Checklist of Doom

Lesson today! Are you ready for this? Today was the day of the checklist of doom. So, as you know, I'm taking a Jumps class in which all of the jumps in the USFSA Free Skate curriculum are covered. There are six lessons total and today was my third lesson so Christopher had his checklist out to make sure we are covering all of the jumps. He threw a lot at me today and he had me doing jumps that I honestly didn't feel ready for. But I didn't say no to anything. I just plowed on through. Here's what we did:

Waltz Jump - Nothing to see here. These are just fine.

Half Flip - See above.

Waltz Jump, Side Toe Hop, Waltz Jump Sequence - He was actually pretty impressed with this one. He said that, a lot of times, skaters will slow down during the side toe hop and lose power going into the second waltz jump. Mine actually gained power and speed so he was quite pleased. Moving on!

Toe Loop - I'm still toe waltzing these. We went over to the boards and I was able to do it correctly but out on open ice, I'm still not pulling in with my free leg correctly. I need to take my time with these and not rush them.

Salchow - These have improved thanks to Sally the Snake but they are still very rushed. I think the word Christopher used was "swingy". I need to really check that three turn going into the jump and spend perhaps just a second more on that LBI edge before I bring my free leg around. I'm essentially a tornado and that's not a good thing.

Half Lutz - I'm still flutzing. He emphasized how much of an outside edge I should have going into this but, to me, it just looks like a great way to twist my ankle.

*Are you tired yet? Because, at this point, I sure as hell was!*

Waltz Jump Toe Loop Combo - Waltz jump good, toe loop not so much.

Salchow/Toe Loop Combo - omgthiswasrushed!

Loop jump - He made an adjustment to my free leg and that helped quite a bit! Instead of my feet being lined up, my free leg should be crossed a little so that I'm already in the crossed leg position for the jump. This changes the center of gravity and makes the jump quite a bit easier! Yay!

Half Loop - This is a jump I have never done before! Despite its name, it is a full revolution jump and is exactly like the loop jump except that you land on your left leg instead of your right leg. Goofy but not too terribly difficult. Later during my practice, I found that working on some half loops before working on the loop jump was helpful in getting the feeling of that deep outside edge just prior to liftoff. Now I know a new jump! Fun!

Waltz Jump Loop Combo - At this point in the lesson, I just couldn't even but I was determined to do what ever he threw at me. I tried it but was very unsuccessful. I just couldn't get that free leg to NOT go into the landing position. I should be landing the waltz with my free leg in front to get ready for the loop but my brain and my body were not cooperating with each other. I'm able to do it at the boards but not on open ice yet. I promised Christopher I would work on it.

Loop Loop Combo - Really?! He showed me how it's done but it's the same problem as the waltz/loop combo. I need to train my brain to know that sometimes it's okay to land with your free leg in front of you.

Flip Jump - You thought we were done right? HA! Nope, now he wants me to do a flip. He showed me how it's done and I said I would like to do some off-ice flips first. I just didn't have anything left to give at this point.

And there are still five more jumps left to learn in the Free Skate curriculum. I imagine he might throw those at me next week. Okay, so here are my thoughts on this. I really wanted to be a cooperative student today and do anything he asked of me. But honestly, I'm not ready for half of the things we worked on today. Maybe he feels pressured to fit everything in in a six week session? Keep in mind our lesson was only 30 minutes long so that should give you some perspective on how quickly we just ran through these jumps. I would rather spend some time and get these jumps right rather than slop through them quickly just to say I've been exposed to them. I was exhausted, battered, and bruised....and maybe a little bit defeated because I don't have the skills to land these jumps. I'm actually pretty nervous for our next lesson. I feel like he's going to expect me to start learning the lutz and the axel because those jumps are coming up next on the list. I'm just not ready :(

Cramming at the YMCA

Since I didn't want to go a whole week without practicing before I had my lesson, I found a rink that had a Friday evening public session that I could go to right after work. It's at the YMCA in Boulder County and I've never been there before so, thankfully, Dustin was willing to go with me so I didn't feel so alone. They have one rink that they use for figure skating, hockey, and recreational skating and you can tell that it gets used a lot. The ice was riddled with ruts and was pretty scary to skate on. Yikes!

