wellness – Page 4 – Khaos Theory Derby

7 habits that have gotten me healthy

I have changed a lot about my habits in the last 15 years. There is a lot that has resurfaced from the years of being a young, naïve tomboy in middle school (competition and weight lifting in particular). And there is a lot I have had to release over the years. Here are seven things about me that have significantly altered my physical energy, my spiritual strength and my overall positive outlook on life. As I was writing this, I realized I could have made a list of 20 things! I’m sure you’ll hear more in the future.

Befores and afters. ^_^ (and still going)

1) I eat protein for breakfast

“But Kristie! Oatmeal is so good for me!”

O rly? What I have found is that when I start my day with a high protein breakfast, one balanced with complex carbs and some fat, I have considerable energy throughout the day. When I eat oatmeal, cereal or breakfast potatoes I find that I am sluggish, hungry quicker and have a hard time firing on all cylinders at work. It is because even your “steel cut oats” are still oats. They spike your blood sugar and they do not keep you full.

What does this breakfast look like? Ideally it is an Herbalife breakfast shake – recently it’s been 2 scoops of Formula 1 Sport, ½ cup of pasteurized egg whites and maybe some PB2 for fun. If I know I’m running around a lot during the day, I’ll save the shake for later and I’ll start out with 2 eggs, a 1/3 cup of pasteurized egg whites, sautéed spinach, onion, broccoli and tomato.

2) I get dressed as soon as I wake up

Yes, for as much as I try and live in the comfiest clothes possible, I have found that if I wake up and toddle around in my PJs for too long, I become lethargic and my to do list stays as long as it was the night before. By staying in the mode of sleep wear, I have given my body permission to remain in sleep mode. No more permission granted!

Get up, get dressed, have breakfast, wash your face, do stuff.

If I don't get up and get moving, this happens. Then I really feel stuck. — If I don’t get up and get moving, this happens. Then I really feel stuck.

3) I reserve bananas pre-workout only (if at all)

More and more people are catching on that bananas are not the super fruit we once thought. High in sugar and low in protein, these little bombs of energy are fantastic for before a workout, but are a culprit in keeping you hungry and padded when eaten before a long day at the office. And while good for potassium and fiber, there are 6 electrolytes total that effect cramping. If you are chowing down on bananas Charlie horses go away, you very much need to take a look at the rest of your diet. My dehydration migraines have stopped now that I incorporate all the electrolytes into my diet, along with drinking at least half my body weight in ounces of water each day. The 24 Hydrate by Herbalife has been a lifesaver.

4) I eat until bed time.

Yup. Your body doesn’t actually care what time it is. By saying “I’m not going to eat after 7p” and then staying up until 11p, all you have done is slowed your metabolism and hurt your recovery – especially the athletes in the crowd. If you do a workout that finishes at 11p, then you need to eat afterwards. It’s one of the strongest changes I’ve made. That being said, keep away from the simple carbs within four hours of bed time since your body won’t be able to burn them off before bed.

These athletes at Big Bear know that we need to eat until sleep!

5) I rarely step on a scale, and I only do measurements every 60 days.

It’s ok to not know where your body is moment to moment. I know that I am much happier feeling healthy and strong and not being concerned if I weigh 138 or 144. Do my pants fit? Do I feel strong during practice? Am I faster than other people? Did my squat max go up? These are the questions I hit myself with. It is good to track your metrics so that you know what your progress looks like and you can re-evaluate every 90 days, but our body fluctuates too much day to day to use a daily weigh in as a gauge. I have seen friends drive themselves crazy over this. It causes stress, which then feeds right into keeping the weight on. It’s a cycle. Don’t feed into it.

There was a time where this high-waist pencil skirt was too tight on me.

6) I realized that I eat mostly the same things every day, so I may as well make them healthy.

Before my journey began, I used phrases like “Variety is the spice of life”, “Diets are boring” and “I live to eat, not eat to live.” And then one day I realized that all I was doing was making excuses for myself and my habits. And then the next day I realized that I was repeating my meals every week anyway. I always had something egg-based for breakfast, I always had a sandwich or salad for lunch, I always had a protein with some carbs and veggies for dinner. (Back then I also always had 2 cherry sodas a day, a few soft pretzels and candy bars as snacks.)

If you can recognize that you’re really not as chefy as you like to think you are, you can tighten down easier on a schedule of healthy eating that is nourishing, promotes your goals and saves you money (now that I know what I want at the grocery store, there is no need to randomly pick up ingredients “Just in case”).

Also, shakes for meals are not nearly as scary as I thought when I first heard about them. Mostly because my shakes don’t come out of a metal can, I’m full afterwards and they taste RIDICULOUS. Also, when you’re eating 5 – 9 times a day (like athletes should), it’s a whole lot easier to scoops, shake, drink than it is to make 8 individual meals.

7) I include workouts that are mental exercises.

