Can you tell I went back to work?

Obviously something has been keeping me from writing. I would love to tell you that it is my world travels on my yacht, but no dice... it is work. The good news is that I have not been kept from the ice and the hip flexor seems to be behaving lately.

Have you ever had one of those moments on the ice where you catch a glimpse of yourself doing something totally mundane (for me it is the three turns in the Silver MIFs)? I caught myself out of the corner of my eye in the reflection of the glass as I was coming out of a right inside three. Who in the heck is that? Where did the graceful Miss Hamill go? That woman looks like a 40 year old clod trying to skate - oh crap - that clod is ME!

So I started to mull all of this over and my mind drifted to competition. I think I am happy for the time being of looking like a clod to the handful of moms and skaters that inhabit my rink. I am fairly certain that my clod self will finally master those stupid three turns, power pulls and the outside mohawks on the eight step so I can finally show three other people (judges)just how graceful a clod can be. Now I know that my Boss will be mortified when she reads this because she never wants me to think this way - I love her so much for that. But I think I have come to terms FINALLY with how I look on the ice, and I am OK with that. I am just not ready to go show a bunch of strangers what I look like again. Maybe when I finally get that sit spin and lutz I will foray back into the throws of competition... maybe...

For now, I will putt around my rink. Get my butt kicked by the Boss and be the biggest cheerleader for my little Muffet I can be. Now for those MIFs... aarrgghh!

Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Remember the "Ouch!" post? Couple that with the "Type-A Disease" post and you will understand the title of this post. I have been working extra hard on my moves in the field and my loop jump technique for the past month or so. Being that I am a bit thick skulled, I usually don't "listen" too well to my body. In this case it is my right hip flexor saying, "Hello? Um, stupid? THIS HURTS SO KNOCK IT OFF!" Of course the hip flexor decides it has had enough in mid-air, leaving me to limp my way off of the ice. It was so bad on Tuesday night that I had to have my husband lift my right leg onto the couch so I could ice it. It hurt too bad to lift it myself.

After waiting for an hour and 15 minutes past my appointment time to see my doctor, today he told me to take 9 Advil a day, heat the hip before I skate, ice it after I skate and take it easy. I can do all of that except... you guessed it - take it easy. He asked if I was skating this weekend. I had to sheepishly admit that I was skating today, just hours after the appointment, and Friday for two hours. After shaking his head, he said for me to TAKE IT EASY and he would see me in 8 days.

I just yelled at Muffet to get ready to go to the rink, so I better get moving. I will keep you posted. As promised to the fine doctor, no loops today :(

Ouch!

My body decided to remind me that I am 40 today. On my first hour of freestyle my feet slipped out from under me and down I went - flat on my back! I think the sound of my body hitting the ice echoed into the next zip code!

Then near the end of my lesson today in mid-loop my butt seized up. What in the heck? How does my left butt cheek factor into the whole loop thing? Now, I know that it obviously does fit into the whole loop thing - duh - but really? Mid loop? I managed to land it, thank goodness. Then I hobbled off the ice saying "ouch, ouch, ouch" every time I stepped on my left foot.

Lame! Just when I am on a roll in my Moves in the Field! I guess I will be sitting on an ice pack tonight...

Type A Disease

I have an affliction caused by obsessive Type A disease. I discovered this horrible problem last night as I listened to a fellow adult skater who was talking about all of her new "tricks" she can do. She has "one-upped" me in the jump department and I am pretty sure she has her sit spin too. My disease flared up something fierce! I need a cure, and fast!

Since last night I have looked back on my little one and her development as a skater. She started kinda slow, caught on about a year ago and is in a little lull again. I don't think that adults are too far from this dynamic either but maybe our lulls can be longer and more pronounced? I am on the ice about four hours a week with one hour of lessons if I am lucky. Now I don't know how much this other gal skates - more or less - doesn't matter. I need to step back and create my own cure.

I have to remember that I am my own person and that I can't compare my successes or failures to any other skater. I will learn and be able to progress as quickly as my body will allow me to do so. That is all I can hope for. Just like I don't like to compare my Muffet's progress to others, I should not do this to myself either.

Have I done it? Have I found a cure? Only time will tell!

She's On To Me

I think that the Boss knows something is up with me. I am not sure if she just knows me that well or if I am being that transparent. You see, when I don't have a "goal" in front of me, like a competition or looming test session, I get kind of lazy and disaffected with my skating. My right knee has been bothering me a bit lately and my feet were hurting pretty bad after the two hours of freestyle this afternoon - but those are just excuses to me. The Boss knows...

