Hey earth muffins! If you read my latest collective haul post, you will know that I recently purchased myself some roller skates. I wanted to challenge myself at the end of the summer to try something new – so I attempted to roller skate for a month! In today’s post, I wanted to share the ups and downs of this roller skating challenge with you all. Let’s roll right into it!
Why Did I Want to Roller Skate? Getting the Challenge Started
I’ve never been a fan of working out, but I was feeling the need to move my body in some way at the end of the summer. While I typically opt for long walks (or trying out a Chloe Ting workout), I decided to try out something different. Roller skating sounded like a fun thing to try! I used to love hitting up the roller rink when I was in middle school. The fun music, good times with friends – what wasn’t to like? There is a park in my city that has an outdoor cemet rink, which I decided was the perfect place for the roller skating adventures to begin. As you saw in my latest haul, I picked out some skates (with outdoor wheels) and placed the order! 🛼 And no, I didn’t pick out roller skates that match the emoji… That was a total happy accident.
How Did It Go?
Once I got my skates, I incorporated roller skating into my morning routine. I didn’t go every single day but tried my best if the weather was nice. By going in the morning, the weather was cooler and I always got the rink all to myself. Outdoor skating is definitely different than indoor skating. Because the rink is made of cemet, there are hazards you don’t need to think about in a smooth indoor rink (such as cracks and loose stones). I have definitely fallen, but more on that in a bit.
Skating is super fun! Practice makes perfect, so the more I go skating the better I feel. Just like with ice skating, I felt wobbly and unstable when I started – but I definitely have my “roller skating” legs now! Another thing that makes this so much fun in the morning is my roller skating Spotify playlist. I have some total bops that I listen to, including “Proud Mary” by Tina Turner, “Skate” by Bruno Mars, and “Disco Inferno” by The Trammps. Great music makes roller skating even more fun! Once I continue skating and feel even more stable, I hope to move from the rink to the bike trails/roads in my town. 😊
How To Get Up After a Fall
Know in advance that everyone falls when trying to learn to skate! I was a pretty good skater before I started this challenge, but I’ve had my fair share of falls still. The biggest crash happened about two weeks into skating… I was doing my last lap and a flat slate rock made me slip like it was a banana peel. I fell on my butt SO hard; when I got home, I started seeing little prisms of light in my left eye. While those went away after about thirty minutes, I was messed up for the whole weekend with headaches, neckaches, and fatigue. I basically had given myself whiplash for falling so hard. 😬
Once you have a big fall like that, it is difficult to get back to roller skating. Even after taking a week off to fully recover, I was still hesitant to get back on the rink. It is more of a mental game now, with the fear of falling being more present than it was before. But, I got back out there! I watched a few YouTube videos to learn better techniques against rocks and outdoor hazards when skating… Falls are going to happen, it is getting back up that makes you stronger and more resilient!
Final Thoughts on My Roller Skating Challenge!
Overall, I would recommend you try out roller skating! It was a super fun challenge to do at the end of the summer, and I plan on continuing to skate throughout the fall. Once winter sets in, I’ll have to swap out my skates for some ice skates, as the outdoor rink gets turned into an ice rink when it gets snowy. Even in only 30 days I’ve seen a ton of improvement in my skating, and it is such a fun way to stay active! I am proud that I was able to get back out there after a huge scary fall as well. What have you been doing to stay fit recently? 🛼 Comment below and let me know if you have ever been roller skating before!
Love,
Jenna ♥
Very nice. Sounds like a lot of fun.
This is such a great challenge! I am so glad that you were able to do this and have some fun. Definitely something different to try! I used to go rollerblading a lot but I had a pretty bad fall (struggled to walk properly for weeks afterwards) and just could not get back to feeling comfortable on the skates. It speaks to your strength that even though you fell…you got back up and did not let it stop you <3
Oh my goodness – that sounds terrible!! Back in high school I tried roller blading and just never felt very stable on them… Something about the quad skates that make me feel more balanced I guess. 🙂
Jenna ♥
I have never tried outdoor skating but anytime my boys get invited to a skating rink I do go with them and bring my skates along so I can skate and get some exercise while they hang out with their friends.
That sounds like such a great way to get some exercise while they hang with friends! 🙂
Jenna ♥
Good for you!! I would have loved to have learned to do this when I was younger but after a knee replacement, i am very fearful of falling and doing something to that knee joint…Thanks so much for stopping by!!
Hugs,
Deb
It has been such a great way to stay active! 🙂 And the fear of falling is definitely stronger now that I have taken quite the tumble… But the more I do it the more stable I feel!
Jenna ♥