Figure Skating Practice

As I've mentioned a few times in this blog previously, Sheila has been practicing her figure skating in an effort to be as prepared as possible for our trip to Manhattan with Lukey and Kenzie.  Until a couple of months ago, she hadn't skated in decades so she knew she needed to get on skates again before we were at Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park.  Lukey and Kenzie want to skate as much as Sheila has wanted to skate at these two popular rinks so this has been the plan since we started talking about a Christmas trip to Manhattan with the kids quite a few years ago.

We've been heading to a couple of different rinks a couple of times a week so Sheila can practice.  Sometimes Sheila skates with Kenzie before Kenzie's skating lessons but most times she is out there alone while I practice my video and photography skills.   

Sheila has improved quite a bit over the past few weeks but she is now done practicing.  

She took a bad fall the other night and has been left badly bruised.  Her knee looks the worst but she also is having difficulty lifting her right arm.  Here is a photo of her knee as of tonight...

We decided that we can't risk any more falls during practice sessions before our trip.  Not only is there a plan to skate at two rinks in Manhattan but we always walk about 15-20 miles a day just looking at the decorated sites in midtown Manhattan.  If she gets hurt any worse than she is now, we won't be doing any of that!  Consequently, we decided that it would be best to end her practice sessions.  

On the positive side, I've been practicing my video skills while Sheila has been on the rink.  Not only do I get good practice but the video footage allows us to evaluate Sheila's progress as well as note her deficiencies.  Regardless of our painful falls on the ice, watching these videos has really helped Sheila actually see the problems and then correct them as best as she can in a very short amount of time.  She can actually see what she is doing wrong and then attempt to correct it.

As best as we can tell, she is too tense on the ice.  Ironically, she is tense because she is fearing another bad fall but being tense is causing her to fall!  She's not loose enough to bend her knees enough to be fluid.  Additionally, her upper body is still bent and leaning slightly forward slightly which makes it far easier to catch a toe pick on the ice.   We recently realized that she is not lifting her toes as she brings her foot forward.   If she had been doing this, the muscles on the front side of her shin would have been sore and she has had no soreness there.  

All of these seemingly little things are causing her to occasionally catch a toe pick on the ice and then taking a wild header.  She's skating much, much better than she was a couple of months ago and she has improved quickly but she is still struggling a bit trying to get back to where she was a couple of decades ago.  

Although I did not see this last header of hers, she claims it was an "epic" fall.  From the looks of her knee and seeing how much difficulty she is having lifting her arm, I'd venture to say it was probably her worst fall yet.  

Actually, when I saw her come off the ice, I met her at a bench.  She had only been skating a few minutes so I figured that perhaps she needed to adjust her lacing.  When she looked up at me I could see that her eyeglasses were covered in shaved ice.  When I asked what happened, she exclaimed, "You didn't see it?"

Since we're leaving for Manhattan in a few days, we decided that she should stop her skating practice sessions so she can rest and recover before we head out on our fast-paced trip.  

As luck would have it, Lukey is also injured.  He broke his foot over a month ago and we recently learned that he will be on crutches for another few weeks so he'll be hobbling around Manhattan with us.  Obviously, he won't be skating now so he'll be with me while I shoot some photos and video of the girls skating.  

Hopefully Sheila will recover quickly!