Thursday, December 8, 2011

Foray Into Adult Skating: I Love You, I Hate You...



There is an old adage that all figure skaters are crazy.  There are many theories why: the blades, the falling on hard ice, the bitter cold, the amount of time one spends by themselves, and the constant battles with perfectionism.  The again, the carbon monoxide from the zambonis may very well have a lot to do with it.  The CO certainly adds to the level of exhaustion.  Elle Woods' famous quote about endorphins doesn't apply to skaters.  Many skaters actually seem very likely to kill their husbands.

Back in September, I sprained my ankle and was off the ice for five and a half weeks.  I miss skating and tried to work out and was able to keep myself in decent shape for when I got back on the ice.  Deep down, I knew that returning to the ice would be a level of hell I hadn't experienced before.  A few friends let me know, "you're 25...this ankle is going to nag you for a long time."  They were right.  Learning to work through my ankle issue has been a constant process, but it is slowly improving.  Off ice workouts have been key to keeping my body in shape for skating.  There are days like today where I've pulled my hip flexor, fallen on my hip to the point where it is black and blue, banged my knee, stretching my hamstrings to the point of extreme soreness and get back up and wipe out on a spin again.  It may be a form of insanity, but there are times when I do remember that I love it.

Knowing skating may be the worst thing of all when learning to skate.  I decided to take videos of myself for two reasons: friends wanted to see and I wanted to be able to look at the own areas of my skating that need addressing.  When I saw myself on video for the first time, there were so many areas that I wanted to fix immediately.  Frankly, I hated it.  It was worse than hearing your own voice on an answering machine.




I've also learned that taking a video on a Friday, your first day back on the ice five days a week is not necessarily the best life decision.  There are times when your body is just DONE.  The first day I took videos was a day where my back was killing me, my knees weren't bending and the nerves of skating in front of a video camera resulted in pure shit...as evidenced above.

Skating has taught me to fight a battle between working hard and easing up on myself.  There are times I've become keenly aware that I'm not that laid back, easy-going person who likes to chill that everyone is always seeking on dating sites.  I'm so eager to fix things and get work done that I'll tense my body, raise my arms, scrunch my arms and look like a level of constipation that hasn't been seen since Nancy Kerrigan competed in Albertville.

Every day, I try to remind myself to slow down, lower my arms, relax, lengthen my knee, bend my knees, and enjoy it.  This usually lasts while I'm warming up.  Music helps.  Janet Jackson's 'Again,' has become well known to everyone at my rink when it comes time to work on consecutive back inside edges.  Just when they become comfortable, I'll start doing something funky on my consecutive back outside edges.


One thing that is constant about the learning process is that every hurdle always appears to be the point where I'll max out and prove my utter lack of talent.  When learning the waltz 8 pattern, I experienced absolute fits where I could not force my arms to check and hold the back inside edge after the three turn.  Eventually, I got it.  This is something that must be very entertaining for anyone watching, as my eyes bulge, my jaw clenches and I appear ready to kick some major boards in a manner that only Todd Eldredge could after popping his second triple axel for the millionth time.


A boy's relationship with his skating coach is always very curious.  Having a coach of the crazy Russian variety is very helpful, as I can be rather batshit myself.  When I took my friend skating, she witnessed Natasha having a Russian moment on her young prodigy.  Luckily, my level of intensity tends to prevent many of those from occurring.  I tend to be annoyed enough for the both of us.  Most of the time...   Last week, I felt the stress of my impending pre-bronze moves in the field test and actually fell while working on consecutive back outside edges.  One doesn't usually fall while working on a quasi-figure, so it was a rather awkward and painful fall.  Foolishly, I thought Natasha was asking me if I was okay.  That was not the case.  "No, I no ask you if you okay.  I ask if you know why you fall.  Your butt is out between two shoulders...  Fix now."  And I did.


I think we all need an old-fashioned crazy Russian in our lives.  They instill a level of fear in us that keeps us working our asses off on the days we don't have lessons.  There are times when I will be skating and Natasha will be there coaching someone else.  At these times, it is important to train exactly as we're expected to, as one can never wants that level of intensity directed at them when they're annoyed.


