Sunday Zoo

I went to the public session this afternoon since I will not be able to skate Monday or Tuesday nights due to choir rehearsals. I didn't wind up getting on the ice until almost 2. It was somewhat crowded, but not too many people. However, it had a high proportion of little and not-so-little kids with those stupid "EZSkater" things that are dangerous and a pain in the neck. If you've never seen one, they are little contraptions made of metal tubing that provide a sort of a "walker-on-ice" for little kids. That's fine except the not-so-little kids like to use them too, and they wind up throwing them around the ice. And of course the little kids never watch where they are going and often go in a different direction than everyone else, etc.

Nicole was there and I spent some time talking with her. She worked with me a little on my pushoff and encouraged me to bend more and reminded me to look up. She spent at least 10 minutes with me -- what a sweet person! Skaters are really some of the best people. She is prepping for the Pre-Bronze MITF test, which apparently is 10/5. She is working on her alternating 3-turns. I spent some more time talking with her during the Z-break and we talked about the various coaches etc. Her coach is Anna, who I've seen at coffee club before. She's a young woman (early 20s I would guess), I think she's done ice dance. She's a very good skater and I really like the way she skates. Nicole likes her a lot because "she doesn't treat me like an adult!" Which might sound like an odd complement, but I knew exactly what she means. She means that she will push you like she'd push any young skater -- she doesn't discount your drive or desire just because you aren't possibly going to the Olympics. For me, that's pretty high praise.

I spent most of the session working on basics again, but it was too crowded to work on my backwards stuff. I spent most of my time working on my pushoff and my right-foot glide. The right foot is still very inconsistent. I'm really annoyed/disturbed by the fact that after all this time it is not better than it is, but I know I've not worked it nearly as much as my left so I have only myself to blame.

Nicole mentioned to me that she keeps a list in her pocket of stuff to work on. I think I will probably do the same; as I mentioned I feel like I need to be more organized in my practice time.