Three months. That's how long I was waiting to get to that first practice. From recruitment night in April, until July first. I thought the day would never come. Three months re-learning how to roller skate (my childhood passion), three months sucking as much information out of any roller skater I could find. I wanted a leg up before that July first mark.....
Backtrack: I am completely out of shape. I gained 65 lbs. with my pregnancy four years ago... Lost 60, gained back 30 and climbing... I have never been athletically inclined, and it's like a joke for anyone who knows me to see me doing anything physical. I can't run, dance, swim well, play sports, couldn't do a cartwheel even as a kid and months of gymnastics lessons..... But I could always skate.
Day of... Sick to my stomach. Terrified that I wouldn't be good enough, or physically able to do anything asked of me. Feeling like an outsider and an intruder on some secret cool-kids club, I threw myself into it. I gave it my all. I was confident I could do at least a little bit (like skating forward, and possibly stopping - eventually), but how could I keep up with these pros?
Stepping onto the track was an amazing high. There I was. It was real. I was on the track, in the midst of those women I had been admiring for so many months!
I fell on my ass. I got back up. I didn't know to boil my mouthguard before hand, so it didn't fit... It made my mouth bleed, it made me drool... I wiped it off and kept going. Endurance training was literally breaking my already weakened back. I held back tears, and with the encouragement of amazing women I didn't give up. I practiced falls, stops, pace lines, and played capture the flag with the group. I was at the bottom of a five girl pile-up... I smashed my head and my body... I got up and did it again. I skated with a picture of raw chicken on my head to alert everyone that there was a student driver..... I didn't care.
At the end of a torturous eternity "just two more minutes!" I had done it. I looked around. I was alive. My newbie friends were alive. We had all been so scared, and we all felt so proud. It was in the air. The team patted us on the back and told us "good job." My body ached, my ass hurt, my mouth was bleeding, and I can't wait to do it all again :)
No comments:
Post a Comment