Waltz Jump-Toe Loop? How? ... I Need New Summer Goals

There’s a good chance I am going to have to re-write my summer goals...I haven’t yet published them to the blog but it’s clear that I am going to achieve them considering that in the last two lessons I have learned two of the skills on my list. There’s always room for improvement in this sport, I don’t think perfection can ever be achieved, I just want to learn as many new skills as I can this summer because I won’t have as much skating time during the year.

I attended my last learn to skate lesson today at the other rink, it was a makeup class so I didn’t know the group that I was skating with. The coach asked me what I was working on, but I didn’t want to be a bother so I asked what the other skaters were working on, I figured I could work with one of the groups. Fortunately there were several levels of skaters so I could choose if I wanted to work on mediocre skills that need improvement (like the dreaded crossovers) or I could work with the youngest skater on more difficult skills like spirals, jumps, and spins. I chose the latter.

Though my basic skills need improvement, I have found that they look much better now that I’ve learned more challenging skills. For example my three turns have become consistent because I use them for my jumps. Consecutive edges have helped me skate deeper into my edges for power pulls and swing rolls. I decided to work with the young girl because I wanted to be challenged, and sure enough I was challenged. She was working on freestyle 2 and I am more comfortable in freestyle 1 (but I have learned a few of the skills in 2).

We began working on spirals then moved on to backwards consecutive edges. Since it was test day I asked the coach to test me on my edges, they are on my pre-bronze test and I needed the “pressure” for practice. She passed both my insides and outsides, which was shocking because my insides totally suck. I think the pressure helped, haha! Next we did spins, she said that I spun really quickly but needed to pull my arms in at the same time for even more speed and control. Finally we worked on jumps. I showed her my waltz from backwards crossovers, the half-flip (which I haven’t actually worked on with a coach yet), and my toe loop. I was surprised when she told me the half flip was correct (I need to end on an inside edge instead of an outside edge), my coach showed me this one time at the end of practice and I’ve just made myself practice it so that it isn’t miserable when I am working on it with her.

We still had a couple minutes left of class and the younger girl needed to do a watlz jump-toe loop. Coach asked if I had done it yet and I said I hadn’t so she told me to give it a try. Hmmm…. I don’t know how I feel about that. I thought I’d be doing a combination jump by the end of summer not the beginning of summer! I tried it anyways and once I again I made (what seemed like) the impossible, possible. I got it on the second try, the first one was a fluke after I couldn’t even land the waltz properly.

So, sure enough my goal to land a combination jump before the end of summer skating happened before summer officially began. I need new goals. Crazier, more difficult goals. My updated summer goals will be posted later this week. Summer skating officially begins on June 20th, can this next week just fly by so I can live at the rink?

Skating on Monday Nights Too? Sign Me Up!

About a week ago I mentioned that I had visited a secondary rink to skate at and initially I thought that I would end up at the rink in Royal Oak, but after some serious consideration I decided to give the rink in Troy a try. Despite the fact that I’ve had bad experiences there on the ice (it’s just not as smooth as the ice at Onyx) I figured that I needed to get used to it before my competition there in June. If skating there was anything like the public session ice I did a month ago, I would probably fail at my competition. So, after talking with the learn to skate director and adult coach (I’ll be referring to her as Coach M on my blog from now on) I decided to sign up.I attended my first class today and have mixed experiences about it.

Coach M did give me a heads up that there would be a couple children in the class and I was okay with that, but it basically became a four level class with four students. There was one other adult that was working on two foot turns and half pump swizzles, the children were starting crossovers, and I needed to really start to “feel the edges” on my crossovers because I was cutting them too short. Sure, I have made advances, I am working on skills like the waltz jump, toe loop, and footwork patterns, but I still really need to work on the basics.

Practice time was okay, I worked on several of my elements but forgot to work on spins, argh! We moved to the class space on the ice - which made me somewhat anxious because I wasn’t anywhere near the boards where I keep my binder, skating journal, and water but I got over it...somewhat. First we did stroking with T-stops for me, the others were doing hockey stops. Then we moved to the circle for crossovers (forward and backward) which took most of the class time. I am so sick of spending my money on these classes and just working on my crossovers, but they need work. I know it and I am still annoyed by it. Why can’t I just break up with crossovers in this sport?

