Every roller girl knows how it feels to be coursing with adrenaline, counting the hours till practice, calculating the hours since you last skated, fantasizing about new equipment or hip checks or what it would be like if you could derby-fy your real life activities. It's a love affair, it's an obsession, it's a major part of a life.
And then there's burnout. Aka "the meh." It's the complete opposite of that feeling you get after dominating a hard workout, conquering a new skill, or bonding with a teammate. It's that feeling of too many nagging injuries, too much derby committee work, or too much time away from home or other activities.
That's what I'm feeling now. I desperately love roller derby. I desperately never want to go back to practice, ever. It doesn't matter how much I love my team or the sport or the workout - right now I can't bear to think about tying up my skates, putting on my always-bruising-my-hands wrist guards, or looking at my off-rink league workload. (But, I also know that as soon as my strained leg muscle heals and I get some new wrist guards, I'll be back at it as though my feelings never were lukewarm.)
When have you crashed and burned, and how did you get back into it?
I talk to you or Pinky or Zan and am reminded on the giant roller skate that occupies where my heart should be! Its in your blood baby!
ReplyDeleteBut I understand the Meh's too! Sometimes you need to take a week off and do something else, sometimes you need to force yourself to practice and find yourself on the bottom of a dog pile to remember how much you love it! I can arrange a dog pile!!!
the meh is natural and don't feel bad. it happens to everyone. sometimes you just need to take time to find that fire that you had when we first started skating.
ReplyDeletejust know that you are not alone and have a huge support system that knows what its like.
personally, for me. the meh is always destroyed when we play. not scrimmage play, but the real bout. knowing that all i have worked for is about to pay off in the next 2 minutes. i usually am smiling as i roll off the track after my jammer has called the jam off. that's me smiling in the face of the meh. =)
Like Pinky said, a good game helps. But for me, I also have to take time to take care of myself and focus on other things. To re-energize.
ReplyDeleteEchoing comments from everyone here... everyone deserves a break and the phrase "too much of a good thing" comes to mind. Things are busy now, and you get quite a bit of the paperwork derby duties put on your plate! It's a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteSomething tells me Hard Knocks might light a fire under you. Nothing like a close rankings war to do the job!
And count me IN for that dog pile! XXOO