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.

Continuity

I knew going into this, especially after my first couple sessions, that the more I skated the easier it would get. That could not have been more true! In that second week of skating, I continued my forward stroking and swizzles, but I also learned how to stop! I noticed the same woman at the rink everyday and we ended up talking on the rink for a while. She was really helpful and offered several tips. She showed me how to stroke properly and also showed me how to stop (T-Stop). It was very sweet of her, I get the sense that much of the adult skating community at this rink is kind and sociable. After practicing my stop around the rink I began turning, by accident. And from a slip of the foot, I learned how to turn around/spin (I used to call it a spin before I actually learned how to spin, haha!). On my last day at the rink on my winter break I met a really sweet skater who also happened to teach the adult skating class. I asked her when the class usually met and it was perfect for my schedule, Saturday morning! I told her I would think about joining. I had made so much progress on my own but knew that I would need to learn new things to keep myself motivated and challenged.

Trial Run

I continued heading to the rink on a daily basis during my break, the adult open skate is amazing, only a few adults skate daily and some small groups usually end up joining for an hour and then leaving. The “usuals” are in the middle practicing their spins, the speed skater is making his rounds, and now and then a newbie will hit the ice, just like me! The next few days were truly incredible, I feel like a made a ton of progress. I began to skate comfortably and I taught myself forward swizzles! For an avid skater, this is nothing, but considering my age and experience, I was delighted!