Not Enough Time!

I never feel like I have enough time to work on all of the things I need to work on. I skate a 45 minute session on Mondays and then another on Thursdays. Thursdays don't even count as a legit practice because that's lesson day. It really sucks being an adult skater sometimes. There are just never enough hours in the day. As it is, I have to rush home immediately after a session, throw some work clothes on, and then rush right back out the door to make it on time for work. I really wish rinks had evening freestyles. That would make my life so much more pleasant not to mention productive. Ok, end rant. On to the recap of this morning's practice.

I worked on a little bit of everything but I spent extra time on some things that I know need more polish. After warming up, I jumped right into the Circle 8. I'm still getting around without a foot down but my LFO circle is still pretty big. So, yeah, nothing has changed here. But I worked on it for a good bit before moving on to the footwork sequence for pre-bronze compulsory moves. Honestly? I've never done it before so I didn't expect much but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I was really worried about the step down and cross behind and, yeah, it's sloppy right now, but I have 6 weeks to whip it into shape. I'll have Christopher look at it on Thursday. Up until like a week or so ago, I thought that the pre-bronze compulsory moves consisted of a waltz jump, upright spin, spiral, and crossovers but I was wrong (or it changed?). Now, according to the 2018-19 Adult Competition Series Handbook, I'm expected to do:

• Single Toe Loop
• Jump combo or sequence consisting of only 1/2 jumps (I'll do the same waltz-falling leaf-half flip that's in my program)
• Forward upright spin (min 3 revs)
• Footwork sequence (consisting of two forward crossovers into a forward inside mohawk, step down and cross behind into one backward crossover, then step forward to an inside edge)
• Forward spiral (any edge)

I'll have 1:30 to do it all as a mini program without music on a half sheet of ice. So, I spent some time today trying to arrange all this into something cohesive. I really didn't think the compulsory moves was something I needed to worry about. Now I'm worried about it. 

After that was out of the way, I spent a lot of time on the attitude spin. I find it easier to do if I lean to the side (side attitude?) than if I treat it like a layback with my free leg behind me. Something like this but with a straighter free leg: 

It still needs SO MUCH MORE WORK! But...I was able to get one where I had the minimum 3 revolutions. It was slow and it traveled so far I think it might have needed a passport but...it happened. Ugh. Finally, I worked on all of my program jumps. They were just okay. I didn't fall on any of them but I really didn't feel like I got any good height on them either. Time permitting, I may join a public session at another rink in town on Wednesday. I need to get this all sorted out. Especially that spin!

Giving my coach some attitude!

Lesson day today and I've been pretty anxious about it because, although I have been running the program at home, I have not run the thing in its entirety on the ice. I did my typical warm-up routine and ran through my repertoire of jumps before spinning a bit. Mostly, I ran sections of my program and worked on making the transitions smoother. I'm not sure how successful I was.

Lesson: We started off by looking at the LFO on the Circle 8. Same problem as always - the circle is just too big. I'm not putting a foot down at all now but the circle size is definitely a problem. It's twice as big as the other circles so it's very noticeably bigger. We worked a bit on reducing the size but to no avail. I asked him about a blade adjustment and he agreed that that might help but I want to keep working on it for a bit first. I definitely don't want to go making blade adjustments right before a competition either. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. I'll wait until after :)

Program: So, on to the program. He asked if I've been working on it and I said that I've been working on sections without the music. He says that's fine but I really need to be running it with the music at least once per session. Cool. I'll do that. I just feel awkward running my program without my coach present. I guess I'll have to get over that, huh? So, I put on the sash, got into position, and the music starts. I got all of the jumps landed and everything was placed relatively where it was supposed to be but I finished just short of the music and the final spin was rushed. When I skated back to him, he asked why I did a two-foot spin where the attitude spin was supposed to be. I told him I was worried about the attitude spin not being ready in time (in all honesty, I haven't been practicing it as much as I should). He was adamant about that spin being an attitude spin so we worked on that a bit until it was time to run the program again. Everything's a mess. Ugh. We ran the program again. This time, I did five crossovers before the loop jump instead of the two I was supposed to do (because I was dizzy form the attitude spin attempt and didn't want to do a loop jump under the influence, so to speak). As a result, I was really behind the music. So, yeah, the second run through was more awful than the first.

