September 20, 2023 • 31 mins
Episode 13: Join me for an inspiring episode as we hit the ice with Esther Horwich, an enthusiastic figure skater who embarked on her journey at a young age. Esther's story is a testament to the enduring power of dedication and love for a sport that has been a part of her life for over fifty years.
From her beginnings to founding the MIT Figure Skating Club and beyond, she's continued to adapt and find joy in the sport, all while offering valuable advice for beginners who may be taking their first steps onto the ice.
Through Esther's experiences, we'll explore how figures skating can be a lifelong source of community and enjoyment. Her story is an inspiring reminder that with dedication and passion, anyone can embark on a lifelong journey of skating and find joy on the ice, no matter where they start.
Links:
Cookes Skate Shop
Home Ice (I said Ice House but Home Ice is the correct name)
Sharpenings Must Know
Help Me I'm New
Fitting Skates
MIT FSC (if you are a MIT student, alumni, staff or faculty)
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Find my World Groove movement zoom class on Thursdays, under my name, at: https://theworldgroovemovement.com/virtual-search/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa (00:09):
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be speaking
with Esther Horwich, who hasdone skating through most of her
life.
She actually founded the MITFigure Skating Club.
And she lives in the Boston areaand we skated together back when
(00:32):
I lived in Boston.
So it's been nice to see Estheragain and connect with her.
But Esther, I'm going to ask youfirst, just how did you start
skating?
Esther (00:42):
Well, when I was a kid, my parents took me to a skating
rink.
I immediately fell in love withit.
I wasn't particularly talentedat it but it was an enjoyable
thing to do.
It was outdoors in those days.
And I love feeling the wind inmy face and even indoors you can
still feel have that feeling ifyou skate fast enough
Lisa (01:06):
So how long have you been skating how many
Esther (01:08):
years oh my goodness she about I would say about 50 or
more.
Wow.
It's been a long time.
Lisa (01:21):
And I know there are different styles of skating.
What, what styles have you
Esther (01:25):
done?
Well, the only one I've donereally is figure skating with
some rollerblading tossed in.
There are multiple areas ofinterest in terms of skating.
They now have adaptive skatingif you are disabled.
Yeah, they have like hockeysleds that you can even play
hockey in.
(01:45):
It's, it's, it's impressive whatthey have.
They have figure skating forthose people who are interested
in spinning or jumping.
Or just skating around incircles, that works fine too.
And the same is with hockeyskating and you have the option
of playing hockey if you likethat as well.
There's speed skating, but it'smuch harder to find rinks that,
(02:06):
are available to speed skatersin this area I think they're
more in the Midwest, andthere's, again, rollerblading
for when it's, you just can'tmake it to an ice rink, and
roller skating, which is fourwheels versus the straight line
of Rollerblades.
Lisa (02:25):
Oh, yeah.
Thanks.
I I wasn't thinking actuallyabout all of those different
Types of what you would callskating.
I was thinking more of the icedancing and stuff, but that's so
helpful to hear You know allthose kinds of options.
I hadn't thought about so thankyou for
Esther (02:41):
Well in figure skating you do have a lot of options
because you can either justskate around and socialize and
talk to people and Just get somegood aerobic exercise or just
socializing.
Or you can do ice dancing, whichare patterns in ice.
You can do freestyle skatingwhich is jumping and spinning.
(03:02):
So there's a lot you can dowith, with a pair of skates.
This is really important though,if you do decide to start, or
even if you're involved more,that your skates fit you well.
Because a lot of people, whenthey start, say, Oh, my ankles,
it's just so hard.
My feet hurt.
And when you're just startingskating, your feet are not used
to being in a, in a rigid boot.
(03:24):
And so, It's not uncommon foryou to have a little soreness
under your arch, but that goesaway.
If your ankles are hurting, itmeans that there's something
rubbing or you don't, if yourankles are tired, you don't have
the support in your boot.
It's like, it's a very cheaprental or something.
So it's really important thatyou don't give up and if you're
(03:44):
starting out and you just tryskating with, with the
appropriate equipment.
You wouldn't drive a car with nobrakes.
You really shouldn't skate withbad skates.
Lisa (03:55):
How would somebody know if they were bad skates?
Esther (03:59):
Well, you want to have, the support comes from the boot,
not from your ankle.
I mean, no one can balance overa tiny little blade.
you have to have that extrasupport of your boot.
And so if the boot does not feelsupportive, in other words, if
you can take the top of it, holdit in your hands and twist it
around, that's not a good boot.
It's not supportive.
And you want to usually wearthin socks because you want the
(04:23):
support to come from your bootand you don't want anything
sliding around.
If you start to blister, beforeyou blister, put a band aid on
or use sleeves called bungapads.
And those will keep you fromhurting.
So there are things that you cando While you're breaking in your
skates getting them getting usedto them that will avoid hurt
(04:45):
also don't buy skates over theinternet If you do they may not
fit they're hard to return Itit's worth it to pay the extra
money to go to a skate shop Havethem fit you make sure that
these stuff fits because if ithurts you're not going to do it,
right?
Lisa (05:03):
Right, that's so true Yeah, I'm thinking too, like a
various ice skating rinks andthe skates they have there where
maybe the blades are dull.
Esther (05:13):
Yeah, if you're sliding all over the place, a lot of
rinks don't take care of theirequipment.
And so usually they buy newstuff at the beginning of the
season.
So you get a better chance ofhaving decent skates at the
beginning of the season.
And they don't always sharpentheir blades.
And you may say, well, I don'twant to skate with sharp blades
that might hurt.
But no, the sharp blades arewhat.
Catch the ice and keep your feetfrom sliding out from under you.
(05:36):
Sideways at least.
And while you're learning, youwant to have the right
equipment.
You don't have to have theequipment that the Olympic
skaters use.
In fact, you don't want thatbecause that's too stiff, but
you need something that givesyou the support so that you can
enjoy the sport.
Lisa (05:53):
And where would somebody go to find some good skates?
Esther (05:57):
Well, the best place is a skate shop or A skating rink
can often recommend where to buyskates.
It depends upon where you live.
There are not that many skateshops even in the bigger cities.
But you want to ask your rink,where should I buy skates?
Who is knowledgeable?
Who, who can help me throughthis?
And then beginner skates, youshould plan to spend about 150
(06:22):
on a good pair of skates.
And you may say, well, I canfind skates for 40.
And you can find things thatlook like for 40, but if you
want a decent pair of skates, Imean, look what you pay for
shoes these days.
