And so I sit here...alternating between holding bags of frozen broccoli against my upper thighs and laying on the floor stretching my legs thinking "what the hell have you gotten yourself into girl??". My quads are aching and sore and my ankles are feeling tight. As a professional couch potato I am not accustomed to such sensations.
So, what exactly have I gotten myself into?
Two words: Roller Derby.
Roller derby has always intrigued me...a bunch of badass women rolling around the track and trying to knock each other down and score points. They wear awesome uniforms, have killer fun names, and look like they are having the time of their lives out there! What girl wouldn't want to be a roller girl??
So, when I moved this past winter and found myself with no friends and no life I came across a site for the local derby team. I thought "Wow! I always wanted to do this...cool!". Then I saw the recruitment site and saw that they were willing to take on any woman...even those that couldn't skate...and train them. Awesome. Hell, I used to skate all the time as a kid! Sweet! It's gotta be like riding a bike, right? A few laps around and I'll be right back in that groove again.
Yeah...it doesn't work that way. At. All.
When you're a kid you can skate for days without a hitch. You go to bed tired and wake up the next day and strap those puppies back on to conquer the block again. Oh...to have the muscles of a kid again!
As an adult, however, especially one who rides the couch with the best of them, not so much.
But I am going to try. Lucky for me I have a husband who is by nature very athletic to encourage me and push me along. One of the few people who didn't give me the "you're out of your freaking gourd" look when I told him of my intentions. Quite the opposite, actually. He was pretty pumped that I wanted to do it. I am sure the thought of me in little spandex booty shorts and fishnets is likely contributing to his excitement, but that's fine by me. I'm pretty pumped about the booty shorts and fishnets too actually. (:
What I am really hoping to gain from this, however, is something new. Something that is an adventure. Something that I can look back on and say "I earned that".
I have never been athletically inclined...I started hitting the gym in the last year to shed some of my far too easily acquired weight and that's already a pretty big achievement. I try to be dedicated to it but find it far too easy to come up with reasons why I should not go. When I am getting there regularly I find myself looking forward to it and loving it but when I miss a few days my old ways creep back in and the motivation flees from me causing me to skip far too often. Here now is something that will help with my overall fitness and keep me accountable while doing so as I have to attend so many practices in order to be a part of it.
And as a mother of two small children nothing is mine. Not my food, not my clothes, not my time, not my body, not my thoughts (as they are forever interrupted causing me to often seem half retarded)...nothing. As a stay at home mother I am in mommy mode 24/7 and don't even get a weekend or vacation to just chill out fully. I can't even get through a meal most days without becoming exasperated at the ever flowing onslaught of corrective words coming out of my own mouth and aimed at my children (who apparently have the table manners of rabid chimpanzees).
Which brings me to the biggest reason why I chose roller derby: it's mine...all mine. It's something that I can do without children up my butt. Something that my husband cannot do (and I only add that because he is so athletic that any other thing I do such as running, swimming, or tennis I will always be the one red faced and panting behind him). It's also something where, for a couple hours a week at least, I get to reinvent myself into that tough as nails chick that I alway wanted to be...I get to let my inner Joan Jett out. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment