The First Bad Hit

“Try that again, this time don’t swing your leg like that so that you remain in control” - Coach T

“Okay!” (I said enthusiastically)

Push forward. Swing leg around. Die.

It was all in slow motion, one moment I was swinging my leg around for a scratch spin and the next moment my head had hit the ice. I thought my glasses had shattered as they rolled forward on the ice. My nose was numbing. I lifted my head with a smile on my face, “I’m okay.” Within seconds, I looked down and there was blood dripping everywhere. I didn’t know if it was coming from my mouth or nose, because it surely felt like I had broken something. Turns out I actually had a cut near my eye (still no idea how I managed to get a cut) and my nose was bleeding from the force of the hit to the ice.

Within one minute, nearly every other adult had gathered around to see if I was okay, surely the blood wasn’t a very good sign. I got up, put my hand under my chin to catch the drips and made my way to the side while my coach ran off to get supplies. I can’t say it enough, but she’s actually the best. She came back and wouldn’t let me do anything, she literally wiped the blood off my face, cleaned the cut, and put a bandaid on it. Then instructed me not to get back on the ice. She had to yell a little for me to get the picture, but I appreciate that she’s like that. I convinced her to only take a half hour break so that I could continue my lesson with her.

Today was a hit for me. This week I’ve heard no less than three outrageous injuries that happened at my home rink including two concussions and other head injuries (w/ blood). I knew my time was coming as I thought to myself last Sunday, I’m so lucky, I haven’t hit my head on the ice yet. The entire time my coach was helping me with the cut I just wanted to get back on the ice and move on. Some would say I’m a trooper, haha.

I may be a little shaken up, but it was worth it. Looking back, the entire scenario was crazy. The cut is not even an inch long, it sits in the inner corner of my eye and runs up through my eyebrow. I’m glad I was with my coach and not on my own. I used to laugh about this before, but today I learned that I really should do what my coach tells me to do the first time around. It’s hard to make a quick fix when learning new skills on the ice, but I should have been more careful. I should have taken my time on the spin.

My pre-bronze test is next week. It would be great if I didn't injure myself before that. If only I could skate and be assured that I won't hurt myself. Yeah, that would be nice.

All Day at the Rink

Today was incredible, I spent my entire day at the rink...honestly at this point it would be so much easier to just live at the rink...or at least a little closer to one, but I digress. I had three sessions on the ice today and two warm-up/exercise sessions. The first session on the ice was a makeup LTS class with my favorite coach. We worked on BXOs ( I really need to work on holding the cross!), consecutive 3 turns (I still have to learn to step forward on the outsides), spins, waltz  jump from BXOs, and believe it or not the toe loop. When my coach asked me to do one I straight up said no. Again. I have really been working hard to stop saying no and giving her sass on the ice, but it’s difficult when you’re trying not to like die.

Just under one month ago, Coach T introduced me to the toe loop. I was overjoyed. My first big girl jump. We did it together a couple times and then she let me do it on my own (I was so nervous!) and I landed it on my first try then looked up at her and said “there’s no way that was it” and she said,  “no Gina you got it!” Her expression was priceless. Most people don’t just get this on try #1. Since that day I have psyched myself out of that jump, until today. In the makeup class there was one other woman who was just above my level, so we did a lot of similar moves but she basically did them way better than me, haha ( totally cool, she’s been skating for two years). Coach asked us to spin, we spun. Coach asked us to waltz jump, we did. Then coach said to toe loop and I said, woooahhh, please no; but this woman motivated me and told me I could do it. I took a leap of faith, literally, and did it solid. I even jumped on a line (I had been jumping on a curve for the longest time due to a lack of control on the three turn). Victory lap anyone? Of course I did, because I was overjoyed. It was near the end of practice and coach wanted me to run my program in the last couple minutes. It wasn’t a very smooth run, but it definitely improved throughout the day.

For my second session on the ice I hopped on to public free skate. There was about a half hour left of adult skate and then there would be about an hour and a half to go of regular public skate. During this time I ran through my program a few times, did both sides of lunges (even though I kept falling on the left side, I didn’t quit), worked on my spins, change of edge, mohawks, and even my toe loop and half flip (but without the actual jump - coach and I haven’t really worked on it yet). It was a very productive session and I still had one more to go.

I had about an hour and a half between public skating and my private lesson so I intentionally scheduled an interview in that time (more about that later) when I had finished my meeting I got dressed, had a quick snack, and began warming up for my final session of the day on the ice with Coach T. We worked on all consecutive edges, spins, the program, crossovers, spirals (in test format), lunges, and the toe loop.  It was a great lesson, but unfortunately it was my last with Coach T for this session because she will be out of town next week. I still get my lesson, but I will be working with another coach, argh :(

I spent about 4 hours on the ice today, training. I didn’t goof off, I tried not to let conversations on the ice take me away from the work that I had to get done. By the end of the day I had also spent an hour exercising to prepare for ice. That’s a total 5 hours of activity in my day, so naturally sleep was calling my name. Seriously incredible day, I hope that I will continue to have such successful practice sessions over the summer!

I Hate Something About This Sport

It occurred to me yesterday driving home from the rink. I hate something about this sport. I was shocked, I mean I know there are positives and negatives to everything, but despite the falls, the soreness, the bruises, and the expenses I love this sport and know that there are costs associated with every success. So, when I came to this grand realization I felt normal again. I know it’s going to sound stupid, but I hate the fact that I can’t skate whenever I want.

I played several sports growing up, soccer, basketball, and tennis. If I wanted to shoot hoops I walked outside my house played in my driveway. If I wanted to play soccer I would either walk to the park by my house or I’d just kick the ball around in my backyard. Tennis? I’d drive 5 minutes to the nearest courts. I could practice those sports whenever I wanted. If it rained I could go to an inside court/field. Figure skating is oh so different.

Open skate occurs during the day from 10:30-2. On the weekends there are a couple afternoon and evening sessions, but they are filled with children attending birthday parties and couples on dates. I wish I could skate early in the morning before work or after I finish school in the evenings, but that just isn’t the case.

So, when I tell people I am headed to the rink to skate at a specific time they usually say things along the lines of, “well can’t you just go later?” or “can’t you be late for skating?” No actually, it doesn’t work like that (insert eye roll here). I know my body can’t stand me right now, I want to skate all the time. I guess it’s not a bad thing that I am limited by the times at the rink. On the other hand, I can’t keep paying for somewhat mediocre classes in the evenings just so that I can get ice time.

It’s good that I’ve found something I don’t like about this sport, it was about time. Life isn’t all rainbows and butterflies...even if I want it to be.

Do I Need A Secondary Skating Rink?

I didn’t think I’d be doing this so soon, but I am looking at a secondary rink to skate at. I love my home rink, the Onyx, but I am getting kind of sick of seeing the same people over and over again. It is also too far from work, so if I get a half day job it doesn’t make sense for me to drive out there to skate a half hour.

I visited a rink in Royal Oak yesterday evening and it was okay. It’s a small rink and after talking to the workers for a bit I quickly noticed that they have a very small tight knit skating community. It also seems as if they have a decent sized adult skating community in their skating club, more than that in Rochester. I figured I would give it a try a few times, it couldn’t hurt right? Plus, if I end up working near there next year I could set up some contract ice time before work. I picked up a learn to skate flyer on my way out. They have a Thursday night adult class that begins next week. If I signed up for this class I would meet some other adult skaters and I would ultimately get to skate Wednesday-Sunday (week breakdown below) every week without a work conflict!

You guys know me pretty well by now if you’ve been keeping up with this blog. Ice time is precious time and I will take what I can get. If I sign up for this class I can stop skating during the day while I should be focused on other priorities and just skate in the evenings.

Now unfortunately I need to seriously start considering my finances and how much I am spending on this sport. I am literally dropping hundreds every month on private lessons, group lessons, competitions, the gym membership, and skate gear. If I sign up for this class it’s almost another $100 for an extra night to skate every week. Gahh!

I have until next Thursday to make up my mind, I should know by then if I want to make this jump. I know I need the extra practice time, especially with my first competition coming up. I just don’t know if it’s feasible.

Skating Breakdown -

Wednesday Evening - Adult Class at Onyx (1.5-2 hours)

Thursday Evening - Adult Class at Royal Oak (1.5 hours)

Friday Evening - Private Lesson at Onyx (1.5-2 hours)

Saturday - Open Skate (1.5 hours)

Sunday - Open Skate (1.5 hours)

Mediocrity

I managed to finish work an hour early today so of course I sped over to the closest skating rink to get in a half hour of skating before the public session ended. It was mediocre. I hate the ice at this rink, but it’s okay for a quick skate if I absolutely need one. And today was one of those days that I felt I absolutely needed to get on the ice. I felt so empty in the last couple days because I haven’t been on the ice.

I got to the rink and immediately headed to the bathroom to change and get my knee pads on. Then I ran over to the front desk to pay, quickly got my skates on, and hopped on to the crappy sheet of ice (my home rink ice is so much better!). It was the second worst practice I’ve ever had (the first was new skates day). I couldn’t hold an edge, I felt like I could barely skate, as if I was getting on the ice in like the third week of this skating endeavor. I could stroke, but I felt miserable. I didn’t speed over to the rink today so that I could have a crappy practice. On the bright side there was only one other person on the ice, so I could move around and work on different skills without watching for people bumping into me.

It just occurred to me that one of the reasons I was so lost today was largely due to the fact that I didn’t warm up. Last week I got to the rink an hour before open skate. I would run laps around the rink, I would run up and down the stairs in the stadium, and I would do ballet stretches in the off ice room. Since I began warming up rigorously before getting on the ice I started to progress and learn new skills fairly quickly. I need not be disappointed about today. I love the fact that I got some practice time.

After getting off the ice, the other gentlemen that was on the ice stopped to ask about what I was writing in my notebook. Then he pulled out his own to show me that he does the same thing for golf, he writes down his experiences and tips/tricks in this tiny notebook. We talked for a while, I feel like he was sent to me from above because after that practice I was not in the greatest mood. He seemed to lift me out of my rut and wished me luck as we headed out.

Today was meh. Tomorrow is a three hour ice day. I will get back to where I was, I just know it! Plus, I worked on cutting my music for the program I am doing in June. If it’s ready to burn, I’ll get to start putting my program together tomorrow. Get excited! Woot!

Skating Withdrawals

20 hours of skating last week may have done more mental harm than good, yikes! I am having skating withdrawals. I feel like a part of me is missing. Yesterday I could have gone skating in the afternoon, but I chose to hang out with my friends knowing that I wouldn’t be able to skate again until Friday. I had a great time with them, but open skate starts in a half hour and I am longing to be there.

I woke up an hour before I had to, on a Monday morning, the day after spring break no less; and all I could think about was getting back on the ice so I started brainstorming. I would do anything at this point for more ice time, but all the available ice time is during my work day. It’s far too late  in the season for me to join the skating club for afternoon drop in sessions (which are all to expensive anyways at $14 an hour!). I could join the adult skating class on Wednesday evenings, but that only guarantees me one extra hour a week. Plus, there’s a new coach in that class and I don’t know how I feel about having another coach instructing me. I have gotten really close to Coach T and I am used to Coach C’s methods. If I have learned anything in these last few months, it is that every single coach instructs differently! It could be a nice addition to my skating schedule, it won’t hurt my finances too much, and this coach could very well be a great coach...but there’s an even better option!

The edge program at the Onyx is for skaters who have passed basic 1-5 and are looking to learn more advanced figure skating skills without having to join the skating club. Coach T said that I have met the level, but I am not quite sure how I feel about joining before the summer. This program has many positives and only a couple negatives so I will start with those. I am worried about joining edge because I would be in a class with children. There are skaters in edge as young as 4 and 5 years old. There are some older students, but I would still feel like a giant next to them. Compared to the adults in my previous classes, I have learned relatively quickly, but I am about to be the tortoise in edge. Edge is also more expensive than the regular classes that I’ve been taking, even more than my private lessons, but for good reason. If I join edge I would have class instruction time, regular practice time, two additional practice sessions (on LTS ice) per week, and 20 minutes of off ice training (which I so desperately need). That would mean that I could skate on Wednesday evening, Friday evening, and Saturday morning. My skating time would triple, for a little extra moola ($$) that is!

I need a decision to be made by Wednesday, because that is the next edge class. I’ve already missed one week that I’ll have to make up, but I can only make up one class per session. I’m excited to say the least, because either way I’m going to end up with at least an hour of extra skate time per week in addition to my weekend public sessions.

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.

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.

3rd Private Lesson

Today I had my third private lesson. I still can’t believe that I am taking private lessons! I warmed up a lot today by running around the ice a few times and doing the stairs in the bleachers. I also stretched and did some off ice jumps.

The lesson was good, we went through a lot of things that we started in our previous session like lunges, spirals, and 3 turns. We went through some new things like backwards slaloms, power 3’s, and the waltz 8. While I am glad that we started some new things, I am really pleased with my progress on the backwards crossovers. I worked really hard on them after our session so I can’t wait to show them to Coach T tomorrow.

After the session, I continued skating during public free skate and worked on a lot of the elements that we worked on during the lesson. Unfortunately for me, I may have went to hard because I took a few difficult falls. I fell on my hips numerous times, I fell on my butt a couple times, and I can’t even count the number of times I fell on my knees. All learning experiences right? Instead of being scared now, I just go for it and a lot of the time that means falling. Olympic skaters fall, it’s a part of the sport. I’ll get over it one of these days.

I am really looking forward to my next session with Coach T tomorrow, I hope I don’t get stuck at work for the second half of the day. I am going to try my best to get out as fast as I can so I can get some practice ice time before the make up class. And following that, I can get some one on one time with coach! Woot Woot!

**OHH I forgot to mention what happened during public ice time today! A girl (about my age) came up to me to ask how I do that thing where I bend down, so I said, “like a lunge?” So, I told her, a few times actually, that I was still learning and probably shouldn’t be giving a lot of advice, but I proceeded to show and explain to her what I knew. From this experience, I just can’t believe that someone came to me for advice, as if I looked like I knew what I was doing. Ya’ll know I’m excited by this!**

Lesson:

Warm up

Stroking

Swizzles

Stopping

Spirals

Lunges

Crossovers (forward and backward)

2 Foot Turns

3 Turns

Consecutive Edges (inside and outside)

One Foot Glides

Slaloms (forward and backward)

Waltz Jump

Swizzles Crosses (forgot actual name)

Power 3's ( I think that's what they're called, one foot slaloms)

Waltz 8

Unscheduled Private Lesson #2

I got really lucky again this week and had a half day at work, even left a half hour earlier than I usually do, so skating! I headed to the rink knowing that there’s an adult class on Friday mornings that I could catch if I got there fast enough.

Sure enough I made it to the rink with time to stretch, change, and get my skates on. Coach T was teaching this lesson, which is awesome because she is my favorite, haha! During class I showed her the mohawks that I had been working on, only I found out they weren’t exactly mohawks because I was doing them on two feet. She showed me the proper way to do them on one foot, then helped me do them the right way. Then looked at me and said, “your turn”. Now, I just want to take a moment here to describe my experiences with Coach T thus far, she shows me what I’ll be working on, I blankly stare at her thinking there’s no way I can do that. She guides me through the move, I do it with her a few times. Then, she says, “your turn” and I blankly stare in fear and hysteria. HAhA, you want me to do THAT on my own? Good one.

