What Was I Thinking???

I woke up today and decided to do two sessions back to back starting at 6:00am. WHAT WAS I THINKING?? Twelve hours later and my body is still mad at me. At no point did the pain stop. My feet even hurt. I will do it again on Friday. The best part about double sessions is that one session is just for Moves In The Field and the other for freestyle and dance. With more sleep, I expect to be able to do this without my body getting so angry. Wish me luck. For now, at 8:47pm, I am going to bed. Good night.

Observations

First, allow me to apologize to Lexi, who asked a question on my last post. I have been trying to respond, but something keeps going wrong. So, to answer your question: I competed at the Neal Wood Open in Hershey, PA. Now that the "standard" competition season is starting, I realized something important: no matter how good you are, as an adult skater, unless you are Master Junior/Senior level, you're not as important as the kids. Sometimes even when you are Master level, you're not as important as the kids. Lessons are re-arranged, understandably because of competitions. Or preparing for competitions. Or just because. I'm not bitter; it's just a simple truth. We matter, just not enough. Here's an excellent example: The 2022 Adult National Championships took place in April. As of this writing, it is mid-September. The videos of that competition have not been sent to the competitors, nor uploaded onto USFS Fan Zone. If this was a standard competition, those videos would have been available in late April. Five months of waiting? Doesn't that sound odd? The general consensus is that the company erased the footage, but haven't figured out how to tell anyone. I didn't participate at Nationals, but several of my friends did and I really wanted to see them. Some of them medaled. To whomever the videographer was for Adult Nationals 2022, admit your error and go on. If people paid for these videos, give them a refund, issue an apology and take steps to prevent this from happening again. I actually asked a different videographer what could be the reason for the delay. He asked if other events had been uploaded, which they had. He thought that basically, the data was lost. A few years ago, at Easterns, a friend's program was accidentally deleted, along with three or so other skaters. To my knowledge, my friend never received acknowledgement of the mistake or an apology. This brings me back to adult skaters during the standard competition season. We are not forgotten, but our lives are turned on their heads due to scheduling changes. Constant schedule changes. Beginning in September until the end of the season, there are dozens of competitions that will capture your coach's focus. That's not a bad thing. An inconvenient thing? Definitely. A bad thing? No. The adult skating season isn't really a season, but the high points are Sectionals (March), Nationals (April) and international competitions, such as Ottawa and Germany. I'm not exactly sure when they happen, but I think it's September and May respectively. And that's about it. There are smaller competitions all over the place, but those are the big ones to the adult competitiors anyway. It's sad to be treated like an after-thought in the sport. We adult skaters really only quit when our bodies or our bank accounts tell us to do so. We rearrange our work lives and our family lives. No one is driving us to the rink in the morning; we do everything ourselves. While adjustments are made to our schedules to accomodate standard track competitiors, it becomes more of the "norm" than the exception. Adult competitive skaters, has your coach ever gone with you to a competition? Here's a funny story that happened to me a while back. The rink had a local competition and there were adult levels. I signed up, my coach at the time said she had other skaters who would be there and so she'd be there to. She had everyone's competition time and knew she'd be there all day. The youngest skaters were earlier in the morning; I arrived at about 11:00 with my event being at about 12:30ish. I saw my coach. Waved to her and we agreed that she'd be there at 12:20. 12:20 comes; no coach. 12:30, we are standing, waiting to go on for the warmup. I'm looking around for my coach. She is no where to be found. I skate the event, come in third, get my medal and start looking around for my coach. I'm thinking she had a family emergency or she was ill... something. I ask one of the skating mothers who knows my coach, if she knows where she is. She tells me that my coach went to lunch at 11:30 and wouldn't be back until the Juvenile event at 2:00. I volunteered the rest of the competition, but when I saw my coach, I asked her what happened. She looked at me with a blank expression. She had forgotten that I was competiting at all and although she apologized, it told me I wasn't as important as the Pre-Preliminary Girls or anyone who came after. At least, not to her. By the way, she dropped me as a student. She said I wasn't progressing fast enough. Kept another adult skater who quit the sport six months later. I'm not really complaining, just making observations. Lessons are changed or eliminated to accomodate the standard competitiors. Now that school is in session, it has become harder and harder to schedule lessons. Some lesson time is better than none. We all appreciate coaches who are willing to accept adult skaters. We want to be treated like the true athletes that we are. There are coaches out there who only want the money and are successful in talking us out of various competitions and do not think we will ever be good enough. There are coaches who will spend most of your lesson time working on crossovers, even though there's nothing wrong with your crossovers or stroking and the skater really wants to go on to other skills. That's not to say that stroking and crossovers aren't important, quite the contrary. However, if one has a thirty minute lession, twenty of those minutes shouldn't be taken up by crossovers and stroking. School is back in session. Early morning sessions will be crowded until outdoor rinks open. Coaches will be away and back and reschedule and cancel. It's the life of an adult figure skater.