Yoga and running are most specifically what I have worked on, though rock climbing and speed skating are another set of mental challenges.

I hated running. Hated it. Railed against it and refused to believe that it could help me (secretly, I knew it would, I just hated the way it felt because I was so out of shape). I will never forget running my first mile alongside of Eric Winters on the track of Mechanicsburg High School; technically I was his pole-vault coach, but he gave me the single greatest lesson of my life as the ex-boyfriend turned best friend:

Your body will do amazing things, if you just ask it to.

Conquering workouts that we hate means that we must overcome our self-doubt, our mind’s will to sabotage and we must release all of the excuses we have made in the past. Yoga, running, climbing, speed skating, cross-country skiing… there is quiet control and a zen-like state that must be achieved for success. You must connect to your breathe, to your soul, to the Universe’s will around you.

Bouldering is so much fun, and a true mental challenge - you know.. when you're not posing for a camera — Bouldering is so much fun, and a true mental challenge – you know.. when you’re not posing for a camera

Warrior 2 on the edge of a cliff on the way to Big Bear.

Pro Tips: Set an intention at the beginning of the session. “Focus”, “Awareness”, “Precision”, “Fearlessness” are all excellent intentions. When it begins to get hard (and it will), repeat this to yourself. Also, I like to visualize something that I connect with that calms me. The giant manta ray that I would watch float towards me in the vastness of Atlantis’s aquarium in the Bahamas comes to mind when I am running and my breath gets ragged. I picture the calm beating wings to gather myself and then keep going.

To start on your journey with me as your coach, drop me an e-mail at KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com and follow me on Instagram and Twitter @Khaos24Fit

Uncategorized

REBOOT

Have you ever been so burdened with so much swirling around in your brain that you don’t know how to get it out or organize it? That’s what’s going on. I’ve actually put off writing blogs in the last few months because there has been SO MUCH going on (positive, negative and everywhere in between) that I didn’t know how to get it out in one smooth, amazing, life-altering blog.

Today I finished listening to Jon Acuff’s Start. Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work that Matters. If you haven’t heard of Jon Acuff, go find him right now. If you know me personally, you will know that I’m not always willing to jump onto bandwagons that involve heavy religion, but his “Stuff Christians Like” blog always has some good insight and anecdotes (and it’s not just about Bible-Things … so that’s a win).

The Road to Awesome as told by Jon Acuff

Finishing that book this morning (after listening to a fair bit of it on the plane ride home last night) really solidified my vision for the future:

IT’S TIME TO STOP PRETENDING AND TALKING AND IT’S TIME TO GET TO WORK.

Hey, luckily, I’m working right now. I’m writing. I’m doing what I love. I’m sharing my thoughts with the world. OK, maybe this sentence isn’t work. It’s not a direct sale or getting anyone to a Fit Club, but it’s the first step to habit. It’s the first step of rebooting.

My Khaos Theory Blog has been a mishmash of things from Public Relations (which is why it started. I got a poor grade as a PR project, but I gained 100 followers during that first semester, so I call that an A+) to roller derby. Now I will be focusing it to health and wellness and sports. It will be workouts for those on and off wheels and nutrition that will benefit everyone. It will be my journey and thoughts and motivation for the world. It will be a documentary of what it means to coach and train within a Healthy, Active Lifestyle.

I’m ready to take over Baltimore and the Internet. I’m ready to get back into what I love: filming coaching videos (no matter how low budget), talking about drills, teaching and practicing. I have a new nutrition plan that will be kicking in with the next 24 Fit Challenge that our team is doing online (and I still have 15 spots open on my team, so let me know if you want to join).

I’m also going to do better at compartmentalizing my blogs. So… instead of telling you all about California, I’m going to end this blog, post and then write a separate one.

Our NEXT WAVE hiking group in Big Bear this weekend!

Uncategorized

A Girl on her Path to Awesome

I fully and readily admit that patience has not always been my strong suit.

I have always been one to rush into decisions. I liked to call myself ‘spontaneous’ when I was younger, but now I see that it was purely rash decision making. Not all of these rash decisions ended up yielding negative results (I certainly wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for rash decisions). Moving in with my brother, going to HACC for theatre, going BACK to HACC for Humanities years later and joining roller derby were all split second decisions. So was auditioning for “There Goes the Bride”. So was starting Herbalife. So was deciding to be a coach. So was both years of Rollercon.

An example of a positive result from a rash decision... Warren and I — An example of a positive result from a rash decision… Warren and I

That being said, a lot of rash decisions have not yielded such amazing friends and positive results. But “That’s ok,” I’ve always told myself, “They will eventually. I’m on my path to awesomeness.”

So funny thing about that. I’m listening to the audiobook now Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters by Jon Acuff. (What can I say, the title caught my eye and his writing and narration style is reminiscent of my own so the messages are hitting home really strong)

Seriously. Buy it or download it. Amazing personal development.

