The forth week of May

 Monday: My muscles were sore from the previous week of skating and were also stiff because I had a work thing that required sitting for most of Saturday and Sunday.  Also there was an edge class with 10 of the good skaters I mentioned last week. I think that if they keep doing it, when my boots will be fine and I'll be getting back my balance, I'll ask to join... I'm not even close to their level but I cannot do my exercises with them sweeping the rink anyway. I was tense during the whole session and I couldn't concentrate on my alignment at all. I finished the session very tired and frustrated. I think I'll have to find alternative ice to practice on, such a bummer as this ice is the closest to me.

Tuesday: Because Monday's skating didn't go so well I looked up ice for Tuesday. My usual rink had ice at 1.45 but I had a meeting at 2.45. The only other rink close by me is the city's hockey team's new rink. They have public skate and even some freeskate ice every day with the note that it can be canceled without notice, so better call before going. I've heard good things about it. I've planned to go to check it out as they had ice from 1pm. Only, I client called at 12.15 and he talked and talked and then started over... I as already dressed but we finished at 1.10... with the 15 min drive there, the time needed to put on the boots and pay, it would have meant less than half hour skating. 

Wednesday: As I stepped on ice I was cautious and without any confidence. I felt my muscles were stiff and I couldn't remember how the blade alignment felt last time I skated. After few laps around I felt I needed to tighten the boots. Then... I felt better and better. I've run edges, 3 turns, forward double 3s. I felt off balance on backward doubles 3s and  brackets but not because of the blade, the blade felt acceptable. So I've decided I've run out of patience and move to some dance exercise. Those need more speed so trust in the blade, and... it wasn't bad. I had to dig deep to remember some dances but I felt content on how they went. So, I hope there is hope! I was very tired and focused while skating and I was quite tired all day after. Luckily I've had the healthy soup to recharge.

Friday: I woke up tired after a quite crazy work day on Thursday. Also my muscles were hurting a little and felt tired, that usually translates on ice in slow to react and of balance. I didn't felt like going skating, but I did. I was slow/ tired/ hurting. The ice was crowded, and the former elite skaters were there again. All in all I had so many hesitations that it made sense to take it easy. The boots weren't helping either. Mental note, what it seems it helped on Wednesday was that I tighten them quite extremely. I ended the session miserably tired and was tired all day long.

Almost vegan: the healthy soup

This soup is inspired by one of my friend's vegetable soup for weight loss. I don't have the exact recipe but I remember she used cabbage, cauliflower, sweet potato,  turmeric and fresh dill, cilantro and green onion on top. I remember it was filling enough and I really loved the sweet potato in it as it didn't feel as sweet as it is when cooked by itself.

 Because I'm almost vegan, all my meals, especially when I skate/ exercise, need to incorporate some (plant base) proteins, otherwise I cannot get enough protein to sustain muscle recovery/ gain. And so, my "healthy soup" always incorporates some kind of beans. I also a little add buckwheat, as I feel adds umami taste and it is healthy. I usually use the cabbage because it is filling and the sweet potato, because that gives me the signature taste of this soup.

I started with sauteing onion, carrots, celery and parsnip with added turmeric. Then I added cabbage and sweet potato. I had 3 long stalks of broccoli (the florets I've used already) and I used those instead of the cauliflower. I added chickpeas for my protein, buckwheat some preserved hot pepper and a can of crushed tomato. You cannot see the chickpeas and buckwheat in the picture and I didn't have any fresh herbs, but trust me, this soup hits the spot every single time!

Ingredients: onion, carrot, celery, parsnip, cabbage, sweet potato, broccoli, chickpeas (as the  main protein), buckwheat (also a pretty good source of protein), crushed tomatoes, salt, paper, turmeric and pickled hot pepper, ideally fresh dill should be also added

The third week of May

I'm reminding you that my skating intention/ plan is to skate 3 times a week, to focus on finalizing the blade alignment and to figure out goals and how to stay motivated.

