Really excited about skating right now. I have made more progress in the last month than in the entire previous year. In April I started doing off-ice strength and balance work in response to problems with my back: exercise classes at the Y and small doses of stretching/strength exercises throughout the day. It helped take the strain off the affected back muscles fairly quickly but it was a solid 3 months before I could see overall improvements in strength and balance.

But somewhere around mid-July I started to be able to do things on the ice that I couldn't do before. My balance was much better, especially on my left leg (my weaker side). I finally conquered the left front outside 3-turn in the last week of July, just in time to pass the Gamma level test on August 2.

Then I signed up for a 3-week series of lessons at a different rink for the month of August just so I'd have somewhere to skate during the August doldrums. To my amazement, I've been learning new things at each lesson! I went from just barely able to make a 3-turn after 40 minutes or so of warming up to being able to do it almost every time. The instructor showed me how to do a 3-turn from a standstill, something that I had never tried but found surprisingly easy. The other students in this class are more advanced than me so we've been doing back edges and single-foot edge change exercises, and I'm getting a little better at each class.

I still can't do the key moves to pass Delta (which I need to do to qualify for Moves in the Field classes), but if I ever qualify for that class I'm almost ready to pass the first MIF test! I've also gradually built up my endurance to the point where I can skate for 1-1/2 hours if the opportunity presents itself. That's pretty much my top level of physical fitness. Not terribly impressive from the perspective of a serious athlete, but pretty good for an old lady.

I live in fear of having some kind of accident that will stop me from skating and biking, though. It's taken me so long to get to this rather modest level of fitness; I'd hate to have to start all over again after an injury. I do feel lucky to be as healthy as I am (knock on wood).

In the last couple of weeks I've finally started to see some progress in my figure skating!  My back still hurts on the right side after every skating session, but in a pesky way, not a disabling one. 

My Right Forward Outside 3-turns are looking (and feeling) pretty good now. I can make the turn almost every time, and at least half the time I manage to check the right shoulder and get my right arm back. I'm still not comfortable on that right back inside edge and get off of it as fast as I can, but most of the time I don't actually FALL onto my Left Back Outside edge. Better yet, I am finally holding the LBO edge for a couple of seconds and stepping forward semi-gracefully. I have a hard time with that move on that side.

Both my Mohawks are pretty good now.  The R2L one is a little sloppy (more of an open mohawk than a closed one), but I think I'm finally getting my right foot off the ice quickly enough to pass. Somewhat ironically, the pain on my right side has encouraged me to start favoring my left leg instead of my right leg, leading to much better balance on the left.

The LFO 3-turn is not quite there yet, but getting closer. At my last two skating lessons I managed to make several turns on my left foot without putting my right foot down to stabilize myself!  I can't do it every time and I still come out of the turn awkwardly, but I think I've finally gotten around that mental block that was making it impossible to turn on one foot. There's only one more week of class before Testing. If I can get in a couple of practice sessions I may get this turn in shape to pass the test for Gamma level. If I can just get past the swivel I'm home free. My position may be awkward on the LBI edge, but once I step down on the right foot I should be golden. If there's one thing I can do, it's step forward from a RBO edge (in fact, I can't seem to do anything else once I get on that edge, but that's a different problem).

The last move on the Gamma test that I couldn't do is the hockey stop. I think it's a very cool move, but I've never been able to do it. And figure skating instructors don't seem to care about it very much - we almost never work on it in class. I kept trying to do it to the right for some reason, but I finally realized that I should be doing it the other direction. Although I usually favor my right foot, for some reason the one stop I can do really well is the T-stop with left foot behind (it's the back foot that does all the work on the T-stop). It turns out I can fake the hockey stop by essentially doing a sharp left T-stop, shifting all of my weight off the right and at the last minute turning the right foot to parallel the left foot.  I should be turning both feet at the same time and putting pressure on the inside edge of the right foot, but I'll have to work towards that. Considering how uninterested the instructors seem to be in this move, it will probably pass the test as is.

So... it all comes down to that pesky left 3 turn. I've been working on it for about TWO YEARS now with little to no improvement. Now that I've made a breakthrough, can I whip it into shape in the next two weeks and move on to the next level?

For over 6 months now my highest priority has been a health-related one: to somehow contrive a way that I could continue skating regularly without having constant pain in my back, hip and related structures. Not quite there, but I'm pretty sure that I'm finally seeing progress. For the first couple of months, I had to cut out most physical activity except walking and gentle biking while the overuse injuries healed. My working theory is that I now need to build strength in lower back, abs, glutes and quads but without letting any of the muscles and tendons get stiff enough to throw the whole assemblage off balance. To accomplish this goal I prescribed myself the following exercise regime:

1. Every day: mini-exercise breaks focusing on abs, back, and whatever the muscle groups are that support squats and lunges.
2. Twice a week: formal exercise class including at least 20 minutes core strengthening.
3. Twice a week: ice skating lessons or practice
4. Twice a week or more: walk for at least 20 minutes to keep the moving parts working together smoothly.

