1/6-1/12: Back on the Ice

Last week's featured workout also helps fulfill a goal - do something NOT S/B/R related:

We went ice skating. We were actually thinking of playing hockey, but we decided we'd get back on the ice first to see if we still, you know, remembered how to skate.

The answer?

Obviously, yes. Yes we did. That's not to say it wasn't a bit awkward for the first little bit, though ...


Hubby.


"Do I look like I remember how to do this??"



The first bit was a little awkward. I'm really glad the open skate we went to was DEAD - we didn't have to do the typical mindless circles and could use the whole ice ... which we did, to our advantage. To get re-used to our edges and the general movement of skating, we actually did skating drills - crossover drills on the circles, 6-12s, etc. After a few minutes of these, we started feeling comfortable again.

At some point, we realized that we were WILLINGLY doing the skating drills we were forced to do in hockey practice once upon a time in order to feel more comfortable on the ice. Instead of getting frustrated that what was once effortless felt difficult, we essentially went back to the basics to regain lost skills.

That required patience, a skill we probably should have had back in the day, but one we gained through triathlon. Triathlon, particularly long-course racing, teaches one to be patient. Ironman was one long-ass day and we had to be smart and patient if we were going to reach that finish line. We also spend a chunk of time each year going back to the simple basics in running, cycling and swimming - always going back to drills - so why not do the same here? We didn't even think about the decision to do skating drills or talk about it - it just came naturally.

While the two sports we love are VERY different - team sport vs. individual sport; fast, short sprint efforts vs. long endurance efforts - there are lessons to be learned from each sport that will carry over to the other. When we first started triathlon, I don't know if we necessarily tried to draw off our hockey background, but as we hopefully get back into hockey a little bit, we can take lessons learned from tris and apply them on the ice.

And, ideally, if we get back into hockey, we can learn new lessons to apply right back into triathlon.