I mean, this is a boot, this isa boot.
It has a blade.
You really can't do anything forless than 150 that's going to.
(06:42):
support your feet.
Lisa (06:44):
That's true.
I hadn't thought about thecomparison to the, like the shoe
prices, you know, it feels likeit's expensive, but
Esther (06:50):
these days, you know, you go, you go and if you want a
good running shoe, you're paying130 for, for a shoe.
And it's like, well, this is,this is a boot.
And I used to say it's a leatherboot, but these days they're
made out of various compositematerials, but you do have a
blade on it.
You do have metal, you know,it's a lot more workmanship.
(07:12):
Than your typical shoe.
So just be prepared to spendwhat you need to get what you
need.
Lisa (07:20):
Right.
And the other thing I wasthinking about is just that
there are so many differentmanufacturers of boots that
might fit you all a little bit
Esther (07:28):
differently.
Yeah.
The last are different, youknow, different feet shape take
different.
Type boots and there's a, a bootshop called Home Ice and if you
look them up, they're inNorwood, Massachusetts, and they
have a nice article on differentboots for different shaped feet.
(07:49):
And if, if you look them up, youget an idea of what there is.
available.
And that person can really fitskates, but again, you have to
be there.
So if you're in the Boston area,that's, that's one place to go.
Cookes is another place to go.
But if you're not in the Bostonarea, then you need to talk to
(08:11):
your skating rink professional.
And again, if you're a hockeyplayer, I would talk to.
I wouldn't just call up the guywho's sitting at the desk for,
for information, but you want totalk to, you know, ask for
someone who's a coach eitherhockey or figure skating and
say, well, where should I getboots?
They'll know.
Lisa (08:30):
Oh, that's a great advice.
Yeah.
Perfect.
I'm, I'm kind of curious thisgoing back to when we did your
introduction, how did you end upfounding the figure skating
club?
Esther (08:42):
Well, when I got into MIT, they didn't have a figure
skating club.
They didn't have figure skatingtime.
They didn't have anything butgeneral time.
And I thought, wouldn't it benice to have a time where we
weren't bumping into peopletrying to practice things
because it's better for thefigure skaters and better for
the general skaters.
And in those days, MIT waspurely a hockey rank, and it was
(09:05):
predominantly male dominated,which was very unusual.
Well, not, I guess, not forhockey in those days.
Nowadays, hockey is very co ed,but in those days it was
almost...
Exclusively men.
And in order to get time, therewas no internet.
They, the coaches didn't havephones.
You'd have to walk through themen's locker room to talk to the
person in charge of assigningtime.
(09:26):
It was, it was really a very,you know, thinking where we are
now versus then it was quite adifference.
But they gave us time.
But the only time they wouldgive us was when people didn't
want.
And that was...
Saturday morning, becauseeveryone was, took Friday night
off and had a good time and, andthey gave us Sunday morning for
(09:48):
the same reason.
And also in those days, peoplewere a lot more church going and
were less likely to skate on aSunday morning.
So we had these awful times.
And my job was to, we had fourmembers originally, and my job
was to wake them up in themorning and say, you have to
come skating no matter how tiredyou are, because I don't want to
lose the ice.
(10:10):
They were very, very good aboutit.
And later we built it up.
And now our club's about 90people.
That's amazing.
They all don't come at the sametime, but we have multiple days,
again, morning times.
But we have seven days a weeknow and it's, it's a big club.
And when that shuts down, whenthe season's over I like to go
(10:31):
to the local rinks and I'm anadult and having graduated many,
many, many years ago.
And it's nice to see all theadults there.
There are there are of coursechildren who enjoy it, but in
the summer they, they seem to beless interested.
And You get adults that like tojust skate for aerobics, adults
(10:55):
that just like to socialize,adults that are working on
various tricks at variouslevels.
Like, there are some adults thatare in their upper 80s, and
they, you know, they've lost alot of what they had, but
they're still enjoying being outon the ice.
It's just a wonderful feelingjust to be out to exercise, to
(11:16):
get a little fresh, well, I'dsay fresh air, but it depends
upon what rink you're in.
But it's nice when it's 90degrees outside to come into air
conditioning and be able toexercise and Not be covered in
sweat when you're done.
I
Lisa (11:33):
love all the variety of ways that you can do skating.
So, you know, depending on howserious you are about it or not
serious about it.
Yeah, that's great.
whether you want a social aspector you want to really seriously
pursue, you know, masteringyour, your
Esther (11:50):
skills.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's one,it's a wonderful social thing.
Ice dancing is a little esotericbut I find there are a lot more
women interested in it than men.
And I always say to myself, ifyou were a guy and wanted to
meet women, that's the best wayto do it is to take up ice
dancing.
But there are a lot of guys wholove figure skating.
(12:15):
Of any persuasion and it's just,it's just a nice, nice mix of
people.
Lisa (12:21):
So for you personally, what have been the benefits of
skating and why have you stayedwith it for so long?
Esther (12:28):
I like, I like the feeling of it.
I like, I, I'm not a bigexercise fan and this is a way
to exercise without feeling likeI'm exercising.
I mean, to me, it's, it's, it'sa lot of fun.
There's some people that enjoy,my husband enjoys running and he
can run forever and I'm sobored.
But I can ice skate, which isessentially going around in
(12:50):
circles doing the exact samething that he's doing.
But it's a lot, to me it's a lotmore enjoyable.
I could not tell you why becauseat least he gets to see scenery.
But, but, I find that, you know,just getting, I like to do a
little exercise, a littlesocializing, a little working on
(13:10):
new tricks.
Or trying to regain old tricks,whatever, whatever there is.
But.
That's what I enjoy doing.
And so, you know, it, itprovides entertainment to me, as
well as to a lot of other peoplewho enjoy skating for various
different reasons.
Lisa (13:32):
And I know the club has had an annual show.
Are you still participating inthat?
Esther (13:39):
Well, I did a number, it was supposed to be pre COVID,
but COVID shut us down.
It was when we did it to WhenI'm 64, where we got all the
older club members.
To skate out with canes and itwas a, obviously a comedy
routine, but it was amazing thatpeople could, you know, 64 plus,
(13:59):
I mean, we had some 70 year oldsin there and they're still
skating and it was lovely tosee.
And our younger members kind ofgot a kick out of seeing the
older folks participating on theice.
I still do a lot of ice dance.
I don't do solo routines anymorebut I'm thinking if I ever do a
comedy one, I choreographedcomedy routines.
(14:22):
And just encourage people to getout there.
