New definition for the word "intimidation"

in-ti-mi-da-tion, (n) The act of walking into a skating rink for your first practice session and seeing a couple step onto the ice and proceed to do the most breathtaking dance combinations together.... and they are 14 years old.

So I figured out over the weekend that, if I'm going to be serious about this, I need to plan on getting to the rink every morning for an hour's practice. I have a lot of ground to cover and it's going to take that kind of focus to get me there. So at 6am, I was at the rink pulling on my skates for only the second time, trying to remember what Will taught me last Friday, and screwing up my courage to actually get out and do this. Surrounding me were about 15 other skaters, about half adults and half kids, who quite obviously knew exactly what they were doing and had the confidence that I can only dream about right now.

I decided today that I should probably concentrate on practicing stopping. With people whizzing by me in every direction, I hugged the wall and starting working on my snowplow stops. Lap after lap after lap, dodging people doing double-axels, little girls with their coaches practicing spins, and two sets of couples (including the middle-schoolers), I skated forward and stopped, skated forward and stopped. First on the left, then on the right. Like a baby giraffe learning how to walk on newborn stilt-like legs, I circled the rink - ungainly and feeling very VERY self-conscious.

I have to tell you - that was one of the bravest things I've ever done.

Partway through my laps, a guy about my age came up and introduced himself. Shawn. He's one of those couples (ice dancers) out on the ice this morning, but I have to tell you, it really helped have one of "them" notice me and take the time to welcome an obvious neophyte to the rink.

The good news is that, after 30 minutes of stopping, my body started to figure it out and it became a lot easier. As I'd hoped, my dancer instincts are kicking in. I stepped off the ice for a quick stretch (oh my god, my hips are going to be sore tomorrow) and then decided to switch to forward stroking. This was a little eaiser. I know what the position should feel like, and my dance instincts give me good information about what I need to be correcting (arch the back, square the shoulders, squeeze the buttcheek, etc.) so this went a little better. I still have a tendancy to drift to the right when on my left leg, and I have to remind myself to extend the backleg out toward the side more than I'm used to - but all in all, this worked out better than I expected.

The 45 minutes went by really fast. That's how long the first block of time was for - you pay for each block of time on the schedule. I left the ice (stopping quite nicely at the gate - no more running into walls for me!) and went to change back into my street shoes feeling like I'd made a good start.

Still intimidated as all hell, but at least I've gotten past my first practice session without making a spectacle of myself - and there was some noticable progress.

And those middle-schoolers were still whizzing around the rink when I left. I found out they are on the USFSA development team. They are damn good. I guess it's OK to be intimidated by a kid after all.