Since Tabitha can't coach right now due to her school schedule, I figured I better find another class.  Just my luck, Chandler Polar Ice was just about to begin the Fall Session, so I signed up.  My class is Adult level 3/4, Wednesday night from 6:15 to 6:45.  I know half an hour doesn't sound like much, but believe me, you can pack a lot of skating into 1/2 hour, and if you're constantly moving around, you get pretty tired!

My first lesson was this past Wednesday.  As it turned out, I was the only student!  There is another woman signed up for the class, but she didn't come to the first class (last week...I couldn't go because I'd been sick with the flu), and she didn't come to this lesson, either.  So essentially it was like a private lesson for me.  Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed with the instructor....at least not yet.  Maybe it was due to being "new"; maybe we will warm up to each other over some time. 

It could have also been due to her not knowing what level I'm really at, and me not knowing as well.  The thing with taking private lessons somewhere else is that you learn at your own pace, you focus on things you want, and you don't follow this pre-set list of moves that an "Adult Level 3/4" should know.  There are some things in Level 4 I can do well, such as spirals.  There are some things in Level 3 that I can't even do, like backwards crossovers.  So I'm kind of a mongrel skater right now.

So, I guess the next 11 weeks will be spent getting me up to speed on what Polar Ice considers to be a Level 3 skater.  Which is fine, actually.  I need the practice, and I certainly do need to practice more backwards.  And if I'm the only student, it will be like a private lesson, which is nice.  I'm just hoping the instructor finds more enthusiasm...she wasn't very energetic...but maybe that's because it was a Wednesday evening.

Since I missed the very first class, I can make it up any other time they have an Adult skate class.  There's one on Saturdays at 11:55 am, so tomorrow I plan to go to that class and see how it goes.  It's the same instructor, but maybe the energy will be different on a Saturday.

Oh!  And on the Wed night class, they didn't zamboni the ice before we had our class!!  It was the worst ice I've ever been on...very choppy, very rough, and very white.  Ugh!  (that's my excuse for not skating well, and I'm stickin' to it!!!)   :)

This skate class runs from October 5 to December 21.  It was $169 for the class fee, plus $15 to register in USFS, bringing the total to $184.  That comes to $16.72 per lesson, which is pretty expensive.  Besides the Wed night lesson, I also have some time left at Oceanside, so I could go before work in the morning sometimes.  I also still plan on going to the noontime coffee club skate during lunch hour on Fridays.

Happy skating....