Yellow - A Figure Skating Story

Anna Novikova

With Monday brings my first shift at the rink, and today I will assist with the classes for the ongoing summer camp under the direction of Daniel's coach Benson. Despite being twenty, this is the first time I have ever held a proper job, and it leaves me feeling anxious.

Knowing that Benson normally has training sessions with Benson in the morning, it makes me wonder if today is one day he spends off doing strength and conditioning training. I mean, it would make since given that Benson would otherwise work with Daniel.

Over all, working with the kids attending the camp was a blast, even if my body didn't think so because of the lack of time I have spent skating in the last several months. It really goes to show how important staying active daily is.

To my surprise, quite a few of the students recognize me from my time skating, and while it feels bittersweet being recognized now, it makes me happy that there are still people that remember me even with all the talk now surrounding the new generation of talented skaters. While I still wish I had never gotten injured, a part of me still recognizes that I would never have been able to keep up with all the young female skaters who could now preform quads like they were nothing, and that my time being competitive in the sport had been at its end, regardless.

Forcing my tired body off the ice after the second class ends, I find myself a quiet part of the lobby to do my cool down stretching, trying to offer any relief possible to my aching knee. Who knew that endlessly repeating the basic stuff I learned when I was three years old could be so taxing?

It was certainly a disadvantage of suffering an ACL tear as a figure skater when you are constantly twisting and turning your body while on the ice.

"What? Two classes with the kids and you are already ready to tap out?"

I nearly jump out of my body as Daniel's voice intrudes into my quiet world.

"Try injuring one of your knees like me and then, having not been on the ice for the last three months and tell me how you feel," I fire back.

This causes Daniel to laugh as he sits on the floor next to me. "I probably feel just as bad as you do right now after all the shit that Olivia just put me through. If I had to go out on the ice right now with Benson yelling at me, I would probably die on the spot. Olivia takes her job as a strength and endurance coach too seriously, if you ask me."

I crack a smile. I remember my days of doing lower body strength training with Katarina twice a week, and those were the worst days of practice by far. Nothing she could do during any of my other training sessions ever came close to incurring the hatred I had for my strength training. Even now I hate the entire notion that it had all been in the name of injury prevention and yet I had suffered one of the worst injuries possible.

"At least she can still claim that it has helped prevent you from suffering any severe injuries. And as for your comment about it only being two classes, I still have all the afternoon group sessions to go through."

Daniel gives me a smirk. "You are welcome for that. I am so glad I don't have to do those any of those anymore. Gives my body a chance to rest after my morning practices."

So it was this guy that had been helping with the classes and was now leaving me to do them!

"So you are the jerk that dumped all of that onto little miss injure me? In what world is that even remotely fair?" I lace my words with as much sarcasm as possible.

"Shouldn't have taken those three months off from being on the ice. Just saying."

His response makes me laugh, as he wasn't entirely wrong. If I had indeed not taken the last three months off, my body would be in much better shape than it was. I would certainly have been in a condition where my unexercised leges wouldn't be screaming at me, just like they are right now.