Finding time to skate (adults)

[Littlerain]

I’m excited to get back into skating and have signed up for a private lesson (the first in years!) this Saturday. However, when talking with this coach, it seemed like she did not have much lesson time available on the weekends and her weekday availability was before 5pm. Understandably, but I’m just swamped at work lately so it doesn’t leave me a lot of options for practice or lesson time. I assume getting lessons on freestyles in the mornings could be an option, but I’m just not a morning person and might have to become one.

So! I was just curious how often you all skate, and how you’ve managed a decent amount of lessons/practice, etc in addition to work & other life commitments! I understand I may have to reprioritize things and so I suppose my question is mostly what you all have found works best in your routines!

 

[gorgonzola]

Our rink has sessions from 5:15-9:30AM. To get a reasonable amount of skating time, I basically shifted everything: work starts later, sleep starts earlier, and other hobbies/commitments fell to the wayside.

Most coaches I know don't have availability mid-day because they have kids getting out of school on the afternoon sessions and rinks around here don't have freestyle sessions after ~6PM which is when I'm assuming you get off of work. Do you have any flexibility in your schedule? If not, mornings may be the way to go. You may also want to ask around for other coaches to see if they have availability if you haven't settled on one already.

 

[Littlerain]

I think my rink has sessions that early too, and I haven’t committed to this coach but it is the one the skating director referred me to. I do get out of work around 6ish typically but have had lots of long days lately. But yes, I could potentially shift when I work, or take a long lunch on the days I work from home and go to the rink closer to home during the day, but that seems impossible lately. The rinks here also have freestyles that early but I don’t know that I’m ready for that - skating wise or waking up early lol

How often do you end up skating / taking lessons now that you’ve rearranged your schedule? @gorgonzola
(Sorry quoting doesn’t seem to be working at this moment for me)

 

[gorgonzola]

I skate 7-10 hours a week, 2-3 lessons per week now. I have two coaches, one for freestyle, one for moves/skating skills.

I'm going to read "I don't know that I'm ready for that - skating wise" as "I don't think I have the skating skills to share the ice effectively with other skaters" going off of your post history. For perspective. There are pre-alpha (read beginner) skaters on sessions with people who have their axels/doubles. Unless you're at an established facility with multiple rinks with skill level separation, you're going to be on the ice with all sorts of skill levels, potentially forever . A good coach will give you space on the ice during lessons and teach you to how to be cognizant of your surroundings/skate around others. You can also ask the coaches when the sessions are more "dead" where it's easier to work on things as an adult.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I just wanted to welcome you to the sport! And make you aware that you will more than likely have to become a morning person for it, don't worry we all have at some point and survived!

I'm on the ice every morning very early working with my skaters and most facilities I'm at as of late have multiple ice surfaces where the elites train separate from those at lower levels, many coaches I know that work with the lower levels and adults have most of their sessions in the early AM so that they can have the afternoon open to train their higher rated skaters post-schooling. Even the facilities that don't have multiple surfaces as a PP stated, the coach will be with you on the lesson with the other levels of skaters on the same ice and will teach you how to become very self aware of where you and others are on the ice at all times, even w/o the coach during practice.

Have fun with your lessons and learning this wonderful sport. Good luck!

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

I’m excited to get back into skating and have signed up for a private lesson (the first in years!) this Saturday. However, when talking with this coach, it seemed like she did not have much lesson time available on the weekends and her weekday availability was before 5pm. Understandably, but I’m just swamped at work lately so it doesn’t leave me a lot of options for practice or lesson time. I assume getting lessons on freestyles in the mornings could be an option, but I’m just not a morning person and might have to become one.

So! I was just curious how often you all skate, and how you’ve managed a decent amount of lessons/practice, etc in addition to work & other life commitments! I understand I may have to reprioritize things and so I suppose my question is mostly what you all have found works best in your routines!

I skate 4 or 5 times a week, about 3 hours per day. I have 1 hour of private coaching twice a week and 1 hour of group technique lesson once a week. Up to this month I also had 1 hour weekly of private off ice training coach session but since I just moved to be very close to the rink to skate more, I've moved away from my off ice trainer (sports hospital medical fitness center, so close to my former home), so I've committed to practice around here and visit the trainer for a session once every 10 days.

