Skating Weekend

What an incredible skating weekend! It was rough at first, but I ended on a high note and that’s what makes this experience worth it. On Wednesday, I attended my group class and it was awful with the new skates and I began to lose faith in my ability to continue with this sport. The pain was unbearable.

On Friday, I went to the rink and practically begged the director to let me skate on learn to skate “practice ice” and he said yes, thank God. I got on and skated for a while and again, it was unbearable. The whole losing faith thing, totally applicable here.

On Saturday I woke up with a renewed passion after waking up from a dream of me skating (this happens often now that it’s taken over my life). I texted my coach to see if she had time to do a lesson with me and she did, woot woot. I just needed a quick pick me up to get me used to the new blades.

We spent a half hour together on the ice (less than what we usually have unfortunately, but I couldn’t afford to do longer on a lesson like this). The entire time was “breaking in skates time” we did knee bend exercises the entire time. I took one really bad fall while doing my crossovers and fell on the same exact spot that I fell on last week, that was miserable. I’m so glad that I’m seeing my doctor tomorrow to check out my knee. After a few minutes of relaxation after that horrible fall, I got back on the ice and managed to get a little more breaking in done.

After my lesson Coach T came off the ice and requested to “play” with my shiny new skates. She then began to bend them in a few different ways. This made a world of difference for me as I got on the ice today to skate. There was still a little pain at times, but it was such a great practice session because I felt like I was getting my moves back. I worked on my  3 turns, consecutive edges, mohawks (I think I got them down!), lunges (nailed the new technique a couple times), stroking, slaloms (wide strides and short fast ones), 2 foot turns, waltz jump, and spins. I didn’t have any “bad” falls and my feet weren’t killing me by the end of it, so I’d say my practice was quite successful! 

I am pleased with the progress I’ve made in these new blades and I am very excited to start jumping and working on some more complicated moves in the field. Who knows, I might be testing a little earlier than I expected.

So... This Is What Pain Feels Like?

I skated in my new skates and it was MISERABLE. Hello square one, how are you doing today? AHHHH I had no idea it would be THIS difficult. I thought maybe there would be a little pain here and there, but boy was I wrong!

So….that’s what pain feels like? Hmph. I digress. I walked into the rink on Wednesday with my head up high, walking in with my skating bag (and my brand new skates) like I owned the place. I was excited and somewhat nervous, but mostly excited. I started out by doing my normal warm up exercises: muscle stretches, jumping jacks, lunges, galloping (to the side), and jumps. I walked over to my bag to get my skates on for the very first time at the rink, it only took me a couple minutes to get them on as compared to the 15 minutes I spent to tie my old skates. That in itself was a success.

From the moment I stepped on to the ice I knew that it was going to be a challenge. The toe pick is way bigger than my older one, I was hitting it with just normal stroking. As I skated to the benches to put my stuff down I quickly realized that I would have a very difficult time stopping. Once I got to the benches I did the whole making snow thing to get my blades adjusted to the ice, those of you with new skates or newly sharpened blades, this is a must! It definitely made a difference as I continued.

It really was back to square one though, I basically wasted a class session. I worked on stroking, swizzles, half swizzle pumps, and one foot glides during practice time, and then two foot turns, crossovers, and spins during class.

My feet were aching THE ENTIRE time. Yet I managed to go home rest my feet a little and then got them back on again. I’ve been told by numerous people now that I need to walk around my house in the skates (and hard guards). So, I’ve been doing that for a few days now and they finally feel like they are setting in. Everytime I put them on they feel a tad more comfortable than the last time. Sometimes I warm up my socks before I put them on to mimick the heat molding experience, I figure this will speed up the process. I was told that some people put heat packs in the boots for a while then set their feet in, also to mimic the molding process. I’ll basically will try anything at this point that won’t ruin the boot. I can’t handle two weeks of no progress. It may just be the death of me.

New Skates.... Finally!

Well ladies and gentlemen I finally made my way out to the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills to pick up my skates. I had an incredible experience with Sue Jones at the Skate Shop within the skating rink.

After visiting her shop a couple weeks ago to try on some skates, I decided I would purchase a new pair in about a month after saving up some moola $$ But as you can see I couldn’t wait a whole month, so I decided to agree to babysit (which I haven’t done in almost a year now!) so that I could afford them.

On my second visit to the shop I came in with the notion that I would try on the used pair, and if they felt okay, I’d get them. But that just wasn’t the case, I even tried on the competitor again, the higher end boot that was way out of my price range and it still didn’t feel right. So I ended up going with the Jackson Freestyle that I had fallen in love with on my prior visit. At first I tried on the boot with the socks that I normally skate in but they were way too tight. And unfortunately they didn’t carry the boot in the C size and I’d have to wait for them to come in. So, naturally my patience was growing thin. I couldn’t wait to be in new skates and a tighter fit was clearly not going to stop me. Sue suggested I try on the boots with the nylons (that most female skaters skate in) so I did and they fit really well. Just snug enough!

After officially deciding on the boot, Sue and I discussed doing a heat mold to help me break in the boot. This was an excellent idea, the skates were in the “oven” for about 10 minutes and then she tied me up and they sat on my feet for about another 10 minutes. Next, she helped me take them off and said that she would be mounting the blade for me. Having zero experience in this field, I asked how long it would take thinking that it might be a week if she has to have someone come in to do it. But surprise surprise for me, it only took about 10 minutes!

