Adult Skating Essentials

This week I took my first power/edge class.  I was wholly unprepared for this, stopping (a vital skill that I lack) is important to this class).  What it became was unpadded ice-hockey with masochistic self-checking into the boards, an effective momentum-killer. 

Regardless, what I have uncovered is the single most important, barring skates, item to keep in a skating bag. And purse. And car.  Really anywhere.  Drumroll please..... ICY HOT! 

To all my coworkers, I apologize for the menthylated fumes wafting from my desk.   

Spill: Every time I had to stop.  Hello boards, sheet of ice, really anything I could throw my body against

Thrill: nothing beats the feeling of speed and power that comes from wind sprints across the rink

Lumps and bumps

Week 9 is upon us! Finally I have a consistent two-foot spin and am working my way towards a solid one-foot upright spin.  Waltz jumps are bringing a bit more control and distance and my Salchow is.... well.... mechanically there. 

Next week my instructor is going to help me start to put together my first program!! I am so excited to get the show on the road, so to speak.  I am, however, going to take just a moment to vent about the choice of competition dresses.  In my search, everything seems to be cut for either a 12-year old girl or an 80-year old woman.  

While I love the look of professional skating dresses, wearing 1600 rhinestones and then going out and performing a waltz jump just looks silly. As an adult skater, the difficulty lies in finding age and skill appropriate outfits.  With no sewing ability and little cash, I am neither going to D.I.Y. nor custom design a dress.  For now, I am going to live in my Under Armour compression tights and continue to shop the interwebs for something appropriate while taking up a diet.  I'm going to need it to squeeze into that dress.

Frustration level rising

This week has just been awful.  My three-turns which looked beautiful last week are looking terrible this week.  I was introduced to the Salchow on Monday and what should have been clean edges were noisy, clunky and scratchy. 

Spinning work continues.  This morning, Coach K thought moving to a one foot spin would make more sense.  Well, it's awful! I'm gyroscoping all over the place. I know what I'm supposed to do, my body just isn't doing it.  So frustrated I just wanted to cry! Debating whether or not a spinner aid is worth it, or just continuing to practice on-ice. 


Please chime in- how do you avoid the frustration that comes from feeling like you're not progressing or not grasping an element?

Life on the Edge

I'm ashamed to admit this, but for the past six weeks I had never fully comprehended what 'edges' were or why they were so important.  After a public skating session yesterday, it finally clicked.  Inside edges are the ones by your big toe. Outside edges the ones by your pinky toes.  Why it hadn't up to this point, I couldn't tell you, but with this 'aha' moment both inside and outside 3-turns got cleaned up quickly.  I'm hoping that with this discovery, my spinning will come along because it currently is atrocious. 

In light of my skating educational deficiencies, I have actually enrolled in two concurrent sessions of lessons, as well as a special class entitled "Power Edges".  So, here's to hoping 1.5 hours of group lessons per week plus additional private each week will clean up some of those technical issues that may hold my progress back.

Daily thrill: Edges; hello well-checked 3-turn!
Daily spill: Spinning; Lucinda Ruh- teach me your ways!