June 2005
Week of June 5, 2005
A Solitary Sport
Happily, I had another opportunity to skate this week. As time passes and I skate only sporadically, warming up becomes more difficult. I failed to center my first spins. When I practice regularly, I usually center my first spin of the day. I attribute this to muscle memory. Spins are engrained. No matter how infrequently I skate, I doubt I will ever forget how to spin. The precision of the spin may be another matter. However, after getting the feel of the ice, I predictably centered again. My efforts to rock a backward camel to the inside edge remained unfulfilled. That challenge will have to wait until I can get on the ice at least once per week.
A couple of my friends were at the rink, but both had to leave early due to other obligations. The place was virtually empty, yet I wanted to leave too. Skating is a solitary sport. It requires self-motivation. A skater in training often has to practice, fall, get up, and try again based on his own willpower. Certainly skating can be a lot of fun with a group of other people to inspire and motivate, but this is not always available. I have often skated alone in a rink with no music, spurred on solely by my own desire to be there. No one would see my victories or notice my failures. Since I am not presently able to skate on a regular basis, I felt uncharacteristically bored. I knew in advance that my friends would not be able to hang around after the session for lunch or coffee, and I almost decided to just stay home. But this was my last chance to skate at least until mid-July. I will be on vacation for three weeks with no access to an ice arena.
So I went to the rink and stayed after everyone else had left. I skated until I was exhausted and pushed myself to practice all of my skills to keep them fresh. When I finally left after three hours, I was glad I had persevered. I got a great workout and was satisfied with what I had accomplished.
Mid-June 2005
More on the Tramp
For a while, the weather has been too hot to make jogging a reasonable exercise option for those of us who prefer not to collapse on the side of the road. However, I took advantage of cooler weekend mornings and more comfortable days. My distance has significantly improved again, and I am pleased with my progress. On the grand scale, my jogging still ranks in the “chicken feed” category, but I am still a newcomer to this activity.
Unfortunately, I have not had another opportunity to skate, but am retaining and developing certain skills on the trampoline. One of my shortcomings has been lifting my trailing leg in split and stag leaps. Practice on the trampoline has helped me to focus on kicking the legs wide apart and as high as possible. Although box splits (sideways splits commonly seen in gymnastics) are not used in ice skating, I practice them anyway to improve general flexibility and muscle tone. The real breakthrough has come in the Russian split, also known as a “straddle jump” in trampoline. While my legs could be farther apart, I am lifting them to the horizontal. The key to this is airtime. Spring helps too, and a trampoline is a better source of spring than a sheet of frozen water. However, the reflex needed to build the strength and quickness to lift the legs can be learned on the trampoline. My pike leaves much to be desired. The pike position is a mainstay of diving (and trampoline and traditional gymnastics). It requires the athlete to bring the legs up while keeping them locked together with the toes pointed. While divers fold the torso over the legs, revealing no space in between, trampoline athletes pull the legs up to the horizonatal, creating a ninety-degree seated position. I am reaching about forty-five degrees, at best. This jump requires more abdominal strength than the others, so I am also working on exercises to simulate the pike on the floor. These are the type of exercises in which the legs are lifted and lowered slowly while the person lies on his or her back. It inspires the stomach muscles to quiver, a sure sign of their weakness.
I am not brave or stupid enough to go crazy with rotational jumps. Since I have not done more than a double on the ice, I am starting off slowing and exploring body position while airnborne. A common error occurs when the body tilts, forcing that last ounce of rotation. This throws me out of alignment and I collapse in a heap on the trampoline. Instead of twisting to create rotation that would almost certainly result in a bad on-ice fall, I am initiating rotation by pushing off the spring bed with my feet. A high jump provides time to control and concentrate on the position. I can comfortably complete one neat, clean turn in either direction. I have also experimented with the role of the arms and shoulders to generate quick rotation. Punching in the desired direction creates a surprising amount of speed. One-and-a-half turns is easy and can be performed without jumping excessively high.
A trampoline and some common sense offers an excellent training opportunity for skaters. It also provides me with an aerobic workout that is so much fun, I don’t even realize time is passing. One evening I went out to the trampoline dog-tired thinking twenty minutes of exercise would be better than nothing. I jumped around for forty-five. I finished a great cardio routine that included all of my skate-jumping drills.
I hope to take some pictures of my trampoline workouts by the end of the summer. I will post an announcement on this page when they have been added to the Photo Gallery.
I spent the last part of June on a cruise ship; this time, in the Mediterranean. After flying into Rome (overnight, of course), taking a shuttle bus to the port of Civitavecchia, and spending the afternoon on the docked ship (it did not sail until evening), I was completely exhausted and confused by jetlag. I took a nap in the afternoon, which was probably a mistake. Ideally, one remains conscious until a decent bedtime in the new time zone. I could not manage this feat. As a result, I was wide awake at midnight. In fact, I was jogging around the deck at midnight. The late seating dinner only served to reinforce my disorientation. We had to rearrange our dinner assignment to the early seating both to get ourselves back on temporal track and to escape our dinner companions, two young couples with whom we had nothing in common and were quickly becoming annoyed.
Wound up and overfed, I decided to walk and maybe jog a little. The upper deck of the ship had a soft jogging track, that welcomed my footfalls. I experienced no fatigue and ran without any jarring impact. After a half mile I was not tired and challenged myself to complete a mile, which I did without too much trouble. I was absolutely thrilled with this modest accomplishment and decided to work up to two miles by the end of the ten-day cruise. Well, I never achieved the two miles, not because I couldn’t; but because I started to occupy myself with long days ashore, much of which was spent walking. However, I did continue to run a mile each day for a few days. I also worked out on the exercise bike and stretched on the floor mats in the gym.
One evening after a good sweat on the stationary bicycle and a light weights workout, I began to stretch. A younger man was also stretching. I identified him as one of the shipboard dancers. He had the body of a former gymnast and was impressively limber. Most people consider me fairly flexible. One friend even claims she has never seen anyone more limber, which I find hard to believe. Maybe not someone my age without a formal childhood background in dance, gymnastics, or something similar. Anyway, this guy stacked up some exercise mats, place one foot upon the pile, and did a split greater than 180º ! Rather than being envious, I decided this should be my new goal. It may be within my limits. Presently, I have a full split on my left leg (180º), and can achieve about 170º on my right. On the trampoline, working against gravity, I can leap into about a 150º split. Not bad by any means. I am also starting to increase my range by dropping my torso to my leading leg during split extension. Overall, I am happy with these capabilities and foresee potential improvement.
We had a great vacation, and I hope to get some skating in now that I am back home.
Note: This entry was not written until mid-July.
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