Sometimes, our own OCD is our worst enemy.  Upon seeing my videos, I realized that it was time to correct the lordosis in my lower back that has enabled me to appear to have a Kardashian money-maker the past few years.  Of course, this has impacted my balance but it will ultimately aid my overall posture and look on the ice.  We are never done correcting our own extension and posture.  Katia and Maya Usova will always be frowning down upon us.

42 comments:

  1. YAY welcome back AJ!!!

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  2. where you been booboo?

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  3. Considering how fat and ugly you are on the ice I find it laughable that you pick on Rachel Flatt so much.

    You have no talent. You have no rhythm, technique or potential.

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  4. Have you ever heard of posture or carriage? obviously not.

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  5. I'm guessing AJ doesn't have Olympic aspirations. Rachel Flatt trains hours a day and competes at the Olympic level, and still looks terrible.

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  6. honestly Rachel looks like she trains max two hours a day right now. Not *that* serious :P AJ could catch her!

    So glad to see a new AJ post! :)

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  7. Welcome back! I think you look great, especially for an adult skater. Much better edges and posture than is the norm. And the fact that you look at your videos means you'll improve fairly quickly. I hate looking at mine, too, but videos from the adult championships usually cheer me up because they help me realize that in the scheme of things I don't suck THAT bad.

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  8. Considering he is a beginner skater, I think he looks fabulous. The posture and carriage will come when he is move comfortable about staying upright. Some people don't realize how hard skating actually is. They don't understand how difficult something like a 3 turn is... Actually many skating fans don't even know WHAT a 3 turn is. I'm really impressed that he is willing to put himself out there when it's clear that he's still very much learning about the basics of skating. I totally admire what he's doing. You're never too old to skate! (Not that 25 is old at all.)

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  9. PS, if I were him, I'd get a ballet dvd to work on at home. He is tall with long, skinny limbs. If he gains control of his body he could have a nice look on the ice.

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  10. Thanks for posting your videos! I love your blog and am excited to watch you follow your passion on the ice. Keep up the hard work!

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  11. Awwww, AJ, you look great!

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  12. skating to adele, living the dream....

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  13. I really admire you for doing this. I can not even fucking skate backwards. I can not do cross overs, I can not spin, and I can not really skate forwards with out looking like I have a spinal cord injury. I think it is great you are doing this!

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  14. Anonymous at 5:11AM, same here haha. I'm too scared to even try picking one foot off the ground while skating forwards. Every time I try, it's off the ground for about a nanosecond.

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  15. it's amazing that at Brian Orser's weight he can move so easily around the ice.

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  16. Perhaps those criticizing AJ should try taking up skating themselves and find out how hard it really is. For a beginning adult skater, AJ, you look really good! I've found that most beginning skaters (adult and otherwise) don't even pay much attention to form. Your lines really translate well to ice! I have just one word of advice: Knees, knees, knees! You've probably heard this from your coach already, but with more knee bend you'll have more stability and flow, and it will be easier to push harder with each step.

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  17. AJ, I've never commented on your blog before but am an avid reader and feel absolutely compelled to write this: I've been a figure skater my whole life and just wanted to commend you so much for posting this. Most people rarely witness the skating learning process and only see competitions on television, allowing for people to have a distorted image of how profoundly difficult the sport can be. Keep up your awesome work, and I'm sure I don't even have to tell you to ignore stupid trolls who have commented above. Can't wait to see more!!

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  18. Nice to see you posting again (was wondering where you went and why you missed most of the GP series!). The videocamera is so mean! I feel the same way any time I see myself skate on screen. It just makes me cringe, and I've been at this for like 6 years--it's so NOT how I picture myself in my head!

    Rest assured, we skaters ARE crazy. And that's just fine.

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  19. MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    Fat sow on skates.

    For anyone that seriously said, try skating or shut up ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This fat pig is nasty about everyone.

    If people think he stinks and looks like a cow on ice skates they have the right.

    He shouldn't bad mouth people when he is so bad at the sport he makes fun of.

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  20. For someone taking lessons since the summer, he is very good. I don't think most of you understand how long it takes to be comfortable on the ice.

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  21. Anon at 4:46 PM: What are you, 5?

    Kay

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  22. You look wobbly and insecure. For how long do you skate again? I would have expected a bit more improvement. Looks like your not exactly the second coming regarding your skating skills.

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  23. Whoever is calling Dave a cow has a distorted body image view. I don't know what about him is cow-shaped, but I would definitely say he is more like a gazelle with those beautiful thighs and slender arms.

