I came home from skating last week feeling so annoyed and frustrated that I have actually contemplated quitting altogether. And for the first time since day one that I have not looked forward to the lesson tonight.
It's bad enough that I have to use the rink skates so I am struggling to do anything in them and I am in constant pain when I skate. But when the regular coach has been away for 6 out of 9 weeks and the replacement (whilst a lovely person) is flying by the seat of her pants, having not been given any instructions by the regular coach as to what to do, there is no structure to the lessons. I am starting to get very irritated.
Last week, the three of us in the class that are somewhat in-between beginner and intermediate level spent over an hour on the same thing with no instruction at all to help us understand what we were doing wrong. It just consisted of one foot glides backwards. I have made very little progress in this term because I feel like we have lessons where we 'wing it' and so does our coach. It seems like the beginners are getting instructed properly and so are the class above us but the few of us that really need help with our backwards stroking and crossovers are just left to 'practice'. This really shits me! If we were coming in only to practice, I don't want to pay double what the practice rate is and I definitely wouldn't come in on a Monday because of the ice surface.
Why is it that every time I find something I enjoy that is actually good for me, I have some external obstacle that prevents me from really thriving. Gargh!!!!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Frustrations galore
I am getting increasingly frustrated these days. I have finally found something that I truly enjoy, motivates me, offers good aerobic benefits and at which I am actually improving but as per usual, there is a fundamental that is holding me back from being able to do it - my finances. At the moment, I'm not only struggling to make two sessions of rink time due to the increasing cost of entry but the hire skates DON'T FIT ME and I can't afford to buy any. It is now getting to the point where I feel like I don't want to go anymore because the pain and frustration I am feeling from wearing skates that are too big and wobble around under my feet is getting too much. I cannot foresee myself being able to buy any at all - I just don't have that kind of superfluous income and won't at all unless things drastically change.
*feels like throwing large things at walls*
*feels like throwing large things at walls*
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Foot-In-Skate Disease
I finally got my snowplow stop figured out and last week it was crossed off which means I move up to Beta level now! All it took was a bit of individual help because I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing wrong. Then the coach spent a bit of time with me individually and I finally worked out what it was I was doing wrong and I can now stop, albeit slowly. It really is preferable to running headfirst into the side barrier. Or skidding on my knees in a 'snowplow position' which I did suggest I do instead when I didn't think I would ever master it. He he he...I find I'm becoming more fearless the last few weeks and I'm worried that my increasing confidence and bravado will cause me to fall over more often. I am less scared of moves I'm not yet ready for but I'm too scared to do a backward crossover, moving anti-clockwise. I am not afraid of lunging or dipping or trying to spin or jumping up and down but I feel very unstable doing some basics like crossovers. I think the skates I had today have a loose blade - I had them last week and felt the same thing. It has a small wobble in the centre and it doesn't feel stable. The ones I had yesterday weren't as bad as this.
I don't think this was helping at all when I started to feel pain yesterday in the arch of my foot. I have had this pain for a while now, pre-skating, due to hurting my feet while in Europe last year. I think the combination of wearing extremely bad, unsupportive shoes, marching on cobblestones and the sheer amount of walking I did in that month contributed to damage done to my feet. Every since, I have felt agonising pain in the arches of my feet most of the time I walk but particularly when they are on a slight angle (i.e. walking up or down a hill, standing on tippy-toes, skating around a circle when the blade is on one of the edges, rather than the flat). Even now, as I sit here, I can feel them aching a little in the non-walking shoes that I have on.
As a result, skating has become unbearably painful and the last two days, I have only lasted just over an hour on the ice before having to come off (although it doesn't help that the hire skates I have are so worn on the inside, it's like wearing plastic buckets on your feet!). Even today, I pretty much just wasted my money going to the rink this morning because I had to keep coming off the ice every ten minutes and only lasted just over an hour in total. I want to be able to do this well - I really enjoy it and I have the motivation to learn - but if my feet continue to hurt, it's either buy new skates (which I REALLY can't afford, although I tried some the other day) so I can try and get them to support the arch more, or quit entirely.
I'd prefer the former.
Monday, October 18, 2010
The endless hurdles of a new skill
My patience, or lack thereof, has been the downfall of me this week.
