.....WednesdayMarch.....I know much better than I ever did to diss anything on ice these days.
I have been skating for a princely 9 months now, and the first few months progressed at what I thought, was a good pace, but after reaching LTS level 5, have kind of reached a bit of a plateau, whereas other skaters I play hockey with seem to progress through learning mohawks and backwards crossovers pretty quickly.
I hate skating backwards at the best of times (unless I'm safely cocooned in my hockey gear), and those backwards inside and outside edge glides are really holding me back. I am making very slow, and very gradual progress, but when I look at where I was 6 months ago (when my rapid (comparative) progress was assisted by compatible working hours that enabled me to get around 15hrs ice time a week) I am considerably better than I was. I am slowly 'getting there' with 3 turns, and as for my forward crossovers.....I knock them out of the park (my coach has commented 'ah, we've found something you enjoy!). Crossrolls....nope, backwards crossovers....laughable, and I expect a lot of people reading this are thinking to themselves 'Really? You're having problems with these basics?'. But, I'll get there in time. I have no ambitions or illusions to be a competitive skater, I just want to be a useful skater in a rec hockey team, without feeling like I'm a liability or embarrassment to my team (assuming I ever get onto one).
It's now got to the point where I wake up, having dreamt that I could do a backwards edge glide, or backwards crossover, think to myself 'today is the day I nail it', turn up at the rink, and realise that yep, it was just a dream!
I think the biggest development that I have made in the last 9 months is a greater appreciation and respect for any one that gives this ice skating lark a go, regardless of age, experience, ability, and discipline (as in figure / hockey / dance / synchro / freestyle etc).
I think my biggest ambition now, is to prove to those that have given me withering, derisive looks over the last few months when I have bumbled my way around the rink, making me feel like I am wasting my time, and that I have no right to be doing this, totally wrong. That would make me happy.