I don't get to talk to many adult skaters down here in Texas, so I am wondering from y'all: Why do you skate? What is your motivation? What keeps you going even when you think you'll NEVER get something? Why do you love it? (I'm new - Sorry if this has been done before)

I have been on the verge of quitting three distinct times, but I always come back! First, it was the scratch spin. I struggle with all spins (maybe being a 5'11" woman has something to do with it?), but it took me at least a year to get the scratch spin (all around me little kids were doing camels and laybacks, lol). I was working on a Lutz before I got that stupid spin!

Second, I hit a spot of several months where I just wasn't skating well. I finally got the scratch spin, only to get stuck at the back spin and sit spin. I learned the Lutz, but the flip, loop, and Lutz were all off and on - I couldn't seem to get anything consistent, except for being consistently frustrated.

Third was this weekend. I know very well that skating is expensive, but I had NO IDEA it was going to cost me $235 to test and enter my first (local) competition, not including lessons and buying a dress! All this for 1 minute 40 seconds on the ice!! Unfortunately, I don't usually have an extra 200 bucks floating around. I had to ask myself why I'm doing all this and spending money I could very well be adding to my savings account.

Well, I don't really have a great answer...I just love skating. I enjoyed watching it on TV when I was little, but I never lived near a rink. I never imagined I would be able to do it myself. It makes me feel strong and brave, and I love pushing myself, learning new things, feeling a wonderful sense of accomplishment. I have always been in sports, and this is the most recent and most challenging one I've taken up. After all the hard work and frustration and falling and wanting to give up, I finally reach a goal, or I have a great practice where I'm gliding and floating and flying, and then it's totally worth it.

Now tell me your story!

I skate because I am a few bricks short of a full load, a few cards short of a full deck, because I have a screw loose! When most people my age (57) are living their lives carefully, I am out playing on a hard slippery surface so there can be no justification for my actions except as above and because I LOVE IT!

We wont talk about costs! I just came back from the (Canadian) Adult Championships with a $2,000 VISA bill. That doesn't include the thousands of dollars spent on equipment, ice time, and coaching for the past year.

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

I took lessons for awhile as a kid and really liked it but my mom didn't have the time or the money to continue it. Fast forward - my daughter was about 3 and I started out thinking "well MY daughter is going to have skating lessons because I had to quit" Then a little voice in my head said, "Self...if you feel like you missed out on skating lessons, the person who you should sign up is not your daughter!" I really think more parents should listen to that little voice...

I started at a club with a lot of adults and big dance program and was told that adults dance and that fine with me. It wasn't until I got on the internet that I heard about 30 and even 40 year olds who were actually jumping!

I've never been athletic or graceful, but skating makes me feel both. When I skate I'm too busy thinking about tightening my butt or getting my arms in the right position to worry about any thing else.

j

Heh! Have had heart trouble, other medical problems, over past 5 or 10 yrs. Doc told me I could use a pacemaker, but.... I build industrial robots for a living, and work around high powered electronics every day of my working life. NOT keen to make my heart beat susceptible to electromagnetic interference!

Well, Doc also said that getting plenty of exercise might put off the day when they'd have to wire me up. So, took my old hockey skates out of the closet and started practicing at local rinks. Presently, realized that I'm a bit too old & frail to play hockey, so, traded in hockey for freestyle blades

Transition from hockey to figure skater is still a works in progress.....

I skated and competed in the ISI program as a young adult, then taught for a while before I "retired" to grad school, family health crises, marriage, house, children, etc. One day, I called the local rink to ask about group lessons for my DD. To my surprise, the new Skating Director was a fellow skater from my past who had taught with me before. She asked me to come back to teach in her program.

After teaching for six years and watching my kids skate better and better, I decided that I wanted to regain my skills and start taking the USFSA tests. MITF were introduced while I was on hiatus.

I'm skating a few times a week, sneaking in short practices between giving lessons and taking one short lesson each week. It's done wonders for my health and mental well-being because I really enjoy this sport.

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Because I love it and couldn't imagine a life without skating. Simple as that really!

Nicki

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www.myspace.com/insatiableskater

I just really enjoy being able to do so much on the ice. It gives me "wings" to fly. I love the intense feeling of satisfaction when I get into a good spin/land a good jump. I like how competitions give me a goal to work towards, I like how I have an excuse to go out there and show off I like the fact that my flexibility finally has a usage for something. Of course honestly I don't feel this all the time.

Which is why on the other hand I don't have to join every competition, neither do I have to skate if I'm not feeling it. Sometimes if I'm not feeling great, I take a couple weeks off skating and I come back and it gets all exciting all over again because I've missed it.

