Like really cold roller derby
May. 3rd, 2014 12:29 pmI have new respect for people in crowded figure skating markets who regularly have to deal with freestyle sessions that have a minimum of 20 people on them at any one time. Today's morning session down in Franklin had 20-30 people on the ice for the entire 1.5 hours, and it was terrifying. I didn't dare skate backwards the whole time. I had to bail at some point on pretty much any pattern I was in, even during my lesson when technically I had the right of way.
There was a Novice level pair team zooming around the ice doing choreography for this year's programs, which was a bit terrifying, but they were very good at weaving around people (and we all got the hell out of their way, too). When they skated by together, I could feel the breeze they made as they passed. They were loud, too--it was a bit like being next to a small herd of thundering elephants. Crazy. But kind of awesome. Even if I did spend most of the time they were out there flush against the boards. (Novice, by the way, is only two levels down from Senior, aka Olympic, level. There are five or six levels under that, so it's really quite a high level, especially for here.)
I also haven't skated in three weeks, so I was rusty as hell. And my blades need sharpening.
All that said, I think I may have finally made a breakthrough in checking after three turns. I was checking for all I was worth with my shoulders, but my hips were going the opposite way. Apparently the trick is to angle your free knee out after doing the turn, and where the knee goes, the hip will follow. The only problem with this is that the action of closing the hip/knee is what gets me through the turn, so I need to open it immediately after--but not before, or I fail to turn and fall over.
Waltz jumps felt okay. Not great, but by the end, I think I may have had a little height and distance. The less said about spins right now the better. I may just put a moratorium on those until we're back on a regular schedule in July.
Anyway, one down, four more Franklin trips to go. I may yet make it out there at 6:30 on a weekday morning; we'll see. Then I'm off the ice all of June to recover from surgery, and hopefully my home rink will be up and running in July. Fingers crossed. If not, apparently the new one out in Hickory Hollow is slated to open at the beginning of August, which presents possibilities.
There was a Novice level pair team zooming around the ice doing choreography for this year's programs, which was a bit terrifying, but they were very good at weaving around people (and we all got the hell out of their way, too). When they skated by together, I could feel the breeze they made as they passed. They were loud, too--it was a bit like being next to a small herd of thundering elephants. Crazy. But kind of awesome. Even if I did spend most of the time they were out there flush against the boards. (Novice, by the way, is only two levels down from Senior, aka Olympic, level. There are five or six levels under that, so it's really quite a high level, especially for here.)
I also haven't skated in three weeks, so I was rusty as hell. And my blades need sharpening.
All that said, I think I may have finally made a breakthrough in checking after three turns. I was checking for all I was worth with my shoulders, but my hips were going the opposite way. Apparently the trick is to angle your free knee out after doing the turn, and where the knee goes, the hip will follow. The only problem with this is that the action of closing the hip/knee is what gets me through the turn, so I need to open it immediately after--but not before, or I fail to turn and fall over.
Waltz jumps felt okay. Not great, but by the end, I think I may have had a little height and distance. The less said about spins right now the better. I may just put a moratorium on those until we're back on a regular schedule in July.
Anyway, one down, four more Franklin trips to go. I may yet make it out there at 6:30 on a weekday morning; we'll see. Then I'm off the ice all of June to recover from surgery, and hopefully my home rink will be up and running in July. Fingers crossed. If not, apparently the new one out in Hickory Hollow is slated to open at the beginning of August, which presents possibilities.
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