Ice skating...
Feb. 17th, 2008 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annwfynSo, today was the first of the series of private skating lessons that the ever charming, lovely, suave and handsome molez got me for my birthday.
And lo! It went well.
I've not had proper lessons in a while, and I don't think I've ever had private skating lessons before. I was absolutely astonished at how much of a difference it made. I had half an hour with Paulette, my coach, and I think I made about as much progress in one lesson as I have done in two or three classes before. It was just really helpful to have someone really look at what I was doing, and tell me when I was getting it right, and when I was getting it wrong. It was even more helpful to have someone around who could notice the little things - so she wasn't satisfied with me coming down from a jump and not immediately hitting the ice arse first; instead she was able to say "you're landing, but you're not happy with that, are you? You're not bouncing, and you're wobbling a bit every time you come down". And of course, she was right.
I skated for a solid hour as well, which is pretty good for me. Normally I'm prone to skating for ten minutes, then lazing by the barrier for five minutes, then skating again. This time I just kept going, continuing on my own for a good half hour after Paulette had finished teaching me (and while she was torturing Andy with his skating lesson) just because I had something to practice.
I also got chatting to a lovely lazy who was practicing her backwards lemons. Erm - she was practicing this thing where you skate backwards, letting your skates slide in and out so you leave a sort of lemon pattern on the ice. It looks a bit like this:
()
()
()
Anyway. I got chatting to her, and she said that she had been watching me earlier and thought I looked really confident and proficient out on the ice, which was rather nice to hear. Then, just before my ego got right out of hand, a seven year old sped past me, leaping in the air and managing a complicated double spin before landing on one leg.
I've got another three lessons with her as my present from Andy, and after that I need to work out what I'm doing with this ice skating malarky.
On one hand, I really really enjoy it. It's the first time since I stopped horse riding that I've found a form of exercise that I actively look forward to, and have kept up consistently for any length of time. I want to get better at it. I think about it when I'm not at the rink and want to practice. I know I'm never going to get to serious competition standard - I'm far far too old - but I do think I can get to a level where I look relatively nice spinning around at my local ice rink, and I think I will enjoy it a great deal.
On the other hand, it's not exactly the cheapest sport to get involved in. I did some maths today, and I think that skating as regularly as I would like - assuming I am having one half hour lesson per week, and then at least one extra practice skate at the public sessions - would cost me around £100 per month. That's a lot of money.
It would cost less if I didn't have lessons, but right now that feels like I'd be wasting my time, pottering around not being very good. Classes would also be cheaper, but adult classes happen rather random at Streatham Ice rink - basically - they don't run ongoing classes, but rather will run short courses from time to time. So, I'd need to wait until a class was starting, and then start going along and I'd not have much control as to when that would be. Classes are also rather pricey - £55 for a course of six lessons, which breaks it down to just under £10 per lesson, and I'm not sure that the saving I'd make (which isn't much, actually) would compensate for the slightly slower progress I think I'd make.
I'm going to have a fiddle with an excel spreadsheet and work out whether I can afford it. I think I can, although I won't be able to go twice a week in the poorer months, but a bit of me wonders if I'm crazy.
Those of you out there who are involved with sport or other hobbies - would it be a very personal question to ask how much you guys tend to spend in a month, or in a week, on your chosen activity?
molez got me for my birthday.And lo! It went well.
I've not had proper lessons in a while, and I don't think I've ever had private skating lessons before. I was absolutely astonished at how much of a difference it made. I had half an hour with Paulette, my coach, and I think I made about as much progress in one lesson as I have done in two or three classes before. It was just really helpful to have someone really look at what I was doing, and tell me when I was getting it right, and when I was getting it wrong. It was even more helpful to have someone around who could notice the little things - so she wasn't satisfied with me coming down from a jump and not immediately hitting the ice arse first; instead she was able to say "you're landing, but you're not happy with that, are you? You're not bouncing, and you're wobbling a bit every time you come down". And of course, she was right.
I skated for a solid hour as well, which is pretty good for me. Normally I'm prone to skating for ten minutes, then lazing by the barrier for five minutes, then skating again. This time I just kept going, continuing on my own for a good half hour after Paulette had finished teaching me (and while she was torturing Andy with his skating lesson) just because I had something to practice.
I also got chatting to a lovely lazy who was practicing her backwards lemons. Erm - she was practicing this thing where you skate backwards, letting your skates slide in and out so you leave a sort of lemon pattern on the ice. It looks a bit like this:
()
()
Anyway. I got chatting to her, and she said that she had been watching me earlier and thought I looked really confident and proficient out on the ice, which was rather nice to hear. Then, just before my ego got right out of hand, a seven year old sped past me, leaping in the air and managing a complicated double spin before landing on one leg.
I've got another three lessons with her as my present from Andy, and after that I need to work out what I'm doing with this ice skating malarky.
On one hand, I really really enjoy it. It's the first time since I stopped horse riding that I've found a form of exercise that I actively look forward to, and have kept up consistently for any length of time. I want to get better at it. I think about it when I'm not at the rink and want to practice. I know I'm never going to get to serious competition standard - I'm far far too old - but I do think I can get to a level where I look relatively nice spinning around at my local ice rink, and I think I will enjoy it a great deal.
On the other hand, it's not exactly the cheapest sport to get involved in. I did some maths today, and I think that skating as regularly as I would like - assuming I am having one half hour lesson per week, and then at least one extra practice skate at the public sessions - would cost me around £100 per month. That's a lot of money.
It would cost less if I didn't have lessons, but right now that feels like I'd be wasting my time, pottering around not being very good. Classes would also be cheaper, but adult classes happen rather random at Streatham Ice rink - basically - they don't run ongoing classes, but rather will run short courses from time to time. So, I'd need to wait until a class was starting, and then start going along and I'd not have much control as to when that would be. Classes are also rather pricey - £55 for a course of six lessons, which breaks it down to just under £10 per lesson, and I'm not sure that the saving I'd make (which isn't much, actually) would compensate for the slightly slower progress I think I'd make.
I'm going to have a fiddle with an excel spreadsheet and work out whether I can afford it. I think I can, although I won't be able to go twice a week in the poorer months, but a bit of me wonders if I'm crazy.
Those of you out there who are involved with sport or other hobbies - would it be a very personal question to ask how much you guys tend to spend in a month, or in a week, on your chosen activity?