I like that I don't have to worry about skating as a career (I don't have to land more jumps, I dont have schools, parents, federations on my back because I haven't won some competitions etc)

Therefore I only skate because I want to, and that really feels great

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Tidesong

I skate b/c the rink is my sanctuary!!!

This is the only place where for at least a short time, I don't think about what goes on at the office or at home -- all I have to worry about at that moment is the ice, the blade and how the @#$*%*& am I going to get that loop jump or camel spin. This comes in VERY handy when I was going thru some very rough times in my life. It's WAAAAY cheaper than a shrink!!!

This is also I am free to let out the "performing arts" side of my personality out. When the music is on and I'm in the right mood for it, I skate to the music and no one cares if I screw it up or not. (Never mind any music. I had some nice footwork yesterday that some of the skaters approved of... but my coaches would rather hang me by my toepicks than have me skate hip-hop. )

I also love the fact that I actually have a SPORT that I'm actually halfway decent at. Considering that back in high school the PE teachers thought I was practically useless in just about all the sports they've put me in, this is an excellent compromise for me! (Actually, the one thing besides skating that my high school didn't offer was dance... and I would have taken that over ANY PE class!!!)

And for the naysayer skating moms who think that I'm too old to skate and I should just hang up my skates, go and have babies and let my daughter skate? I just prove you wrong!!! And I DARE 'ya to come out on the ice with me too!!!

And last but certainly not least -- thanks to skating, I've met all SORTS of wonderful people in the skating world!!! Some of you have become close friends of mine. You guys ROCK!!!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

"And for the naysayer skating moms who think that I'm too old to skate and I should just hang up my skates, go and have babies and let my daughter skate? I just prove you wrong!!! And I DARE 'ya to come out on the ice with me too!!!
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Cheers,
jazzpants"

Goodness! Have no doubt that you would be a great Mom, Ms JazzPants, but, can't quite see you giving up skating to watch your little girl or little boy have all the fun......

Ah, well, take good care, in any event, and hope to see you next time I'm out by YB rink!

Well, well, well! Look who the cat dragged in from RSSIR!!! And I do look forward to seeing you again at YB and seeing how your bum knee holds up to the 3turns now!!!

Yeah, sad but true, RSSIR is pretty dead, in my book...

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I skate because:

• It's the only form of exercise I've discovered that isn't boring.
• It's the only form of sport I don't mind being pants at
• It's something I can do with my husband and a shared hobby that has brought us a lot closer together.
• It's brought me friends from all around the world, and not just friends who share my particular belief set.

I'm sure there are plenty of other reasons, but those will do for a start!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

all the reasons above are great but also -> I keep skating because I'm not very good at it! I SSLLLOOOWWWWLLLYY get better. Kinda like my wife, kept pushing away just fast enough for me to catch her.
Lyle
(see Rusty's not the only one with a few screws loose, but atleaast we know that bailing wire and chewing gum are what hold us together. LOL)

Skating has been very good for me for that reason. Honestly, I am a person who is used to being good at what I do, and avoiding that which I am not good at (like all sports and athletic endeavors)...it's very freeing to be bad at something and still enjoy it. Probably one of the reasons I enjoy competing - I don't have a chance, so there's no pressure.

j

I was gonna say that!

I started because my daughter was in skate school, and if I had to be there every Saturday, I might as well get some exercise myself. I absolutely hated it for the first six months or so, and only stuck it out because my soon-to-be ex bought me skates and I figured I needed to get his money's worth out of them. One of the best things he ever did for me.

Five years later, I still skate, she doesn't.

I love it because it's something that I enjoy, that others think I'm crazy to do, and makes me feel good. Especially after a bad day elsewhere.

I love skating, and can't imagine not skating. It has filled a place in my life like nothing else I have ever tried.

I love the feeling of accomplishment once I have finally mastered whatever skill I am working towards

I love competition, having the ice, audience and judges all to myself - I have a bit of the same 'performing artist' personality that Jazz has. (Meow, J)

I love skating pairs with my granddaughter (she's 8) It was a bit of a disappointment when none of my kids took up skating, I had to wait for the next generation to get a skater out of the lot.

I love the travelling to all the fabulous places I have been to and all the wonderful friends I have met along the way, and I look forward to the next trip to who knows where.

I love my growing collection of teddy-bears, silk flowers and 'hardware'

I love the sparkly little costumes and getting to wear false eyelashes, bright red lipstick and putting glitter-dust in my hair.

I am large, a bit heavy and very awkward most of the time, however on the ice, I am graceful, can move elegantly, don't weigh as much and I can fly.....

And Rusty - I didn't even look at my visa bill for CAN. Yesterday it was in my mailbox so I gave it unopened to my secretary and had her just pay it - I DON'T WANNA KNOW. It was so nice to meet you there, and you had an awesome skate - I'm impressed

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If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

Must be nice!

