We started choreography for my "Fix You" program! Yup, you heard it here first! My program music is a really pretty cover of Coldplay's "Fix You."
I had some time to practice before my lesson and I was experiencing a lot of pain in my left leg. So I did mostly moves and spins until it was time for my lesson.
I warned Christopher ahead of time that I was hurting and that I would prefer to just walk through the jumps today. We talked a bit about some pain relief options and then we got to work on the choreography! Ugh, it's so pretty. Lots of pretty arms and extensions! We were able to get about 1:00 minute done today and hopefully we'll get the other 50 seconds done next week. In terms of elements, so far we have a jump combo to open with (probably a toe loop-loop or a salchow-loop), a flip jump, a combination spin (forward camel to backspin), and a lot of gorgeous movements in between.
And hey, this is the first time where I didn't have to record Christopher in order to get the choreography! I remembered everything and have been able to practice it on the floor at home. I'm evolving! LOL.
I'm really pleased with my choice to switch programs. I just feel more connected to this music right now and feel like I can really put some emotion into it. We still need two more jumps, another spin, and a choreographic step sequence so we have some work left to do but this is going to be stunning with the dress and I'm so excited to skate this in its entirety!
I'm also excited for how this program has some really challenging elements in it that will definitely push me out of my comfort zone. This is going to be BEAUTIFUL!
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Power Swerves
Just a practice today. No lesson. I'm happy for it too because my back was killing me and my left leg is acting up again. I think I need a day of rest between sessions. These back-to-back sessions aren't doing this old lady body any favors. Sigh. Motrin and an ice pack is what's for dinner tonight.
Movez - My forward power pulls are getting better. They still aren't good but they are improving. They went from snakes to swerves and hopefully I'll get some actual pulls someday. I'm just happy to be out of snake territory, lol. I think the improvement stems from integrating these into my warm ups. It worked for the Circle 8 a year ago so I'm hoping this strategy pays off here as well. I worked on spirals for a bit before my back started to really hurt so I moved on to cross strokes, backward 3 turns, and the 8 step on a circle (my bad side has better flow but it's still icky).
Jumpz - I didn't do too many jumps today because my leg was hurting but I did work a bit on the "present" after the landing as well as attempt each jump at least twice. My leg was screaming, though, so I decided to work on spins for the remainder of the session.
Spinz - I did some camel spins and scratch spins but most of my time was spent on the change foot spin. I really want to make this better. Using the pump technique that Christopher talked about yesterday, I was finally able to get a few that had at least 3 revs on each foot! Huzzah! Eventually, I'll wean off of the pumps and have a nice change foot spin. That's the plan anyway :)
Tomorrow, we officially start choreography and next week I'll be buying a ton of Swarovski crystals for my dress. Yes, I'm stoning it myself and all I'll tell you is the color of the crystals - Jet Hematite .
Movez - My forward power pulls are getting better. They still aren't good but they are improving. They went from snakes to swerves and hopefully I'll get some actual pulls someday. I'm just happy to be out of snake territory, lol. I think the improvement stems from integrating these into my warm ups. It worked for the Circle 8 a year ago so I'm hoping this strategy pays off here as well. I worked on spirals for a bit before my back started to really hurt so I moved on to cross strokes, backward 3 turns, and the 8 step on a circle (my bad side has better flow but it's still icky).
Jumpz - I didn't do too many jumps today because my leg was hurting but I did work a bit on the "present" after the landing as well as attempt each jump at least twice. My leg was screaming, though, so I decided to work on spins for the remainder of the session.
Spinz - I did some camel spins and scratch spins but most of my time was spent on the change foot spin. I really want to make this better. Using the pump technique that Christopher talked about yesterday, I was finally able to get a few that had at least 3 revs on each foot! Huzzah! Eventually, I'll wean off of the pumps and have a nice change foot spin. That's the plan anyway :)
Tomorrow, we officially start choreography and next week I'll be buying a ton of Swarovski crystals for my dress. Yes, I'm stoning it myself and all I'll tell you is the color of the crystals - Jet Hematite .
