Skating At Last!
Thanks to a little inspiration from Janet, I finally got off of my lazy ass and went skating on Thur(12/22). I decided to try the 6am session at the nice rink near my home. It's a good thing I was running a little late because the girl that opened the rink didn't get there until around 5:55. I usually like to get to the rink 15-20min. early so that I can stretch and do some jumps off-ice to warm up. If I hadn't been late, I would have thought the rink was closed and left. Luckily though, she was just unlocking the doors as I pulled up.
I was surprised to find that the freestyle was completely empty. There was only one other skater there, and he was on the open hockey rink. Turns out, there are two freestyle schedules - one lists the 6am, one doesn't. Can't say I minded being the only skater there, but I have a feeling that I may show up one day and be told that the 6am has been cancelled. Well, I've resolved to enjoy it while I have it.
I didn't mess around since I only had an hour to skate. I did some mitf to warm-up. I find starting with mitf really helpful when I haven't skated in awhile. It helps me get my feel for the ice back. I did the forward and backward double 3turn patterns to start. They were terrible. I hit the toe pick on almost all of the 3's and had flats instead of round edges between the turns. Sigh, it's awful how quickly things deteriorate. I really wanted to take advantage of the empty session, so I pushed myself to run through the novice moves that I know. They actually went fairly well. I can complete all of the patterns. I just need more speed/power/precision. I really need to get my butt in gear and get a coach. I'd like to test novice moves by the time my usfsa membership expires in June.
After moves, I worked on spins. Those remain pretty good. It took several tries to get my back camel to behave, but I was relieved to find that I could still do it since it was one of my newest skills. I was also happy to find that I could still do a flying camel - a bit slow, but done. I even jumped off of my toepick instead of the BI edge! Since the rink was empty, I also tried some butterflies (mine are caterpillars at best). I'd have been too embarassed by their pitifulness to try them if other skaters were around. I can't wait until I can really do these. Ex-coach tried to get me to do a back sit, butterfly, back sit combination. I succeeded in doing this today, but the butterfly was more of a step than a fly.
I saved the last 20min for jumps, my nemesis. My singles were all slow, but complete. However, my landings had a bit of an inside edge that I'll need to clean up. I landed teeny tiny axels. I tried doubles, but didn't land anything that wasn't cheated. That's pretty much the best I can do, so I wansn't too upset.
It felt really good to skate again. I hate being a couch potato. Once New Year's is over and I'm back on a regular schedule, I plan on skating 3 freestyles a week (T,W,Th) and going to the gym 2-3 days a week. If I drop the 20lbs I've put on in the last few months, maybe I'll land my jumps again. Probably not though.
I really need to find a coach and set some goals. Right now my main goals are:
1. find a new coach
2. pass novice moves by the end of June
3. pass pre-juv and juv freeskate to qualify to skate in adult gold category by the end of June
3. put together a really nice program and compete in Adult Nationals in the adult gold category next year in Chicago
I'd also like to take up dance and figures, but that may have to wait until after adult nationals as I have a lot of testing to do.
I was surprised to find that the freestyle was completely empty. There was only one other skater there, and he was on the open hockey rink. Turns out, there are two freestyle schedules - one lists the 6am, one doesn't. Can't say I minded being the only skater there, but I have a feeling that I may show up one day and be told that the 6am has been cancelled. Well, I've resolved to enjoy it while I have it.
I didn't mess around since I only had an hour to skate. I did some mitf to warm-up. I find starting with mitf really helpful when I haven't skated in awhile. It helps me get my feel for the ice back. I did the forward and backward double 3turn patterns to start. They were terrible. I hit the toe pick on almost all of the 3's and had flats instead of round edges between the turns. Sigh, it's awful how quickly things deteriorate. I really wanted to take advantage of the empty session, so I pushed myself to run through the novice moves that I know. They actually went fairly well. I can complete all of the patterns. I just need more speed/power/precision. I really need to get my butt in gear and get a coach. I'd like to test novice moves by the time my usfsa membership expires in June.
After moves, I worked on spins. Those remain pretty good. It took several tries to get my back camel to behave, but I was relieved to find that I could still do it since it was one of my newest skills. I was also happy to find that I could still do a flying camel - a bit slow, but done. I even jumped off of my toepick instead of the BI edge! Since the rink was empty, I also tried some butterflies (mine are caterpillars at best). I'd have been too embarassed by their pitifulness to try them if other skaters were around. I can't wait until I can really do these. Ex-coach tried to get me to do a back sit, butterfly, back sit combination. I succeeded in doing this today, but the butterfly was more of a step than a fly.
I saved the last 20min for jumps, my nemesis. My singles were all slow, but complete. However, my landings had a bit of an inside edge that I'll need to clean up. I landed teeny tiny axels. I tried doubles, but didn't land anything that wasn't cheated. That's pretty much the best I can do, so I wansn't too upset.
It felt really good to skate again. I hate being a couch potato. Once New Year's is over and I'm back on a regular schedule, I plan on skating 3 freestyles a week (T,W,Th) and going to the gym 2-3 days a week. If I drop the 20lbs I've put on in the last few months, maybe I'll land my jumps again. Probably not though.
I really need to find a coach and set some goals. Right now my main goals are:
1. find a new coach
2. pass novice moves by the end of June
3. pass pre-juv and juv freeskate to qualify to skate in adult gold category by the end of June
3. put together a really nice program and compete in Adult Nationals in the adult gold category next year in Chicago
I'd also like to take up dance and figures, but that may have to wait until after adult nationals as I have a lot of testing to do.
posted by Jennifer @ 7:42 PM
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