Pudding

In the play "The Matchmaker", which subsequently became the musical "Hello Dolly", written by Thorton Wilder, there is a scene in which two workers (a clerk and the assistant to that clerk) at a Hay and Feed store named Conelius Hackle and Barnaby Tucker, respectively, decide to have an adventure in New York City. They leave Yonkers and have a catchphase for when they are having an "adventure". They will say "Pudding!" when it hapens. After watching the movie "The Matchmaker" (it's a lovely, sweet old movie with Shirley Booth - look her up), my sister Becca and I decided that "pudding" would be our catchphase whenever we had an advenure. Got lost? Pudding! Stuck in a freak snow storm without proper clothing? Pudding! My competition last weekend? Well... It started off well. We took the train to the location because I no longer own a car. Upon arriving at a rather old hotel, one key card didn't work. Becca went upstairs (yes, the lobby or the foyer was on the 3rd floor; our room was on the 2nd floor) to get new key cards. And they worked, once each time. Afraid of bedbugs? Do what we do, which is bring bedbug spray and spray down your beds. Don't place your suitcase on the bed either. Don't forget to wipe down the remote, door handles, phone and light switches. We did this pre-pandemic so it's not our paranoia about germs that caused this. These things aren't usually cleaned and I don't want someone else's sickness. Some things didn't go as planned and one major one was my fault. I didn't do my due dilligence regarding the actual location of the rink for the official practice. As a result, there were two locations and the UBER went to the wrong one. Since we were not in NYC, the wait for another UBER took the entire length of the offical practice. So, no practice for me. Competition time!!! Let's just say, I was there. My nerves got the better of me and I missed three of the four jumps planned. I duplicated a spin because I fell out of the planned camel spin and received zero points for that. I did receive a nice amount of points for my footwork and attitude (which was supposed to be a layback) spin and skating skills. All in all, this being my first IJS competition and being away from it for several years, I was there. I am back! First IJS competition down, more to come. As far as "Pudding" is concerned, both my sister and I had a small bout of food poisoning after the competion was done. We both ended up with extreme dizziness and nausea, which lasted a few hours, but having the world spinning around you is quite disturbing. Maybe it was the water. Eight UBERs in one short weekend makes me think about renting a car for my next competition. The drivers were great, but the wait time was not. Onward to the next competiton... next year.

Tick... Tick... Boom!

Back in January, I mentioned that a skating friend said I would improve faster if I competed. Well, I signed up for a competition, much to the surprise of everyone. Am I ready? No, not really. Will I do it anyway? Yes, because they're only giving refunds if you have COVID. Broken bones, illness, death? Was it COVID related? No? Then you are out of luck. Weird, eh? Granted, the program is coming along nicely. Two minutes and nine seconds is a lifetime when you can't catch your breath. I'll keep plugging away. The competition is in August. Don't think I'll be attending the one in Ottawa, even though I'd really like to go. It's one thing to only be slightly ready for a competition in your region; it's another thing to leave the country when you are ill prepared. Recently, I looked high and low for a skating movie named The Petrichor. It's a Canadian film about a thirty year old woman who wants to return to competition (not in adult categories). I hunted for it and finally located where I could see the movie. I was all set to enjoy myself. Forty minutes into the movie and no one is skating yet. I'm confused. And disappointed. I'll finish watching the movie and keep hoping for the best. Right now, it's on the back burner of things I want to watch while at work. Fast forward a week and there is some "skating". It's really just the actress moving her arms while the camera circles her. When there are shots of skates, it's in the dark and for all we know, those are MY feet they're filming. The movie isn't very good. It's not Hallmark holiday movie bad, but it's bad. Also, I can't figure out if only one man plays almost ALL of the male parts or if everyone looks that much alike. The summer sessions have begun at my main rink. The number of people on the ice hasn't gotten crazy yet. I'm curious as to whether it WILL get crazy. I'm sure it will. Darn those learn-to-skate and hockey camps that take up the entire morning. At my other rink, it is already crazy. The Coffee Club is gone and anyone who has ever strapped on a pair of skates is at the morning freestyle session. Several have just graduated from Learn-to-Skate. Okay, that's fine. I had to jump through hoops to skate a freestyle session. Now all you have to do is show up. With in mind, look where you're going and be mindful of the others on the session. If you see someone taking off to jump, maybe move your crossovers away from the hockey circle that you have been practing on for the last 45 minutes. Your conversation about how crowded the session is, shouldn't take place in the middle of the rink while someone is trying to do a camel spin. If someone's program is playing, just notice where they are and where you are. And get out of their way. I'm sure I sound like a witch, but we all pay the same amount of money and the sessions are getting more crowded. Know where you are. Know what you need to do. Be mindful of the others on the ice. And do not skate crossovers in lutz corners (all 4) for the entire session. You have no idea how annoying that is.

