Learning to skate all over again with my son as my teacher

In my first blog “Mighty Moms” , I introduced you to some hockey moms in Orono, Minnesota who hit the ice every Friday morning while their kids hit the books.   After watching these ladies in action, I was determined to find a way to join them.  Not only did the drills and games look like so much fun, but what a great workout to boot!!!

Fast Forward to the first day of Winter Break .   I was about to head out the door for my morning run when my kids asked me to drop them off at the local outdoor ice rink.  This time I wasn’t going to drop them off. I was going to join them. 

I had been talking and talking about playing hockey, but you can’t play hockey if you don’t skate or have equipment.  At this point I was oh for two.  I can’t remember the last time I went skating.  I think it was about 30 years ago or so.  All I remember, is how much I liked my handmade pink pom-poms and the cocoa inside the warming house.  Years later, I would return to various ice rinks as a mother. I was the mom who wore boots on the ice.  And as the kids got a little older, I was the parent who sat and watched from my heated car or the warming house.

So today was the day.  I was going to run over to Play it Again Sports and get a pair of used skates on the way to the park with my boys.  I called my friend Suzanne to see if she and her son wanted to join us.   She said “I have skates, but they don’t fit. Maybe they would fit you”.  And they did.  All I could think is “It’s meant to be”.

My youngest son (the hockey player) was very excited to teach me how to skate. And I want to thank him for being so patient and positive.   He and another buddy (Alex) helped shoot this short video.   As you will see, the hardest part was trying to get from the warming house to the rink. My skating actually improved after an hour of circling the ice.

I still think I need quite a bit of practice before I am ready to get on the ice with an organized mom group.   I  pride myself on being in pretty good shape, but this was still harder than I expected.   My ankles and shins hurt at the beginning.  But I noticed the more I skated, the better they felt.  And in order to stay balanced, I really had to engage my core.   Literally, within minutes I was sweating and I wasn’t even going that fast.   In hindsight, I wish I would have worn my heart rate monitor. 

When I got home, I found some interesting statistics about ice skating on-line.   The American College of Sports Medicine says on average, a 150-pound person burns about 600 calories an hour when they skate.  That’s about the same as running five miles in an hour.  Besides the aerobic workout, ice skating also works key leg muscles like the inner thigh, the abductors, the hamstrings.  And we can’t forget about the rear end muscles and the lower back.

I was surprised I wasn’t sore this morning.  Maybe it will hit me tomorrow.

In the meantime, I am very interested in planning a mom-son skating event before winter break is over.    Nothing like getting in a workout while hanging out with your kids.  For me, it was the epitome of quality family time.    Better late than never.