I gingerly started skating again in mid-May but quickly discovered that I couldn't handle more than one skating session a week or the pain above the right ileac crest would start coming back. Similarly, after my first few exercise classes I was so sore that I couldn't do much of anything for the next 2 or 3 days. I had to settle for one exercise class and one skating session, with maybe some walking or light biking in between. Looking back at my notes, I see that's not quite true. Starting the last week in May I was generally skating twice a week. However, if I had really been sticking to my goal of no chronic pain I would've been skating only once.  With 2 skating sessions my back hurt most of the time. Not so much when I was actually skating, but for two or three days afterwards. I never managed more than one exercise class a week in May or June because each class wore me out for 2 or 3 days. This went on for about 6 weeks with no progress at all. Every Monday I'd start out with the determination to complete my planned exercise sessions and every week I had to drop one or two planned activities because I was too stiff and sore.

Then last week I suddenly started feeling stronger. The week before Convergence I exercised every day and still had enough energy to wander around Convergence for several hours on Thursday and Friday!  Skating class (Mon), BOSU (Tues), Biking (Wed), Thurs (BOSU), Friday (Open Skate).   Not only that, I think my balance has improved, both on and off the ice, and my legs are stronger. When I do my secret lunges in the rest room I can go down far enough now to lift the back heel off the floor and hold the 5th one for a count of 5.  I don't feel a huge difference in my skating, but I've gotten positive feedback from others the last 2 weeks.  I still can't do a couple of really basic moves that I have been working on for about 2 years, but I'm beginning to suspect that I really COULD do them now if I wasn't so convinced that I couldn't.

I'm now heading into what I hope is a 2nd week of finally hitting my exercise goals. I skated last night, and it's about time to head to the Y for the Tuesday BOSU class.

I think I've figured out why my cute teenage skating instructor turned out to be so unexpectedly good at teaching.

I had no idea, really. I suppose I should have suspected something when we kept having substitute teachers because Alex was out of town competing in something or other. I guess next week he'll be here.

And the first week that he missed a class he must have been here.

Now that I've finally found a place where I can practice skating over lunch hour, I'm working on developing a standard set of warmups and exercises. Here's what I did today. Main progress - pretty much figured out the steps to the Canasta Tango. One more practice session and I think I'll have it. Minor progress: balance on left leg with right leg behind, shakily transitioning to outside edge, right arm shifted back to hip. ( More here )

I skated 4 times last week, and 3 times so far this week. After being essentially stalled for about 6 months I feel like I'm finally making progress and all I want to do is skate. But man, are my legs exhausted!  You would think that after more than a year of skating 2-4 times per week I wouldn't be so worn out by it. I'm skating for longer at a time than I used to, but not THAT much longer (typically a little over an hour). I think I must be skating a lot harder, though, to get so tired out.

I've started taking an Ice Dancing class, which is a little over my head. I'm glad I decided to do it, though. I think practicing swing rolls has been part of the breakthrough I'm experiencing now.  The other thing that's really helped is just free skating to waltz time music. I combed through my iTunes library and loaded every 3/4 song I could find onto my iPod and listen to it when I'm practicing. I'm concentrating on 3/4 time because the first dance is the Dutch Waltz. But 3/4 time is the best thing to practice to. It's relaxing, for one thing. And because the beat tends to be slow, it encourages long, deep glides. The Dutch Waltz covers a huge amount of territory with a limited number of strokes, so you really have to PUSH on the first beat of the measure. I did finally make it almost from one end of the rink to the other a few times without adding any extra steps, but it's not easy. [no wonder my legs are so tired!].

I've been stuck for months trying to master 3-turns and mohawks. Finally I think I've nailed the LFI mohawk, and today for the first time I was repeatedly able to execute something that could charitably be called a mohawk in the other direction. What's been stopping me is my poor balance skating backward on my left leg. I've been practicing standing on one foot every time I go to the bathroom at work (assuming no one else is in there) and that has helped. But I think it's the swing rolls that finally got me to the point where I can (tentatively) extend my right leg to the rear while skating backwards on my left. You don't absolutely have to be able to do that to complete a mohawk, but you have to end up in SOME position on that left leg, and that's the most graceful end posture. It's also key to combinations like the 5-step mohawk that require a step-out from back to front. I've been able to do the stepout forever from the right leg, but couldn't begin to do it from the left.

My next goal - get that front foot off the ice before the back foot comes down. Follow through with the leg extension. And then rotate the right hip so I can step forward on to my right foot again.