We have a lot of first timerswho've never skated in a show.
We have people from countriesthat don't have ice rinks, who
are out there just to, you know,they think it's just a unique
thing to do.
So they're out there having agreat time.
No one really cares.
It's just, it's very, verysocial.
That's wonderful.
Lisa (14:44):
What do you find is the most challenging part of the
skating?
Esther (14:50):
It used to be the morning hours.
But I think for me gettingolder, I, you, you lose muscle
mass.
And so things that were easierto do when I was much younger
are much harder, but that'sokay.
I mean, you can age gracefullyskating.
(15:10):
You know, as long as you havethe basics, you can, there's
still something to enjoy.
There is a, an 80 year oldskater who could use, used to be
able to, to spin, to jump, to doamazing things.
And she can't really do thatanymore.
She's in her upper eighties.
So what she does now is sheskates around.
She finds the little hockeycircles on the rinks and does
little two foot spins in themand make sure that before the
(15:33):
session's over, she's done aspin in every little circle.
And she enjoys that.
I've seen skaters who just liketo practice figure eights on the
ice.
To them, that is, tracing overtheir tracing is amazing fun.
I don't see it personally, but Ican certainly see them enjoying
it, and that's all that matters.
Lisa (15:52):
Right, absolutely.
Esther (15:55):
There's so much you can do, you don't have to be
constrained by, I mean, it's notlike running where you have to
be the fastest, or you have to,you know, if you're content
finishing, then that's a greatrun.
You know, in skating it's thesame way, you can just be
content to be there.
And you're, you're out of thehouse.
You're not in front of thecomputer, you're not, you know,
(16:17):
doing the laundry.
You're just having a good timein a nice, comfortably cool or
freezing environment and and,and enjoying yourself with
friends.
Lisa (16:29):
Yeah, that, that's such an important point about like, not
being in front of your computeror on your phone, like really
having that time when you'rejust with yourself, with other
people
Esther (16:40):
enjoying sport.
Obviously, Lisa, you enjoyexercising.
it's always been a part of youand it's you know, it's nice to
see you're sharing that joy withothers.
Oh, thank
Lisa (16:51):
you.
(17:29):
I was gonna ask you I know wetalked about the skates, but any
other advice for somebody who'syou know, maybe interested in
trying it
Esther (17:38):
out?
Yeah skating can fit yourpersonality.
There are some people who enjoy.
the thrill of careening aroundthe rink.
But there are others and I'vebecome one of them.
And I used to, I used to be a, Iwill throw myself into any sort
(17:59):
of jump.
I don't care.
You know, I will land any splat,you know, it doesn't matter.
I've become more cautious asI've gotten older.
And so I found that skating canaccommodate me.
I skate within my abilities andmy means and I don't push myself
to the way I used to.
So if something is if I'mfeeling kind of unenergetic,
(18:23):
I'll skate around, just skatearound the rink a little bit.
And usually that perks me rightup.
If I'm not feeling particularlybalanced one day maybe I won't
try tricks that require balance.
I see a lot of adult beginnerskaters and they hang onto the
boards for a long period oftime.
And that's perfectly finebecause until you get the
(18:45):
confidence, until you train yourbody, where your balance point
is.
It's a lot more comfortable andtherefore enjoyable to hang on
the sides of the rink where youcan hold on if you get a little
off balance.
So I find in skating, you can,make it accommodate you.
rather than having toaccommodate it.
(19:06):
It's like when you're runningraces, they have divisions that
are, the fastest, but they alsohave a lot, many of the local
races have divisions for, youknow, 40 to 50, 50 to 60 year
olds.
And so those people can, youknow, enjoy, they don't say, I
have to be the fastest in orderto enjoy it.
I can, be the, you know, I'verun as fast as I can in my age
group and see how I'm doing.
(19:27):
And they can also run becausethey just enjoy being outside
and being with a group ofpeople.
And the same is true withskating.
You can do what you want in itand not be constrained to do
everything.
Lisa (19:40):
that's great.
Esther (19:43):
But again, I'm speaking towards figure skating, hockey.
You, if you're a team sport, youbetter be up at team level.
I think the same is withsynchronized skating.
That's a, that's where, youknow, 15 to 30 men and women
will try to match each other.
So you bet you have to be at thesame level.
But if you're, if you're just ingeneral skating, you don't have
(20:06):
to do that.
Right.
Lisa (20:09):
Right.
I was sort of thinking too aboutthe running versus skating.
You definitely can go a littlefaster with skating.
Esther (20:17):
Yes, you can.
So learning to stop is always animportant thing.
In terms of the impact on yourbody, you have less.
thudding normally, but you havemore twisting.
So you know, your body type mayprefer one versus the other.
Because every sport has itsstrengths and weaknesses and,
(20:42):
pressure points.
And for skating, you end upusing your knees a lot.
it's a low impact sport, whichis well, assuming you don't fall
which happens, but Most people,you know, it's, you're not
falling from a huge height.
And usually it's a controlledfall.
You feel yourself going down andyou can like try to land on the
(21:04):
most padded part of you.
But, but it, it generally is alow impact sport.
So I enjoy that because that,you know, if I were running, my
knees would say no way.
Whereas skating, yes, it'stwisting, but I can, I can do it
without.
As much impact.
Lisa (21:22):
Do you do any, or would you recommend any off ice
exercises or training?
Esther (21:29):
A lot of people do it.
If, if you're a competitiveskater, you have to do it.
Mm-hmm.
you have to build your upperbody because when you come in
for jumps, when you pull in, youneed the strength, you need the
speed.
And the same is true with a lotof the, the spins.
You need lower body strength.
So when I was skating a lot,when I was doing a lot more
(21:52):
tricks, I would often do legs,strengthening exercises,
stretching exercises.
I didn't really need aerobicexercises cause I was getting
that during skating.
And I did some upper bodyexercises the stretching
primarily, because you do need,to do good figure skating, you
(22:13):
need a lot of flexibility.
If you're just social figureskating, no, you don't.
So it depends what level youare.
I, I don't think cross trainingever hurts.
So you know, I've never enjoyedexercising for exercising sake.
Whereas a lot of people do enjoyit, they do like the, the feel
(22:35):
of it, and I've always admired,my husband's one of them, and
I've always admired him forthat, because he stays in great
shape without effort.
I mean, to him, it's, it's hislife.
he is exercise.
Whereas for me, it's like, Ilove skating, but doing anything
else, no.