After class I showed Coach M my binder so that she could see where I was at and what I needed to work on. I made it fairly clear that I really just signed up for the class because I needed more practice ice time to prepare for the competition and she seemed understanding so that’s good. It looked like we were missing some people today, while I spoke to coach M on the phone she had mentioned that there were some women who were practicing 3 turns and other adult 4 elements. Hopefully next week they’ll work with me and I won’t feel like there’s such a big gap in the class.

I think that overall the money I spent on the class will be worth it to prepare for my competition. It seems like it might just become practice ice for me, but I am okay with that. Plus, it’s another valuable day on the ice, even if it is only one hour. I guess I’ll have a better idea of how it went once it’s all over.

Daily Skating Thoughts

1. I haven’t been skating since….
2. Why can’t I just be at the rink everyday?
3. I need to go to the gym
4. Gosh, I can’t eat that
5. What can I add to my program?
6. I wish I could have crossovers down by now
7. I want another lesson
8. I’m hungry
9. My knee hurts
10. Why can’t I just join the skating club in April? I need ice time!
11. If I am an hour late to that event I can squeeze in a public session...but then I’ll be tired...but skating.
12. Well if I can’t be on the ice I can…
1. Read adult skating blogs
2. Watch skating programs on YouTube
3. Read about figure skater nutrition and exercise
4. Visualize my program in my head
5. Study skating curriculum guides
6. Re-read my skating journal (for the 10th time)
7. Write a blog post
8. Pin to my figure skating pinterest board
9. Shop for a skating dress/apparel online

And this is why I don't get anything done.

Ice Time is Precious

Today I made the decision to sign up for another Learn to Skate class in addition to my Friday private lessons. After spending more than  20 hours on the ice last week (4 of which were lesson hours) , I can’t help but think that an hour lesson per week is not sufficient. Every moment I have on the ice is precious.

Since I was considering the edge program, I had the opportunity to warm up with them. I basically went to show the adult instructor my practice book, but she had me put it down so that she could see where I was, haha! Too bad forward crossovers are my worst enemy. I am so glad I didn’t make a fool of myself. Had I not skated earlier in the day, I would have failed miserably.  They started with forward crossovers, turn on an outside 3, backwards crossovers, step forward, then forward crossovers in the other direction to backwards crossovers. I definitely got a little workout from it, they go fast! Finally they did a couple lunges and headed to their separate classes.

The big decision came moments later, I needed to decide between the edge program or the adult evening class. After speaking with the new adult instructor I decided to go with the adult class for a couple reasons. For one, I really don’t know how I feel about learning to skate with children. Also, the adult class doesn’t have as many students and two others are at approximately the same level as me so I can get stuff done.

Unfortunately, after the adult class I realized that it’s really just going to be an opportunity for me to practice skills I know. Group sessions have become expensive practice sessions for me. I am not quite sure how long I’ll afford this, but for now it’s okay since I work most days and cannot make it to public ice.

I didn’t learn anything new today, but my skills got better! We started off with stroking and crossovers on the ends, then we did forward and backwards crossovers. While doing the forward crossovers I learned that in order to keep my body in control I need to be looking in the center of the circle. Then for backwards crossovers, in order to keep my arm and shoulders in control I need to be looking back. This was new for me, so I do feel like the class was helpful. Next we worked on power 3’s which I desperately needed to practice and finally I suggested we work on mohawk crosses. After showing them to Coach D, she told me that my mohawks were wrong, I was making them to curvy and big. Once I made them smaller, they were a lot easier to control down the line.

Overall, I think it was a really great idea to add the Wednesday evening class. I think if my Friday private lessons were the only ones I would die a little inside...and on the ice. My Friday lessons don’t have practice ice before so I am fresh when working with my coach and for me that means inconsistency. It is definitely difficult to work on new skills a minute after stepping on the ice, but I digress. I’ll get through this session. Summer is almost here and then I will hopefully be able to skate my little heart out everyday.

