Derby vs Life

I feel like it has been forever since I have written here and yet it has only been 6 days. 6 very long days.
I have derby practice on Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights. Tuesdays and Wednesdays I usually do team trivia with my husband and our friends. Friday evenings all I want to do is come home and crash because Thursday's practice ends at 11,  and by the time I get home and showered and unwind a bit, I don't get to bed until 1 and have to be up by 6 (at the latest) to leave for work by 7. Saturdays are my only 100% free day, and really, the only time I have to myself is the early morning (since I go to bed so early on Friday night). We usually do end up having some other plans. (Tonight its a poker game).

Derby seems to be taking over my life. Don't get me wrong, I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this, but just in case anyone is reading this and thinking they can handle the time commitment of practices and the rest of life will just go on as normal, you might be right, but you might be wrong.

The time commitment is not a problem for me. Before derby I spent those three evenings a week doing laundry or just vegging on the couch being lazy. Or going to bed early. There's been an adjustment to my sleep schedule, but that coincided with a change to my work schedule so the only really tough day is Fridays, as I mentioned above.

If you're like me, someone who thought they were in relatively ok shape but wasn't really working out or actively doing anything to get there, you are in for a rude awakening. Spending 2 hours on skates, 3 times a night, is an awesome work out, and I feel fabulous when I finish, but the next day (or 2 or 3) my legs and back are sore! My knees and ankles are stiff. Its nothing I can't handle, but its definitely noticeable. And then there are the bruises. I fall a lot. Thursday I feel like I spent more time on my butt  than I did on my wheels.

I know that as I get in better shape, I won't hurt as much, but for now I am so lucky to be able to spend my down time resting and recovering. I have infinite amounts of respect for the girls who start their derby journey as moms. My friend in Canada (Lucy Purr) has a three year old at home. I cannot imagine coming home from practice, bruised and sore, just wanting to shower and curl up in bed, and having a child to deal with. One of the things my husband likes about me joining derby is that I got off his back about us having kids sometime soon. I still want kids, always have, but I figured I'd learn derby, get into some kind of shape and then have kids in a couple years. I don't want to just get comfortable on skates and then have to be out for a year to be pregnant and have a baby. I'd like this to be something that becomes a part of my life for a long time.

Anyway, I'll write more about the practices this week in another post.