Well,
Lisa (22:52):
skating is wonderful, and it's great that you've kept it
up and are still doing it.
Esther (22:58):
Yeah, no, it's, it's a lot of fun and you can do it at
all ages.
And I, there, I know a number ofadults that have started it as
adults cause they, they did itmaybe once or twice as a kid and
they never had the opportunityto, to, to really do it.
And now as adults, they aretrained doing it and it takes
longer to learn as an adult formost people.
It's, it's not.
(23:19):
It doesn't come as naturally asit does for kids, but that's
okay.
There's no, there's no timeclock.
There's no rush.
You learn at your own pace andthat way you enjoy it.
If you set artificial goals foryourself you can lose the joy of
it.
But as long as you say, I, Icome, I'm going to practice, I'm
going to try to be better andmaybe I'll have a bad day among
(23:39):
the others, but most of my daysare going to be good days.
And I'll have a good time, thenyou can't help but enjoy.
Lisa (23:45):
that's great advice.
I was going to ask you too aboutthe teaching.
So you, you're still teaching,
Esther (23:51):
right?
Yeah, I volunteer teach.
I never wanted to get paid for,for teaching because to me that
might take the fun out of it.
I might feel obliged to takestudents I don't like.
And when you're choosing ateacher, you want to, you can
either take group lessons orprivate lessons for skating, or
you can do what some people atthe rink do is they just skate
around and say, how do you dothat?
(24:12):
And ask people.
or they watch and they try topick it up.
I recommend lessons.
Now group lessons are wonderfulintroduction, but your teacher
does not have the opportunity toindividually critique you and
can't always say, okay, you needto be more on this foot than
that foot.
In other words, they don't haveto, they have to teach the
(24:32):
tricks.
and not the form as much.
And so if you can afford it, Ialways suggest taking private
lessons and you want to find ateacher that works.
Cause there are a lot of peoplethat know how to skate, but
might not be the best teachersor might not be the best
teachers for you.
Learning should be fun.
It shouldn't be a chore.
(24:52):
You want a teacher thatencourages rather than demeans.
Most teachers are aware of that.
That, you know, they need toencourage rather than say,
you're doing this wrong, you'redoing this wrong, you're doing
this wrong.
You know, it's like, oh, there'san improvement.
You want to look for thepositive.
And if you're taking lessons andthey're not fun, then it's time
to switch teachers.
(25:13):
But if you're, you know, usuallymost, most of the skating
teachers I know are prettydecent.
And they enjoy it and theirstudents enjoy it, because they
couldn't, they couldn't surviveas teachers if they were
terrible.
Right.
Yeah, I mean, it's not like thisis a union job and we have to
fill up.
There are a lot of people thatknow how to skate.
(25:33):
And all of them could beteachers except for the fact
that maybe they're not good,they, they wouldn't work out
well with someone or they, theydon't want to.
So it's a limited market forteachers.
So most of the people that teachare decent.
And how to find a teacher, youjust go to a local rink, look
around, see who's teaching, andthen go up to them and say, hey,
(25:54):
do you teach?
Now, the cost of lessons it canvary.
it's usually anywhere from, youknow, group lessons are 15 to 25
a half hour.
Private lessons are anywherefrom about, 20 to about$50 a
half hour.
(26:15):
And with a group lesson, itusually includes practice time
as well.
So it's not just the lesson, ityou get to practice includes the
practice ice, whereas privatelessons don't.
So, you know, finances can be a,an issue, but I was just talking
with a woman who was so excitedbecause she's learned to skate
on pond ice.
(26:35):
She skates at a rink.
And she was signing up for thefirst time for group lessons,
and she was just terrificallyexcited.
So people were finally going totell her the right way to do
things.
And, and she was very happy.
So I'll find out in a few weekshow the group lessons went.
Oh, yeah,
Lisa (26:51):
that'll be interesting.
Esther (26:54):
But, you know, they're available of all age.
I mean, you can no matter howgood you are, it never hurts to
have another set of eyes lookingat you and saying, Hmm.
I bet if you do this, thisparticular move will be easier
or, you know, less difficult.
So, so I, I usually recommendlessons.
I recommend that you don't takethem when you first start the
(27:15):
ice.
It's not like skiing where theytry to put you in a lesson
initially so you don't killyourself.
In skating, you want to, yourbody needs time to adjust to
balance because when you'rewalking, your center of gravity
is generally in the middle ofyou and it kind of shifts side
to side as you walk.
In skating, it has to be overthe leg that's on the ice,
because if it's not over the legthat's on the ice, you're going
to go tilting one way or theother.
(27:36):
So, I always say, you know, go acouple of times before you even
think about taking a lesson,because you want your body to
get used to the differentbalance point.
Lisa (27:47):
Oh, that's great, I hadn't thought about it that way, but,
That's really interesting.
Yeah, I know I got started atthe Boston Figure Skating Club
doing group lessons.
Esther (27:58):
Oh, great! And you became quite a skater.
Lisa (28:03):
I did okay, but it was, but it was very enjoyable, just,
you know, challenging myself andtrying to improve and...
Esther (28:10):
And I remember you put dance moves into the skating, so
it wasn't just, you know, doingskating, skate, skate, skate, do
a jump, skate, skate, skate, doa spin.
You actually choreographed, youdanced to the music, and that
was lovely to watch.
Lisa (28:23):
Oh, thanks.
Yeah, I had some Good coachesthat were good choreographers
too, you
Esther (28:28):
know, that could help you with that.
Yeah, definitely.
You know, some people, they haveadult competitions now and adult
tests.
And in addition to all the kidtests that they have, so for
figure skating.
So it's not uncommon for peopleto, I mean, I know people that
have competed nationally asadults and, you know, it's not
(28:52):
the same level you see in theOlympics.
But they're having a fun timeand it's, it's a lot more
social.
They just want a chance to, toshow what they can do.
Lisa (29:03):
And it seems like a very supportive community.
Esther (29:06):
The adult figure skating community is very, very, very
supportive.
I think the competitive skatingcommunity is less so.
But, but I mean, the younger,the kids, because it's only one
person can be first and that'stheir goal in life at that age,
(29:28):
whereas an adult has otherthings going for the adult and
skating is just a fun, funthing.
So there's a lot less pressureand also adults realize that
judges, it's subjective, so youcan do a great job, but it might
not impress someone.
But as long as you're happy withit, really, that's all that
matters.
Yeah, that's may not understandthat.
Lisa (29:50):
Mm hmm.
Yeah, definitely.
