So finally, I've healed enough to get on my skates. Went to a session last night for 2.5 hours. Once I relaxed and overcame my fear of reinjury, I felt great. Hardly anyone was in attendance, so the 3 people there could do whatever we wanted. Practiced backwards in opposite direction (clockwise)....fast with crossovers, transitions, toe manuals, and beginner spins. Focused on stepping or doing all moves to the beat of the music. Later in the session, a woman even complimented me on my backwards skating skills. 😊 Next time, I should take a video and post it. I felt refreshed after the session. 😁

Hopped on the 8s today and surprisingly, it felt more stable than the previous times I’ve been on. Felt good enough to add to the regimen. I’m really taking this one step at a time (literally). I am still learning to master backwards, but I’ve added crossovers. I definitely realize I have a “scared side” as I am more comfortable attempting to cross the left leg over the right. I feel awkward and almost always felt like I was going to fall going the opposite direction. But the struggle continues. While I’m nowhere near good or even smooth enough going backwards, I do feel a lot more comfortable than I did even just 3 days ago. Let’s me know that @Knejie Allen wws absolutely right about muscle memory. Thanks bawse!

I think I practiced for close to 3 hours today. The beginnings of my HORRID backwards ska-watchamacallit! 😩😩😩 Give me a week though. I will have this down.

So I went to my lesson today. It’s nothing really structured. Mainly kids, but I can go off and get some one on one from one of the instructors. Well today they were short on “helpers” and I got recruited to help during the lesson. Teacher said that I am good enough to help out. Felt kinda good that she felt that I have progressed enough to help during lessons!

I am not giving up! Little is better than none and even that is fun. Maybe I don't see or feel it, but the only me I can see is my shadow on a sunny day. No one skates with me, so I'm not hearing observations from other skaters. Only two things I can say: the pains I've had are slowly subsiding, and I can skate longer and without feeling as tired as I used to. I can only hope that by sticking with it, working on things I know I'm lousy at, incremental improvements are happening. They just have to be... at the moment I'm not feeling it and it's disappointing. Maybe this is that thing where when you learn something new you reach a plateau... then it picks up again after a while. Yeah... I'm going with that! Anyone else go through this? (This is where you say yes.)