I woke up this morning to heavy fog outside. Kinda felt like I just woke up in Silent Hill. But, even though it was foggy outside, I was wide awake and ready to kick ice!
Movez - Just 15 minutes on these so they can be maintained. Since my last sharpening has worn down a bit, the Circle 8 is back to normal so yay for that! My BX-BO Edges felt really speedy today. I'm really loving these! Power Perimeter Stroking felt solid. Power 3s felt pretty good even on my weak side. Mohawks were good once I remembered to bend my knee more on that final step. Overall, I think these will just need a few weeks of polishing before they are test worthy. Once Sectionals are over, I'll give these my full attention again.
Compusloriez - Really nice! Have I ever expressed how much I enjoy compulsory moves? I do! Or, at least I will until I move up to Bronze and I have to worry about BI 3 turns and the dreaded backspin. For now though, these are probably the most relaxing part of my practice. I like how capable I feel when I do them. I worked a bit on the crossovers leading into the spiral keeping in mind what Michelle said during our lesson on Saturday and it is starting to feel a bit more secure now. I'm super ready to compete with this! Bring it!
Programz - I started off with a full run through at speed without the music. No stops! Everything got landed, spins spun, and it felt comfortable. So, I spent some time figuring out what to do if I exit my spins facing the wrong way and I think I feel more comfortable about that now too. Everything just felt okay, though. Like, I don't feel super confident about this program the way I do about my compulsory program. I feel like I'll get through it at the competition but it might be messy. I think it's the music, really. I picked a really fast piece of music and I just never feel like I can keep up with it. Seriously, my next program is going to be slower. I don't want to feel like I'm rushing through everything just so I can keep up. I want quality elements. There's less than two weeks before I debut this program at Sectionals and, I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty nervous about it.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Perspective
Lesson today but it was with a substitute coach since Christopher is performing in a ballet this weekend. I worked with Michelle today and it was really nice. I would totally work with her again! We started with a brief discussion about how different adult competitions are from the standard affairs and, with that, she reminded me to have FUN!
Compulsoriez - I ran the entirety of my compulsory program and when I skated back to her she said that it looked nice! I think she was perhaps surprised even! Her main comment was to spend more time finishing off the individual elements (hold those landings!) so that the judges have time to look down at their sheets and score. She also reminded me to not rush the step forward into the spiral. I should step forward, balance briefly with a short two-foot glide, then extend. She said wherever I look with my head is where my spiral will go so be mindful where I'm looking. We ran it again one more time while she timed me. It ended up being 1:25. Perfect!
Free Skatez - I ran it as a whole first so she could see the whole thing and then I invited her to pick it apart from there. I landed all the jumps, the spins happened, and I ended on time with the music. No falls. However, it was very rushed. She even commented that it felt like I was chasing the music the whole time. She's not wrong. I'm totally chasing the music. She reminded me to RELAX! She said that I have the skating skills, the jumps are more than I need for a pre-bronze level program, and I'm making good use of the ice. So, there is no reason to rush! Just do what I'm trained to do! We spent some time working on the loop-loop combo and her comments echoed what Christopher has been saying all along. I'm trying too hard to make the second loop happen. I really just need to put in minimal effort to make the second loop go. The first one looks good because I'm relaxed but then I tense up for the second. Also....hold that landing! She reminded me that there are moments in the program that will allow me to breathe for a second and, if I take advantage of those moments, it will help me slow down, think, and catch my breath.
Overall, I really enjoyed working with her. She was critical but not mean, she was encouraging but didn't pander, and she was just pleasant overall. It was really nice to have a second set of eyes on this thing going into the final couple of weeks before the competition :)
Compulsoriez - I ran the entirety of my compulsory program and when I skated back to her she said that it looked nice! I think she was perhaps surprised even! Her main comment was to spend more time finishing off the individual elements (hold those landings!) so that the judges have time to look down at their sheets and score. She also reminded me to not rush the step forward into the spiral. I should step forward, balance briefly with a short two-foot glide, then extend. She said wherever I look with my head is where my spiral will go so be mindful where I'm looking. We ran it again one more time while she timed me. It ended up being 1:25. Perfect!
Free Skatez - I ran it as a whole first so she could see the whole thing and then I invited her to pick it apart from there. I landed all the jumps, the spins happened, and I ended on time with the music. No falls. However, it was very rushed. She even commented that it felt like I was chasing the music the whole time. She's not wrong. I'm totally chasing the music. She reminded me to RELAX! She said that I have the skating skills, the jumps are more than I need for a pre-bronze level program, and I'm making good use of the ice. So, there is no reason to rush! Just do what I'm trained to do! We spent some time working on the loop-loop combo and her comments echoed what Christopher has been saying all along. I'm trying too hard to make the second loop happen. I really just need to put in minimal effort to make the second loop go. The first one looks good because I'm relaxed but then I tense up for the second. Also....hold that landing! She reminded me that there are moments in the program that will allow me to breathe for a second and, if I take advantage of those moments, it will help me slow down, think, and catch my breath.