So any final words, anythingelse you would say to somebody
that's thinking about tryingfigure skating in any of its
forms?
Esther (30:04):
I've always loved it and you know, it's, it's a great way
to meet people.
It's a great way to have fun.
It's, it's good exercise.
And it's something to do in thesummer to impress your friends.
You may have gone to the beach,but I went ice skating.
(30:25):
Thank you for the opportunity ofspeaking with you.
Lisa (30:28):
Oh my gosh, Esther.
Thank you so much for taking thetime to talk to me.
I really appreciate it.
Welcome to the Happy Sweat Life podcast.
My name is Lisa Rung, and todayI'm very excited to be speaking
with Esther Horwich, who hasdone skating through most of her
life.
She actually founded the MITFigure Skating Club.
And she lives in the Boston areaand we skated together back when
(00:32):
I lived in Boston.
So it's been nice to see Estheragain and connect with her.
But Esther, I'm going to ask youfirst, just how did you start
skating?
Esther (00:42):
Well, when I was a kid, my parents took me to a skating
rink.
I immediately fell in love withit.
I wasn't particularly talentedat it but it was an enjoyable
thing to do.
It was outdoors in those days.
And I love feeling the wind inmy face and even indoors you can
still feel have that feeling ifyou skate fast enough
Lisa (01:06):
So how long have you been skating how many
Esther (01:08):
years oh my goodness she about I would say about 50 or
more.
Wow.
It's been a long time.
Lisa (01:21):
And I know there are different styles of skating.
What, what styles have you
Esther (01:25):
done?
Well, the only one I've donereally is figure skating with
some rollerblading tossed in.
There are multiple areas ofinterest in terms of skating.
They now have adaptive skatingif you are disabled.
Yeah, they have like hockeysleds that you can even play
hockey in.
(01:45):
It's, it's, it's impressive whatthey have.
They have figure skating forthose people who are interested
in spinning or jumping.
Or just skating around incircles, that works fine too.
And the same is with hockeyskating and you have the option
of playing hockey if you likethat as well.
There's speed skating, but it'smuch harder to find rinks that,
(02:06):
are available to speed skatersin this area I think they're
more in the Midwest, andthere's, again, rollerblading
for when it's, you just can'tmake it to an ice rink, and
roller skating, which is fourwheels versus the straight line
of Rollerblades.
Lisa (02:25):
Oh, yeah.
Thanks.
I I wasn't thinking actuallyabout all of those different
Types of what you would callskating.
I was thinking more of the icedancing and stuff, but that's so
helpful to hear You know allthose kinds of options.
I hadn't thought about so thankyou for
Esther (02:41):
Well in figure skating you do have a lot of options
because you can either justskate around and socialize and
talk to people and Just get somegood aerobic exercise or just
socializing.
Or you can do ice dancing, whichare patterns in ice.
You can do freestyle skatingwhich is jumping and spinning.
(03:02):
So there's a lot you can dowith, with a pair of skates.
This is really important though,if you do decide to start, or
even if you're involved more,that your skates fit you well.
Because a lot of people, whenthey start, say, Oh, my ankles,
it's just so hard.
My feet hurt.
And when you're just startingskating, your feet are not used
to being in a, in a rigid boot.
(03:24):
And so, It's not uncommon foryou to have a little soreness
under your arch, but that goesaway.
If your ankles are hurting, itmeans that there's something
rubbing or you don't, if yourankles are tired, you don't have
the support in your boot.
It's like, it's a very cheaprental or something.
So it's really important thatyou don't give up and if you're
(03:44):
starting out and you just tryskating with, with the
appropriate equipment.
You wouldn't drive a car with nobrakes.
You really shouldn't skate withbad skates.
Lisa (03:55):
How would somebody know if they were bad skates?
Esther (03:59):
Well, you want to have, the support comes from the boot,
not from your ankle.
I mean, no one can balance overa tiny little blade.
you have to have that extrasupport of your boot.
And so if the boot does not feelsupportive, in other words, if
you can take the top of it, holdit in your hands and twist it
around, that's not a good boot.
It's not supportive.
And you want to usually wearthin socks because you want the
(04:23):
support to come from your bootand you don't want anything
sliding around.
If you start to blister, beforeyou blister, put a band aid on
or use sleeves called bungapads.
And those will keep you fromhurting.
So there are things that you cando While you're breaking in your
skates getting them getting usedto them that will avoid hurt
(04:45):
also don't buy skates over theinternet If you do they may not
fit they're hard to return Itit's worth it to pay the extra
money to go to a skate shop Havethem fit you make sure that
these stuff fits because if ithurts you're not going to do it,
right?
Lisa (05:03):
Right, that's so true Yeah, I'm thinking too, like a
various ice skating rinks andthe skates they have there where
maybe the blades are dull.
Esther (05:13):
Yeah, if you're sliding all over the place, a lot of
rinks don't take care of theirequipment.
And so usually they buy newstuff at the beginning of the
season.
So you get a better chance ofhaving decent skates at the
beginning of the season.
And they don't always sharpentheir blades.
And you may say, well, I don'twant to skate with sharp blades
that might hurt.
But no, the sharp blades arewhat.
Catch the ice and keep your feetfrom sliding out from under you.
(05:36):
Sideways at least.
And while you're learning, youwant to have the right
equipment.
You don't have to have theequipment that the Olympic
skaters use.
In fact, you don't want thatbecause that's too stiff, but
you need something that givesyou the support so that you can
enjoy the sport.
Lisa (05:53):
And where would somebody go to find some good skates?
Esther (05:57):
Well, the best place is a skate shop or A skating rink
can often recommend where to buyskates.
It depends upon where you live.
There are not that many skateshops even in the bigger cities.
But you want to ask your rink,where should I buy skates?
Who is knowledgeable?
Who, who can help me throughthis?
And then beginner skates, youshould plan to spend about 150
(06:22):
on a good pair of skates.
And you may say, well, I canfind skates for 40.
And you can find things thatlook like for 40, but if you
want a decent pair of skates, Imean, look what you pay for
shoes these days.
I mean, this is a boot, this isa boot.
It has a blade.
You really can't do anything forless than 150 that's going to.
(06:42):
support your feet.
Lisa (06:44):
That's true.
I hadn't thought about thecomparison to the, like the shoe
prices, you know, it feels likeit's expensive, but
Esther (06:50):
these days, you know, you go, you go and if you want a
good running shoe, you're paying130 for, for a shoe.
And it's like, well, this is,this is a boot.
And I used to say it's a leatherboot, but these days they're
made out of various compositematerials, but you do have a
blade on it.