So, I tried the mohawk on my own and didn’t die. Sure there were a few close calls, but I did it! As with any move I learn, it needs work, but I am so glad I learned the proper way to do it! In the last couple minutes of class I worked on spins with one of the other women in class. I am still using my toe pick to hold my left foot in place, but besides that I can get into my spin about half the time. Coach T came over and said to turn it into a one foot spin (start on a two foot spin and lift right leg). So again, I stared at her blankly thinking, really? She knows what I am thinking and pushes me to do what she’s asked anyways. And that my friends is why I love her.

Having a coach on the ice with you is great, they push you to do things you don’t want to do or you don’t think you can do. I don’t think she’s ever proven me wrong though, I have never hurt myself trying something new - yet. So, I trust her.

After class I asked Coach T if she had any time to come out on the open skate with me for a lesson. She had time! Woohoo! It was a great one hour lesson - unscheduled private lesson number 2! I learned several new skills so I have a lot to practice on my next open ice! During a break I also showed Coach T my new binder! I started a journal last week to write down notes during practice, but the binder thing, that is new. It has all the adult and basic skills curricula in protective sheets. I also included the pre-bronze competition sheets to reference. She wants me to compete and I have decided that I want to compete..officially. The next competition that I can attend (that isn’t too far) is in June. Look out other adult skaters, I am here to stay!

Total ice time: 3.5 hours. So naturally, death and destruction. Everything hurts, I need to ice. I need to stretch. And I need heat pad like 5 minutes ago. I’ll learn my lesson one of these days. So far this week I have had more than 8 hours on the ice! Not sure if I’ll be this lucky next week, but I am going to try for at least 5 hours. My official - planned - private lesson is Thursday! I bet you can guess how excited I am on a scale of 1-10. That’s right, 20 :)

1. Class: Warm-up stroking, crossovers, mohawks, spins.
2. Inside and outside consecutive edges. Switch feet, one pump only down the line. Shoot for 6-8.
3. Backwards crossovers, body straight - not leaning forward.
4. Lunges, two feet first, make sure leg isn’t behind you.
5. Spirals, stretch on wall first. Make sure arms are out, chest up and head up, strong core.
6. 3 turns, turn stomach, stay strong, weight on toes.

PSA: Hockey Players Not Welcome on Center Ice

For those of you who haven’t really skated before or are new to this like me, PSA center ice is for figure skaters. So, all you hockey players out there...you are not welcome. I haven’t been on the ice for very long and I’m already very annoyed with hockey players. They “ruin” the ice. Speed skating down the ice and stopping and or slamming into the boards is annoyingly frustrating. Just stop. Well, I can’t exactly ask you to stop, it’s open skate. However, I can politely ask you to get off of center ice!

There is a reason center ice is “reserved” for figure skaters. Clean ice is needed for jumps, spins, etc. It’s a lot more difficult to glide when the ice is torn up. Plus, it’s also super annoying to come out of a spin and almost get knocked down by a hockey skater zooming through the middle.

So, yes I understand it’s public ice time. I know many advanced skaters don’t even bother with that as practice time. But yesterday the rink was empty. There were no more than 10 people on the ice at a time. I think the hockey players can do their thing on the rest of the ice, a good 75%. Another PSA? Get your puck and stick off of open skate, they aren’t allowed and for good reason. It’s not safe! I don’t want to attempt a jump thinking that a puck could end up under my landing foot.

In other news, sharing center rink with a three year old yesterday was cute and very interesting. She got on to the ice for short periods of time (without any supervision by the way) and would come in to practice. Here’s the deal people. She is at a higher level than me. A three year old. It was cute, she’s an adorable little girl, but I couldn’t help but think how far I’d gotten if I had started at a younger age. Sure, this is a great endeavor for me as an adult, but I could have competed. I know that I have this in me. It’s just difficult to skate around with a three year old skating circles around me.