Practice Sessions & More

Another incredible skating weekend under my belt, I skated for just over 3 hours on Friday and about 1.5 hours on Saturday. I feel like I am really getting the hang of these new boots, finally. I know I’ve been saying that for a few days now, but every time I put them on they feel a little better than the last time. I got off the ice both days feeling really great about my practice sessions without a coach present.

I worked a lot on skills that I’ve been taught in the last learn to skate session, nothing new besides the power 3’s (which are incredibly fun by the way, when people aren’t skating through my line). At this point I really can’t wait to get back on the ice for a real session with my coach. I want to start jumping! I want to land my waltz and I have a feeling it’s coming in the next couple weeks. I also really want to clean up at least half of the skills that I need for my pre-bronze test. I feel like I can do my forward stroking and forward consecutive edges comfortably, so I have about 4 more skills to nail down: backward consecutive edges, crossovers, waltz 8, and spiral or lunge.

I also wanted to mention the fact that I missed my skating-versary a few days ago, it’s been 3 months! I will update my progress report in just a couple days, though I didn’t learn as much this month as I have in the past - I know that I’ve come so far from where I began. Much of it was due to the fact that I was breaking in new skates, but now that they’ve molded to my feet hopefully I’ll jump right back on to the progress bandwagon.

**Side note: Coach C walked in on me totally jamming out, singing, and dancing on the ice when I had it all to myself on Friday morning (for a short period of time). I was a tad bit embarrassed but totally in my element, if anything it shows that I am ready to present myself on the ice, have no fear skater Gina is here.... argh I can't help myself, I just had to go there.

You Know You're Excited When You Start Counting Down The Hours Until Class

It’s the last day of session two. I have been counting down the hours until class since yesterday evening at 22 hours. I’m down to about 7 hours now. The wait might actually be killing me. I am excited to show my coach the things I’ve been working on outside of class like my 3 turns, mohawks, and lunges. I haven’t done any of them in learn to skate, so this will be quite a surprise for coach C (who I’ve had serious discussions with about coaching me at the club level!)

I cannot accurately describe my excitement to get on the ice today. It cannot be compared to anything. Spring break is coming up and I’ll get to be on the ice everyday. So long as I don’t injure myself, I’ll be on the ice for at least 15 hours in 5 days. I’ll also be doing my own version of boot camp (details to come) when I’m off the ice, so it will be a challenging week physically.

My goal in spring break is to learn my test. I know the skills I need to perform and the only one I haven’t been introduced to is the crossovers in an 8 pattern. I know that if I spend an hour a day on my crossovers, I can have this down. I need some intense practice on ALL of the other skills too, but I know that after 15 hours on the ice I can get them to where they need to be. The test isn’t until one month after spring break anyways so I have time to perfect my moves.

Half Way Through Session 2!

Today I had the third lesson in session two which means I am already half way through! I got on the ice an hour before my scheduled practice time, I absolutely love the girls that are on the ice at that time because they always let me on early. I learn so much more when I’m acclimated with the ice before lessons. I began with simple stroking and moved on to one foot glides and swizzles. Then started to work on stopping again, I really need to get that down because my habit of turning to stop is silly. 

During class we began with stroking, then worked on crossovers for a little. I am really glad that I didn’t work on them the entire time like I feel like I have been these last two weeks. Next Coach C took about half of us on the circle to teach us how to do a two foot turn. Now, technically I already know how to do this, but she showed me a different way to make it a little more challenging. After we worked on that for a bit she moved everyone back on the circle to begin learning Mohawks! I didn’t think I’d be learning this skill for a while since it’s listed as an Adult 6 lesson on the US Figure Skating Curriculum. 

Coach C showed us what the first part of it looked like, make a T on the circle (right foot in), push out so boots like like a spread eagle then bring it back to the circle. I had that down very quickly, I was astonished! With only a few minutes to spare coach came over and said I had it down and that I was ready for the second step. She also said I would have it down by the end of class, that’s in 4 minutes, but okay! I like a challenge! Do step one, then instead of keeping my body weight on my right leg I shift all my weight to the left leg and lift my right leg up. After trying it a few times I had it! I am really looking forward to working on this new skill at my next open skate practice session. Right now I have that scheduled for Saturday night, but if I don’t get an afternoon job tomorrow I will be heading to the rink! Get excited!