Ups and Downs

I saw a quote recently that said "If there are no ups and downs in our lives, we are dead" with a picture of an EKG. In that instance, you really want those ups and downs.

In skating, well, not so much. Have you ever worked so hard that five hours later, your body is still angry with you? That was me, last week. Maybe it was because my main coach had been to the Governing Council. Or maybe it was because my former coach was on the session (after years of telling me she couldn't get there at that time...) and I felt I had to prove something. Or maybe if was just because. No, the real reason was a quote from a motivation video I watched: Train insane or expect the same I love that feeling when I've worked hard and things start working. It doesn't matter if it's skating, working out or dropping a pound. It's that wonderful feeling of accomplishing something after weeks, months and years of disappointment and frustration. And it feels good. Sometimes a little painful, but good.

There are so many things I'd like to accomplish this season, beginning with, of course, training, practicing, testing and competing. Having missed so many Adult Nationals, I just want to compete in 2023. I even found out what the dances are for Bronze Solo Dance. Right now, I can do one of them. The other doesn't look too difficult; I just need to pass the last two Pre-Bronze dances (curse you Swing Dance!!). Yes, things were looking up. Then the down occurred. The following week, although I had skated a session where I did nothing but three turns, come time for my lesson and those turns went to visit someone else.

I was told to work so hard that I should be sweating after each and every session. Since it's getting warmer, that's actually easier than I thought. However, while my Moves coach has surgery, she expects me to have these sloppy three turns corrected upon her return... in two weeks. My jumps were working, until my lesson, where my jumps and spins decided to go have coffee together. And they didn't bring any back for me. Either there was height and no rotation or rotation and no height. I did a toe loop that neither I nor my coach were quite sure it left the ice. My sit spin sat and spun but didn't get back up. I had eased up on my off-ice training, which I now see was a mistake. You know how you're told not to compare yourself with others? It's easier when everyone you know ISN'T featured on Adults Skate Too or the USFS Instagram page. Seriously. Six people in the last eighteen months. How is that even possible? No, I don't want to be featured, but three of those people started skating eighteen months ago and have left me in the dust! Okay they're younger and thinner, but still... Yep, life has it many little ups and downs. Let's hope there are more ups in the future than there are downs. Unless it's a sit spin. If that's the case, get down as far as you can and still be able to get up.