Monday, June 22, 2020
So many jumpz, so many spinz
Today's lesson was just focused on jumps and spins. I feel like he gave me some good exercises to keep get rid of all some of those pesky bad habits I have.
Jumpz - We started with loop jumps. He saw me do a really nice loop jump while he was working with another student earlier in the session so he wanted to see it again...and I flopped! Ugh. I was overthinking yet again and things got wonky. The best ones I did were the ones where I focused on what my arms were doing. He also wants me to get in the habit of finishing the jump off nicely after the landing - step forward and extend. Usually, I just do a push under, step forward, and go about my way. No more of that, I guess. With loop jumps out of the way we started on some flip jumps. I'm still two-footing the takeoff so we worked a bit on getting me to pick up the free leg in a nice "h" position when I pick in for the jump. I feel like I was better at remembering this earlier this year when I was doing the half flip into the flip jump. Interestingly, this is practically the same exercise he gave me to work on to get that nice position back. We worked on some toe loops per my request because I just can't get myself to stop toe waltzing them. So, no surprise, there's an exercise for that! Back pivot into a waltz jump!
Spinz - He asked me how my change foot spin was coming along and I expressed how damn frustrated I am with these. I think my scratch spin has gotten better and maybe a tad bit faster and so, when I switch over, my expectation is that my backspin will be equally so. It is not! When I do the transition into the backspin, I'm going in with speed and my backspin is like " oh, hell naw!" and just comes to a stop. So, he recommended pumps. Instead of pushing right into the backspin, I can do two pumps into the backspin. That seemed to slow me down a bit and as a result my backspin was bit more controlled. We had some time to look at my camel spin before the session ended. Basically, I'm not leaning forward enough right at the hook of the spin so my leg never reaches hip height. It's easier to go in already leaning forward than to try to raise the leg during the spin. This still needs quite a bit of work. Sometimes I surprise myself and I get a camel that has three revs but most of the time, they are just wonky one rev camels.
Our next lesson will just be choreography. Woot!
Jumpz - We started with loop jumps. He saw me do a really nice loop jump while he was working with another student earlier in the session so he wanted to see it again...and I flopped! Ugh. I was overthinking yet again and things got wonky. The best ones I did were the ones where I focused on what my arms were doing. He also wants me to get in the habit of finishing the jump off nicely after the landing - step forward and extend. Usually, I just do a push under, step forward, and go about my way. No more of that, I guess. With loop jumps out of the way we started on some flip jumps. I'm still two-footing the takeoff so we worked a bit on getting me to pick up the free leg in a nice "h" position when I pick in for the jump. I feel like I was better at remembering this earlier this year when I was doing the half flip into the flip jump. Interestingly, this is practically the same exercise he gave me to work on to get that nice position back. We worked on some toe loops per my request because I just can't get myself to stop toe waltzing them. So, no surprise, there's an exercise for that! Back pivot into a waltz jump!
Spinz - He asked me how my change foot spin was coming along and I expressed how damn frustrated I am with these. I think my scratch spin has gotten better and maybe a tad bit faster and so, when I switch over, my expectation is that my backspin will be equally so. It is not! When I do the transition into the backspin, I'm going in with speed and my backspin is like " oh, hell naw!" and just comes to a stop. So, he recommended pumps. Instead of pushing right into the backspin, I can do two pumps into the backspin. That seemed to slow me down a bit and as a result my backspin was bit more controlled. We had some time to look at my camel spin before the session ended. Basically, I'm not leaning forward enough right at the hook of the spin so my leg never reaches hip height. It's easier to go in already leaning forward than to try to raise the leg during the spin. This still needs quite a bit of work. Sometimes I surprise myself and I get a camel that has three revs but most of the time, they are just wonky one rev camels.
Our next lesson will just be choreography. Woot!
Friday, June 19, 2020
Group Lessonz
Today was the day that myself and two of Christopher's other adult students were to do a group lesson. I haven't done a group lesson in....oh, 13 years?
