Ice Skating

Had my lesson on Saturday and another on Monday.  Don't seem to be making that much progress at the moment but I think that is probably because my head is full of law at the moment.  I have my exams in 4 and a bit weeks and am trying to study as much as humanly possible.  Don't think it  mixes very well with other things.

Got really frustrated last night when I took my daughter skating.  I am trying to do a mohawk.   Can do it fine at the barrier and with a coach's hand to to hold but as soon as I try to do it without I just chicken out and can't.  I guess it will come in time - like everything else it seems to take a long long time with me!

Anyway exams are over by 7th June and I have booked myself on the adult beginners 2 day course in Sheffield at the end of June.  I can't wait.  There are 4 of us going from our rink.  I think 2 full days of skating and off ice training plus a 31/2 hour drive each way will probably kill me but it will be great to meet lots of the other adult skaters.  I know a lot of people are gong from off the skating forum.

Also just to break up the studying I am going to the Ice Dance workshop at Solihull on 11th May.  There are now 7 of us going from my group of adult beginner friends so it should be really good.

I bought a dress a few weeks ago and somehow being extremely clumsy as I am managed to put my fingers through the material so I have now had to buy another one!  Must be more careful this time.

Have now officially joined the Ice Dance Club.  After going to last 3 workshops decided it was time to join and just get one with it.  The members keep telling us that most of them learnt the dances by just following around.

So that is what I have been doing!  I must say even thugh I am know where near being able to remember the steps to more than a couple of dances when you are following someone around you do think "actually this is vaguely familiar" so I guess over time you start to remember.

Went along this morning with a couple of other beginners only to find that they wre having an advanced workshop for half an hour before club.  The group were insistent that we come and join them so we did.  They were working on mohawks which I have never done before because I though I couldn't.  I still can't but someone kindly broke it right down and I now see what I am supposed to be doing and can manage them either way at the barrier.  Now I just have to pluck up enough courage to try them away from the barrier.

It was really good though because I think it helps being pushed outside of your comfort zone and I need to ask my coach to do this with me.  I think he is probably worried that it will scare me away.  The lady who was helping me this morning said "what is the worst that can happen, you get a wet bottom" and she is quite right of course I just need to get over this stupid barrier I have about worrying I will fall all the time.

We then had normal club afterward and there were loads of people the most I have ever seen.  But then of course I was worrying that I was getting in people's way!

Anyway have my normal lesson tomorrow and will try to get down to dance club again next week.

I actually ended up skating 5 times last week and have skated 3 times this week.

It is definitely paying off though as on Tuesday I attempted backward crossovers on my own.  I started off at the barrier and then gradually moved further away so I wasn't holding on at all and today I attempted a few in the middle of the rink.  Still can't do the "beginner" crossovers though but seem to just about to be able to manage the "advanced" and think this is purely because there is not so much taking the feet off the ice.

Also today I managed 2 out of about 20 3 turns where I didn't put my foot down as soon as I completed the turn.

Then I even attempted a couple of 3 jumps at the barrier.  I have never done anything like that but it actually wasn't anywhere near as bad as I would have imagined.

I can only think that my confidence must be gradully increasing and this seems to be purely because I am spending more time onthe ice.  Its just a shame I can't afford the time/money to go that many times every week.

I've skated 4 times this week, or will have when I have had my lesson tomorrow morning.  Thats really good for me and it has done wonders for my confidence as I now really want to have a go at backward crossovers unaided.

Went to Swindon Rink on Tuesday as my daughter had an in service day.  They ice was so much better than Bristol.   They have a broken zamboni at Bristol at the moment so the ice on Monday was like skating on gravel.  Went again last night and it wasn't too bad.

I still haven't cracked the 3 turns but I keep trying.  Met a lovely lady at Swindon on Tuesday who usually skates at Oxford.  My daughter and I were up in the cafe chatting for narly an hour after skating.