I work remotely, from home, in a completely different time zone than the one in my location, and I don't need to be X number of set hours in front of a screen, I can manage my job tasks time wise to work best for me, so I have the late morning (not an early morning person either), afternoons until early evening to do all things skating related, and I reserve from dinner until it's relax time to do my job tasks, unless it's something very urgent I must take care in a time different than this routine. I use the weekend to do boring things (supermarket shopping, house keeping, laundry, cleaning etc), only public sessions at the rink anyways, too many people playing/skating for fun for me to be able to practice anything.
My husband is a skier so during ski season we squeeze ski trips either during the week or during the weekend to fit best both our schedules, so the above is rearranged a little bit.

 

[SK4T3]

Welcome back
Hard to give advice (because of my distance/culture); you should asking around at your local (and rinks nearby) about time and availability. Be part of a network of people with the same interest (FigureSkating or ID) to find hidden gems (clubs/coaches/ice) Some don't advert or even have a website.

My Coaching/Lessons always take place during dinnertime; so I had to compromise; wake-up early, prepare meals. I regularly get invitations to participate in (guest-)lessons at Rinks nearby.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Since my local rink (23 miles away) closed permanently at the end of 2022, I now have to get up at 3.20am in order to travel 3.5 hours to the next closest. As somebody who routinely got up at 4am as a teenager to train, I thought this should be fine but it totally writes me off for a couple of days afterwards, and I'm only now skating once a week. It's better than nothing. Skating is worth it.

 

[outside edge enjoyer]

The time commitment it takes to skate is one of the hardest things I’ve had to adjust to since starting. I’m a college student so my schedule varies depending on the day—some days, I can wake up at 8 and skate from 9 until 11; on others (today included), I have to wake up at 5 or 6 and just push through the discomfort and remind myself that I want to skate more than I want to sleep. (Sufficient sleep is incredibly important though and I try to adjust my bedtime as much as I can—I work until midnight on Thursdays=I don’t skate early on Fridays.) I imagine once I graduate and either start a PhD program like I want to or just get a real job, I’ll have to skate early almost all the time (and probably less often), but if my enjoyment of skating stays anywhere near what it is right now, I know I’ll be able to make it work. I hope you figure something out; best of luck!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Since my local rink (23 miles away) closed permanently at the end of 2022, I now have to get up at 3.20am in order to travel 3.5 hours to the next closest. As somebody who routinely got up at 4am as a teenager to train, I thought this should be fine but it totally writes me off for a couple of days afterwards, and I'm only now skating once a week. It's better than nothing. Skating is worth it.

I feel you, those mornings of rolling out of bed at 330 or 4 am to train as a teen/20-something is not the same these days!

 

[Littlerain]

Thank you all for your replies! The glimpse into your routines is helpful! I think for now I will just hope I can get to one session a week outside of the group class and whatever works out with private lessons, and see what else I can fit into the schedule once I stop being so swamped at work and frequently working 10-12 hour days

I do have some flexibility in when I work but not as much as Lola. I typically start at 9 or 9:30 now so I could definitely get on freestyles someday. And the rink closer to my house has public skates most of the afternoon on weekdays, so I might one day have enough space to take a long lunch or something. Perhaps when I get past this time of constantly working too much, I can try to wake up earlier

 

[LolaSkatesInJapan]

Thank you all for your replies! The glimpse into your routines is helpful! I think for now I will just hope I can get to one session a week outside of the group class and whatever works out with private lessons, and see what else I can fit into the schedule once I stop being so swamped at work and frequently working 10-12 hour days

I do have some flexibility in when I work but not as much as Lola. I typically start at 9 or 9:30 now so I could definitely get on freestyles someday. And the rink closer to my house has public skates most of the afternoon on weekdays, so I might one day have enough space to take a long lunch or something. Perhaps when I get past this time of constantly working too much, I can try to wake up earlier

