, superfun to hang out with and awesome and motivating to work out with!

Kimizooka and Alpha Whisky... halfway thorugh...

I don't mind waiting when I can look at this

Packing - washing - leaving for airport

This year I was supposed to do less traveling, it did not really work out like that, I just done different traveling. I've travelled less for coaching and more for my own selfish rollerderby pleasure, and that is sad and fun at the same time. I love coaching, but at the same time I miss to just skate for my own damn sake and learn from others...

What to pack? does those look like Stockholm to you?

Still, this weekend Stockholm is playing Rainy City, and they have their venue right outside Manchester, a new travel first... so I'm once again washing and packing and getting ready for another airport ride to Arlanda to get on another flight. Airports has sort of lost their charm, but at the same time I have a special love for them.
So I have to remember passport, flight confirmation, the few pounds I have left from last trip, skates, pads, armbands, boutshirt, something to cover the ass up.. .what... hm.... boardshorts, hotpants, skorts, jeaggings? I miss packing with Loony - she is so much better at this than I am... I probably will finish packing about 10 mins before I have to leave for the airport... oh, I need to bring line-ups and my helmet too... ugh... what else... does everything fit in my backpack? Do I need more than one pair of shoes? If only one pair of shoes... converse or Nike?
Will it be sunny? Or will it rain? Should I bring a jacket? Wheels? What wheels should I bring? Stingers? Will they be to grippy? Should I stick with G-rods? I do like slide... ugha!
Oh, and painkillers, since I had an incident the other day... Kimizooka our new girl, who now is mine and Beckys Bro and personal trainer has given me some... oh...
I love to go on team trips... this is gonna be exciting.. .except from all those choices and the packing... ahhhh....

Happy Pride on and off skates...

Husse, me, Becky, Kim and Enoc being pretty...

Dress to success... This year we were quite a bunch in the Stockholm Pride Parade - it for soem reason always makes my eyes water a little, right before the parade starts... when I look around at all those people that are just like me, and so different. But we are all proud for what we are, and we are allowed to stand up for ourselves and our friends and all those that can't. I am very lucky to be born in Sweden, and I am very lucky to have such a caring family and circle of friends.
Being different, just hte slightest is not easy at all teh times, but being different is not a bad thing, we are all uniqe!
But a big thanks to my friends who made this Pride so amazing and fun... I have had dinners, pre-parties, mellow nights, crazy sweaty dancing and crazy colorful rolling parade-time... each one of you my friends are making my life worth living.

Variety of Swedish Leauges represented... Rollerderby rules!