Frustration Embodied

That was me last night. First, I got to the rink just late enough that all the matching gear was gone. This was partly a good thing, I suppose, because it showed that there was plenty of Fresh Meat- 12 girls to be exact!, But for me it kinda sucked. I ended up with too small elbow pads and only one wrist guard. this was unnacceptable. I started skating to warm up anyway, and did so for about 20 minutes. Ii was slightly less sure on my feet than I had been a week before- owing I suppose to the fact that I'd not skated since then. My left ankle was also significantly weaker than my right. After that 20 minutes or so of skating, we had a meeting about voting on bylaw changes, which I sat in on even though I am technically not a member yet, because it is going to be my league and I wanted to see how the process works- good or bad. When it came time to vote, I excused myself to skate some more. I wonder how the rest of the evening would have gone differently if I'd just sat there... When I got up to skate, I made it around the rink a couple times very smoothly, and I felt like I was starting to warm up really well. Then, on the second curve of my third lap, I guess I placed my foot wrong, because that weaker left ankle just decided to twist. UGH! More than pain or discomfort, I felt frustration, because I knew I was done skating, if only for the evening. I skated the rest of the lap slowly, but knew I had to get off the skates. I really wanted to cry. I had been waiting all week to skate, having missed Sunday and Tuesday's practices due to being sick and visiting family. I watched the Fresh Meat train, and while it was fun to see how some of the other girls are progressing, I really wanted to be out there with them! I do have to note here that Jessica and Joanna are doing AWESOME! My ankle feels better this morning, and I have a printed illustrated ankle strengthening program that I found online (thanks to my wonderful husband for printing it out and bring it home!) to hopefully help strengthen these ankles. Also, I plan on picking up a couple braces for them too. Scott and I are going skating on Saturday for a few hours, Which I am really looking forward to, and then a 2 hour practice on Sunday. Hopefully that gets me back into the swing!