So… The doctor tells me that I’m overweight and need to lose some so I lose 3 stone on Slimming World.
Now they tell me I need to exercise. But I HATE exercise, it’s so boring and everyone will be staring at me.
Then my workmate (GemArghh) comments on a Nottingham Roller Girls post on Facebook. Wow, I thought, I will give this a go. The problem is that they started 4 weeks ago and if I put it off I will back out, so I emailed them and received a welcoming response from Ruth ‘come along anyway she said’.
I might HAVE to do this eek, I thought. What have I gotten myself into this time.
So, Sunday morning comes and I’m nervous with lots of doubts going through my mind. What if I get laughed at, what if they say I am too heavy for skates, what if, what if. But I pluck up the courage to go and they’re expecting me.
Ohhhh noooo, due to my size, the knee and elbow pads are too tight, how embarrassing but I squeeze them on.
I put the skates on and I’m shown how to stand up. I try standing up and I’ve already broken out in a sweat. What if they all laugh at me or snigger for being overweight. I look round, no one is looking.
The next task is moving and I am terrified. I am shown how but it’s not happening. I cling to the wall and netting for dear life. The coaches come over and offer me advice and I carry on falling over. I think they are going to lose their patience but they don’t. I am reassured that practice makes perfect.
I leave the session exhausted but feel like I got past the first hurdle…fear!
Training sessions pass and I’m still struggling to move. New people join and are already better than me, which was disheartening, but I kept coming back. Why? Any other sport and I would have given up weeks ago.
I’m hooked. I buy my own knee and elbow pads that fit! I want to get good, but how!
I get minutely better every week. I think it took me 3 weeks to do 1 lap of a track!
I get to know all the team who are so encouraging. I can’t believe it, I fit in somewhere, I can be different and no one cares! No one tuts or looks at me when I have to sit in the middle because I’m too tired to carry on.
Ruth then suggests to me coming to the Wednesday session to watch to help me learn the rules. I am given a stop watch and shown how to manage the penalty box (where naughty skaters get sent). This is fun and I also get to watch the pros do it. Wow I wanna be like them! Fat chance, I think.
The next thing I know I am doing penalty box in a bout but I have only done it once…eek! It goes OK and best of all I get to watch my team mates play.
In the meantime, training continues, I am nowhere near the standard of anyone else. I try a 25 laps in 5 minutes and manage to get 11. Great I thought, I am never going to be able to do this.
Next, the fresh meat start and THANK HEAVEN they’re not all naturals who can crossover on week 1.
In this group is (sm)Ash. I’m sure he won’t mind me saying but he struggled on that first session. So I gave him a few tips from someone who struggled themselves, to get him stood up and moving, and to reassure him that he was better than me on my first day.
I started to NSO (Non Skating Official) more so I get to watch bouts and advanced training, hoping that one day it will be me up there.
Then one day Ruth, Dany and Jackie come knee sliding towards me. They want me to be their Head NSO. Yay! I’m being included in the team despite not being great at skating.
So that pretty much brings me up to date. I have signed off 84% of my skate skills. I managed to do 21.5 laps in 5 minutes! I’m Head NSO (with THE best, most reliable, willing team of NSOs possible) and most of all I love my team mates and roller derby.
How much weight have I lost?…none.
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