I have a lot to work on. Like, A LOT! I think I might have to add another day during the week to practice for the next month or so until the competition. He's not going to budge on the attitude spin. He really wants it in there and I can't blame him. My spins are limited already by my physical handicaps so I don't have many interesting spin options. It's important to move beyond the boring one-foot and two-foot spins and learn something new. I get it. I'm just really nervous that I only have 7 weeks until the competition and this spin is nowhere near where it should be.

Finally, Progress!

I've been itching to skate all weekend so I was full of energy and ready to kick some ass this morning when I got on the ice. It was a really thinned out session with only 3-4 skaters so I spent some extra time on moves and other things I'm too timid to work on in a full session.

Movez: After warming up, I spent a lot of time on the Circle 8. I'm at the point where I very rarely put a foot down. I didn't have a single FD at all today, in fact! My LFO circle is still wonky in terms of size but I felt like I was more in control of it today than in past practice sessions. I did a few full Circle 8s and then moved on. My Perimeter Power Stroking still feels good. I did two laps of those and then moved on to Five Step Mohawk. Now that I'm doing 4 lobes instead of 5 I feel like I can really extend things out more. These felt nice. BX-BO Edges felt a little shaky on the LBO (understandably) but felt fine overall. I did not do any Power 3-Turns because over the past few weeks I've really become kind of scared of these. I think I have had one too many "click of death" moments on these and now I'm spooked. Ugh. It's like once I get over one fear a new one develops. Such is the life of an adult skater, I suppose.

Spinz: No backspins today. Not because of fear or laziness but because I honestly forgot. I didn't remember until I was taking my skates off that I meant to spend time on backspins and Pre-Bronze Compulsory Moves (specifically the footwork sequence with the mohawk and cross behind). Stupid Monday brain! But I did a lot of two-foot and one-foot spins and I threw in one really nice scratch spin toward the end. I had a silly fall when I was doing the wind-up approach to one of my one-foot spins. I stepped forward weirdly and down I went, still rotating on my butt as I hit the ice. Embarrassing.

Jumpz: I did ALL THE JUMPS! (except the flip jump because reasons). During my last lesson, I asked Christopher if I would get more points if I changed my waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence to a waltz-loop combo. He said that I might but he would like to see me do both to see which one I perform better. A waltz-loop would probably give me more points but not if I do it sloppily compared to a clean waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence. So I worked on both. I did some stand alone toe loops and some salchow-toe loops. I did one or two waltz-toe combos and a whole bunch of loops. Loops are once again my favorite jump. They are just plain fun! I'm at the point with these that I can go in with more speed. In fact, I did one at full speed from back crossovers and holy smokes it felt nice! Yes!

Programz: I only worked on sections of the program instead of the whole thing with music. I really feel like I need to get a feel for some of these transitions since we changed so many things around. The thing I'm struggling with the most is facing the right direction after jumps and spins. I always seem to be facing the wrong way after a thing and that really throws me off. When I did my Pre-Bronze free skate test, I ended up facing the wrong way after my two-foot spin and forgot like 10 seconds of my choreography right after because I was disoriented. I never thought this would be the most difficult part of skating a program. I'm not sure if this is an issue with other skaters either because everyone I watch seems to place everything exactly where it needs to be seemingly without trying. I think we'll be running the program on Thursday so I'm kind of nervous to be honest. I really hope I'm ready to compete with this thing in September 😕

LFO FML

I try to not be one of those people who say "I can't" or make excuses for my shortcomings. But since my left leg was rebuilt with plates and screws, I can't get on a solid outside edge. It doesn't matter how much I practice. There is little to no improvement. It's frustrating and I'm having a hard time adjusting to my new anatomy. I always think that, with time and effort, things will get better. But they are not and I'm kind of lost. I almost cried during my lesson today (more on that embarrassment later).

