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Anyone want to learn to speed skate with me? (Utah)

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I've always thought speed skating looked really fun - in a smooth/rhythmic/flowy sort of way. I can ice skate pretty well but I've never tried speed skating and noticed they have a class.

https://www.usarinks.com/connect3/S...3.html?pp_id=1&fac=utah_connect&facility_id=1

The dates on the second link aren't updated since last year, but it has a little more info: https://www.olyparks.com/uoo/learn_to_speed_skate.asp


Anyway, it's only $45 for 6 evening lessons including skate rental. Can't beat that!

Anyone else want to give it a shot with me??
 

volklgirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Figure out a way to get me there and back for each session and I'm in. :(

Sounds like great fun!
 

Consuela

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Figure out a way to get me there and back for each session and I'm in. :(

Sounds like great fun!

Oh yes, me too! hahah

Let us know how it goes if you give it a go! It sounds right up your alley.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I'm dying to learn this, too, but alas, it won't be in Utah. :(

Sounds like a great deal! Go for it!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Hmmm.... we need to figure out a nationwide commuter shuttle....

:smile:

I signed up last night so I'll let you know how it goes!
 

ski&bfree

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Ditto on the shuttle!!

I've always wanted to try speed skating! I've played hockey for many years and therefore know how to skate very well. But who knows if that would help for speed skating. The skates are different, the technique...etc.

Seems like it would be a lot of fun though - and rentals included too, that's a great price! All the best:thumbsup:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Ditto on the shuttle!!

I've always wanted to try speed skating! I've played hockey for many years and therefore know how to skate very well. But who knows if that would help for speed skating. The skates are different, the technique...etc.

Seems like it would be a lot of fun though - and rentals included too, that's a great price! All the best:thumbsup:

From what I've heard the skates are more similar to goalie skates because there is less rocker.

All I keep hearing from people who have done it is that it is HARD WORK and my thighs will burn like I can't even comprehend.

But for some reason I just cannot wait until Tuesday night to try it!! :smile:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
So speed skating lesson #1 was yesterday.

News flash - I have no common sense. I haven't done anything but sit on the sofa elevating my leg since my wreck in Sol Vista 3 weeks ago. But I agreed to do some training with a friend of mine on Tuesday mornings with her trainer for Skeleton, so I did that yesterday morning. Which was lots of walking lunges and squats and such. Obviously torturing my legs first thing in the morning after no exercise for weeks was exactly what I needed right before trying speed skating.

Anyway - I showed up for the class and there was one other guy there for the class (a bunch of kids showed up late) and we sat there waiting for the instructor, looking at everyone walking around in skinsuits and generally looking like world class professionals as we sat there looking at the flat blades on the skates and the ice and wondering how big of idiots we were going to look like flailing around on the ice. The instructor walked up, introduced herself and said - so go ahead and get on the ice and do a lap to warm up and then we'll start with the lessons. Uh... okay. So we stepped out on the ice and went GAH! The blades feel even weirder than I thought - they wobble, they catch if you don't set them down flat... But I did manage to stay upright and make it around the track... got back to the instructor and was like hey - I have no idea how you're supposed to stop on these things and just kept turning in circles... (Apparently snowplowing is the easiest for newbs.)

So we went through proper body positioning, going from gliding down the straightaways in a tuck to gliding down with one leg out and your arms in the swing position and holding it for half the straightaway and then switching to finally putting it together and skating laps around the track. I can definitely feel the difference in my leg with the calf that's been injured - it's way harder to balance on that leg... Anyway - apparently learning crossovers for the corners is for next week. Thursday's lesson is still going to be focused on straightaways. Of course, next week I'll be in Whistler, so I guess I'll have some serious catching up to do the week afterwards...

Anyway - it was fun. I managed to not fall, and even though I was going pretty pathetically slow, she said I looked in control. But of course I'd go from in control to unexpectedly wobbling, and that wasn't making me want to step up the pace too quickly.

Heh - and then we finished and she had us do some dry land stuff which consisted of getting in front of the mirror and holding one legged squats for 30 seconds again and again and again... which felt AWESOME after my workout that morning. And then I went home and took and ice bath. Ow.
 

tradygirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
So AG talked me into this and I had my first class last night. After a little bit of wobbling and learning "base position", I actually felt like I might not kill myself. I don't know why I didn't realize that you're pretty much in a squat position the entire time you're skating - that's going to take some serious getting used to. Imagine squatting down with your knees around 90 degrees and your back parallel to the floor. Now hold that for, say, 5 minutes. And while you're doing that, start balancing on one leg and pushing the other way out to the side. Yeah, it's hard work.

The teacher actually taught us how to do crossovers for the corners last night too. The first time I tried it, I was so freaked out - I can do it pretty easily on inline skates, but doing it with sharp, long blades on ice is a little more intimidating! I finally got the courage to try and it wasn't too bad - you just have to be really deliberate about where you put your skate and how you push off each foot.

