As I have written previously, there is a certain type of person that is attracted to the sport of figure skating. We are incredibly determined to the point of stubborn, and we are not afraid of the pain associated with perfection. There is a lot of competition between figure skaters of similar age and skill, but there are specific signs that demonstrate a person is a figure skater because the marks left behind, both physical and mental, are unmistakable. All skaters can relate to these impressions skating has left them with.
1. Blisters on your fingers
After tying our laces as tightly as possible to go on the ice, sometimes multiple times a day to accommodate extra practices, there are red indentations left on our fingers from pulling on the laces. As time goes on, the marks are permanently indented into our fingers and we have little divots in our skin. They fade after a while, but there is always a little bump of skin that doesn't seem normal to everyone else, but figure skaters know what caused them.
2. Ugly feet
I’m talking everything from bunions to ingrown toe nails…if you see a person with feet that look ugly or even deformed, you can bet they were forced into a tight figure skating boot.
3. Bruises…everywhere
We get them on the normal places, like our knees, but when you’re wearing a bathing suit and people can see the softball-sized bruise on your hip, they panic because they know that is not a normal spot to fall. For figure skaters, however, no part of the body is safe from the falls that we have to take to improve.
4. Dry ankles
If you see someone walking around with a band of dry skin around his or her ankles, you can bet s/he is a figure skater. The cuff of the boot rubs against our ankles constantly, making it appear drier than the rest of the skin on our legs and giving the impression we have some weird skin condition. That just means s/he was probably at the rink that morning.
5. Appreciation of classical music
Sure, it can be dull, but skating to classical music makes us realize that it can be really beautiful. It can bring out the artistic skills that would be lacking without the crescendos and dramatic pauses. I’m not saying we play it as pump up music or even when we're off the ice, but we come to appreciate the quality.
6. Acceptance of early morning activities
We may have hated every second of waking up before sunrise and grumbled at our coaches, but we can now accept when we have to get up early. I’m not saying any figure skater likes waking up early, no matter what, but when we have to, we can get up and do what has to be done as early as it has to be done because we have been trained that way. We can shake off the mental sleepiness to finish the project or go to that extra review section, even if we still hate being awake.
Figure skating leaves its mark physically and mentally, which makes us hate and love the sport in a weird, contradictory manner.
