How fast do I skate??

For so many years, it never crossed my mind to wonder what speed I skate at... until today.

When we say a figure skater "skates fast", how fast is that really? When we enter a jump, at what speed are we really hurling ourselves into the air? Haha, that does sound scary!

Where do I start?

Well, speed skating is the closest relative, and a little search throws out the fact that a speed skater "may reach speeds as high as 30 mi (48 km) per hr" (reference: infoplease.com).

I doubt figure skaters attain the same high speeds. Even if we do, it will not be maintained (and certainly not for jumps!!). Perhaps an average speed would be good... So how do I estimate that??

Well, I tried using my program - the one I did at O'dorf.

The rink is 60m long and 30m wide.

When I make 3 lobes down the length (e.g. serpentine spiral sequence), a lower-bound estimate is to assume each lobe is a semi-circle with 20m diameter. Hence each lobe will cover a distance of 10m * PI = 31.4m (using PI=3.14)

The first 38s of my program consists of a total of 5 lobes:
I start 2/3 of the way down, make 2 lobes in preparation for & execution of the Axel combination, which is then followed by the serpentine spiral sequence which is 3 lobes back down the rink.

Hence, the approximate distance covered in 38s is 5 * 31.4m = 157m.
=> average speed = 157m / 38s = 4.13m/s = 14.868km/h (~9.3mph)

Conclusion: My average speed in the first 38s of my program is 14.9km/h (~9.3mph).

[PS: I'm now too lazy to figure out the rest of my program. The reason is that the rest of my program is not in well-defined lobes, and also include spins, which should then translate to rotational speed rather than translational... oh what the heck!]

Quickstep - the bane of my dances!

With the restructuring of the ISI dance tests 2 years ago, the Quickstep is the one dance remaining for me to pass Dance 8. The whole process of trying to test this dance constitutes an entire story in itself, which I am not about to relate here.
Last week, I started lessons with a new dance coach. Aha, now I once again have a freestyle coach and a dance coach! Somehow, the first lesson wasn't as exciting as I would like it to be. He wanted to know what I wanted to do, and I explained my problem with the Quickstep.

So, these two lessons, we have been working on the Quickstep. Yes, just the Quickstep! He was focusing on how deep the edges should be, where I ought to be heading... how I had to start with the progressives closer to the wall, then the swing for the choctaw heading more into the center... how the free leg on the two forward inside edges have to be extended, etc. It almost seemed like I wasn't doing any step correctly!

Mid-way through our first lesson, he said, "your pushes aren't real!". I was dumbfounded.
"What do you mean - not real?"
"Well, you are not really pushing, just stepping and gliding. You have to push, see there's so much space here. You are not using the rink!"
Oh, I am so embarassed - the rink is small, yet I'm not making full use of the space?!?!

The second lesson, he made another comment that stopped me in my tracks. "Do it slower first. You can go faster later with more powerful push and more knee bend."

Uhh... wait a minute, you first told me to push, yet the push shouldn't make me move fast?? What logic is this?

But I found out that it is possible to push just enough to cover the ice, and yet not go too fast. And it was easier to concentrate on the thousand-and-one other things I have to think of on every step when I'm not trying to think about power from each push. Maybe it does make some sense after all!

The Ice Skating Rink in Singapore

Figure skating is not an easy sport to maintain in this little tropical island of Singapore.

There is the obvious "cooling problem" - much energy is required to maintain the ice. One would wonder if solar panels can do the work!

There is also the "land issue" - Singapore is a tiny island, not much land to build on, and whatever is available is costly.

And of course there's the "kiasu syndrome" - few locals would pay a fortune for their kids to skate. After all, skating is not going to make them a living!

Even with all this, it has been very encouraging that the one and only rink here right now has survived more then 10 years. However, it sounds like we might face the prospects of it closing soon.

The building this rink is in was recently bought over by CapitaMall Trust. This company is aggressive, and has, to its credit, done well with various shopping malls in Singapore, and made positive changes to this building in the last year.

The rink's lease is up in September. It is highly likely that CapitaMall will up the rental beyond what the rink can commit to. Until now, we have not heard anything... except for a few rumours...