For those of you who are not familiar to the derby world, 27/5 is going to be the death of me. So every player must pass a skills test before they can bout for the team. (Bout=Game) By some magical force, I have passed all my skills except one. The much dreaded 27/5. So what is 27/5? It means I have to do 27 laps around a regulation sized track in 5 minutes. Now I am sure some of you are like that doesn’t sound hard. Well you are wrong! But do the math. It means I have at the longest 11 seconds to do 1 lap. I have to at minimum do 5 laps per minute. Craziness! Pure Craziness!

As it stands, my personal best it 25 1/2 laps in 5 minutes. It is not quite there but is is a long way from where I started. The first time they sprung 27/5 on us, it was still one out first couple of practice. I BARELY made 21 laps while wishing for the sweet release that only death could provide me. It was rough. I will be honest it is still rough. A lot of it is getting a rhythm. Once you get yourself into a solid rhythm the rest seems to fall right into place. However it still takes me like 3 laps to get into “zone”, If I can get there within lap 1, I would be set.

Last night was an epic fail at attempting to pass. I managed 23 laps. I went backwards. However, I had the odds stacked against me though. First, I am still sore as hell from my PIYO certification class this past Sunday. It is hard to push when you can barely stand up. Plus I start to cramp up halfway through on regular day. Last night, I was seriously trying not to fall over. What really through me off was I had different skates last night. I felt like it was my first day on skates again. Forget getting a rhythm, I was trying not to trip and fall over a toe-stop I was not used to having.

Either way I know I just need to keep pushing until I get it. More and more fellow freshies are passing that skill, so I know I will get there. It is what I love about derby, It gets me to push myself. Just when I think I can’t, I do.

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