You do have metal, you know,it's a lot more workmanship.
(07:12):
Than your typical shoe.
So just be prepared to spendwhat you need to get what you
need.
Lisa (07:20):
Right.
And the other thing I wasthinking about is just that
there are so many differentmanufacturers of boots that
might fit you all a little bit
Esther (07:28):
differently.
Yeah.
The last are different, youknow, different feet shape take
different.
Type boots and there's a, a bootshop called Home Ice and if you
look them up, they're inNorwood, Massachusetts, and they
have a nice article on differentboots for different shaped feet.
(07:49):
And if, if you look them up, youget an idea of what there is.
available.
And that person can really fitskates, but again, you have to
be there.
So if you're in the Boston area,that's, that's one place to go.
Cookes is another place to go.
But if you're not in the Bostonarea, then you need to talk to
(08:11):
your skating rink professional.
And again, if you're a hockeyplayer, I would talk to.
I wouldn't just call up the guywho's sitting at the desk for,
for information, but you want totalk to, you know, ask for
someone who's a coach eitherhockey or figure skating and
say, well, where should I getboots?
They'll know.
Lisa (08:30):
Oh, that's a great advice.
Yeah.
Perfect.
I'm, I'm kind of curious thisgoing back to when we did your
introduction, how did you end upfounding the figure skating
club?
Esther (08:42):
Well, when I got into MIT, they didn't have a figure
skating club.
They didn't have figure skatingtime.
They didn't have anything butgeneral time.
And I thought, wouldn't it benice to have a time where we
weren't bumping into peopletrying to practice things
because it's better for thefigure skaters and better for
the general skaters.
And in those days, MIT waspurely a hockey rank, and it was
(09:05):
predominantly male dominated,which was very unusual.
Well, not, I guess, not forhockey in those days.
Nowadays, hockey is very co ed,but in those days it was
almost...
Exclusively men.
And in order to get time, therewas no internet.
They, the coaches didn't havephones.
You'd have to walk through themen's locker room to talk to the
person in charge of assigningtime.
(09:26):
It was, it was really a very,you know, thinking where we are
now versus then it was quite adifference.
But they gave us time.
But the only time they wouldgive us was when people didn't
want.
And that was...
Saturday morning, becauseeveryone was, took Friday night
off and had a good time and, andthey gave us Sunday morning for
(09:48):
the same reason.
And also in those days, peoplewere a lot more church going and
were less likely to skate on aSunday morning.
So we had these awful times.
And my job was to, we had fourmembers originally, and my job
was to wake them up in themorning and say, you have to
come skating no matter how tiredyou are, because I don't want to
lose the ice.
(10:10):
They were very, very good aboutit.
And later we built it up.
And now our club's about 90people.
That's amazing.
They all don't come at the sametime, but we have multiple days,
again, morning times.
But we have seven days a weeknow and it's, it's a big club.
And when that shuts down, whenthe season's over I like to go
(10:31):
to the local rinks and I'm anadult and having graduated many,
many, many years ago.
And it's nice to see all theadults there.
There are there are of coursechildren who enjoy it, but in
the summer they, they seem to beless interested.
And You get adults that like tojust skate for aerobics, adults
(10:55):
that just like to socialize,adults that are working on
various tricks at variouslevels.
Like, there are some adults thatare in their upper 80s, and
they, you know, they've lost alot of what they had, but
they're still enjoying being outon the ice.
It's just a wonderful feelingjust to be out to exercise, to
(11:16):
get a little fresh, well, I'dsay fresh air, but it depends
upon what rink you're in.
But it's nice when it's 90degrees outside to come into air
conditioning and be able toexercise and Not be covered in
sweat when you're done.
I
Lisa (11:33):
love all the variety of ways that you can do skating.
So, you know, depending on howserious you are about it or not
serious about it.
Yeah, that's great.
whether you want a social aspector you want to really seriously
pursue, you know, masteringyour, your
Esther (11:50):
skills.
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's one,it's a wonderful social thing.
Ice dancing is a little esotericbut I find there are a lot more
women interested in it than men.
And I always say to myself, ifyou were a guy and wanted to
meet women, that's the best wayto do it is to take up ice
dancing.
But there are a lot of guys wholove figure skating.
(12:15):
Of any persuasion and it's just,it's just a nice, nice mix of
people.
Lisa (12:21):
So for you personally, what have been the benefits of
skating and why have you stayedwith it for so long?
Esther (12:28):
I like, I like the feeling of it.
I like, I, I'm not a bigexercise fan and this is a way
to exercise without feeling likeI'm exercising.
I mean, to me, it's, it's, it'sa lot of fun.
There's some people that enjoy,my husband enjoys running and he
can run forever and I'm sobored.
But I can ice skate, which isessentially going around in
(12:50):
circles doing the exact samething that he's doing.
But it's a lot, to me it's a lotmore enjoyable.
I could not tell you why becauseat least he gets to see scenery.
But, but, I find that, you know,just getting, I like to do a
little exercise, a littlesocializing, a little working on
(13:10):
new tricks.
Or trying to regain old tricks,whatever, whatever there is.
But.
That's what I enjoy doing.
And so, you know, it, itprovides entertainment to me, as
well as to a lot of other peoplewho enjoy skating for various
different reasons.
Lisa (13:32):
And I know the club has had an annual show.
Are you still participating inthat?
Esther (13:39):
Well, I did a number, it was supposed to be pre COVID,
but COVID shut us down.
It was when we did it to WhenI'm 64, where we got all the
older club members.
To skate out with canes and itwas a, obviously a comedy
routine, but it was amazing thatpeople could, you know, 64 plus,
(13:59):
I mean, we had some 70 year oldsin there and they're still
skating and it was lovely tosee.
And our younger members kind ofgot a kick out of seeing the
older folks participating on theice.
I still do a lot of ice dance.
I don't do solo routines anymorebut I'm thinking if I ever do a
comedy one, I choreographedcomedy routines.
(14:22):
And just encourage people to getout there.
We have a lot of first timerswho've never skated in a show.
We have people from countriesthat don't have ice rinks, who
are out there just to, you know,they think it's just a unique
thing to do.
So they're out there having agreat time.
No one really cares.
It's just, it's very, verysocial.
That's wonderful.
Lisa (14:44):
What do you find is the most challenging part of the
skating?
Esther (14:50):
It used to be the morning hours.
But I think for me gettingolder, I, you, you lose muscle
mass.
