When/ How often do you skate?

[littlerain]

I've read on here before that you should practice at least twice as much as you have lesson time, and I just wish I could manage more time on the ice! I'm finding it hard to fit in ice time, though I suppose I could go to freestyles in the mornings before work...

Anyway, I'm really curious - when and how often do you skate?

At the moment I'm not skating much - 40 min group lesson on Tues/Thur and I am lucky if I manage to catch a weekend public session for an hour or two.

[Meli]

On Tuesdays I have a 30 minute group lesson followed by a 60 minute private lesson.  (Group is more or less my warmup, and time to work on things like turns.)  I skate 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  If they throw in an extra session on the weekend or during the week, I'll do that too.  Depending on what kind of sessions I can find, I will normally skate 5 1/2 to 8 hours a week outside of class time.

[PhysicsOnIce]

though I suppose I could go to freestyles in the mornings before work...

This is what most people do in order to get ice time. Infact it is not uncommon for Adult skaters to get on the 6 or 6:30  freestyle sessions.

Anyway, I'm really curious - when and how often do you skate?

My freestyle schedule is as follows:
Monday: 2.5 hours
Wednesday: 2 hours
Friday: 1 hour 10 minutes
Saturday: 2 hours
Sunday: 2. 5 hours

And that is assuming that I do not stay for public sessions on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday which adds anywhere between 1 to 4 hours of practice time. The way our club works is that we have our coaches in groups, but get private/semi private lessons everyday ranging in time between 10 to 30 minutes per Session. Lately we have all been working as a group on step sequences, as a group warm up, and then moving to practice/lesson time.

[Loops]

This is what most people do in order to get ice time. Infact it is not uncommon for Adult skaters to get on the 6 or 6:30  freestyle sessions.

Or the 9-10 pm sessions, you know after the kiddies are in bed. 


I don't skate nearly as much as I'd like, but I'm rather cornered- there are no publics (well, 2/week that are too full to actually skate) and I have two very little kids.  I skate 2 hours of synchro a week (one from 9-10pm!), which I don't really count as personal skating time.  For that I have a whopping 1.5 hours at the crack-o'dawn Sat (7-8:30). 

Next year, I will try to add in the crack-o'dawn sunday session, but since that's my husband's day to sleep in, it'll be a tough sell.  Otherwise, my club has us sessions strictly separated by levels.  There is no other ice time at an appropriate level that I could make. Sessions here are organized similarly to what Physics described above.  It's like a combined group/private lesson with one coach doing the group, and the other coaches pulling people over randomly for a lesson.  Unlike Physics, I never know when/if I'll get a lesson, for how long, or which of the three coaches I'll get.  It's different from what I'm used too, but it works....except that I don't get enough ice time!  But then again, who does?!

[mamabear]

Sunday-skate on a public session with my daughter.  We usually go for an hour and I don't tend to do a lot of my practice but encourage her.
I usually can make at least 1 noon public each week depending on my work schedule.  I stay around 1.5 hours.  This is finals week so fewer meetings/lunches which means I'll get more ice time. 
I also practice after my lesson during freestyle time. 

We only have morning freestyle once a week and I haven't gotten up early for that yet. 

Skating only on public sessions is a mixed deal.  It works better with my schedule and our daytime publics are usually far emptier than the figure skating sessions and less expensive.  But, sometimes like yesterday when there were only two of us (yeah!) but there had been a group of 60 high schoolers in the morning and the ice hadn't been cleaned it's not as great (boo!). 

[CaraSkates]

I usually skate 5 days a week, 1-2 hrs each time. I usually skate freestyle but sometimes I'll stay for an empty morning public. If I have a competition or test I might add in a weekend skate (we have no weekend freestyle at my home rink). I prefer to skate in the mornings, I'm a morning person and it gives me a good start to my day. I usually skate in the 7-9am range.

[pegasus99]

I don't like to talk about when I skate for fear my sessions will get populated!

Monday 1 hr (Lesson day)
Tuesday 1 hr
Wednesday 1 hr
Thursday (depending on how I feel) 1 hr
Friday 2 hrs (1 Hour on a public session)
Saturday 3 hrs (2 hours on a Public Session)
Sunday 3 hrs (But 1.5 of those are Public Session I'm working at so I'm lucky to get any serious work done.)

The trick is to organize your practice based on what kind of ice you're on, and who will be on the ice with you. Use the ice you've got. Public Sessions I use to practice very new, shaky skills so it's not so awkward for me to be hanging near the wall, and if I fall there's help.

[sarahspins]

I average 6-8 hours on the ice for myself, plus another 3-4 teaching.  I'm a big fan of "adult skate" and mostly empty mid-day public sessions.  I try to skate every other day (M/W/F) plus Saturday, I found that the daily schedule doesn't work too well for me long-term - my body (joints mainly) needs some recovery time in-between sessions.