In the book he talks about the Path to Awesome. How we’re all on our own Path and how if we don’t look around and take an honest appraisal of where we’re at now and again, then we may not realize that we’re actually on the Path to Average by accident. I have always said that I don’t want to just wait for my turn to die. I continue to hold that belief.

I have recently begun seeking full time employment to compliment my Herbalife business. Let me be clear: I am not putting a halt to my health coaching. I love it, it’s my passion and I feel like my genius lies within the realm of my coaches and clients. That being said, college, relationships and 10 years of minimum wage jobs and botched rash decisions have left me in a hole (ok, a crater really).

I have been bad at being patient.

I did not want to recognize as I graduated that I needed more time to develop my business. I needed more time to become a good coach. I needed more time to understand how to expand my client list simply and locally. I do not regret a single coaching gig. Oh no way! This summer was an amazing ride – full of hills and valleys and corkscrews (actually and figuratively). I have formed strong friendships thanks to my rash decisions of the last few months. Now is the time to change it up, however. I didn’t want to admit that I needed time to become strong at skills and at jobs. I didn’t want to waste time, and in the process I did NOTHING but waste time.

Oh wait, I guess I should mention one more rash decision: I’m moving to Baltimore.

An exact date has not been set, but in order to walk the Path to Awesome I know I need to move. I’ve been saying for the last 2 years that when I graduated I would be moving out of Central PA. I knew that I needed to – I just didn’t know where to go. Well, I know now. I have been applying for full time jobs both in Lititz and in Baltimore. So we’ll see which ones call me first.

Some places I’ve applied to: Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore Aquarium, Discovery Channel, Honest Tea, Baltimore Sun, Charm City Cakes, Merritt Athletic Clubs, Sheetz, Jimmy John’s and Heavy Seas Alehouse. I’ll be honest, these are just the names that pop into my head. I’ve been sending out 2 to 10 applications a day for at least 5 days. (One of them has to at least interview me, right?)

So here’s the plan for my Path: continue to build an online community and support system for athletes to become HARDERBETTERFASTERSTRONGER. Continue to build up my team of amazing coaches and show them they are awesome and strong and have everything inside them to be successful. Work a full time job for a while to pay down my bills and put some stuff into savings. Move to Baltimore and work with a local club to begin building a local community of clients and coaches. When I hit GET team, I will be able to afford all of my bills, savings, taxes, travel and extras enough to leave whatever job I had been at.

If it takes one year, awesome. If it takes three years, that’s ok too. This patience thing is where I will learn the skills and learn how to edit and learn how to master all things coaching and health. The patience will hopefully spill over to my personal life, where I have had a habit of expecting things to come along quicker than they should.

And derby. Derby will still happen. I go to see a Physical Therapist tomorrow to get my knee and IT band looked at. If they tell me that I need to take time off, than that is what I will do [though maybe not starting tomorrow]. I am also putting in a bid to help out the Harm City Homicide as a coach. I have found a passion for men’s derby this year, and I want to help my southern boys be strong and fast.

Here’s really the big key: to the outside world nothing will look different. I will continue my Shred Challenges. I will continue my Instagram and WordPress accounts. I’ll be that person once more that people say, “How do you do it all?”

And my answer will be: “Have you ever heard of Herbalife?”

Derbalife is everywhere.

For more information on getting healthy or becoming a coach, drop me a line at KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com

Uncategorized

Fancy Football Footwork – Merry Khaos Notes

Here is another class that I revisited at BEAT ME HALFWAY 2014! I’m just going to revamp this blog to incorporate some of the new, fun stuff we did at BMH. We didn’t have the space we did during RollerCon, so we couldn’t do as many of the fun routes.

This was my most popular class .. probably because it was offered the most out of all of them! Here is a run down of what we did (mostly), and explanation of the trickier named things on the list, and drawings of the ladders and routes. E-mail me at DerbyAmerica@yahoo.com if you need further explanations!

For everything – focus on derby position, sharpness and PRECISION. It is better to do it slow, low and precise than sloppy, high and fast.

Warm Up
“Jump Rope” (basic, feet back/forth, feet in/out) – each for a minute
Squat Jumps

Walk these across a space:
Lunge & Stretch – As you lunge, bring the elbow of the side that is forward down to the floor next to that foot (right leg is forward, right elbow comes to match it), look up at the ceiling, hold for a second and come up.
Side Lunge – You will move to your right, bringing your left leg behind your right and touching your knee to the floor in a ‘lunge’. Stand back up, and now bring your left leg in front of your right to complete the lunge. You should do this both directions.
Monster Walk – Keep your body tight. Flex your feet and bring your right leg to a 90 degree angle with your body. This should be slow, controlled and precise. This is NOT a high kick. This is not fast. Bring your foot back down slow and controlled. You should have only traveled one length of your own foot.