We talked about my fear of skating backwards and she gave me a lot of help.  The main one being that I should just get used to going around backwards till I feel comfortable in myself before I try and do anything too ambitious.  Apparently she had the same fear to the extent where her knees used to shake.  I'm not quite that bad but I did do what she said last night just skating around doing backward half lemons not really worrying too much about lifting the foot.  By the end of the session I did feel a lot better.

My daughter skated at the Bristol Open last week and came 2nd to last in her competition.  I was really pleased though as this was her first "proper" competition and after a few dramas earlier in the week, such as skating off half way through her lesson on Monday in floods of tears because she "couldn't do it", I thought she did really well and wasn't too nervous.  We are going to have a go at Guildford in the summer so that gives her a few months to work on her programme.

It was a real eye opener for me though as I had volunteered to help never having been to a skating competition in my life.  I was down on the gate making sure everyone was there for their warm up and crossing the names off the list as everyone skated.  It was a long day from 7.30 to 4.30 when we had to leave and just to make things worse the heating had packed up on Monday night so it was extra cold.  Have to say I was absolutely shatter afterwards!

Anyway Daughter has decided after this that she wants to take her skating seriously now as up to this point it has really been just for fun.  I chatted to a lot of people standing on that gate on Wednesday and it seems that we are looking at practice 3 plus times a week.  So I think we are going to have to factor a before school skate in once a week.

I saw advertised in the iskate magazine a dance workshop and social and competition at Solihull on 11 May.  I have emailed to see if it is suitable for beginner beginners.  Had a very nice response which said it was and that a few people from Bristol Club usually go.  So am going to go along to that and see how I get on.  I am also going to go to the adult novice workshop being held in Sheffield in June.  I am determined to crack this backward skating one way or another!

My Daughter actually had me doing backward crossovers the other day on a quiet public session.  I am finding it easier to do the "advanced" once rather than lift the foot over.  This was of course with her holding onto my hand don't think I have a hope of doing them without yet.  My coach is still trying to get these backward chasses out of my but I just cant hold the edge with my foot of the ice for more than a second.  I think my main problem is that I am just not moving fast enough. 

We had another Dance workshop on Sunday morning where we did Canasta Tango.  I have been getting my coach to teach me the steps to this one so it wasn't too bad.  The hardest part I find is the swing after the cross roll I'm obvoiusly not doing right as I seem to just keep going straight and when I was  actually dancing with someone they were sort of having to pull me round.  But thats 3 dances now although next time we are going to go back over what we have done as each time we learn a new one we tend to forget a bit of the last one!

Then had a lesson last night but wasn't really in the mood.  Wanted to concentrate on backward skating as this still is very poor however we started off with this but the lesson soon got round to dance!  Also spent a lot of time chatting to one of my fellow adult skaters who is one of my Daughter's friend's Dad.  About 6 weeks ago he had a fall and cracked two ribs so they haven't been coming on a Monday.  It was his first time back on the ice last night but he said he felt OK just a bit wobbly.

Daughter had our local competition Saturday and then her first Open next Wednesday.  She was practicing really hard last night although she is quite nervous about it all.

Well, i've been ill again!  This time I have tonsillitis.  I always get this if im run down.  I just think working full time, studying and having a family gets a bit too much sometimes!

Anyway went for my lesson on Saturday morning.  Daughter had hers at 7.00 so it was another early start.  She was exceptionally grumpy even for her and was having one of those days where she just couldn't do anything so she was not happy!

Anyway I have a very wobbily unconfident lesson which I will put down to being ill.  Working mostly on the Canasta Tango .  Have gone through the whole dance now and the only bit I am not too sure of is the cross roll with the swing after.  I think I am trying to make more of it than I should by trying to do some sort of crossover and then completely change direction with the swing which, of course, puts you completely off balance.  

Anyway I am going again on Thursday just to a session as one of my friends wants to start skating.  She was asking me about courses and said "right so after a 6 week course I should be able to skate like them on dancing on ice" - Its funny how people assume it doesn't take long.  My coach was saying the other day that they get a lot people who have half a dozen lessons and then give up.  He said he is impressed by long I have kept it up.  Not sure if thats a compliment or not as I take so long to learn anything!

