Mid month update

Starting with this week, my rink's schedule goes back to the regular schedule. I'll be able to skate  at a convenient time, three, four times a week.

I feel quite confused about my skating. There were recently few obstacles: the hip pain and some ugly politics in the skating organizations around me. And then, there is the old question: why do I skate, what do I want from skating? The easy out answer is that I enjoy it, and I have the time. BUT... it takes quite a lot of time, in fact all my free time. And I still want to progress in my skating skills so I cannot really reduce the skating time. But then again, the hard work towards progress leads often to frustration and loss of motivation and enjoyment.

Going skating today, I see no other way then to pick up where I left off: preparing to test the Pre-Jubvenile MITF and the Ten Fox pattern dance. I plan to ease up into skating, don't push too hard. I'm foremost afraid about the muscle pain and the hip pain... those would cut from the enjoyment and frustrate me immediately. So I need to warm up before skating, but also I will need to work consistently on my hip muscles. I did few sessions but I haven't kept up, but I really, really have to...

After I'll settle into a skating schedule I plan to look into the idea of skating for my personal enjoyment. This will take time away from the progress, but I feel it would balance my skating life.

Then, there is the question of displaying my skating (shows or competitions). I was planning to do a small competition (would have been my first one) in the summer, and I haven't. I still theoretically want to try out this idea of showing a program. I think there is joy in it, there is a time, a deadline that motivates, and there is music and dressing up. The idea of a new program it's very exciting to me. But this will also take away from the time that I need to work for progress.

The good thing is that I feel excited about going skating just writing about it!