Group Lessonz - I think we spent 15 minutes as a group before he broke us apart and worked with us individually. It was mostly edge work down the length of the rink with some twizzles at the end. It was nice but I think I much prefer the one-on-one lessons. It was a nice bonding experience for the three of us though so there's that :)
Private Lessonz - I had some time after the group lesson to work on some things before it was my turn for the private lesson. Since I was working on backward power pulls when he skated up to me to start our lesson, that is what we began with. We worked a bit on getting me to not lean forward so much and to keep my arms in check. Then, we worked a bit on getting that nice ripping sound. It seems so effortless for everyone else but I feel like I really have to push into it to get even the slightest rip. With that out of the way, we worked on the backward cross strokes for the remainder of our lesson. He wanted me to treat these almost like an ice dancer would with a nice backward lean. So, we worked a bit on a leaning exercise where I do an LBO-RBO-RBO in a full circle all while leaning back. It's pretty scary because it feels like you are going to slip off the heel of your blade at any moment. But, I gotta hand it to him, when we did the cross strokes again, they were already much better.
Practicez - I had some time to work on some other moves and free skate elements before the session ended. I worked on some of the choreography that we played around with earlier in the week and I spent some time with the eight step mohawks and change foot spin. The hour went by really quickly and I left feeling like I didn't accomplish much. I really miss those quiet mornings when I could just plug away at these things. Next week I'm skating three days in a row with two lessons, one for moves and FS and another for just choreography.
Group Lessonz - I think we spent 15 minutes as a group before he broke us apart and worked with us individually. It was mostly edge work down the length of the rink with some twizzles at the end. It was nice but I think I much prefer the one-on-one lessons. It was a nice bonding experience for the three of us though so there's that :)
Private Lessonz - I had some time after the group lesson to work on some things before it was my turn for the private lesson. Since I was working on backward power pulls when he skated up to me to start our lesson, that is what we began with. We worked a bit on getting me to not lean forward so much and to keep my arms in check. Then, we worked a bit on getting that nice ripping sound. It seems so effortless for everyone else but I feel like I really have to push into it to get even the slightest rip. With that out of the way, we worked on the backward cross strokes for the remainder of our lesson. He wanted me to treat these almost like an ice dancer would with a nice backward lean. So, we worked a bit on a leaning exercise where I do an LBO-RBO-RBO in a full circle all while leaning back. It's pretty scary because it feels like you are going to slip off the heel of your blade at any moment. But, I gotta hand it to him, when we did the cross strokes again, they were already much better.
Practicez - I had some time to work on some other moves and free skate elements before the session ended. I worked on some of the choreography that we played around with earlier in the week and I spent some time with the eight step mohawks and change foot spin. The hour went by really quickly and I left feeling like I didn't accomplish much. I really miss those quiet mornings when I could just plug away at these things. Next week I'm skating three days in a row with two lessons, one for moves and FS and another for just choreography.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Pre-Pandemic Mandi is Back!
Today was a good day! I had a productive practice before my lesson and the lesson itself was pretty good. I finally feel like I've caught up to my pre-pandemic skater self! w00t!
Practicez - I'm dedicating the majority of my practices to my weakest Moves elements (Backward 3s, Power Pulls, and Backward Cross Strokes). My forward power pulls are starting to develop a rhythm which is helping me perform them better. They are still a little snake-y but every time I do them, the edges are feeling more deliberate. Progress is small but it's happening. Backward cross strokes are finding their rhythm as well. These are developing nicely. Finally, I was able to do my FO-BI 3 turns in the full pattern! I had a couple on my bad side where I put my foot down but I've never been able to do the full pattern on both sides! Yay! I also worked on the Eight Step Mohawk but not in the full pattern. I just chose a hockey circle and worked on both sides for a bit to try to get more comfortable with getting an even cadence with my steps.
Lessonz - We started with Moves and he asked me which one I wanted to look at today. I told him to choose and, of course, he chose those damn backward 3 turns. At least I've been practicing them and was able to do them reasonably well. However, I'm either placing the turns too early or too late at the top of the lobe so we worked a bit on getting a better placement. Then we moved on to choreography for my new program music. We didn't get anything solidified today but just kinda messed around with some pretty movements. I'm really glad I decided to switch my program to something more lyrical. I really need something gentle and emotional right now. I want to skate pretty and with feeling rather than the aggressive in-your-face Devil program (which I'm going to do at a later date when I feel it's appropriate). Hearing my new music through the rink speakers was lovely and I can't wait to see how Christopher choreographs this. What we worked on today was already really pretty!