Overall, I really enjoyed working with her. She was critical but not mean, she was encouraging but didn't pander, and she was just pleasant overall. It was really nice to have a second set of eyes on this thing going into the final couple of weeks before the competition :)
Friday, February 22, 2019
Holding my own
I had to drop off hospitality items for the test session this morning and, since I was at the rink so early anyway, I decided to drop in on the earliest Friday morning session. I usually don't skate on Friday mornings because I know that there are a couple of senior level skaters on that session and I don't want to feel inadequate. But I have a competition coming up soon and, feelings be damned, I need the practice! When I got there, I saw one of my adult skating friends whom I haven't seen in quite a while (the last time I saw him was back in the summer!). I honestly thought he quit or got injured so I was so relieved to see that he has been well. We just skate on opposite days so we are like ships passing in the night. It was nice to share the ice with him again. At one point during our session he skated up to me and said "looks like we're holding our own out here!" so I think we did okay today. We talked about how we are both struggling with twizzles right now so it's nice to have a "struggle buddy" out there on the ice with me! :)
I worked on all of my compulsory and free skate requirements. My loop-loop combos felt better today although I know the second jump in the combo still needs some work. But at least I was landing them and they felt like they flowed a bit better. Spirals felt good and spins were relatively centered today. I've decided not to risk a deduction in my compulsory moves by doing an attitude spin. I need to stop trying to be fancy so I'm going to do the standard one-foot upright spin. Boring, though. Speaking of compulsory moves, that program felt really nice and secure today (almost like I know what I'm doing!). If I can skate my compulsory program the way I did today, I think I'll be in good shape.
So, funny story (but also kind of sad): As I was getting on the ice, I saw a young male skater (maybe about 7 years old) whose mom was lacing up his skates for him. I made a mental note to self to stay out of his way since it looked like he might be a beginner. He gets on the ice and he was pretty amazing. Way better than me, anyway (but, like, who isn't, right?). I just had to laugh to myself a bit because here's a kid who has to have his mom tie his skates for him and he's still better than me. Ah...being an adult skater is both awesome and humiliating at the same time...lol.
I worked on all of my compulsory and free skate requirements. My loop-loop combos felt better today although I know the second jump in the combo still needs some work. But at least I was landing them and they felt like they flowed a bit better. Spirals felt good and spins were relatively centered today. I've decided not to risk a deduction in my compulsory moves by doing an attitude spin. I need to stop trying to be fancy so I'm going to do the standard one-foot upright spin. Boring, though. Speaking of compulsory moves, that program felt really nice and secure today (almost like I know what I'm doing!). If I can skate my compulsory program the way I did today, I think I'll be in good shape.
So, funny story (but also kind of sad): As I was getting on the ice, I saw a young male skater (maybe about 7 years old) whose mom was lacing up his skates for him. I made a mental note to self to stay out of his way since it looked like he might be a beginner. He gets on the ice and he was pretty amazing. Way better than me, anyway (but, like, who isn't, right?). I just had to laugh to myself a bit because here's a kid who has to have his mom tie his skates for him and he's still better than me. Ah...being an adult skater is both awesome and humiliating at the same time...lol.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Old Lady Lungs: The Sequel
I went to my typical early morning Tuesday practice session and did a lot of work on the ice. I feel a smidge better about things overall but I still have a lot of doubts (mostly with the loop-loop combo and the twizzle).
Movez - I warmed up with moves to keep them under my feet. Nothing to report here. They are holding steady.
Compulsoriez - I did many run throughs with this. The thing that is tripping me up the most is the ending. I am planning to end with a toe loop followed by two backwards crossovers and a wind up into a one-foot spin. However, my free skate program ends with a toe loop with a step forward into an attitude spin. Because they are so similar, my muscle memory keeps making me do the ending to my free skate program. I mean, the only difference is the spin, really. Technically an attitude spin is a one foot spin so I don't think I would get a deduction if I use that in my compulsory program but I'm going to check with Christopher to make sure that's acceptable. Unfortunately, I don't get to work with him again until March 2nd as he's going to be ballet-ing until then. I suppose I could shoot him an email but I don't want to intrude. Maybe I'll ask the hive mind (AKA the adult skater facebook group).
Programz - So, I did a thing. I put my phone in my zippered jacket pocket and pressed play on my music so I could have my own little band follow me around :) Since I don't have someone to press play for me, I would typically have to load the CD in, press play, and then haul ass out to the ice to pick up the program about 10 seconds in. I wanted to hear the music from the start so this was a good solution. I ran the program a few times this way (so, back to back to back) and boy was that a bad idea. I don't have the best lungs (a doctor once told me that I have the lungs of an 80 year old!) and I use an inhaler daily to keep my lungs open, quell the wheezing, and to calm my chronic cough. So, running the program like this left me completely breathless, like scary breathless. Note to self: do a run through, catch your breath and drink some water, and then start another run through. I'm too old for this! Story time! A few years ago, a professor donated a bunch of books from her personal collection to the college library that I'm head of. She neglected to tell me that they had water damage and within a couple of weeks, I had an uncontrollable cough followed by full blown pneumonia from the mold in the books. My lungs haven't been the same since. So books are my life but books also tried to kill me once so if you see me gasping for air, that's why :)
Movez - I warmed up with moves to keep them under my feet. Nothing to report here. They are holding steady.
