I had my first night back at roller derby training tonight after months off skates. Ever since I started working as a brothel manager full-time, life just got in the way. It made it very difficult to get to training sessions when I worked 50 hours a week at night and I was exhausted from the lack of sleep. Most people who work full-time as brothel managers have very little lives, in fact most places make an effort to not even hire people with partners and children. The one thing I have really struggled with is a work/life balance since I started in this industry, roller derby was one thing that just manage to fall to the wayside. I love the sport, the culture and the people but establishing myself as a manager and supporting my child was paramount. I am now fortunate enough to have a partner that doesn’t require me to work as much and am able to go back to roller derby.
I remember the very first roller derby bout I went to, I had bought tickets for my whole family to go see. My sister, brother, sister in-law and my parents all rolled up to a sports event that we had no idea about. I fell in love, it was exhilarating to watch, and I wasn’t the only one. My sister, 10 yrs my junior also was engrossed in it and the first thing she did when she got home was search for a league near her. I wished desperately that I could join her, there was one problem….I was nearly 160kg. It just wasn’t physically possible for me, I struggle even with walking. It was only 4 weeks earlier I had a realisation, I was nearly 29 and obese, in an unhappy marriage, I didn’t want to go in to my 30’s like that. I had joined weight watchers and lost 6kgs already, I was completely focused on getting the weight off, so after my sister joined roller derby, I would join her once a week at the local roller rink to skate. I was an 80’s kid so I knew how to skate and was a great way to exercise.
8 months later and I managed to lose 35kgs, get out of the terrible marriage and was just fit enough to join roller derby. God damn, it was hard work!! I would leave exhausted, totally sweaty, but so happy. It was empowering, for the first time in my life I was achieving something that I never thought I ever could. I managed to lose another 20kgs, meet some really amazing people and totally increased my confidence. I went from wearing Crocs, over sized tops and no make up, to wearing heals, dresses and lipstick.
So tonight I came home, body sore, make up smudged and hair soaked with sweat…….All is right in the world again.
The Red Martini 