I had another day of progress at the rink today - I started to get the hang of crossovers. That's when you cross one foot in front of the other, and the goal is to do it repeatedly so that you work up some speed. I've been struggling to get this right for a few weeks, but thanks to today's lesson (on top of a bit of impromptu extra coaching yesterday from Dean of Torville-and-) it has begun to make sense.
It's all about balance. As one of the instructors puts it, skating is like driving a manual car. You have to do a whole load of things at once, though with practice you do them all without thinking. And you have to find the equivalent of the bite point on the clutch - the perfect point of balance. The problem is, for each manouevre that point of balance is slightly different. There's a lot to learn.
Skating does not come naturally to me, I find it hugely difficult, and I'll never be great at it. But I really love it. Days like today give me a buzz. To anyone reading this who has the chance to learn something new and challenging - go for it! It's surprisingly fun to stretch yourself.
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