Feet Warm Up:
Shuffle Step
Grapvine (hips square)
Back Pedal
Quick Feet (feet shoulder length)
Quick feet (wide stance)

Quick feet = lowering yourself into derby position, and jack hammering your feet into the floor. When in the short stance, you should be on your toes. When in the wide stance, you should be on your heels.

Ladders
The goal is to hit both feet on each step to increase the difficulty. It’s better to add an extra step in rather than trip up your brain. Also, if you lead with one foot the first time through, try to lead with the other foot on the second.

Yes, the orange is in the push-up position. Scoot up the ladder by moving your hand and foot at the same time to gain momentum. Keep that butt down!!

Routes
Use routes to develop quick twitch and explosion. Incorporate side-stepping, loops, spins, back pedal, quick cuts and full stops. Use cones to develop routes. You can even incorporate football more by making the skaters catch something at certain points in the routes. This will not only force them to keep their eyes up, but will increase their awareness for the world around them.

Use cones to denote places of action, they are quick and ease to move around into new patterns. Also, linking patterns makes for a harder workout. Set up three patterns in a row and have your people move through them by jogging from the end of one to the beginning of the next.

Once you get a feeling for how patterns work and how to incorporate motion into them, it’s just a matter of making things up for you to do. You want to do routes a minimum of twice. Up to 5 times for maximum burst work. Stay low. Do everything sharp and precise. When you say stop, STOP DEAD and QUICK. Burst back out of it. Work on making some patterns very tight, and some longer to get a variety of speed adjustments.

Don’t be afraid to add some hand-eye coordination. You can have one person in the middle throwing a ball at people at different points of the routes, or even the next person in line will throw the ball to the person doing the run currently.

Box Drills
Set up your cones in a square. Now pick some different routes to run! Some ideas…
– Shuffle left, sprint up, shuffle right, back pedal
– Spin at each cone, hit each cone twice
– Sprint to each cone, use your feet to ‘circle the top’ of the cone, like you would if you were playing soccer and faking out the opposition

Some things to think about again is keeping low, keeping tight, and being PRECISE! Don’t let your hips swing, keep them square as you move through any box or route drill. Stay low, loading your legs with power, and keep your eyes up, and be quick and tight with every motion. Going onto YouTube and watching football (and futbal) players doing box and footwork drills will really help you understand how to stay in the “box” of yoru own shoulders and keeping your weight centered and strong.

Don’t be shy about checking out my other blogs too. Some that might be of interest to you:

Shifting Perspective (a blog about changing the way we look at training for derby)
Building You as a Better Skater
Eating Healthy Even When You’re Not at Home

And message me at DerbyAmerica@gmail.com if there’s a topic you would like me to cover in the future. I’m available for roller derby coaching and clinics! Drop me a line to get rates and to set up something with your league.

Uncategorized

New Shred Challenge Just Started!!

New Shred Challenge kicks off on Monday, August 5th!! $27 to register!!

– challenge ends monday, 9/12
– 2 winners best before & after
– 2 male & 2 female
– win cash money!! last challenge 4 winners won $225 EACH!!!!! cash pot was at $1,000!!!!!
– private FB Group page for support & inspiration
– $100 bonus challenge to person with most points by end of challenge. Or split if its a tie. Could be anyone! Bonus challenges are meant to inspire & encourage you to be more active
– earn 5 points/person towards the bonus challenge if you get a NEW person to do the challenge with you. They could not have been someone that was already in the past challenge we did! Goal is to go beyond $1000 cash pot!!
– weekly nutrition & fitness topics, recipes, etc.
– MUST be on an herbalife nutrition program. this is an herbalife challenge! what do you have to lose to be on a program for 6wks??? CAUTION – RESULTS may happen!
– anyone in any city/state can participate. We had people from the east coast, canada, hawaii, etc that participated last month!!!

How 2 register:
– Send registration to sheila via www.paypal.com to kilaro34@yahoo.com. In NOTES section, put your name, phone, email, coach/person that invited you! Then forward/email your receipt to your coach/mentor/person so they can add you to the FB Group page.
– email your front, side view pic in daylight lighting in a picture collage form with the date to sheila.healthandfitness@gmail.com

Congrats to our last challenge winners:

FEMALES: $225 each
Kristen Adolfi
Calyn Dannenberg

MALES: $225 each
Matt Whittaker
Eric Pattillo

Bonus Challenge Winners; $50 each
Theresa Miller
Eric Pattillo

Uncategorized

Lucky Little Miracle Mile

Music is such an amazing outlet. Whether it is playing, or just yelling along to the lyrics as we drive (check out the song “Open Road Song” by Eve 6 for an excellent musical tale about doing just that) – music is a release. Music can get the message out to others that we are too shy to express. (“Mix Tape” from Avenue Q anyone?) And while not every song lyrically reflects my feelings as of late, some of them are just fun to dance along to. Like track one.

