I left the sport of figure skating 14 years ago. I was never a world class skater, but I was certainly better than your average bear. For someone who got picked last in every single gym class, it was an athletic activity that I was actually naturally talented at. I trained 25 hours a week in high school. I did moves called death drops, death spirals, and flying camels. . I even tested to the highest level in one discipline (the ‘black belt” of figure skating footwork- senior moves in the field). I competed. I split open my chin several times. I won medals. I got tendonitis in my knees and screwed up my shoulders. I even trained at the same summer ice training camp as Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen (and still have the t-shirt to prove it.) . . But the sport is expensive, sexist, and homophobic. It’s also not really meant for people over the age of 20 or so. So I left and did other things. But every year or so, I have an existential crisis related to returning to the sport. I always talked myself out of it - “it’s too expensive, you’re too old, you won’t be able to do it anymore, you’re 20 pounds heavier than you were back then.” . But 10 days ago, I made a different choice. The voice in my head that wanted to land a double lutz again was stronger than the voice in my head that told me I wasn’t bendy or young enough anymore. Maybe it was watching too much of @jvn learn from scratch. . So I’m sticking a toe in the water. Or should I stay, a toepick on the ice. . We’ll see how it goes. . . . #lloydcentericerink #figureskating #adultskater #adultfigureskater #contrast #lighting #skating #skaterselfie #movesinthefield #pivot #camelspin #skating #iceskating #figureskater #iceskater #lloydcenter #the100dayproject #100daysofcreativitme #100dayproject #100days #365project #selfie #selfportrait