Fantabulous Skate!

Today was the reason why I skate.

It was quite possibly the best skate I have had in months.

It didn't start off promisingly - I was meant to be going with Stacey but she couldn't make it, so had to rush down to the Littlest Rink on the bus. And then they were running late after a children's party, so didn't let anyone in for the first 15 minutes anyway. But then . . .

It was my first visit since they had closed for two weeks for maintenance. And what a difference - I don't know what magic they have weaved over the ice, but it was glassy smooth (apart from one little patch) and flat as anything. I was the only person on it for the first 10 minutes as well, which was great.

I skated the hour and 15 minutes to the point of exhaustion. I am normally so focussed on trying to master a technique, that I don't wear myself out. But after today's session, I was knackered. I basically just "got into it" - singing along to Take That and Madonna as I swished and zoomed around - forward stroking, one foot glides, one foot edges, forward crossovers, consecutive edges, and cross-rolls and all at speed. My forward crossovers are getting faster and I am really loving them now.

And then I went to practice my forward inside three turns, and with the same spirit, went at these with force. And REVELATION! If you put a bit of speed into them, they become easier!!! Before, I was doing the pre-rotation slowly, and then turning almost as I had stopped. No wonder I ground to halt, if I even turned at all.

Now, I go into them with more speed, and do the prerotation and then the turn quickly, and they happen so easily and smoothly! I was like "WOW!!!". However, one downside - I have only managed this on my RFI3's, and I do need to do a little work on my balance coming out of it. But WHAT an improvement! I really am ecstatic . . .

Apart from that, I was also the resident expert this evening - lots of little girls asking me questions. I even took one of them off the ice to do her boots up for her - honestly, she may as well have not had them laced at all. What a sense of satisfaction as I saw her going from knock kneed skating, to have her blades perpendicular to the ice as they should be :)

So that's about it. I feel exhilarated, and knackered at the same time. The joy of skating well is a beautiful thing. I hope it lasts for a while, before I have a "bleh" skate!