July 18, 2006

Ice Skating in Iowa
Well, I went ice skating today. It took me under 2 minutes to get to the rink- not bad.

And the rink apparently has no rules. No "skate in a counter clockwise direction", no "stay out of the center if you aren't a figure skater", just "don't kill anyone else".

So that's good. I can practice on public ice until I am good enough to bother affording freestyle sessions. It's also bad. A small, chubby boy in rental skates was practicing "spirals" meaning in between walking on his toe picks to "skate" he would kick is back leg up as high as he could- kind of creepy.

There were good skaters too, and very bad ones, and a few kids in hockey skates who who lay out in the center of the ice while better skaters were having lessons- I don't know how they managed.

Enough about others. My skating was kind of crappy today. My tendonitis was killing me. I am ready to get my new skates (Jackson Competitors are on their way). My FO3 turns were existant, but not good. I did an inside one a few times too. My left to right mohawk worked, and I started trying it from movement, instead of from a stop. My right to left doesn't work. I KNOW I'm not supposed to put my foot behind me but thats where it always goes. My 2 foot spin is getting better, but still sucks. My edges are getting stronger. My backwards glides were actually pretty good. My backwards crossovers aren't bad but are very uneven between the sides.

Best part of the night was meeting Courtenay from skating forums. She was really really nice. We talked for a few minutes when the session started and then she had a lesson. After her lesson we just did forward stroking around the ice (at a faster pace then I am used to! It was hard to keep up when I was on the outside of the corners) and chatted. I'm hoping she and I become friends. It would be nice to have a friend in this state. She also showed me the circle sequence the synchro team is working on. It seems doable. I hope I'm good enough to join them- It will be fun and a good way to meet people. I'm going to drive ALL the way to the rink tomorrow and watch them practice, just to get an idea of what they do.

Only bad news- lessons won't start until mid-august. Maybe I can get a few privates in (I need a job first) so I don't completely stink by then.