Backspins - These are still pretty inconsistent. I'm at least getting a few revolutions in a one-foot position but I am rising up on my toe pick a lot which is effectively stopping the spin every time. I was able to do a couple in the crossed leg position but that threw off my center of gravity and they didn't really go anywhere. These still need a lot of work.

Loops - Once I worked on backspins for a bit, I started working on the loop jump. I was determined to land this jump today and, as a result, I fell quite a bit. As I always say, if you aren't falling you aren't trying hard enough. The bruises were worth it because I successfully landed a number of loops! I had to focus on feeling the turn happen with that deep outside edge just before the jump and it pretty much takes care of itself. I don't think I'm getting much height but at least the rotation is happening and I can just polish it from here.

I worked on some other stuff but it was a crowded session and the ice was not the best so I'm not sure about the quality of anything. But, it got done and I feel like I won't disappoint too much for my lesson tomorrow.

*Achievement Unlocked: Landed my First Loop Jump*

Weekend practice and coach stuff

No lesson this weekend because the Ice Centre was putting on their Spring Exhibition. I skated on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning but because I will be at a conference in Pueblo next week, this is really my only opportunity to practice until my next lesson. Harrumph!

Only two things to report from my weekend practice:

Backspin - I've been working this pretty hard and, during my Friday evening practice, I somehow magically found the rocker on my right skate and was able to get FOUR (!) revolutions. I wasn't able to repeat it but now I know that I can do it if I can just find that sweet spot on the blade.

Backward Consecutive Edges - I spent a lot of time on these as well but there was one moment on Friday evening when I had just finished a set of BO edges when a higher level figure skater was getting off the ice told me "those look really nice, by the way". I was blown away! I don't have a coach right now so I'm trying to remember instruction from ten years ago. I guess I'm doing ok with these! She didn't have to say anything at all, right? So the fact that she did makes me feel somewhat accomplished!

So, speaking of coaches (or, rather, the lack thereof), I reached out to one particular coach and asked her for a trial lesson. I chose this coach because her profile was the only one of the many listed on the Rocky Mountain Figure Skating Club's website that mentioned that she enjoys working with all ages. She, however, wrote back saying that because of our difference in schedules, she would be unable to give me lessons on the weekends. She also informed me that, for the summer, the Ice Centre is doing away with the 6:00am freestyle slots further reducing my ability to find a time to practice. She was sweet and offered some alternatives for me to consider, but I'm just feeling a little defeated at the moment. Finding time to practice with my schedule is difficult and it looks like it's not going to get any easier. I see Christopher on Saturday for our jumps lesson and will ask him if he would consider taking me on as a student. Hopefully, he says yes but if he can't then I have a few more tricks up my sleeve (one that includes me joining a different figure skating club farther away even though I would really like to stay with my home rink).

Edit to add: I'm in Pueblo for a library conference and my hotel for the conference is right across the street from the ice rink! What luck, right? I had my skates in the car and was looking forward to skating at their public session but was saddened to discover that they do not allow any figure skating jumps or spins on public ice. So yeah, I could go and skate in a circle but that's it. Harrumph again!

The quest for a coach starts now!

Looks like I'll need to find myself a coach sooner rather than later. I just looked at the Ice Centre's website and they laid out their group lesson schedule for the entire summer. From June until almost September all of their group lessons will be held on Tuesdays or Thursdays around 5:00pm-ish. Because I work a Monday through Friday 9-5 job, there is no way possible for me to attend group lessons anymore after this current session. I was really hoping to sign up for one more group session focusing on spins but, alas. I guess it's just not in the cards for me. 

So, I'm on the hunt for a coach. I have Christopher for my jumps class and since I'm the only one in the class I'm essentially getting private lessons from him. So far, I feel as though he gives good direction, is honest and tells me when something needs work but also tells me when I do something right, and has a nice balance between artistry and technique. During our previous lesson, he showed me videos of some of his other students and how they approach certain jumps. They are higher level skaters working on triples so I know I have room to grow with him. I feel comfortable with him being my coach long term but before I ask him, I just want to take one or two more lessons with him to be sure. I'm not sure if he would even want to take on an adult skater as a student. And what does he even charge? Can I even afford him? Can he give me lessons on weekends??? Aghgghhhh!

