When do working adults skate?

[MusicSkateFan]

6am 3-4 weekday mornings per week. My rink is about 2 minutes from my house so the early morning is not too terrible. Saturday freestyle will now be at 2nd rink 40 minutes away. My main rink only has weekend freestyle in the summer months and sometimes around holiday weekends when there is no hockey.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

...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.

That may vary by person. It's not true of me. I get a lot more out of doing several 45 minute sessions than I do out of a few longer sessions. With only 45 minutes, I have to be highly focused. I also don't get overtired, which means I'm working well. I find that I advance more quickly if I skate more often per week, for shorter sessions each time.

If all you have available to you is the 45 minute sessions, they may be worth at least trying. See what you think.

[hanca]

I skate 6-8am (five or six times a week), and then start working at 9am. Not nice to get up at 4.45 most days, but you get used to it.

[orbitz]

I skate 6-8am (five or six times a week), and then start working at 9am. Not nice to get up at 4.45 most days, but you get used to it.

Do you have time to shower before work?

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Do you have time to shower before work?

When I myself skate before work, I don't have time to shower. I use baby wipes and face wipes, and those are the days I go to work with my hair in a headband.

[Aussie Willy]

I never worried about showering after skating before work. That is what deordorant is for. With how cold our rink was it was difficult to work up a sweat anyway.

[gkelly]

When I myself skate before work, I don't have time to shower. I use baby wipes and face wipes, and those are the days I go to work with my hair in a headband.

I used to do that, and change all my clothes . . . but then I moved around the corner from the rink so I could stop home for a quick shower before going to the office, and that is much more pleasant.

[Kelvster]

6 a.m. on Sundays
4:30 p.m. on Fridays (when company had a policy of early Fridays off)
late night on Tuesday 10 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.

In spite of all the craziness, it was really really worth it (i'm no longer skating)

Miss the smell of the Zamboni fumes and the sight of an empty rink on Sunday especially. Moment of freedom and silence and absolute serenity.

K.

[Bunny Hop]

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 basically what I did. I stopped skating for about 18 months because once a week wasn't working for me. I wasn't advancing and I was tired of using up all my flex-time so I could go to the rink for a quiet public session one morning a week. Due to rink restrictions I wasn't allowed to skate on the early morning patch (freestyle) sessions, and weekend sessions were too crowded to get anything done.

Then we moved back home to the other side of the world and here I'm allowed on early morning freestyle sessions, so I skate three mornings a week at 5:30am. I'm not a morning person, but it's worth it to get some quiet ice time, and to make actual measurable progress.

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

See above. No, it was frustrating and demotivating.

I never worried about showering after skating before work. That is what deordorant is for. With how cold our rink was it was difficult to work up a sweat anyway.

This. I rarely work up enough of a sweat that I feel the need to shower in between skating and work.

[misskarne]

When I myself skate before work, I don't have time to shower. I use baby wipes and face wipes, and those are the days I go to work with my hair in a headband.

I never worried about showering after skating before work. That is what deordorant is for. With how cold our rink was it was difficult to work up a sweat anyway.

I don't know how you guys do it. I'm always sweating like crazy after I skate even in the middle of winter. I've been known to have to just about drown in body spray if I've absolutely had to be somewhere after skating.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

I don't know how you guys do it. I'm always sweating like crazy after I skate even in the middle of winter. I've been known to have to just about drown in body spray if I've absolutely had to be somewhere after skating.

I also tend to sweat, even in the winter. I don't use body spray, though, because IMO, all that does is add a body spray odor on top of potential BO. And I don't like heavy perfumy odors. Thus the use of baby wipes. They work wonders. Then deodorant, moisturizer for my face, a change of clothing, and I'm good. I dry my hair via the vents in my car on the drive to work ()

I have a little kit of trial-sizes of baby wipes, deodorant, moisturizer, and face wipes that I bring with me to the rink in my skate bag.

[gkelly]

Someone on FSU also recommended lime juice as a natural deodorant.

[FigureSpins]

I used to skate during lunchtime. I tossed a toiletries bag into my skate bag with thick, clothlike paper towels, soap, body powder and deodorant. After skating, I'd do a quick wash-up in the locker/ladies room before changing into work clothes.