Monday: Firstly the blade adjustment. I readjusted it before I got to the rink. The previous adjustment was to move it towards inside, and Friday, the time I skated I felt it was slightly too much, so I moved it towards outside, it felt too much... The good news is that the balance alignment should be in between these points. I will try a little more to try to get the in between spot. But I'm thinking I may need the boot punched a little more at the big toe. The reason I don't find that "middle" might be because that inside part of the foot doesn't have enough space to spread and the toe is pushed towards inside. Whatever it is, I can see that there is a solution but I'll have to stay on top of this. I also noted that I need to pay attention tie the laces tightly, if they are not tight enough at first try, it is difficult to get it right, I got them too thigh.

Skating went fairy well. I was trying not to exert myself and also to do something with a goal in mind, an that is Gold Moves. So I did edge presses, 3 turns, double 3 turns and brackets. I also filled in the time with some chasses, cross rolls, stroking, and some talking with my skating friends... I was quite tired after skating, I stretched a little when I got home and I was sore on Tuesday.

Wednesday: The alignment of the left blade felt better than the right one! Finally! I plan the next time to move the right blade a touch, maybe it moved a bit, maybe my boots got tighter and the balance is different, or maybe through comparison with the left one, I feel it can be better.

Skating went well. I approached the session like I would work for the Gold Moves. I warmed up the edges, the single 3 turns, the double 3 turns, then I put them on the pattern with the 3s completed but loss of flow, I warmed up the brackets, then I put them on the pattern, I had some hesitations and some tough downs but the foundation is there. Back circle eight went well. The crossovers I don't know how to put on the pattern, but I did work on crossovers. So that's that! I did some spins, work a little on twizzles (those are my biggest skating desire). Then I did some dance warm ups and a shy Tenfox. Oh and I took a fall, that means I'm trying things, or I was tired, or both... I think both... Thursday I was sore, and the left side (the one I fell on) was slightly hurting. It is nothing worrisome, but I should continue the good practice of wearing the gel hip pad on my left hip that was injured few years ago and still hurts occasionally.

Friday: it was raining, I was a little tired and if you remember, last Monday for these exact reasons I didn't go skating. Now, I went... On ice I was very tired, from both the weather and the muscle being tired from the previous days. It made me feel off balance. Also distracting were 2 former males national competitors throwing around doubles and triples. Their skating with speed, their landing of double and triple jumpsand occasional falls were noisy and while they weren't skating really close to the rest of us, it felt unnerving. One of them was there both Monday and Wednesday. Monday there were other former elite skaters but older so a little slower but skating together as they knew each other and so, taking a lot of space on ice. This noon ice is for  adult figure skater but it is public ice meant to be safe for the adult skaters. It is not meant for training seriously. I know in the past the figure skater director intervened in situations like this and redirected the strong skaters to practice ice sessions. I hope she will do it again.

Skating didn't go as well as Wednesday or Monday for all above reasons. The boots felt better? though I'm not really sure. Oh well... 

The victory this week is that I skated 3 times!

Almost vegan

I find myself lately thinking a lot about food. I think it is related with the skating, as I need to eat more when I work out. I eat more often and also differently, as I need more protein, and interestingly I crave sweets (that I usually don't crave), so comfort food. Protein is complicated for me, as I am almost vegan, I think 90% of my food intake is plant base, I don't eat meat at all, but I do occasionally eat fish, cheese and I eat eggs from sources that I know are humane. And comfort food... I have to find something healthy.

I also hope to lose some weight. I gained 15 pounds during covid and I've lost just 5. This would help skating and my clothing to fit better.

So, I'm thinking to start a new category of posts covering food, I actually did have a post with soups during covid, see it here...

Anyway, the purpose of this posts would be firstly to keep track of the recipes, because many of them are created on the spur of the moment and I forget them. Also, vegetable meals take quite a lot of time to prepare, there are days when they are simpler, not as satisfying, I would like to use these posts also as a thinking ahead moments to help me keep the food interesting.

The second week of May

The plan was to skate 3 times per week... My home rink has adults only sessions Monday, Wednesday, Friday at noon. I like those as they feel safe, they are not very crowded, the skaters are familiar and I like how these sessions are spread evenly during the week.

