The life and times of Merry Khaos and her alter-ego, Kristie Grey. A romp through the inner workings of a mind in roller derby athletics, training, and business management.
Maybe you had never heard of me, until someone posted a blog on your wall, or maybe we’ve played in a mash-up scrimmage together in Morristown, NJ. Perhaps we danced at a H.A.R.D. after party, or you were near me and the Wreckingballs as we did push-ups for Maelstrom at ECDX. Maybe you took one of my classes at RollerCon, or Beat Me Halfway. Maybe you’ve been one of my wellness clients.
Or maybe you’re just hearing of me now.
Photo by Mr McWheely
I coach, write, ref, announce, and skate (when I’m not off-skates for this ACL injury). I am a health coach, crazy cat lady (currently lacking cats), and super passionate about derby, rock climbing, and lifting. I like writing about derby a lot. And a lot of you have enjoyed my blogs over the years!
And now I need some help with keeping Khaos Theory alive. There are two ways that you could help. One is by going to my PATREON campaign! You can support the blog directly by donating every time I post something. The second is by visiting http://www.gofundme.com/khaosACL and picking out a great reward for you or your team, and also sharing the link.
But let’s remember why you would want to:
Perspective Shift challenged the way you thought about weight lifting in your off skates programs. The Four Corners of Derby gave your league some ideas on how to deal with different skill levels of training. You learned some training moves for both blockers and jammers. There was that time that you found a piece about alcohol and its effect on athletes it made you think twice about binge drinking on the weekends. And when your league was going through another meltdown, you read about League Rebuilding, and realized you weren’t alone. And remember when I did all those “HIT & QUIT” features of our MRDA athletes? You were so excited to see someone who doesn’t always get attention, get a little bit of love!
I need to get an ACL brace so that I can progress in my PT and get back on skates in June, before RollerCon. I need a vehicle so I can coach, and also so I can get back to my own training so I’m always bringing the best content to my readers and students.
It’s Nopacolypse so I figure, when better than now to write a free form, fairly disjointed post!
Update #1 is about the knee. This weekend I went to Jingle Brawl, hosted by the Morgantown Roller Vixens in West Virginia. I was going to attempt to compete, but first I had to test the joint. I have not hit since Kick Ash popped my LCL in October, so let’s give it a shot. Well, I swung in on my expected team mate, JK LOL and the moment I made contact … I heard another pop. My entire joint felt shocked and started trembling. I immediately left the track.
I probably could have pushed through it, honestly. But not for a group of mixed games. Not happening. Aside from that, my knee had begun the disturbing trend in the last week of popping and clicking a lot. Sometimes it feels like when my knee cap cracks, and sometimes it buckles me.
So back to the Penn State doctor I went. His diagnosis? Still was an LCL sprain. only that’s healed. “Skate. If you can’t stand the pain, do your hitting too.” Oh, and get an MRI because you might have some cartilage getting caught in the joint. Or a ‘ligament snap’ … think about plucking a guitar string. Yea.
80s Holiday Party with the Dutchland Rollers!
So last night I went to Dutchland’s holiday party (skating and goofing off) and it kind of felt ok. I didn’t skate on it for a while, on and off. Lightly. It tweaked once while I was trying a transition, but that’s it. Tonight I went to open skate. Members of my old league were there and I used it as my cardio. I spent a solid 45 minutes skating at one point. (30 minutes before that). One: My endurance is GONE when it comes to all my skating muscles. Two: Other than a couple motions, my knee felt awesome. I even went to the gym afterwards to do some strength training.
That being said, here are some of the weights that I’m up to:
Leg press (right leg): 55 pounds
Leg press (left leg): 55 pounds
Leg extension (right leg): 40 pounds
Leg extension (left leg): 55 pounds
Bench Press: 40 pounds
Straight leg squat: 60 pounds
Overhead seated press: 15 pounds/hand
One Leg Squat: 25 pounds
Peck flys: 55 pounds
Delt flys: 40 pounds
Push-ups: Ok… I’m only up to 3o but I’m always so sore from all the other chest workouts!!
I have been doing resistance of 5 on the elliptical, and 7 on the bike. I have been doing as much interval training as I can. My weight has stayed about the same, but I have definitely trimmed up more and my guns are looking AWESOME. Thank you Rebuild Strength for my muscles. Thank you Joint Support and Herbalifeline for getting my knee strong quicker.
Thank you tea concentrate for getting me through finals. I’m still waiting on two grades, but so far I have an A and a B+ in the books. I’m nervous about the 15 page thesis paper I wrote for my theatre class…. mostly because I feel like it should have been 20 pages, but I didn’t want to speak in psychological jargon for five pages (which I would have).
It doesn’t appear as if we’re going to be experiencing any kind death and destruction, so now I turn my focus onto 2013:
I am building my Herbalife team. I have so many ideas of great things to do, and great people to talk to. I can’t wait to help more people reach their goals and to build a successful team that helps to improve the quality of life for people they care about. I can’t wait to #KickAlloftheAsses in 2013. Let’s loose weight, feel awesome and build successful careers!! I’m going to be doing Derbalife clinics and boot camps and Krissy Krash and I were talking today about how to expand the boot camps into something that we can teach other skaters to do!
Active World Team – I am coming. (Maybe someone reading this blog entry will decide to come with me.) January Spectacular is going to be awesome! I’m so excited for all the trainings that are coming up so I can share them with my team.
I also will be back on my skates full force in 2013. You can bet on that. I’m getting so close to healthy. Something I noticed today? My knee didn’t pop once. While I had become accustom to multiple crippling pops a day, it has not happened at ALL today. Very encouraging.
I also will be graduating from college (FINALLY) in the spring. I cannot wait. Finally. 4th time is a charm.
Ok, time for bed. I should have been writing articles about all star teams instead of writing a blog entry, but I to do a little writing for myself. Even though I’m so tired that I’m dizzy at this point. I know there is more going on. I will do some goals and post them here soon.
PS… Want to know what I’ve been using and loving? I don’t rely just on the 24 line, but it is an integral part of my training and recovery.
Both a blessing and a curse is creating a brand within a brand. For myself, I have two brands that I fit my Health Coaching within: Herbalife and Derbalife.
Huh?
Yes. Herbalife is the large face of Nutrition that I work under. I am a Health Coach and I utilize the Herbalife nutrition and resources. Herbalife has been promoting health and wellness since 1980 and are the top nutrition company in the world. I have a strong brand to stand with.
Derbalife is a brand within the brand. Kristen Adolfi created the brand “Derbalife” three years ago when she began focusing on the health and fitness of the roller derby community. It started as a joke within the LA Derby Dolls and now has expanded to a worldwide recognizable name within the derby community.
So, in the everyday community I must create an image of Kristie Grey, Herbalife Health Coach. Then, in the derby community I must create the brand of Merry Khaos, Derbalife Health Coach. It sounds redundant, but it is necessary. The regular person at the gym is not going to recognize Derbalife (or may feel alienated by it). Something similar will happen with derby folks – they recognize Derbalife. They may think Herbalife is something different so I may have to work twice as hard to get their attention.
It is an interesting balance to work within two brands of the same company. Creating my own image as a Health Coach is reliant on the brands I work within, but then I must create my own path. Sports nutrition? Wedding parties? Weight loss? How do you tell people that you do it all without seeming to spread yourself too thin?
Primary audience and secondary audience are in the works. For now, I will work on getting every client I can and helping them get the results they deserve. The branding will have to be balanced as I go. So far, people who who have contacted me about getting results are not as concerned with the logo on my business card. I hope that continues!
Khaos Theory Derby 