Warm-up: I have it down to a routine now. I do several laps of stroking and slaloms, then I do edges on a line, followed by FI/FO edges around the center hockey circle, and then finally the Circle 8. I am consistently getting around on the entire Circle 8 without a foot down so I guess that is some progress. But the LFO circle is HUGE in comparison to the other three circles because I can't get on the outside edge like I should. It just kind of goes straight for a bit until I can get on a shallow outside edge and then it finally circles back around. It's a disaster. But at least I'm doing this disaster on one foot! I moved on to jumps and was able to do a couple of loop-loop combos with my free leg crossed on both so that was nice. I did many waltz-loop combos but only one was proper. Toe loops are back to being proper toe loops so yay for that. Salchows were nice but I still had trouble getting the salchow-loop to work. Moving on to spins, I worked on holding onto that LFO edge for a longer amount of time before the spin. I don't think I need to tell you what a failure that was. This was about the time that Christopher got on the ice for our lesson.

Lesson: He asked me what I was working on and I told him that I was still struggling with the LFO edge so we spent quite a bit of time on the Circle 8. He must have tried every trick in his book to get me to make it happen and it just...couldn't. The LFO circle is just too big! I'm at a loss for what to do. It's not brain thing, it's physical. So we moved on to spins and we worked a lot on the spin entry, again holding on to the LFO edge for as long as possible until it starts to spin. Once more, I struggled. I can't bend my left leg enough and the edge just turns into a three turn so I end up with a traveling spin every time. We tried this, we tried that....finally, I started to break down. It took everything I had to not just melt into a puddle of tears and failure. Will this ever get better or am I doomed now? Is this a handicap or something I can work through? I have never encountered an obstacle I couldn't work through with time and effort but this...this won't budge. I've been able to conquer bigger things like getting on the ice for the first time after being injured and landing that first loop jump but this is so simple. It's such an easy thing. It's a damn outside edge! Why? Why can't I do this? Christopher reminded me that I am indeed making progress even if it's slight. I just got to keep plugging away at it. I recall not too long ago someone on the adult figure skating facebook page mentioned that she had to have her blade adjusted after she shattered her ankle and needed hardware in her leg. I'm seriously considering this but I'm hesitant because part of me feels like that's cheating. This is something that I should be able to work out on my own. But how long do I keep going like this before admitting defeat? I'm trying to stay positive and keep moving forward but this is hard.

Good News/Bad News

I always like bad news first that way I can be cheered up somewhat with the good news. Here goes:

Bad News - I'm broken. Well, I've been broken for a while. My left hand was seriously injured in a car accident 16 years ago and since then I have developed some really bad arthritis in my left thumb joint. I went to the orthopedist and they are going to do surgery to fuse the thumb joint to relieve the pain I'm experiencing. I scheduled the surgery for the week after the Colorado Springs Invitational so I don't have to miss the competition. I'll be in a cast for about 6 weeks following the surgery (I think I'll choose pink this time!) and then I'm not sure if they'll want me to do anything like PT after that. I asked the Doc if I could still skate with the cast on and he said "sure, if you can figure out a way to tie your skates with one hand." So, yeah, I guess I won't be skating. I haven't told my coach yet. I know he depends on the money from lessons to support his family and I'm worried about telling him that he'll essentially be losing me as a student for 2-3 months. We finally got me back up to speed since my last injury and now this. I'm really disappointed. Like, a lot. I feel like he might be disappointed as well :(

