Learning to Fly

Days 15 and 16

Have you ever watched a child learn to walk? They don't set out at a run after the first step. There's a first step and, as long as they don't fall, there's a pause. In that pause, you can see their little minds whirring. They adjust, gain their balance, then take their next step. This continues until the movement is memorized in their muscles. Once sure of themselves, their speed increases until they're flying.

There are times during a session with my trainer that I feel like that toddler. Eleven years of figure skating as a youth, a knee injury and weight gain have worn on my knees. Over the last decade and a half, I have compensated and protected my knees from the pain. As such, I often no longer move like most healthy people do. Often my trainer will stop me, reposition a foot or leg or hip, make sure I'm balanced and then have me bend or move differently. I do it once slowly, careful to make sure I execute the move correctly, then stop. I think about the move, make sure I'm still balanced and do it again. After two or three reps, the move is in my muscle memory and it goes faster. My movements are now more in line with a normal person's.

This process has been a learning experience. Turns out what I thought was protecting my knees has made them worse. The exercises I have avoided for years because they hurt are the very ones I need to do to make them stronger and pain free. The hope is that eventually I will become sure of myself, increase my speed and take off.