First Official Progress Report

I am pretty sure the women in my class and maybe even my coach think I am a little crazy. I just think I am super organized, committed, and motivated. I took the time to google the US Figure Skating adult curriculum so that I can track my progress, I even began comparing the adult curriculum to the children’s basic curriculum. From now on I think I am going to try paying more attention to my progress in a systematic way like this. I know that I am just starting so I’ve learned a lot and I am aware that it’s going to start slowing down at some point. There’s no way that I am going at this much speed for much longer. The exercises are going to get harder and will take more practice. Nevertheless, I am going to post an official update every 1-2 months using the curriculum guide to note what I’ve learned and what I want to learn in the coming months.

I showed it to my coach at the last lesson and she confirmed that I knew these skills, she even questioned a few that I had circled because she thought I already knew them. I love that she also looked at what I want to learn. By checking this out she knows that I am serious about skating, but more importantly she knows what I want to focus on for the remainder of the session!

I really can't wait to see where I am at in a month, you know that is if I am still in one piece!

You Couldn't Wipe The Smile Off My Face If You Tried

Michigan finally decided to man up and dump a large sum of white on us. While this made me pretty happy (early dismissal at school today) it also completely threw off my schedule. I got home from school and began watching Gilmore Girls season 1, before I knew it so much time had passed and I was going to be late for class. I was in my car a half hour before ice time, which clearly was not enough time. I got stuck on the road for an hour! I missed practice time and got right on the ice for class, no time to get used to the ice. To say the least, I got almost nothing done in class. I used 15 minutes to warm up on the ice, for the next 10 minutes I worked with a younger coach on my crossovers and finally began the bunny hop on the ice. Very basic, but fun. I have some work to do, that’s for sure!

It’s interesting that in these last couple weeks the things and conversations that have occurred off the ice have been more motivating than my ice time. After class my coach went over a couple more stretches with me and then we walked over to the rink store to check out some skates, none of which were “to my potential level”. I need new skates, desperately...and I probably can’t drop the cash for another month or so. I know it will be worth it though because I’m in this for the long haul. I also left my skates today for their first sharpening, getting on the ice afterwards is going to be miserable.

When I got home the big news came! No work tomorrow due to inclement weather, for me of course, this is an excuse to drive to the rink for some much needed ice time. I could have made so much progress had I gotten on the ice before class today. Lesson learned, I cannot skate once a week at class, I need more ice time! I texted Coach T when I found out work was cancelled to see if I could get in for my first private lesson. I honestly didn’t think it would happen, seeing as I haven’t officially signed up for private lessons and it’s also super last second, but she said she was available! You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if you tried.

I cannot believe that I have my first private lesson tomorrow. Sure class today was meh, but I’m hoping that my muscles are re-acquainted with the ice so that tomorrow I can rock it and make some progress. No gym for me tonight so that I can rest up, just a hot shower and good nights sleep in my future to get ready.

So Many Disappointments Today….Progress Overall: Exceptional

I am so incredibly excited for class today. It’s the first day of session two and I am crossing my fingers that I’ll have the same coaches as the last make up sessions on Wednesdays. I decided to show up at the rink two hours before my class today. I really didn’t want to be at home, but here’s my thought process… ½ hour to write/watch the actual figure skaters on the ice, ½ hour to warm up, and 15 minutes to get my skates on (I tie and re-tie over and over to get it just right). Nope it still doesn’t add up, I don’t care. I want to be here, maybe I’ll learn a thing or two from watching the skaters and coaches do their thing.

-------

So yesterday’s class didn’t exactly meet my (very high) expectations, but nevertheless I made some progress. My first disappointment was the coaching staff surprise, unfortunately I didn’t have the same coaches as the makeup sessions. Now, we only have one of the figure skating coaches and even she will only be there every other week. The other coach we will have is younger with less experience, my understanding is that she is strictly a learn to skate coach. I will make the best of the time I have with figure skating coach C.

