This skating lark must be getting serious because I've found myself adjusting my work schedule at the lab to exploit freestyle pickup sessions at rinks near where I work. I'm pretty much blessed with a number of rinks to pick and choose from in addition to the rink where I take group lessons (Bowie Ice Arena in Bowie, Maryland). Along with my "home" ice there are the following rinks within 20 minutes of either the lab or home: The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Piney Orchard Ice Arena in Odenton, the John McMullen Hockey Arena (part of the Naval Academy) in Annapolis and the Herbert Wells Ice Rink in College Park. This last rink is roughly 5 miles from the lab and although it is a small, semi-enclosed rink (one wall is open to the great outdoors) which gives up the ghost on the first of April, it currently offers a number of freestyle pickup sessions which kick off toward the end of the day. Additionally, since Wells is owned and operated by the county park system the rates are a good bit cheaper than at the other rinks. This makes it popular with students at the nearby University of Maryland which in turn makes public sessions a bit crowed. However the freestyle sessions are largely overlooked. By coming to work an hour earlier than usual I've realized that I can skip out in time to make the 4pm FS session on Tuesdays and get in good practice time at half the cost of going to the shorter (45 minutes vs an hour) afternoon session at Bowie.
And, so, today I did. I arrived at the rink about a quarter 'til four--plenty of time to lace up my boots and organize my thoughts. The ice had just been zambonied (might be a word) and I was the only skater at the rink. The place was deserted. Just me and the girl taking money. Am I happy or what?! I paid the girl my six bucks for the hour session and after getting my boots on I rushed over to the rink barrier door, opened it up and paused for a moment to survey the smooth, pristine ice with not a single mark on it. It was my domain to be shared, at least for the moment, with nobody else. I could scarcely believe my luck! I stepped out onto the ice with a confident powerful glide and--promptly fell flat on my butt. The minute my skates touched the ice I knew something wasn't right--but what? After hitting the deck I scrambled to get up (hopefully before anyone else arrived to observe my fall from grace). But try as I might, I couldn't get my feet under me. I finally stopped cursing and looked down at my skates in an attempt to sort out what the hell was going on and that's when I discovered that in my haste to get out on that beautiful unsullied ice I'd-completely-forgotten-to-remove-my-plastic-blade-guards.
Let me tell you something: those plastic blade guards are slicker than snot on a glass doorknob. I removed the guards and staggered to my haunches. I'd lost a bit of skin on the side of my right arm which I think had snagged the edge of the door frame in the barrier I'd stepped through but other than the skinned arm and an aching right hip (and a bruised ego) I seemed OK and as a bonus there was no blood on the ice. Mercifully no one had observed this little fiasco--or at least I think no one did. After all it was just me and the cashier and if she was watching she did a masterful job of averting her eyes and not busting out in an uncontrolled belly laugh as I collected my "gravitas" and hoisted myself up with perhaps a shred or two of dignity still intact!
Now I could bleat about how the hip I'd landed on hurt, etc. etc. but let us instead dot an "i" and cross a "t" from my previous post about Katz straps. The pair I'd ordered had arrived and indeed they seem to work as advertised by permitting a bit of give at the top of the boot if one decides to not lace the top hooks. I've skated with the straps twice now and the previously mentioned lace bite symptoms I'd experienced on my right foot have disappeared. Is it my imagination? Is it due to the boots breaking in (I now have about 8 hours of skating time in these boots--not much in the grant scheme of things; I'm still not pushing them past an hour's wearing time). Or is this due to the straps? I have no way of knowing with any certainty but after spending $12.53 I'm sticking with the notion that the benefit is due to the straps. Your mileage may vary.
So, back to the ice. I practiced forward 3 turns and Mohawks in my weak direction and yes they seem to be improving. I hope to make a suitable impression on Mike at this Thursday's lesson (with my skating, not with my new found expertize in the blade guard dept.--there are some things a coach simply doesn't need to know). I also worked a bit with power pulls. I managed to get the blade work part of the pull to go OK but need to get the free leg up a bit higher.
Little by little more skaters arrived, mostly small kids and their coach working on an upcoming show program. A few other adult skaters joined in and worked on various skills but the ice was never crowded. My intuition tells me that all the college kids were at happy hour. By the end of the session it seemed that my progress, like a tide, had come in and then left. I decided to stop when my strong side turns started to get wonky and the boots and my ankle bones started having an increasingly quarrelsome discussion. Too bad the Katz straps do nothing for that. We'll see on Thursday what if anything this practice session has added to my skating skill set other than a scraped arm and a sore hip. I'm going to take a magic marker and write "Remove before Flight" on those guards...
Adjusting your work schedule to accommodate your skating practices??? Bwahaha....you are totally hooked my friend! I've even adjusted my work hours to accommodate a competition this Friday. Best of all? Celebrating wedding anniversaries at arenas because I was taking a skating test that night! Family vacations taken to coincide with Adult Nationals....
