February 2007
Week of February 3, 2008
Pinky Toe
Even though my toe continues to bother me, I decided I must get back to training after trying to keep my feet out of my boots as much as possible. A complete break is out of the question, because I am coaching, but corn cushions seen to offer some relief. I have also ordered a pair of instructor boots and hope they solve all of my problems. I have not had foot problems for the last ten years. The only previous issues I had came from a pair of stock boots that did not fit well and a pair of customs that were made from measurements only rather than measurement and a mold. However, the discomfort of those situations was nothing compared to this horrible little toe. How can such agony emanate from such a little digit?
Before stepping on the ice, I noticed my foot was knocking in at the ankle. I do not know if this is due to favoritism of the bad toe or if the knocking could have caused the bad toe. My blades definitely need to be adjusted. Noticing this made me self conscious and aware of every faulty or sloppy step. Could some of my technical problems be due to a blade that somehow slipped out of alignment or, better yet, will my toe heal as soon as the pressure of an awkward stance is corrected?
I really did not want to skate. My foot hurt from the moment I stepped on the ice. It hurt more when I tried to skate. The pain shot up my leg and made me nauseous on the way to my head causing dizziness and a dull ache in my skull. All of this from a pinky toe. I could not execute a smooth forward inside three-turn as a spin preparation and simply stepped into a few spins from a backward outside edge. I dared not put too much faith in the leg connected to that dysfunctional toe. My body tensed from pain and caution. I stumbled on a few simple elements because my leg simply refused to tolerate the discomfort.
Pain and tension are not a productive combination. They can lead to injury whether from a fall or muscle strain. I left the rink after fifty minutes, and I had to force myself to stay that long. I did not even stretch after skating, though I felt sore. I just wanted to get out of that rink and cry. I’ll have that toe amputated before it ruins my skating.
More realistically, I have to make an appointment for a blade adjustment. Maybe the toe box can even be punched out. Once the "Learn to Skate" season dies to a whimper, I may need to have the bony growth in my toe surgically removed. It’s been one thing after another lately.
Week of February 3, 2008; Part Two
The Skate Guy
I took my boots to the skate guy with the best reputation in the area. My blades needed adjustment and I wanted to inquire about punching out the toe box to accommodate my afflicted pinky toe. The idea of distorting my beautiful custom boots disturbed me, but I was desperate. I could not skate. The pain was too severe. I put the boots on and showed Steve*** how my ankle drops in. There may or may not be a cause and effect relationship between this oddity and the problem with my toe. If they are related, I do not know which came first and may have caused the other. Steve could immediately saw evidence of my cramped pinky from the outside of the boot. I walked across the pro shop while he watched the geometry of my stride. Crippling pain rose from my foot and coursed up my leg in nauseating pulses that reverberated in my skull initiating a headache.
Steve took the left boot and disappeared behind the counter to work his magic. A while later the boot returned. I warily inserted my foot into its leather confines and was surprised by the lack of discomfort. The stretching process had provided extra room that relieved the abrasion to my toe. I walked again, but the blade still was not correctly positioned. Steve had to insert a piece of leather between the blade plate and sole of the boot to balance my stance. It may not have been absolutely perfect, but I felt a significant difference during a trial lap around the ice. Perhaps most importantly, my foot did not hurt. I could compensate for a crooked blade if I was not suffering from agony. Regardless, compensating for faulty equipment is often done at the expense of technique. Once the issue has been corrected, the skater has to readjust to a proper blade setting. Best to minimize that situation.
After my visit with the skate guy, I taught group classes in relative comfort. Maybe now I can get back to my own training.
*** Not his real name.
Friday February 15, 2005
Presidents’ Day Revelry
I almost did not go to the rink. I felt lazy. It seems the less one skates, the less one wants to skate, especially when one works in an ice rink. On my time off, I just don’t feel like going to a rink. I never would have believed this myself until I started doing it. Coaching is a job, however glamorous it may appear from the outside. But I convinced myself that I need practice and exercise and went to the rink. The parking lot was full of cars, which is unusual for this particular session. When I went to the desk, the attendant told me there was a birthday party. Why were these kids at a birthday party and not in school? Looked like a case of mass, parent-supported truancy. Then someone told me certain schools in the area were closed for Presidents’ Day.
When I was a kid, there was no “Presidents’ Day”. The country observed Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday. I guess this was unfair to all of the other presidents and since their birthdays did not always correspond to long weekends, a catch-all “Presidents’ Day” was created. It happens on some Monday in February. However, schools close at various times to honor the presidents. Some give a whole week off and call it winter break. Others give a long weekend which may start the Friday before, definitely includes Monday, and may even encompass Tuesday. So unless you are familiar with all of the school calendars in the area of your rink, you cannot be sure when you may encounter Presidents’ Day revelers at a daytime session.
I wished I stayed home. But a friend I have not seen for a while came in and we had a chance to catch-up. Too many kids pushed cones around the ice, whether they needed them for support or not, to make moves in the field practical. I did some warm up stroking and other simple patterns but spent most of my time working on spins, which is my favorite activity anyway.
