I was a little less nervous and spent fewer minutes clinging to the boards during our second skating lesson.
Time flew by!
We skated forward and backward. Worked on stopping in both directions. Did some tricky (for me) glides on one foot. Then at the end, we tried going very fast and then stopping.
I liked the going fast bit. The stopping, not so much.
I loved watching our instructor skate. He turned beautifully and stopped quickly. So much grace. I reminded myself that he’s likely spent very many hours on the ice.
And I also had to remind myself that I can take as long as I want. I love the skill development and it’s okay if it’s slow.
Anyway, fun times! And more stickers for my helmet!
That’s me, Sam, in a red toque and my Creative Arts and Humanities hoodie, after the class.
For a blog post about our first skating lesson, see here.
After our winter weekend triathlon, Sarah and I returned to Guelph determined to improve our skating. I signed up for Skate Canada’s CanSkate program and the first class was Tuesday night, and Sarah decided to join me.
But first I had to buy a helmet (my first time wearing one, times have changed) and new skates (after the mice ate my old ones.) These are figure skates but they’re designed to be comfy and they’re black rather than the traditional white.
Fun times. Yes, a little bit terrifying. It took me a few minutes before I let go of the boards. But also lots and lots of fun.
We all warmed up together and then split into different groups based on our ability.
I enjoyed all the new Canadians on the ice in our very beginner group. .
I was also impressed by the people who’d advanced past beginner. They looked good! I took that as inspiration.
By the end, I was skating somewhat comfortably forward and not so comfortably backward. Stopping is a whole other matter. Lots of work to do there. I even got a sticker on my helmet for successfully completing my first lesson!
Reflecting on this, I was surpised by the reaction of friends and colleagues. There was a lot of “age is just a number”and “I guess it’s never too late.” I hadn’t really thought of this as age thing at all. I don’t get the idea that you stop doing new things as you get older. I hate the idea of doing less and less with age.
My own reaction? I love learning new things.
There’s a kind of excitement in being a complete beginner, found in the very early stages of doing a new thing. I hope I keep on finding new things. I mean, I accept that with age I’m not going to get better and better at some of the old things I’ve been doing my whole life, so the better and better energy I love has to come from new things.
Also, although you likely know this, it’s not a comparative better and better. It’s totally better and better for me.
I keep thinking EXPAND EXPAND EXPAND, like Rocky in Project Hail Mary and his AMAZE AMAZE AMAZE.
Sarah
As someone who thought skating is like riding a bike I was surprised by how much I wobbled around during our recent trip to the skating trail at Arrowhead Provincial Park. I was ok skating forward but struggled a lot with the whole manoeuvring thing.
When Sam tracked down adult learn-to-skate lessons I jumped at the opportunity to have a skills refresher. I really enjoyed our first lesson. It felt great to go back to basics and I was already feeling more stable by the end. I can’t wait to go back this week!
Initially, I chose Stretch. I thought about Reach. You can spot a trend here. They all have in common a theme of growth, meeting new people, trying new things, learning new skills, and pushing out of my comfort zone.
That went so well that I’ve signed up for skating lessons. Sarah and I both think we need them after a wonderful weekend at Arrowhead, Sam’s winter weekend triathlon, where the cross-country skiing and the snowshoeing went very smoothly, but the skating not so much. It turns out, that for us at least, skating isn’t like riding a bike. And even riding a bike might not be like that for you.
Starting Tuesday evenings in April, we’re signed up for Skate Canada learn-to-skate here in Guelph at the rink near Exhibition Park.
This year we’re celebrating it, the sunny snowy days anyway. For three weekends in a row, we played in the snow between work things.
I’ve spent the past couple of weeks away in Ottawa at academic administrators’ conferences. Week 1 was the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education (CCAE) Development for Deans meeting. Week 2 was Higher Education Strategy Associate’s Re:University meeting. It’s been a very busy January and so this blog post is more photo essay than anything.
An ode to playing in the snow!
Weekend one was Sarah, Mallory, and me at Arrowhead and Limberlost on skis, skates, and snowshoes. It was snowy and warm, like almost too warm, just below freezing.
Weekend two Sarah and I spent at the farm between Ottawa conferences. Mallory and friends visited and so did Susan and Jeff. It was a bit strange weather-wise. In this part of Canada, we associate snow with lake effect snow, and that usually happens when it’s not that cold. When it gets really cold, people say it’s too cold to snow. Not this winter. As our weather changes, with climate change, we’re having overlap between days when there are record-breaking cold temperatures and record-breaking amounts of snow. What’s that mean? Toronto had -25 (feels like -35) and 60 cm of snow in 24 hours. Ouch!
