I'm hurt...again. I've have some little injuries all summer but this time I'm really hurt and I'll be off the ice for bit. This sucks!
On Sunday evening I was messing around with some floor jumps at home. I wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. I practice floor jumps at home all the time. I usually start with the easiest jumps and work my way up to the harder ones. I did one waltz jump and it was okay so I did another. When I landed the second one, I came down on my landing leg a goofy way and I heard an audible "pop" in my right calf and then I was on the floor unable to get up. I was home alone at the time since my husband was at work so I had to crawl to my phone and text him about it. I wasn't able to put any weight on my right leg and the pain was increasing. When he finally got home, I told him I wanted to just wait until Monday morning to go to the orthopedist instead of going to the ER that night. I figured they would just send me to the ortho anyway so let's just skip the ER (and the copay) and go right to the people who can actually help me. Luckily, I still have my crutches, boot, and scooter from when I broke my leg two years ago so I can at least be mobile.
So, on Monday afternoon, I went to the ortho's office and saw the same doctor who fixed my leg a couple of years ago. It's no surprise that he remembered me. In fact, I think they all know me now. I was just there four weeks ago for the hand surgery. Ugh. Embarrassing. They did an x-ray to make sure there were no broken bones but, from what I was describing to them, they initially thought I ruptured my Achilles. X-rays came back fine so they started poking and prodding my right ankle/calf. They pressed my Achilles and my foot moved on its own so they determined that it wasn't an Achilles injury (thankfully, because that would have required surgery). However, it looks like I tore a calf muscle so they put a wedge in my boot and ordered me to stay off the ice for at least 6 weeks. Damn.
I'm just...I have no words right now. I spent the whole summer battling some kind of pain and now this. I finally had a really good lesson on Saturday and I did well at my competition the week before that. I was really starting to feel like I turned the corner on all this bad luck I've been having.
I went to the rink yesterday to tell my coach in person what the diagnosis was (but mostly I just wanted to be at the rink). It feels like home to me. I love the smell and I could watch people skate all day and never tire of it. All I wanted was to get on the ice with them and work on stuff. Sigh.
So, I may not update as frequently as I usually do because there really won't be anything to update about. I just have to sit around and wait for this to heal. It might be a nice little break and maybe I really do need to just sit around and not push myself for a while. I've made comebacks before, I'll make one again. As far as my new boots/blades go, I asked them to just keep them aside for me. I'll be back to get them but I can't fit my stupid foot in them now so I'll need to wait a couple of months in order to try them on and get blades mounted and such. That's another disappointment.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Saturday, September 21, 2019
Moves Lesson
Today was my first lesson with Christopher since the competition and we got right to work on Silver Moves per my request. We didn't have time for all of them but we looked at the first three moves.
8 Step Mohawk - I've just been practicing this on the hockey circle and haven't yet done it in the full proper pattern so today we did just that and holy cow, it's so different! I didn't realize how big this thing actually is. I mean, it pretty much takes up most of the rink. Geez. So I did better going clockwise than the other way and there were a few missteps especially in regards to that outside mohawk. I'll keep practicing it in the full pattern slowly and work my way up to full speed. It will be a challenge to get all the steps even.
Forward and Backward Cross Strokes - Some corrections on this but it's still the best of all of the Silver moves. He wants me to emphasize the underpush going forward and watch that I get on an edge and not on the toepick going backwards. Later in my practice after the lesson I felt like I was getting a better hang of this.
FO-BI Three Turns - My LBI is still pretty weak and he pointed out that I'm rushing it in an attempt to just get it over with. Yes, that's a true statement! So we worked a bit on making sure I'm turning my torso and head along with the turn instead of forcing it.
Flip Jump - At the tail end of our lesson he wanted to see some jumps so I suggested the flip jump since that has been put on the back burner lately. We worked a bit on getting that pick in and draw so I'm not two-footing the takeoff. This needs so much more work.
Today was one of the better lessons I've had lately! I told him that next week I really want to work on the power pulls since I've been struggling so much with the forward ones. My new boots/blades should be arriving on Monday and on Saturday I'll go in to try them on and get the blades temporarily mounted. Good stuff!
8 Step Mohawk - I've just been practicing this on the hockey circle and haven't yet done it in the full proper pattern so today we did just that and holy cow, it's so different! I didn't realize how big this thing actually is. I mean, it pretty much takes up most of the rink. Geez. So I did better going clockwise than the other way and there were a few missteps especially in regards to that outside mohawk. I'll keep practicing it in the full pattern slowly and work my way up to full speed. It will be a challenge to get all the steps even.
Forward and Backward Cross Strokes - Some corrections on this but it's still the best of all of the Silver moves. He wants me to emphasize the underpush going forward and watch that I get on an edge and not on the toepick going backwards. Later in my practice after the lesson I felt like I was getting a better hang of this.
FO-BI Three Turns - My LBI is still pretty weak and he pointed out that I'm rushing it in an attempt to just get it over with. Yes, that's a true statement! So we worked a bit on making sure I'm turning my torso and head along with the turn instead of forcing it.
Flip Jump - At the tail end of our lesson he wanted to see some jumps so I suggested the flip jump since that has been put on the back burner lately. We worked a bit on getting that pick in and draw so I'm not two-footing the takeoff. This needs so much more work.
Today was one of the better lessons I've had lately! I told him that next week I really want to work on the power pulls since I've been struggling so much with the forward ones. My new boots/blades should be arriving on Monday and on Saturday I'll go in to try them on and get the blades temporarily mounted. Good stuff!
Friday, September 20, 2019
Moves, Jumps, Boots, and Blades
I practiced this morning and it was productive. I worked on the usual things and then I revisited some elements that I've had to set aside in order to focus on competition/testing.
