I've had the chance to get a touch on the outdoor track of Helsinki in good conditions so far. Two sessions down, yesterday and on the day before that. They fixed the cooling pipes last summer first tearing off the whole surface and then laying the pipes so that they go now around the track parallel with the skating direction instead of being across the track which caused some nasty soft spots last winter. Fixing the pipes was really worth it and the ice stays good not softening down too much to be skateable even if it rains for the whole day.
As skating inside is more like touching a silky smooth, just perfect ice surface skating outside is...well different. It's imperfect and after skating inside you really feel every single bump in the ice which makes timing ones skating completely different.
We talk a lot about rhythm at which you skate, when your arm moves according to your legs and how you create the pressure by transferring your hip at right time to right direction. In skating hall this is something that comes more naturally as you're trying to keep yourself on timing with each push just a bit say a quarter of a beat ahead of what you actually do. On outside track you have to be one whole beat ahead of yourself since the ice won't let you feel the new building pressure and you can't avoid being late on pushes if you start waiting for the perfect pressure. What I mean is, when I push with my left leg I'm actually already thinking of the next push on my right. So the whole skating is more like a boulder rolling downhill. It's different as I said, not a bad thing since it challenges you to adapt your technique with changing conditions as even ice inside a hall varies quite a bit with temperature and humidity outside.
Long talk about the stuff I face when skating here at home. Every challenge makes you better as a person and as an athlete so search how to challenge yourself every day. And learn something new every day.
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