I WASN'T! I skated that program much better in practice Oh well, new program for next year

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

You can search my screenname to read the long, painful reason why I started skating , but in brief:

• At a time when I could barely walk, skating helped me to FLY!
• I think that it appeals to us masochist-perfectionists-- it's frustrating, nothing is ever really right, and it's hard!
• I used to be afraid of the ice-- it was nice to conquer my fear in such a spectacular way!
• Jumping and spinning and spirals... 'nuf said
• There's nothing like trying not to fall on some difficult, new pattern to get your mind off of any other problem

And I just love those rare, illusory moments on the ice when it all comes together and it's all so effortless (Happens for me when the DJ goes into either a '40's-ish song or a something with a latin beat-- that usually gets my skater-booty shaking!)

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When asked what his "secret" to success was, Wayne Gretsky said: "Skate to where the puck is going and not to where it has been."
Is the figure skating version of this: Skate as if you're doing an axel and not just learning how to hop?

This is the way I see it.... and this is my reason
Other adults play golf, tennis, sofball, or swim, run marathons or triathalons.
I chose to skate.
Actually, I started skating the year that the first Adult Nationals was held in 1994. I then made it a goal of mine to compete there someday. Add on the struggles from mastering back crossovers, rink shutdowns or lessons cancelled here or there, lack of practice time for a working adult, USFS changing test requirements ( Bronze freestyle test changes and Pre Bronze being added in 1996), taking and re taking tests ( three tries on Pre Bronze free, four tries on Bronze free- will pass in May and two tries on Bronze moves!).
I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as that early goal is concerned.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I got very seriously ill a few years ago. When I grew just a bit better, I first took up sportive shooting (very low-strain physical exercise), later I quit that in favour of ballroom (and in a lesser degree, latin) dancing (where the strain depends on your level, but still, you'll never really build muscles dancing.) My dancing partner however attempted to commit suicide and afterwards, I decided I wanted a change of sport. I knew I had to stay physically active because the remainder of my sickness was alleviated by physical exercise, at least effects lessened.

I had skated for maybe a total of 9 months or so as a child, but I hadn't been on the ice since my early teens. I discovered the skates still fit so I went skating on public sessions and discovered that everything I was ever able to do, I still could do.

Originally, I thought I'd do ice dance. I never did think I'd learned to jump.
However, I did learn everything but the axel in 1 season. And I'm feeling FAR more fitter than I ever did ballroom dancing.

So I'm just going to continue doing it. I've got some serious goals set, I actually intend to make it to nationals. I'll need a 2A for that, I'm not sure if I'll ever achieve it, but if I would, it sure would be a big thing for this little Russian girl from the Netherlands who always got picked last in sports class at school!

That's another thing. I was good at shooting. I was good at ballroom, and apparently, I'm good at skating. I'm not a bad runner either and I was pretty good at rope climbing in school (that is, until I got ill, I was always the first of the girls in long distance runs and I was the only of the girls who could climb the rope all the way up until we'd practiced it in class for about a year). It's a major revelation to me that the only sports I'm actually bad at are ball sports and swimming apparently, that I'm not BAD at SPORTS.


But, that all being said, there's 2 major reasons why I skate.

1. This reason basically is that it keeps me alive and feeling more or less healthy. I'm on painkillers and other medication oftentimes, but I need far less medication if I'm skating (a lot), and I feel better. I don't feel as tired either. And I get ill less frequently skating.

2. I'm an adrenaline junkie, always was (since I was a toddler), always will be. I actually like falling and getting bruised all over. Makes me feel alive. I like feeling my trachea clamp up doing a new jump, I like the dazzling rush in my head when I've landed a jump I normally don't land or done something else new and dangerous.

Because I need an obsession to take my mind off life! Something all-consuming which demands my total attention. It used to be playing cello, but I suddenly stopped wanting to do that - right about the time I started skating again, funnily enough. I skated when in my mid 20's.

At age 47 and seriously overweight, this is something that helps me feel good about myself. I am getting heaps of exercise,building lots of muscles, while the fat is drastically reducing, while the weight remains the same .

It is something I can do reasonably well (unless I compare myself to the teenagers), I am still learning, which is reassuring. It is something I can do with my 9 year old daugher. I also get a kick out of seeing other people's faces when they hear my hobby. I love it when other adults there watching their kids say nice things to me about my skating.

Nothing feels the same as skating on fresh ice (which happens all too rarely) especially when there is no music (even rarer). The sound of my blades on ice, the feel of the cool wind in my face, and the glorious feeling of flying without leaving the ground. And the even more glorious feeling of flying in a well executed jump (even rarer than the other items) or a well-centred spin (very occasionally).

