When do working adults skate?

[treesprite]

I am wondering how anyone who works full time is able to find time to skate, especially if having to skate in public sessions. I have been thinking about moving slightly out of the area, but the nearest rink that has even just 2 times a week during which a typical working adult would be able to skate, is like 400 miles away (based on internet searches). Nearly everywhere, there are no evening FSs and no evening public sessions. Looks like if I move I will have to quit skating.

[sk8er1964]

I generally skate at lunch, with a lesson before work in the morning. We have sessions available after work, but they're usually full of very little kids and beginners, so I avoid them.

[C_T_T_]

Weekends. Ridiculously early on a Sunday morning is the only time I can skate. Even if there was ice available in the evenings, I was just too tired to do anything much!

[Rochelle]

In our dreams.

Okay, no seriously. Every full-time-working adult has difficult work circumstances, and different access to ice time.

I know competitive adult skaters/testers who don't bat an eye at driving 2 hours one way to skate... whether that's 1-2 times a week, or the usual for 6 months.

I know of other competitive adult skaters/testers who work non-9-5 work shifts who skate during the day with the home school kids.

There are others who travel for work so frequently they just always pack their skates and find crack-of-dawn sessions whenever possible in strange cities.

Everyone finds a way to make it work. And if not, you can always return to the sport in a few years when life allows. That's the great thing about skating as an adult -- you can always come back to it when life allows and you want to, because we're not 'racing against some clock' like competitive kids.




For me personally, I manage to get in about 0-6 hours of skating per week. Usually it’s a solid 2-4 hours per week, year round. To do so, I skate at up to 4 rinks throughout the year in my city – though 2 are only open 6 months out of the year, and 1 does not even open this year (under renovations).

I may have to drive up to 30 minutes to access other rinks in my area, and pay a bit more as a non-member on certain club ice, but I make due and am lucky that NO clubs or facilities have “contract ice” where you’re paying one lump sum for months/seasons at a time and the out-of-luck if you can’t make the sessions due to work/travel/life. My home rink has cut down from 7 sessions I could skate after 5 PM, down to only about 2-3 this entire season… so I’ll just have to suck it up and skate a few mornings before work as needed before work, starting at 6:30 AM. I find ice in the winter Sunday evenings, Saturday AMs, and M-F before 8 AM or after 5 PM as needed.


In the dead of summer I find the weekend evening public sessions to be less crowded than many of my weekday evening freestyle sessions, though life doesn’t allow me to skate weekend evenings all that often.

Also, at one point I lived for 6 months (summer to fall) with an ice rink 90 minutes away, one way. Since I was new the job and had few friends in the area, I drove once or twice a week the 3 hour round trip drive to skate an evening 2 hour public session that luckily consisted of about 5-10 figure skaters (+ coaches) and about 1-2 dozen public skaters… though in November, my final month there, the public skating crowd increased significantly and I assume that would have not been an option December-February. I was working on Senior MIF at the time and was able to at least maintain my Senior MIF skills and current freeskating skills, despite not taking any lessons while out there.

[Clarice]

The adults at my rink skate at 6 a.m. before work. Those who don't work, or who can negotiate their lunch breaks, skate on noontime public sessions. There is very limited ice after 5, but sometimes we rehearse adult group numbers then.

[fan]

we have sessions at our club from 8:30-10 pm everynight - it's late, buit it gets the job done.

[misskarne]

Currently I only work on weekends (just graduated uni earlier this year and work put up a fight about putting my hours up while I job-hunt). So that's pretty easy - I can pick any session five days a week.

Starting next week I'll be working 2-7pm Wed and Thur, 10-6pm Fri and then my usual weekend. So that'll require shuffling about. Probably skate my usual times Mon and Tue, then the 10am-12 public session Wed and Thur. At least until school holidays

I did just advance to an interview stage for a job in a little town in Tasmania though. If I got that and moved there, I'd be 4.5 hours away from the nearest rink. I don't know how I'd manage that. But I would. You can take me but you can never take my skating!

[Skittl1321]

I skate Tuesday evening, Wednesday directly after work, and early Saturday morning.

Our rink has 2 freestyle sessions a week. I skate them both.

[ioana]

I skate an early Saturday morning session, and then log in from home once during the week to do my morning work before a FS session & come in around 10. Am lucky enough to have a manager who doesn't really care about me being in the office one day a week as long as the work gets done. I did stop skating regularly when I had a 65 hr week in New York, though...

[GarrAarghHrumph]

I drive an hour and fifteen minutes each way, at 6am, to get to a session on Wednesday mornings. This entails me driving an hour and fifteen to just above NYC, then driving an hour plus in the complete opposite direction, to NJ, to get to work. I bring my work clothing to change into at my office. I walk in very untiffed.

I drive 30 minutes each way to skate during a long lunch on some Thursdays.