[skategeek]

Until recently, one 30 min class per week, plus occasionally making it to a public session for another 30-40 min, totaling maybe 30-35 hrs per year (yes, year).  There's a reason I haven't been progressing very quickly...  Just signed up for a second 30 min class with a public session right after, so hoping to aim for a minimum of 90 min per week routinely.  More this summer when I have more time (though the public schedule changes and is less convenient).

[TreSk8sAZ]

I have to skate freestyle sessions before work, or I can't get any ice. My normal schedule is:

Monday - 6 a.m. (45 mins)
Tuesday - 5 a.m. (60 mins w/15-30 min lesson)
Thursday - 5 a.m. (60 mins)
Friday - 6 a.m. (45 mins)
Saturday - 7:30 a.m. (60 mins w/30 min dance lesson)

I generally get another 15 minute lesson with my primary coach Monday or Friday, depending on who is there and when she needs to take us. Some Tuesdays and Thursdays (like if I have a competition or test coming up) I stay for second session, so a total of 1.75 hours on those days.

[axelwylie]

I go about 4-5 times per week, and I skate about 45 minutes per session. I spend 15 minutes on basic edges and warmup and the rest on spinning and jumping.

[PinkLaces]

This year I was only able to go 3 times a week - Mon evening for an hour, Tuesday evening for an hour, and Weds morning for group class for an hour. Sat ams I taught LTS and had no time to do any personal skating.  I kinda hate that all my skating was bunched up the beginning of the week, but those were the open freestyle times.

This summer, I will be skating Monday night for an hour and Tuesday night group lesson for 45 mins.  I am going to have a lesson with my coach on the early am Thursday session. I can buy on and get 1.5 hours.

Right now there is only buy on ice on Monday and Thursday nights, but at least it cheap. Plus it runs for 2.5 hours each!

[icedancer]

4 days/week.

Sunday evening - two hours of dance (well, maybe 1.5 hours since each session is 45 minutes.

Tuesday morning - patch class + about another half hour (1.5 hours total)

Wednesday morning - lesson day - about 1.5 hours plus 1/2 hour lesson

Friday morning - 1.5 hours of public - not so crowded during the school year.  Kind of crazy in the summer but oh well.

So that is about 9 hours a week.

[alejeather]

Five days a week. This happened gradually. I started with one, then went to two, then three. When I heard my skating friend tell me she skated 6 days a week, I thought that was crazy. Now, I probably would if I could figure out how to fit the sessions in!

Monday, early evening - 45 minutes, including 20 minute dance lesson. Occasionally I skate two sessions, but they're after work, and I have to leave early to get to the first one.

Wednesday and Friday morning- two 40 minute sessions before work. I'm often 10 minutes late to these, so it's about 70 minutes of skating. Both days include a 20 minute lesson. These sessions are before work. I try to make it on time, I just am NOT a morning person. But I'm much more likely to get up early to get on the ice, then get up early to go to work so I can leave early to skate. I just accept that lost ice time as part of my cost to skate. I'm lucky to have a job that's pretty flexible on start/end times.

Saturday morning - 1 hr 20 min - 2 hours, no lesson

Sunday afternoon - 1.5-2 hrs of a public session

mins: 45 + (70x2) + 80 + 90 = 355 = ~6 hrs

[dlbritton]

So far it has been:
Monday - Adult skate 1 hour
Tuesday - LTS 1/2 hour practice + 1/2 group lesson
Thursday - Adult skate 1 hour

This past weekend I really started getting "ice" withdrawl on Saturday afternoon. May have to get in on Saturday or Sunday.

[kr1981]

Wow, I envy all of you who can pull yourselves out of bed for the 6 am (or earlier!) sessions before work! I wish I had that kind of energy early in the morning! I recall skating a few early morning freestyles before school as a teenager, and I remember my body feeling sooooo heavy and lethargic just because I was so tired.

My rink has a public session every weekday at lunchtime, so I've been going on my lunch hour--making it 4-5 times/week. I only get 35ish minutes on the ice, but I'm actually finding that shorter, more frequent practice sessions are a lot more beneficial to me than the "old days" when I skated about 3 hours twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays after school, with the occasional weekend session thrown in).

As of last week I'm also doing one 25-minute group lesson after work one evening, but plan to switch to privates very soon, which will most likely put me on a freestyle.

I do wish I could go for longer, or more, public sessions, but my rink's public schedule is not fantastic, aside from that weekday lunchtime session. My rink actually has TWO NHL-sized sheets, but their public schedule as dwindled since I skated there in the 90s since it's now really a hockey rink. (Although I guess I should be thankful for hockey, since that's probably what's keeping the place open after 20 years.)

[littlerain]

Wow, I envy all of you who can pull yourselves out of bed for the 6 am (or earlier!) sessions before work! I wish I had that kind of energy early in the morning! I recall skating a few early morning freestyles before school as a teenager, and I remember my body feeling sooooo heavy and lethargic just because I was so tired.

My rink has a public session every weekday at lunchtime, so I've been going on my lunch hour--making it 4-5 times/week. I only get 35ish minutes on the ice, but I'm actually finding that shorter, more frequent practice sessions are a lot more beneficial to me than the "old days" when I skated about 3 hours twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays after school, with the occasional weekend session thrown in).