Movez - After my off-ice and on-ice warm ups I started working on Silver Moves. I didn't work on the alternating spirals because it was kind of a busy session and it's scary enough when the ice is practically empty. I spent a lot of time on the 3 turn patterns, though. I have all but 1 of the 4 backward 3 turns. I'm really struggling with the LBO turn. I make it around but I skid a bit and then immediately put my free foot down. I'll have Christopher take a look tomorrow during our lesson to see if he can fix me. Moving on, I worked a bit on the 8 step mohawk in both directions and just did them on a hockey circle. I'm not ready for the full pattern yet. Cross steps were okay so I only ran them a couple of times before moving on to the power pulls. I like that these are getting easier going backwards but I still can't do them well forwards. I wish I had training wheels for this move. It really feels like I'm too much on my heel and it's going to slip out from under me. Scary.
Spinz - I did all of them. Meh.
Jumpz - I realized that it's been a while since I did some flip jumps so I made sure those got worked on today. I did some flips by themselves and then some flip-toe combos. Speaking of combos, I did many today. Loop-toe was fine, toe loop-loop was better, and I even did some salchow-loops which were surprisingly not the worst thing ever. I would really like to get my flip comfortable enough that I can do it in combination with a loop jump. I think if I were able to replace the loop-toe loop from my compulsory moves with a flip-loop, that would be badass.
New Skatez - When I was at the competition this past weekend, the place that sharpens my skates was a vendor and I stopped by their stall to talk about options for new boots and blades. I've had these skates since 2005!!! I mean, it's not like I've been skating in them that long. I took 10 years off from skating so really I have a total of close to 3 years worth of skating in them. It's time to get something new. The blades have maybe one more sharpening left and the boots are broken down to the point that they are loose at the ankles (not safe). I know that, bladewise, I want to upgrade slightly from my Jackson Protege blade to the new Legacy 8. It's pretty similar in profile but it's lighter and has cross cut picks. But when I thought about choosing a new boot, I was originally thinking I wanted to stick with another pair of Riedell Silver Stars but Christopher and the skate vendor convinced me that Jackson is the way to go. I chose the Jackson Premiere Fusion (even though all of those lace hooks feel intimidating). It's a nice intermediate boot that seems appropriate for my level. Plus, I can't lie, it's a pretty boot! So she measured me for everything and ordered them for me and I'll go down to their shop in another week to see how they feel on my feet. The whole idea of getting completely new and different equipment is terrifying! I know there is a learning curve and some adjustments I'll have to make with my skating but I'm scared. I've really only ever been in my current boot/blade. I have no idea what to expect from all of this. It's exciting though! I think I'll feel safer too knowing that I'm not at risk for another injury.
Movez - After my off-ice and on-ice warm ups I started working on Silver Moves. I didn't work on the alternating spirals because it was kind of a busy session and it's scary enough when the ice is practically empty. I spent a lot of time on the 3 turn patterns, though. I have all but 1 of the 4 backward 3 turns. I'm really struggling with the LBO turn. I make it around but I skid a bit and then immediately put my free foot down. I'll have Christopher take a look tomorrow during our lesson to see if he can fix me. Moving on, I worked a bit on the 8 step mohawk in both directions and just did them on a hockey circle. I'm not ready for the full pattern yet. Cross steps were okay so I only ran them a couple of times before moving on to the power pulls. I like that these are getting easier going backwards but I still can't do them well forwards. I wish I had training wheels for this move. It really feels like I'm too much on my heel and it's going to slip out from under me. Scary.
Spinz - I did all of them. Meh.
Jumpz - I realized that it's been a while since I did some flip jumps so I made sure those got worked on today. I did some flips by themselves and then some flip-toe combos. Speaking of combos, I did many today. Loop-toe was fine, toe loop-loop was better, and I even did some salchow-loops which were surprisingly not the worst thing ever. I would really like to get my flip comfortable enough that I can do it in combination with a loop jump. I think if I were able to replace the loop-toe loop from my compulsory moves with a flip-loop, that would be badass.
New Skatez - When I was at the competition this past weekend, the place that sharpens my skates was a vendor and I stopped by their stall to talk about options for new boots and blades. I've had these skates since 2005!!! I mean, it's not like I've been skating in them that long. I took 10 years off from skating so really I have a total of close to 3 years worth of skating in them. It's time to get something new. The blades have maybe one more sharpening left and the boots are broken down to the point that they are loose at the ankles (not safe). I know that, bladewise, I want to upgrade slightly from my Jackson Protege blade to the new Legacy 8. It's pretty similar in profile but it's lighter and has cross cut picks. But when I thought about choosing a new boot, I was originally thinking I wanted to stick with another pair of Riedell Silver Stars but Christopher and the skate vendor convinced me that Jackson is the way to go. I chose the Jackson Premiere Fusion (even though all of those lace hooks feel intimidating). It's a nice intermediate boot that seems appropriate for my level. Plus, I can't lie, it's a pretty boot! So she measured me for everything and ordered them for me and I'll go down to their shop in another week to see how they feel on my feet. The whole idea of getting completely new and different equipment is terrifying! I know there is a learning curve and some adjustments I'll have to make with my skating but I'm scared. I've really only ever been in my current boot/blade. I have no idea what to expect from all of this. It's exciting though! I think I'll feel safer too knowing that I'm not at risk for another injury.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
Movin'
Today was the first practice in a long time where I had absolutely no pressure to work on stuff. I have no competitions coming up, I'm done testing for a while, and now I can just plug away at things and relax. I did jumps and spins toward the end of my practice and I ran my compulsory moves once but I mostly spent the hour working on Silver Moves.
Eight Step Mohawk - Since it's been a while, I just stuck to one of the hockey circles and did these slowly in both directions. Man, that outside mohawk is terrifying. It feels unnatural. Oddly, the CW side was more smooth and I was able to even out the steps enough to have a nice cadence going on. The CCW side, however, is very choppy and uneven. This will take some work. Once I get the steps solid and evened out a bit, I will do the full pattern out in center ice as it should be.
Forward & Backward Cross Strokes - This is the only move that I can do from beginning to end. I mean, it still needs work for it to look proper but I can at least get through the whole thing from start to finish. My backward cross strokes are feeling better but I know they aren't perfect yet. I've made progress in the sense that I'm at least stepping on to an edge rather than stepping back onto my toepick.