Monday... no skating. The "reason" was that it was raining... (and I felt a little tired). I'm telling you, I have to get my skating groove back!

Wednesday... skating!!! But oh boy, it wasn't pleasant. The plan was to skate easy so I will find my balance and not get sore muscles, and that supported my priority of working on the blade alignment, as I have to get off ice to adjust the blade. 

At this point the right boot feels aligned, I can do all edges and turns without feeling pulled. My pronation makes makes the FO edge difficult to sustained but I don't feel it can be helped from the blade more than it is now. On the left boot I still feel a positive difference while playing with the blade, so it is just a matter of striking the right balance.

Based of what I felt last on ice, that my heel was collapsing towards inside, and I had no more space to move the blade, I added shims under the heel. On ice I did swizzles, slalom, edge presses and the heel felt better, the front felt that collapsed towards inside. I moved the blade toward inside, but now the back inside edge was pulling me towards outside. So I moved the blade back a little towards outside and added shims to the front too. It felt better I did more edge presses 3 turns, brackets, crossovers, chasses, some spins. I felt I needed the front a little back again towards inside. I was tempted to keep skating and adjust after I get off ice but as I was skating "easy" anyway, I took the time to make this 3rd or was it 4th adjustment. These adjustments take at least 5 minutes, I would think towards 10 minutes... so after this last adjustment the skating session was close to ending so I didn't get to do much skating, but the first "feel" was positive.  

Friday... skating. I had a work meeting that I suspected  it will run long, but I told myself that I will go skating even for just half an hour. And it was only half hour... It didn't feel productive from skating or adjusting the blade point of view, but it is a victory in commitment.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I haven't posted an update from the beginning of March. The plan was to take a balanced approach to skating in both scheduling, goals/ expectations and even the actual skating effort. Also, I've still haven't finalized the blade adjustment, in the sense that it felt better, but I have hoped it could get even better, so the blades mount had only on temporarily screws so I would able to move the blade/add shims myself.  The first week of March I couldn't skate at all (work related), and the I've slowly deflated and skated on and off, mostly off.

The month of April... no skating! (including this first week of May). The first 2 weeks of April I had crazy work projects, then, as I was very tired, I've got a little cold. Plus one of my cats went through teeth surgery. What I find interesting is that, while I would have been able to skate at least once a week, I've chosen not to... Yes, I was tired and a little sick, but I also reasoned that skating just once a week my muscles are going to hurt. And looking back, I was also unmotivated because I didn't have a clear skating plan and the fact that I'm still not comfortable with the blade alignment.

The plan for the month of May?

The priority is to finish with the blade alignment. If you remember I had a bootfitter on the ice with me for an hour and he basically agreed with everything I was feeling. Then he moved the left blade forward, over the edge of the tip of the boot's sole, as I wasn't feeling stable on the rocker. Now I just have to figure out the balance between inside/outside edge, as I did on the right boot. I pronate (on both right and left sides), so it's not gonna be perfect. My "technique" is to move the blade towards inside, this helping to get on the outside edge, until the inside edge starts to suffer. Of course both the front of the blade and the heel have to be figured out, and they also have to "feel"straight. Then, if I still cannot go hold the outside edge, I add shims.  It is annoying because on ice, instead of skating, I have to run specific exercises that show the balance, then go out of the ice, take the boot off and adjust... then back on ice... 

The alignment on the right boot feels as good as it's gonna get. On the left I was feeling that my heel needs to be a little more "in", I was collapsing towards inside. It wasn't terrible, so I thought let's mostly skate, build muscles and have the alignment in the back of my mind. But it seems that it is holding me back mentally as I perceive it that I "cannot" skate, I'm just building muscles/ exercising. 

The plan is to hopefully progress with the blade alignment, and to skate as I used to skate, for progress, at least 3 times per week, to start with, though, realistically I cannot expect much progress even skating 3 times per week. But I don't think the "balanced" approach to skating worked for me. I am motivated if I have goals and work towards certain skating skills or tests. 

My last goals (3 years ago, before covid and the boots troubles) were Adult Gold Moves and Standard Tenfox. I think I should start working on this and maybe have a lesson to map out the Gold Moves.