Welcome Back

Four months ago, I came home from a session, put my skates down thought I'd take them on my mini-vacation upstate in a week. I had a competition at the end of the month, which I was positive I wouldn't do well in (lack of training, out of shape and the sudden change in music because my coach didn't think I was "dancing" enough with my original music...???) and figured the break would do me good and I'd at least get an additional day on the ice. I was wrong. The vacation was canceled; heck, life was canceled. I worked several hours a day from home, began and finished a semester of school from home and gained ten pounds, on top of the weight I already needed to lose. Fast forward to today. One of the rinks I skate at has reopened with special freestyle sessions. If you can stand on skates, they'll let you in. The other rink is scheduled to open next week. I have skated three weeks in a row and I can truly say without a shadow of doubt... I AM OUT OF SHAPE!!!! I wasn't in great shape to begin with, unless you consider round an optimal shape. Make that round a little bigger and you have what I am facing, or not facing when I look in the mirror. But it's a new month, filled with hopes and dreams and promises. But no cookies. Or chocolate. And not too much alcohol. And now Blogger has changed the way things look and I have no idea how to do anything. Hopefully, I'll be back. Hopefully I will also figure out the new Blogger set up. Fingers crossed...

New Season, New Issues

Now that the new season for skating has begun, there seems to be a new set of issues to face. For one, there are fewer and fewer sessions to skate. Okay, let's be real; there are NO evening sessions anywhere except the SCNY session on Wednesday night. World Ice has a Monday session at 5:30 (yeah, good luck getting to that one), but that's it. City Ice Pavilion hasn't had a regular evening session since the first year it was opened. And I loved that evening session. Landed some of my best jumps there.

Currently, I'm only skating one session. That would explain the sudden disappearance of various jumps and all of my spins. It would also explain the stiffness of my hamstrings when I do skate. Also the renewal of my sciatica, Sylvie. It's a bit frustrating. Even with everything that had happened during the summer, I was a little further along than I appear to be right now. The three turns for my MIF have gone to visit other skaters, I fear. My spins like to visit other parts of the rink, get their passport stamped and sort-of return to where they began. I have never traveled so much on spins before in life, but now... it's become a constant.

I'm guessing part of the problem is my lack of core strength, flexibility, cardio training and practice. Skating once a week is not conducive to trying to pass 2 tests by January to go to Adult Nationals. If my recent skates are any indication as to how these next few months will go, I'm in BIG trouble.

It's not so much that I really want to go to Utah, although I have nothing against the state, I would like to go to Nationals again, soon. Soon before my body and finances give out. Soon, before I come to my senses and ask myself what the heck am I doing. (I should say before I ask that question again, since I've been known to ask myself that question while in the air in mid-jump.)

I suppose I will have to bite the bullet and attend public sessions. That will work until the weather gets very cold and everyone says, "Hey, let's go skating!!" and the sessions become unbearable. Of course, that would mean a rink would actually HAVE an evening session, which are also few and far between. Out here in Long Island, there are some outdoor rinks I could try. Wish I could get my GPS to work in my car.

On another note: my last session was good. Although I'm still having that "3 turns are visiting other skaters" issue, I am working through it. I didn't feel like spinning; working on my moves takes up most of the session. Hopefully, it'll work out that my jumps will be more consistent, although since I hardly have time to do them, I'm not sure how.

I really have to get back into shape. My stomach looks (to me anyway) as though I am 6 months pregnant; I'm not. Plus, all of my elements will be stronger if I do.

But first, why do my skates feel too big?

Mood Swings

Maybe it's the rain....

Yesterday, I spent much of the day being positive and watching other African-American (and Canadian) skaters on YouTube. I was inspired. I was so looking forward to skating today (Wednesday) and proving that while I was not over joyed with the session, I would go on. Then, I had an argument with my roommate (who is also my sister) and while we have resolved the conflict; I feel terrible. I hate to argue and I usually try to keep my anger and frustration inside where the only person I can hurt is myself. (Please see stomach issues.) I just feel as though my life has gone off on a tangent I never expected.

Like I said, maybe it's the rain.

Since the weather report stated it would be severe thunderstorms on and off all day, I decided not to drive to work. Not driving to work means not going to the rink. I hate driving in the rain, mostly because my car leaks in severe rain. If I had known that when I purchased my 2002 Ford Focus in 2005, I would have returned it immediately. It took a trip to the carwash where the entire inside of my car was soaked to discover this problem. It was also more than 6 months after I purchased the car. She doesn't leak all the time, usually when I don't want it to. As a result, I usually cover her with a car cover; except I forgot to last night and am prepared to return home to a wet car. I'll cover her anyway, and hope for the best.

I also feel fat.

And like a loser.

I know this will pass, but for right now, I just want to cry. Again.

