Sorry I have to skate :)

[waltz_jump]

Do your non-skating relatives and friends give you a hard time (even jokingly) whenever you turn down social invitations due to skating? I have 6:30 am lesson/practice on Saturday mornings so I almost always say no to going out Friday night because I know I need a full night's sleep for the next day. Or I only stay out till 10 pm. Hard to do since I'm in my late twenties and it seems like the only Friday/Saturday night activity my friends are familiar with are going out to the bar or going to see a band in a bar. I have gotten my share of ribbing from them over skating but for the most part they think it's cool, even admirable that I can get up so early Saturday mornings for an athletic endeavour. Any experiences you guys wanna share? Did you even make up an excuse before jut to say something different other than skating on why you are not going somewhere?

[overedge]

By now, all my friends are used to it (and for the most part think it's kind of cool). I've said things like "Thanks for inviting me, I can't be there until [whenever] because I have to skate, but you go ahead and eat and I'll join you for dessert". And then I would show up and they would ask all kinds of questions about how the session went.

Managing work around training, now that's a little trickier. But this year I decided to go to Nationals and decided that skating would have to be my priority whenever possible. So when I explained that I was training for Nationals and paying extra $$$ for extra sessions with my coach(es), most people were pretty good about rearranging meetings etc., especially when I would offer to meet at times when I usually wouldn't be available.

[Aussie Willy]

No because I have been doing it so long they are used to it. If they have a lunch or something, they know I am going to turn up a bit later because I have been skating that morning.

I used to cop crap from my family about being an adult skater. They couldn't understand that someone could skate because they enjoyed it and it was good for their health. They assumed anyone who skated was aiming to go to the Olympics.

My issue now is taking time off work for judging and skating administration stuff. In the last few years, I have probably used about two weeks of my annual leave for skating related stuff. This year our Nationals which I will be involved with organising is going to require me to take off about 7 days in November/December. A couple of years ago I couldn't go to Nationals to do trial judging because of work requirements.

[LLOS]

Not at all, they respect that I need to train and think doing a sport is great and they like what I do. Only my mom didn't like it in the first year but now also thinks what I do is good for me...

[waltz_jump]

Same here, although sometimes I get the "Can't you skip your lesson tomorrow" or something like that. I have to explain to them that unless I'm sick I will keep my lesson because I have made a commitment to my coach. It also used to be that the fact I had a "coach" they say makes it all sound fancy like I'm heading for nationals, lol. I had to explain to them I really learn best from a one on one basis at this point.

[Doubletoe]

At this point, they have all learned that I am boring and never do anything that involves staying out late at night. If I have an early morning lesson (which I do 2x/week), I just say I have a lesson. If it's just a practice session, I say, "There's a practice I have to go to" so that it sounds like it's a mandatory practice session like I would have if I were playing a team sport. Non-skaters don't get it anyway, so they don't even ask!

[waltz_jump]

I know a lot of people that play in recreational leagues especially in the spring/summer such as softball, flag football etc. However, these people seem to have no problem bailing on their team if they are too hungover to play the next day. Not all "weekend warriors" are like this of course and some even take it super seriously and competitively which I think is great. But I do know some people that probably shouldn't even be on a team because they are always skipping games and stuff. As skaters we cant pull that same crap becuase we lose money on contract ice or lessons that can't be made up.

[Aussie Willy]

If you were going to the gym people wouldn't even question it. But because it is skating people look at you going "huh?".

[Spazactaz]

Yes. They don't see the importance of it. I will NOT miss a practice and they're like "oh it's just one it doesn't matter." Non competitive skaters don't understand anything about it, so it drives me insane to discuss anything skating related with them.

[Alexei'sgirl]

Non competitive skaters don't understand anything about it, so it drives me insane to discuss anything skating related with them.

I beg to differ. I'm not a competitive skater, but I carve every minute out of my schedule that I can to be at the rink. It's not whether you're competing or not, it how much passion and dedication you have to the sport and to your participation in it.

My friends and family understand that my ice time is sacred to me. As an adult, there's not a lot available, so when it is, I take it.

[Spazactaz]

I guess that was somewhat of an unfair generalization because they're not ALL that way. But like.. I'll go to the rink an hour before the session to run, stretch, and warm up... and they'll all make fun of me and be like WTF are you doing??? As they get there 5 minutes before the session. Most of them don't care so they don't understand why someone would put so much into their training.