On Friday, I go back to the rink. Christopher asked if I would be interested in doing a group lesson with a bunch of other adults where we would work on movement and choreography. I said yes! I think it will be fun to have an adults only workshop. Neat!
Practicez - I'm dedicating the majority of my practices to my weakest Moves elements (Backward 3s, Power Pulls, and Backward Cross Strokes). My forward power pulls are starting to develop a rhythm which is helping me perform them better. They are still a little snake-y but every time I do them, the edges are feeling more deliberate. Progress is small but it's happening. Backward cross strokes are finding their rhythm as well. These are developing nicely. Finally, I was able to do my FO-BI 3 turns in the full pattern! I had a couple on my bad side where I put my foot down but I've never been able to do the full pattern on both sides! Yay! I also worked on the Eight Step Mohawk but not in the full pattern. I just chose a hockey circle and worked on both sides for a bit to try to get more comfortable with getting an even cadence with my steps.
Lessonz - We started with Moves and he asked me which one I wanted to look at today. I told him to choose and, of course, he chose those damn backward 3 turns. At least I've been practicing them and was able to do them reasonably well. However, I'm either placing the turns too early or too late at the top of the lobe so we worked a bit on getting a better placement. Then we moved on to choreography for my new program music. We didn't get anything solidified today but just kinda messed around with some pretty movements. I'm really glad I decided to switch my program to something more lyrical. I really need something gentle and emotional right now. I want to skate pretty and with feeling rather than the aggressive in-your-face Devil program (which I'm going to do at a later date when I feel it's appropriate). Hearing my new music through the rink speakers was lovely and I can't wait to see how Christopher choreographs this. What we worked on today was already really pretty!
On Friday, I go back to the rink. Christopher asked if I would be interested in doing a group lesson with a bunch of other adults where we would work on movement and choreography. I said yes! I think it will be fun to have an adults only workshop. Neat!
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Adults everywhere!
You know what's nice? Skating with other adults! Since I'm not skating at 6:00am anymore (because those sessions no longer exist), I'm skating in the afternoons and there is always at least one other adult skater on the ice with me, sometimes more! It's really nice :)
Today was just a practice, no lesson, and I had a lot to work on. What I didn't anticipate, however, was my left leg giving me all kinds of grief today. I didn't feel hurty until I started working on jumps and....OW! As a result, I stayed away from salchows and waltz jumps and focused more on the jumps where my left leg didn't have to do too much (toe loops felt okay and loop and flip were pleasant). I didn't really do anything in any kind of order today. When moves felt good, I moved to jumps and when those started to hurt, I moved to spins and when I grew frustrated with those, I moved back to jumps again. Really scattered but I still got a lot done.
Movez - I feel like I got some of my groove back on the left forward Power Pulls. They are not awesome but I was able to snake my way through them which is a start, I guess. I also worked a bit on the backward 3 turns and the backward power 3 turns. Spirals happened too.
Spinz - I'm really struggling with the change foot spin. I feel like I can do each leg on its own reasonably well but when I try to switch from forward to backward, my backspin immediately peters out. I need to get that transition down better. I did some scratch spins and attempted camels (attempted being the key word).
Jumpz - I tried doing my toe loops on the blue line as Christopher instructed in order to straighten it out more. I can't tell if I'm making progress but they feel nice. Loop jumps also felt good today. When I focus on my arms, my jumps are better. Weird. Finally, flip jumps. I did a lot! I had a couple that felt really good and those were the ones where I remembered to look up right after the initial 3 turn instead of looking down at the ice.
My FitBit told me I worked my ass off on the ice today and I think that's because I spent a lot of time jumping. Hopefully it pays off and my jumps start to look a little better. I'm skating again tomorrow and will be sure to "Motrin up" at least an hour before I get on the ice.
