Roller skating…

As you can see I lost another 4 pounds somewhere this week. It’s rather satisfying I must say. I have some goals I’m trying to adhere to strictly and so I’m resolutely tracking everything that goes in my mouth.

I haven’t been too worried if I go a couple hundred cal’s over everyday. I don’t track all the running around I do with the daycare kids as exercise and I’m sure that burns a few calories everyday so I don’t get terribly stressed. I think obsessions would make me anxious and I don’t want that. It’s a bit difficult calculating how much of a burn is generated from your typical daily activities so I only add formal exercise.

Speaking of formal exercise. Derby try-out’s are next week. I figured I should suck it up and actually see if I remembered how to skate. No point getting to be in a room full of hardcore bitches if you can’t hold ya own… right?

So I took the kids and despite the first few minutes being a little bit disasterous (my arms were spinning faster than a windmill at one point) I got the hang of things after about 10 minutes. My major areas of required improvement include clean turns (ie: getting a grasp on the one foot across the other turning system), slowing down and stopping. I can still do a 180 turn but not without almost overbalancing. Crashing into the barriers doesn’t count as a stop. I also need to practice last minute swerving. I found the more I relaxed, the better I was and the rental skates didn’t help my form. One wheel kept sticking and when it did I nearly went ass over tit. Not pretty.

Of course, with any sport… I found out just how much injuries hurt. Somehow, when you "stack it" as a kid, it never hurts as much. I think I used to bounce instead of crumple. I was blessed with strong bones and despite falling out of tress and basketball injuries, I was always back up and moving.

Last night I was getting the hang of my speed, locked in my own little world, thinking about everything when I rounded a corner and saw this kid just "sitting" on the rink. Before you stop and say "awww poor thing, he probably fell" believe me when I say this kid was sitting there, feet kicked out in front of him, hands behind him enjoying the feeling of skaters whizzing by. He wasn’t sitting by the edge either but 4 yards (or so)  in from the barrier. What ensued was me realising too late that he was right in my path, not being skilled enough to swerve that sharply, having no skills to stop from THAT speed and leaving my only alternative to attempt to jump over his outstretched legs.

Right.

Well you can imagine what happened. I mean, you don’t have to be a genius.

I landed on my left knee. Hard. Like… that rink was so hard, landing felt like a jolt. Searing pain screamed through me and I swore like the devil himself. You have never seen anyone so angry… that kid jumped up and skated far far away from me very very quickly. If I’d have caught him, I’d have flogged him. It didn’t take 30 seconds for my knee to swell up and I started hyperventiliating from the agony. No one really wants to bawl their eyes out in public, especially on a roller rink… so I rubbed my eyes and slapped myself and tried to breathe properly. Luckily Tylah ran to get ice and I eventually limped off the floor. Once I was sitting down and my skates were off the pain seemed to get worse. I honestly thought I’d initially done ligament damage (because both my knees have had issues from my basketball playing days) and the bruise was enormous. It hurt like a MOFO!

At home I almost collapsed into bed. Took an anti-inflammatory and a sleeping pill (because I would have laid awake allllll night without it) and fell into a fitful sleep which was plagued with painful moments as I hit my knee with my other leg whilst tossing and turning! Douche that I am. Grrrrrr.

So yeah. This morning it’s still enormous, hurting like a bitch, bruised and I’m grumpy but I’d be a sook if I didn’t get back out there when this gets better.
Can’t say I’ll make the trials next week. I think it might be really good if I spent the next few months practicing, taking speed lessons (stopping lessons????) and investing in some decent skates. Then I’ll be way better prepared by the time the September trials come about!

Oh yeah… and I’m getting knee pads, elbows pads and wrist pads as well as a helmet. I figure that if I’d had a few of these things I might be walking today.

Hahahahahahaha.

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