August 2004
Sunday August 1, 2004
My Dream Exercise Room
We are moving to our new house this week and will finally have space for an exercise room. Both my husband and I will need to share the room, but I have been thinking of what I would like for skating-related workouts. Many of these ideas are based on my own notions of what might help to develop my skills on the ice. I have daydreamed about some of this equipment for a long time and decided to record my thoughts in my journal and perhaps receive feedback from readers.
Exercise Bike
We already have one of these, though I would like to purchase one with a more comfortable seat. My husband’s routine requires a low-impact bicycle workout. I also will use a butt-friendly bike while I read.
Audio Visual Equipment
Entertainment while riding a boring exercise contraption is an absolute must. I also hope to do aerobics according to my own schedule with exercise videos. I had to drop my aerobics class last spring because the available times were no longer convenient. The television should be ceiling mounted to avoid wasting valuable floor space. A VCR, DVD player, and boom box could be set up in the closet if ceiling installation is impractical.
Ballet Wall
The longest wall in the room will be fully mirrored and mounted with a ballet barre. Mirrors are essential for practicing skating poses and stretches. I would like to evaluate my own flexibility and quality of extension in off-ice spirals and other positions. The barre allows an expanded stretching routine and a balance aid for exploring skating poses.
Balance Beam
A home balance beam six inches off the ground would provide an ideal opportunity for strength building in static poses such as spirals, catch-foot positions and spread eagles. Placed in front of the mirrored wall, I could observe my posture, work on poise and body carriage. I would also like to practice splits, turns and pirouettes on the beam and would probably be tempted to try cartwheels and round-offs, the only two tumbling moves I can do. To increase layback flexibility I might regain my back bend by hand walking down the wall and stretching into an arch on the floor. The arch could ultimately be moved to the beam. I always had a beautiful and facile back arch as a young person.
Chin-Up Bar
Unfortunately, this would not be practical in a room with eight-foot ceilings, so it would probably have to be installed in the garage. My husband’s father always had a chin-up bar in the basement. Instead of doing military-style pull-ups on the bar, I would use it for building leg strength for split jumps and stags. While I can readily do a split by sliding down a ballet barre or stretching on the floor, flexibility only accounts for part of the skills necessary for a good aerial split. The skater must be able to lift her legs against gravity in an airborne instant. That requires enormous strength in addition to the fundamental ability to do the splits. To develop this strength, I would hang from the bar and kick my legs into a split, stag, or pike position. Adding ankle weights would simulate the mass of a skating boot. Additional leg weight would make performing the movement seem much simpler once the weight is removed. A mirror on the garage wall would permit me to monitor the progress of my split position.
Trampoline
I have a jogging trampoline that will be useful for low impact aerobics indoors. However, my husband suggested buying a full-size model to for use in the backyard. I cannot argue with such generous logic. Our new house is situated on an acre of flat property with beautiful gardens and a vast lawn. I could take my split jump workouts to the trampoline as well as practice air position for rotational jumps. Just bouncing around on the thing would be a lot of fun too.
Backyard Rink
Of course, a backyard rink will not fit into an exercise room. However, I would like to try to establish my own private frozen paradise in the yard during the winter. Skating outside at my convenience after work would be such a pleasure even if it only lasts for a couple of cold months each year.
As the exercise room progresses at the new house, I will write updates in my skating journal and keep a log of photographs in the photo gallery of this web site.
Saturday August 7, 2004
Bare-Foot Zombie
Amidst our move, I decided to enjoy a Saturday morning freestyle session. This session is so good, I could hardly pass it by even under the worst of circumstances. Moving is physically and mentally exhausting, and I was both as I entered the rink. I probably should not have been there. I really did not feel like skating. However, some force drew me to the place as gravity draws a meteorite through the atmosphere to burn in a ball of fire and crash into the earth, obliterated. Only a crater tells of its prior existence among the heavens. A similar power pulled me into the parking lot, through the lobby, and toward the restroom. One further complication made my journey even more absurd. Unbeknownst to me, the movers had taken my overnight bag. All I had were the sweaty clothes on my back and my skate case which had been spared the same horrible fate by being secured in my car. A quick trip to Wal-Mart solved the shorts, t-shirts, and underwear problem; but I was too preoccupied to possess the foresight to invest in socks and leggings. I knew my case held a sweatshirt, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover a pair of snap-on warm-up pants among the clutter. No matter how deep I dug into the darkest reaches of my rolling luggage, I could not exhume a pair of socks. So, I sucked it up and shoved bare feet into my boots.