FO-BI 3 Turns - I did all of the 3 turn patterns on the blue line rather than down the length of the rink because I want to make sure I'm placing the turns at the top of each lobe and it's just easier to see that on a line. These were okay since I've been working on them all summer but it's still pretty evident which side is my strong side.
FI-BO 3 Turns - These were kind of a mess because I spent the summer only working on the FO-BI 3 turns because I needed the BI 3 turns for compulsory moves. So, really, today was the first time I've touched these since July and it showed. They were really sloppy especially on my bad side. I'm still struggling with the LBO turns. Sigh. I'll need to dedicate more time to these.
Consecutive Outside & Inside Spirals - I've been neglecting these as well. They felt very unstable.
Forward & Backward Power Pulls - Ugh, I hate these! Remember how much I hated the Forward Circle 8 when I first started working on it for Bronze Moves? It's just like that all over again. The backward pulls aren't so bad and I know they will get better the more I work on them but those forward power pulls seem impossible to me right now. But so did the Circle 8 and it ended up being the highest scored element on my Bronze test. I can only hope that I have the same outcome with these. I know bending my knees will help and I know that there is a certain rhythm you should have with the down-up-down movement but my body won't cooperate at all. Fingers crossed it gets better.
Overall, it was a productive practice and it was the most relaxed I've been on the ice in a long time. It was refreshing. When I was at the competition this past weekend, I told Christopher that I was thinking of not doing the Aspen Invitational in December and instead just competing at Sectionals in March. I think that would give me a nice break from the pressure I've been feeling lately. The summer just kind of burnt me out a bit. I had my Bronze Moves test in June, the Free Skate test in August, and then I was trying to train for CSI in September while also recovering from hand surgery. It was a lot to work on and work through and I'm looking forward to a couple of months of just practicing for fun :)
Eight Step Mohawk - Since it's been a while, I just stuck to one of the hockey circles and did these slowly in both directions. Man, that outside mohawk is terrifying. It feels unnatural. Oddly, the CW side was more smooth and I was able to even out the steps enough to have a nice cadence going on. The CCW side, however, is very choppy and uneven. This will take some work. Once I get the steps solid and evened out a bit, I will do the full pattern out in center ice as it should be.
Forward & Backward Cross Strokes - This is the only move that I can do from beginning to end. I mean, it still needs work for it to look proper but I can at least get through the whole thing from start to finish. My backward cross strokes are feeling better but I know they aren't perfect yet. I've made progress in the sense that I'm at least stepping on to an edge rather than stepping back onto my toepick.
FO-BI 3 Turns - I did all of the 3 turn patterns on the blue line rather than down the length of the rink because I want to make sure I'm placing the turns at the top of each lobe and it's just easier to see that on a line. These were okay since I've been working on them all summer but it's still pretty evident which side is my strong side.
FI-BO 3 Turns - These were kind of a mess because I spent the summer only working on the FO-BI 3 turns because I needed the BI 3 turns for compulsory moves. So, really, today was the first time I've touched these since July and it showed. They were really sloppy especially on my bad side. I'm still struggling with the LBO turns. Sigh. I'll need to dedicate more time to these.
Consecutive Outside & Inside Spirals - I've been neglecting these as well. They felt very unstable.
Forward & Backward Power Pulls - Ugh, I hate these! Remember how much I hated the Forward Circle 8 when I first started working on it for Bronze Moves? It's just like that all over again. The backward pulls aren't so bad and I know they will get better the more I work on them but those forward power pulls seem impossible to me right now. But so did the Circle 8 and it ended up being the highest scored element on my Bronze test. I can only hope that I have the same outcome with these. I know bending my knees will help and I know that there is a certain rhythm you should have with the down-up-down movement but my body won't cooperate at all. Fingers crossed it gets better.
Overall, it was a productive practice and it was the most relaxed I've been on the ice in a long time. It was refreshing. When I was at the competition this past weekend, I told Christopher that I was thinking of not doing the Aspen Invitational in December and instead just competing at Sectionals in March. I think that would give me a nice break from the pressure I've been feeling lately. The summer just kind of burnt me out a bit. I had my Bronze Moves test in June, the Free Skate test in August, and then I was trying to train for CSI in September while also recovering from hand surgery. It was a lot to work on and work through and I'm looking forward to a couple of months of just practicing for fun :)
Monday, September 16, 2019
2019 CSI Recap - Free Skate
There were seven of us competing in the Free Skate and I was the third skater to perform. It's a good position to be in because I still felt warmed up but then I skated early enough so that I could watch the rest of my competitors perform and cheer them on. I know a lot of people don't like to skate so early in their group but I really do enjoy watching the others perform. It's so fun to see how well they do! So, while the skater before me was performing her routine, I was breathing and doing my grounding exercises. When I was called out to the ice, I was relaxed and ready to do the thing. I was confident knowing that all of my jumps, spins, and footwork went well during my four minute warm up. My mind was healthy. Pretty much I just felt like "whatever happens will happen and there is nothing you can do now but just go out there and skate your routine."
Results! I got 2nd! Silver Medal!!! It was a HUGE surprise! I remember telling my husband before they posted the results that I would be happy with 5th because I honestly felt like that's what I deserved. These other women (and one man) were excellent skaters with lovely routines. We all skated well!
The Main Event - You can see in the video that, even while I was getting into position, I was doing my breathing. It really helped! What didn't help, however, was that they started my music before I was finished setting up my starting pose. RUDE! But, I was relaxed and didn't let it freak me out. I just went with it! What else could I do, right? My opening combo was the toe loop-loop but I didn't land with my free leg in front so I wasn't in a good position for the loop. Split second decision had me completing the combo with the only thing I could fit in there, another toe loop. Again, I didn't let it rattle me but once I got off the ice I started fretting because you can only repeat a jump once and only in combo. I had one too many toe loops!!! I figured that would be a sizable deduction. Alas. Everything else went as planned, even my twizzle that wasn't working the day before had made an appearance. The stag jump that I was so worried about was less like a broke down mule and more like a cute little pony (not entirely a majestic stag but I'll take it!). Nothing fell and I ended on time with the music. I was so relieved that it was finally over! You can see that relief on my face at the end. I could breathe now! The sit spin was squatty but it was centered and I didn't fall out of it. It was an okay program that I felt deserved an okay placement. I would have been happy with anything but was not going to poo poo the silver medal that they awarded me :)
Results! I got 2nd! Silver Medal!!! It was a HUGE surprise! I remember telling my husband before they posted the results that I would be happy with 5th because I honestly felt like that's what I deserved. These other women (and one man) were excellent skaters with lovely routines. We all skated well!