Today was just a practice, no lesson, and I had a lot to work on. What I didn't anticipate, however, was my left leg giving me all kinds of grief today. I didn't feel hurty until I started working on jumps and....OW! As a result, I stayed away from salchows and waltz jumps and focused more on the jumps where my left leg didn't have to do too much (toe loops felt okay and loop and flip were pleasant). I didn't really do anything in any kind of order today. When moves felt good, I moved to jumps and when those started to hurt, I moved to spins and when I grew frustrated with those, I moved back to jumps again. Really scattered but I still got a lot done.
Movez - I feel like I got some of my groove back on the left forward Power Pulls. They are not awesome but I was able to snake my way through them which is a start, I guess. I also worked a bit on the backward 3 turns and the backward power 3 turns. Spirals happened too.
Spinz - I'm really struggling with the change foot spin. I feel like I can do each leg on its own reasonably well but when I try to switch from forward to backward, my backspin immediately peters out. I need to get that transition down better. I did some scratch spins and attempted camels (attempted being the key word).
Jumpz - I tried doing my toe loops on the blue line as Christopher instructed in order to straighten it out more. I can't tell if I'm making progress but they feel nice. Loop jumps also felt good today. When I focus on my arms, my jumps are better. Weird. Finally, flip jumps. I did a lot! I had a couple that felt really good and those were the ones where I remembered to look up right after the initial 3 turn instead of looking down at the ice.
My FitBit told me I worked my ass off on the ice today and I think that's because I spent a lot of time jumping. Hopefully it pays off and my jumps start to look a little better. I'm skating again tomorrow and will be sure to "Motrin up" at least an hour before I get on the ice.
Monday, June 8, 2020
Spiraling
I didn't think I would have a lesson today (or, at least I was hoping I wouldn't since I haven't had time to practice since the last one) but...surprise! I was working on the consecutive spirals and noticed that all of a sudden Christopher was right there showing me the video of the spirals I was just doing. LOL. Thus my lesson began.
Spiralz - The outside spirals weren't too bad. He didn't have anything to say about the height of my free leg so I'm assuming it's acceptable. I watched the video and was pleasantly surprised that they didn't look as garbage as they feel. The inside spirals are kind of a mess, especially on my left. Mostly, I need to work on trusting myself, straightening out the skating leg, and leaning forward more. Honestly, I just need to do them more. Out of all of the Silver Moves, I work on spirals the least.
Cross Strokez - We touched on this for a hot second per my request. I still really don't feel like the forward strokes are good enough. Even when I focus on doing a more deliberate underpush, it still feels wrong.
Backward 3 Turnz - These are getting much better. He even said that the LFO-RBI are "passing" so there's that. I'm still struggling with looking in the direction of the turn and rushing the back 3s. Since my BO 3 turns are much weaker than my BI turns, he introduced me to the Backward Power Three Turn pattern (Juvenile Moves) and as tricky as these are, I can already tell that they will help a lot.
Jumpz - We worked on loop jumps and loop-loop combos before we ran out of time. My loop jump was my best jump before I was forced to take time away from the ice and it's slowly coming back but it's not as good as it was. His assignment for me was to work on the combo and also tagging a loop onto other jumps for a variety of combos.
During my practice after the lesson, I worked a bit on flip jumps and am happy to say that I'm not scared of them anymore. Him forcing me to do them during our lesson on Friday was like ripping the bandaid off. These are slowly feeling better but they are still meh.
I will be back at the rink for practice tomorrow and Wednesday :)
Spiralz - The outside spirals weren't too bad. He didn't have anything to say about the height of my free leg so I'm assuming it's acceptable. I watched the video and was pleasantly surprised that they didn't look as garbage as they feel. The inside spirals are kind of a mess, especially on my left. Mostly, I need to work on trusting myself, straightening out the skating leg, and leaning forward more. Honestly, I just need to do them more. Out of all of the Silver Moves, I work on spirals the least.
Cross Strokez - We touched on this for a hot second per my request. I still really don't feel like the forward strokes are good enough. Even when I focus on doing a more deliberate underpush, it still feels wrong.
