Skating On Thin Ice

A friend's birthday brought us all to a morning session on an ice rink. I hadn't been ice skating since secondary school so was quite excited at the prospect of hitting the ice like the graceful swan I was. I'm not sure why, but ice skating always seems harder to do than I imagine it to be in my head.

As expected, most of us started by gripping the sides while we found our feet on the ice. Most of us managed to progress to something that resembled skating, and after around half an hour we had started racing and playing tag. It really is an exhilarating feeling going at a good pace across the ice. Provided you don't fall over at the end, that is.

It's funny though: as it is in other situations, it's the fear of failing (or in this case falling) that keeps you from progressing. Once you do, however, you find that you're not scared anymore - it's kinda like the activating event you need to flourish. It's just amazing how crippling irrational fear is, especially seeing how easy it is (in retrospect) to get past it.

So yes, I fell. In fact, that was probably the only "race" I won this morning. I haven't spotted any bruises yet, but I do feel a bit of a graze on my elbow and my muscles are sure to ache tomorrow (even though I had intended to stretch beforehand, I kinda forgot in all of the excitement). Most worryingly, however, my final fall was kinda awkward and I did feel something click as I went down; I'm hoping it's nothing more than a minor sprain or something (I won't be running tomorrow morning, that's for sure).

I was also surprised at how reasonable entry was - it's certainly cheap enough to do regularly. I might even take a few lessons. I may even be that swan before you know it!