Buying an adult figure skating costume (gulp)

Tags

costumes, programs

With the holiday show on the schedule, I’ve been looking to acquire my first figure skating costume. Eek! I don’t know about you, but skating dresses always bring to mind fluffy skirts, poofy sleeves, sparkles, and glitter. I find a lot of the elite skater costumes really gorgeous, but for the rest of us down here on planet earth it seems the options are a lot more humble. Sequins, gaudy color combinations, dubious cutouts, and velour — those seem more our lot.

Don’t get me wrong, I think a lot of younger skaters manage to look cute in them. Maybe because their small size or generally stick-like shapes look fine in little pink dresses that barely cover their rears. Or maybe because their ability to throw themselves into the air and spin uncannily fast brings enough admiration that you’re distracted from the costuming. They can definitely get away with getups in a way that a 33-year-old woman really just can’t. As with other things in life, actually.

I love new skates

Tags

blades, skates

Or rather, should I say I love my new blades. The boots are still a work in progress.

So in addition to working on my first program, the other big development in my skating is that I got new skates. Yay! Although the old ones are only 9 months old at this point, I’ve been thinking I’d need new ones soon, especially after reading Janie talk about her upgrade. They aren’t really broken down yet, but they have been feeling more and more wobbly on landings. Plus, the Jackson Artistes were never as stiff as they probably ought to have been once I started jumping. I noticed the beginnings of creases in the flex notch area, and my right heel started slipping a bit. So in addition to being unsupportive, they were getting roomy, and altogether I wasn’t feeling very secure.

Furthermore, I had the inkling that perhaps the stock Mark IV blades were starting to hold me back from improving. It’s not a bad blade and they have a lot more life left to them, but I was getting a bit frustrated. I didn’t want to blame blades if it was really just my lack of skill, but all in all I think it was a good time to move on up.

So, what did I decide? First, I headed to a different fitter, an experienced pro who came recommended by my coach. She suggested the Jackson Freestyle, which was about what I was thinking, so that was easy. I was measured for the same size as the Artistes, and she suggested I stick with the Mirage blades that come with the boot. Since I was hoping I’d be ready for a more advanced blade I was a little disappointed, but she cautioned that the Coronation Ace might trip me up at my level. She did encourage to get coach’s opinion, which was good because Coach A said I was totally fine with the Coronation Aces. I’m thinking the skate tech was taking a conservative estimate of my skill level since I told her I started skating this year.

I skated on the new pair this week, and there are still a few spots that need punching out before the boots are comfortable. They were heat molded, but what felt fine in the shop turned into pressure, and then pain, while skating. I didn’t want to skate too long in pain, but I did get in enough practice to fall completely in love with Coronation Aces. Oh man, are these blades awesome.

I am not a great spinner, and have always found spinning trickier than jumping. Less painful, but more difficult to get the knack of. The hook entry, hitting the sweet spot, staying centered — all of it was rough, and done with lots of toepick scraping. On the CoroAces, my first spin was magically centered and fast and easy. The hook feels more secure now, and I am so much less afraid about falling over on the camel entry. Jumps are good too, although I didn’t do many of them (due to the whole pain factor). The first time I tried a waltz jump I just about fell straight down on my butt because I didn’t step up far enough on the rocker, due to the fact that the Mark IV has such a flat one. When I managed to take off properly off the pick, I was amazed at how much higher it was — I didn’t jump any harder, but the pick and rocker angle were enough to propel me higher.

The difference between the Mark IV and the CoroAce is like night and day, like coach and first class, like driving an old beater with no power steering and a luxury SUV with tons of power. The new blades don’t conjure up new skills magically out of thin air, but they do drastically enhance my ability to perform the ones I’ve already learned. Did I mention I’m in love? I am in love.

Now to get the boots as comfortable and skate-ready.

Sharpening blues

Tags

blades, skates

…as in black and blue. As in my body. Since I haven’t been skating for very long, I have yet to come upon the ideal timetable for sharpening my blades. But at least now I know what not to do, because I definitely went too long this last go-round, and my body is hurting from it.

Reading around, it seems like a good rule of thumb is to sharpen blades every 30 to 40 hours on the ice, depending on how sharp you like your blades, how hard you are on them, etc. Alternately, some people count by number of weeks, assuming their skating schedule is regular. The first couple times, I opted for the 40 hour rule of thumb and had no trouble adjusting to the ice on the sharpened blades. So I thought perhaps I was jumping the gun, especially when my coach checked my blades this time (she thought she saw rust, but it was dirty snow) at around the 30 hour mark and deemed them pretty sharp. I heard that if you run your fingernail along the blade and the steel takes off a bit of it, you’re fine, and I checked dutifully after every session and found they were still shaving off little bits of nail so I let them go for a while. Finally, though, I skidded sideways on a turn and figured it was time for a sharpen, even though the fingernail test was still good. It was at about 60 hours.

