I'm going to make this journal friends only from now on. If you've been reading it and want to be added as a friend, please let me know.

Will get round to writing up the British later this week when I have time.

Well, I'm still back on the ice, although I was quite tired after yesterday, and took it fairly easy, only coming in for OXIST again. (And after other people's tales of icy roads this morning, I'm really quite glad I decided not to try and go to Dance Club ( Read more... )

After a week of moping around at home, by today I felt equal to the prospect of skating again (and working - I'm going back on Monday). I'm feeling a lot better than I did a week ago, but oh boy, am I out of condition ( Read more... )

Well, I did make it in for OXIST today, but I had no energy at all, and did little more than scull around and talk to people. I think yesterday was catching up with me in my currently enfeebled state. It was nice to wander into Oxford with a few people for a coffee afterwards (at Starbucks, since G&D's has alas decided to close for a fortnight ( Read more... )

That first patch after Christmas is usually a chance to skate off all the festive over-indulgence, and start serious work on plans for the new year. But this year it hasn't quite worked out. I took some mysterious red lumps that had appeared on one side of my forehead to the GP yesterday morning, and received a surprise and unwelcome diagnosis of ( Read more... )

I haven't set foot in a rink in over a week, so I'm starting to climb walls and chew carpets as withdrawal gets a serious grip (back on the ice on Saturday, thank goodness). But in the meantime, I've been reflecting on the experiences I've had as a result of skating - so here are some of the more interesting side-benefits of my obsession. ( ( Read more... )

With no coaches around, I was hoping for a really nice quiet final session before Christmas. Alas, no - a large party of late teens from one of the local schools ensured that it was far too manic to do anything away from the middle, and with 15 or so regular skaters trying to crowd into the middle, it was a bit too busy there too. But we managed ( Read more... )

Quiet patch without Mark (who’s on holiday), although I still had a lesson with Lana. We revisited toepick steps, which scare me to death on the blunt tips of my dance blades (actually, I suspect they’d scare me to death anyway - I know very few adults who’ve ever got comfortable with toe steps), and added a new one to the repertoire - back inside ( Read more... )

It’s been a full month, what with one thing and another, since I last skated at Bracknell. Dragged myself out of bed at six thirty with deep reluctance, ventured out cautiously into a hard frost (hoping that the roads had been well gritted), then sat in traffic for 40 minutes (part Reading early morning rush, which seems to be getting inexorably ( Read more... )

Well, M passed his tests, so that’s good. Not that I doubted he would, but he did admit that it was nerve wracking. Now Mark’s steering him towards level 1 and 2 field moves - level 1 should be fine, but level 2 is altogether tougher. And only another 19 tests to go until he catches up with me! (I’ve actually only done about 12, but they’ve ( Read more... )