I skated for just over an hour between practice time and class time. I have made leaps of progress with my forward half pump swizzles, now I can do them with confidence and speed (this would not have been possible if I didn’t do open skate for 3 hours on Monday!)There’s another woman in that class whose taken it 4 times already and I’m pretty sure we’ve made the same progress, so that excites me. We took a short break after working on those..this became my second disappointment for the day. We don’t (correction: I don’t) need a break in a half hour class. I want to be learning new exercises so that I can work on them when I go to open skate. During our little break one of the women mentioned that she didn’t know how to fall "correctly" (really now, we are going to spend time on learning to fall?). Well for the record, I have taken several spills and I know how to fall and get back up...not sure if I want to spend class time doing this, disappointment #3.

After our falling lesson we moved on to crossovers. Coach C asked if I was ready to begin these, little did she know I had started “working” on them with Coach T. So I started and didn’t look like a complete embarrassment because it really wasn’t my first time, haha! I didn’t fall in the 5-10 minutes that we worked on these so that was good. Coach C fixed my posture and explained the step by step process. This explanation is exactly the reason I decided to sign up for Wednesday classes as opposed to Saturday classes!

We took another break (arghhhh), disappointment #4. I couldn’t really take it anymore so I scooted myself back a little and just played around, while still making it seem like I was a part of the useless conversation.  Then I mentioned that I wanted to work on my spins so coach suggested we all work on them. I showed her what I had been working on...something that I “figured out” but to my dismay I’ve been doing it all wrong...arghhhh disappointment #5. She showed me how to do it the proper way, gliding in the shape of a six with my weight in my left leg, half swizzle with right leg, keeping the weight on that foot, and spin! Sounds easy enough. Nope. My brain definitely gets it but my body sure doesn’t. Disappointment #6.

Class ended and the other women skated away, but I took the opportunity to ask Coach C a couple things before the Zamboni came out. First I asked her if I could show her the Waltz by the wall that I had been working on. She looked really scared for me at this point, clearly I am way ahead of myself...but jumping excites me and I am going to work on it simultaneously with basic stroking. She made a couple changes to my posture and toe picking foot, then we had to skate off the ice because the Zamboni came on. Once we were off the ice she asked me if I had learned the bunny hop (clearly I was supposed to learn this before the waltz), I hadn’t. So she showed me off the ice what I was supposed to do. Yay! I have something to work on next time I skate on my own!

[Bunny Hop: Scissor right foot (lift, bring forward, bring back, then forward again, small jump - toe pick, land on right foot, glide with the left, repeat.]

After this conversation, one of the practice time coaches came up to me and talked to me more about my waltz (I had asked her a question about it during practice time). The conversation was very helpful and motivating, I had mentioned that I’ve only been on the ice for 2 months and definitely wasn't ready to do the jump without the wall by my side, but she had a lot of faith in me (or at least made it seem that way). She said that she couldn’t believe that I had only been on the ice for that short of a time period and was impressed with my progress.

Though there were many small disappointments today, I still feel like I’ve made a lot of progress in these last couple months. At this point I have mastered my forward swizzle, forward half pump swizzles on both my right and left legs, one foot glides (my left foot is a tad bit weaker but I can still go on one push ½ the width of the rink), and 2 foot turns with a start on both my left and right leg. I hope I can squeeze in an open skate session sometime between today and next Wednesday...if I don’t I am taking a day off next week so that I can do an adult open skate session. #priorities

Welcome to My Figure Skating Blog!

Thanks for taking time out of your day to read about my most recent skating endeavors, have a wonderful day!

If you’ve read any of my status updates on Facebook in the last month or so, you know by now that I’ve started ice skating, crazy right? A 23 year old just getting on the ice for the very first time. I’ve gotten past that now, because after skating daily during my winter break, I found that there are several adult skaters who also recently began their journey, some in their forties, fifties, and even one sixty year old woman who only began skating two years ago.