I just thought I had more time to research possible coaches. I feel like I have to make a decision real soon and I know what a commitment this is for myself and whomever I choose. So much pressure to get it right!

A Case of the Mondays?

Yesterday was Easter so the rinks were closed. To make up for it I went this morning to an 8:00am public session. Something was off today. Maybe it was because it's Monday and I'm feeling blegh or it could be that I spent the entire weekend eating crap (and by "crap" I mean delicious jambalaya, cheesecake, fast food, chocolate chip muffins, bread, etc.). Maybe I was weighed down.

I spent the first half hour working on Moves in the Field (MITF). I ran through the entirety of the Adult Pre-Bronze MITF Test from start to finish minus the spirals because, for some stupid reason, I'm still scared of them.

CW and CCW Forward Perimeter Stroking just felt okay. I know I need more power. My crossovers at the ends don't feel natural, though. I keep thinking about how I need to fit at least three crossovers in there instead of the two that I am used to. I don't have a good side or a bad side with these. Each direction feels the about same. It's those damn crossovers. It's not like I don't know how to do a crossover. I just can't seem to fit three in at the ends without it feeling forced.

Basic Consecutive Edges - These were fine but for some reason (again, I am blaming Monday) I kept putting my foot down on the FI edges. The forward edges are my best ones! How am I putting my foot down? Frustrating! With the backward edges, I'm getting enough flow. I just need to learn how to get that initial push to be stronger.

Forward and Backward Crossovers in a Figure Eight - These felt pretty comfortable so I only did two figure eights and moved on.

Waltz Eight - Pretty good. I'm consistently coming back to the center. Cool. I did three waltz eights and they were good enough to be testable, I think.

Jumps - I practiced the Salchow from a standstill and they seem to be progressing better this way rather than when I approach them from the proper entry. I spent some time making sure Sally the Snake was in the proper position. Toe loops feel small, rushed, and cheated. Stupid toe pick! I worked on the loop entry for a little bit and then ended with some half-flips and waltz jumps to remind myself that, yes, I can actually jump.

Backspins - I spent a good amount of time on these because I know how important they are. I noticed that I am looking down at my feet which causes my body weight to fall slightly forward which leads to me rising up on my toe pick effectively stopping any kind of rotation during the spin (again, stupid toe pick!). When I kept my head up and just focused on proper body alignment over my right foot, I saw some progress. I am proud to say that there were a couple of times I got two whole revolutions! What?! :)

My next practice will not be until Friday afternoon because I'm a grown up with a job and time to go to the rink just doesn't exist in my world sometimes. However, when I do go on Friday, I am going to start working on backward three turns. It's been ten years so I'm not sure how bad they are. Just like the spirals, I have been avoiding these out of fear. Some of my worst falls have been on backward three turns.

Sally the Snake

Today was my second lesson in the Freeskate Jumps class with Christopher. He said he saw some improvement but I really feel like it's only a slight improvement from last week. Here's what we worked on:

Hops from a Standstill - Like last week, we started with just getting the feeling of rotation in the air. He had me do some half-rotation hops and some full rotation hops. The full rotation hops are easier just because that feels like a more natural landing position whereas the half hops land forward on the toe pick. He stressed knee bend on these so I can really spring up into the jump.

Salchow - I am able to land this jump and am getting the rotation in the air so Christopher worked with me on arms and free leg position during the jump. As far as my arms are concerned, he wants me to keep my left arm in front and my right arm back after the initial three turn. He said to think of my arms as a snake, Sally the Snake! Sally's head is my left hand which stays in front and her tail is my right hand which will come up to meet her head during the jump (ballet first position). Silly, but for me, sometimes silly helps. He also observed that I am bringing that free leg in instead of swinging it wide through the jump. This closed position hinders rotation.

