Today I got the best Christmas present EVER. After tearing my ACL back in March 2010 I landed my first double salchow today!
Silly orthopedic surgeons totally under estimate the difficulty of skating, spinning, and jumping on narrow metal blades with sharp teeth on the end. They told me I'd be back to skating six months after surgery. Boy, were they smoking crack. At six months I still couldn't walk like a normal person.
TWENTY ONE months after surgery I attempted my first double jump. Kind of a big difference.
Regardless, I'm happy despite how long it took because there were points I doubted I could ever do any of this again. It's been a slow process of healing that has required a ton of hard work. My first back-to-ice-happy-moment was when I got to perform in the Pelham Skate School's production of Musical Legends and Divas on Ice and then came today.
Below, via my awesome coach, Danny's iPhone comes my first double salchow since surgery:
Funny thing is that I didn't wake up this morning thinking I wanted to try a double salchow today. But, Danny remembered a comment I made last week where I said I thought I could probably re-learn how to do a double salchow before a single flip. Flips put considerable pressure and torque on my right knee.
So this morning Danny said, "How about double salchow?"
I'm sure I gave him a look that clearly said, Are you crazy?
The first few attempts I popped and did singles because I was sooo nervous and scared. I was worried about how much the landing would hurt or I was worried about how unhappy my knee would be if I fell and twisted it. All sorts of negative horrific scenarios were playing through my head.
I pushed the negative thoughts aside and let the nineteen or twenty years of muscle memory kick in.
And it worked.
Granted, it's not the prettiest double salchow, but I have plenty of time to perfect it again now that I know that I can actually do it.
Just want to thank my coach Danny and my trainers Dedrick and Jorge at PURmotion for helping make this possible.
Merry Christmas everyone!
I'm so happy for you!!! I know just how much it means to you to get those jumps under your feet again. Even though I knew you landed it, my heart bumped a little watching the video! Congratulations! :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful, Anita! That's amazing. The human body is an astonishing thing, and I'm so glad you were able to make yours obey you (or shall we say cooperate?) at last. My son and I loved watching this and cheering you on, but thanks for not making the result of your double salchow a mystery. Can't wait to see more. (Just had a request to watch it again, our third time.)
ReplyDeletehmmm...tried once and will again.
ReplyDeleteHUZZAH! Pushing through fear and believing your intuition is being a true warrior. Keep on keepin' on!
Jemi, Diane, and Jan thank you for the support!
ReplyDeleteOh, and Diane, I think I've watched it like thirty times myself.
ReplyDelete