The Main Event - You can see in the video that, even while I was getting into position, I was doing my breathing. It really helped! What didn't help, however, was that they started my music before I was finished setting up my starting pose. RUDE! But, I was relaxed and didn't let it freak me out. I just went with it! What else could I do, right? My opening combo was the toe loop-loop but I didn't land with my free leg in front so I wasn't in a good position for the loop. Split second decision had me completing the combo with the only thing I could fit in there, another toe loop. Again, I didn't let it rattle me but once I got off the ice I started fretting because you can only repeat a jump once and only in combo. I had one too many toe loops!!! I figured that would be a sizable deduction. Alas. Everything else went as planned, even my twizzle that wasn't working the day before had made an appearance. The stag jump that I was so worried about was less like a broke down mule and more like a cute little pony (not entirely a majestic stag but I'll take it!). Nothing fell and I ended on time with the music. I was so relieved that it was finally over! You can see that relief on my face at the end. I could breathe now! The sit spin was squatty but it was centered and I didn't fall out of it. It was an okay program that I felt deserved an okay placement. I would have been happy with anything but was not going to poo poo the silver medal that they awarded me :)
2019 CSI Recap - Compulsory Moves
The Colorado Springs Invitational was this past weekend and I survived! I actually did a lot better than I had anticipated given all of the crappy practices I've been having lately. So, I'll do two separate posts (one for the Compulsory Moves event and one for the Free Skate).
Not only have I been nervous for this competition because of my recent practices but also because this was my first time competing at a new higher level. When I was skating Pre-Bronze I felt like a big fish in a little pond and now that I'm Bronze I feel like a little fish in a big pond. I made the mistake of looking up some of my competitors online to see what I was up against and I got spooked. I was seeing lovely jumps and higher level spins that were actually centered and in a proper position. How can I keep up?! I decided going into this that my expectations were going to be low. My goal was to stay upright, don't embarrass myself (or my coach), and maybe do well enough to justify spending money on a professional video and not be ashamed to actually share it with people. I accomplished those goals!
So, the results! I finished first out of four! What!? Gold Medal! Woooo!
Warm-upz - During the warm up I was struggling with the sit spin. It was just a hot mess. I did it so many times and each time it got worse. I told Christopher that I just didn't feel comfortable putting it in at all (It reminded me of the movie The Cutting Edge when they got to the final competition and were all like "we're not doing the Pamchenko!"). I would rather do a one foot spin and have that look nice than do a sit spin that was wonky. I could tell he wasn't pleased but that's how I wanted it. I felt insanely guilty like I was giving up on it. I felt like a quitter. But, it's just that it's so inconsistent and it needs so much more work still. On top of it all, even when I do manage to get the rotations, it's barely a "sit", it's more like a squat. I'm going to keep working on it until it's better but I just didn't feel comfortable putting it in for this routine. Sigh. The good news was that my jumps were fine and the backward 3 turns got around just fine without a foot down. Even though I felt guilty for giving up on the sit spin, I was feeling confident about all the other things. It's a give and take.
The Main Event! I was last to skate in our group of four and as the skater before me was performing, I was doing the breathing exercises that Paul showed me. It was soon my turn and, as I took up my starting position, I took one last breath to ensure I was calm. Everything went as planned except for one thing. I did my first backward inside three turn (RBI) and then didn't set the next one up properly (which never happened in practice so I'm chalking it up to nerves) so I skipped the second one entirely (LBI). BUT!!!! I didn't let it bother me! The breathing helped and I was able to just move on to the next thing and not be mentally stuck in the spot where I made the mistake! The final spin was just a basic one-foot spin, not very impressive. But I think maybe had I done a terrible sit spin, that would have put me in second place given that I had already made a misstep in the routine with the LBI 3 turn. So, it was a good call on my part but I still feel bad about it. I honestly wasn't expecting much in terms of results so I was genuinely surprised to get first place. I had some really good competition. Those women were fiercely good! Here's the video :)
Not only have I been nervous for this competition because of my recent practices but also because this was my first time competing at a new higher level. When I was skating Pre-Bronze I felt like a big fish in a little pond and now that I'm Bronze I feel like a little fish in a big pond. I made the mistake of looking up some of my competitors online to see what I was up against and I got spooked. I was seeing lovely jumps and higher level spins that were actually centered and in a proper position. How can I keep up?! I decided going into this that my expectations were going to be low. My goal was to stay upright, don't embarrass myself (or my coach), and maybe do well enough to justify spending money on a professional video and not be ashamed to actually share it with people. I accomplished those goals!
So, the results! I finished first out of four! What!? Gold Medal! Woooo!
Warm-upz - During the warm up I was struggling with the sit spin. It was just a hot mess. I did it so many times and each time it got worse. I told Christopher that I just didn't feel comfortable putting it in at all (It reminded me of the movie The Cutting Edge when they got to the final competition and were all like "we're not doing the Pamchenko!"). I would rather do a one foot spin and have that look nice than do a sit spin that was wonky. I could tell he wasn't pleased but that's how I wanted it. I felt insanely guilty like I was giving up on it. I felt like a quitter. But, it's just that it's so inconsistent and it needs so much more work still. On top of it all, even when I do manage to get the rotations, it's barely a "sit", it's more like a squat. I'm going to keep working on it until it's better but I just didn't feel comfortable putting it in for this routine. Sigh. The good news was that my jumps were fine and the backward 3 turns got around just fine without a foot down. Even though I felt guilty for giving up on the sit spin, I was feeling confident about all the other things. It's a give and take.
