Ice Heaven

I went skating this morning at the Rink in Addison. I got there a little before 8 for the morning public session, to discover that -- yes! -- I was the only skater there for the public session. There were skaters next door on the full size rink for a freestyle session, but I was the only one on the small rink.

It was a pretty good session. I skated for two full hours. The session didn't start off too well, with three falls in the first ten minutes or so -- all, I think, from catching my left toepick; the second one whacked my left knee hard enough I'll probably have a good (small) bruise later. After that I was a little reluctant to try anything challenging for a while, so I put in some extensive time working on my backward swizzles. This was particularly nice since I didn't have to worry about hitting anyone or being hit. I worked on them until they are almost second nature; they actually feel easier, I think, than the forward ones. Finally after an hour and twenty minutes I had enough nerve to work on my one foot glides, which I did (not solidly, but somewhat sporadically) for the remaining time. I didn't make a whole lot of progress except to realize that my problems are probably a combination of not tucking my other leg close enough to my skating leg, and also that my weight is a little too far back on my skating foot. The last time or two I did manage to make it a bit straighter and I didn't curve so much. I will be skating again on Monday so that's what I'll work on again. All in all it turned pretty well, and I'm really glad I got out of bed and made the effort.