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and stepping on the ice with your guards on...even the pros do that from time to time.
http://internationaladulticeskaters.com/
Yeah it's getting a bit obsessive--I have my first dinghy regatta of the new season down at Gulfport, Florida the second weekend of March and I've already sussed out that there's a rink a few blocks away from our hotel in Clearwater. The skates may go along for the ride...
ReplyDeleteI'm in the same boat (metaphorically speaking of course) as you, I took up triathlon training to improve my endurance for skating.
DeleteI should have a read on whether or not several months of figure skating has had any positive effect on my boat handling sense of balance in a couple weeks when I race down in Florida. The small dinghies which I race get seriously physical as the winds approach 20 knots and I haven't set foot in a boat since our last regatta back in early November! Perhaps a fairer indication will come this summer when I'm both racing boats and skating on a regular basis.
DeleteBWAHAHA!
ReplyDeleteSorry ;-) but that is something I'm paranoid about. Guards-on is a nasty fall, particularly because it's totally out of the blue.
Sound like you are making good progress!
Hi Gordon: Hopefully that's the first and last time I make that mistake! Yes I see small improvements almost each time on the ice. No doubt there will be a plateau at some point. I'm guessing that will occur when I tackle back 3s.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, if it makes you feel any better, every skater has either stepped on the ice with their blade protectors on, or will do it someday.
ReplyDeleteBabbette: The back side of my right arm, my right hip and my ego all thank you for your comment--they feel instantly better! Along with remembering to remove the guards I suppose I should start rehearsing an Elvis impersonation for those occasions when I'll have the inevitable bout of brain fade: "Thank-que, thank-que, verrree, verree much; I'm here most weeks..."
ReplyDeleteCongratulations George, you are a “real” skater now. By that I mean you (1) own your own skates (congratulations), (2) have forgotten to remove your guards for the first time, a rite of passage most definitely, and (3) are addicted enough to work your non-ice schedule around your skating time.
ReplyDeleteThe Katz straps are a good idea. There are a few ice dance die-hards like me who only lace the bottom hook so as to maximize toe point and ankle bend while avoiding lace bite. It’s not for the faint of heart!
Terri: Thanks for the validation! I'm hoping that I don't need periodic "continuing education" credits in blade guard removal to maintain my "real" status!
ReplyDeleteI understand that dance blades are also not for the faint of heart due to the increased rocker and shorter "wheelbase" compared to free style blades. That aspect is reminiscent of my experience racing small development class sailing dinghies: designs with more rocker in the keel line are simultaneously nimbler to turn but very much less forgiving to sail than designs with flatter runs aft. However, as in the case of the free style blades being more controllable during the landing of jumps, the flatter hull designs are both more user friendly and quicker to release into planing mode than the highly rockered boats. So it seems that in the cases of both keel and blade shape one can see the effects of compromise and specialization. No doubt sooner or later I'll put this notion to the test on ice.
I've never worn dance blades ... they aren't required equipment for dancers. There are pros and cons as you've pointed out and I like more versatility in my blade. As for the guards, you'll probably never do that again!
ReplyDelete"I've never worn dance blades ..."--that's a very interesting comment to my rookie ears. My assumption was that as one moved up the ladder in dance complexity that the shorter (and less forgiving) dance blades became de rigueur, at the very least, to help avoid accidental toe picking, and to prevent dance partners from tangling in each other's skates.
ReplyDeleteAlso, since the shorter, more highly rockered blades should accelerate more quickly out of turns than figure blades I assumed they'd be an advantage for keeping up with the music--providing of course that one stays vertical. Hearing that I won't need them sounds good both from a pocket book perspective as well a skating one. I can settle down and learn things on a familiar set of skates without having to reinvent a whole bunch of wheels after migrating to trickier blades.
There are many dancers who forego dance blades, either because they like their freestyle blades or they don't like dance blades. Unless you are an elite or high-level dancer, you probably aren't going to notice much difference. At that level when technique is superb, any little difference helps. You can learn good skating technique in any decent blade. And once you learn good technique, you aren't going to trip on your toe picks.
ReplyDeleteSome people do like dance blades so at some point, when your technique is solid, you might want to try a pair and see if they actually benefit you. The cost can be prohibitive so it's often nice to borrow a used pair before investing, if you can. But honestly, I know people who have passed all their dance tests in freestyle blades and they are beautiful dancers. Your money is better spent for other things, IMHO. Things like lessons and ice time.
Caveat: The only major advantage to a short blade is you avoid stepping on your own heel in certain turns. I switched to a short heel when I started working on the Silver Tango after some nasty falls. But I use a synchro blade, not a dance blade. It has the same radius as a freestyle blade, although the shape is slightly different, and is not narrow like a dance blade.
I don't think anyone can blame their blades for not keeping up with the music. Bad technique or lack of musicality, yes. Blades, no.
Thanks for the input. I'll stick with figure blades until I get to that rarefied estate where I'm stepping on my own heels--say, "skating" with blade guards was probably good preparation for that. I just love it when a topic turns a complete circle!
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