Took to the ice, and whoaaaa was it uncomfortably fast. I did like the speed and flow I got off the edges, but I had gotten too used to the dulled blades and wasn’t ready to make the transition so suddenly. Little movements caught me off guard and I fell all over the place, and I’ve got lovely matching bruises on both elbows and both hips.

So now I know two important things: It’s true that you really shouldn’t let your blades go too long, and that my timetable is somewhere between 40 and 60 hours. Oh, make that three things: The fingernail test is bunk.

Money spent: The first six months of figure skating

Tags

figure skating, private lessons, skating costs

I’m halfway through Month 7 of figure skating, but I was looking at my skating log and figured it might be enlightening (albeit a little frightening) to do a tally of the first six months, for reference’s and posterity’s sake.

I keep two notebooks in my skating bag: one is a small one that Coach A recommended I use to jot down lesson notes. It’s been really helpful, and I’m glad she suggested it – because at first I was so sure I could remember things till I got home and wrote them down (say, in this blog). But as it turns out, this memory’s pretty wimpy after all and if I didn’t write it down RIGHT after lesson, I’d find myself on the ice the next time wondering, “There was a 3-turn exercise she showed me… what was it again?”

The second notebook is one of those tiny pocket ones, and that’s for all the mathy things. Going forward from page 1, I log the hours I skate so I know when I’m due for a sharpening. Then from the last page going backwards, I log my costs. (I am nowhere near this obsessively organized in real life, but it happens that I had the idea to start these logs right at the start, so now I have a nice complete list of everything.)

GEAR: $501
Skates (Jackson Artiste): $135
Incidentals (guards, soakers, gloves): $26
Skating Safe crash pads (2 knee, 1 tailbone, 1 hip): $200 (holy moly did I really spend that much on protection? I guess my bones are worth it…)
Clothing (skating pants, practice skirt): $100
Sharpenings (2x): $30
Boot stretching: $10

LESSONS: $897
LTS group lessons (1 course, 7 lessons): $99
Privates: $798

ICE TIME: $366
Punch cards and admissions: $366

TOTAL EXPENSES (MONTHS 1-6): $1,764

Omg. Dies.

To put things in perspective, however, a lot of these costs were up-front. They don’t break down into $294 every month, for instance, which is what you get when you divide by six. Almost everything under the gear heading, minus the $30 for blade sharpenings, came in the first two months. (I vaguely recall a terrifically high credit card bill… I must have blocked that from memory.) But point being that they aren’t going to repeat.

These days I have two main expenses: Coach A’s monthly check and the new punch card I buy every couple of weeks. Otherwise, I head to the rink with no cash and generally spend little.

I know, that’s a lot of rationalizing, but we do what we must. I don’t have a gym membership, for instance, and I don’t go to yoga/art/cooking classes or have expensive foodie tastes or buy lots of clothing. It’s not SO bad, right? RIGHT?

OTHER STATS

Skating hours: 87.75
Lesson hours: 13.5 (6 group sessions, 21 private lessons)
Skill level: low freestyle
(This means: I’m working on pre-bronze and bronze moves in the field; I have a small waltz jump, decent salchow, gradually improving toe loop, and am working to get loop. Spins are weak though slowly improving; I can do 3-4 revs on an upright spin, 2 on a backspin on a good day, and barely 2 on a camel – working on it!)

New skates, already?

Tags

figure skating, jumps, skates

As we wrapped up our lesson this week, Coach A said with a gleam in her eye, “I want to get you outskating that boot, so you can break it down and move up to a better one.”

And I went, “Whaaaaa?” Because my skates are just over two months old, and they’ve never even been sharpened. This is Week 10 of skating for me, and I’ve logged about 30 to 35 hours on the ice so far (I’m keeping track since I know they’re about due for a sharpening soon — Coach A felt the blade last week and says I’ve still got a little life in them, but I know it’s getting to be about that time). The boots are still smooth and shiny and white, with no nicks in them yet.

On the other hand, I’ve been feeling the need to lace the ankles more tightly in recent weeks, because they haven’t been as supportive as I’d like. They’re Jackson Artiste skates, and while I don’t really understand the stiffness differences yet, I know they’re a pretty soft boot compared to the others. When I started the waltz jump yesterday, even just doing those for ten minutes I could feel that the leather was getting a workout.

Hm, maybe I should’ve started out with the Freestyles after all. But I was worried about getting overly ambitious at the outset and impeding my learning. Plus, the Freestyles would have been almost twice the cost of the Artiste. Granted, I still think I’ve got lots of life left in my skates, but it’s a bit surprising to be thinking of upgrading so soon. Ah, well I knew this was an expensive sport going in.