Skating tomorrow at City Ice Pavilion. I like that rink. Had some really good sessions at that rink. Need more good practice sessions.

Maybe subliminal self-hypnosis tapes. "You can land your jumps." "You will ignore the child who only comes up to your hip who insists on doing a two-foot spin where you plan on landing your jump."

It's a thought...

Hmmmm... Not As Expected....

After work yesterday, I traveled to a new rink. It's the rink I'm supposed to be going to for a 6:00am session that I've never made. Yesterday, they began their summer sessions, which includes 6:15pm sessions twice a week. The rink is about six miles from my office. So, off I went.

After traveling in the wrong direction for approximately five or six miles, I stopped in a gas station and got turned around in the right direction. "Okay!" I thought, "I may be a little late, but I'll get there." And I managed not to get lost again and arrived with little or no additional problems. Oh wait, I did drive right past the big sign that stated it was the skating rink. Thank goodness for private roads that allow you to turn around.

The rink is owned and operated by the town (it's in Long Island), so the price can't be beat. It's less than half what I pay in Manhattan. That was one very big selling point for me.

As almost any skater will tell you, there is a bit of a learning curve when skating at a new rink. You're nervous, the ice feels funny, and in my case, there are the looks. Lots of looks. No, I'm not being paranoid. I'm a 5'6" African-American adult woman with more than a few extra pounds on her. I add the word "adult" because I am writing about figure skating and while there are more and more adult skaters, the parents of the children on the ice seem to think every adult falls into two categories: 1) skated competitively as a child and has all of their double and triple jumps and is coming back to the sport; 2) a big annoying waste of ice time who is taking up space that their little darling child could be using. I fall into the second category, not having skated as a child. When I go to a new rink, it's almost as though I've never been on skates before. I always hope that this feeling disappears after a few minutes, but it almost never does. There are people at World Ice Arena and Aviator who still wonder if I know how to skate. Then they'll see me at Chelsea Piers and ask if I have a sister who looks a lot like me, but doesn't skate very well. Go figure.

So, off the the rink in Long Island. I pay my fee, change my clothes and walk over to where all the other skaters are located. I start talking to another adult skater; her name escapes me right now. Actually, her name escaped me ten minutes after she told me. Sometimes things just fly right out of my head; usually names.

To my surprise, I saw two coaches I knew from years ago; they look exactly the same. That was the biggest positive about this session. Sadly, now for the negative.

Including myself and coaches, there were 22 skaters on the ice. Just 22. I've skated with as many as 32. How 16 actual skaters, average age of 11 managed to be in the way for the entire session boggles my mind. I started off stroking, but had to stop on the other side of the rink because a little girl decided the track was an excellent place to spin. Another lap, another spot, another spinner. Crossovers on the end, no, almost tripped over a leg doing a sudden lunge.

My moves in the field were only done down one side of the rink because the other side seemed to be devoted to little girls doing whatever the heck they wanted, wherever they wanted. I was moving backwards, when I heard "heads up" by a coach who decided that was the perfect place to stand to watch her student. Never mind that I was in a pattern on the track; I was in her way. Her student was doing three bunny hops.

Undeterred, I tried jumping. After twelve attempts at lining up the jump, only to abort due to a little girl deciding that spinning in the corner was the perfect place, I did the jump anyway and scared the pants off of her. Not on purpose; I guess she never saw an adult jump. It wasn't even a good jump, nor was it a high level jump (it was a basic waltz jump). That little girl eyeballed me for the rest of the session; still don't understand why.

I've been spoiled. The ice at Chelsea is usually perfect; not too hard, not too soft, not too wet and very, very smooth. Yesterday's ice was dry, hard and in need of a resurfacing. More than once on a back edge, I heard my toepick dig into the ice, a bad habit I'm trying to break. My jumps were not my best and spinning seemed to be a waste of time; everyone else was jumping in the center.

This brings me to an important point. There is a coach who doesn't allow parents to sit in the bleachers during sessions. They may watch from the large windows on the other side of the rink. This is not because the coaches are abusing or yelling, but because the parents are a distraction. I watched a coach trying to keep her student's attention when every eighteen seconds, that kid was looking over at her parents. She would do an element and look at her parents, who clapped enthusiastically, and as a result, distracted the child. It is this need for instant praise that created the spinning in the track problem. The skaters are spinning where their parents can see them and right in front of where they are sitting; along the track. If you don't allow parents in the rink, you eliminate this problem.

I am grateful for the opportunity to skate at this rink, even with all of the issues I raised. I need more ice time, and am trying not to waste my time or money. I should be on the ice tonight at a different rink, but I have to go buy an air conditioner with my roommate, so that plan has been squashed. I'll be back at the Long Island rink on Wednesday; not sure if I'll try to go in the morning as well.

