![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty: Twenty five minutes of skating (badly) definitely burns more calories than a vigorous forty five minute walk around Greenlake...
One thing I have learned from rock climbing is to value your safety equipment and treat it with the utmost respect. It's really the only thing standing between just damaging yourself, or severely damaging yourself (up to and including death). That being the case, I spent a good hour familiarizing myself with all of my skating equipment. Knee pads, elbow pads, wrist pads, helmet... not to mention the buckles, laces, wheels, and bearings of the skates themselves.
Next I spent a while with the skates on in my living room, where the carpet would keep them from rolling out from under me. Mostly I just wanted to get used to the feel of the equipment and the balance involved. Then I went outside.
True to form, once I put the skates on outside and stood up I rolled forward about ten feet and then fell on my ass. For a moment I thought sure I had put my back out and my skating career was over. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad. Just a little embarrassing if anybody was looking out their window.
On the upside, that was the one and only time I fell down. I spent the rest of my time slowly getting used to the motion and the balance. I am fortunate enough to have wide paved walkways as well as nice grassy lawns, so I was never really in danger of losing control. At first I was every bit as awkward as I expected to be, but after a few minutes I started getting the feel of it. I didn't' want to push myself too hard on my first day, so I hung it up after 25 minutes or so. In all fairness I was drenched in sweat to the point where my glasses were falling off my face, so I figure it counts as a good workout. Once I started being able to relax a little it was even every bit as fun as I thought it would be. Woo hoo!
One thing I have learned from rock climbing is to value your safety equipment and treat it with the utmost respect. It's really the only thing standing between just damaging yourself, or severely damaging yourself (up to and including death). That being the case, I spent a good hour familiarizing myself with all of my skating equipment. Knee pads, elbow pads, wrist pads, helmet... not to mention the buckles, laces, wheels, and bearings of the skates themselves.
Next I spent a while with the skates on in my living room, where the carpet would keep them from rolling out from under me. Mostly I just wanted to get used to the feel of the equipment and the balance involved. Then I went outside.
True to form, once I put the skates on outside and stood up I rolled forward about ten feet and then fell on my ass. For a moment I thought sure I had put my back out and my skating career was over. Thankfully, it wasn't that bad. Just a little embarrassing if anybody was looking out their window.
On the upside, that was the one and only time I fell down. I spent the rest of my time slowly getting used to the motion and the balance. I am fortunate enough to have wide paved walkways as well as nice grassy lawns, so I was never really in danger of losing control. At first I was every bit as awkward as I expected to be, but after a few minutes I started getting the feel of it. I didn't' want to push myself too hard on my first day, so I hung it up after 25 minutes or so. In all fairness I was drenched in sweat to the point where my glasses were falling off my face, so I figure it counts as a good workout. Once I started being able to relax a little it was even every bit as fun as I thought it would be. Woo hoo!