Compulsoriez - I did many run throughs with this. The thing that is tripping me up the most is the ending. I am planning to end with a toe loop followed by two backwards crossovers and a wind up into a one-foot spin. However, my free skate program ends with a toe loop with a step forward into an attitude spin. Because they are so similar, my muscle memory keeps making me do the ending to my free skate program. I mean, the only difference is the spin, really. Technically an attitude spin is a one foot spin so I don't think I would get a deduction if I use that in my compulsory program but I'm going to check with Christopher to make sure that's acceptable. Unfortunately, I don't get to work with him again until March 2nd as he's going to be ballet-ing until then. I suppose I could shoot him an email but I don't want to intrude. Maybe I'll ask the hive mind (AKA the adult skater facebook group).
Programz - So, I did a thing. I put my phone in my zippered jacket pocket and pressed play on my music so I could have my own little band follow me around :) Since I don't have someone to press play for me, I would typically have to load the CD in, press play, and then haul ass out to the ice to pick up the program about 10 seconds in. I wanted to hear the music from the start so this was a good solution. I ran the program a few times this way (so, back to back to back) and boy was that a bad idea. I don't have the best lungs (a doctor once told me that I have the lungs of an 80 year old!) and I use an inhaler daily to keep my lungs open, quell the wheezing, and to calm my chronic cough. So, running the program like this left me completely breathless, like scary breathless. Note to self: do a run through, catch your breath and drink some water, and then start another run through. I'm too old for this! Story time! A few years ago, a professor donated a bunch of books from her personal collection to the college library that I'm head of. She neglected to tell me that they had water damage and within a couple of weeks, I had an uncontrollable cough followed by full blown pneumonia from the mold in the books. My lungs haven't been the same since. So books are my life but books also tried to kill me once so if you see me gasping for air, that's why :)
Monday, February 18, 2019
Completely Stoned!
Well, my dress is done! Seriously, next time, I'm just going to stone the whole thing in one sitting. I'm glad I don't have to do this again for a while because I'm spent. I already have anxiety about everything and then I'm supposed to permanently glue tiny expensive crystals onto an already very expensive dress and try not to mess it up? Yikes!
So, here's what I learned. A Crystal Katana, E6000 glue, and real Swarovski Crystals are definitely the way to go. I know the pictures don't do it justice but this dress SPARKLES! I purchased my stones in bulk from rhinestonebiz.com and they came quickly and were packaged nicely. No loose stones! I'm also really glad I decided to go with colored stones rather than the clear AB stones. I wanted sparkle but I didn't want it to overshadow the dress and, since I still wanted the dress to look black and gray, the colored stones were a good call. I just didn't want it to look like I was dripping in bling. Ew. So, let's talk stone size (or SS as it's commonly known as). The 30ss and the 20ss were really easy to glue on. One drop of glue, place the stone, and press! Done! But, I bought a bunch of the little guys too not knowing how tiny they actually were (5ss, 7ss, 9ss, 12ss, and 16ss). I was able to use the 16ss for the collar and the hair ties but the smaller ones were impossible for me to work with. SO SMALL! Next time, it's 20ss and above only! Finally, I learned that once I start stoning, you really shouldn't talk to me. I'm in the stone zone! There were a couple of times during my first stoning session that I dropped an F-Bomb or two and when my husband asked if everything was okay, I got even more frustrated (not at him, of course, but at the situation). During my second session, I told him to just leave me be no matter what he hears escaping from my mouth or how many tears are shed. It worked! I was much more calm :)
So, the results! This is the unadorned dress right when I took it out of the packaging. Even if I didn't put anything on it, it's a Brad Griffies dress and it's pretty all on its own. I tried it on and it fit perfectly. It came with two matching hair ties and I ended up putting crystals on those too because I had a lot of stones left over.
Back in January, I put all the stones on the gray part of the dress and that took about 3 hours. I was trying to go for a gradual fade where the stones are clustered together near the collar but then gradually become more sparse toward the waist. I alternated 30ss and 20ss along the seams and, since I had a lot of stones, I doubled back and did another line right below that. The "crystal silver night" color was a near perfect match for the gray fabric. The goal was to let the dress rest for the week and then finish it up the following weekend but lazy happened. I didn't finish it up until last night (a whole month later) and it took about 2 hours. So yeah, not doing that again! All at once or nothing at all! Since the gray part was so heavy with crystals, I didn't want the black part to have to compete with that so I went a little lighter on the "jet hematite" crystals. I used 30ss along the seam and on the bodice but used my 20ss crystals for the skirt. The skirt was tricky but sticking parchment paper in between the black part of the skirt and the gray part of the skirt worked wonders. The last thing I want to do is glue both layers of the skirt together! I don't have pictures of the back because it's essentially the same as the front. Finally, I did the collar. Originally, I thought about leaving the collar alone but I had so many of the 16ss gray crystals and I didn't want them to go to waste. So, nothing fancy on the collar, just some scattered crystals for some extra sparkle.
