Guest Post - Frank 'N' Hurt Her

In this week's guest blog, Frank 'N' Hurt Her talks about why she first took up derby and the struggles of balancing life on and off track...

When I first started out at FMRD I was a college student with no job and being able to show up for roller derby wasn't much of a problem. I started out as the quiet little one who would tuck themselves in a corner and not really say much. I was coming out of what had been a very rocky road the year before and roller derby was going to be the thing that helped. I wanted to gain self confidence again and have something I could do for myself. You're no longer who you are while you're at home or work, you are you on skates, being awesome. I like to think that when I'm at home or work I'm just plain old Sarah but at training I'm not Sarah - I'm Frankie, the crazy person on skates having fun and enjoying the freedom of skating.

There wasn’t a lot of practice that I could fit in because of college assignments and work getting in the way. There are a lot of things that can make it harder for you to be able to make it to every session - be it family occasions, illnesses or work, you always seem to have something in the way. I've had to deal with these many times, and being a sufferer of migraines I sometimes found I wouldn't be able to get myself to training. When I moved into a job [S1] at first I managed to be able to work my job around training. However now I work full time it's harder, I've been thrown into situations where we've had people leave leaving us understaffed and all of us having to cover the shifts. This means working a lot harder and having no more time for roller derby.

Finding the balance for life/roller derby/work is very difficult. It seems a lot of the time I never have time to do something for myself; however, there is always a point where things will calm down and I'll be able to return more often and train hard again. I've managed to fit in occasional training time by making a deal with my boss about hours and fitting them around training…some bosses can be more understanding than others.

To anyone who's struggling with the balance all I can really say is things will calm down eventually, but make sure you get your training time. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say roller derby is the escape from reality.

- Frank 'N' Hurt Her, #75

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