And so things that were easierto do when I was much younger
are much harder, but that'sokay.
I mean, you can age gracefullyskating.
(15:10):
You know, as long as you havethe basics, you can, there's
still something to enjoy.
There is a, an 80 year oldskater who could use, used to be
able to, to spin, to jump, to doamazing things.
And she can't really do thatanymore.
She's in her upper eighties.
So what she does now is sheskates around.
She finds the little hockeycircles on the rinks and does
little two foot spins in themand make sure that before the
(15:33):
session's over, she's done aspin in every little circle.
And she enjoys that.
I've seen skaters who just liketo practice figure eights on the
ice.
To them, that is, tracing overtheir tracing is amazing fun.
I don't see it personally, but Ican certainly see them enjoying
it, and that's all that matters.
Lisa (15:52):
Right, absolutely.
Esther (15:55):
There's so much you can do, you don't have to be
constrained by, I mean, it's notlike running where you have to
be the fastest, or you have to,you know, if you're content
finishing, then that's a greatrun.
You know, in skating it's thesame way, you can just be
content to be there.
And you're, you're out of thehouse.
You're not in front of thecomputer, you're not, you know,
(16:17):
doing the laundry.
You're just having a good timein a nice, comfortably cool or
freezing environment and and,and enjoying yourself with
friends.
Lisa (16:29):
Yeah, that, that's such an important point about like, not
being in front of your computeror on your phone, like really
having that time when you'rejust with yourself, with other
people
Esther (16:40):
enjoying sport.
Obviously, Lisa, you enjoyexercising.
it's always been a part of youand it's you know, it's nice to
see you're sharing that joy withothers.
Oh, thank
Lisa (16:51):
you.
(17:29):
I was gonna ask you I know wetalked about the skates, but any
other advice for somebody who'syou know, maybe interested in
trying it
Esther (17:38):
out?
Yeah skating can fit yourpersonality.
There are some people who enjoy.
the thrill of careening aroundthe rink.
But there are others and I'vebecome one of them.
And I used to, I used to be a, Iwill throw myself into any sort
(17:59):
of jump.
I don't care.
You know, I will land any splat,you know, it doesn't matter.
I've become more cautious asI've gotten older.
And so I found that skating canaccommodate me.
I skate within my abilities andmy means and I don't push myself
to the way I used to.
So if something is if I'mfeeling kind of unenergetic,
(18:23):
I'll skate around, just skatearound the rink a little bit.
And usually that perks me rightup.
If I'm not feeling particularlybalanced one day maybe I won't
try tricks that require balance.
I see a lot of adult beginnerskaters and they hang onto the
boards for a long period oftime.
And that's perfectly finebecause until you get the
(18:45):
confidence, until you train yourbody, where your balance point
is.
It's a lot more comfortable andtherefore enjoyable to hang on
the sides of the rink where youcan hold on if you get a little
off balance.
So I find in skating, you can,make it accommodate you.
rather than having toaccommodate it.
(19:06):
It's like when you're runningraces, they have divisions that
are, the fastest, but they alsohave a lot, many of the local
races have divisions for, youknow, 40 to 50, 50 to 60 year
olds.
And so those people can, youknow, enjoy, they don't say, I
have to be the fastest in orderto enjoy it.
I can, be the, you know, I'verun as fast as I can in my age
group and see how I'm doing.
(19:27):
And they can also run becausethey just enjoy being outside
and being with a group ofpeople.
And the same is true withskating.
You can do what you want in itand not be constrained to do
everything.
Lisa (19:40):
that's great.
Esther (19:43):
But again, I'm speaking towards figure skating, hockey.
You, if you're a team sport, youbetter be up at team level.
I think the same is withsynchronized skating.
That's a, that's where, youknow, 15 to 30 men and women
will try to match each other.
So you bet you have to be at thesame level.
But if you're, if you're just ingeneral skating, you don't have
(20:06):
to do that.
Right.
Lisa (20:09):
Right.
I was sort of thinking too aboutthe running versus skating.
You definitely can go a littlefaster with skating.
Esther (20:17):
Yes, you can.
So learning to stop is always animportant thing.
In terms of the impact on yourbody, you have less.
thudding normally, but you havemore twisting.
So you know, your body type mayprefer one versus the other.
Because every sport has itsstrengths and weaknesses and,
(20:42):
pressure points.
And for skating, you end upusing your knees a lot.
it's a low impact sport, whichis well, assuming you don't fall
which happens, but Most people,you know, it's, you're not
falling from a huge height.
And usually it's a controlledfall.
You feel yourself going down andyou can like try to land on the
(21:04):
most padded part of you.
But, but it, it generally is alow impact sport.
So I enjoy that because that,you know, if I were running, my
knees would say no way.
Whereas skating, yes, it'stwisting, but I can, I can do it
without.
As much impact.
Lisa (21:22):
Do you do any, or would you recommend any off ice
exercises or training?
Esther (21:29):
A lot of people do it.
If, if you're a competitiveskater, you have to do it.
Mm-hmm.
you have to build your upperbody because when you come in
for jumps, when you pull in, youneed the strength, you need the
speed.
And the same is true with a lotof the, the spins.
You need lower body strength.
So when I was skating a lot,when I was doing a lot more
(21:52):
tricks, I would often do legs,strengthening exercises,
stretching exercises.
I didn't really need aerobicexercises cause I was getting
that during skating.
And I did some upper bodyexercises the stretching
primarily, because you do need,to do good figure skating, you
(22:13):
need a lot of flexibility.
If you're just social figureskating, no, you don't.
So it depends what level youare.
I, I don't think cross trainingever hurts.
So you know, I've never enjoyedexercising for exercising sake.
Whereas a lot of people do enjoyit, they do like the, the feel
(22:35):
of it, and I've always admired,my husband's one of them, and
I've always admired him forthat, because he stays in great
shape without effort.
I mean, to him, it's, it's hislife.
he is exercise.
Whereas for me, it's like, Ilove skating, but doing anything
else, no.
Well,
Lisa (22:52):
skating is wonderful, and it's great that you've kept it
up and are still doing it.
Esther (22:58):
Yeah, no, it's, it's a lot of fun and you can do it at
all ages.
And I, there, I know a number ofadults that have started it as
adults cause they, they did itmaybe once or twice as a kid and
they never had the opportunityto, to, to really do it.
And now as adults, they aretrained doing it and it takes
longer to learn as an adult formost people.
It's, it's not.
(23:19):
It doesn't come as naturally asit does for kids, but that's
okay.
