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| Sixteen columns of ice pass stickers x eight rows = 128 times on the ice between July 2014 and May 2015. It scares me to guesstimate the $ value of all those hours on the ice. Thirty one stickers were for pricy 1 hour Free Style sessions, the remainder are from Public sessions which were either 1.5 or 2 hours long. |
Bowie Ice Arena closed for its annual two month maintenance period last night. No doubt I lost a couple of stickers here and there but those stuck on the wall of my work cubicle offer a good estimate of the amount of time I spent attempting to refine my skating. The question I must ask myself is: Am I any better than last year? In a word, yes. How much of the improvement is due to shear unsupervised practice time vs coaching inputs vs chiropractic adjustments can be debated but practice, if not making one perfect, certainly contributes to improvement. Over time, more is better. Ice time allows one to experiment with all the variables of free arm and leg positions, lace tension, blade position, belly button rotation--you name it. This list is where I was two years ago. I really should update the list and move a lot of things around. Some items are still MIA but that's OK. Other items such as my three prelim ice dances aren't even on that early list--not that I do them well, but two years ago I couldn't do them at all. Anyway, I'm looking forward to a new year of ice time and stickers to prove it!
That wall of stickers is truly impressive, George. You will need a new cubicle before long!
ReplyDeleteNope, won't need a new cube. I'll enjoy them for a while and then tear them down on 1 July when BIA reopens. We'll see if I can complete the wall again next season. I don't count the handful of passes during the months of May/June when I wander to ever distance rinks like one of those desperate polar bears on PBS nature documentaries, searching for the next slab of ice.
ReplyDeleteJudging from your elements list from earlier, I'm guessing you're a lefty skater. Am I correct? Regardless, congrats on your progress. I know there's just more progress in your future.
ReplyDelete@Skatecat: I'm a repressed leftie. I was among the last generation of school kids to get their knuckles smacked if they picked up the pencil with the left hand instead of the right during penmanship class. As a result, although I'm right dominant in most things, my natural tendency on the ice is to prefer elements in the clockwise direction. I also recently learned that I have a herniated disk between L-4 and L-5 and stenosis which limits nerve signalling to my left hip and leg. I'm working with a chiropractor and taking yoga to help sort that out. The combination of these two things means that I have to do a lot of thinking in order to go CCW! But I'm getting better!
ReplyDeleteWhat better use of hours? I love the transient nature of this tribute: each year a cheerful checkerboard that can measure both hours and dollars, track progress, and also remind you of past and future...
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