Toe Loop - These got slightly better since last week. They are still cheated but progress is being made. Dustin made a clever observation during my practice after my lesson and noticed that when I pick in for the jump, I'm picking in with the side of my toe pick rather than the tip. This is something that previous coaches have mentioned to me so I'm impressed that he was able to pick up on it and bring it to my attention (he's really getting good at learning the different elements and edges!). I forgot that that was a problem that I had. I still need more work on these.

Backspins and Loops - I was able to get one rotation with my backspin which, although that sucks, it's better than last week where I couldn't even get around halfway. Christopher said he doesn't feel comfortable working with me on my loop jump until I can secure a decent backspin (three revolutions). However, he did spend some time with me on getting into the proper entrance position for the jump by doing backward crossovers and lining my feet up before liftoff. Later in the evening, Dustin and I went to the gym in our apartment complex and while he was on the treadmill, I did some floor loops. Not so scary when you don't have knives attached to your feet! With the help of my new friend, Sally the Snake, I was able to get three individual fully rotated floor loops!

Half-Flip and Half Lutz - Half-Flip is just fine so he watched me do a couple of them and moved on to the Half-Lutz. Here is where my brain exploded a bit. I don't know if I was really tired by the end of our lesson or what but I just could not wrap my head around this. I understand how the jump is done. Getting my body to understand it is a different story. I promised him I would work on it for our next lesson.

Waltz Jump - Let's end on a high note, shall we? I did a beautiful waltz jump for him to end the lesson. Nothing to work on here. Just some applause and a high-five from my coach. Yay! I can at least do one thing correctly.

A rink all to myself!

I overslept and didn't go to the 6:00am Tuesday morning Freestyle Session at the Stable so I went to the 6:00pm public session this evening. You guys....THERE WAS NOBODY THERE! YAAAAS!

So, this meant I could go full out on my jumps and not be worried about someone judging me for falling. And fall I did! Right off the bat I fell on my warm-up while doing forward crossovers. It was one of those instantaneous falls where you don't even realize you're down until you're on the ice and writhing in pain. I hit my knee pretty hard (minor bleeding) and will be adding a pretty substantial bruise to the collection of bruises on my left hip. I think I caught a rut in the ice with my toe pick and down I went. The rink was empty but the ice was super torn up from hockey. Anyway, ouch. I had to sit for a while to recover from that.

I worked on forward and backward edges. These seem pretty good so I moved on to other things. Two-foot spins are fine as are my one foot spins so I feel comfortable if I were to test them soon. Backspins are....well, let's just not even talk about backspins. Waltz Eight looked and felt nice. I'm making my way back to the center like I should! No more lopsided figure eights!

Finally, jumps. So, you know how car dealerships have those inflatable things out front that flail about with their arms? Yeah, that's how I look when I'm doing my salchow and toe loop. I mean, I guess it's pretty cool that I can land these jumps but must I look so chaotic while doing so? And I have video proof that this is the case because I got daring and brought my phone out on the ice, set it up against the boards, and recorded myself doing various things. The phone doesn't lie, folks. I'm definitely flail-y.

Lesson coming up on Saturday. I think Christopher will see some slight improvement from last week but I imagine he's going to spend a lot of time fixing my wonky arms. May the force be with him.

In which I am the teacher

Dustin said he wanted to try this whole ice skating thing so he came with me to my practice session on the public skate at the Sport Stable. He was super nervous as he has never been ice skating before in his life. I promised him I would support him (physically and motivationally) the best I could. We got him laced up into his rental skates and on the ice we went. He made it once around the rink clutching the walls when he told me he had enough. He felt defeated and wanted to give up but, after a bit of a rest, he got back on the ice like a champ and conquered his fears! In total, I think he made it around the rink 6 times and each time he got better. I showed him how to push off with his foot and do a two-foot glide. At one point he even broke away from the wall to get around a group of people who were just hanging out and made it around them successfully without holding on to me! He had a couple of spills but overall I think he did really well. I'm super proud of him!!! While he's not ready to sign up for lessons or anything, he at least wants to try it again sometime in the future so I'm guessing he didn't totally hate it.

