Starting Reasons

I am not a natural athlete. Running around when I was a kid was all well and good. I had fun, I climbed trees, I rode bikes, I did the things that kids growing up in the 70s did but as I got older and realised that motorbikes and cars could get you around so much faster and in a more fun way, I gave up on the running and riding.

Skip forward many years and at the age of 41 I decided to take up roller derby. It was fantastic, a real life changer, but with the joy of finding a sport that I actually liked came the realisation that I needed to get so much fitter. Roller derby is great for fitness and within a few weeks it was beginning to come together. Then . . . disaster. I fell over whilst skating and something went crack, well more CRACK!!! I sat with tears in my eyes daring myself to get up and see what part of my ankle would pop out of place and when I did nothing happened. It was a bit ouchy and my right ankle was a bit tender but nothing terrible had happened.

Throughout last summer it twinged and complained and sometimes swelled to impressive proportions but I kept on even though my skating was suffering as I couldn’t push out properly ‘cause it just hurt too much. Then in August I did the Goodwood Roller Marathon along with many of my fabulous team mates. After 5 and a half laps I was ok, slowing down but still keen and then it happened again. I fell.

My ankle complained and I along with it. I sat there on a boiling hot day on the side of the track watching skaters in all shapes, sizes and abilities go past. Some stopped to see if I was okay and I, in that brittle way of the British injured, said I was. After 30 minutes I got up and carried on: slowly, oh so slowly for the next 5 and a half laps finishing in a time of 4 hours 32 minutes.

And then I gave up roller derby – only for the short term – to give the 3, yes 3 ripped ligaments a chance to heal. After 2 months out, doing a bit of physio I went back and although it was better, I was nervous as in the intervening time I had put on loads of weight and was just not comfortable on skates. Then I got work away so was off from November until March then in April I finally left the amazing, supportive Sheffield Steel Roller Girls as I just couldn’t get myself fit and it was making me sad.

After wallowing for a few months I have decided that I want to be fit and I am still young enough to get fit so I have started to run. And be much more careful about what I eat. AND given up weekday (and mostly weekend) drinking. The running is horrible but I am doing it and I shall continue to do it until I am fit enough and my ankle is strong enough to start skating again.

So the moral of this?

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get off your arse if you want to do something. If it is that important to you, you'll make the effort.

Skating mishaps

I was roller skating a couple of days ago, I haven't managed to get out and play much roller derby as the weather has been awful but also I have a new job that requires me to work away during the week. So in a frenzy (as much as you can get after over eating at Christmas) of energy I went skating with my friend at Skate central in Sheffield.

Now I know this rink fairly well, the Sheffield Steel Rollergirls train there and I have used it for practise many times. During the public sessions you always have to keep your eyes peeled for wayward kids, random falling adults and the occasional sweet or other bit of crud on the track. Well I did really well on the first bit and quite well on the second bit but was a completely failure at the third. A HUGE (well not that huge, okay it was fairly small) stone managed to get caught by my wheel and I fell.

This wasn't just tripping style of falling. Oh no,I landed with the grace of an unexploded bomb. Smash. Crash. Flat out. Hands hitting the deck. Body hitting the deck. Knees hitting the deck. It was shocking. As I lay there my first thought was "phew for my knee pads and wrist guards" but I also realised that my right knee was extremely painful so I gingerly got up and although it was a ouchy it wasn't too bad once I moved about a little. I sat out for a bit and then thought I'd have another go at skating but after a few laps I realised that it was a no go so we retired to the pub.

Sitting there in the warmth of the Rutland Arms we chatted and although my knee was sore it wasn't too bad. Until I got home a couple of hours later. By then it had swollen to a good size and was going a delicate puce colour. I managed to find a knee strap for it and by the next morning I could barely bend it and but I could still walk so I trotted off to work wearing the lovely sweaty neoprene strap.

Getting home from work that night I took off the brace and expected to find a swollen and angry looking knee instead I had this

How naff is that? I must have been the pads that helped. Can imagine how muchworse it would have been without them?

Anyway moral of the story if you want a moral. When going skating always,and I mean always wear your knee pads and wrist guards as a minimum.

Goodwood Roller Marathon

It's now only 6 days to the Goodwood Roller Marathon. For those that might not know about this, it's a sponsored charity skating event held at the historic racing track as Goodwood (the clue is in the title). I am doing this and I think that I am slightly mad for doing it.

I started skating with the Sheffield Steel Roller Girls at the end of April and I love is so a group of us are doing the marathon for the Sheffield Children's Hospital and so far we have raised over £500. Our target is £600 so please donate if you can. We have a Just Giving page and any amount would be gratefully received.

Most of us who are going have been practicing on bits of tarmac around Sheffield and its been lovely to get to know my team mates outside of the derby environment. Our favoured place of practice is Millhouses Park as it has a fab length of tarmac that's over half a mile long. Okay, we have to avoid other park users but that's where our derby training comes in: really it's only the dogs and children that are the main problems, the adults usually flee for cover when they see us coming.

So for Sunday wish us good weather and a calm day and I hope to come back having skated 26.62 miles and had a lot of laughs.