My biggest fear going into this is probably the transition. These boots are like 10 steps up from my current skates, so I will likely die of pain in the coming days.

My Unfortunate Reality (Private Lesson #4)

Well I’m not broken, yet, that’s the good thing. But I have reached a progress plateau. My 4th private lesson was yesterday and I was working hard, but my boots just weren’t working with me. I kept skidding on my consecutive edges and my ankles and feet were killing me while I was doing simple bunny hops. I just won’t have it any more. If I want to progress I need new skates. After my lesson I actually got off the ice and didn’t want to skate anymore (first time since I began, oh no!). I had fallen on my butt three times during practice, now usually I just stick through it but now that I’m seriously considering new skates I feel like I’m going to lose a lot of what I’m learning on my current boots.

And so I have officially decided to pick up my new pair of skates this week. After doing some extra work this weekend, I have made some more money and will shell out the $300 for the Jackson Freestyle Skate. While it is at a lower level than the Jackson Competitor, I remember it was a lot more comfortable for me.

Now, back to practice, we didn’t get through as much but I think it’s because we spent more time working on my 3 turns. I think I have the small 3 turns down, but when I move onto the larger circle they become a lot more difficult. Coach T and I worked on spins, bunny hops, swing rolls, lunges, and the waltz 8. After our session we discussed testing again and I learned that each rink has a testing session each month. So I very well may be testing before June. I imagine it will probably take another month or so for me to get the skills down. The only thing coach hasn’t showed me yet are my crossovers in an 8 pattern. My crossovers are still clunky but I know that if I keep up with practice I’ll get them down eventually. Afterall, I learned my backwards crossovers way faster than my forwards.

First Skate Fitting

I had my first skate fitting today! I was super excited for it, maybe a little too excited because it wasn’t really what I thought it would be. I guess I went in thinking it would be this great horah event, but it was a skate fitting, haha!

The skate shop I went to is inside an ice arena, specifically the one that Meryl Davis and Charlie White trained at...the Detroit Skating Academy! I couldn’t help but think that the same women who fitted me also probably fitted them for their skates! I walked the same floors, soon to be skated the same ice...blah blah blah. Nestled in a fairly large arena is a very small skate shop.

In the 35 minutes that I was in the shop, I believe I tried on at least 6 or 7 boots. Sue helped me put each pair on, which I felt bad about, but I guess it’s her thing. She ties and puts each pair on to help me figure out the best boot for my foot.

In the end I walked out with three potential pairs. My coach had suggested Riedell or the Jackson equivalent of the Motion 255, Edge 229, or Flair. Riedell boots are a lot more expensive and are made for narrower feet, so they were pretty much out of the question for me. The three skates that fit the best were the Jackson Elle (Used 6.5), Jackson Competitor (6B), and the Jackson Freestyle (6B). I felt that the competitor probably had the most support, but they were the most expensive, the freestyle were the most comfortable but had less support. The Jackson Elle fit fairly well, but are scuffed and definitely felt used...because they are.

Time to weigh in on the pros and cons:

Jackson Elle - cheapest option (used), probably a good idea to drop $150 instead of $300-$400 on the first boot. Only single jumps.

Jackson Competitor- most expensive option, will last a couple years, can be heat molded to fit my foot better. Single and doubles. $360

Jackson Freestyle- most comfortable of the choices, will last a couple years, can be heat molded to fit my foot better. Single and beginner doubles. $310

Right now I’m thinking that I will probably try the Jackson Elle on the ice first to get a feel of it. I forgot to mention that all of these boots were super chunky compared to the recreational skates that I am using now. I’m pretty sure any transition to competitive boots is going to suck for me at first. After feeling out the Jackson Elle’s I will reconsider the new boots. Ultimately it’s going to probably be between the Elle and the Freestyle, but if I can manage to drop the $$ on the competitor I will do it since it has the most support. Such a difficult decision to make!! Any suggestions are welcome!

The Very Beginning

After reading about 10 books in two weeks during the start of my winter break, I got bored and didn’t know what to do with myself. I am not the type of person who can just sit at home and watch TV all day, sure if I am sick and need some rest I’ll do it, but it is difficult! I knew that I needed to do something productive with my time and I definitely was not ready to start looking for a full time job as a teacher. After accepting a full time substitute position for the second semester at a local high school, I knew that I was satisfied. As a teacher, there is always work to do outside of the classroom, as a substitute, there is no work that has to be done after the school day is over. So, I had to find something else to put my energy into.

I began skating during my winter break, I had just graduated, finished my student teaching, finally I was free. About a year ago, I found a pair of new (and very cheap) figure skates online, so I purchased them for no reason at all. Each year my friends and I go skating in Campus Martius park in downtown Detroit, so I figured it would be an investment. I wouldn’t have to rent disgusting skates and I could get used to my own blades. So, thankfully in beginning this process I had my own skates.

The first day on the ice was miserable, sure I never fell, but I didn’t really move either. It was a “slow day” for the first hour of the free skate, I held on to the wall with my life, barely moving. I circled around like that, somehow I didn’t get bored. I was so eager to learn. I learned to skate awkwardly in the second hour and slowly but surely, I let go of the wall. I didn’t exactly get much further from the wall, but I was no longer hanging on to it with my life. That’s progress right?