After Dustin was done and took his skates off, I had some time left to work on some homework. I did a couple of really nice scratch spins but my backspins, of course, were just a mess. I tried approaching them by going into a FI 3-turn with a nice knee bend and I was able to get one revolution in the crossed-leg position. This is one of those things that will take some time. A lot of time!

Salchows were jumpier but still sloppy. I think I may be hesitating and spending too much time on that BI edge just before the jump. I think it should just be one fluid movement but when I do it that way, it feels out of control. This is something that I'll bring up in my next lesson with Christopher.

Toe loops are easier to do in a combination for some reason. When I do a waltz jump/toe loop combo it feels more comfortable than when I approach the toe loop on its own. Maybe my problem is more psychological. When I go into this jump on its own, I am thinking too much ("omg here we go don't mess it up don't fall!!!!") whereas when I do it in combination with another jump it just happens. Again, this is something I can bring up in my next lesson.

I feel like I'm getting a pretty good workout when I'm out there doing jump after jump. Neat!

Freestyle Jumps Lesson #1

I have been super nervous for this lesson for the past two weeks. The main reason being is I'm not sure how bad my jumps really are because, with the exception of my waltz jump, I haven't done any jumping for the past 10 years. I showed up nice and early for the lesson so I could calm my nerves. I got my skates laced up and waited to see who my coach was. As I have learned from my Freeskate 4 experience years ago, a bad coach can really kill your spirit and motivation. For the next six weeks, I have Christopher as my coach. He introduced himself and told me a bit about his background (which is heavy in ballet so, yay, I'll maybe look a little bit more graceful when this is done!). Even though I told him I'm a returning adult skater who hasn't really done much these past few years, he had me start with....

The dreaded backspin! If you look through my journal entries from years ago, you will see that the backspin was my nemesis. I understand why he had me start with this: it is necessary to get the proper in-flight position for a jump. However, it's really difficult for me for some reason. The best way I can describe the goofy feeling of a backspin is that it's like being right-handed and after learning how to write well, your teacher asks you to now write with your left hand! Sure, you might be able to write out some letters, but they sure as hell won't be pretty! To me, this is the backspin. I can spin just fine on my left leg, but ask me to spin on my right leg and I can barely eek out a singe revolution. I promised him I would spend some time working on my backspin for my next lesson. Once I have that down pat, I'm sure he's going to have me start on the loop jump.

So we moved on to some other prep exercises. He had me do a two-foot half rotation from a standstill. I actually over jumped this and did a full rotation (oops). Once he saw that I could rotate in the air, we worked on toe-loops and salchows. Salchows were just ok. They could use some more height but I'm landing them. The toe-loops were a hot mess! I'm actually doing a toe-waltz so he had me do some exercises at the boards to get the feeling for where my picking foot should be and how my freeleg should cross in front. I'm cheating the jump by rotating on my toepick. This needs to stop.

Finally, we ended on a high note and he had me do some waltz jumps for him. These are pretty good actually and he commended me on having the proper arms for the take off. He said this will prepare me well for the axel (gulp!). He fixed some things on my landing like my head position but overall, they are passable.

Lots of homework for my next lesson so I will practice on Sunday and again Tuesday morning. The one really positive aspect of this jumps class is that I am the only student enrolled in it. So I'm getting a private lesson for the whole 30 minutes. :)

Why am I doing this?

"Why figure skating?" and "Aren't you too old?" are two questions most adult figure skaters hear on a regular basis. When most people think about figure skating, they have visions of teens and early twenty-somethings skating competitively at Nationals and at the Olympics. They very rarely picture a middle-aged adult wearing skating skirts (or pants) and learning jumps and spins. So, what is adult figure skating and why would anyone want to do this when there is no chance of making it to the Olympics?

For me, I have very fond memories of skating as a child. About once a month, my childhood bestie and I would go to the ice rink and skate around to 90s music and flirt with boys. While I wasn't doing anything fancier than skating the perimeter without holding on to the walls, I thought I looked pretty good out there. But I always admired the figure skaters who dominated the center of the rink (to me, the "center of the rink" was sacred space that you just didn't enter unless you had white skates and could spin and jump). I wanted to be one of them!!!