I just love it, and in the end, I really don't need any other reason for doing it. My husband mightn't like the time and money it takes, but he sees the benefit to my health and happiness. And when I am really frustrated, really having an off night and nothing seems to be working well, all I have to do is skate around reasonable fast, and just enjoy that feeling. That's why I do it.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

When I decided to learn to skate it was for no other reason than I had regretted not doing it as a child, and suddenly I had the time and money to do (at least at the time I thought I had the money, that is not the case so much now!!). However, since learning I have found that it has opened up such an amazing world I didn't know existed.

It has given me something that is mine, and I am so less stressed out about other things going on around me. I have something to focus on and aim for, and it no longer matters if my bf's ex-wife is being a pain, or my job is annoying, I have something else to think about. I have finally found a form of excerise which I enjoy, and which I have stuck to unlike past gym memberships, and finally, I have met some amazing people who I would never have met otherwise, and they are one of the main reasons I am so glad that I finally started skating.

Also, you can not beat the feeling of a "woo moment". Nothing comes close.

45 minute workouts on my bike trainer are boring.

3 hour bike rides through the woods are too short.

Listening to my wife tell me how well she did today on the eliptical trainer in the gym makes my hair hurt.

Cross county skiing up s steep incline makes me feel young.

And figure skating....a couple of months ago my 12 year old daughter asked me how it is that I don't dance, yet I can dance really well with my skates on.

I took it as the highest compliment.

Exercise for the sake of fitness is OK, but coupled with creativeness and a wee bit of danger makes it 100 time more interesting, don't you think?

Well, pretty much what everyone else has said - especially:

‘I just love it, and in the end, I really don't need any other reason for doing it. My husband mightn't like the time and money it takes, but he sees the benefit to my health and happiness’
(skatingonclouds)

‘It's the only form of exercise I've discovered that isn't boring.’
(Mrs Redboots)

‘This is the only place where for at least a short time, I don't think about what goes on at the office or at home -- all I have to worry about at that moment is the ice, the blade…It's WAAAAY cheaper than a shrink!!!
This is also I am free to let out the "performing arts" side of my personality out. When the music is on and I'm in the right mood for it, I skate to the music and no one cares if I screw it up or not.’
(jazzpants)

‘…Which is why on the other hand I don't have to join every competition, neither do I have to skate if I'm not feeling it. Sometimes if I'm not feeling great, I take a couple weeks off skating and I come back and it gets all exciting all over again because I've missed it. I like that I don't have to worry about skating as a career (I don't have to land more jumps, I dont have schools, parents, federations on my back because I haven't won some competitions etc)
(tidesong)’

‘Because I love it and couldn't imagine a life without skating. Simple as that really!’
(NickiT)

And my own:

I love spinning! And I love being able to act like a great big kid on the ice. Nothing beats a good teapot race!

S xxx

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Wow . . . are you my long-lost twin? This is ME to a "T"! I am a southern skater too . . . I live in SC and when I was a kid, ice skating just wasn't possible (no ice!) but I always loved roller skating and roller blading and watching ice skating on TV . . . my twin boys (6 or 7 at the time?) and I went to a "school skate night" a couple of years ago . . . then enrolled in learn-to-skate classes as a Christmas present . . . and we're still going strong . . . I'm still taking group lessons (the upper level adult class only has 2-3 students anyway, so essentially a semi-private) and can jump! and spin!; one of my sons plays ice hockey and the other just started participating in freestyle comps at level FS 3-4 (although he has his flip and his lutz, just doesn't have the spins to go with them!).

I also agree with the others "it's the only form of exercise that doesn't bore me" and to be honest, to be an adult figure in the south is like having SUPERPOWERS . . . everyone is always when they hear what I do for fun!

You just about nailed it for me.

Although, I can't get my wife to skate with me. I used to get her out on the ice a few times a year, but now it is only about once a year.

I almost went a little batty last year, when I wasn't skating. I didn't skate from the MC competition till Christmas, hoping that it would help with the knee and feet problems.

The pain didn't go away, so I said: &$%@ it! I would rather skate in pain, than not skate. And, so far the skating doesn't seem to make it any worse. And, the knee is slowly getting better!

Rob

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Geriatric Figure Skating Crew - President for Life!
Georgia Figure Skating Club - President (again)
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"I'm too old to die young, and too smart to be happy" - Kinky Friedman, The Mile High Club

2010 Adult Nationals - earning a gold - "Priceless"
2009 Adult Nationals - competing with a cold is not much fun.
2008 Adult Nationals - Too little sleep, too much vodka!