So, would I do it again? Hells yeah!! I saved a lot of money by doing it myself and, yeah, it was anxiety inducing, but I think the finished product looks okay enough to compete in. My design for the stones was pretty basic so I'm not up to "Brad Griffies" level stoning anytime soon but I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish :)
So, here's what I learned. A Crystal Katana, E6000 glue, and real Swarovski Crystals are definitely the way to go. I know the pictures don't do it justice but this dress SPARKLES! I purchased my stones in bulk from rhinestonebiz.com and they came quickly and were packaged nicely. No loose stones! I'm also really glad I decided to go with colored stones rather than the clear AB stones. I wanted sparkle but I didn't want it to overshadow the dress and, since I still wanted the dress to look black and gray, the colored stones were a good call. I just didn't want it to look like I was dripping in bling. Ew. So, let's talk stone size (or SS as it's commonly known as). The 30ss and the 20ss were really easy to glue on. One drop of glue, place the stone, and press! Done! But, I bought a bunch of the little guys too not knowing how tiny they actually were (5ss, 7ss, 9ss, 12ss, and 16ss). I was able to use the 16ss for the collar and the hair ties but the smaller ones were impossible for me to work with. SO SMALL! Next time, it's 20ss and above only! Finally, I learned that once I start stoning, you really shouldn't talk to me. I'm in the stone zone! There were a couple of times during my first stoning session that I dropped an F-Bomb or two and when my husband asked if everything was okay, I got even more frustrated (not at him, of course, but at the situation). During my second session, I told him to just leave me be no matter what he hears escaping from my mouth or how many tears are shed. It worked! I was much more calm :)
So, the results! This is the unadorned dress right when I took it out of the packaging. Even if I didn't put anything on it, it's a Brad Griffies dress and it's pretty all on its own. I tried it on and it fit perfectly. It came with two matching hair ties and I ended up putting crystals on those too because I had a lot of stones left over.
Back in January, I put all the stones on the gray part of the dress and that took about 3 hours. I was trying to go for a gradual fade where the stones are clustered together near the collar but then gradually become more sparse toward the waist. I alternated 30ss and 20ss along the seams and, since I had a lot of stones, I doubled back and did another line right below that. The "crystal silver night" color was a near perfect match for the gray fabric. The goal was to let the dress rest for the week and then finish it up the following weekend but lazy happened. I didn't finish it up until last night (a whole month later) and it took about 2 hours. So yeah, not doing that again! All at once or nothing at all! Since the gray part was so heavy with crystals, I didn't want the black part to have to compete with that so I went a little lighter on the "jet hematite" crystals. I used 30ss along the seam and on the bodice but used my 20ss crystals for the skirt. The skirt was tricky but sticking parchment paper in between the black part of the skirt and the gray part of the skirt worked wonders. The last thing I want to do is glue both layers of the skirt together! I don't have pictures of the back because it's essentially the same as the front. Finally, I did the collar. Originally, I thought about leaving the collar alone but I had so many of the 16ss gray crystals and I didn't want them to go to waste. So, nothing fancy on the collar, just some scattered crystals for some extra sparkle.
So, would I do it again? Hells yeah!! I saved a lot of money by doing it myself and, yeah, it was anxiety inducing, but I think the finished product looks okay enough to compete in. My design for the stones was pretty basic so I'm not up to "Brad Griffies" level stoning anytime soon but I'm proud of what I was able to accomplish :)
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Down to the Wire
Lesson today and I started off by requesting that he look at my loop jumps. Lately, I feel like these aren't as relaxed as they used to be. I know it's because I'm overthinking again and trying to force the jump but I just wanted Christopher to take a look because he always knows how to fix my issues :)
Loopz - We started with a single loop jump. As suspected, I'm trying too hard to make the jump happen which makes me over-rotate the jump. Because the first loop in the combo is over-rotated, the second one isn't set up for success. He also noted that I'm jumping up rather than out so when I land the first one, the second one has no momentum. He made some adjustments to my arms and reminded me to relax and then we moved on to the loop-loop combo. His biggest issue with this is that I am still not crossing the free leg in front for the second jump. He had me do an exercise where I do a single loop jump and then a one rotation backspin with the free leg crossed in front (easier said than done). This still needs work. It's not that I can't do the element, it's just that my form sucks. If I were being scored with IJS rather than 6.0, this would impact my grade of execution for sure. I want to keep working on this so that the technique is spot on. Will I get it together in time for the competition in a few weeks? Perhaps not. But I'm not giving up on it until it's right.