Overall though, it was REALLY fun. Even as a beginner, you really get going fast and that was the coolest part. I can't imagine how much fun it will be once I'm more comfortable on my skates. And the strength carryover to skiing is going to be amazing!

(And don't let AG fool you - she's already killing it! :thumbsup:)
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
The hardest part for sure is getting low enough. I don't think I've squatted to 90 degrees for oh.. a few knee surgeries.

I'm just hoping that as I keep working on it this will build up my legs enough that it'll get more comfortable. We'll see how it goes! But it's been really fun so far. And my legs feel WAAAYYYY better today than they did on Wednesday.

:smile: So glad you had fun! I'm bummed I'm missing class this week, but I'm sure Whistler will make up for it. I'm sure I'll be dying trying to catch up after missing 2 classes!!
 

Consuela

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Hey Trady and AG,

Any update on the speed skating?

Cheers,
Connie-Consuela
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
edit: that's funny you just asked - I was just typing an update!!

So I've now done 6 days of speed skating and it's coming along pretty well. I'm in the STEP 1 program which is now MWF evenings for an hour and a half with a coach. She's excellent and has really been pushing me with lots of drills to get on my outside edges and then do these slooooow crossovers in the corners where I balance on the outside edge of my left leg and bring the right one around, and set it down and then stay crossed over on both blades through the corner. Yikes. But I finally got that figured out enough to at least make it halfway through a corner like that. And once I got that figured out (plus trying to remember correcting my arm movement and trying to round my back and bend my legs more and tuck my hips and stay on the outside edges as long as possibe, and pick up my foot and bring it back around in a big circle, and set it down half a skate length ahead of my other foot...), today I went back to doing some laps and what do you know I felt like I was actually going FAST, and felt steady and smooth in the corners and may have even looked like I was speed skating instead of flailing around on speed skates! (Which was really, really fun!)

It's definitely harder than I figured it would be to learn - I've had some moments where I start to wonder what's wrong with me - am I just terminally uncoordinated or what? And then I "get it" and for a few minutes I'm feeling amazing, and then remember something else I'm forgetting to do and it all falls apart again. But the learning process is fun. It turns a pretty serious leg workout into a mental workout and I don't even know how sore my legs (glutes and ankles particularly) are until I get home.

Anyway - just wanted to provide an update. If you ever have a chance to try it, you should. I can feel that my legs are stronger already - I know sometimes when I'm wearing silly high heels at work and go to sit on something low it used to make my legs feel wobbly and all of the sudden they feel rock solid. And that's only 6 workouts. I can see how this sport gives you legs of steel! :smile:
 

tradygirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Unfortunately skating has gone by the wayside for me as the semester has ramped up in school. I decided I don't have time right now, but I am fully planning on getting back into it next fall. Perhaps some skates as a graduation present? :D
 

alta_gal83

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
And not completely off topic ... we were seated next to Apollo Anton Ohno at the Porcupine Pub & Grill over the weekend (he's a SLC local). A bunch of ladies wanted their pic taken with him -- we're convinced they only knew who he was from Dancing with the Stars :smile:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
And not completely off topic ... we were seated next to Apollo Anton Ohno at the Porcupine Pub & Grill over the weekend (he's a SLC local). A bunch of ladies wanted their pic taken with him -- we're convinced they only knew who he was from Dancing with the Stars :smile:

He was on a Project Runway episode too! :smile:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Oh, and I also have to add that I think the speed skating has been great for my legs so far. I haven't done much XC type riding at all lately, but we went on three rides this past Sunday, including the Slickrock practice loop on Sunday evening. I know it's not that bad, but those climbs normally kick my butt - they're short but STEEP! And I rode it on my Syren with no granny gear (only a middle chainring up front) and cleaned a lot more of the climbs than I remember doing in the past.

That, and I also noticed that when we were doing a couple balancing acts walking across skinny logs and rocks over creek crossings, my balance is SOLID! I'm usually wobbling and trying to use my bike for balance and I just picked my bike up and walked right across this wobbly little log like it was nothing. So all that ankle strengthening and balance needed for speed skating must really be helping! :smile:
 

tradygirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
And not completely off topic ... we were seated next to Apollo Anton Ohno at the Porcupine Pub & Grill over the weekend (he's a SLC local). A bunch of ladies wanted their pic taken with him -- we're convinced they only knew who he was from Dancing with the Stars :smile:

My husband told me that I need to kick his butt if I ever see him at the Oval. :boxing:

Don't know why, but he drives my husband nuts. It must be something about that nasty little flavor-saver....
 

Slidergirl

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
AG - skeleton

AG - who is your skeleton friend??? I know most of the sliders. A first name is all I need to know them!
Has she gotten you up to the track to take a run yet? Now, they are truly looney tunes! Nothing like barreling down an icy track head first with your chin about an inch from the ice!!!
 

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