The Main Event! I was last to skate in our group of four and as the skater before me was performing, I was doing the breathing exercises that Paul showed me. It was soon my turn and, as I took up my starting position, I took one last breath to ensure I was calm. Everything went as planned except for one thing. I did my first backward inside three turn (RBI) and then didn't set the next one up properly (which never happened in practice so I'm chalking it up to nerves) so I skipped the second one entirely (LBI). BUT!!!! I didn't let it bother me! The breathing helped and I was able to just move on to the next thing and not be mentally stuck in the spot where I made the mistake! The final spin was just a basic one-foot spin, not very impressive. But I think maybe had I done a terrible sit spin, that would have put me in second place given that I had already made a misstep in the routine with the LBI 3 turn. So, it was a good call on my part but I still feel bad about it. I honestly wasn't expecting much in terms of results so I was genuinely surprised to get first place. I had some really good competition. Those women were fiercely good! Here's the video :)
Friday, September 13, 2019
Friday the 13th practice
Being Friday the 13th and all, I wasn't expecting much from today's final practice before the competition but, surprisingly, it wasn't terrible. I warmed up off ice and on ice as usual and started working on some things from my last lesson.
Warm-up Practicez - I moved over to where the entry door would be at the rink in Monument and "entered" the ice for my four minute warm up. Everything went well but I feel like I don't have enough time to fit everything in. Four minutes was up and I forgot to do jump combos. I'll make sure I get everything in tomorrow (plus Christopher will be at the boards to remind me if I forget stuff). My spins were really nice and I wanted to stop and admire the tracings on the ice but I was under a time crunch. Alas. So, I'm not going to fret about my choreographed warm up. It's just a plan so I don't forget but if I do happen to forget a thing it won't be the end of the world.
Trouble Spotz - I worked on trouble spots for both programs starting with the BI 3 turns from my compulsory moves routine. My turns are typically executed well when I remember to turn my head along with my torso so I need to make a mental effort to remind myself of that when I perform this, otherwise I'm looking in the opposite direction and the turn becomes forced. I did a few passes of these before running the whole thing. Moving on to the free skate program, my biggest trouble spot is that opening jump combo (toe loop-loop) so I did that several times to reinforce the feeling of getting it right. I feel like if I can land this combo right from the beginning, the rest of the program will go well. I worked a bit on the footwork sequence trying to get that a bit more smooth but was stumbling through the twizzle for some reason. It's never really been a problem before but today they felt erratic. Finally, I worked on the stag jump. During my lesson, Christopher pointed out that I've been replacing the stag jump with a half-flip. Yeah, I guess I have without even realizing it. Hrmm! If I perform a half-flip, that's actually a problem because then I have gone over the maximum of 4 allowable jumps. A stag jump won't count as a jump but the half-flip will and I guess that would be a deduction. Looking back at the video from sectionals, I totally replaced the stag with the half flip. Ooops! So I worked on the stag jump today and man it's uncomfortable. I'm more like a broke down mule than an elegant stag. It will have to do. I can't practice it anymore between now and tomorrow. What I have is what I have. The other option is to leave it out entirely but then that will mess with the timing of my music and there is just no time to be working on rearranging things the day before competition.
So, am I ready for tomorrow? Not really. But then I think if you ask any skater this question they would say the same. There is always something that needs work. I'm not as excited about this competition as I was last year but I'm not nervous either. I guess I'm more apathetic than anything and it has me questioning if I should be competing anymore after this (for a while, not forever). Or maybe it's just this program. I don't love it anymore. Sure, the music is fun and the choreography is lovely but I feel like I want to slow down and work more on presentation, edges, beautiful lines...something that a slower program might allow me to do. I told Christopher that after this weekend is over, I really want to spend more time on Silver Moves. I don't know what it is, but working on Moves really calms me. I think I need that back for a bit before I do another competition. Although Moves are difficult, there is a certain ease about them that I love, namely the fact that I'm not trying to fit things into a certain time frame or I need to keep up with the music. Perhaps that's why I'm struggling with my free skate program. It's just a race to keep up and how can I focus on technique if I'm always rushing to the next thing?
I'm not having my husband record my events tomorrow (he's on tossie duty anyway). I just want to go out there and skate and hopefully shine. If I do well, I can always buy the professional video. I'll post about how it all went after the weekend is over.
Warm-up Practicez - I moved over to where the entry door would be at the rink in Monument and "entered" the ice for my four minute warm up. Everything went well but I feel like I don't have enough time to fit everything in. Four minutes was up and I forgot to do jump combos. I'll make sure I get everything in tomorrow (plus Christopher will be at the boards to remind me if I forget stuff). My spins were really nice and I wanted to stop and admire the tracings on the ice but I was under a time crunch. Alas. So, I'm not going to fret about my choreographed warm up. It's just a plan so I don't forget but if I do happen to forget a thing it won't be the end of the world.
Trouble Spotz - I worked on trouble spots for both programs starting with the BI 3 turns from my compulsory moves routine. My turns are typically executed well when I remember to turn my head along with my torso so I need to make a mental effort to remind myself of that when I perform this, otherwise I'm looking in the opposite direction and the turn becomes forced. I did a few passes of these before running the whole thing. Moving on to the free skate program, my biggest trouble spot is that opening jump combo (toe loop-loop) so I did that several times to reinforce the feeling of getting it right. I feel like if I can land this combo right from the beginning, the rest of the program will go well. I worked a bit on the footwork sequence trying to get that a bit more smooth but was stumbling through the twizzle for some reason. It's never really been a problem before but today they felt erratic. Finally, I worked on the stag jump. During my lesson, Christopher pointed out that I've been replacing the stag jump with a half-flip. Yeah, I guess I have without even realizing it. Hrmm! If I perform a half-flip, that's actually a problem because then I have gone over the maximum of 4 allowable jumps. A stag jump won't count as a jump but the half-flip will and I guess that would be a deduction. Looking back at the video from sectionals, I totally replaced the stag with the half flip. Ooops! So I worked on the stag jump today and man it's uncomfortable. I'm more like a broke down mule than an elegant stag. It will have to do. I can't practice it anymore between now and tomorrow. What I have is what I have. The other option is to leave it out entirely but then that will mess with the timing of my music and there is just no time to be working on rearranging things the day before competition.