Programz - We ran the program in its entirety and it went okay. Despite wearing the sash, people were not mindful that I was skating my program and, therefore, I missed the sit spin because there were like three people in that spot who didn't move for me. So, I skated around them and picked up my program at the stag jump. Frustrating. I don't know, I mean, when people are skating their program, I'm always on the lookout for where they are going so as not to get in their way. That's what you are supposed to do. But I think some of these younger skaters see an "old lady" stumbling through her program and maybe they don't think they need to yield? Or maybe they haven't been taught situational awareness? Whatever it is, it's frustrating. We spot checked some areas to clean them up a bit. Because I'm skating faster, I'm starting my spiral too far down the rink. He wants me to start it earlier and he fixed my approach to it to make it look a bit more tidied up. He also commented on how scratchy my approach to the salchow is and that's totally because I'm rushing and trying to hold on to it. When I practice this on Tuesday, I'm going to see if doing one backwards crossover instead of two will make a difference in the flow.
Compulsoriez - Finally, we ran the compulsory program. I don't recall his comments. I don't think that means there weren't any, I just think that means that there is nothing huge I need to fix with this. Personally, I still feel like my spiral is too slow so that is something I'll spend some time with on Tuesday but, overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this. Oh! I need to be more mindful about rushing the toe loop! When I rush it, it waltzes. When I take my time, it's a proper toe loop. I can't slip back into bad habits now that I finally fixed this thing.
Loopz - We started with a single loop jump. As suspected, I'm trying too hard to make the jump happen which makes me over-rotate the jump. Because the first loop in the combo is over-rotated, the second one isn't set up for success. He also noted that I'm jumping up rather than out so when I land the first one, the second one has no momentum. He made some adjustments to my arms and reminded me to relax and then we moved on to the loop-loop combo. His biggest issue with this is that I am still not crossing the free leg in front for the second jump. He had me do an exercise where I do a single loop jump and then a one rotation backspin with the free leg crossed in front (easier said than done). This still needs work. It's not that I can't do the element, it's just that my form sucks. If I were being scored with IJS rather than 6.0, this would impact my grade of execution for sure. I want to keep working on this so that the technique is spot on. Will I get it together in time for the competition in a few weeks? Perhaps not. But I'm not giving up on it until it's right.
Programz - We ran the program in its entirety and it went okay. Despite wearing the sash, people were not mindful that I was skating my program and, therefore, I missed the sit spin because there were like three people in that spot who didn't move for me. So, I skated around them and picked up my program at the stag jump. Frustrating. I don't know, I mean, when people are skating their program, I'm always on the lookout for where they are going so as not to get in their way. That's what you are supposed to do. But I think some of these younger skaters see an "old lady" stumbling through her program and maybe they don't think they need to yield? Or maybe they haven't been taught situational awareness? Whatever it is, it's frustrating. We spot checked some areas to clean them up a bit. Because I'm skating faster, I'm starting my spiral too far down the rink. He wants me to start it earlier and he fixed my approach to it to make it look a bit more tidied up. He also commented on how scratchy my approach to the salchow is and that's totally because I'm rushing and trying to hold on to it. When I practice this on Tuesday, I'm going to see if doing one backwards crossover instead of two will make a difference in the flow.
Compulsoriez - Finally, we ran the compulsory program. I don't recall his comments. I don't think that means there weren't any, I just think that means that there is nothing huge I need to fix with this. Personally, I still feel like my spiral is too slow so that is something I'll spend some time with on Tuesday but, overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this. Oh! I need to be more mindful about rushing the toe loop! When I rush it, it waltzes. When I take my time, it's a proper toe loop. I can't slip back into bad habits now that I finally fixed this thing.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Midwestern Sectionals 2019 Schedule is Here!
Alright! The schedule is out and I finally know what days/times I'm scheduled to skate as well as who my competitors are!
Compulsoriez - Friday March 8th @1:10pm East Rink Zamboni side. There are four of us in this group and I'll get to skate with Kaoru and Kim again (lovely ladies, those two!)
Free Skatez - Saturday March 9th @ 1:15pm on the East Rink. There are a total of seven skaters in my group! I have skated with two of them before (Kim and Kaoru) but the other four skaters are people I've never met before. I'm excited to meet them and cheer them on :)
So yeah, it's feeling real now! I can start selecting my practice ice and warm-ups tomorrow morning and then from now until March 8th, I'm in super awesome focus mode! This competition is a big moment for me for several reasons but mostly, it's important because on March 6th, I'm turning 40. Yeah, 4-0! This is a tough birthday for a lot of people because I think this is when they start evaluating where they are in life compared to where they thought they would be. This is probably when many people start panicking that they haven't accomplished the things they've always dreamed for themselves. I don't feel that way. I never would have thought I would be capable of doing half of the things I'm able to do now. I feel strong, healthy, and determined to keep working toward my skating goals. I get to do something that most people can't and that's pretty damn snazzy!
So, I'm excited that for my 40th birthday I get to do something really cool and hang out with people who are some of the most encouraging, inspiring, and supportive people I've ever met. I'm going to go out there and skate my best and be proud of the skater I have become!
Compulsoriez - Friday March 8th @1:10pm East Rink Zamboni side. There are four of us in this group and I'll get to skate with Kaoru and Kim again (lovely ladies, those two!)
