SKATE FOGEY
I have loved figure skating ever since my parents took me to see Dorothy Hamill skate in Kansas City when I was four.
As a child, it never occurred to me that I could take skating lessons. I did ballet and softball and art classes and cello lessons and flute lessons...and I wrote a lot. Skating was just something I watched on TV. In high school, my friends and I went to the Ice Capades Chalet a few times, but at that point, I figured I was too old to learn anything "fancy." So for the next decade or so, I contented myself with going to a rink now and then and scooting around the ice, stroking like I did on my inline skates.
A couple of years ago, an ice rink opened near my house, and I learned that they offered adult group lessons. I thought those would be fun, and I needed some exercise to help combat my fibromyalgia, so I signed up. This was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
My skating got off to a bumpy start. A month into lessons, I broke my arm in a freakish fall, and shortly after being cleared to skate again, I ripped up my knee in a nasty collision. The knee required surgery, and I didn't skate again for several months. But I resumed training in February of this year, and now I work with a coach twice a week (she is AWESOME), skate almost every day, and am preparing for some USFSA tests. I'm affiliated with the Los Angeles Figure Skating Club, help out with test sessions and competitions, and I've learned a lot about the sport and made some very nice friends. And I'm having fun!
A friend asked me why I train so much since I'm not gearing up for the Olympics, the sport is so expensive, and I'm "old." I told him that I skate because I love it. I love being on the ice, I love what skating does for my body, I love learning new moves, and I love the good feeling that comes with "getting" a move that had been problematic for weeks, especially when something just suddenly "clicks" and the move is there. So despite the cost (I spend more on skating each month than I do on food), the sore muscles, and the lack of Olympic aspirations, I skate, and I'll skate as long as my body will allow.
EQUIPMENT
SP Teri Super Teri CL boots
MK Professional blades
* Randall at USA Skates is my fitter...he's awesome!