I never got to take lessons as a kid. We just didn't have the money and time for that sort of thing. Besides, I was already in private music lessons and my goal was to get a music scholarship to college (which I did!). As an adult, I never really considered skating lessons. I didn't think that was a thing. One fateful day in 2004, when I was living in Texas and walking around the Houston Galleria Mall, I stumbled upon their ice rink and saw some adults skating around. I now know that what I saw then was a "coffee club" session reserved exclusively for adults. I was blown away! They looked like they were having so much fun and some of them were pretty darn good! I went online and signed myself up for lessons right away! I mean, what? You can skate and drink coffee?! Count me in!

I enrolled in an adults only class and before I knew it, I was spinning, jumping, and looking darn good on the ice. I loved that my rink was in a mall. I didn't mind an audience and I hoped that I could inspire an adult to pick up the sport just as I was inspired to sign up for lessons. Within months, I outgrew the adult lessons. I got a private coach, switched rinks, and started preparing to test! My progress was slowed when I got a new job in Colorado and had to move. Being new to Colorado, I enrolled in group lessons while I researched coaches. Since I was too advanced for the adult classes, I enrolled with the kids (awkward!) in the Freeskate 1-6 track but only made it to Freeskate 4 before I quit to focus on school.

I'm back now with a new eagerness to learn, test, and maybe even compete. Yes, adults can do all of the same things in figure skating as the kiddos do! While we will never go to the Olympics, we can still test our way through the adult or standard track tests, we can still compete at the national or international levels, and best of all, we can INSPIRE! Adult figure skaters are not doing this for the glory, we are doing this because it's FUN! We aren't doing this to fulfill our parents' unrealized dreams, we are doing this for ourselves! Instead of the pressure put on most younger figure skaters to land their axel by a certain age or they are considered a failure, adults consider the smallest advancements as success and will celebrate even the tiniest of victories!

Plus, I'm not going to lie, the skating skirts and tights make me feel pretty fancy :)

Snow and Skate....at 6:00am!!!!

Ok, those who know me well, know that I am not a morning person. Like, at all! But I needed to practice and now that I have a big girl 9-5 job, it's difficult to make it to the daytime and evening sessions. My only options are weekend public skates and early morning freestyles. I got dressed, brushed the snow off my car, and made the slow and slippery drive to the Sport Stable. 

It was actually pretty nice! $12.00 gets me an hour and a half of ice which I shared with one other figure skater. There was no music so it was nice and quiet and I was able to concentrate on my moves. That was the theme for today's practice, by the way - moves. Since I'm taking the jumps class, I won't have instruction on MITF and edges so it is up to me to fill in those gaps. My goal is to take either the Pre-Preliminary test or the Adult Pre-Bronze test by the end of the year. I haven't decided which one yet so I'm working on both (they are pretty much the same anyway).  Here's how practice went today: 

Forward Perimeter Stroking - These were my warm up and I only did them CCW because, by the time I was ready to switch, the other skater made her way to the ice and she was also doing laps for a warm up. I didn't want to go against her flow. Now I know for the future to start with CW stroking. The stroking was fine. I felt like I was getting pretty good extension but I feel like I'm not getting enough crossovers at the end of the rink. Right now, I'm doing two forward crossovers but I think I remember reading somewhere that there should be 3-5. I could do smaller, less powerful crossovers to get more in but wouldn't that defeat the point? I thought this move was about power and extension. 

Forward and Backward Crossovers - These feel pretty comfortable but I'm having some problems with the transition into the backwards crossovers in the figure eight pattern. I know I'm supposed to do a swing roll with a change of edge into an open mohawk but I'm not really sure where to place it. I'm sure I will eventually get into a groove with this. The good news is that the crossovers are nice. The transition will be easy to add in once I space things out properly. 