I’ve decided to share with you my newest mix CD. Yes. I still make mix CDs. Stop laughing, please. I always name my disc with a mix of names from the album. So here is the disc I am now singing at FULL VOLUME. Want to know me better, check out the music. There are themes of confusion, betrayal, jealousy, triumph, love, confidence, understanding, sex, defiance, strength, aspirations, miscommunication, nostalgia; just to scratch the surface.

Lucky Little Miracle Mile Mix:

Harlem – New Politics
Pain –Jimmy Eat World
Kill Your Heroes – AWOLNATION
Little Talks – Of Monsters and Men
Cough Syrup – Young the Giant
Safe and Sound – Capital Cities
Miracle Mile – Cold War Kids
HarderBetterFasterStronger – Daft Punk
Tiptoe – Imagine Dragons
Fresh Blood – Eels
Get Lucky – Daft Punk (feat. Pharrell Williams)
Royals – Lorde
Wake Up – AWOLNATION
Changing – Airbourne Toxic Event
Mr. Brightside – The Killers
Feeling This – Blink 182
Bleeding Out – Imagine Dragons
Uninvited – Alanis Morissette

Photo by Rick Odell. The songs on this CD will help me focus into even MORE of a beast.

Uncategorized

Atlantic Coast Derbalife Domination: Week 2!

Well, I’m on day #14. Officially 2 weeks of travel, training, coaching, vending and derby. There have been ups and downs, it’s absolutely true. It looks like my time in New England is going to come to an end quicker than anticipated, so Friday or Saturday I will be heading back to the New Jersey/Philadelphia area. (So if your team practices Friday and you’re looking for a guest coach let me know!)

This last 7 days have been pretty intense. What has really helped is having a home base since Saturday. MikeOpathic and Wife-Opathic have been amazing hosts for me. They have the comfiest couch I’ve ever slept on and have been gracious enough to let me put my Herbalife on their counter and a few of my beers in their fridge. Their cat, Socks, looks like my Wesley and has the temper of Abbey, but it’s ok.

I’ve gotten to do 2 outdoor skates (one with the Opathics and a 30 mile adventure with another Viking, Jack Hammer’d), I’ve coached three leagues (Mass Attack, Worcester and Bay State) and tonight I’m going to a co-ed scrimmage hosted by Mass Maelstrom.

The struggle this week has been to balance my eating with not being at home, my work with an unusual schedule and my knee after it popped during a demo at Mass Attack.

I will say this however: when my injury first started occurring and my knee would ‘pop’. I would be down and out for 2 weeks. Now, it pops and I’m back up in 10 minutes. Seriously. I ungeared at Mass Attack and by the time I was done taking my stuff off, I could put full weight on it. The next day I could straighten it completely. The day after that I had full range of motion again. Is it tender? Yea. But no more than it was before it popped.

Worcester Roller Derby are doing good stuff — Mass Attack Roller Derby are doing good stuff

Hell yes, good nutrition. While my first week on the road was not stellar for my protein count and vitamin intake, I have been really strict with myself this week. Vitamins and Herbalifeline, a shake a day minimum, at least 100g of protein and plenty of water. Boom. Injuries cannot stand in my way!!!

On the Derbalife front, I am trying to get the men of derby to pay attention, but getting them on my side is difficult. I believe it may simply be because they think I cannot possibly know what they need – since I’m a lady. So, I’m taking a new approach at Men’s Derby …

Hey men on wheels! Let me replace products you use already with the Herbalife equivalent for one month. See if you’re into what we have to offer. Whether it’s a pre-workout, post-workout, your Monster, your Gatorade, your Clif Bars or your vitamins: I have something for you. What have you got to lose?

Getting amped up for Rollercon too. A lot of details are still up in the air, but I am optimistic as always! Also, I will be heading to the Mohawk Valley Cup in a few weeks as a vendor for a men’s derby tournament.

Finally…. It’s happening folks. Team Rogue will ride again!! We are going to be playing the Penn Jersey Hooligans on September 29^th on the bank track. It’s a double header that night, and guess what else is amazing? I get to play both bouts. I will be making my debut on the PA All-Star team that night as we take on the Penn Jersey She Devils. It’s going to be wicked. If you are anywhere near Philly, you have got to come to this!

Finally … if you are a Derbalife athlete with a health result or a before/after picture, we at Derbalife want you to be a part of our revamped website! Have you stopped using your inhaler? Cut down your lap time? Lost weight? Gained weight? Become the top jammer? Become the strongest blocker? Send Derbalife@gmail.com your story, derby name, league and who your coach is. Also include a photo of you (or a before/after if you have it!). We need testimonials from Derbalife Coaches as well!

If you are a Derbalife athlete going to a Divisional tournament, mention that in your message – we have swag for our tournament skaters. E-mail Derbalife@gmail.com with your name, league, which divisional and who your Derbalife coach is to reserve your swag.