So, am I ready for tomorrow? Not really. But then I think if you ask any skater this question they would say the same. There is always something that needs work. I'm not as excited about this competition as I was last year but I'm not nervous either. I guess I'm more apathetic than anything and it has me questioning if I should be competing anymore after this (for a while, not forever). Or maybe it's just this program. I don't love it anymore. Sure, the music is fun and the choreography is lovely but I feel like I want to slow down and work more on presentation, edges, beautiful lines...something that a slower program might allow me to do. I told Christopher that after this weekend is over, I really want to spend more time on Silver Moves. I don't know what it is, but working on Moves really calms me. I think I need that back for a bit before I do another competition. Although Moves are difficult, there is a certain ease about them that I love, namely the fact that I'm not trying to fit things into a certain time frame or I need to keep up with the music. Perhaps that's why I'm struggling with my free skate program. It's just a race to keep up and how can I focus on technique if I'm always rushing to the next thing?
I'm not having my husband record my events tomorrow (he's on tossie duty anyway). I just want to go out there and skate and hopefully shine. If I do well, I can always buy the professional video. I'll post about how it all went after the weekend is over.
Thursday, September 12, 2019
Don't let the lizards grind you down
*Warning: Long, possibly boring science stuff ahead. Also lizards.*
I met with the counselor on campus today and I was in there for about an hour and I feel like I really learned a lot of good techniques to get a better handle on my bad mind thoughts. What I really appreciated was that he explained the science behind it all. I'm an academic and you can't just tell me to do a thing. I need to understand the mechanics and the "why" of it all. It was very enlightening.
There are three evolutionary layers of the human brain: The reptilian brain is the oldest of the three and controls most of our basic functioning (breathing, heart beat, etc.). The mammalian brain is responsible for emotions, making basic decisions and behaviors, and recording memories. Finally the neocortex is what separates us from most other living beings. It allows for higher level thought processes, language, and development of complex skills.
When we are relaxed, we hang out in the neocortex and we are capable of thinking through situations calmly and logically. During this time, the primitive reptilian part of the brain is just there if we need it for emergency purposes. It's breathing for us and regulating our heartbeat but it isn't helping us make decisions (and we wouldn't want it to). However, when we experience situations that cause anxiety (like getting on the ice for a competition), the primitive part of our brain takes over and causes us to respond with fight or flight. Our heart rate increases and so does our breathing (which we will now do through our mouth instead of our nose). With all of this, our fine motor skills go completely out of the window and we may not be as precise with our movements as we would want. We are basically a dumb lizard. The jumps you have landed in practice might fall at competition because you are now at this heightened state of being and your muscles and reflexes aren't reacting in a way that you are used to. You are no longer capable of thinking through the parts of your program or listening to the music to express yourself appropriately. You are now simply trying to get through it and survive. Your reptile brain just does what it needs to get you out of that situation as quickly as possible. Quality is gone. Lizards are not the best ice skaters.
So, since this is such a bad outcome and will likely result in a messy program, your goal is to stay in the neocortex part of the brain where you are capable of being present and aware of the things around you. You are in "the zone" and can feel the music, adjust for mistakes logically, and fully express emotions while performing skills. Dumb lizards can't do this but humans can! However, you can't just tell yourself that you will stick to neocortex level thinking. You can't just think positively (although that helps). But, there are ways to trick the brain into thinking it's fine even though all of the negative thoughts hang over you like a cloud and lizards are banging at the door trying to force their way in.
Paul hooked me up to a biofeedback machine that measured my heart rate. It also had a color spectrum (green for normal and blue for relaxed) that gave me more of a visual for how my body was reacting to physical or emotional stimuli. I had a good heart rate and I was in the green. This is fine for everyday activities. He then showed me a breathing technique: breathe in through the nose for five seconds, release through the mouth for five seconds. Do this five times. My color spectrum was a beautiful shade of blue! My heart rate was also slower and more consistent. Best of all, I felt light like nothing could bother me! He explained that when we breathe in through our nose, we are stimulating the amygdala (which helps us process emotions) and because we are doing this slowly, our heart rate is relaxed and we retain logical thought ("my body is trained for this" "I know how to land this jump"). Since we are not tense, we don't lose our fine motor skills and we are better able to trust that our body knows what to do. So, if I do this breathing exercise right before I take the ice, I will stay in that neocortex part of my brain which is exactly where I want to be when I'm going through my program.
He also showed me a really nice grounding technique that acts like a shield against outside stress and he showed me how standing in a victory pose (basically you are the shape of an uppercase Y) for a few minutes will tell your body that you are successful. It seems silly but he says there are studies that show that it is effective.
So yeah, it was really helpful! Now that I know that there are actual things I can control that will get me out of my head, I feel a little more confident. I'm not so scared of myself. He says that if I practice this, like anything, it will become second nature so that when I find myself in anxiety inducing situations, I won't go right away into "lizard mode" but will instead go automatically into "calm breathing and logical thought mode."
Science is neat!
I met with the counselor on campus today and I was in there for about an hour and I feel like I really learned a lot of good techniques to get a better handle on my bad mind thoughts. What I really appreciated was that he explained the science behind it all. I'm an academic and you can't just tell me to do a thing. I need to understand the mechanics and the "why" of it all. It was very enlightening.
There are three evolutionary layers of the human brain: The reptilian brain is the oldest of the three and controls most of our basic functioning (breathing, heart beat, etc.). The mammalian brain is responsible for emotions, making basic decisions and behaviors, and recording memories. Finally the neocortex is what separates us from most other living beings. It allows for higher level thought processes, language, and development of complex skills.