Waltz Eight - Yaaaayyy, I remember the pattern! It felt swingy and nice but I wasn't coming back to the mid-point to start the other side like I'm supposed to. I kept missing it. So, in essence, I am completing the figure eight pattern but it was lopsided. I'm also not holding that RBI edge long enough coming out of the first 3-turn. Since my goal with this today was just to see if I remembered it, I didn't spend too much time on it. Instead, I thought my time would be better spent working on those edges, especially the BI ones!

Basic Consecutive Edges - My FO and FI edges are just fine. I worked on them on Sunday and today they felt pretty solid. In fact, I don't know, they may even be testable? So I spent a good chunk of time on the backwards edges. I'm not exaggerating when I say that, out of the hour and half that I was at the Stable this morning, an entire hour was dedicated to backward edges. They were pretty awful since I haven't done them in 10 years. The BO edges came together eventually but I am really weak on the first push. They pick up strength as I go down the line but I'm not sure how to get the initial push to be more deliberate. This is why I need a coach! The BI edges were gone completely. I think I stood there for a while just trying to think about what my arms should be doing. Finally, I had the idea of doing another set of BO edges and paying more attention to my arms. Theoretically, it should be the same arm movement for the BI edges. They are! The arm on the free leg side follows the same movement as the free leg. Once I figured this out, I just had to clean them up a bit and they were good. I have the same problem as I do with the BO edges in that I have a weak initial push. Damn. 

What I didn't work on today - Spirals. I'm just kind of scared to attempt them if I know I haven't been stretching. I have visions of catching a toe pick and doing a face plant. I need my face, it's my money maker ;) 

Fast forward 10 years later!!!

So yeah, it's been over ten years since my last update! I took a break from skating to focus on finishing my college education. I graduated with my Bachelor's in History in 2011 and then finished my Master's in Library and Information Science (MLIS) in 2014. After that, I wanted to make sure I was well-established in my career before I committed to returning to the sport. So, here we are in 2017 and I'm finally back on the ice!

Getting back on the ice after a ten year hiatus was pretty intense! Last week, I went to a public session at my old home rink and holy smokes the ice was SLIPPERY! Was it always so slippery?! I think I did two or three laps around the perimeter just to get the ice under my feet again and regain some balance. Once I felt confident (or crazy) enough, I did some tiny waltz jumps, two-foot spins, and some one-foot upright spins from backward crossovers. Let's just say I was pretty rusty! My waltz jumps were more like waltz hops and although my two-foot spins were solid, they were really slow. Backwards crossovers in both directions felt great - like riding a bike I guess the body just remembers how those are supposed to feel. One foot spins were not centered at all and I kept falling out of them. I couldn't really work on anything else because it was a crowded public session (and also I am terribly out of shape!) so after an hour, I left. 

Yesterday, I went to a new rink that opened up a few minutes from my house and although it was a public session, it was uncrowded and the few people who were there were figure skaters and hockey players skating laps so I had plenty of room to work on some MITF. FO and FI consecutive edges were clean and consistent, FO and FI crossovers felt pretty good, and my waltz jumps were much higher. I did some centered one-foot spins and even some scratch spins! I estimate that, although I had passed Freeskate 3 ten years ago, I'm probably a solid Freeskate 1 right now. 

I don't think I'm ready for a private coach right now so I just enrolled in some group lessons until I can research a good coach. The Ice Centre has changed the way they do their Freeskate group lessons, though. It used to be by level where you would take Freeskate 1, learn the elements, and then pass the test to get to the next level of Freeskate. Now, they have broken it up by elements: Freeskate 1-6 jumps, Freeskate 1-6 spins, and Freeskate 1-6 edges are the only options now. Since my jumps require the most work to get back, I enrolled in the six week Freekate 1-6 jumps class. I'll be starting on Saturday!!!! My plan is to take a Freeskate jumps class and then take a Freeskate spins class. I figure (heh) that should be enough to get me back to where I left off ten years ago. Then I'll get a coach. 

Did I mention that I'm really out of shape? Because I am. I mean, I'm the same size I was ten years ago but not having worked out AT ALL has left me with no stamina and hardly any muscle tone. I need to get that back.