I think I'm lucky that unless it's something very specific, the earliest time I have to go to the rink is 11 am (group technique coaching session starts at 11:30 am and they let us in from 11 to warm up). All my private coaching sessions are either 2:30 pm (Tuesdays) or 3:30 pm (Fridays) and practice the other days start at 1:15 pm (rare days start at 12).
I was raised and grew up in ballet and always despised early wake up hours. Having to either compete, audition or being on stage at all during the morning was absolutely awful.
These days after retiring from professional ballet and just being an amateur skater, unless my coaches absolutely require me to, I won't even compete if my age range ( 30s) is schedule for the morning, or any morning exhibition. I could pull off being on my full potential during the morning during childhood, teenager and 20s even though I hated it, but not anymore. Anything before 10 or 11 I'm ZzZzZzZz

 

[Littlerain]

So I had my private lesson and I think I will continue with this coach. She told me there are evening freestyle sessions on Wednesday at the rink near my work so we may be able to do a lesson then!

 

[Adelie]

I’m excited to get back into skating and have signed up for a private lesson (the first in years!) this Saturday. However, when talking with this coach, it seemed like she did not have much lesson time available on the weekends and her weekday availability was before 5pm. Understandably, but I’m just swamped at work lately so it doesn’t leave me a lot of options for practice or lesson time. I assume getting lessons on freestyles in the mornings could be an option, but I’m just not a morning person and might have to become one.

So! I was just curious how often you all skate, and how you’ve managed a decent amount of lessons/practice, etc in addition to work & other life commitments! I understand I may have to reprioritize things and so I suppose my question is mostly what you all have found works best in your routines!

During the outdoor skating season (from Nov - March) I usually go to an outside rink nearby before work, usually between 7-9 am, 3-4 times a week. On weekends and Mondays I have skating lessons inside during lunchtime 1-1,5 hours. My family (husband&2 kids) doesn’t mind, because they have their own hobbies too and because they see how happy skating makes me.

 

[emilinkaa]

Since my local rink (23 miles away) closed permanently at the end of 2022, I now have to get up at 3.20am in order to travel 3.5 hours to the next closest. As somebody who routinely got up at 4am as a teenager to train, I thought this should be fine but it totally writes me off for a couple of days afterwards, and I'm only now skating once a week. It's better than nothing. Skating is worth it.

I did this over the summer when ours was closed (luckily waking just after 5) and it was rough. I’d do 3.5 hours on the ice on that single day, and wouldn’t get home til after 8pm. It was exhausting, but I have no regrets.

 

[Littlerain]

During the outdoor skating season (from Nov - March) I usually go to an outside rink nearby before work, usually between 7-9 am, 3-4 times a week. On weekends and Mondays I have skating lessons inside during lunchtime 1-1,5 hours. My family (husband&2 kids) doesn’t mind, because they have their own hobbies too and because they see how happy skating makes me.

That’s great! We’ve moved to Austin for my job two years ago so there are not really outdoor rinks. definitely missed out on that opportunity for myself!

 

[Flying Feijoa]

I imagine once I graduate and either start a PhD program like I want to or just get a real job, I’ll have to skate early almost all the time

If you're willing to move, pick a PhD programme or job in a city with lots of rinks!
I still have to get up at 6 am for one of my sessions But the other times are comfortably in the evening - all freestyle too.

 

[Arwen17]

Most skaters don't start as morning people. Skaters become morning people by necessity because morning ice time is usually the most available... since everything 5pm and onward is given to hockey.

I didn't think I'd ever do 5am morning sessions when I first started, but only a year in, I picked it up and have been doing it for years at this point because it was the only way to get enough ice time and lesson time.

 

[Littlerain]

glad to hear most of you weren’t morning people either!

 

[desertskates]

Hello! I'm always happy when I see another adult revisit their love of skating. I'm just here to echo what others have said that you can become a morning person over time once you build the habit. I'm lucky (and so grateful) that my schedule is pretty flexible. Skating mornings is a preference for me, because I'm just sharper then. But the other adults in the early mornings are people who have just built up the wake and skate routine over time. A bonus I've found: when I'm surrounded by the younger, stronger "before school" teenagers, it makes me work and try harder.
Best of luck going forward