I know!

I'm a slow learner, okay? That means my coach will have to tell me the same thing a million times before I manage to do it. It's not that I don't understand what she wants from me, it's that I have a hard time communicating this to the rest of my body and persuading it to actually co-operate. So when she tells me my crossovers are still scratchy I respond: "I know". It's not that I'm brushing off what she's saying, it's that I know what I should be doing and I'm frustrated that it's not happening. I think (hope!) that my coach understands this.

It's harder with a coach who doesn't teach you all the time. They might think they're telling you something new, whereas in fact you've heard nothing else for the last three months. You have to remember they're trying to help, and watch them try to hide their disappointment when you fail to miraculously correct what you're doing wrong. It's easy to forget that they don't see you struggle with the same thing over and over and over and OVER again. They don't know that you know exactly what you're supposed to be doing but just can't do it. So be nice and say thank you, even if you say "I know" as well.

"Don't drag your toe rake on the wind up to the spin" says well meaning coach coach. "I know" says I. And I still do it in the next spin. And the next. And the next. "A bit better," says well meaning coach, but I can hear the doubt in his voice. Don't worry dude, my coach will be telling me the same thing for the rest of eternity!

Repeat indefinately

There are some phrases that every figure skating coach says at least fifty times a day. It's because you can always have MORE or BETTER in skating. You can skate forwards? Great. Now you just need more extension, more knee bend, more flow, better edges, no toe pushing, arm position, hand position, head up, smile, don't lean forward. You get it? I can skate round the rink chatting without thinking about it. But it's not proper stroking, that takes concentration as I think about all that other stuff.

• Knee bend - skating is all about the knee bend. You need it for everything (except spirals). "Sit into it" is a phrase I hear all the time. It's to try and make you bend your knees but not lean forward. And if you do it, you'll be more stable and secure on your edges. Straight legs mean it's too easy to tip forwards on backwards, you won't get a good push and your edges won't be deep or controlled.
• Push! - pushing equals speed equals terror, for me at least. Not that I don't love going fast, I do, I just can't do anything when I'm going fast. When I'm going forwards, I do a skiddy thing with one or both feet to slow down. When I'm going backwards, I drag my toepick. Much to the frustration of my coach! So I hear "get off your toepick" on a daily basis!
• Arms - If you thought skating was just about your feet, think again! If your arms are in the wrong position, you'll make everything harder for yourself. Even if it's just "arms out to the side" for basic skating. When it comes to turns, your arms lead you into the turn and check the rotation as you exit. I have issues with the checking part. For jumps, your arms help you get height, and then balance on the landing. And then it comes to programs when you have to do pretty things with your arms as well as worry about your feet.

Bow down to the SkateMums!

My mum lives a couple hundred miles away. She's seen me skate once in a show. I think she's still impressed I can move on the ice at all. She asked me how skating was going, I said I was struggling with my loop, her response was to tell me not to worry about jumps. I love my mum, but she doesn't get skating.

And that's fine. I'm 25, an adult. I pay for my own skates, lessons, ice time, costumes, shows, zuca bag, competiton fees and everything else that goes with this sport. My mum is still tucked up in bed when I'm at the rink at 6am. My mum is lucky I took up skating at the grand old age of 23. I might be too late to be an Olympic champion (cause obviously age is the only reason I won't make it! ;-)) but she doesn't have to do the SkateMum bit.

I love SkateMums. And all figure skaters need them. Whether you talk to them or not. SkateMums are the comittee for club, for shows, for competitions. They fight for ice time for their kids which means ice time for the rest of us as well. At my rink on a Saturday morning, they run a cost-price breakfast cafe. They make costumes, decorate Zuca bags, fuel coachs' coffee addictions, work the props for the Christmas show and spend their lives at the rink. Not to mention the skate tying, cheerleading, bill paying, music playing, driving, waking up, providing drinks and snacks and fancy skate clothes.

I may be an adult, but I have a tendency to get myself adopted by people (usually) older than me and generally more sensible. The SkateMum's will tell me to go work on my camel spin (then give me a thumbs down for it because it's dire), chase me back onto the ice when I get off for the eighty third time in a session for a drink and a breather, remind me of the need for practice practice practice with those damn field moves, notice my progress, watch my program, and basically believe in me.

I've read on other blogs about different types of SkateMum's, but my experience is all positive. Maybe cause it's easy to avoid the ones I don't wanna talk to ("er, i need to go practice my salchow") since I have skates on. Maybe cause I don't do Skate UK anymore, and I only skate at early morning patch (only the dedicated skaters and therefore dedicated SkateMums). So I will leave the badSkateMums posts to the other bloggers.

So be nice to the SkateMums. And SkateDads (they exist!). They have ALL the gossip!

I did that!

Since I got into figure skating I've discovered that I get overenthusiastic to the point where people tend to either go along with me or humour me to get me to shut up. Plus, I've always been a bit of an obsessive geek.

My rink is having their Open competition next month. There's no adult category, but I decided before the announcement even came out that I wanted to enter. I want my first proper competition to be at my home rink, where I know tons of people, and save the cost of travelling to another rink.

Before even mentioning it to my coach, I contacted the National Ice Skating Association (NISA) to see whether it was even possible for me to compete against kids. I couldn't find a rule that said that it wasn't allowed, but I wanted to have confirmation in case anyone kicked up a fuss. NISA said it was fine, no problem. So when the entry forms came out, I asked my coach and she said I could enter, so I did.

And then the overenthusiastic side took over... and because of me, there are four adults entering the beginner class. It might not sound like much, but two are even travelling from another rink to take part. My rink is gaining a reputation for being open and supportive of adult skating (even though there's nothing stopping adults entering any Open Competition they want to). I get to compete and not be the only person over fifteen years old. And other adults get to compete as well!

I won't win the competition. I only have salchow, toe loop, upright spin and a very basic step sequence. I lack grace, co-ordination, rhythm and natural talent. But I feel like I achieved something already. I saw something I wanted to do and I took the initiative, and got other people involved as well.

Zuca

Today was my Zuca's first trip to the rink! It was a Christmas present from me to me. At my rink on a Saturday morning club session, you can't move for Zucas! All the kids have them, and even a couple of the coaches. And now, so do I!

I walk about 30 minutes to the rink, and the zuca was suprisingly light and easy to pull along. Much better for my back and shoulders than a backpack or shoulder skate bag. It also has tons of room and about twenty pockets, so I can put all my stuff in there and not need a handbag.

When I first saw the kids sitting on their Zucas, I was convinced they would only support the weight of skinny pre-teens. However, I'm a very overweight adult, and can comfortably sit on them. The sticker on the bag says that the seat can hold up to 300lbs!

The Zuca is definately my favourite skating purchase (after skates and lessons of course). I had so much fun putting stuff in all the compartments, and its great that I can just leave things like painkillers, skate guards, skate journal, deoderant, gloves etc in there and forget about them til I need them. In my old skate bag, I had the rumage through everything to get to my skates, so they generally ended up scattered everywhere.

For adults considering buying a Zuca, you probably don't wanna have skates bigger than a size 5 or maybe a 6 (uk sizes). But for smaller footed skaters, I would definately reccomend it!