Free Skatez - Saturday March 9th @ 1:15pm on the East Rink. There are a total of seven skaters in my group! I have skated with two of them before (Kim and Kaoru) but the other four skaters are people I've never met before. I'm excited to meet them and cheer them on :)
So yeah, it's feeling real now! I can start selecting my practice ice and warm-ups tomorrow morning and then from now until March 8th, I'm in super awesome focus mode! This competition is a big moment for me for several reasons but mostly, it's important because on March 6th, I'm turning 40. Yeah, 4-0! This is a tough birthday for a lot of people because I think this is when they start evaluating where they are in life compared to where they thought they would be. This is probably when many people start panicking that they haven't accomplished the things they've always dreamed for themselves. I don't feel that way. I never would have thought I would be capable of doing half of the things I'm able to do now. I feel strong, healthy, and determined to keep working toward my skating goals. I get to do something that most people can't and that's pretty damn snazzy!
So, I'm excited that for my 40th birthday I get to do something really cool and hang out with people who are some of the most encouraging, inspiring, and supportive people I've ever met. I'm going to go out there and skate my best and be proud of the skater I have become!
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Little Fix, Big Change
Early morning skate and it was super cold outside. As I was walking from the car to the rink I thought about how, in the winter, I rush to get inside the rink because it's warmer in there than it is outside. I'm never cold once I'm on the ice :)
Warm-up/MIFz - After a few laps I started in on forward edges in preparation for the Circle 8. Once Sectionals are over, I'm going to ask Christopher to work with me on getting a stronger initial push. I'm making it around without a foot down but, as I near the center to start a new circle, I'm barely moving I'm so slow. If the ice is choppy on the day of my test, I'll be doomed. Moving on to Power Perimeter Stroking. These felt fine and I feel like my arms are correct on the forward strokes. Power 3-Turns felt really nice going down the rink on my good side but a little unstable going the other way. I need to practice these more. Next up were the BX-BO Edges and these felt great. I love these now! I feel like I'm flying when I do them. Fun! Finally, the Five Step Mohawks got worked on. I actually did several passes of these because they felt pretty choppy. This used to be my best move but then I put them on the back burner to focus on other things and I guess I thought they would still be okay after all this time. Fun fact: they are not okay. I have to start working on these again. They're gross.
Compulsoriez - My next 20 minutes were dedicated to compulsory moves and making them more elegant. I'm getting everything done, I just feel so sloooooow. I guess in comparison to my free skate program it's bound to feel slow but geez. My spiral was nice, though! I don't know...am I starting to like spirals now? Who am I????
Programz - Chunks. Chunks for 20 minutes. BUT!!!! I worked on some of the transitions and those feel a bit better now. During our lesson on Saturday, Christopher changed the placement of my initial crossovers that lead into the loop-loop combo and, at first I was skeptical, but now I'm all like "Huh, that makes things so much easier!" It's amazing what shifting crossovers 20 feet to the right can do! What this did was force me to place my loop-loop combo in the other lutz corner and that sets me up so much better for the crossovers that build up speed for the spiral. Such a simple change but things flow so much nicer now!
Dressz - So, early last month, I stoned half of my dress and promised myself I would finish up the other half the following weekend. Guess what I never did? I really need to finish it up this weekend so I still have time to order emergency crystals if I need them. Needless to say, present Mandi is really upset with past Mandi for not just finishing the thing in one sitting. So, future Mandi, if you are reading this now, I'm advising you to stone any future dresses in one sitting or future future Mandi will be really upset with you. Get it together!
Warm-up/MIFz - After a few laps I started in on forward edges in preparation for the Circle 8. Once Sectionals are over, I'm going to ask Christopher to work with me on getting a stronger initial push. I'm making it around without a foot down but, as I near the center to start a new circle, I'm barely moving I'm so slow. If the ice is choppy on the day of my test, I'll be doomed. Moving on to Power Perimeter Stroking. These felt fine and I feel like my arms are correct on the forward strokes. Power 3-Turns felt really nice going down the rink on my good side but a little unstable going the other way. I need to practice these more. Next up were the BX-BO Edges and these felt great. I love these now! I feel like I'm flying when I do them. Fun! Finally, the Five Step Mohawks got worked on. I actually did several passes of these because they felt pretty choppy. This used to be my best move but then I put them on the back burner to focus on other things and I guess I thought they would still be okay after all this time. Fun fact: they are not okay. I have to start working on these again. They're gross.
Compulsoriez - My next 20 minutes were dedicated to compulsory moves and making them more elegant. I'm getting everything done, I just feel so sloooooow. I guess in comparison to my free skate program it's bound to feel slow but geez. My spiral was nice, though! I don't know...am I starting to like spirals now? Who am I????
Programz - Chunks. Chunks for 20 minutes. BUT!!!! I worked on some of the transitions and those feel a bit better now. During our lesson on Saturday, Christopher changed the placement of my initial crossovers that lead into the loop-loop combo and, at first I was skeptical, but now I'm all like "Huh, that makes things so much easier!" It's amazing what shifting crossovers 20 feet to the right can do! What this did was force me to place my loop-loop combo in the other lutz corner and that sets me up so much better for the crossovers that build up speed for the spiral. Such a simple change but things flow so much nicer now!