Phew. That was a much longer update than intended. I hope you all are enjoying my updates. I may do another entry later on tonight or tomorrow. For now… Happy skating!!

At CrossFit Collective doin' work — At CrossFit Collective doin’ work

If you are interested in getting hooked up with Derbalife, or if your league is looking for a Derbalife Boot Camp opportunity, drop me a line at DerbyAmerica@yahoo.com!

Uncategorized

Atlantic Coast Derbalife Domination: WEEK 1 Recap

I’m a week into my adventure. There has been so much that has happened in the last week. There has been a lot of driving, a lot of Herbalife shakes, a lot of crashing at people’s houses.

So let me say that the first half of my adventure was a little bit more loosely planned than the second half. So I knew that there was going to be a little more, “Wait, what am I doing today??” at first. I’ve gotten a chance to meet a LOT of roller girls (and boys) in the last seven days. I need paparazzi so I can remember all the awesome things we’ve done!

Day #1: Atlantic Coast Roller Girls – Coaching

Day #2: Harm City Homicide (vs. PVRD’s Dirty Dozen) – Bench-coaching

Day #3: Harm City Homicide (vs. Mass Maelstrom) – Bench-coaching/Party at JBeast’s!

Day #4: Penn Jersey Bank Track – Practice

Day #5: Strong Island Derby Revolution – Coaching

Day #6: Red Bank Roller Vixens – Coaching

Day #7: Day off – evening at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Skate Park!

Notes on Coaching Days:

Ok, so let me say that every single league has been amazing. Some leagues have gotten to see more of my “Snap to Attention” style of coaching than others (sorry, Strong Island!) but I am super proud of EVERY skater that took part in practices.

I work with smaller leagues. That’s my passion. I love helping skaters gain confidence when they are still rookie to intermediate level skaters. I love helping people improve their fundamentals and learn how to incorporate those fundamentals into game play. I love hearing skaters say, “I never thought of that!” or “I’ve never heard it broken down like that!” or “That makes so much sense!”

I love seeing skaters accomplish new skills and build the confidence to try old skills at a more advanced rate. Every single skater, by the end of practice, was stronger at SOME skill or had a better idea of how to deal with an on-track scenario. I also thinking the coaches and captains had a greater perspective of how to incorporate skills and ideas into practice. At least – that’s what I am telling myself!

I also have to say that I love hearing, “That was the hardest practice ever.”

Throughout my days coaching, I got to hang out with some awesome folks. The AC girls had a great perspective on their league since they came from a MADE rule set previously. For those of you in the southern PA area … I met a skater who, I swear, is the love child of Verbal Assault (independent ref) and Scruff (skater from Mason-Dixon). Yea. Think about that one, Friends!

A note about Bench Coaching:

This was my first time bench coaching boys! I was so happy when Hittsburgh and Sin Diesel asked me to help the men of Harm City Homicide during their New England bouts. HCH knew they would be skating short for the weekend, and at the last minute, there was a family emergency for one of our skaters, so we competed with 9 guys.

We went into both games with a positive attitude and a strong sense of team. We were going to fight, regardless of the score. My job was to keep the guys calm and happy on the sidelines as I rotated in skaters who were less tired than the others.

The Dirty Dozen were a great team to skate against (I like that I also got to bench coach against my friends MikeOpathic and JBeast from Maelstrom!), and even though it was extremely hot and the floor was like ice after a while (Yay puddles of sweat) everyone seems to have had a really good time during the bout.

This was the first bout I’ve ever won as a bench coach! This was also the first time I ever got a chance to challenge a penalty (and I won!).

Sunday morning was a really, really tough bout for HCH. The Mass Maelstrom have played MANY hard competitions in the last few months. Though they don’t have many official wins this season, a 12 point loss to Shock Exchange at ECDX is nothing to scoff about. Their team work has been ever improving, their backwards blocking is intimidating and their ability to bridge backwards really is soul crushing.

Did we do well against them? No. We lost by over 500 points. Am I proud of the 12 points we scored? Hell yes. They fought and earned each one. We had one skater throw up, two others who I thought had seriously injured themselves. Almost all 9 guys wore the star at one point or another. There were a few fires to put out on the bench, but when sat down and told to ‘play nice’ or ‘shut the f*** up’ they listened. When I told them to breathe, they did.

Some of the guys thought I was a little nuts when I started sending out packs of jammers as blockers, but when you’re down hundreds of points, you want any advantage you can get. The agility of our jammers really showed when they were given a chance to block, and some of our blockers got a chance to shine with the star. Well…as much as they could. (Ogden totally got lead jammer over Jurasskick Park!)