Good News - Well, that was depressing now wasn't it? The good news is that the USFSA has made some updates to their Rule Book and one of those updates concerns Adult Bronze Free Skate Tests. Previously, those who took the Bronze FS Test were required to do two spins - a back spin and a sit spin in a recognizable position, meaning the skating leg had to be parallel to the ice. With my previous injury, the best I can do is bend the skating leg into a squat but no further. I kinda always felt like that would be a barrier to ever passing the Bronze FS test. NOW....one just needs to perform two spins of a different character. I wouldn't even need to include a sit spin if I didn't want to but, if I did, they relaxed the rules a bit to state "For this test, if a skater performs a sit spin or a camel spin, the spin must be in a recognizable position but does NOT need to achieve a basic position as defined in Rule 6103 (A)." That means if I do a sit spin, it just has to resemble one but doesn't need to be parallel. I'll probably just choose not to do one at all since I have that option now. I can do a back spin and a camel if I want :)

So, I've scheduled the surgery so that I will have enough time to recover before Midwestern Sectionals. Luckily, it's my hand and not another body part that is important to skating. I'll probably wear a brace for a while once I return to the ice just to be careful. Since it's not leg stuff, it shouldn't take too long to get my skills back once I return to the ice. It's inconvenient for sure, though, and I'm not excited about this set back. But that's all it is - a set back. It's not the end of things :)

For reference, I have updated the links on the right-hand side of this blog to include the 2019 version of the rule book. Adult pre-bronze test/competition rules are under rule 6561 and bronze test/competition rules are under rule 6551. They've included both old and new rules so, if you are referencing this document, just be sure you are looking at the right ones (if you are competing/testing prior to September 2, 2018 you want the old rules but after that you want the new).

Put a loop on it

Welcome to Thursday, the day where you are too tired from the work week to do anything meaningful during your pre-lesson practice session.

Practice - I started with the usual warm-up then quickly went into spins. My spins today were just so mediocre. I've never been the best spinner in the world but when I'm having an off day they are barely recognizable as spins. So I moved on to jumps. My proper toe loops are gone. I just have cheated ones now. I did some by the boards to refresh my memory but I guess they are taking the day off. I moved on to the waltz jump sequence and it's better but not fantastic. At least the jumps in this sequence are looking more intentional. I dabbled in some salchows. Those are fine. I did some loops. Those are also fine.

Lesson - We started with loop jumps and I did a nice one for him and, as a result, he wanted to attach loop jumps to everything! We started with a waltz-loop combo. I've done these before so no problem. He would like to see more cross on the loop jump part as I tend to uncross my free leg in between jumps. We then moved on to a salchow-loop combo. I just could not get the free leg right on the landing of the salchow to make the loop happen. We did a few of these and, defeated, I told him I would work on it. It's really just a brain thing. I can do both jumps but retraining my brain to think of the salchow landing differently may take more than few minutes. Then he asked me to do a loop-loop combo. Much easier. The first one I did was unimpressive at best but the second one was a lot better. Again, he pointed out that I uncross just before the second jump. I think I just need some time practicing landing all of these jumps with my free leg crossed in front. It won't happen overnight. Out of all of these combos, the loop-loop was the most promising. We talked about spins for a bit and I expressed my doubts about the sit spin happening in time for the competition. I suggested a camel spin in its place. He said "sure...but what about an ATTITUDE SPIN!" I mean, okay. Seems easy enough. It's just a fancy one-foot spin. How hard can it be? It was hard. Something else to work on now :)

Competition Prep - I told him that I was going to wait until the very last minute to enter myself into the competition because I really don't feel confident about anything right now. I'm worried about embarrassing myself. He noted that it's the experience of the competition that counts, not whether I place well. Getting in front of an audience is a unique and rewarding experience regardless of how well I do. It will help with nerves and it will give me the opportunity to skate against other adults. I think the gist of what he was saying is to enter anyway. It will be good for me.

I'll have one of everything, please.