A coaching colleague has a great backward layback with a traditional curved leg position and strong backbend. I covet that spin. Of course, she is about half my age and still actively trains for competition. But I am not discouraged. I have decided to learn the spin and worked on it diligently during that session. It is coming along better than expected. I invested significant effort in a backward attitude spin before my ankle injury with the intention of learning the layback. Presently, I am performing my embryonic layback in combination with a back camel, a spin I can do well. The transition from the camel builds speed for the layback. Layback positions are difficult to achieve and maintain without considerable speed.
I left the ice ten minutes early. The session had deteriorated to a game of tag. One kid brushed so close to me that he hit my gracefully extended arm. Time to go.
Week of February 24, 2008
Running Interference
A few coaches and I found ourselves without private lessons on the public session following group classes. My lesson had cancelled because the parent caught the flu. Four of us decided to go out on the ice and fool around a little. It was crowded, as weekend publics usually are, especially this time of year. But no one was skating in the middle other than the odd wanderer gliding through with a look of utter confusion and purposelessness on his or her face. Funny, some of these directionless skaters are older than me. So the coaches commandeered the center.
We took turns spinning and ran interference for each other, skating around the spinner or stationing ourselves as a human barricade around the middle. We decided, wisely, not to show off our camels due to the enormity of the crowd and the tendency for a clueless drifter to break through our line of defense. We showcased sit spins, scratch spins and laybacks. I demonstrated a variation of the forward sit that I play with occasionally. The spin starts as a basic sit, then I pull my free leg in and prop the free foot on my employed knee creating the beginnings of a pancake spin. One of my colleagues likes the spin. However, she had trouble maintaining the position. Instead, she picked up her blade and rose from the sit achieving a very attractive pose, one that I began working on.
My foot started to hurt. I had already been in my boots for close to three hours and had another lesson on the freestyle session. So I went into the locker room to elevate my feet and rest. I would really like to have a regular training partner; someone my own age. We could motivate each other and share areas of expertise. Maybe my coaching group can enjoy these little practice sessions once in a while as an idea exchange. It is a social way of learning new skills and getting feedback from other professionals. Best of all, it doesn’t cost anything.
Week of February 24, 2008 Part Two
Out of Practice
Of course I am out of practice. I have barely skated for myself since some time in December. There have been several reasons for this, the most important being the problem with my toe. Since I had my boots stretched, my toe seems to have healed and I experience very little discomfort. So I am getting back out on the ice. Hours logged as an instructor do not count toward one’s overall progress, or even as exercise, in most cases. I teach low level skating, primarily group lessons for kids learning to stand up through crossovers. I try to keep moving, just to raise my heart rate.
The first conspicuous result of lack of practice was a biting soreness in my left side from leaning into my forward crossovers while skating warm up laps around the rink. I don’t think I have ever felt this before. My core and lower back muscles must have lost conditioning. The pain became severe enough that I considered leaving after only forty minutes, but I am not going to improve with a work ethic like that. Instead, I went out into the lobby and stretched my back until the pain went away. Then I got back on the ice.
Secondly, my spins traveled. This just drives me crazy. My camel also slipped off its hook. I hate that too. Usually, camel problems indicate a blade sharpening is needed. I will take my skates in as soon as possible. However, there are definitely other factors at work here, so I persisted in analyzing and correcting my technique. Blade tracings reveal a lot about a person’s skating. For me, the problem seemed to stem from an isolated three-turn. I completed the initiating forward outside three-turn then began to spin. I harp on this regularly with students, fellow skaters, and in discussion forums. The three-turn must become the spin. It cannot be performed separate from the spin. There I was doing a three-turn and trying to spin afterward. This is a timing issue as well as a technique issue. At least I knew what I was doing wrong and could work to correct it.
Finally, I landed a loop jump on the flat of my blade and fell. It was not a hard fall, but an awkward one, the kind that scares a person who can freshly recall the inconvenience of a broken ankle. I could have just glided away and not jumped again, which is exactly what I did for about two minutes. Then I landed a humble loop and kept pushing.
I don’t jump much anymore. This situation is more complicated than it may seem. Physically, I can jump. Some of my problem is lack of practice. Some of it may be psychological. I was never a great jumper, but I could pull off some pretty respectable singles and had a recognizable double salchow. Now I must make another consideration. I cannot afford to take foolish chances. If I got seriously hurt again (although I did not break my ankle trying a jump), I would not be able to coach. I would forfeit my classes, my students, and most of my income. My slot would be given to another pro. When I recovered, there may not be an opening for me at Ice Castle, my primary rink. This happened with the broken ankle. When I could skate again, there was no job available at another rink where I had worked previously. I still have not been able to reclaim a post on that rink’s staff. A serious injury is death to a coach. I have worked so hard to build clientele. I would lose them all and would have to start from scratch again.
So I will keep my training sensible. No doubles. No axels. Good quality skating skills are my focus. Stepping out on the ice and skating like an accomplished athlete with speed and power is my goal. And I can manage that plus some attractive footwork, spins and decent singles.
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