Dressz - So, early last month, I stoned half of my dress and promised myself I would finish up the other half the following weekend. Guess what I never did? I really need to finish it up this weekend so I still have time to order emergency crystals if I need them. Needless to say, present Mandi is really upset with past Mandi for not just finishing the thing in one sitting. So, future Mandi, if you are reading this now, I'm advising you to stone any future dresses in one sitting or future future Mandi will be really upset with you. Get it together!
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Give & Take
Lesson today!
He started out by commenting on how much better my toe loops are now that I have finally fixed them. They feel easier and I don't feel as though I need to force them to happen anymore. Now that it has finally clicked for me, I don't think I could go back to doing them the old way. So, yay! I finally have a REAL and PROPER toe loop!
But, as things always turn out, it's a give and take. The skate gods have bestowed upon me an uncheated toe loop but they took away my ability to do loop-loop combos. Alas. Christopher commented that the first loop looks okay enough but that I need to "try less" on the second one. They should just flow naturally but here I am trying to force things...again.
We worked a bit on spins and at this point I was having quite a bit of leg pain but I really didn't want to complain. So, I powered though it. There were times when I couldn't hide a wince here or there but hopefully he didn't notice. I know my limits and if it were real honest to goodness pain, I would speak up. But it was just the typical "sore" that I experience when it gets really cold outside. Outside of the pain, I was struggling with not checking my left arm enough going into the spin and swinging my free leg around too soon. Spins are definitely not my strong suit so I can't just...spin. I need to be mindful of all of my body parts going into them or they travel every time.
Programz - We did two complete run throughs of the program and, overall, they were decent. Jumps were landed, spins happened, footwork worked, and I ended on time. At this point in my training, we are just polishing things up. We spot checked a couple of little things (like making my swingroll in the footwork sequence more pronounced) but I think that the program is strong enough for competition. For me, I still feel like it's messy but it feels more comfortable as a whole. Hopefully, I can get confident enough with this that I can throw some emotion into it. Right now, I'm going through the motions and getting though it, but there is no feeling.
In a couple of weeks, Christopher will be busy with a ballet, so he arranged for another coach to sub for him. The last couple of times this happened, I really didn't work well with the coach he arranged for me. I worked with her twice and, both times, she kind of killed my spirit. When he offered to have this same coach work with me again, I told him that I am open to working with another coach, just maybe not with this particular person. So, on the 24th, I'll be working with Michelle and I'm glad for it. He introduced us and I'm excited to work with her! It will be nice to have a different set of eyes on this program before I head into competition. You know, a fresh perspective.
He started out by commenting on how much better my toe loops are now that I have finally fixed them. They feel easier and I don't feel as though I need to force them to happen anymore. Now that it has finally clicked for me, I don't think I could go back to doing them the old way. So, yay! I finally have a REAL and PROPER toe loop!
But, as things always turn out, it's a give and take. The skate gods have bestowed upon me an uncheated toe loop but they took away my ability to do loop-loop combos. Alas. Christopher commented that the first loop looks okay enough but that I need to "try less" on the second one. They should just flow naturally but here I am trying to force things...again.
We worked a bit on spins and at this point I was having quite a bit of leg pain but I really didn't want to complain. So, I powered though it. There were times when I couldn't hide a wince here or there but hopefully he didn't notice. I know my limits and if it were real honest to goodness pain, I would speak up. But it was just the typical "sore" that I experience when it gets really cold outside. Outside of the pain, I was struggling with not checking my left arm enough going into the spin and swinging my free leg around too soon. Spins are definitely not my strong suit so I can't just...spin. I need to be mindful of all of my body parts going into them or they travel every time.
Programz - We did two complete run throughs of the program and, overall, they were decent. Jumps were landed, spins happened, footwork worked, and I ended on time. At this point in my training, we are just polishing things up. We spot checked a couple of little things (like making my swingroll in the footwork sequence more pronounced) but I think that the program is strong enough for competition. For me, I still feel like it's messy but it feels more comfortable as a whole. Hopefully, I can get confident enough with this that I can throw some emotion into it. Right now, I'm going through the motions and getting though it, but there is no feeling.
In a couple of weeks, Christopher will be busy with a ballet, so he arranged for another coach to sub for him. The last couple of times this happened, I really didn't work well with the coach he arranged for me. I worked with her twice and, both times, she kind of killed my spirit. When he offered to have this same coach work with me again, I told him that I am open to working with another coach, just maybe not with this particular person. So, on the 24th, I'll be working with Michelle and I'm glad for it. He introduced us and I'm excited to work with her! It will be nice to have a different set of eyes on this program before I head into competition. You know, a fresh perspective.
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Toe Loopin’
Ugh, mornings....
Movez - I spent the first 20 minutes on moves in the field and ran through everything at least once. Things feel pretty good, especially the BX-BO edges which are just plain fun to do now.