Ooof. Today was one of those really sore days for me. Everything I did on the ice hurt except for MIF so, obviously, I spent more time on those than anything else. Ouch. Today will be a Motrin day for sure.

Movez - Started with forward and backward edges as a warm-up then moved right into the Circle 8. Nothing groundbreaking but at least it's not getting worse. Perimeter Power Stroking felt easy today, especially the end pattern which was controlled and flowed well. Alternating BX-BO also felt okay. The session today was lightly populated so I felt good about working on these. Power Three Turns were just okay. I started them on the blue line doing both sides before I moved them out to the perimeter to do the full pattern. I'm still struggling with power on these. I'm doing the move but they lack the push and drive that I think the judges are looking for. Finally, the Five Step Mohawks. I made sure to count in my head so that they had an even cadence and I made the lobes bigger so that I had to squeeze the fifth one in. I guess I could just do four nice big lobes instead of five. Oddly, these actually feel like they have some power to them. They just feel good and I really like working on them.

Spinz - Started out with one-foot and two-foot spins and then started working on program spins. Ok, the sit spin isn't going to happen anytime soon. Let's be real here. My ankle is so stiff that I really just don't see a recognizable sit spin happening in time for the competition in about 8 weeks. I thought maybe I could switch it out and do a camel spin in its place but I only got one half of a revolution and it wasn't pretty. So...I can either keep working on the camel or I can revert back to the original program spins and do a two-foot spin and then a scratch spin at the end. I'll have to talk to Christopher about that. But, I did practice the other spin entry (RFI three turn and step forward) and that's getting better. Backspins also got worked on. Again, nothing Earth shattering with these but at least they are not backsliding.

Jumpz - Every jump I did today hurt. Every single one. I really didn't want to push it but I at least wanted to say I worked on everything. In particular, I spent some time at the boards with the toe loop trying to unwaltz it. Only one out of the many I did out on open ice was a proper toe loop. But hey, I'll take it. Loop jumps were easier from the backward crossover entry today and not so much from the RFI entry. I threw some salchows, waltz jumps, falling leafs (leaves?), and half flips in there as well.

So yeah, I pretty much touched on everything today but didn't really spend a lot of time on any one thing. I really just wanted to get off the ice before I hurt myself.

Fresh Ice So Fresh

Apparently, over the holiday, our rink experienced some issues with whatever the system is that keeps our ice cold. From what I hear, the Blue Rink was riddled with puddles. Maintenance crews worked over the holiday to get everything back up and running. When I showed up this morning for my contract session, I was treated to a perfectly smooth fresh sheet of ice on the Blue Rink. It was lovely :)

Warm-up: Laps, edges, and Bronze moves for the first 10 minutes. The next 10 minutes consisted of spins and lots and lots of jumps. I'm still trying to get my waltz-falling leaf-half flip from looking less less skippy and more hoppy and then eventually a bit more jumpy. You know what's hard, though? Switching back and forth from the falling leaf to the loop jump. My mind gets stuck on one or the other but can't easily switch between the two. If I do a nice falling leaf and then follow it up with a loop jump, the loop jump ends up being a falling leaf and vice versa. I need to figure out a way to reset my brain in between the two. I spent quite a bit of time with the toe loop at the boards. I'm determined to fix this jump. I'm tired of cheating it! I also did some salchow-toe loop combos. I had a couple more minutes before my lesson, so I did a couple of passes of Five Step Mohawks.