Though my first day was challenging, I continued to go back for adult free skate and got better day by day. Seeing the older women at the center of the rink practicing their spins and jumps was pretty inspiring. It sparked something in me and I began to question whether it was really possible for me to get that good. Before I got on the ice that very first day, I thought I was way too old to begin skating. That my childhood dream of becoming a figure skater was lost…until I did a simple google search. I found that there were thousands of other adult skaters across the nation who also began skating in their adult life.

After stalking the numerous adult skating blogs, I decided to start one myself. It’s important for me to share my progress and document any tips my coaches give me so that I can remember them all, moving forward. Through this initial process I found that these adult skaters not only skate for fun, they compete and test for different medals! I was stunned, that little spark of interest turned into desire, desire to compete and test as an adult figure skater.

Learn to Skate Makeup

Class was amazing today. Shocker. I spent most of class just working on a couple skills, but it was incredible because I feel like I’m actually learning the proper way to do things. My coaches are fixing my posture, they tell me where my arms and weight should be and this really makes it easier to learn the skills. My muscles hurt from doing things the “right way” over and over again, but I know I need the basics down before I can successfully move on to bigger and better things. Today I mostly worked on half pump swizzles on the circle, both my right and left legs. My right foot has got it down, but the left foot is much weaker. I was also taught a simple combination, 2 swizzles and then a one foot glide. I was really pleased with this warm up because I was combining skills.  At the end of class, I asked one of the coaches to show me how to do the spin properly, unfortunately I was still unable to get it. I was told initially to split my body in two, upper and lower half, but I think it’s confusing me because I am not able to move both sides at the same time. I’ll work on it and it will come in time. On the plus side, I showed them the turn that I taught myself to do on like day three and they said it was a legitimate move! I am excited by the idea that I am capable of teaching myself how to do certain things on the ice.

Saturday’s: My New Practice Sessions

Today’s class was pretty good, not as great as Wednesday’s session but I don’t think they can be compared at this point. I am basically considering my Saturday class a practice session from now on and my Wednesday's will become my learning classes. I’m pretty good with that setup, plus it means two days on the ice. Perfection. I was on the “advanced” side of class again today which meant...hockey teachers. Although there were several people missing from class today so it wasn’t as bad. Plus Coach T (the one that referred me) came over to help me start doing crossovers. I swear every time my foot crossed over the other, my heart dropped. It was a very uncomfortable experience, but for the first couple rounds most of my weight was on Coach T. Unfortunately she had to leave and I didn’t feel like I could do it on my own so I began doing one foot glides, which I thought would be somewhat helpful because when I am doing crossovers I have to be comfortable with the idea of just one foot being on the ice at a time.

In the last five minutes of class I ditched Mr. Hockey coach and headed back to Coach T. I wanted to learn how to do a proper spin! I asked and she showed me how. I’m pretty sure I fell three times in the 5 minutes. I wasn’t really sure how it worked, she kept showing me but I wasn’t exactly getting it. Ultimately my feet were moving before my upper half. Class ended before I knew it, but I was definitely going to work on it during free skate after class.

I cannot wait to be on the ice again this Wednesday with the other coaches. I might actually learn the proper way to do a spin!

Where have I been the last few weeks? … Missing out

OMG. I cannot believe how much I’ve been missing out. I love my Saturday coach, she is the one who referred me after all, but the coaches on Wednesdays have so much more experience. Geeze. I feel like I’ve learned more in that half hour than I have in the last two sessions. The coaches today taught me how to skate as opposed to Saturday when I’m just told how to skate. Big difference. You see the coaches today actually told me what my toes need to be doing when I’m practicing swizzles (I have to squeeze them together to gain speed when I’m pulling my feet back together). I also learned where my weight should be when I am skating backwards, on the balls of my feet. Bits of information like this has  truly transformed my experience on the ice. Who knew that your toes had to be doing something particular while doing a move? I know I have a lot to learn, but just after this one session I’ve realized that skating is made up of lots of little parts. For example, when doing the one foot glides I need to push off of one foot, tighten my core, and pick up my foot allowing it touch the side of the boot that is still gliding on the ice.

