Somehow things are coming together. I'm glad for it because I only have about three weeks until test day and only two more lessons with Christopher. Eeep!
Saturday Lesson - We ran through the entire moves test. Edges look okay now that I fixed the arms. For some reason my first lobe on both forward edges is bigger than the rest so I just need to be mindful about that. I also need to remember to pass the arms through closer to my body on the backward edges. He said the waltz 8 was good but wants me to watch my arms and circle size. Crossovers are the biggest challenge now. They were steppy during the perimeter stroking but better on the crossover move. He gave me an exercise to do by the boards so I will remember to push the proper way. He would rather see slower crossovers with a nice strong underpush than quick steppy ones. I think I just need to pick a hockey circle and devote some serious time to crossover technique. I did one pass of spirals but had to abort because the session was crowded. We were running out of time so he had me skate my program without the music. I biffed the final one-foot spin because I was going too fast. I got my bearings and started the spin over. I'm allowed to reskate two individual elements so, worst case scenario, I will get a second chance on two things. Hopefully, I will skate a clean program and I can just be done. He asked about what I'm wearing for the test and suggested that I wear the dress during our lesson a week before testing so I can get the feel of it. I can wear my club jacket for the Moves portion but will take it off for the free skate program. I anticipate being very chilly so I asked him if nude colored gloves are acceptable for the program and he approved. Good, at least my hands will be covered. I'm going to feel so naked.
Sunday Practice - Because the test is getting so close and I'm starting to panic, I went to a public session at APEX on Sunday afternoon. It was not ideal. It was busy and there wasn't a lot of room to do much of anything but I just needed to put in the time. Anything is better than nothing. I worked a lot on the salchow to make sure I was taking my time with it and my arms were good. I think it's passable. Two-foot spins were just fine so no worries there. I worked on proper arms with edges and waltz 8. My lunge improved! If I think about over-correcting to the right, I can go in a straight line. So, it's a mental game but at least I have a fix now. Basically everything got worked on where I could find room to fit it in. I could not for the life of me get a one-foot spin done. This isn't usually a problem so I'm not sure what was going on. The only thing I could think of was that I got my blades sharpened on Saturday and they were "sticky." I might drop in on a freestyle session at my home rink tomorrow morning and see if my spins have improved at all. Otherwise, panic and flail.
Countdown to Test Day - 19 days and 2 more lessons with Christopher
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