Lesson: Christopher started off by wanting to see my program jumps in isolation where they would occur in the program. He really wants me to lift my free leg knee up higher on each part of the waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence so we worked on that for a bit. Next up was the loop jump. The first one I did was meh (mostly because I still had "falling leaf" brain) but then the second one was nice with a crossed free leg and everything. Moving on to the salchow-toe loop. He was actually okay with this! When I asked him if the toe loop was waltzy, he said no! It was a right proper toe loop! YAASSSS! I'm going to keep working on it though to make sure it sticks and I don't fall back into bad habits. His main criticism with the salchow-toe loop combo was to make sure I hold the landing on the salchow a smidge longer before I pick in for the toe loop. Finally, I asked him about a fourth jump. We pulled up the rule book and he agreed that a fourth jump would be best. So, we changed the ending of the program to include a single toe loop at the end followed by a wind-up into a one-foot spin. Cool. I really need to work out the timing on this because I don't want to finish after the music. He also mentioned a loop-loop combo in place of the single loop but I think that breaks the rules. I can only have two combos/sequences and if I do a loop-loop that will put me at three. Once we got everything worked out with the new additions, he wanted me to skate the program with the music. Yikes! Wasn't ready for that. I had to get off the ice to fish the CD out of my bag.

Program: As expected, I ended after the music. In fact, I didn't even do the final spin because I ran out of time. I just landed the toe loop and did my finishing pose. Ugh. However, I managed to skate relatively clean with everything else. I got a little turned around after the salchow-toe loop but all in all, it was ok. It needs a lot of work, though! He was musing about spins and mentioned replacing the two-foot spin with a sit spin (because two-foot spins are boring) and I suggested entering it from an RFI three-turn with a step forward to hook the spin. He seemed pleased with that and now I have something new to work on. I dabbled in sit spins before I got injured and wasn't very good at them back then. I bet they are truly horrendous now. Thankfully, we ran out of time so he didn't ask to see it but now I've got to really spend some time on this so it doesn't look like a squat spin instead of a proper sit spin.

So.much.homework.

OH! I almost forgot to add that I got a really nice compliment from a fellow adult skater this morning. He knows how I've been struggling mentally with the loop jump but, as we were taking our skates off at the end of the session, he said how nice my loops were coming along. HUGE SMILE :)

Break-aversary!

Happy 1 year break-aversary to me! It's been 1 year since I broke my leg so I celebrated by....skating! I survived this time ;)

Movez - Standard warm up included laps and forward/backward consecutive edges. I have noticed how much more stable my forward edges are now that I've been practicing the circle 8 so much. Neat! Everything got worked on with the exception of the Power 3 Turns because I was trying to stay out of the way of an upper level skater who was working on her new choreography (I had instant program music envy as soon as she started. So pretty!). The LFO circle of my Circle 8 is still kind of wonky but I'm getting around without a foot down most of the time. I can work out the shape later. My Five Step Mohawk pattern felt steppy today but my Power Stroking felt nice and smooth. I skated the Alternating XO-BO Edges tentatively because I'm still scared I'm going to run into someone.

Spinz - I started with one-foot and two-foot spins and then spent some time on backspins. Overall, pretty average. I spent more time on the two-foot spin than I usually do not so much because it needs work but because we changed the choreography and now I need to work out which way to face when I end my spin to get into the right position for two back crossovers and a loop jump. I figure if I end it facing the judges I'll be in the right place.

Jumpz - I spent a lot of time today at the boards trying to improve my toe-loops. I have been toe-waltzing these for so long that my body won't do it any other way. But running them over and over again at the boards with proper pick-in and free leg resulted in a couple on open ice that didn't feel cheated. When I do a proper toe-loop, it even feels safer and I can definitely tell when I do a real toe-loop vs. a cheated one. Now I just have to not fall back into bad habits. The waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence was kind of a disaster. When I put it all together, everything is so small. It's really almost like footwork instead of a jump sequence. Also, since the falling leaf and half flip both land forward on my left toe pick, my leg was screaming after just a few minutes on these. I think I remember Christopher saying that he would be open to changing it to a waltz-loop combo but then I'm not sure how that will fit in with the jump element requirements. Can you have 2 two-jump combos? Ugh, rules. Finally, I worked on loop jumps from both entries. They felt scary today. This was the jump I broke my leg on and today was the one year anniversary so perhaps I was overthinking and worrying unnecessarily.

I need a nap and like six cheeseburgers.