I am very sensitive to skating conditions. These include but are not limited to: a fresh sharpening, harder/softer ice, new boots/blades, an unfamiliar rink, intimating advanced skaters, metal walkers used as bumper cars, strange socks or a lack thereof, etc. So there I was in the “no socks” situation, something I only experienced one other time in my twelve-year history of adult ice skating, under circumstances forgotten in the dustiness of time but no doubt born of similar desperation. The bottoms of my feet stuck to the orthopedic soles. My heels slipped awkwardly. My ankles are already too far gone to blister. I experienced a bizarre union with the ice, a closeness I rarely felt. It was directly beneath my feet like the freeway under the running board of an old Volkswagen hippy bus. This was intimate, pleasurable in a useless sort of way. I was too wasted to be positively effected by this subtle change. The snap pants did not improve matters either. Without a pair of tights or leggings underneath, the openings between the strategically placed snaps down the outseam allowed cold air to poke at my lower body. When I skated backward, my butt felt like it was in an arctic wind tunnel.
Overall, I was a mess. My stroking exercises and moves drills lacked security. I could have slipped off an edge at any given moment. So, when all else fails, I resorted to spinning. A friend complimented a layback variation I have been developing. I could not do my precious backward camel to save my life, a problem I found most disturbing. Back camels are probably my favorite skill. More versatile than the layback; a back camel can be adapted to flying entrances, limitless combinations, and interesting layover positions. Other than a few laybacks and scratch spins, I probably did nothing worth mentioning during that session. I practiced my jump drills according to my new coach, Eileen’s, advice; but made little progress.
I left the rink changed back into my new Wal-Mart duds and stumbled zombie-fashion toward my car. I shoved my case into the hatchback and plopped into the driver’s seat. A horn honked alongside. Suddenly aware of the external world, I glanced over and saw a friend waving at me and signaling me to come over and talk. I apologized for being too out-of-it to have even seen her. She took pity on me and asked if I would be back next Saturday. I certainly will if we do not return to the lake house, which is what my husband wants to do. We need to escape this turmoil for the peacefulness of “far away”. In spite of the difficulties, which were many, we love our beautiful new home.
Week of August 8, 2004
Miscellaneous Progress
I was fortunate enough to be able to skate four times this week, logging a total of about seven hours on ice. Skating frequently seems to be the secret to improvement. I do not have to waste as much time warming up or refamiliarize myself with the ice. Progress from previous sessions is retained, and I don’t have to claw my way back to where I was during my last skate. In stead, I can more effectively use my time to build upon maintained abilities. This, among other factors, explains how young people can improve so rapidly. Children often have the advantage of going to the rink daily after and/or before school. Regular repetition creates the secure foundation upon which further development can occur. Since this is not always possible for adults, I take advantage of the opportunity whenever possible. This week, I noted several areas of progress.
Lutz Entrance
Although I have not scheduled another lesson with my new coach, Eileen, I have worked diligently on the skills we reviewed together. My lutz toe placement exercises have evolved into half-lutzes. Soon I felt satisfied with the correctness of my backward outside edge and subsequent toe placement for the impending vault. Of course, I omitted the vault and jump for the sake of clarity. Every time I attempted to jump, I reverted to old habits and changed edges, so I avoided the temptation to jump and merely stepped off the picking toe. Through repetition, I hope to form new habits. During the week, I tried half-lutzes, kicking from the toe pick to land forward on the opposite foot. The traditional method for most half jumps requires a change of feet. While this method leads to split and stag leaps, it does little to teach proper air position for a complete revolution jump. With this in mind, I performed my half-lutzes without changing feet. I tapped in, pulled my legs together and jumped a half turn. This imitated the full lutz very well. On one specific occasion, my legs met so efficiently that I experienced a “Eureka!” moment. So this is how the legs are supposed to cross in the air. I have not dared to try a full rotation yet. For now, my lutz will be a half, but it will be done correctly.
Cross Behind Back Spin
During my first months as an adult skater, I knew a young woman who could do an absolutely beautiful back spin with her free leg crossed strongly behind her skating leg. Her position mimicked an exaggerated understroke of a crossover. I do not know the official name of this spin, though it is commonly incorporated into elite ladies’ programs. Although I tried to do this spin years ago, and have attempted it sporadically, I never had any success worth pursuing. Recently, I met a Russian woman who trained for serious competition as a child. She owns an exquisite “cross behind” back spin. Inspired by her example, I began to explore this skill again. This time, I saw a glimmer of promise and continued my efforts. While I do not exactly own this spin yet, I will hit a good one occasionally. The secret to this spin in a very quick transition from an extended free leg to the crossed behind pose. The skating knee must bend to accommodate the leg crossing underneath and behind. The free leg should pass close under the body with the instep turned up and the toe pointed. This is critical to maintaining a smooth spinning edge. I am finally worthy of this spin.