How do I know that she knows? Well... she told me today that she wants to clean up my program (which I have not done since April) and she wants me to test my Silver MIFs in December. She basically said she is going to throw me out there whether I like it or not. POOP! I was getting so good at being lazy.

I know that she is right though - darn her. I need to get those darn Silver moves done and just sit down in my sit-spin so I can get the Bronze test over with. I need immediate goals in order to motivate me to perform and get my act in gear. I was not feeling it today however. My 15 - 20 minutes of lesson were not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination. I am doing this weird pre-rotation on my loop now for some reason. The flip was being pesky as I can't seem to get it landed on a toe. I could not spin to save my life. I came home kind of dejected and down in the mouth.

Now I am thinking more clearly and mindfully. How lucky am I to have a coach who knows me well enough to understand what will get me to work? How fortunate am I to have the time, health, and resources to do what I love almost every day of the week? Pretty darn lucky and fortunate, I would say. So, thanks Boss for knowing me better than I know myself. Now if we can just get into Muffet's psyche! ;)

It's the Little Things

I think it is hilarious that for adult skaters it is often the smallest victories that make us so happy. Today I was able to take advantage of something that just simply made my day - skating for an hour for FIVE BUCKS! AND - there were six people on the ice! Woo hoo!

I was at El Segundo again this morning so Muffet could have her last day of skate camp and her private lesson with BeBe Liang when I ran into a dear skating friend of mine. She broke her foot awhile back and this week was her first time back on the ice since the break. It was so wonderful to see her back on skates and even more wonderful to spend some time with her. Our time together usually consists of being at a competition either for us or for our girls, so we rarely get to just skate and talk. It was so fun.

To my great surprise two other dear skating friends were on the session as well. They are both getting ready to leave for Germany to participate in the World Gay Games so they were busy perfecting their programs. SG blew me away with his program to "I'm Too Sexy" - not only is it a kick in the pants, but it is fantastic with content! I am sure he will be a true crowd pleaser.

My other friend DB is strutting out in her artistic program that suits her to a "tee"! But it was not her program that I am choosing to revel in today - oh no - I have already seen that program in competition. What I am choosing to celebrate is that she finally has a solid one foot spin! She kind of laughed at herself when she told me, but I am so proud of her. It was her small victory that reminded me why I keep strapping on my skates and getting on the ice. Sometimes I think there should be a separate division for those of us who didn't skate as kids - those of us who only stepped on the ice a few years ago and have managed to stay on our feet most of the time. Not that I begrudge adult skaters who skated as kids any of their successes, but sometimes I am amazed at what true "adult" skaters have been able to accomplish in just a few short years.

So here's to you DB - kick some ice in Cologne and one-foot spin to your heart's content! I will be cheering for you!

Skating with a Star

I signed Muffet up for a week of "Summer of Excellence" skate camp in El Segundo. This is billed as "Frank Carroll's" skate camp and the Boss thought it would be a great opportunity for Muffet to be exposed to elite coaching and other high caliber skaters. She started on Monday at 6:40AM freestyle and did not finish her skating until 1:15PM - needless to say her legs were jello that night. She had her first private lesson with Olympic Silver Medalist Henrick Walentin on Monday, had group lessons with Mr. Carroll, Tiffany Chin and Bebe Liang and all in all had a blast.

I had a wonderful surprise on Monday when I picked up her skate schedule. I had requested a lesson for Muffet with Mr. Carroll and he was not on her original schedule. Her revised schedule on Monday morning left me scrambling to change her entire skate schedule to accommodate her lesson with... Mr. Carroll! She was so excited. Being the bonehead that I am at "oh-dark-thirty" in the morning, I forgot my video camera and still camera and had nothing but my eyes to document the epic event. I felt kind of bad for her in that she had already been skating since 7:40AM and her lesson was scheduled at 4:20PM. But my oh my were they cute together! He started her out by working on presentation and then moved to jump technique. By the end of the lesson she was working on her axel and getting tips from the best coach in the business. He held her hand as they moved from element to element, skated with her on the ice and spoke to her with such kindness. She was such a big girl - listening intently and working hard. I will never forget it - I hope she doesn't!

I strongly believe in surrounding children with greatness if you want them to achieve greatness. This is why I choose to have Muffet skate where she skates as she is surrounded by elite skaters on a regular basis. It was such a joy to watch her learn from the coach of the reigning Men's Olympic and World Champion and many other up-and-coming super stars. I had to pinch myself to make sure it was all really happening! What a lucky little girl.