Had a day off work yesterday and went with a friend to Swindon Rink for the day.

We had a bit of a drama first though because when I arrived to pick her up she had "lost" her contact lens in her eye.  I have done that myself before and you can usually manage to get them out.  But no, I could see it but we couldn't get it out so we had to make an emergency trip to the opticians who put some dye stuff in and said there was nothing there which was really strange.  So by this time her eye was really sore and then also orange from the dye which wears off in its own time!

We eventually got to Swindon at about 12.30 after then taking the wrong exit from the motorway and coming across the "magic roundabout" which was interesting.  Whoever dreamt that one up?  My Husband very kindly forgot to  let me have the sat nav out of the van.  So it was a case of just finding the rink by smell!

Anyway we still managed to get 3 hours on the ice and it was really good.  The ice was much smoother and harder than Bristol, no nasty lumps and bumps.  For the first time I managed to do backward chasses properly lifting my foot right off the ice.  So now I know I can do them.

We then working on a few other things, forward crossover and 3 turns.  But mostly on the Dutch Waltz.  We were given a sheet with the steps on Sunday and so now I have it written down I have memorised the steps.  So we did it over and over again in proper hold.  Me being the man because I am taller.  So we can do all the steps but are about a million miles too fast.

We then had something to eat and came back to Bristol.  We then had a shared lesson at Bristol at 7.30.  Do you think I could do the backward chasses - not a chance.  My friend told our coach how good they had been this morning, I'm not sure if he believed her though.  I think a lot of it was do with the fact that I was relaxed, I wasn't sleepy and I wasn't frightened of falling over any of the lumps and bumps we usually have at Bristol.

We then both did the DW with  him and he made us slow it right down which was much better.

We then worked on the steps for the Canasta Tango as that is the next dance we do at our workshop on 2nd March.  It would  nice to be able to have an idea before then.  Once we can do 4 dances we can join the Sunday morning dance club.  Skirts are compulsory apparently so that should be interesting.  Although I am sure no one will be the least bit interested in my legs!  

Have just come back from my 3rd Ice Dance Workshop.  This time my Daughter came with me, she hasn't been able to come before.

At first she was moaning about progressive runs because obviously they are different to crossovers and what she is used to doing.  Then we went through the dutch waltz.  So myself and the other beginner adults are struggling to remembers the steps and she just shoots off round the rink somehow remembers all of them!  

Before we went she said "I'm not dancing with some man!" bearing in mind she is only 10.

She ended up staying on for the ice dance session, I saw her skating round with two different partners and she seems to have learnt 3 dances today.  Annoying isn't it!  She is now hooked and wants to do ice dance and free skate.  No reason why not except  that I guess that means a different coach and another set of lessons for ice dance as her current coach only does freestyle.  Still at least it is something that she ovbiously loves and is good at.

I managed to get round a couple of times but now have the dance sheet.  I definitely seem to remember things better when i have them written down.

Next time we are doing canasta tango which should be a laugh.  I am going to have to get my coach to show me how to the chasses step in that one because it looks like a dead cert for falling flat on my bum!  

Anyway I have so much to work on now.  Would like to remember the stops for novice fox trot and dutch waltz for next time.

Need to work really hard on the backward skating because it still eludes me.  I am having a day off on Wednesday and me and my friend are having a skating day.  She needs to visit Les Westaway for a decent pair of skates so we thought we would go up in the morning and spend the day at either Bracknell or Swindon rink for a change to Bristol.

All that talk of pancakes on here yesterday!  Then Husband phoned on the way home "are we having pancakes tonight" - well only if you go and buy the pancake mix on the way home.

Anyway no pancake mix they had sold out as usually.  I know its lazy but they seem to come out better that way.  So I made the batter which was a mistake because I then end up standing there for ages trying to cook these stupid pancakes that just stick to the pan.  The pan I have is far to big and I keep thinking next year I will buy a proper one and never do.  We managed to eat what we had which was a bit of a pancake mess.

I should have know better because I can't make batter, last time I tried to cook toad-in-the hole it went in the bin and a trip to take-away followed!