When we are relaxed, we hang out in the neocortex and we are capable of thinking through situations calmly and logically. During this time, the primitive reptilian part of the brain is just there if we need it for emergency purposes. It's breathing for us and regulating our heartbeat but it isn't helping us make decisions (and we wouldn't want it to). However, when we experience situations that cause anxiety (like getting on the ice for a competition), the primitive part of our brain takes over and causes us to respond with fight or flight. Our heart rate increases and so does our breathing (which we will now do through our mouth instead of our nose). With all of this, our fine motor skills go completely out of the window and we may not be as precise with our movements as we would want. We are basically a dumb lizard. The jumps you have landed in practice might fall at competition because you are now at this heightened state of being and your muscles and reflexes aren't reacting in a way that you are used to. You are no longer capable of thinking through the parts of your program or listening to the music to express yourself appropriately. You are now simply trying to get through it and survive. Your reptile brain just does what it needs to get you out of that situation as quickly as possible. Quality is gone. Lizards are not the best ice skaters.
So, since this is such a bad outcome and will likely result in a messy program, your goal is to stay in the neocortex part of the brain where you are capable of being present and aware of the things around you. You are in "the zone" and can feel the music, adjust for mistakes logically, and fully express emotions while performing skills. Dumb lizards can't do this but humans can! However, you can't just tell yourself that you will stick to neocortex level thinking. You can't just think positively (although that helps). But, there are ways to trick the brain into thinking it's fine even though all of the negative thoughts hang over you like a cloud and lizards are banging at the door trying to force their way in.
Paul hooked me up to a biofeedback machine that measured my heart rate. It also had a color spectrum (green for normal and blue for relaxed) that gave me more of a visual for how my body was reacting to physical or emotional stimuli. I had a good heart rate and I was in the green. This is fine for everyday activities. He then showed me a breathing technique: breathe in through the nose for five seconds, release through the mouth for five seconds. Do this five times. My color spectrum was a beautiful shade of blue! My heart rate was also slower and more consistent. Best of all, I felt light like nothing could bother me! He explained that when we breathe in through our nose, we are stimulating the amygdala (which helps us process emotions) and because we are doing this slowly, our heart rate is relaxed and we retain logical thought ("my body is trained for this" "I know how to land this jump"). Since we are not tense, we don't lose our fine motor skills and we are better able to trust that our body knows what to do. So, if I do this breathing exercise right before I take the ice, I will stay in that neocortex part of my brain which is exactly where I want to be when I'm going through my program.
He also showed me a really nice grounding technique that acts like a shield against outside stress and he showed me how standing in a victory pose (basically you are the shape of an uppercase Y) for a few minutes will tell your body that you are successful. It seems silly but he says there are studies that show that it is effective.
So yeah, it was really helpful! Now that I know that there are actual things I can control that will get me out of my head, I feel a little more confident. I'm not so scared of myself. He says that if I practice this, like anything, it will become second nature so that when I find myself in anxiety inducing situations, I won't go right away into "lizard mode" but will instead go automatically into "calm breathing and logical thought mode."
Science is neat!
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Final lesson before comp!
I may have over exerted myself practicing prior to my lesson because I was completely wiped out once Christopher got on the ice. Not so great when he wants me to run my programs and I have zero energy left to do them. Lesson learned.
We talked a bit about how my four minute warm up should go. It's always good to go in with a plan so my nerves don't get the better of me and force me forget anything. So, as soon as I get on warm-up ice I will do:
We talked a bit about how my four minute warm up should go. It's always good to go in with a plan so my nerves don't get the better of me and force me forget anything. So, as soon as I get on warm-up ice I will do:
- Half lap of forward stroking with nice extensions.
- Half lap of backward power stroking
- Three waltz jumps in a row (zamboni side)
- Salchow (scoreboard side)
- Loop jump (zamboni side)
- Toe loop (scoreboard side)
- Sit spin
- Attitude spin
- Footwork sequence from Free Skate program
- Spiral
- Jump combos
That should easily take up four minutes. When I was practicing this with Christopher, I took up three minutes just with the first three elements so he really wants me to pack as much into four minutes as I can. Skate with speed and purpose, hold those landings, and make sure each element flows into the next.
I told Christopher that I'm meeting with one of the professional counselors at my college campus to help me with all of the overthinking, negative self talk, and anxiety I've been experiencing with my skating the past couple of months. I've been getting in my head a lot and it's affecting my performance on the ice. For example, when I fell on that first jump combo during my Bronze Free Skate Test, I mentally stayed in that spot where I fell for the rest of the program and because I was thinking about that fall, I didn't have the focus and concentration I needed to do well on any of the other important elements in my program. I want to be able to push those kinds of things out of my mind when they happen so I can still perform well. I can always worry about those things after I'm done. I meet with the counselor on Thursday and I'll write about it here on Friday. I'm really hoping he gives me some techniques to overcome those heavy thoughts.
Friday, September 6, 2019
Feelin' Good
Today was good day! I got the stitches removed and I had a good skate. In fact, this is my 4th practice in a row that I have skated well so I think I'm on a good path now. Finally!
Warm-upz - I ran 2 laps, walked 1, then did some dynamic stretching until it was time to go downstairs and lace up. On the ice, I did my typical warm up including several passes of BI 3 turns on both sides. I'm proud to say that I've made a lot of progress with these. The RBI 3 turns are consistently good and now my LBI 3 turns have finally caught up. I didn't have a single foot down on any of them today! Once CSI is over, I'll start working on the BO 3 turns again. It's been a while. I also did a couple laps of the forward and backward cross strokes from Silver Moves. These are feeling more natural. The backward cross strokes used to feel steppy but I think I'm finding my groove with these now. I jumped a bit and did some spinning before moving on to my programs.
Compulsoriez - I ran through my compulsory routine a couple of times reminding myself to keep the speed going because I would be disappointed in myself if I did a nice routine but then got deductions for going over the time limit. The BI 3 turns were okay and a tried my best to hold and extend on those exit edges and to not rush through the whole thing. Jumps were nice and the sit spin at the end was centered (albeit still squatty).