    Some people just seethe with hatred... and must have been champing at the bit to get on here and rail him considering he hasn't blogged in a month.

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  24. Gonna be honest with ya, AJ. You should go to a proper gym, not prance around at home following ballet DVDs.

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  25. I have to LOL at every one saying whoever is calling AJ fat is blind/distorted/dumb/whatever.

    While I agree he definitely isn't, I find it hilarious that the anons here will so quickly defend HIS weight yet tear other pretty small girls apart.

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  26. AJ is defending himself on here. He is the anon defending how fat he is and how bad he is at skating.

    He is a cow and no matter how many times he defends himself under the name anon doesn't change a thing.

    No one is going to defend him. I love that people are calling his fat ass out after the stuff he has said about people in the past.

    Pay back is a real bitch.

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  27. Has AJ ever exercised a day in his life? He has the classic couch potato body: thin and no muscle, all fat. What did you do when you had a sprained ankle for FIVE AND A HALF WEEKS, as if we're supposed to believe that? Certainly none of that time was spent in the gym and most likely all of it was spent scarfing down donuts and cake.

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  28. I just love how anonymity on the internet makes people into entitled bitches.

    I suppose you all look more fit than A.J. (who looks pretty fit indeed)? And I suppose you're all better skaters?

    Actually, I suppose the opposite, because very few people who have ever tried to learn to skate would ever say such things as they'd know better. As a fellow adult skater who learned in my twenties just how hard it is to pick up the sport, I commend A.J. for sharing the process. It's gutsy to put it all out there, especially the less-than-best moments. I'm not even brave enough to post solidly skated Bronze tests on facebook.

    Why would you even read a site if you hate it so much? Unless you're still pissed off that you didn't get the month of posts that you (eroneously) thought you were entitled to?

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  29. ^ looks like AJ has a fellow fat friend.

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  30. Yeah, that's a bit of a reach to assume those knocking AJ are lazy, fat asses. That is the most tired argument on the web. Same goes for the "well if you've actually done xyz you know how hard it is". Should he not comment on gymnasts then?

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  31. People are doing to AJ what he has done to every skater and gymnast alive, unless they tweet him like Nastia does.

    Then he loves them and erases the entire blog thinking people will forget how obnoxious he was when he was telling it like it is.

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  32. If AJ is so bad to diss people's dreams..seems like it is hypocritical of people to diss him back..so sad when you can't appreciate anyone's efforts to pursue something they love in life..and if that is fat, I want to be that type of fat..

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  33. I'm all for adult skating and I'm about the same level as AJ and he doesn't look bad for a beginner.
    But I'd really tone down the nastiness towards elite skaters because that sounds really pathetic coming from someone with a few wobbly crossovers and three turns. It's strange to claim to love the sport but to have no decency and respect for people who do it better than you ever will.

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  34. Anyone who’s insulting AJ is a total Jody Flatt and a fucking idiot. For his age and the amount of time he’s trained having never skated before, he looks great (and I’ve been skating since I was four, so I actually do have an educated opinion). Besides, it’s not like this blog is anything controversial. Anyone with eyes can tell that Rachael Flatt is overweight for someone who’s trying to compete at an elite level and her entire look is a disaster. It’s not like fans aren’t allowed to point that out. AJ looks fabulous and is nowhere near fat. It’s ludicrous that his weight is even being brought up.

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  35. 11.37 is AJ's friend posting under the name anon.You are not fooling anyone.

    AJ is too fat to skate. Reality sucks.

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  36. AJ, ignore the trollish comments. I think you look very good for a beginning skater. I am an adult skater, too (but much older) and I would hate to see what these trolls think of me! I also know what mohawks and three-turns are and they are not easy! Non-skaters have no idea.

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  37. Also, though I'm no expert on waltz 8s (I can hardly do them, to tell the truth), after you do the turn, try turning all the way so you are facing out of the circle before stepping forward. It puts you in a much better position to do the next turn.

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  38. I love it when adults are willing to be vulnerable and learn something new. Hooray for you!

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  39. if saying negative comments about him makes us trolls then we're no more trollish than he is

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  40. AJ defending himself under anon names.

    Evan Rachel Flatt would think you were a fat loser but she has more class in her pinky then Aunt Joyce has in his entire body.

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