Roller Skate Skinny

Empty rink

I went roller skating tonight, for the first time in probably twenty years. Wow, twenty years ago was 1988 and I was 14 then. I am old. It was weird at first and I thought I might not be able to do it, but I managed to figure it out and not fall down. The newfangled skates are weird, though. They were like hockey skates or something and were hard to maneuver. Next time I think I'll ask for the old-fashioned kind, which I saw they also had.

There were only about ten kids at the rink when the three of us got there a little more than an hour before closing. The gal checking us in only charged us $3 because it was so late. It was weird to go roller skating and have it not be at the Marysville Skate Inn, where I spent so many Friday nights when I was in middle school. This place was a lot smaller, with a concrete floor instead of wood, and it didn't have as many tables or as fancy a snack bar and games area. I remember buying red ropes and drinking Green River while checking out boys and gossiping with friends. I used to be pretty good at skating and could go backward and do a couple of little tricks. This time, I couldn't even do that crossover thing that makes it easy to go around the corners really fast.

Skating used muscles I must be neglecting, because I'm a little sore. My thighs and knees are sore and so are my feet (I now have a blister on one instep). That's to be expected, but what surprised me was how much core strength it takes to balance and move forward at the same time. So, yet more motivation for getting stronger. My unlimited Netflix account is allowing me to stream as many movies as I want, and the other day I realized how many workout videos are available. So that's my new plan, to add in some strengthening exercise to augment the walking, which I've slacked off on during the cold. Maybe I'll go skating again, too.