[leafygreens]

Sometimes I talk to coworkers about how I can't miss my sessions because they are pre-paid. That makes some people more understanding.

[LLOS]

Most of them don't care so they don't understand why someone would put so much into their training.

I also have this problem, even people at the rink or skate friends wonder that I show up an hour before the session starts, because I want to do off ice training (in my rink I have exellent conditions for that) anybody shows up like 5-10 min before the session or even later....I just love to put a lot of effort in my training and I don't ven care if I have to get up at 6am, I just love it

[Morgail]

I always had the hardest time with work. I had to leave exactly at 5 in order to get to the rink in time for my pre-paid, 50 minute session. Co-workers seemed to think that I could just waltz into the rink at any old time and expect to skate. Friends are more understanding, usually because they're more interested in what I do and listen when I explain how skating works.

[shutterbug]

I beg to differ. I'm not a competitive skater, but I carve every minute out of my schedule that I can to be at the rink. It's not whether you're competing or not, it how much passion and dedication you have to the sport and to your participation in it.

My friends and family understand that my ice time is sacred to me. As an adult, there's not a lot available, so when it is, I take it.

Ditto. And I make sure to get to the rink in time to do a warm up. As an old lady who sits on her a$$ all day at work, this is a total necessity!

[Hedwig]

I get some laughs here and there. But by now my friends and colleagues know that I am a "weirdo" in many ways so they don't give me a hard time but I get the usual jokes. But most are actually quite interested in my training and progress and impressed how much effort I put into this.

Like others in this thread, I feel strangest among other skaters who like to skate here and there but are not as totally into it like I am. Most people I know skate only once a week in winter (well, the nearest summer rink is 2 hours away but I tried to be on the ice last winter 3-4 times a week!).
If I went to the rink before to warm up and jog around I would get weird glances as well.
I have been to two skating seminars during this summer and that is something even my group coach found weird.

I so wish that there were more people in my town who are as obsessed as I am in order to push me as well. It would be so nice already to have a few people in the early morning sessions that I know and could exchange tips with - but the only people there are usually hockey players (my town is biiiggg on hockey) and they take up half the rink with their puck which scares me as I always fear that it will run into the other half or third I am skating on and I will trip over it. Sigh.

I wish I lived in Berlin - there is a huge adult skater scene (for Germany anyway) and great coaches and extra ice time for adults and so on. But here - nothing.

[LLOS]

I think what annoys me most is that anyone says I should skate for fun, because it seems I take it to serious (having a coach, working a lot on elements) but hey THIS is fun for ME!! To work hard is FUN! Just to skate around and doing "nothing" is plain boring!

[waltz_jump]

I'm so glad to see that I am not alone on this boat Yesterday my friend asked me if I was going on July 2nd (Friday night) to see her bf's band play at this bar in downtown Chicago. I live in the 'burbs, so the drive itself will be a hassle, plus parking (which isn't cheap). I was willing to go, so I asked "what time do they get onstage?" she said "10 pm" "That's too late! I have to get up at 5:30 am the next day to skate" and she said "aww come on don't be an old lady"....that annoyed me and made me decide that I'm DEFINITELY not going now.

I guess people don't understand that when you put money upfront for something, that you just don't wanna do it with a half hearted effort. I don't wanna wake up feeling tired and no energy and not give it my best effort on an hour that cost me essentially $62 ($50 for hour lesson and $12 ice time). I don't want to practice Moves looking gassed out and jumps that lack oomph. Maybe for them it's ok to hit the gym with only a percentage of your strength and effort but I don't want to be on the ice that way.

[Aussie Willy]

We all make choices in life. If what you want to spend your money on is skating then that is choice. But it does bug me when people think it is stupid spending money on skating but they wouldn't bat an eyelid if you spent that amount on a personal trainer or gym membership.

And then there are the friends who used to drink and smoke and then couldn't understand why I spent money on skating.

[silverstars]

I was like this for basically my enter childhood through high school--I skated every morning (including Saturdays) and some afternoons, and all of the extra time that I had went to things like homework. Even summers weren't free, since I either 1) spent most of the day at my rink or 2) went away to some training center/camp. I love skating but personally, I do regret spending that much time on a sport when I could have been having, you know, more of a life. When I got to college and finally cut down on everything, I was at a complete loss of what to do with all of my free time.