Second week back for term and we were being assessed today on the things that we have learned last term. We put our names down last week to start being assessed for the different levels by the teacher and today was the day of reckoning. There are five levels to get through before the Freestyle classes (the ones on the large ice). These levels are named after the Greek alphabet (although one smart alec skater newbie pointed out the irony of the snow-less Greece.... he he) - Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. We were being assessed on our Pre-Alpha and Alpha elements:
a) Two foot glide b) One foot glide on right and left feet c) Forward and backward swizzles d) Backward wiggle e) Forward crossovers - clockwise, anticlockwise f) Snowplow stops
First eight elements seemed to run rather smoothly - I felt comfortable with most of the tasks he asked for, even though the concept of clockwise crossovers was a daunting one and since my fall, I have lost confidence with this move.
I am getting faster at the swizzles (I can move a longer distance than my height in only two swizzle moves which is good now, as opposed to 10 weeks ago where it would take me eight goes to move a foot) and I am now pretty confident with both one foot glides - although the potholes in the ice do nothing for your balance, believe me! I did my clockwise crossovers continuously for the first time without faceplanting - still not sure the technique is particularly accurate but at least it was something.
Then came the one foot snowplow stop. *insert ominous "fail" sound effect here* I just don't get it. I try and do exactly what the teacher says but it just doesn't work. I am discovering now that I hate hate hate not being able to do things quickly and expect success within a couple of tries. I am an instant-results kind of girl and to struggle with what seems like a basic move has frustrated me no end, especially when others around me don't seem to have a problem with it. To add insult to injury, I had hurt my back earlier in the session doing what could only be termed as 'windmill arms' to stop falling backwards and as a result, the pain was beginning to make me irritable and emotional and so this only compounded how I felt about practicing a stop I couldn't do. By couldn't, I mean, the so-called 'stop' failed to stop me moving! As a result, that element was never ticked off and so I went home feeling like I had failed, all because of a single element. I know this is an overreaction but I really hate not being able to do this perfectly. Bit ridiculous really - I wouldn't expect perfection if I did the pole vault or tried to run the four-minute mile or weightlifted, so I don't know why this is any different. Perhaps I've been an armchair figure skater for too long!
Second week back for term and we were being assessed today on the things that we have learned last term. We put our names down last week to start being assessed for the different levels by the teacher and today was the day of reckoning. There are five levels to get through before the Freestyle classes (the ones on the large ice). These levels are named after the Greek alphabet (although one smart alec skater newbie pointed out the irony of the snow-less Greece.... he he) - Pre-Alpha, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. We were being assessed on our Pre-Alpha and Alpha elements:
a) Two foot glide b) One foot glide on right and left feet c) Forward and backward swizzles d) Backward wiggle e) Forward crossovers - clockwise, anticlockwise f) Snowplow stops
First eight elements seemed to run rather smoothly - I felt comfortable with most of the tasks he asked for, even though the concept of clockwise crossovers was a daunting one and since my fall, I have lost confidence with this move.
I am getting faster at the swizzles (I can move a longer distance than my height in only two swizzle moves which is good now, as opposed to 10 weeks ago where it would take me eight goes to move a foot) and I am now pretty confident with both one foot glides - although the potholes in the ice do nothing for your balance, believe me! I did my clockwise crossovers continuously for the first time without faceplanting - still not sure the technique is particularly accurate but at least it was something.
Then came the one foot snowplow stop. *insert ominous "fail" sound effect here* I just don't get it. I try and do exactly what the teacher says but it just doesn't work. I am discovering now that I hate hate hate not being able to do things quickly and expect success within a couple of tries. I am an instant-results kind of girl and to struggle with what seems like a basic move has frustrated me no end, especially when others around me don't seem to have a problem with it. To add insult to injury, I had hurt my back earlier in the session doing what could only be termed as 'windmill arms' to stop falling backwards and as a result, the pain was beginning to make me irritable and emotional and so this only compounded how I felt about practicing a stop I couldn't do. By couldn't, I mean, the so-called 'stop' failed to stop me moving! As a result, that element was never ticked off and so I went home feeling like I had failed, all because of a single element. I know this is an overreaction but I really hate not being able to do this perfectly. Bit ridiculous really - I wouldn't expect perfection if I did the pole vault or tried to run the four-minute mile or weightlifted, so I don't know why this is any different. Perhaps I've been an armchair figure skater for too long!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Three week hiatus
I haven't been to skating for three weeks. I'm afraid I'm going to fall on my butt when I next step on the ice! We did go to the rink for a friend's birthday last week but the rink was like skating on tram tracks during the public sessions. You'd catch a groove and travel in that direction! I found my muscles were so much more sore trying to skate on that surface as it was twice as much work getting out of potholes and over bumps and piles of ice shavings.
