Coach-ly support

Lesson today! Freestyle ice was teeming with little people as per tradition so, again, it was difficult to move around the ice and get anything meaningful done. I basically did what I could in whatever clear patch of ice I could find. I'm really looking forward to when summer ends and I can have nearly unoccupied ice once more.

Warm-upz - Laps and edges mostly. I really want to keep working on the Circle 8 because it has really improved my forward edges but I know I also need to start worrying about getting my backward edges solid. When I first started working on the forward Circle 8 (before I had control over it), I would just choose a hockey circle and try to hold either an outside or inside edge on whatever foot I was working on. I've started doing this for my backward edges and things are getting a bit more stable. Holding the edge is one thing but I know I need to get a good push as well. This is a challenge because I have a tendency to get up on my toe picks so I'm glad this is something I'm including in my warm-ups now. This will take a while.

Jumpz & Spinz - I ran through all of my jumps spending extra time on slowing the salchow down. I have some that feel slower and then others that I rush so things are still not consistent with these yet. Loops felt icky today because I kept skidding off the edge on the entry. Time for a sharpening, I suppose. I did some other jumps before moving on to spins. I had one really good sit spin where I know it was the lowest I've gone! I wish I would have recorded it to know for sure, though. But it felt different! I tried to replicate it with little success. As I forced myself lower, I lost control of the spin. Alas. The spin gods giveth and the spin gods taketh away.

Silver Movez - Since it was nearly time for my lesson and I realized I hadn't touched Silver MIF yet, I got to work on those. The RBO and RBI 3 turns were still there (thankfully) but still nothing on my left foot. After back 3s, I picked a hockey circle and started in with the 8 step in both directions. That stupid outside mohawk felt less stupid going clockwise for some reason. This whole move is goofy. I dabbled in some backward power pulls before returning to back 3s.

Lessonz - I told Christopher that I made some headway on the RBI so he asked to see. I did the LFO-RBI pattern on the blue line and it was okay but when I skated back to him he said said he would like me to take the pattern down the length of the rink as it should be. Skating it on the blue line, while it helps with staying true to the axis, creates really small lobes that are actually more difficult to do. Doing the full pattern down the length of the rink will force me to do bigger lobes and make things a smidge easier. So I tried it and I put my foot down after every RBI. Aghgghg, it feels like I'm starting from scratch! But, I'll get used to it I guess. He determined that six lobes would fit nicely so that's what I should practice. Then, he wanted to see the other side! Gulp! I don't have an LBI 3 turn yet!!! So, I did the pattern but did a two foot turn in the place of the LBI. Once I got to the other end of the rink, he just had me do the LBI in isolation. Terrifying! Perhaps he could sense my panic so he offered to hold my hands while I do them. I was able to do a couple with him holding on to me but when I tried on my own, I was back to being a mess. He gave me a few important things to remember: keep the free leg in front instead of flamingo'd, turn my head along with my torso going into the turn, and BEND my damn knees. I'm actually making it more difficult than it needs to be (typical Mandi). He asked for a sit spin to finish off our lesson and, while I got lower, it was out of control again. It's still a work in progress. Finally, in addition to the physical support he gave me earlier, he gave me some moral support. He talked to me about thinking positively and not letting fear control me. I'm strong and capable but I'm holding myself back. I have to do better about the negative self talk. I know I'm guilty of it so, along with the physical practice, I should probably include some more positive thinking into my sessions. I'm not a Debbie Downer by any means, but I doubt myself a lot. Imagine the progress I could make if I got rid of some of that!