There's no, there's no timeclock.
There's no rush.
You learn at your own pace andthat way you enjoy it.
If you set artificial goals foryourself you can lose the joy of
it.
But as long as you say, I, Icome, I'm going to practice, I'm
going to try to be better andmaybe I'll have a bad day among
(23:39):
the others, but most of my daysare going to be good days.
And I'll have a good time, thenyou can't help but enjoy.
Lisa (23:45):
that's great advice.
I was going to ask you too aboutthe teaching.
So you, you're still teaching,
Esther (23:51):
right?
Yeah, I volunteer teach.
I never wanted to get paid for,for teaching because to me that
might take the fun out of it.
I might feel obliged to takestudents I don't like.
And when you're choosing ateacher, you want to, you can
either take group lessons orprivate lessons for skating, or
you can do what some people atthe rink do is they just skate
around and say, how do you dothat?
(24:12):
And ask people.
or they watch and they try topick it up.
I recommend lessons.
Now group lessons are wonderfulintroduction, but your teacher
does not have the opportunity toindividually critique you and
can't always say, okay, you needto be more on this foot than
that foot.
In other words, they don't haveto, they have to teach the
(24:32):
tricks.
and not the form as much.
And so if you can afford it, Ialways suggest taking private
lessons and you want to find ateacher that works.
Cause there are a lot of peoplethat know how to skate, but
might not be the best teachersor might not be the best
teachers for you.
Learning should be fun.
It shouldn't be a chore.
(24:52):
You want a teacher thatencourages rather than demeans.
Most teachers are aware of that.
That, you know, they need toencourage rather than say,
you're doing this wrong, you'redoing this wrong, you're doing
this wrong.
You know, it's like, oh, there'san improvement.
You want to look for thepositive.
And if you're taking lessons andthey're not fun, then it's time
to switch teachers.
(25:13):
But if you're, you know, usuallymost, most of the skating
teachers I know are prettydecent.
And they enjoy it and theirstudents enjoy it, because they
couldn't, they couldn't surviveas teachers if they were
terrible.
Right.
Yeah, I mean, it's not like thisis a union job and we have to
fill up.
There are a lot of people thatknow how to skate.
(25:33):
And all of them could beteachers except for the fact
that maybe they're not good,they, they wouldn't work out
well with someone or they, theydon't want to.
So it's a limited market forteachers.
So most of the people that teachare decent.
And how to find a teacher, youjust go to a local rink, look
around, see who's teaching, andthen go up to them and say, hey,
(25:54):
do you teach?
Now, the cost of lessons it canvary.
it's usually anywhere from, youknow, group lessons are 15 to 25
a half hour.
Private lessons are anywherefrom about, 20 to about$50 a
half hour.
(26:15):
And with a group lesson, itusually includes practice time
as well.
So it's not just the lesson, ityou get to practice includes the
practice ice, whereas privatelessons don't.
So, you know, finances can be a,an issue, but I was just talking
with a woman who was so excitedbecause she's learned to skate
on pond ice.
(26:35):
She skates at a rink.
And she was signing up for thefirst time for group lessons,
and she was just terrificallyexcited.
So people were finally going totell her the right way to do
things.
And, and she was very happy.
So I'll find out in a few weekshow the group lessons went.
Oh, yeah,
Lisa (26:51):
that'll be interesting.
Esther (26:54):
But, you know, they're available of all age.
I mean, you can no matter howgood you are, it never hurts to
have another set of eyes lookingat you and saying, Hmm.
I bet if you do this, thisparticular move will be easier
or, you know, less difficult.
So, so I, I usually recommendlessons.
I recommend that you don't takethem when you first start the
(27:15):
ice.
It's not like skiing where theytry to put you in a lesson
initially so you don't killyourself.
In skating, you want to, yourbody needs time to adjust to
balance because when you'rewalking, your center of gravity
is generally in the middle ofyou and it kind of shifts side
to side as you walk.
In skating, it has to be overthe leg that's on the ice,
because if it's not over the legthat's on the ice, you're going
to go tilting one way or theother.
(27:36):
So, I always say, you know, go acouple of times before you even
think about taking a lesson,because you want your body to
get used to the differentbalance point.
Lisa (27:47):
Oh, that's great, I hadn't thought about it that way, but,
That's really interesting.
Yeah, I know I got started atthe Boston Figure Skating Club
doing group lessons.
Esther (27:58):
Oh, great! And you became quite a skater.
Lisa (28:03):
I did okay, but it was, but it was very enjoyable, just,
you know, challenging myself andtrying to improve and...
Esther (28:10):
And I remember you put dance moves into the skating, so
it wasn't just, you know, doingskating, skate, skate, skate, do
a jump, skate, skate, skate, doa spin.
You actually choreographed, youdanced to the music, and that
was lovely to watch.
Lisa (28:23):
Oh, thanks.
Yeah, I had some Good coachesthat were good choreographers
too, you
Esther (28:28):
know, that could help you with that.
Yeah, definitely.
You know, some people, they haveadult competitions now and adult
tests.
And in addition to all the kidtests that they have, so for
figure skating.
So it's not uncommon for peopleto, I mean, I know people that
have competed nationally asadults and, you know, it's not
(28:52):
the same level you see in theOlympics.
But they're having a fun timeand it's, it's a lot more
social.
They just want a chance to, toshow what they can do.
Lisa (29:03):
And it seems like a very supportive community.
Esther (29:06):
The adult figure skating community is very, very, very
supportive.
I think the competitive skatingcommunity is less so.
But, but I mean, the younger,the kids, because it's only one
person can be first and that'stheir goal in life at that age,
(29:28):
whereas an adult has otherthings going for the adult and
skating is just a fun, funthing.
So there's a lot less pressureand also adults realize that
judges, it's subjective, so youcan do a great job, but it might
not impress someone.
But as long as you're happy withit, really, that's all that
matters.
Yeah, that's may not understandthat.
Lisa (29:50):
Mm hmm.
Yeah, definitely.
So any final words, anythingelse you would say to somebody
that's thinking about tryingfigure skating in any of its
forms?
Esther (30:04):
I've always loved it and you know, it's, it's a great way
to meet people.
It's a great way to have fun.
It's, it's good exercise.
And it's something to do in thesummer to impress your friends.
You may have gone to the beach,but I went ice skating.
(30:25):
Thank you for the opportunity ofspeaking with you.
Lisa (30:28):
Oh my gosh, Esther.
Thank you so much for taking thetime to talk to me.
I really appreciate it.
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