So now that I have stepped completely out of my comfort zone and taken up the challenge of learning to roller derby, I have discovered that it is a whole lot harder for me than I thought it would be.
I was confident, shall we say, slightly cocky, to begin with. Having done so much roller skating growing up I thought I would take to it pretty quickly but there were a few things I didn't see coming, a few 'blockers' that I will have to get past...
Blocker 1
My core strength, or rather my complete lack of it. After stretching to accommodate 3 babies my abs resemble one of those cheap wine bladders rather than a sexy six pack.
Anne Lamott writes after the birth of her child that when she lay down to sleep her stomach 'laid down next to her like a puppy.' I love that description - and it fits me perfectly.
This has never bothered me before now - I am actually proud of my post baby body and all that it has achieved in bringing my lovely children into the world. I have never felt driven to whip my body into shape so that I look like a 20-something who hasn't had children.
After all, there are times that a soft squishy tummy comes in helpful.....
Suddenly though I care about how my abs work. By the end of training my lower back feels like it is on fire because my core is so weak, I can't even manage to do a proper crunchy and my attempts at 'whipping' are more like some kind of awkward high-five.
So it's baby steps for me, or shall we call them 'post-babies' steps? Luckily one of the other freshmeat is a personal trainer and she showed me some easy starting exercises (did I mention that the other women who do derby are Awesome?)
Rock hard abs are only a few million crunchys away...
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