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Health & Fitness

New Territory For Me: Arctic Ice Arena

I got a day off and utilized it! Finally made my way over to an ice rink in the area and then I wrote all about it.

Finally. It has happened. I have finally seemed to establish that little thing of splendor called ‘a day off’ during the work week. I feel only some are so lucky. Worry not daily 9-5-ers, I utilized my time wisely. Of course, the woman in me is just dying to give you a background story in order to make this whole thing more well-rounded for you.

I’ve been figure skating for the greater half of my life, except for that nasty 6 years we will call teen adolescence that I’ll try not to talk too much about. I started competing by the age of three, shared coaches/training rooms/ice time with Evan Lysacek, and was trained more than I was educated. It was a huge part of my life. That is until I abruptly quit, had a sort of “what now?!” phase, and somehow eased my way back in—casual as ever.

When I went back to the sport after the time away, I had the luxury of being able to go back and skate at the rinks I had trained at when I was younger (I was still living at home) Skating in a familiar place is always ideal. I never liked skating at other rinks, I associated them with competition and it automatically brings on the nerves. Since moving out to Oak Forest, my skating has really taken a backseat for a slew of reasons, but I always felt like I should hop on the highway and head back to Seven Bridges—ah, the old stomping grounds. Lately, I’ve had a huge urge to skate and knew I had to use my day off as my opportunity.

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There are a couple of rinks in the area, but I headed down 159th into Orland Park to skate at Arctic Ice Arena. I had been here once before when my counterpart and I were out and about. He wanted me to see a rink in the area so I could start skating here, but I’m taking the offer up a little late because that was forever ago. It’s that whole comfort zone thing. Finally, all those months later, I found myself outside the facility and I anxiously walked in, immediately feeling like a 6-year-old walking into a competition. Skating rinks tend to hold a lot of different associations for me, tends to be the case when you spend numerous hours a day within a skating establishments.

I went up to the counter, paid for my session, admired the three rinks, and headed to the locker room to lace up. It looks as if I would have the ice to myself, which is always preferred, except when you’re not feeling particularly motivated. I mean, of course, I wanted to skate, but when someone else is around, it makes it that much more difficult to skate around mindlessly and do nothing. A huge advantage when no one else is present though is the musical advantage—I can skate to whatever I want. And I did. The sound system was good, too, and accessible. I always like that. Please, someone remind me next time I think I can hop back on the ice after 3 months of being off and try to do the same tricks that I could do effortlessly two years ago, that I’m wrong. The endurance that sport requires is immense. I always forget this. I used to go so frequently that my body never had time to falter on the in-betweens. It was a rough slap in the face. Or more like a cold one. Hardy har har!

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So after my session (where I think I spent more time choosing what to skate to, rather than actually skating), I took a few snapshots and headed back to that front desk. I wanted to scoop up any information I could about the rink in order to make this thing have some sort of benefit to you;

This rink has some GREAT programs. Not only that, but they have a really great atmosphere. Very clean, spacious, and accomodating. I snatched some paperwork that states registration for these great classes starts up on JUNE 6th or JULY 11th depending on which session you're intrested in. Each session is FOUR WEEKS. Here are what the classes are geared towards;

  • 3-4 year old
  • 5-6 year old tots
  • Pre-Alpha 6 & up
  • Alpha/Bet/Gamma/Delta skill sets
  • Teen/Adults
  • Skaters with disbabilities (taught by experienced social workers-how cool.)
  • Beginner group freestyles; emphasis on spins/jumps/position
  • Power classes
  • Edge/Footwork 
  • Intro to Ice Dancing

I might even take up some of the classes the offer. I've been wanting to get into ice dance for awhile now....

They also do birthday parties and have three packages to choose from ranging from $8.95/person-$14.95/person with decent hours to choose from (afternoon or evening). The groups can be rather large from the information I gathered and from what I see here in the pamphlet. There are also camps and classes available for hockey over the summer. The enrollment for those programs are rather limited, so if you've got a youngster intrested in these camps, it seems like a great deal for the amount of ice time offered. Their hockey isn't restricted to youth, I know they also offer adult hockey. The website has plenty more information.

I will be going back here on more coveted days off, hopefully I'll get this endurance back in gear? It's a tough call. My physical ability has always been rather important to me, so I see my ability coming back in a few short months. Next time I will have to be equipped with a more recent CD mix...

Of course, I'm about to share some music with you. I think music is one of the greatest things you can share. I have to thank skating my skating career (a.k.a. my mother) because it really thrust me into HEARING music and learning how to move to it. So every so often, there will be a few new songs I'm amped on or a couple favourites I think you should hear. So enjoy! Try and  head over to the rink to catch a  skate session!

Black Night by The Dodos

The Ghost Inside by Broken Bells

And I'm sure as a good handful of you know that Gil Scott-Heron passed away last night at the age 0f 62. That's way too young. You can read more about him here. The following is from his 2010 release I'm New Here.

Me & The Devil by Gil Scott-Heron

Hopefully I will be able to embed some videos soon....

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