Ice skating...

[annwfyn]

So, 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:

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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?

Comments

[windzswept.livejournal.com]

I spent erm... about £200 on stuff for quilting during the past week, and although some I will reuse (new rotary blade and large yard long cutting mat and a 14" square ruler) the rest of it was material and wadding, which I will use to make stuff, and depending on how sh*t school is will last me a few weeks maybe.

I don't do sport, but if I do it tends to be no more physical than the stepper in the kitchen or a bit of pointe work (I bought the pointe shoes a while ago and iirc they were $75). So, I'm not sure.

If you can afford it, go for it. It's something you enjoy, why let others perceptions of how much you should spend in a month cloud your happiness?

(if it helps at the height of my dancing I was spending just over £120 a week on dance lessons (I danced 6 days out of 7), plus swimming at £20 a week, plus gymnastics at £20, so that would be about £690 a month then I did the festivals which had their own entrance fees, costumes, shoes, hair, makeup, transport... It all makes the £100 a month sound cheap and makes me realise why horse-riding lessons were completely out of the question)

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Oh my! That's incredible. You must have been a damn fine dancer tho...

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

Ar, but some of that was holiday spending, which is allowed ;p

I'm ignoring my heap of fabric from Abakhan :D

[anonymous-james.livejournal.com]

It sounds like you're way better than me. I've never been able to spin, and I can only remember how to do a 3-jump. I suspect Paulette would have a lot to say about my technique (or lack of it).

Oh and the lemons are called "skulling"

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Bah. And humbug. I call them 'lemons', and that is what I've heard them called.

Damn you and your proper use of terminology. :p

[anonymous-james.livejournal.com]

Oh and I just spent probably close to £400 just to go skiing.

I probably spend about £20 / month playing football once a week, but I suspect my work colleague who plays probably 4 or more times a week pays a whole heck of a lot more.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

That's a holiday tho, so it a bit better. I would feel less guilty about holiday, I think!

I think at the moment I'm leaning towards continuing with the ice skating, just because it's quite rare for me to find a sport I really enjoy. Ice skating and horse riding are pretty much it - I get bored with random gym going, and I get very self conscious swimming. So, I should really keep going with something I like. I'm feeling slightly better with the knowledge that other people spend cash on their hobbies too!

[cairmen.livejournal.com]

Do it. Seriously. Do it. Exercise is incredibly good for you, and finding a form of exercise you love is basically priceless. Unless you will literally, actually starve, I would say prioritise it above almost all else.

FWIW, I spend about £55 - £65 a month on kickboxing. I'm contemplating taking a couple of months to go to Thailand to basically train full-time, though, which would cost more.

[purpleheather.livejournal.com]

I spend £3.50/week on weekly Lindy Hop classes, and I'd love to do more. Rikk & I have just signed up for a 3 day intensive workshop over the early May bank holiday, which is £480 for 3 days of classes & the hotel for the 2 of us.

Other than that I spend a stupid amount on my craft hobbies - given that at any one time I might be spinning, knitting, sewing, quilting (new shiny!), making felt stuffies, collaging and doing altered books, I spend a lot of money on hobbies. It makes me happy. Lots of these have big equipment costs too - my sewing machine cost £800 & my spinning wheel about £250. My camera cost £200, but that doesn't have any consumables cost associated with it.

I need to spend more time on fitness, but there aren't enough hours in the day. I'd say that, as long as the maths works out ok, it makes sense to priorities the skating as a hobby for you as you enjoy it, and are proficient enough to keep going, but still benefit from lessons.

[quisalan.livejournal.com]

When I was doing karate full time the fees were £60 a month which is standard for martial arts, assuming you are going to 2-3 classes a week (they cost between £5-£7 each).

Currently I pay around £5 per class for jujitsu (£20 per month as it's dirt cheap), and MMA is free due to sleeping with the instructor ;).

Pole dancing classes when I was attending those were also £60 a month (although I resented those a little bit more since it was just 1 class a week).

It's really up to you. Does it make you happy? Do you look forward to it? Does it make you smile, and do you think about ways to perform the moves even in normal life? If so, then I'd say an overwhelming 'yes!'.

One thing worth bearing in mind that exercise that you enjoy is rare, and has all sorts of exciting health benefits, like strengthening cardiovascular systems, improving balance, making you more self-confident, improving your immune system, let alone the more cosmetic things.

Think of it this way - people spend £60-£100 per month on gyms to get fit and are miserable. You beat them on that ;).

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

It must be said, I haven't found a form of exercise I actually enjoy and think about since I moved away from Lambourn and had to stop horse riding. It's also the first form of exercise since I stopped horse riding where I will keep going when my feet are aching and my legs are cramping, not out of grim determination, but because I don't want to stop yet.

That is very very rare for me, and I'm aware that I could really do with exercise. So, right now I'm leaning towards just going for it and hoping that a combo of getting some inheritance money in March/April and actually having a job come the summer will ease my financial situation enough that I can cover £100 a month on skating.