Backward 3 Turnz - These are getting much better. He even said that the LFO-RBI are "passing" so there's that. I'm still struggling with looking in the direction of the turn and rushing the back 3s. Since my BO 3 turns are much weaker than my BI turns, he introduced me to the Backward Power Three Turn pattern (Juvenile Moves) and as tricky as these are, I can already tell that they will help a lot.
Jumpz - We worked on loop jumps and loop-loop combos before we ran out of time. My loop jump was my best jump before I was forced to take time away from the ice and it's slowly coming back but it's not as good as it was. His assignment for me was to work on the combo and also tagging a loop onto other jumps for a variety of combos.
During my practice after the lesson, I worked a bit on flip jumps and am happy to say that I'm not scared of them anymore. Him forcing me to do them during our lesson on Friday was like ripping the bandaid off. These are slowly feeling better but they are still meh.
I will be back at the rink for practice tomorrow and Wednesday :)
Friday, June 5, 2020
Feelin' Green
We have three sheets of ice at our rink and I've only ever skated on the Green Rink during group lessons and LTS so when I got to the rink and Christopher told me we were skating on Green today, I was excited! It's been three years since I was last on it. It was refreshing. Kinda felt like a fresh start.
I was first up for a lesson so I didn't get much time to warm up. Alas. Even still, it was a good lesson :)
Movez - We started with power pulls and some exercises to get me to trust my edges more and dig them in a little deeper. Hopefully, I can expand my practice opportunities a bit more and actually practice these things in between lessons. I feel like it's really going to help. Moving on, we worked a bit on the 8 Step Mohawks with a focus on being more deliberate with my arms.
Spinz - We worked a bit on the entry to the scratch spin and then moved on to backspins and change foot spins.
Jumpz - We started with easiest jumps first and worked our way up to....FLIP JUMP! Ugh. I haven't done them since March because (spoiler alert) I got fearful again. But Christopher pushed me out of my comfort zone and I did a few and they weren't terrible. He would like to see me pick up my free leg earlier but in general, they were okay. He took some video so I could see myself doing it and, of course, the first thing I do is pick it apart and criticize. He reeled me back in and told me to just celebrate the fact that I conquered a fear and did the thing. I need those reminders often. I'm pretty mean to myself sometimes. We also spent some time trying to unwaltz my toe loop.
After my lesson I had some time to work on backward 3 turns. They are starting to feel comfortable again. Here's the weird thing, though. I do them better when I pull down my mask and can see the ice. It's not that I'm really looking down at the ice but when I can't see the ice at all I feel like I'm going in blind. Scary.
In a nutshell, today felt really good. It also helped that I saw one of my adult skater friends on the way in. I really missed seeing him at the rink so starting things off by seeing a friendly face did wonders. Good times :)
I was first up for a lesson so I didn't get much time to warm up. Alas. Even still, it was a good lesson :)
Movez - We started with power pulls and some exercises to get me to trust my edges more and dig them in a little deeper. Hopefully, I can expand my practice opportunities a bit more and actually practice these things in between lessons. I feel like it's really going to help. Moving on, we worked a bit on the 8 Step Mohawks with a focus on being more deliberate with my arms.
Spinz - We worked a bit on the entry to the scratch spin and then moved on to backspins and change foot spins.
Jumpz - We started with easiest jumps first and worked our way up to....FLIP JUMP! Ugh. I haven't done them since March because (spoiler alert) I got fearful again. But Christopher pushed me out of my comfort zone and I did a few and they weren't terrible. He would like to see me pick up my free leg earlier but in general, they were okay. He took some video so I could see myself doing it and, of course, the first thing I do is pick it apart and criticize. He reeled me back in and told me to just celebrate the fact that I conquered a fear and did the thing. I need those reminders often. I'm pretty mean to myself sometimes. We also spent some time trying to unwaltz my toe loop.
After my lesson I had some time to work on backward 3 turns. They are starting to feel comfortable again. Here's the weird thing, though. I do them better when I pull down my mask and can see the ice. It's not that I'm really looking down at the ice but when I can't see the ice at all I feel like I'm going in blind. Scary.
In a nutshell, today felt really good. It also helped that I saw one of my adult skater friends on the way in. I really missed seeing him at the rink so starting things off by seeing a friendly face did wonders. Good times :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)