It is my hope that it gets better; both the ice and me. I marvel at those high level skaters who can skate anywhere and not have it effect them. I want that. I just have to work hard to achieve it.

Pardon the Interruption....

Somehow, weeks passed without a posting. Oops. Sorry about that.

I can say that I haven't skated as much as I wished. I did skate the session before my lesson 2 weeks in a row. And what wonderful sessions they were. My coach is amazing and thanks to her extreme patience and positive attitude, my skating is improving.

I have no real excuse for not skating. Well, maybe.

In late June, I had an in-office medical procedure done. While I had none of the side-effects most women have after this procedure, but I just wasn't in the mood to drive or skate. I decided to take the rest of the week off. I did skate on that Friday morning and had a lesson.

In case you're wondering, I'm fine.

The 4th of July also came up. It's a funny fact that most skating rinks close during that weekend. So, there was no skating then either.

This was followed by the first real heat-wave of 2010 to hit the east coast. I have no patience for idiot drivers. Constantly changing lanes without signalling, deciding at the last second that this is your exit and you're in the left hand lane, talking on your cell while driving; I can't stand any of that. Add to this the triple digit temperatures and I opted to take public transportation. If the MTA actually worked correctly, I would have made 2 sessions this past week. However, the MTA is one of the worse run agencies in NY.

That brings me to today. And today I skated. I think my feet are shrinking because, once again, my skates feel too big. I worked through the strange feeling and had two really good sessions. My coach concentrated on my moves in the field. They seem to be coming along quite nicely too. I seem to be having trouble with the more basic portions of some of the moves, which doesn't make a great deal of sense to me, but....

Tomorrow is another day. It's supposed to be a very, very early day. There's a session near work that begins at 6:00am. I've never been to this rink and I don't have the best sense of direction, so, wish me luck.

Back To Work

I took a week off. Not on purpose, but I was just too tired to run around the city and outer boroughs to get to the rink. So I gave myself permission to sit back, go to the theatre (bad) and a movies (good). If this was a blog about theatre, I'd go into detail about how disappointed I was in the revival of a musical I saw recently. But it isn't. And no one is going to blame me for their ticket sales going through the cellar floor. (No, it didn't win Best Revival of a Musical).

Skating on Saturday was a joy. I got up extra early because the MTA still insists on screwing with my subway line. Actually the MTA is just screwing with everyone's subway line by eliminating trains in crowded areas, combining service but only in certain areas. It's a mess. I have an idea as to how to fix it, but again, this isn't a blog about fixing the financial woes of the city. (FYI: if you make over 300k annually and you work for the city, you could do with a small pay cut.)

Back to skating. The session was a bit more crowded than I expected at 9:00am on a Saturday. There were kids there as well as adults. More kids than adults. But I saw several of the skaters from the Wednesday night session and it was great to see them. I've noticed how much progress they've made since the beginning of the season in October. They've all gotten quite good and are much more observant. Adult skaters have a very bad habit of being in their own little world. We concentrate much harder than kids and as a result, lots of us don't notice the person in the air two feet in front of us. I, on the other hand, notice the people ten feet in front of me and stop for them. Or I should say, I'm trying very hard NOT to notice the people ten feet in front of me and stop for them. I'd say I have a 52% success rate.

I had located three videos of the Silver MIF test on the internet and watched them over and over. I don't know who you are, but thank you for the idea of doing a three turn and back crossovers to keep the momentum going from forward to backward in the crossrolls and the edge pumps (at least I think that's what they're called). I never would have thought of that. Of course, it's not my favorite three turn, but since they are all on the test, it gives me the opportunity to practice that turn over and over again. I find it amazing that my three turns have gotten so rusty. Lack of use, I suppose.

So I tried the crossovers and had enough speed to get almost to the very end of the pattern. I need to bend my knees more and not lean forward on the back crossrolls. It causes me to ride my toepick instead of the edge. And whoever that skater was, her crossrolls were wonderful. You could hear the "rip" on the backward ones too. I've never heard the rip on the back rolls. Wow. Something to work towards, along with riding the edge until my bum is facing the opposite side of the rink. Hard to describe, but...

Have you ever noticed that most lefty skaters do an elaborate series of three turns into a loop jump? I noticed that recently because as a lefty, I too do a series of three turns into a loop jump. And I hate it. It's easy to get into the position from inside three turns, but it's also easy to mess up the three turns and subsequently the jump. Well on Saturday, I graduated to the big girl entrance: crossovers. Just one crossover. I'm getting good height on the jump, just have to remember to land. However, I have been told: if I try 5 and they don't work, I must go back to the inside three and leave the crossover alone for that session. I agreed.

Should have gone to the rink this morning, but 4:30 is just soooo early... Can't wait for the rink to start their Monday evening session. That might get me to get up early on Monday morning so I can skate two sessions in one day.

I need more coffee.