I’m so glad that I am making up another class with these coaches next week and frankly Wednesday evenings work so much better in my schedule than Saturday mornings, so if I am going to start session two I should really consider switching into this class. The other thing that is awesome about this session is that there are fewer skaters, only 4 as compared to the 10 skaters on Saturday. AND no hockey skaters, woot woot! Definitely looking to spend some more time with these coaches!

Makeup Sessions - Thank God!

Well sure enough I was still sore from the strain on Saturday and didn’t make it to class, but I called the rink and they said I could make up both classes! The only other day that works in my schedule is the Wednesday evening class. I was a bit apprehensive about going since my favorite coach isn’t going to be there, but I have to make up those days somehow. The good thing here? I get to skate on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings for two weeks in a row, horah!

Today I also re-started my membership at Lifetime fitness! I am overjoyed about this, it’s been on hold for like a year. It’s so freaking expensive, but will ultimately be worth it. I know that getting shape at the gym is really going to impact my ability to skate. My goal is to be at the gym every single day. I know everyone says this and doesn’t follow through, but I am headstrong. If that membership is costing me $70 a month that means I am going to be there every single day. Or else (I’ll come up with a punishment soon).

Missed Class

I missed class last Saturday, because unfortunately I was sick. I had to rest up at home, I knew that if I decided to use my energy (or lack thereof) on the ice I’d probably end up in bed for another week. Thankfully I did get better, so I decided to also get back working out at home. I found some “awesome” off the ice workouts online and combined them with my usual for a superhuman workout. I call it superhuman because well it will practically destroy anyone who attempts it. I’ll post a picture of it soon! So, I attempted this new workout and while doing the superman move (which I’ve never attempted before) I strained two muscles in my thighs. Just lovely. I doubt I’ll be on the ice this Saturday. Again.

Learn To Skate Day 2

Today is day two of learn to skate and I am really eager to get back on the ice, I haven’t skated since last Saturday but I’ve literally been thinking about it all week. I am excited to see what we will learn today but I am also really worked up about skating backwards. This is my first learn to skate session, I don’t understand how they expect us to be skating backwards! It’s probably because I ended up on the advanced side of the class - I am not an advanced skater! Today we worked on one foot glides and continued working on stroking, we also started doing this thing where we are doing half-swizzle pumps (is that what they are called?). About halfway through class our coaches asked us to do the half-swizzle pumps backwards...at this point in time I didn’t even have regular swizzles down so I was basically like, hell to the no.

To this point, I had signed up for this class because the girl I’d met at the rink last month said she was teaching it (Coach T). Now, unfortunately for me, because I got put in a separate group I got stuck with the hockey player teachers. I think I maybe forming a little dislike towards them, maybe it’s just because I don’t feel like they are genuine/I just don’t feel comfortable learning to skate from someone who skates on different skates. Stupid, I know. Whatever, they honestly just seem like jerks. I moved over to Coach T once they started working on those pesky backwards half-pump swizzles. I asked her to help me figure out the backward half pump swizzles, but because I didn't have the forward half pump swizzles down we worked on that. By the time we were done class was over, thank God. I didn’t want to go back to the other guys (darn hockey players).

First Class!

Today was my first learn to skate session! I literally can’t believe that I did some of the things that my coaches asked me to do today. In addition to forward stroking and swizzles, they had us jump on the ice and begin backwards swizzles I did the jump, but there was no way I was going backwards on day one. Sure enough, after what seemed like an entire 5 minutes I was able to “walk” myself backwards across the ice. It was painful and with every step I felt like I was going to fall, but I knew that in the end it would be worth it. Somehow throughout the class I ended up on the advanced side, little did I know at the time but everyone on that side had already taken the class. Argh, I was behind for what seemed like the entire class. It took me longer to make my way from one end of the rink to the other. I felt embarrassed at times, but I was giving it my all and that’s worth something right?

Learn to Skate

Today I called the Onyx and registered for my very first learn to skate session. I am very excited to start on Saturday, but I haven’t been on the ice since mid last week. Since I have jobs set every day this week I probably won’t be back on the ice until the morning of practice. Sounds to me like I need to start off ice training.