Off season is a great time to rest your body and turn to activities that you may not have as much time to do during the season. In our last blog post, Korean Lunchbox told us her strategy to approaching the off season, so I thought I would continue the conversation with one of my approaches to off season.
I like to get back to nature. Roller derby gives me an incredible opportunity to push myself physically and mentally…which I adore, and am addicted to. And just as I feed my addiction with derby, I need to do the same with outdoors once my schedule has relaxed in the off season.
I am intensely drawn to the outdoors. I love the quiet of the woods. The sound of water—either on a lakeshore or river. I love the power of storms and beauty of a snowfall. I find my heart rate slows and a smile creeps up as soon as I set foot out the door.
I make it my goal to be outside at least 30 minutes each day in the off season. Lucky for me, our off season coincides with fall and winter in Wisconsin and I am a cold weather woman. I love the brisk air and cold, dark night skies of winter. I have also realized that getting outside allows me to rejuvenate my brain and spend time sorting through the moments of glory and struggle from the previous season (and to be honest…I get in the woods or float in a lake as much as possible during the season…just clear my head and reflect).
Each morning I get up and take my doggo for a walk or run in the pre-dawn darkness. I spend the time not only prepping myself for the work day (or weekend day) ahead, but I devote time to thinking about derby. I think of games I watched in the past few weeks, strategy and scenarios, what goals I can set for myself for next season, and…of course…my league mates. I miss them dearly when I don’t get to see their sweaty faces a few times a week. I also run through the items we need to do in the off season to keep our league running…because I also serve on our Board of Directors…and even if we aren’t practicing or playing in off season…we are the ghosts in the machine keeping our league running and preparing for the next one.
I encourage anyone who needs time to think, sort, re-file items in their mind, to take some time this fall/winter season to step outside and let nature saturate your brain and help you to focus your thoughts….who knows, maybe your thoughts will lead you to a great new path of awesomeness (and of course I mean roller derby!).
-Kristen ‘BubbleWrap’ Biadasz