Meet Me In The Lutz Corner... Or Better Yet, Don't

Ah the lutz corner. A "safe" place. A place where coaches teach the Bronze and Gold MIF figure eights. A place where coaches teach new moves. A place where most people practice their jumps. A place where annoying people spin. A place where newbies stay and never leave, practicing their crossovers over and over and over and over again. We all were newbies once. I remember practicing my crossovers on the center circle because trying to practice them in the corners was not only wrong, but dangerous. There was a skater who used to buzz me whenever he was setting up a jump. We're friends now; he's even apologized for being such a jerk. But at that time, my wandering into the corner to do anything other than jumping was met with that response. I recently had to tell a little girl that spinning in the corner was dangerous, even if her mother was sitting in the stands on the other side of the wall. When I mentioned it to her mother, who did not believe me, the girl skated over to her coach, who said, "why were you spinning in the corner? We discussed this." One point for me. It's difficult enough trying to set up jumps during a mixed freestyle session. It's hard being a lefty when suddenly everyone jumps in the lefty lutz corner. I haven't figured out the pattern of counter-clockwise skaters aiming for the lefty lutz corner. I may never figure it out. All I know is the area that used to be fairly clear, is now busy. If you look on the website for a few ice rinks, they will display a pattern for freestyle sessions. Toe jumps in the righty lutz corners and edge jumps in the lefty lutz corners. Also teaching in the lefty lutz corners and something called "stand still jumps". Isn't that counter-intuitive? If you want people to jump in the corners but there's someone standing there teaching or doing a stand still jump, doesn't that prevent you from jumping? There's also coaching in the center, where you spin, but that's probably for a different post. And I'm really confused about that one. Last summer at Chelsea Piers, due to the Summer School and the limited freestyle sessions (there are even fewer scheduled for this summer), there were too many people on the ice and everyone and their cousin taught in the "edge jump" corners. I took down one coach and three kids and I don't even skate that fast. Once you're in the air, all bets are off. It's survival of the fittest, or the fastest or the one with the best health insurance. This summer with fewer freestyle sessions scheduled and four tests that I need to prepare for, it's just going to be so much more fun. Hot dog, I can hardly wait. (Insert sarcasm here) There's an Adults Skate Too teeshirt that says "Meet me in the lutz corner". Why? I commented that maybe that wasn't the best thing to put on a teeshirt because it's not the smartest place to "hang out". Their response was laughter. I tried. If you're wearing that shirt, hanging in the lutz corner and you get run over, you have no one to blame but yourself. I was traveling home/work after a session recently with another adult skater, who I consider a friend. She struck a conversation with a child who had just skated the session. Please note, I do not talk to children; I'm not really a fan. My friend was talking about her experience at Adult Nationals and showing the kid pictures. The kid asked if she (meaning me) skated. Hello child. We were just on the ice together. Do not tell me how smart this kid is if she doesn't recognize someone from 15 minutes ago. Anyway, my friend said "Yes she skates, she's always in the corner and really, really slow and not very good any more. She used be fairly good, but now she's not. She used to beat me in competitions." I responded with "And I will again. I beat you the last time we competed against one another." To be honest, she fell on warmup and broke her wrist. However, whiskey-tango-foxtrot, what was that? How dare you? I would never have said those things about her or any other skater. I was shocked and angry and determined. That was on a Tuesday. On Thursday, I worked with my coach and jumped all over creation, even cut her off twice (I don't usually cut anyone off on purpose; I did then.) I mentioned this to my coach, who suggested that we work harder so as to shut her up. I still consider this woman a friend, even if she refuses to believe she's ever wrong (I've proven her wrong several times and she just doesn't acknowledge it) and has been playing the same damnned CD for warmup music since last summer and we are all so bloody sick of it that if I were a different type of person, I would take the CD and break it into a million pieces. This is a woman who will take off someone else's warmup music if she doesn't recognize the songs to put on a CD that none of us can stand any longer. I have made CDs to play for warmup. The last time she tried to take mine off, I told her that no one wanted to hear those same 11 songs we've been listening to for almost a year. Well, you gotta have friends. Adult Nationals have come and gone, once again, without me. I was upset; still am, kind of. I want this to be the last AN without me. Next year's Easterns is in Florida, not my favorite state (the humidity, the heat) and AN is in Salt Lake City. I have four tests to take: Silver MIF, Silver freestyle and two Pre-Bronze dances. All of this during the summer when there are 200 million people on a freestyle session. Don't hang out in the lutz corner; chances are I'll accidentally run into you.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Somehow, the holidays got away from me. If I had another month, I'd be ready for Thanksgiving. A month after that Christmas and New Years. But I missed the deadline, so.... I've changed my music and have one month to prepare for Sectionals. I won't qualify for Nationals because I haven't tested in time. May I say how much I hate back three turns and mohawks? I've given myself the deadline of June for my moves test. Now all I have to do is actually turn a clean back inside three turn and keep my foot up. Who invented these things anyway? And why is it the person who just started skating last week has better three turns than I do? So, I learned the last Pre-Bronze dance... the Fiesta Tango? And it's not so bad. It naturally has a mohawk in it and when I tried it with my coach, we somehow got tangled up with one another. Several moments of laughter later, we tried it again. And it happened again. It's my fault, I'm going in the wrong direction and my poor coach is trying so hard to get around me. The joy of having a male dance coach who is nearly a foot taller than you are (he's 6'4; I'm 5'6) and much stronger is that he won't let me fall. He was a pair skater and is used to not letting the girl fall. That's sweet but I don't mind falling. It's the getting up that's hard! The Swing Dance is also coming along. I probably won't test it in time to go to Nationals, which is fine. I am on the fence as to whether I will continue with dance at all after finishing the Pre-Bronze. I had made a deal with my former coach that I would get to Bronze and decide from there. Well, I'm almost there and I still don't know. Let's see what happens with my Moves In The Field and I'll decide from there. I plan on attending Sectionals and Nationals regardless of whether I participate. I haven't seen an adult competition in a while and it would be good to be in the moment again. I have a friend who keeps telling me that I'd improve faster if I did competitions. She has a point. Sometimes there are people in your world who are not supportive. It would be best to elimiate those people from your circle, but you don't always see what they're doing. You think they are making those suggestions with your best interest in mind. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. It is no one's fault but my own that I did not compete for years and I lost my edge. It is difficult to get back because you remember what you were able to do not that long ago. And it hurts when you see that person who you thought was in your corner, push someone else along when you know it should have been you. The only thing to do in those situations is push harder, fight, work and prove them wrong. It's taking longer than I expected, but I have ever intention of proving people wrong. Happy New Year everyone!