Compulsoriez - Another 20 minutes was spent on compulsory moves. I really just wanted to make sure I remembered all of the changes that were made. I did many run throughs. The only issue I really have with this is building up speed for the spiral. I'm weaker than I thought. I did one final run through where I forced myself to smile as if I were at the competition. I don't think I looked "smiley," I think I just looked like I was in pain.
Programz - Chunks.
Toe Loopz - I really am obsessed with fixing this jump now. I'm sick of landing cheated toe loops. It feels dirty, lol. I took some video just to make sure that I was on the right track. They feel so small now but I can really feel the difference between these and how I was doing them before. If I remember "lead with the heel" right before I jump, I think I do them correctly.
Movez - I spent the first 20 minutes on moves in the field and ran through everything at least once. Things feel pretty good, especially the BX-BO edges which are just plain fun to do now.
Compulsoriez - Another 20 minutes was spent on compulsory moves. I really just wanted to make sure I remembered all of the changes that were made. I did many run throughs. The only issue I really have with this is building up speed for the spiral. I'm weaker than I thought. I did one final run through where I forced myself to smile as if I were at the competition. I don't think I looked "smiley," I think I just looked like I was in pain.
Programz - Chunks.
Toe Loopz - I really am obsessed with fixing this jump now. I'm sick of landing cheated toe loops. It feels dirty, lol. I took some video just to make sure that I was on the right track. They feel so small now but I can really feel the difference between these and how I was doing them before. If I remember "lead with the heel" right before I jump, I think I do them correctly.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Compulsory Revamp
Lesson today!
As a departure from our usual lessons where we have been focusing on the free skate program, we focused our efforts today on compulsory moves!
Compulsoriez - We started by looking at the original choreography so I ran through the whole thing from beginning to end while he timed me. When I finished, I skated back to him to discover that I only took up 1:15 out of the allowable 1:30 so we talked about ways we could beef this up a little. Obviously we can't really change up the elements because those are required but, because I'm a "stronger skater now" (according to him anyway), we made some of the existing elements more dramatic. The main difference in this newly revamped compulsory moves program is the spiral. He wants a more exaggerated outside edge and I'm to hold it longer. To do this, I'll be attempting to gain speed and power going into it, start it earlier, and EXTEND! I feel like I did some of my best spirals today! Holding it longer gives me more of a chance to really bend forward and extend that free leg. It felt good for once when usually it just feels scary. I even elicited a "nice" from Christopher. With improvements in place, we ran the thing again from start to finish and my time was 1:24. So, yay! I added more time, I increased my power, and I'm skating stronger. Progress!
Toe Loopz - At the tail end of our lesson, we had some time to work on my toe loop. During the past few months, I have regressed and fallen back into bad habits by toe waltzing these so, when we were done with compulsories, I asked him to please look at my toe loops and basically "fix me." We started from scratch and just did them slowly with a focus on really bringing the heel through. When I do them like this, all slow and such, they become proper toe loops. It's when I go into them at speed that they get wonky and I cheat them. Once the single toe loops started looking like toe loops again, he had me do some toe loop-toe loop combos. With these, the first jump was good but then I waltzed the second one. But...this is a really good exercise to work on because it proves that I rush things (duh) and it forces me to really slow things down and be consistent. This is something that I'm determined to fix. No more toe waltzes for me :)
Overall, today felt better and I feel a bit more confident about things now. I think I'm on the upswing :)
As a departure from our usual lessons where we have been focusing on the free skate program, we focused our efforts today on compulsory moves!
Compulsoriez - We started by looking at the original choreography so I ran through the whole thing from beginning to end while he timed me. When I finished, I skated back to him to discover that I only took up 1:15 out of the allowable 1:30 so we talked about ways we could beef this up a little. Obviously we can't really change up the elements because those are required but, because I'm a "stronger skater now" (according to him anyway), we made some of the existing elements more dramatic. The main difference in this newly revamped compulsory moves program is the spiral. He wants a more exaggerated outside edge and I'm to hold it longer. To do this, I'll be attempting to gain speed and power going into it, start it earlier, and EXTEND! I feel like I did some of my best spirals today! Holding it longer gives me more of a chance to really bend forward and extend that free leg. It felt good for once when usually it just feels scary. I even elicited a "nice" from Christopher. With improvements in place, we ran the thing again from start to finish and my time was 1:24. So, yay! I added more time, I increased my power, and I'm skating stronger. Progress!
Toe Loopz - At the tail end of our lesson, we had some time to work on my toe loop. During the past few months, I have regressed and fallen back into bad habits by toe waltzing these so, when we were done with compulsories, I asked him to please look at my toe loops and basically "fix me." We started from scratch and just did them slowly with a focus on really bringing the heel through. When I do them like this, all slow and such, they become proper toe loops. It's when I go into them at speed that they get wonky and I cheat them. Once the single toe loops started looking like toe loops again, he had me do some toe loop-toe loop combos. With these, the first jump was good but then I waltzed the second one. But...this is a really good exercise to work on because it proves that I rush things (duh) and it forces me to really slow things down and be consistent. This is something that I'm determined to fix. No more toe waltzes for me :)
Overall, today felt better and I feel a bit more confident about things now. I think I'm on the upswing :)
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