Muh wife told someone at work that I had never ice skated before. Her co-worker was somewhat shocked that I hadn't since I am pretty much a guy that will give anything a try. In fact, I have been thinking a lot the past couple of days about how much I would like to sky dive. I do not want to go through the whole learning process or buy my own equipment. I am more than fine with jumping with someone and letting that person do all the work. It is just something that is now on my radar.
So... after I had a belly full of Disco Fries, my wife and I headed over to the ice rink to slap some skates to my feet and watch me glide.
I was surprised at how inexpensive it was to do all of this. I was also surprised by something else that just seems so dopey. I thought the ice... yes... I know... ICE... was going to be squishier. When I stepped out onto the ice with my pair of rented skates, I wasn't prepared for just how hard it was.
I told muh wife who has skated before to go ahead without me and she did. She let me figure it out on my own. After the first 15 minutes, I had finally made it around the rink once. I primarilly used the walls but I made it...even with those show off 5 year olds who flew by me about 50 times.
After much perseverance and loss of breath, I finally would go for short sprints without touching the wall ensuring my time around the rink would only last 5 minutes each.
Then... I buckled down and decided... I really need to get rid of the crutch of the wall... and I made it a point to skate around the rink without touching the wall at all.
I did it! In fact... I kept going and made it around twice without ever touching the wall! I was so proud of myself and even though my wife had been periodically checking up on me and offering her support, she must have realized what I was doing and left me alone to finish!
These public free skates are tough to skate in for a couple of reasons.
1. The ice was "zamboni'ed" so there are still all the marks from the hockey team practice before us.
2. The free skate people aren't good either so they fall and get int he way of people like me.
3. It is just packed!
I am glad I tried it out and I actually do look forward to doing this again...
and...
I should only do it with a belly full of Disco Fries.
1 comment:
I definitely recommend sky diving ... soooo much fun! And there are a ton of places you can go in the Jersey/Pennsylvania area. You have to go tandem for your first few jumps even if you are training to do it on your own. :)
- Leslie
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