Today I graduated from the first 2 sessions of my Figure Skating class!  The instructor, Tabitha, gave us each a little paper Certificate of Completion.  I can't believe how much I've learned the past 16 weeks, and how fast it's gone by...from feeling so nervous about starting down this new path of exercise, to feeling such an accomplishment and joy at finding a unique and fun activity.

Next Saturday there is a free skating session for anyone who wants to come and try it out, so I invited one of the girls at work.  It should be fun!! 

They've changed the format of the next session.  Class will now be from 9:45 to 10:45.  I'm not sure how they're going to separate out the beginners from the more advanced, that remains to be seen.  I actually think I'm not a beginner anymore, I think I'm an intermediate now.  Anyway, in addition to the on-ice skating class for 1 hour, they are offering an hour of off-ice training as well, from 11:00 to noon.  Now THAT sounds really interesting!  This session will only be 6 weeks long, because they have a longer session coming up next so it can include a Holiday Show called Winter in Wonderland on December 18, 2010 (guess who is going to try to be in it??  Yep, yours truly!).   The cost for the next 6 week session is $110, which sounds higher than before, but when you consider you're actually getting 2 hours of instruction, it only comes to $9.00 an hour, which is very reasonable. 

Each week will be a different off-ice training session topic.  Here's what they are teaching:

• Conditioning
• Choreography
• Modern Dance Moves
• Flexibility/Yoga
• Ballet Moves
• Jumps and Spins

I'm really looking forward to the dance portions, and also how to practice spins off the ice, so I can do them at home. 

I also think I want to get my blades sharpened before the next session begins.  It's been 30 hours on the ice so far.  One website said to sharpen them after 20 hours on the ice, another website said to sharpen them after 40 hours on the ice.  I'm right in the middle now.  The guy who does the sharpening, Dave, says I will feel when they need to be sharpened....but I'm not so sure I will.  I'm not experienced enough to "feel" the difference yet.  The only thing I can tell is that sometimes my skates feel sluggish, and I have to push harder to get going.  But I don't know if this is a sign of needing blades sharpened, or if it's an ice condition or something.  I'll bring them in one day after work next week and see if he can tell by looking at them if they need sharpening.

One thing I've noticed is that I've become comfortable enough on the ice that I can do other things with my arms and hands.  In learning, we are taught to keep our arms directly out from our sides, for balance.  So far, our arms have not varied from this position.  But during the public skate practices, I've been trying to see how it feels to have my arms in different positions - one up and one down, making a graceful movement, holding them down lower to my sides instead of spread-eagle, etc.  I found that I am comfortable enough with my feet staying steady, that I can move my arms around without losing balance.  That made me very happy, because I'd really like to work on looking more graceful out there, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with the way you hold your arms and hands.

More to come after the new session starts!