Harm warming up before the Dirty Dozen — Harm before the Dirty Dozen bout

I didn't get to eat much on my way up, so this was the "During the Bout" fuel for the Dirty Dozen — I didn’t get to eat much on my way up, so this was the “During the Bout” fuel for the Dirty Dozen

Against Mass Maelstrom the goal was to remain happy and animated on the bench. "Hey! I don't care what you do, just do it as a team!" — Against Mass Maelstrom the goal was to remain happy and animated on the bench. “Hey! I don’t care what you do, just do it as a team!”

A Note About Everything Else:

This has been awesome so far. Strong Island was a last minute booking that resulted in me crashing with my friend Mystery Violence Theatre in her Brooklyn digs. We skated together at Harrisburg, and it was awesome getting to catch up with her.

The chance to skate on the Bank Track with my Penn Jersey friends was fantastic. It was my first time taking part in one of their weekday practices, with their regular coaches (old school guys … the one dude’s roller skates may have been older than most of the skaters on the She Devils). It was a billion degrees in the warehouse, but the chance to bounce around the track and even get in some scrimmage time – was totally worth it.

I got a chance to visit FDR skate park a couple times as well and I am stoked to know that every time I go I am getting a little better and a little braver. My time yesterday involved a few bowls where I was actually able to get some height.

Yesterday I got to hang out with a group of skate boarders who were there – these guys have been riding for over 20 years. The one was from San Fran area, knows Cruz of Cruz Skate Shop, and was “glad there was derby girl to show off for.” (“Look at you, you’ve even got little shorts on and you’re not afraid to fall. Awesome.”) **SWOON**

What? I’m not proud. I’ll admit it.

While I was up in Massachusetts, I got to hang out at Brohalla with Rottie and Jack Hammer’d and the fabulous JBeast had a small pool party post-Maestrom bout that I got to attend. I am a fan of small gatherings so we can actually talk to each other, but I am sad that more of my buddies from the team didn’t make it out. Regardless, we had a great day of food, talking about Goldie’s allergies, drinking, convincing JBeast’s non-derby friends to start skating, attempts at one handed handstands and daredevils jumping from the roof to the pool, and beer pong (Jack and I were the team to beat). Overall, an excellent party (despite the hangover the next morning), and I was glad to have attended!

So what’s next?

For the next week and a half: more derby, more Herbalife, more skating and more amazing experiences. Tonight I will be making my way up to the Jerzey Derby Brigade for an open scrimmage. From there, I will travel back up to New England where I will have a table at the Mass Attack LADIES FIRST double header.

I will be hanging out with MikeO and WifeOpathic for most of the week, so that way I can strike out from their house to work with: Mass Attack, Worcester Roller Derby and Bay State. I will also be doing the Mass Maelstrom Co-Ed Scrimmage, there is the Herbalife Leadership Conference in Boston and possibly other coaching gigs while I’m up north. Then … one day and I’m off to ROLLERCON!!

To get me there I am working with as many people on nutrition as possible in the next week – I’m taking Rollercon PRE-ORDERS and I want to help you get your nutrition straightened out to give you the edge you need in life or in athletics. Contact me at KGreyActiveNutrition@gmail.com to talk about your goals and get on your plan today.

If you think what I’m doing is amazing, guess what? You could do it too. Becoming a health coach allows you to choose your own vision for your business to make it into whatever you can dream up. Contact me and let’s get you started on an amazing business where you feel awesome every day because of fantastic nutrition.

Ruckus. A giant bunny who lives with Peter Rottentail (also known as Hasselmann, of Maelstrom)

Uncategorized

A.C. Derbalife Domination ENGAGED

I cannot even explain how excited I am about what is happening in my career as a Derbalife wellness & training coach.

All of us dream about making roller derby our full time job. Today I take one step closer to doing exactly that. It’s been my vision for my Derbalife business has always been to build an online community of athletes who lean on each other as they meet their goals and challenge each other to achieve amazing heights. That online community would then be supported by in-person support, guest coaching and roller derby training and skating centers.

So while I am a long way from opening my own training facility, I’m stoked to be working with The Pivot Center on nutrition. There is also another facility that could be an awesome member of our Derba-family (more info about that when I’m able to talk about it).

The Pivot Center in Virginia is one of the training centers I'm so excited to be working with! — The Pivot Center in Virginia is one of the training centers I’m so excited to be working with!

Today, something big is starting. I’m stoked to say that I will be spending the next 18 days on the road coaching derby & nutrition, vending, bench coaching, scrimmaging and more. I am having trouble even wrapping my mind around all the awesome that is about to happen.

While I cannot announce ALL the leagues I’ll be working with [yet], I can say that I am definitely going to be visiting Worcester Roller Derby, the Bay State Brawlers, Red Bank Roller Vixens and tonight is Atlantic Coast. There are five other leagues I’m waiting to hear final confirmation from. I’m calling it the Atlantic Coast Derbalife Domination. It is coined for this tour, but it will be the theme of all the awesome things going on up and down the Atlantic Coast with the Derbalife team!

