LOL! Good one.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

I did my first ever competition in March (PCAS). Since I'm still a non-test skater it was a big deal for me, even though I've been skating for almost 5 years.

The local paper wound up doing an article about me so I had all kinds of people asking me about my skating. Fortunately they were all uniformly nice and supportive and even impressed, even when I told them I came in last.

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Gordon Zaft
http://sk8rboi.blogspot.com
School figures are skating's equivalent of the Latin Mass.

Yeah, that's how it goes. They're all supportive and impressed ... until they see you skate. Then the disappointment shows all over their faces. They can't understand why you don't look like the TV skaters.

Now really...you should all be glad someone cares enough to WANT to watch you skate! I drag my son and husband in to watch me in a show (they refuse to go to competitions or tests) once a year. My immediate family (father, mother, and two sisters) have NEVER seen me skate. In fact one sister actually came to the rink with me while I took her two daughters skating and SAT IN THE LOBBY so she would not have to watch me.

Sometimes people accidentally come see me skate, like the hockey player in my women's rec group who came to our club show not knowing I was in it and came running over to me during the intermission, saying, "WOW! You look really DIFFERENT!!" (Answer: That's because I'm not wearing full hockey gear.)

Just be happy that people actually WANT to see you skate!!!

I can say in all honesty that my mother never saw me skate except on videotape. My DH, on the other hand, spent many hours sitting on a bench in a freezing rink (usually outdoors) watching my practices, even figures. lol He'll still do it if I ask.

(Payback, though: I've attended a lot of Eagle ceremonies and gone to tons of classic car shows.)

He's a keeper - we're celebrating 20 years of marriage tomorrow!

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The first time family members saw me skate was at a competition a few years back. I skated most of my elements cleanly and well for where I was at at that time--some room for improvement, but a fun skate and not a total disaster. When I got off the ice, they didn't say much and asked me how I thought I did. I think they were not used to seeing non-elite skaters. Anyhow, I was happy with my skate that time!

ETA: Congrats, ISk8NYC!! Some friends of my parents have been married 50 years this year.

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Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

You're not the 50-somethingish lady who said she practiced the jumps at the beach, are you? Cuz if you are, that particular newspaper article didn't stay local, either.

With the name gordon and boi(boy) in the name I should hope it's not a 50 somethingish lady

Congratulations! I hope you have a lovely day.

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

Um, no.......

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Gordon Zaft
http://sk8rboi.blogspot.com
School figures are skating's equivalent of the Latin Mass.

Freestyle session: $10
Your husband freezing his butt off to watch you: Priceless
Congratulations and happy anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. Isk8NYC!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Happy Anniversary Isk8NYC!

I had a coworker tell me he saw me skating yesterday. I wasn't in my dress yet (thank goodness!) so it was during the group lesson. I jokingly asked "was I impresssive" to which he, politely, replied "it appeared you were doing very complicated maneuvers slowly." I thought that was a nice way of putting it. I can't think of what he saw, but it was probably a salchow prep- spinning wouldn't have seemed complicated, and we didnt work on much else.

But this part made me laugh:

"But as a musician I know that if you can do it well slowly than you can also do it fast" HAHAHA! I can't do anything quickly on skates!

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Aw...happy anniversary! I need to meet a guy like that!

(so far I've only had married dads hit on me during public sessions...um no thank you)

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

It's funny you mention that because I orginally got back into skating for the excersize and to meet women. I wanted to do ice dancing but had so much fun with freestyle I never got around to it Unfortuneately the majority of women on ice are also married. It's rare I meet somebody in my age bracket who is single.

Awwww!!! Happy anniverary!

And for the record, the only time my DH shows up to watch me skate was if he is filming me. Otherwise, the rink is just not his cup of tea. (The couch is his cup of tea! ). And techskater's suggestion to leave DH home while I go to AN is overall a good idea. I really don't to risk cramping his style (nor w/him, mine.)

But he is at least showing some interest now in my skating now.

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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!!!

Not sure how new you are to the sport but it sounds like you are quite new. I have only been doing this for 3 years (and I'm 37!). When I started I used to get funny looks from some people at one of the rinks where I practiced (it was in a huge mall). However, I stopped using that rink for reasons unrelated to that, and most of the people I skate with now are adults anyways. I have skated with the little ones and it is no easy task, it's like trying to dodge bullets from a machine gun!

I am very leery of having family/friends watch me even though they are largely supportive of my skating. My parents are itching to watch me but I am too self-conscious to let them right now even though I have been competing since 2006. I also have certain co-workers (and former co-workers) who are teasing me about it; most though have said how much they admired that I started the sport at age 34. It was rather embarassing last year though when a certain co-worker (who had been pestering me for competition photos taken at Canadian Adult Nationals) grabbed my photos out of my hand & began showing to all my co-workers. I remember going red as a beet & chasing after her. A lot of people told me though that they couldn't compete like I did.

You are lucky right now that you don't get the nerves yet. My own experience was that I feared nothing during practice but when I competed or skated in a show as I did last year, the nerves took hold & I blew at least 2 competitions because of that. My show skate was a little easier, it was for a fundraiser with an audience mostly of other competitiors. This year I still had the nerves but they didn't take hold on the ice the way they did the previous 2 years. So the more competing/testing you do, the better it will become.