I finally went back to lessons for the first time in nearly two terms now and I am so happy. It was like visiting an old friend, but with a whole group of new people and none of the old faces I got to know. It was actually weird to have a group lesson that was bigger than just two or three of us. There were about eight in the beginner group alone, and about twelve of us in the middle class. Edgy and I are actually the most advanced of all of them - the coach really needed to run his advanced class for just us!
Whilst there were some things that were a bit difficult to master with the new skates, I was surprised at how I just slotted back in. Things that used to be a challenge for me, such as left-over-right crossovers and two-foot three-turns, weren't as hard as I thought they were going to be after such a long break. I struggled a bit with my backward crossovers due to never having really mastered them pre-new skates, and I will need to build back up to my left and right outside three turns (I think it's more confidence than anything else) but I already feel better with the new skates. I feel like I can do much more without worrying about how the skate fits (or doesn't fit) my feet or have it wobble around under me or the laces break or the blades catch on the ice because they haven't been sharpened since 1976!
I did however, manage a spectacular stack today, 10 minutes into the lesson! I bought Jackson Competitor skates and because they are entry-level competitive skates designed for single jumps, the toe pick is really big and I found myself tripping over them a lot (and discovered how much I inadvertently use my toe to push and how much I lean forward instead of back on the blade when skating backwards etc). Anyway, I was passing a slowcoach while doing forward crossover drills and I suddenly found myself falling forward but instead of going on my knees, I landed on my upper right thigh and then instantly, on my chest and winded myself! But I actually bounced back quite quickly for a change, despite knowing I'm going to have a big bruise on my thigh. With that said, I have since developed a VERY sore ankle which is swelling up bigger and bigger as we speak. It is really weird because it didn't hurt at all prior to getting out of the car at band practice afterwards and it is now KILLING ME! I don't know whether I hurt it in the fall or I have bruised it in some other way (or it is a stress bruise/fracture from the firm skate against my ankle for 90minutes) but I can hardly put weight on it at all - a bit of a stress for me given that I have only just started back at skating after such a long and upsetting wait and we have marching at State championships coming up!
In any case, bung ankle or nothing, I feel really happy to be skating again - it really does fit me like a glove. It's like coming home.
Skating quote of the day: I started skating and I kind of liked it because I could run circles around the guys that wouldn't pick me to play baseball - Scott Hamilton
