Skating and dancing update

I started ballroom dancing with Hawkeye Ballroom when the semester started. However, owing to the fact that I've been incredibly busy with work and life, I've only made it to 1 social and 2 lessons.  Still, it is quite fun, and I hope to become more involved with them next semester and maybe compete.  It is a lot more affordable than the studio close to me (same instructors though...) but sadly all the way across town.  It is also mostly college students, though there are enough grad students mixed in, and I look young, that I don't feel out of place.  Anyone can join, so it doesn't matter that I no longer work for the university.

Thus far I've had a cha-cha, tango, foxtrot, and east-coast swing lessons. We do 50 minute lessons, working on 2 dances each lesson.  You rotate partners the entire lesson, so you dance with everyone, and are only partner less (there are a few more girls than guys) every few rotations.  It's a fun system.


Today was Columbus Day, and also the skating rink manager's birthday.  Why do these two things matter? Well the first meant I didn't have to work. The second meant ice skating was free today.

So I went.

Here's my thoughts: thank goodness it was free!  Thousands of dollars of skating lessons have been washed down the drain.  I'm a pretty solid "ready to enter freestyle" level.  I've got very tenative crossovers, decent forward stroking, good in place turns- but not so pretty while I am moving.  I did not try any jumps (still a bit nervous about the neck....) and I have a decent beginner backspin (that foot is no longer crossed, and it is wobbly, but on the outside edge) and an okay first scratch spin (I can cross the foot, but it is slow with only a few revolutions.)

The biggest issue was my feet HURT.  My boots are way too stiff for me now.  I upgraded to the Premier's because I was getting better, but it is way too much boot for me now :(  I still like the blades though- they still make pretty edge noises when I lean on them in crossovers.  I only managed about 30 minutes (a bit less) before I had to leave.