Life as a Second-Chance Ice Skater

(You can find Part One here .) So we’ve already established that I left the Lake Placid Adult Skating Weekend (LPASW herein) with a renewed love of the sport and a strong sense of community. But what about, y'know… the stuff I actually paid for? The opportunity to skate in such a storied rink was worth the price of admission alone. Getting to roam the labyrinthine behind-the-scenes corridors of an Olympic arena and freely pass through “Athletes Only” doors made me absolutely giddy. Trundling my middling-skater ass across an icy surface that was loaded with reminders of the victories and epic moments and soaring emotions it hosted was humbling in a way that bordered on deferent. And getting to skate more than five hours a day (which is more ice time than I get in some weeks)? Ungh, I could do that every day and it still wouldn’t be enough! Lemme tell you how much it hurt to put Lake Placid in the rearview. Escaping the mundane day-to-day of adult life and just skating my hea...

Let's not be coy: My first Lake Placid Adult Skating Weekend just ended and I'm already counting down 'til next year's. I am absolutely, utterly gobsmacked by how much I enjoyed the entire experience. I'm gonna recap this in two posts: This first one is going to be all about the feels, and the next will be more about the experience itself and the more actionable takeaways I got from it. I came away from the weekend not only feeling like part of an actual community but also having learned so freaking much, which I can't wait to apply to my skating now that it's all had a chance to sink in; both of those are distinct reactions that, to me, merit individual attention. I think part of why I'm so floored by how much I enjoyed going to an adult skating camp is that, honestly, I was expecting to hold myself back from getting the most out of it. I was afraid I wouldn't mesh with anyone or that I'd default to introvert isolation. I worried that I'...

I’m still in awe over how simply committing to the adult skating weekend has gotten me all refocused and fired up about skating again. One of the upshots of being a chronic procrastinator is how a definitive goal can throw me into high-gear when I’m honest with myself about the work I need to do, especially when I’m earnestly invested in the looming event. It’s really wonderful to feel wholly consumed with skating again after even an objectively brief slump. And just thinking about everything this plunge entails—the northward drive, the immersive potential of all that ice time, spending a few days in a town I haven’t visited in more than a decade—is enough to make the butterflies flutter all over again. I have spent the past few days in a flurry of unusually motivated planning and list-making and… like, who am I even right now? I am a perpetually disorganized, last-minute maelstrom of needlessly challenging myself to get things done as close to deadline as humanly possible. And now I...

Last night, I signed up for the Lake Placid Adult Skating Weekend and I am still in hardcore I Can’t Believe It’s Really Happening mode. I keep joking that I have less than three months to not be the worst skater there but, honestly, I don’t have room for any worries yet with all this excited, squealing disbelief dominating my all of me. After rescheduling my usual Wednesday morning lesson for today, I hit the ice a little wobbily and shakily (and, holy smokes, I walked into one packed house, and my fear of getting in anyone’s way is strong as ever) but with a renewed fire in my belly. It felt wonderful to be less concerned with perfection and more focused on just getting some quality ice time and instruction. I’m going to Lake Placid because I want to be a better skater, I want to push the boundaries of my comfort zone, I want to lose myself in the ice for a few days, and I want to participate in Adult Sectionals next year. But I do want to go with a solid foundation and bolstere...