As of last week I'm also doing one 25-minute group lesson after work one evening, but plan to switch to privates very soon, which will most likely put me on a freestyle.

I do wish I could go for longer, or more, public sessions, but my rink's public schedule is not fantastic, aside from that weekday lunchtime session. My rink actually has TWO NHL-sized sheets, but their public schedule as dwindled since I skated there in the 90s since it's now really a hockey rink. (Although I guess I should be thankful for hockey, since that's probably what's keeping the place open after 20 years.)

I am NOT a morning person at all, so the idea of those morning sessions is appalling. If I didn't have to be anywhere until noon, I would be a happy camper haha. I wish I could make weekday public sessions, but I usually can't because they're the same time as my Tues/thurs group class! Or on mwf when I can't get out of work.

I think hockey is taking over everything lol. It pays the bills!

[Bunny Hop]

I get up at 4:40am to go to 5:30am freestyle sessions. I am also very much NOT a morning person, but you can train yourself to go to bed early and get up early. I will never learn to like it, but it can be done, and I'm fine once I get on the ice and start moving. I go to work straight from the rink, and working through the day means I don't have time to think about being tired. It's usually not until I'm sitting in front of the TV in the evening and start wondering why I'm falling asleep that I remember the early start.

The big advantage of the early session is that it's quiet, and the skaters who do attend at that time of morning are mainly at a higher level and very nice people, meaning everyone avoids each other (and they are okay with going around the slow adult skater when I'm in a lesson). The afternoon sessions are a complete free for all and I never felt safe on them, so as I work office hours it's early mornings or nothing.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Yep, I'm up at 3:40 for the 5 ams, and 4:40 for the 6 ams. I despise getting up early, and have to have multiple alarms in order to do it. But it comes down to wanting to skate more than wanting to sleep in before work. And I agree with Bunny Hop, the kids that skate the early freestyles are generally at least axel level or higher. We all get on quite nicely. The after school crowd is generally the lower levels, and it's just downright dangerous at times as they are younger and don't always watch.

[robinsnest]

I am currently getting 5 hrs a week in.  Would love to get more but not ready to do the early morning thing yet, we have 2 young kids to get off to school and I have a hard enough time getting to work on time.

Sunday: 1.5 hrs freestyle (1 hr with coach), 1.5 hrs public skate with my kids
Wednesday: 1 hr group lessons, 1 hr public skate

[littlerain]

Five hours a week sounds nice!

I'm intimidated by high level skaters. Ugh, I'll get over it eventually. Haha! Was going to try a freestyle before group class today but arrived at the rink just as the 30 min started and didn't want to waste the minutes... Ah well. Will try tomorrow or Thursday I suppose.

[robinsnest]

I just started going on Freestyle a month ago and find it very intimidating!     Some encouraging music on my ipod helps a lot to calm me down... not allowed on public sessions so it's a nice upgrade to be able to choose some tunes.   

[slcbelle]

Mon:  2 hours (9a-11a)
Tues:  2 hours (9a-11a) including 30-45 minute lesson
Wed:  2 hours (10:30a-12:30p) including 30-45 minute lesson
Thurs: 2 hours (9a-11a)
Fri:   2 hours (9a-11a)

I almost never skate on weekends to avoid the kiddies.

[techskater]

M: 1 hour 6-7A and 1 hour off ice training 530-630P
T: 1 hour off ice training 530-630A
W: 1 hour 6-7A (30 min lesson), 1 hour off ice training 530-630P
Th: 1 hour 6-7A
F: 1 hour 6-7A (30 min lesson)
Sa: 530-7A
Su: 630-8A (1 hour lesson)

[davincisop]

Back when I was working a full time office job before I moved to my current city, I was on the ice during publics in the evenings, and for teaching class (wasn't true practice, but there was minimal improvement since I was at least on the ice every day). I would skate Thursday morning at 8 for my lesson because they rarely held anything earlier. There just wasn't enough of a turnout to warrant opening the rink at 6am, and we had maybe, MAYBE 5 dedicated adults skating. The rest were parents who learned just enough to get on freestyle to skate with their kids.

When I moved, I could only skate weekend mornings and the occasional evening public in another city because I worked 8:30-6, sometimes 7:30 everyday, and getting on the ice at 6am and having enough time to pull myself together with the traffic my area gets was not doable.

After I got fired and started freelancing, my options changed, though I stuck to public sessions most of last year and academy classes. So I was on the ice maybe.... 4 hours a week? Each public was an hour 45, so just depended. But those were not super productive if certain skaters were there because they would carve ruts all over the ice which limited what I felt comfortable doing.

Now that I'm established and back in private lessons, I'm trying to make 3 freestyles a week plus lesson. So roughly 4-5 hours of skating if I'm not on deadline. Right now I'm dealing with a rolled foot, so I've barely been on the last week, but once that's healed my goal is 4-5 hours a week of freestyle.