July 2005
Week of July 17, 2005
Off Again!
We have been home from Europe for almost a week. The weather has been mercilessly hot. And what have I accomplished? Very little. I have done a lot of laundry. I have not jogged. I have not skated. Although I planned to drive to the park and roller skate, I did not. We are going to our lake house this week. The road there was freshly paved last year, so roller skating will be very pleasant. Plus I will not have to go anyplace special, only walk to the end of the driveway. A nearby city also has an ice rink. I intend to skate at least one session weekly to keep my skills in tact. All I really needed to do this week at home was relax.
The one bright spot of exercise on my lazy horizon was a couple of evening workouts on the trampoline. This preserves my endurance, strength, and flexibility. My Russian split leaps are improving. My legs are achieving a wider angle of separation and lifting to the horizontal. Now to do this on the ice. Keep dreaming. My pike has also improved. I am concentrating on pointing my toes, locking my knees together, and lifting the legs, which employs stomach muscles as well as leg muscles. This position is more difficult to achieve in the air than a Russian split. Currently, I attain about a 45º angle. Pulling up to 90º will be exponentially more challenging. However, it would be a stunning move on the ice but would require phenomenal height and spring. I wonder why skaters do not use this position. I doubt it is too hard for an elite competitor. The pike would make a dramatic signature move for a powerful athletic skater.
While at the lake, where the weather will be cooler, I plan to resume my jogging. Additionally, the lake offers ample opportunities for swimming and canoeing. I will probably roller skate on the street and ice skate whenever possible. I am bringing a mountain of fabric and hope to churn out roughly one garment per day. Don’t be too amazed, I only sew simple things these days.
We don’t get a signal at the lake house. We either have to drive a few miles down the road to get a straight shot of a cell tower or into town. The public library offers free internet access, so I wrote down the telephone number for the ice rink about a half-hour away. When I had a signal, I called the rink. A man answered the phone. When I asked about freestyle skating sessions, he assumed I was a coach looking for summer ice for my students. I confessed that I am an adult skater seeking a decent place to practice. Hell, anyplace to practice. He told me he was making up the schedule for August and would call me back with the public session times. They did not offer dedicated freestyle sessions, but he claimed the publics were quite empty during the summer. I would happily fill them with my long strokes and fancy spins.
Enthusiastically, I carried the phone in my purse and waited all afternoon for it to ring. It did not. He did not leave a message that evening. In fact, I never heard his voice again. From a clearing where I get a decent signal most of the time, I called the rink. A machine answered. My husband took the phone on a bike ride and tried to call several times. The same droning recording responded. It responded every time we attempted to make contact. The man had also told me the management planned to take down the ice for a week toward the end of August. If summertime business was really as dead as he suggested, they may have decided to just close the place and save money on refrigeration until the fall.
So, I have not skated all summer. While I planned to roller skate on the street, I did not do that either. I guess skating is an all-or-nothing proposition for me. Since ice was not available, I preferred to focus my efforts elsewhere, to only serve one athletic master. This summer, that master was jogging.
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