Derby Determination

Last weekend I saw an ad on Craigslist for a local roller derby team.  It said they were looking for skaters (and refs, and volunteers), and that no experience was necessary.  I sent an email right away, asking if they really meant no experience, because after all I am a pasty fat office worker with a dubious sense of balance.  They assured me that they did mean no experience, and invited me to come watch a practise.  A friend of mine decided that she wanted to do it, too, and so we decided to go to a practise this upcoming week.
So, throughout the week, I have been gathering the necessary accoutrements: knee/elbow/wrist pads, helmet, mouth guard, etc.  No skates yet--I'm going to rent for a bit until I have a better idea of what I like/want/need.  I also looked up the local roller rink (less than five minutes from the house!), and made plans with my friend to go tonight.
And whoa.  I suck.  I haven't skated since about fifth grade, and I wasn't even that great then.  I pretty much hugged the wall the whole 45 minutes we were there, although by the end I didn't have to actually hold the wall (progress!).  T was way better at it--she's rollerbladed before, so she actually knows how to skate.  Luckily, though, the place wasn't that crowded, and so I could muddle along relatively unimpeded.
Maybe for anyone else, plans would be changed.  But not for me.  I have been reading up on roller derby all week (yaaay slow week at work), and I am determined to do it.  And in a lot of the derby blogs I've read, most of these women started out where I am: hugging the wall.  And now they're totally badass.  I do think that I can get there, too.
I did note that the roller rink has drop in adult learn-to-skate classes, and so I'm going to take one of those on Monday.  The rink also has some afternoon skate times, which I think will be less crowded than the evening skates.  I'm going to skate as much as I can, and I'm also going to keep up the long walks that I've been taking.  In addition, I'm going to work on my core and my balance.  I may be a crap skater now, but dammit, I'm going to do this.