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.
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