I tried to practice basics there though and I think I'm getting better at my crossovers - when I say, getting better, I mean, I don't trip on the toe pick and break my fall with my face anymore! There are a few kids at the rink though that had been skating for a while, evidently, and played hockey who were particularly aggressive on the ice and almost caused accidents to themselves and to others. They even went as far as to yell out at you and disorientate skaters just because they could. Once again, why is it that the SOS staff don't care about these things?! You'd think for business reasons that they would make it the safest, most pleasant atmosphere possible to get people to continue to come along. Instead, they don't stop these people from speed skating, skating clockwise and acting like idiots and they swept the ice once in the whole time we were there. And even that time, before we were allowed on, they let speed skaters and sled racing go first so by the time we were allowed on for a general skate, the ice was corrugated again! I really wish we could skate on a clean surface. I think if i practiced on a smoother surface, I would get the hang of this set of motor functions much quicker!
On a lighter note, I had the most gorgeous blue bruise, about 2 inches long and 1.5inches wide on my arm near my elbow, arising from jamming it between the sled and the rink barrier at top speed! It was hilarious (especially since we were coming last at the time and skidding all over the place) but geez, it hurt. It's still there, a bit faint. I might start posting pictures of my bruises here soon!
Until next time!
Monday, September 27, 2010
A solid start
Welcome to my new skating blog!
As you can probably tell by the title, I am, indeed, a figure skating newbie and this is to trace my progress in learning this rather deceptively difficult sport. I first started lessons at the end of July this year in order to achieve two goals: the first to improve my appallingly bad sense of balance & co-ordination whilst getting much need physical exercise. The second was to give myself something completely non-music-nerd-related in contrast to my community band/music performance-saturated life. I think I'm improving in both cases. I have been learning now for 10 weeks and I can tell you, amazingly, that I AM improving. What I mean by improving is that I can now stand upright. :)
I have learned three things so far, in addition to the basics of ice skating technique.
a) Hire skates are rubbish. I have weird shaped feet, one considerably larger than the other, that sit uncomfortably in between the two hire skate sizes. I have tried the better white ones rather than the 'one foot shape for all' blue monstrosities but still no luck and I have two large welts that are turning into callouses just above my ankles to prove it. My ultimate aim is to buy a pair but I can't afford a good quality pair at present and I'm not prepared to buy cheapies just for the sake of it. So I have to settle for wearing plastic boxes on my feet for at least another few months.
b) Competitive figure skating, evidently, is pretty nasty and bitchy. Comments like 'my daughter lost FIVE kilos this month! How much did yours lose?' and 'Your tights are the wrong shade of beige' are apparently common place in this sport. I've been at the rink at least once a week for the past term and there are some skaters that see us there every week and yet not even a smile from them, even though I always smile at them. There is a pod of selfishness at this place that I notice each week i.e. more elite skaters getting on to the small rink straight after it has been swept (usually straight before the beginner class) and tearing the shit out of the ice by jumping, spinning and hockey-stopping on the surface before the newbies, who can't even stand upright, get on there. They have their own rink allocated to them for that session but they do it all the time anyway. Hmph!
c) Public sessions for practice are a nightmare - I don't want to go back again! You can't practice there at all without being told off, even in the centre of the large ice. And the surface is so bad, it's an accident waiting to happen. Private practice sessions are usually at a terrible time (before business hours are over) so they are difficult to get to and since I am not yet freestyle level, we can only use the crowded small ice. Wednesday nights sessions are particularly bad due to the learn to skate classes on at the same time.
With all that said, I really enjoy the lessons and I like and respect our coach. He's very nice, supportive and relaxed and I have learned lots in the last term so far from him. So far, we have learned the following:
a) Forward and backward swizzles - both I am getting better at, the more I practice.
b) Two foot and one foot glides - although the latter, I still can only do for a few secs on my right foot. It also doesn't help that the rink surface is sometimes like skating on corrugated iron.
c) Forward slaloms - I find these easy since that was the way that I could naturally move forward before I started learning. I could imagine that you could hurt your knees a lot doing this all the time though.
d) Backward wiggles - not too good at this. I can't shake my butt very well! I think I need to practice that Zumba more often! :)
d) Forward stroking - not so bad at this. This seems the most straight forward of all the things we've learned.
e) Forward crossovers - this is something I truly suck at, partly due to the fact that the too-large skate I have on wobbles around when I move. I am generally okay in a counter-clockwise direction (except for a tendency to forget to shift weight properly and/or bend my knees) but after a fall on the clockwise direction which resulted in two very sore black knees, I have lost confidence moving this direction and I'm struggling.
f) Backward stroking-like move. 'D' shape with one foot. I think this was in preparation to start us on backward crossovers, but I can't even do a backward swizzle faster than a snail yet so not sure how I'm gonna go with this.