Free Skatez - I didn't run it with the music but I did run the whole thing and it went well. I was still struggling with the final attitude spin (I'm not sure why this one element has completely abandoned me but if I struggle with it at the competition, I'll just turn it into a scratch spin). I worked on spins a bit to make sure I'm holding those entry edges and getting things centered. I had some really good spins today!
I had a chance to look at the schedule for the competition and to see who my fellow competitors are and I'm pleased to see some familiar names. There are only 4 of us competing in the Bronze Compulsory Moves event but there are 7 of us registered for Bronze Free Skate! That's exciting! It's never fun to compete alone. I'm excited to see my skating friends next week and to cheer them on as they skate their programs. This is what I love about skating: it is such a supportive community and competitions are so fun and not at all stuffy. We all cheer for each other and genuinely want our competitors to do well. We all feed off of that positive energy and come home feeling like a winner regardless of our results. So nice!
So yeah, overall, it was a pretty good practice and I'm feeling more and more confident going into this competition next weekend. I'm just going to keep on keepin' on and feeling good about overcoming whatever the hell was going on with my skating these past couple of months. I'm finally feeling like a badass again :)
Warm-upz - I ran 2 laps, walked 1, then did some dynamic stretching until it was time to go downstairs and lace up. On the ice, I did my typical warm up including several passes of BI 3 turns on both sides. I'm proud to say that I've made a lot of progress with these. The RBI 3 turns are consistently good and now my LBI 3 turns have finally caught up. I didn't have a single foot down on any of them today! Once CSI is over, I'll start working on the BO 3 turns again. It's been a while. I also did a couple laps of the forward and backward cross strokes from Silver Moves. These are feeling more natural. The backward cross strokes used to feel steppy but I think I'm finding my groove with these now. I jumped a bit and did some spinning before moving on to my programs.
Compulsoriez - I ran through my compulsory routine a couple of times reminding myself to keep the speed going because I would be disappointed in myself if I did a nice routine but then got deductions for going over the time limit. The BI 3 turns were okay and a tried my best to hold and extend on those exit edges and to not rush through the whole thing. Jumps were nice and the sit spin at the end was centered (albeit still squatty).
Free Skatez - I didn't run it with the music but I did run the whole thing and it went well. I was still struggling with the final attitude spin (I'm not sure why this one element has completely abandoned me but if I struggle with it at the competition, I'll just turn it into a scratch spin). I worked on spins a bit to make sure I'm holding those entry edges and getting things centered. I had some really good spins today!
I had a chance to look at the schedule for the competition and to see who my fellow competitors are and I'm pleased to see some familiar names. There are only 4 of us competing in the Bronze Compulsory Moves event but there are 7 of us registered for Bronze Free Skate! That's exciting! It's never fun to compete alone. I'm excited to see my skating friends next week and to cheer them on as they skate their programs. This is what I love about skating: it is such a supportive community and competitions are so fun and not at all stuffy. We all cheer for each other and genuinely want our competitors to do well. We all feed off of that positive energy and come home feeling like a winner regardless of our results. So nice!
So yeah, overall, it was a pretty good practice and I'm feeling more and more confident going into this competition next weekend. I'm just going to keep on keepin' on and feeling good about overcoming whatever the hell was going on with my skating these past couple of months. I'm finally feeling like a badass again :)
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
How Mandi got her Groove Back
I haven't posted about the past couple practice sessions because they were unremarkable except for the fact that I'm skating better and not falling as much. I think the switch to dynamic stretching during my off-ice warm-ups was a good call! I had a lesson today (the first one since I hurt my hand) and it was actually a good lesson! I didn't feel like such a disappointment afterwards so that's nice! Progress!
Lessonz - We started by looking at my program jumps in isolation. Somehow in the last month or two, I started cheating my toe loops again, especially in combination. We worked on those a bit before running my Bronze Compulsory Moves routine back-to-back. The first run through went well but I was 6 seconds over the time limit of 1:30. He told me to do the whole thing again and speed things up a bit (I put the video below). I was able to shave a lot of time off of the whole thing and it came out to 1:25! Better! I have a tendency to rush the BI 3 turns so he reminded me to extend and hold those positions. Watching the video it really does look like I'm just rushing through it just to get it over with. The sit spin is still not low enough (at this point I'm just accepting that the hardware in my leg will prevent it from ever being more than a "squat spin") but at least it was centered and I got the end pivot done in such a way that I'm facing the judges at the end (I had my back to the judges at the end of the first run through...oops).
We ran my free skate program and that was okay too. There were no falls and I ended on time with the music. I struggled with the attitude spin at the end and turned it into a basic one-foot spin. Christopher worked with me on spins for a bit and reminded me to do them from a standstill down the blue (a torturous but effective exercise).
I think this was my first good lesson in a long time. I really hope I fixed the problem and the dynamic stretching does the trick. I have a week and a half until CSI so let's hope I can keep the ball rolling.
Lessonz - We started by looking at my program jumps in isolation. Somehow in the last month or two, I started cheating my toe loops again, especially in combination. We worked on those a bit before running my Bronze Compulsory Moves routine back-to-back. The first run through went well but I was 6 seconds over the time limit of 1:30. He told me to do the whole thing again and speed things up a bit (I put the video below). I was able to shave a lot of time off of the whole thing and it came out to 1:25! Better! I have a tendency to rush the BI 3 turns so he reminded me to extend and hold those positions. Watching the video it really does look like I'm just rushing through it just to get it over with. The sit spin is still not low enough (at this point I'm just accepting that the hardware in my leg will prevent it from ever being more than a "squat spin") but at least it was centered and I got the end pivot done in such a way that I'm facing the judges at the end (I had my back to the judges at the end of the first run through...oops).
We ran my free skate program and that was okay too. There were no falls and I ended on time with the music. I struggled with the attitude spin at the end and turned it into a basic one-foot spin. Christopher worked with me on spins for a bit and reminded me to do them from a standstill down the blue (a torturous but effective exercise).
I think this was my first good lesson in a long time. I really hope I fixed the problem and the dynamic stretching does the trick. I have a week and a half until CSI so let's hope I can keep the ball rolling.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)