Lost Count Of The Falls .... Another 3 Hour Day On The Ice

Not sure when I’m going to learn my lesson, 3 hours on the ice is not for me! Or perhaps another way to look at it, I’m not sure when my body is going to get used to being on the ice for 3 hours. I lost count of the number of falls today, but after I hit five in a row practice should have been “cancelled” aka I should have gotten off the ice. But then, people started leaving, two by two, and soon enough I had the ice to myself and I couldn’t get myself off. Thank God for my knee pads, too bad I don’t yet have hip pads because I took a really hard hit today. Two and a half hours in my body was starting to feel sore so I began to take it easy.

Soon enough, I got right back to work. I wanted to try a new move on my own, the lunge, and since it’s so close to the ground I figured it wouldn’t hurt as bad if I fell. That’s true, however it gets old when you fall over and over and over again. I’m not even sure if I was doing it right, but it was fun! I literally can’t wait to get on the ice again with my coaches. I have a good handle on what they’ve already showed me, except for the crossovers. But if I spend one more lesson working on those darn crossovers I might hurt someone. I’ve been working hard on them during open skate, but my heart rate literally goes up whenever I start doing them. Not the problem, I just want to be comfortable with them so I don’t have to spend valuable practice time working on them. I want to learn new skills so I have more to practice during open skate!

Obsession

So, some people are already calling me obsessed… meh. I am and don’t feel any shame. I was on the ice 4 times this week, Wednesday-Saturday! This time was very productive, because now I’ve got more structure to my practices. I wrote down exactly what I worked on with my coach so now I’m not just skating around without order and things to work on. So, every time I’ve gotten on the ice I start with stroking and crossovers, then continue on with the list. Speaking of writing things down, I finally started a skating journal! It seems like on every other adult skating blog they stress the importance of having a notebook to write things down after practice. I have already re-copied my first private lesson session and began writing down the hours I’ve put on these newly sharpened skates. I apparently need to sharpen them for every 40 hours that I am on the ice. So here begins the count. I’m hoping that I just don’t need to re-sharpen them! I want new skates!! My ankles and knees are hurting from the lack of support in the boots. I bet you can guess what I’m using my tax refund on this year.

First Private Lesson, Bunny Hops, Waltz Jumps, and More!

Snow Day?

Skating of course!

As soon as I found out I would have the day off I immediately began planning my ice time. Adult open ice begins at 10:30, so naturally I’ll leave my house at 9:30 to have maximum stretch and warm up time. But then, I had a thought. What if I texted Coach T to see if she’s available for a private lesson. I didn’t think it was possible since it was so last second, but I got lucky. So damn lucky.

I headed to the rink even earlier than I had originally planned and got to see some of my coach’s practice, she’s a star on the ice! I warmed up, stretched, and picked up my newly sharpened skates! I thought that skating with newly sharpened skates would go very rye, but it actually went really well.

I am about to tear up just thinking about the progress that I made on the ice today (or perhaps it’s because I’m still in pain). Who knew what an hour one-on-one could do? The best thing about having a coach on the ice with you is to get you to do things that might seem uncomfortable at first. I’ve been on the ice for two months now (exactly) and I’ve already formed bad habits like turning instead of a legitimate stop, “sure it looks pretty on the ice, but it doesn’t mean it’s right”. Having Coach T there today meant business. After she left, I still had two hours of open skate to practice everything we went through, by the last half hour my legs were dying, but I pushed through the pain.

I made it home, got some (healthy) food in me before my workout at Lifetime. I had to push through it, due to the pain, but it was worth it. Afterwards I had my first massage! It went way better than I had expected. I think that it’s going to be habit to get one after my 3hr+ ice days.

