Found a new way to hurt myself!

If you've been keeping up with my entries, you know by now that I have discovered endlessly interesting ways to hurt myself at the ice rink.  Nearly all start with a caught toe pick (which, as I've said before, were invented by Satan).  Friday's lesson was no less interesting.  Will says he's never heard of anyone doing what I did - so I may have discovered a new trick - but don't be looking for it to become a required short program element any time soon.

So, I was skating backwards (always a good way to begin a wipeout) and learning some complicated foot stuff that essentially requires you to tie your legs into a square knot, untangle them standing on one foot starting with your knees, then do it all over again on the other foot - all while propelling yourself ass-first across the ice.  Of course - I caught a toe pick (have I mentioned they were created by Satan?) and went down in a blaze of flailing arms and skittering blades.  That part is nothing new - I've gotten pretty good at it, really.  The trick is in nailing the dismount.

This time, however, I elected to change up my normal fall and attempt to catch myself with just the right thumbnail, directly down into the ice...

After the fall was over, I knew something was wrong with my thumb, but didn't know what just yet.  I felt the bone, working my way up from the base and discovered, happily, that it didn't seem broken or dislocated.  So good so far.  When I got to the nail, however, I realized that the edge of my thumbnail was now sticking up at a 90 degree angle from what one would normally expect from a more well-behaved thumbnail.

Yep - I'd bent it back at a 90 degree angle, halfway down the nail bed. (go ahead and shiver - everyone I've told this story to was a little "squicked" by it)

Thank goodness I had gloves on so I didn't have to SEE it like that. (ick)  I immediately pressed it back down into place (with a rather sickening "click") and then had to decide whether to actually look at the results or not. Will solved that question for me - he insisted we look to make sure it wasn't something that needed a trip to the ER.

We went over to the side and I pulled off the glove, expecting the worst.  Fortunately, although there was some blood and it was already turning black and blue, it still LOOKED like a thumb, so we were in good shape.  It hurt like hell, but I have a high tolerance for pain, so no biggie and I finished the lesson.

The good news is that Anna was there, and we got to practice partnering some more.  I finally think I'm getting the hang of having a small, rather pushy perfectionist in my personal space :)  At least, it felt more solid than it has in the past, and I don't think I caused her any permanent damage in the process.  I do need to figure out how to get more partnering practice time, or I'm never going to get this down.  I wonder if you can rent a partner in the pro shop?  :)

The thumb is healing well, although I'm going to get to look at a white "fold line" on my thumbnail for the next 6 months or so.

Goodie.

Solid weeks work.

I had a very solid week at the rink.  Will has me working on the first dance of the next test set (Swing Dance) and I've needed to get my mohawks more stable so I can do them at speed on-the-fly.  Figured out my problem was that I wasn't changing feed directly under my center (I do that a lot...) and once I started focusing on it, things evened out quickly.  Also spend time on the 3-turns.  At my lesson last week, Will commented that I was a bit too "frantic" and trying to force them.  I needed to relax and let the turn happen on it's own. That solved that problem.  Same deal on the forward cross rolls - trying to go at it too hard and needed to slow down.

This seems to be a common theme for me - not just on the ice, but in life generally.  My first approach to any task is to go at it full-bore, as if determination and sheer force of will would get me through.  Often as not, I end up as a bull in a china shop and really just need to relax.  I've caught myself doing that at work lately and am trying to drop it down a few notches and not try to make things happen - rather, set the conditions and let them happen.

That's going to be a tough one.  Not my "default setting" by any means.  If I'm going to keep from killing a partner, I have to learn this.  As a dancer, having that sort of "force of personality" was an asset, but on the ice it just seems to lead to chaos. 

Slow down.

Relax. 

If you know me, you know just how hard that is going to be.

Hell, I even type fast.