Iced Over
Published June 15th, 2008So last night, for just about the first time since I snapped my ankle, I went and did something severely athletic. I dug out my knee and ankle braces, got some basketball shoes and went to play broomball. I hurt in all kinds of ways now.
I am so out of shape, I couldn’t play offense at all - going up and down the rink would completely wind me. So I hung back and played defenseman, and rather competently, all things considered. This also marked the first time - ever - I’ve set foot on an ice rink. I’ve never ice skated (or roller skated/bladed). So this was a pretty new experience. But thanks to my years of playing NHL Hockey for the Sega Genesis, and watching a few hockey games in my time, I understood the basics. Plus playing defense wasn’t all that different from playing defense on a basketball court, and I’m real familiar with that. A few people asked how long I’ve been playing, and were pretty surprised when I said “as long as we’ve been standing on this rink tonight.” So I wasn’t bad, just a non-factor on offense. But that’s OK - there should always be at least one guy back, two if possible, at all times to help the goalie.
So yeah. Running around on ice is difficult, and having never done it, keeping my balance was pretty tough. I went down quite often, and have the bruises to prove it. Plus not having done anything to stress my ankle or knee in years, they swelled up pretty good. I’ll probably have to take some anti-inflammatories before I go next time. Last time it took me about a month to get in shape to play basketball - and I did it by running a mile every day. I don’t know if I can do that again, but I’ll need to figure something out so I’m not sucking wind 10 minutes into playing.
All in all though, it felt pretty good to do something athletic, even though I’m going to be absolutely dead tomorrow. Since there’s no jumping, it’s actually easier on my ankle and knee than I expected, easier than basketball. I just gotta learn to stay upright a little better. There’s nothing soft on an ice rink, it turns out.
Hooray for getting back out there! Keep it up and you’ll be in great kickball shape come the Fall!
And seriously, how did you manage to never roller skate as a kid?!
it doesn’t surprise me that you never roller skated, but you should try it sometime! the roller rink in glendale is fun! if it makes you feel any better, i got out both times i was at bat today during the 5th grade versus the staff softball game. i was amazed i even hit the ball since i haven’t swung a bat in at least 10 years!
jennifer juniper