My Year as an Aspiring Figure Skater
Today an amazing book makes its way into the world:
I had the privilege of reading Breaking the Ice in ARC form and I have to say, even if I hadn't met Gail, I would have loved it. It has everything a girly girl LOVES. Figure skating, competition, great lessons about friendship, and beautiful costumes.
I don't mention this often, but I once took ice skating lessons. For a year. For fun. If you really want to do something with figure skating, you have to start young (as Gail did). Instead, I took lessons in my early 20s, with the only benefit being that when I now go figure skating, I don't fall down.
Like most 80s kids, I spent my childhood in a pair of these:
So once the instructor showed me the difference between roller skating and ice skating, I picked it up very quickly. I advanced through the classes, learning to spin and skate backward. However, there was one thing I could not do...
There's a reason figure skaters start young. As you get older, the concept of actually leaving the ground on ice skates becomes terrifying. Still...there was a 30-something-year-old lawyer who figure skated competitively. She practiced with a personal coach while I was there. For all I know, she may be still figure skating today. This 80-something-year-old woman was still teaching figure skating a few years ago.
I finally stopped taking lessons when the Nancy Kerrigan scandal broke. Suddenly everyone in town was signing up for figure skating lessons. The rink filled up and you could no longer get practice time. It was a nightmare.
Still--it was fun to learn. And great exercise. After you read Gail's book, you may be in the mood to learn!
If you love figure skating (or just great books!), check out Breaking the Ice. You can also add it on Goodreads.
I had the privilege of reading Breaking the Ice in ARC form and I have to say, even if I hadn't met Gail, I would have loved it. It has everything a girly girl LOVES. Figure skating, competition, great lessons about friendship, and beautiful costumes.
I don't mention this often, but I once took ice skating lessons. For a year. For fun. If you really want to do something with figure skating, you have to start young (as Gail did). Instead, I took lessons in my early 20s, with the only benefit being that when I now go figure skating, I don't fall down.
Like most 80s kids, I spent my childhood in a pair of these:
So once the instructor showed me the difference between roller skating and ice skating, I picked it up very quickly. I advanced through the classes, learning to spin and skate backward. However, there was one thing I could not do...
There's a reason figure skaters start young. As you get older, the concept of actually leaving the ground on ice skates becomes terrifying. Still...there was a 30-something-year-old lawyer who figure skated competitively. She practiced with a personal coach while I was there. For all I know, she may be still figure skating today. This 80-something-year-old woman was still teaching figure skating a few years ago.
I finally stopped taking lessons when the Nancy Kerrigan scandal broke. Suddenly everyone in town was signing up for figure skating lessons. The rink filled up and you could no longer get practice time. It was a nightmare.
Still--it was fun to learn. And great exercise. After you read Gail's book, you may be in the mood to learn!
If you love figure skating (or just great books!), check out Breaking the Ice. You can also add it on Goodreads.
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