It's been a while, but I finally had what I consider to be a positive-ego-experience lesson! I got to the rink an hour early to practice some more, and then my lesson started. Will complimented my stroking, but he realized I was doing it fast to cover up stuff - and went he made me do it slowly all of the flaws showed up - so much for smoke-and-mirrors.... :) Bottom line, I have some more tweaking to do, but the news was largely positive. Also got kudos for my edge control.
Crossovers are still plaguing me - the changes he gave me haven't settled in as yet, and I'm going to really have to work at it in coming days. I think it's all about being willing to go slower than I want to, and really drill in on the boring, piddly stuff that drives me insane.
I guess everything was - on balance - good, because he threw some new stuff at me today... more backwards stuff. If I thought forward stroking correctly was hard, BACKWARD stroking is an entirely different ball game, and I can already tell I will be blogging about falling BACKWARDS on my ass in the very near future. However, skaters spend most of their time going backwards, so I gotta figure this out quickly.
On my own, I've been doodling with one of the simplest ways of switching from forwards to backwards - it's called a "mohawk" and I think I've just about figured out how to do it and not come completely unglued in the process. You basically go from forward on one foot to backward on the other, and you do most of the work with your hips. The few times I committed to the move and threw caution to the wind, I actually pulled it off. I think a lot of learning new shit on skates is going to be like that. You have to just throw yourself into it, roll the dice, and hope you don't break something in the process. No wonder this is easier for kids to do - they don't really understand "consequences" at that age - as an adult, my whole life revolves around that. It's probably the only real difference between us - adults live in a world governed by consequences, kids just don't.
At the end of the day, I had my second Pilates torture session. Yes it still hurts, and yes I'm still going to do it. My core strength is pretty much nil, and Pilates has all those abdominal strength exercises that you know you SHOULD do, but don't because you know they are going to hurt like hell. Pilates coaches must either be complete sadists, or or just numb to other peoples' pain. I'm going to keep up with this because it's good for me, not because I enjoy it.
I also finally got the nerve to call that athletic-model trainer guy, "Blue". Good lord, what a name. I need the intensive personal training he offers, and I'm just going to have to get past my personal demons. Pretty people are just like everyone else, just prettier.... and they get their lived handed to them.... and clothes fit..... and and and :) I start next week with a one-hour familiarizing workout - more for him to see where I am and what I need to do. I've already told him that right now I have completely the wrong body for skating, and I have to lose some of this muscle mass and get a lot more toned. I've already started watching what I eat so the flab will start to drop off. "Blue" will help me restructure the body that's underneath it. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, turning my bodybuilder-wannabe/linebacker body back into something more appropriate for the ice, but I'm committed to doing the work. I've enjoyed having the muscle, but it's in my way now.
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