There was pain today, I fell multiple times, even brought my coach down with me once...but overall it was worth it. I did a bunny hop without the wall and the waltz with some help from coach. I think I might be able to land the waltz in the next week or two if I skate on my own instead of just for class. I learned the proper way to do a t-stop, two foot turn, and hockey stop. I got a little more comfortable with my crossovers and spins. I think I am going to take some time off soon to get another session in. I know that I say this a lot, but I’ve literally been on the ice for two months and I am already jumping. What???

1. Stroking
2. Crossovers (on the ends)
3. Crossovers over the lines, one on each side
4. Snow plow stop
5. Hockey stop

6. T-Stop
7. Bunny hop
8. Waltz jump
9. Spin, weight on left foot, half pump swivel, bring feet together, arms to the right (bring in for momentum)
10. Swizzles
11. Half pump swizzle one on each side, practiced forward and backward
12. Backwards walking/beg. Stroking
13. Two foot turns on small half circles, make sure both feet are turning parallel, weight on toes of foot when going forward, balls of feet when going backward. Turn stomach.

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.

Last Learn to Skate Class (of session 1) & An Incredible New Skill

Wow, today was the last day of learn to skate. I feel like it was definitely worth the money I paid for it. Today as soon as we got to practice there was no “warm up time” we went straight to the circle and began with challenging moves, half-pump swizzle (right and left legs), then one foot glides, and finally crossovers. Coach T came over to help me with those, what a relief! Unfortunately, it didn’t last long. She let me do them on my own….and I took a great big fall. Flat on my face. It didn’t hurt that much, until I got home and saw the bruise, but at this point falling is a learning opportunity for me. I’ve learned how to fall and not completely hurt myself and I’ve learned how to pick myself up and continue doing what I was doing. Now as soon as I did so, my favorite hockey coach told me that the “toe pick” got me. No shiz bro? I know that...thanks for letting everyone else know too.

After our circle exercises we moved on to the normal layout of exercises moving from one end of the rink to the other. We did swizzles, half pump swizzles, one foot glides, and then the awful half pump backwards swizzles. Dun Dun Dunnnn. I am not about that life. So...I moved over to where Coach T was, working with the really beginner group again. It was near the end of class so I asked to work on my spins, thankfully another woman in class was thinking the same thing and came over with me. We attempted on working the spins again, but didn’t get much farther. I understood what I needed to do, but had a difficult time actually doing it. So….Coach T decided it was time to move on….to JUMPING!!! I’m sorry? What’s that you say? Jumping in the first learn to skate session? I didn’t think so either. But apparently we were going to jump! ARGGGHHHH!! Excitement through the roof!

[So, here’s the thing. I’ve been going through this process and it’s been really exciting, motivational, and challenging in so many different capacities. I never thought I’d be doing any jumps in the first year of this, yet alone the first two months! I was shocked, excited, and very nervous!]

Coach T grabbed my hands, explained what I was going to do (very quickly I might add) and had me do exactly what she described. I basically had no time to think. I took a leap of faith (literally) and landed. Sure, most of my success was dependent on the fact that she was basically holding me, but I landed my first jump! After doing it with her, she did the same with the older woman that came with me to practice spins. The best part: there was still a few minutes left of class. So, she showed us how to practice on the wall!

This first jump is called the waltz jump, fairly simple to explain and incredibly difficult for a first time adult skater! You essentially swing your foot back, then swing forward, jump up (turn 180) and land on the opposite foot.

At the end of class I thanked Coach T for everything and asked if she taught private lessons. I’ve considered this a little over the last few weeks, but I thought I would ask just to get it out of the way since I am no longer taking Saturday classes. She said she was fully booked for the upcoming session, perfect for me since I wasn’t going to do it until the following session! Get excited folks, this is getting serious!

Open Skate:

I went to open skate today and spent every minute on the ice working on my spin and the waltz jump by the wall. I was annoyed because I had to keep moving away from the wall for first time skaters, but I had to keep myself grounded. I was a first time skater not too long ago (literally 2 months) so I should give them the space that I also needed at the time.