I'm sick this week so I'm having a week off but I'm hoping that in the near future, I will be able to fit in at least a couple of practices a week so that I can master this damn skill! Somehow I don't think I'm the next Michelle Kwan but at least I'm not spending half my time bathing my ass in ice each week anymore! :)
As you can probably tell by the title, I am, indeed, a figure skating newbie and this is to trace my progress in learning this rather deceptively difficult sport. I first started lessons at the end of July this year in order to achieve two goals: the first to improve my appallingly bad sense of balance & co-ordination whilst getting much need physical exercise. The second was to give myself something completely non-music-nerd-related in contrast to my community band/music performance-saturated life. I think I'm improving in both cases. I have been learning now for 10 weeks and I can tell you, amazingly, that I AM improving. What I mean by improving is that I can now stand upright. :)
I have learned three things so far, in addition to the basics of ice skating technique.
a) Hire skates are rubbish. I have weird shaped feet, one considerably larger than the other, that sit uncomfortably in between the two hire skate sizes. I have tried the better white ones rather than the 'one foot shape for all' blue monstrosities but still no luck and I have two large welts that are turning into callouses just above my ankles to prove it. My ultimate aim is to buy a pair but I can't afford a good quality pair at present and I'm not prepared to buy cheapies just for the sake of it. So I have to settle for wearing plastic boxes on my feet for at least another few months.
b) Competitive figure skating, evidently, is pretty nasty and bitchy. Comments like 'my daughter lost FIVE kilos this month! How much did yours lose?' and 'Your tights are the wrong shade of beige' are apparently common place in this sport. I've been at the rink at least once a week for the past term and there are some skaters that see us there every week and yet not even a smile from them, even though I always smile at them. There is a pod of selfishness at this place that I notice each week i.e. more elite skaters getting on to the small rink straight after it has been swept (usually straight before the beginner class) and tearing the shit out of the ice by jumping, spinning and hockey-stopping on the surface before the newbies, who can't even stand upright, get on there. They have their own rink allocated to them for that session but they do it all the time anyway. Hmph!
c) Public sessions for practice are a nightmare - I don't want to go back again! You can't practice there at all without being told off, even in the centre of the large ice. And the surface is so bad, it's an accident waiting to happen. Private practice sessions are usually at a terrible time (before business hours are over) so they are difficult to get to and since I am not yet freestyle level, we can only use the crowded small ice. Wednesday nights sessions are particularly bad due to the learn to skate classes on at the same time.
With all that said, I really enjoy the lessons and I like and respect our coach. He's very nice, supportive and relaxed and I have learned lots in the last term so far from him. So far, we have learned the following:
a) Forward and backward swizzles - both I am getting better at, the more I practice.
b) Two foot and one foot glides - although the latter, I still can only do for a few secs on my right foot. It also doesn't help that the rink surface is sometimes like skating on corrugated iron.
c) Forward slaloms - I find these easy since that was the way that I could naturally move forward before I started learning. I could imagine that you could hurt your knees a lot doing this all the time though.
d) Backward wiggles - not too good at this. I can't shake my butt very well! I think I need to practice that Zumba more often! :)
d) Forward stroking - not so bad at this. This seems the most straight forward of all the things we've learned.
e) Forward crossovers - this is something I truly suck at, partly due to the fact that the too-large skate I have on wobbles around when I move. I am generally okay in a counter-clockwise direction (except for a tendency to forget to shift weight properly and/or bend my knees) but after a fall on the clockwise direction which resulted in two very sore black knees, I have lost confidence moving this direction and I'm struggling.
f) Backward stroking-like move. 'D' shape with one foot. I think this was in preparation to start us on backward crossovers, but I can't even do a backward swizzle faster than a snail yet so not sure how I'm gonna go with this.
I'm sick this week so I'm having a week off but I'm hoping that in the near future, I will be able to fit in at least a couple of practices a week so that I can master this damn skill! Somehow I don't think I'm the next Michelle Kwan but at least I'm not spending half my time bathing my ass in ice each week anymore! :)
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