Also, if you’re league is somewhere in the general Lower New England/East NY, East PA, or upper NJ I still have Sunday the 21^st and Monday the 30^th open in my schedule for sure. Or, if you want me to put you on the will call list in case I get a cancellation, still message me. E-mail me at DerbyAmerica@yahoo.com or text me at 717-602-7880. Whether for guest coaching or just nutrition classes!

So … I will be out and about. I will be updating as I go on this blog and on my Facebook and Twitter as well. I’m excited to bench coach for Harm City Homicide this weekend and I may be attending other bouts while I’m out and about as well. Thank you in advance to all the leagues I’ll be working with.

Oh yea, did I tell you that I leave for Rollercon as soon as I’m back? Rock on. If you want to join the Atlantic Coast Derbalife Domination (even if you’re not on the Atlantic Coast) and become a Derbalife coach and take a step towards making derby YOUR full-time job? Contact me at DerbyAmerica@yahoo.com

Red Carpet v Black Listed Rollercon 2012 by Jason Sanetti

Uncategorized

Drink the Kool Aid

For a few years now I have heard of this phenomenon called “CrossFit”. I was first introduced to the concept when the Black Rose Rollers (in … their second season perhaps?) struck a sponsorship deal with their local gym and begin training.

I’ll admit – I was instantly jealous.

I would see photos of my friends dead lifting and squat pressing alongside a guide and I wanted in. I didn’t care how. There was a piece of me that knew then that I needed to be a part of the movement.

But I wasn’t. I continued on doing my own thing. Slowly, more and more of my friends and derby-colleagues began partaking in CrossFit. People became obsessed with it; outsiders called them crazy. I understood the obsession – I have been skating for 4 years for a reason. From the outside I look crazed and obsessed. From the inside: how could you not be a part of this world?

Then, with any popular craze, the haters came in.

“It’s dangerous.” “You’ll ruin your body.” “They’re all about speed, not about form.”

And there was a part of me that believed them. I knew that there were competitions for CrossFit, and I heard so many negative comments about speed vs form, that I just started to believe them. It didn’t dull my desire to do CrossFit, but it just made me leery.

Then my team mate, the undeniably strong Russian Bayou, began her sessions. I asked her about it a lot (hopefully not too much); I was just so curious to know what it was about. How was it with her knee? Do they work with you? Is it all speed?

((There are times where I wonder if Bayou just wants me to stop talking to her because I get super excited (like a small yappy dog) and just ask questions.)) Through Bayou, and other league mate’s interest in her training and advancement, Dutchland was able to land a sponsorship with our local CrossFit: CrossFit Collective.

YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS

My meniscus is pinched.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ok, fast forward. This week I went to my first two sessions of CrossFit. Friends across the country were stoked that I was finally going to “drink the kool aid”. I was finally going to see why they love it.

Yea. I totally get it.

"Portrait of the day after CrossFit" — “Portrait of the day after CrossFit”

This isn’t a gym where you walk in and are left to your own devices to sweat or not sweat as you please. This is a place to advance. To push past every boundary your mind has ever set for itself. It is a place to make the weak, strong; and to make the strong, invincible.

The speed aspect? Some of the workouts have time limits. So in my first session, we had a superset of 1) Farmer’s Carries 2) 6 burpies and then 3) 6 wall balls from the side, both sides. So you would do 1, 2, 3 in succession. The goals was to do 5 rounds of them OR you stop when 10 minutes hits. With 80 pounds for my farmer’s carries and a 10 pound medicine ball, I was able to do the 5 sets in just under 9 minutes.

Not bad for my first day.

We used the bar and we got to experience the cardio/plyo/weight training of my dreams.

Now today … we did dead lifts. Ok, I got that. Jesse Blames taught me awesome form. (THANK YOU, JESSE BLAMES!!! ALL THE KNOWLEDGE FROM YOUR SESSIONS HAS BEEN INVALUABLE!!) Then we went outside.

Sled pushes. Tire flips. Teams.

Me and Jocie, Incollision and Tot Annie were pairs on the same team. As we flipped, they pushed. Each pair had to push the sled to the end of the lot and back 4 times; as they pushed the sled, we were to flip the tire. There was grunting, groaning, dirt, swearing, crying and a nearly dehydrated team member. We completed the 8 laps in 21:20. Our group did a total of 154. Jocie and I did about 110 on our own. My fingers haven’t hurt like this since my climbing days. My biceps have NEVER hurt like this before.

Congrats to all the ladies that finished!! Two (Nelly Hurtado and White Winged Shove) are even skating tonight in bouts!!

So there you have it. CrossFit. Do it. It’s a mental game. It’s great to do it with people for the encouragement. Jocie definitely helped me push through and overcome the mental game.

I’m so sore.

When can I go back?