I drive an hour each way to skate Saturday mornings on the ice when my daughter is taking her own lesson.

I also drive an hour each way to skate Sunday mornings.

Although for the past month, I've done none of that, due to rink schedules changing and my own travel schedule.

[overedge]

The rink I regularly skate at is fairly close to my house, but I can't do mornings - it would pose a serious safety hazard to everyone else because I would still be half-asleep.

I can usually adjust my work schedule to do one or two late afternoon/early evening sessions per week, and then buy on to additional evening sessions when I can, or buy on to sessions at other rinks that fit my schedule. My club has an adult session but it is too late in the evening for me.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Sadly, there are no public sessions or freestyles in my area after work hours. It's all hockey.

[Doubletoe]

I skate at 6:30am on weekday mornings before work and am fortunate enough to have a Sunday freestyle that I can skate at a more reasonable time. Having never been a morning person, after 8 years I'm getting a little burned out on doing 6:30am sessions with a cold, stiff, sleepy body. I'm thinking about asking my boss to let me come in 2 hours later and stay later twice a week so I can skate the 8:30am session on those mornings instead. . .

[sk8er1964]

I stay until 6:30 on the days I skate at lunch (45 min skate plus commute and change clothes). I'm lucky my boss is good with flex time.

[AndyWarhol]

I work mon-friday (generally) 9-7 ish hours. i tend to skate before work, and then sometimes in the evening at public sessions if they are quiet. it is really hard to balance though. im always jelous of the 18 year old uni students that can skate all day without a care... oh to be young again!

[Aussie Willy]

I try to do one night time public session a week and Saturday mornings (ice dance and then stay on for the public session). However depending on work commitments, then also judging or skating administration commitments, means it is not consistent. Some weeks I can't skate at all. Plus I travel about 1 hour each way to get to the rink. At present I don't compete or test at the moment nor have lessons.

[treesprite]

Wow, a lot of traveling! I don't know if I could do it.

Currently I live there are ice rinks everywhere (one is 1.5 m away, one is about 8 miles away, one is about 7 miles away, three are about 25 or 30 miles away), and have later day work hours so I have a really great selection of skate times. But I doubt I'll find a job with those hours in a new location. Perhaps I'm just really spoiled expecting to have so many options.

Are there people who find just skating once a week to be worth it? Like are you advancing at all?

[Aussie Willy]

Wow, a lot of traveling! I don't know if I could do it.

Currently I live there are ice rinks everywhere (one is 1.5 m away, one is about 8 miles away, one is about 7 miles away, three are about 25 or 30 miles away), and have later day work hours so I have a really great selection of skate times. But I doubt I'll find a job with those hours in a new location. Perhaps I'm just really spoiled expecting to have so many options.

Are there people who find just skating once a week to be worth it? Like are you advancing at all?

Hate to say it but you really do not advance only skating once a week. To learn is really difficult. If you are an experienced skater it is more just keeping you skills up.

[treesprite]

Hate to say it but you really do not advance only skating once a week. To learn is really difficult. If you are an experienced skater it is more just keeping you skills up.

I used to be an experienced skater! I just came back in Nov. after years away, and it's taking forever to pick stuff back up due to skate and ankle issues.
I usually go 2 or 3 times a week to 2-hour sessions, most of which have 10 or less skaters in them who are usually all adults, but due to the kids being out of school, I was only going once a week for summer and got nowhere (going w/them all there was just as bad as not going).

I don't think I'm going to be able to find a rink with that availability in other places with a typical work schedule. Weekends are probably crowded in all the rinks that only have w/e publics, short 45 min FSs are not worth driving very far because it's it's not enough time to get anything done for someone who can't go 5 days a week, and with my sleep issues there is no way I'd be able to go early in the morning. I think a person gets more out of 3x 2-hour uncrowded publics than 5x 45min FSs.

[gkelly]

My options are
1) crowded freestyle session in early evening after work
2) public session, usually not crowded, at lunch time, for which I end up taking 1.5 hours annual leave in addition to my allotted lunch
3) morning freestyle that gets me to work half an hour late, so I can either take annual leave or just stay late to make up the time at the end of the day
4) weekend freestyles

There are a few other times I could go to the rink, e.g., adult or mixed-age public sessions some later evenings, or dance sessions on which it would not be appropriate to practice jumps or spins and even spirals or some other moves patterns would be iffy. But I don't do those on a regular basis because I can't get much productive practice of what I need to work on.

Which ones I do on regular basis varies depending on what else is going on in my life, and when my coach is available for lessons.

Are there people who find just skating once a week to be worth it? Like are you advancing at all?

I've been averaging 1-2 times a week this summer, and I feel that I have not kept up my skills, much less advanced. I hope to get back to 3-4 times when I feel less busy with other things.