I finally found somebody to ice skate with me and she successfully dragged me out me out of my grouchy Sunday den to skate on Lake of the Isles yesterday. It was a lot more fun the first time we did that, to tell the truth. Yesterday was a mediocre skating day at best - helluva north wind, soggy ice. But for some reason it was also more crowded, in particular crowded with hockey players (the plague of figure skaters everywhere). But it did give me another 45 minutes in the new skates. My feet were starting to chafe a little at that point, but I didn't actually get any blisters this time.

Man, this is a painful process. I had the toes stretched out a second time at the shop where I bought them, this time overnight, and it definitely helped. But new leather skate boots are just thick and heavy and take a while to mold to your feet. I'm planning to wear them in class tonight, but I'm a little nervous about it. They are actually much better skates than the old ones, but I'd developed some techniques in the flimsy old skates that I now realize were built around lots of ankle flexibility (i.e., crappy ankle support). Specifically, all of my stopping moves tend to make me fall on my ass when I try them in the new skates. :-(

What's your favorite music to exercise to?

Of the music I have loaded on my iPod, my favorite skating music is the various Drinking Songs compilations that a group of us were trading around last year. It seems a little odd, since figure skating is both healthy and kind of spiritually uplifting with all that swooping and gliding, and drinking songs are neither. It must be the high proportion of Country Western and Irish. I particularly like my compilation (of course) which tends more toward the rowdy drinker and less towards the morose. But I picked up some really wonderful songs from other people's compilations - I'm thinking of doing a meta-playlist with my favorites of the whole collection.

But for more rhythmic activities like biking or elliptical runners, you just can't beat the Grateful Dead. I think the best workout album ever is American Beauty. You're really moving right from the beginning with "Friend of the Devil" and "Sugar Magnolia." Okay, "Brokedown Palace" slows the pace a little, but it DOES remind you of how you'll end up if you don't get some exercise (miss ya', Jerry!). Then back into gear with "Truckin." "Box of Rain" is kind of slow and dreary and I sometimes skip over that one, but "Operator" moves right along. Then "Candy Man" to start the cooldown and "Ripple" to take you right out.

After my Saturday morning skating class I stayed on the practice ice for almost another two hours, which was a bit much. It's hard to stop, because I keep loosening up as I get tired, and just before I collapse from exhaustion I am able to do all kinds of moves I couldn't do when I started. Also, you kind of have to plan ahead and leave the ice in between the half-hour marks when the classes change over and the doorways are packed with parents and kids. I was going to leave at 10:30 and then again at 11:00 but changed my mind both times. So by the time I finally stumbled off the ice, my legs and hips and lower back were pretty achy.

And that was just the morning. After skating I drove over to St. Paul and put in my order for a new computer at General Nano. In the evening I attended a lovely party. Neither of these activities constitutes hard labor, of course, but there was a fair amount of standing involved, which is hard on the back.

Sunday I was planning to take it easy, but a friend called with a spontaneous offer to go skating at Lake of the Isles. After trying all winter to find somebody to skate with me, I could hardly turn that down! It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous sunny day, just as warm as it can get without actually softening the ice. We stayed out longer than we expected cause it was just so pretty. The ice wasn't too bad, either, although definitely Lumpy Outdoor Ice (so I didn't do much backwards skating).

After I got home I realized that I was going to have to find someplace to put my old computer, not just some day but SOON. So I went up to the attic to look around, and next thing I knew I was cleaning out the Dreaded Back Room. I really didn't intend it to end up that way, but there just wasn't any other choice. I dragooned thorintatge into carrying load after load of trash downstairs and out to the alley, and somehow talked Richard into actually vacuuming up the dust and squirrel turds once the space was cleared, but I still ended up lifting WAY too many boxes of National Geographics and ancient floppy disks and the like.

I was seriously afraid for my back, but nothing bad seems to have happened to it. Everything is a little sore this morning, but not excessively. I was in a lot more pain a few weeks ago just from working out on the weight machine a little too vigorously. I hope I don't stiffen up too much during the day, as I have my Monday night skating class tonight.

All in all, it was an exhausting weekend, but much more productive than usual.

I am now taking skating lessons twice a week, Saturday morning at the Bloomington Ice Garden and Monday evening in St. Louis Park. I've been thinking I could make more progress, not to mention stay more limber, if I could only find someplace to skate in the middle of the week. Another skater at the StLP rink tipped me off to the Richfield arena. Like every other suburban rink, they have open skating on Sunday afternoon. But unlike any other I've found, they also have open skating on Wednesday evening! I'm planning to check it out tonight. If that works out, I'll have the 3-times-a-week exercise/sport that I've been looking for to replace my summer biking. My cold is essentially cleared up now, and I'm looking forward to skating while not sick!