I really like skating in the evening moreso than mornings or daytime. Ice World in Totowa, NJ used to have adult-only freestyles and public sessions on weekday evenings, which was perfect for me.

[GarrAarghHrumph]

Ice World in Totowa, NJ used to have adult-only freestyles and public sessions on weekday evenings, which was perfect for me.

Does that rink still exist? I couldn't find a website.

[Rochelle]

That may vary by person. It's not true of me. I get a lot more out of doing several 45 minute sessions than I do out of a few longer sessions. With only 45 minutes, I have to be highly focused. I also don't get overtired, which means I'm working well. I find that I advance more quickly if I skate more often per week, for shorter sessions each time.

If all you have available to you is the 45 minute sessions, they may be worth at least trying. See what you think.

I second this. For some adults, doing several 45-minute stand alone sessions works well.

Now for some adult skaters, they don't even feel warmed-up and ready to go until about 45 minutes into skating (which... if such skaters ever are planning to compete/test... they ought to work toward finding a way to more efficiently reach the 'warmed-up' state, since we're all often lucky enough to get a 20-to-30-minute practice session (at best, since practice ice isn't always available), prior to your immediately-before-test/competition event warm-up. ).

If I do a proper 10-15 minute warm up off ice, I get plenty done in a 45 minute session. Given -- I may not be able to practice everything at that given time (MIF, FS, dance), but I pick/choose based on the day.

Since I've passed my MIF, if I'm doing stand-alone 40/45 minute sessions during the 'competitive season' I'll structure my sessions to be:
*a 10-15 minute warm-up off ice;
*spend the first 10-15 minutes on my stroking warm-ups, pattern dances and chronic skate retying;
*do a 5-10 minute max free skate warm up for everything in my free skate; *run my free skate fully through;
*run through my interpretive (showcase) immediately after, if competing it soon
*Spend the last 10-20 minutes on whatever elements demand my attention most
>> Side note, in the two weeks prior to a competition I will run my free skate after only 5-10 minutes on the ice. If I can't skate it close to clean with only 5-10 minutes warm-up on the ice... then I can't have the confidence to expect to do it fairly well on competition/test day? That, and if it's more crowded on the session it's much easier to get your music played at the start of the session than 20-40 minutes in...

I find doing a few 45 minute stand alone sessions (especially on our nearly dead empty crack of dawn sessions), with a couple 1.5+ hour skates mixed in each week really helps when I'm preparing to test or compete -- and I still get in enough time to make improvement on skills I'm working on more long-term.

[FigureSpins]

Does that rink still exist? I couldn't find a website.

No, it closed years ago. When I skated at lunchtime, I went to Union since I worked near Jersey City.

[jjane45]

45 minutes session is not worth the long commute & time to change. If I live 5 minutes from the rink it would be a different story.

I used to do the late night public session my previous rink offers twice a week, from 9:30 to 10:45pm. It worked very nicely until I needed the full ice surface for patterns. Still good for spins and jumps.

[ioana]

No, it closed years ago. When I skated at lunchtime, I went to Union since I worked near Jersey City.

I loved the Union Rink and still skate there when I go back to the NY area. Al's the nicest manager.

[treesprite]

Now for some adult skaters, they don't even feel warmed-up and ready to go until about 45 minutes into skating

Sounds like me. I'm not competing though... all I care about right now is getting back all the stuff the years off ice took from me.

*spend the first 10-15 minutes on my stroking warm-ups, pattern dances and chronic skate retying;

I'm certain I use at least 15 minutes per session on my own chronic skate re-tying!

[Bunny Hop]

There are late afternoon/evening freestyles at my rink, but they're so insanely crowded with all ages, disciplines and levels that they're actually dangerous in my opinion. I've seen several near and actual collisions through people not looking out or not giving way or being generally clueless. I used to have my lesson on one of these but I never got much done because I spent a lot of time waiting fruitlessly for space to do something, and was in a permanent state of terror. I've made more progress in the couple of months I've been having morning lessons than I did in the previous year.