Camel-Sit-Camel Combination
The transition from a forward sit spin to a forward camel is well known for its difficulty. The best most skaters can hope to achieve is maintaining speed. Increasing speed is very challenging. I learned to do a forward sit-camel a few years ago but never did it especially well. With more ice time on my hands than usual, I have revived some of these long-neglected skills. Well, I can still do this combination. However, to improve it, I made it a three spin combo starting with an initial forward camel. From the camel, it is possible to generate speed into the sit spin. I can usually achieve faster rotation in a sit spin if it originates from a camel. Additional speed facilitated the transition from the sit to the final forward camel. The key is to hook the last camel. This should have been obvious. However, after many decent attempts my body solved with problem without further analysis. Rising to the camel position, my toe pick anchored the spin and resulted in a smooth strong camel. Cool, I can do one of the most difficult spin combinations in ice skating.
Sideways Toe Running
This is another move whose official name I do not know. The skating director teaches this skill to her “elite tots” classes. I watched a hardworking youngster practice it during a public session. No one ever taught me to do this cute little trick. It looks like a chassé step from aerobic dance. The outside leg leads and steps to the side. The trailing leg steps to catch it. Done with a prancing gait, it looks like sideways skipping and is very charming. After the child and her mother left, I found a hiding place at the back of the rink to make up this deficiency. I did it in both directions and incorporated it into a series of three-turns.
I have made progress on other skills as well, most notably backward inside three-turns, though they work best in the clockwise direction. I also did a fantastic inverted backward camel. To help me lift my trailing leg in split and stag leaps, I am practicing ballet jumps and trying to achieve a good flowing exit. Though the walley jump is presently on hold in favor of the lutz, I am working on a backward power pull drill into a back inside figure loop. This is a fun piece of footwork. Done at speed, it looks rather impressive. That’s the beauty of skating, there is always something new to practice or something old to do better.
Week of August 22, 2004
Body Sailing
I had never sailed a boat before last summer. My husband had his sailboat in mothballs for a few years and decided to put it back in the water. Of course, I was scared, especially when the boat heeled (tilted sideways) in a strong wind. I thought the thing would capsize. Now that I have a little more experience, though I would flunk a sailor’s vocabulary quiz, I am no longer afraid of the boat. In fact, I enjoy the way in cuts through choppy water, unlike the motor boat that slaps and pounds on each wave and produces enough noise to preclude conversation. I have always enjoyed the motion of waves whether it is on a row boat or a cruise ship. Motion relaxes me, even wicked airplane turbulence puts me to sleep while others hurl into paper baggies. It goes without saying, I have never been seasick.
Boating offers another sweet possibility, swimming in very deep water. As a college student, I loved swimming in the campus diving pool. This treat was generally forbidden, though I frolicked happily in the tank until a lifeguard noticed my smiling face and told me to get out. I love the idea that the bottom is far away, and essentially unreachable. My own movement does not ricochet off the bottom creating unnatural waves. The sensation of swimming in deep water is completely different than swimming in a conventional pool. I find pools restrictive. Their boundaries are too confining. Swimming back and forth becomes boring and predictable. So, my husband let me off the boat in one hundred feet of water. This was absolutely delightful! I watched him sail away while I swam in random patterns, flipping and rolling like a trained seal. Drowning never crosses my mind. He sailed back to retrieve me soon enough, and if I took my time and enjoyed the experience, I could swim to shore, which was about a mile away.
I discovered another fun activity that I cleverly named “body sailing”. It involves descending the swim ladder in the back of the boat, lowering one’s self down and hanging onto one of the last rungs while allowing the body to stretch out flying-superhero-fashion in the waves. This can be particularly thrilling when the sails fill with wind and the boat moves very quickly. As a bonus, the water swirling under my body creates the ultimate Jacuzzi massage. I love “body sailing”, though my upper arms and shoulders usually feel sore the next morning. This little stunt has spawned an interest in water skiing, something I would like to try in a coming summer. I need to build upper body strength to take full advantage of the sport.
The boat was moving along pretty well, and I had been hanging on for quite a while when I decided to climb back in. Great effort went into pulling myself back up the ladder against the force of the water churning below the hull. I managed to reach up and grab the edge of the craft and proceeded to pike my body to grasp the ladder with my feet. This proved to be impossible, at least for me, at high velocity. Obviously, Indiana Jones or James Bond 007 would have heaved their heroic butts right back into the boat to battle the evil captain. In my less swashbuckling case, my husband had to take in the jib (the front sail) to reduce speed. In the meantime, I had lowered myself into the water to rest. But this time, hand-walking back up was considerably easier. I piked and climbed in.
During the next two summers I would like to try water skiing and sculling (Olympic style rowing). I will certainly have some interesting adventures to share.
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