Final Lesson of 2021

Today was my final lesson with Christopher until next year! With the holidays in full swing and skate schedules shifting to accommodate more Holiday public skates, it will pretty difficult to get ice time in the next couple of weeks. I came prepared to work on some ice dances so that's what we did. 

Hickory Hoedown - I have the steps and the timing worked out for this dance and I've been able to skate it to music during my practices but man, this feels like a different dance once I partner it. His main criticisms had mostly to do with the end pattern. Specifically, I really need to push into that 3 turn and curve it around more than I usually would and then on the step forward I need to head towards the hockey goal to give Christopher room to make his 3 turn happen. Overall, it's looking okay. 

Ten Fox - Ugh, this dance feels so weird when it's partnered! I feel like I'm going to die going into that first 3 turn (which I shouldn't curve like the one in the HickHoe but should instead make it more flat). I just have some major timing issues with this dance. I'm running it on the floor with the music and I'm watching videos of other people doing it but I'm still struggling. This is a tricky dance so I'm trying to give myself some grace. At least the outside mohawk is feeling more comfortable! Part of me wants to go back and run the Eight Step Mohawk Pattern for funsies to see if it's improved. 

A Christmas Treat - Axels on the Harness! - We had about five minutes left in our lesson so Christopher asked "You wanna do some Axels on the harness?" Who am I to say no. I haven't been focusing on Axels too much lately but I have been working on the waltz-loop and waltz-backspin on the ice and some rotation stuff on the floor. I got strapped in was ready to jump! Out of the 8 or so we did, I landed one. It was hella sloppy and I wasn't able to hold the landing but the rotation was there. I just need to snap into position quicker. That's a struggle when you're so used to doing singles. Anyway, this was a nice treat after a year of pushing myself and working on the not-so-fun stuff like moves. 

2022 Goal Post

 I didn't post about my practices last week. There wasn't much to report other than I made some progress on the Hickory and the Ten Fox. 

Let's talk about goals. I had set some pretty modest goals for 2021 so I guess it's no surprise that I achieved all of them. I wasn't sure what to expect this year with ice time availability so I wanted to go easy on myself. I'm proud that I didn't just achieve my original goals but I managed to achieve some others as well. My first goal was to get a LBO 3 turn. I had been working on it for a year and a half (my derpy ankle was to blame for not getting it sooner) but in February of this year, it finally happened! It was the main thing holding me back from taking my Silver Moves test so, once I had that, I was able to practice my ass off all spring and summer and take my Silver MITF in August. I passed on the first try! I must say I was NOT expecting that! While it wasn't a perfect test, I passed and I'm super proud of myself for accomplishing that. Not many people pass on their first go at it! My second goal was to learn and hopefully pass the first six ice dances and maybe get to the point where I could start to learn a solo free dance. This year, I passed the first six dances, all on the first try! Again, they weren't perfect but I got it done and I'm super excited that Christopher has given me his blessing to start working on my Juvenile Solo Free Dance! Yay! Finally, my third goal was to take more risks. There is still a lot I'm scared of but I think I have proven to myself that, even though I'm super anxious all of the time, I am still able to conquer many of those fears and get the job done anyway. Heck yeah! So yeah, it was a productive year! I passed 1 MITF test, 6 ice dances, and 2 ice dance levels. Not to mention winning gold in every Free Skate I've competed in this year! I'm tired...but I'm proud!

Goals for 2022

So that brings me to what I hope to accomplish next year! I plan on continuing to work hard and make myself and my coach proud. I plan on taking more risks and growing more as a skater. So, here we go: 

Goal 1 - Pass my next set of ice dances (Bronze). I've already learned the steps to the Hickory Hoedown and the Ten Fox so I just have the Willow Waltz to learn and then I can really buckle down and get some meaningful work done on these to get them to passing. They are hard! 

Goal 2 - Pass my Juvenile Solo Free Dance Test and possibly compete with it at next year's CSI. This is the next step for me in Ice Dance and I'm excited about the music I chose and the possibility of getting to compete with it!

Goal 3 - By this time next year, I want to be able to run through the entirety of the Gold Moves Brackets in the Field Sequence. This is the one move that I know I will struggle with the most so I know that means I have to work on it more than anything else. Right now, I'm still struggling with the turns themselves so I'm not able to run through the whole move from beginning to end. I have a year of working hard so I think I can get it done. 

So there you have it! Some "Think Big" goals since last year's goals were pretty tame. I feel stronger then I ever have in my life and I'm more determined than ever to be the best I can be. I'm doing more off-ice fitness. Pilates especially has contributed to better spins and balance and overall greater confidence on the ice. I'm more flexible and I take more chances because I know I can recover faster if I fall. I highly recommend adding Pilates to your off-ice routine. I don't think I would have achieved many of these goals without it as my secret weapon. :) 

Move All The Things!

 Lesson today and since we haven't looked at Gold Moves in a couple of months, that's what we did today. Although things are still pretty ugly, Christopher did say that they look better than the last time we worked on them so I know progress, albeit small, is being made. 

Backward Circle 8 - We started with this at my request. We set up in one of the lutz corners and the ice was a disaster there but I can't blame ice quality entirely. I'm just weak on this move. I'm adding subcurves and weird pushes and I'm not always returning to center because of that. Christopher made a comment that he can tell I've worked on the outside circles more than the insides. I mean, yeah. He's not wrong. My strategy was to do just that. Perhaps that was a poor strategy and I should just work on the whole thing at once. Christopher said that, for now, putting a foot down or adding an additional push to get around is preferable to not working on it at all. So, there you have it. I need to work on this more. If it's anything like my forward circle 8 journey, it's going to take a lot of time. 

Forward Double 3 Turns - The good news is that my turns are turning. The bad news is that I need to work a lot more with my upper body to get the turns to turn better. I need a stronger check coming out of the first turn and then I need to waaaiiiiit and reset for the second turn. This is a lesson in patience and a much needed one at that. I have a tendency to rush through everything (not just with skating but with life stuff too). However, I'm not doing myself any favors here by moving too fast. It looks rushed and sloppy. The judges know I can do the turns. What they will be looking for is that control. 

Backward Double 3 Turns - Same issue with these but add in the fact that they need more flow. This move is different from the forward version in that it will require more speed. I have the opportunity to make this really pretty once I get it under control. The cool thing with both the forward and the backward double 3s is that the LBO isn't so much a problem anymore. Yay!

Forward Power Circles - I really only have two speeds: slow and moderate. I should have a third - quick. I also tend to reach a point in the snail when it stops being a snail and starts to just be the same circle over and over. So much more work needed on this, especially in my bad direction. 

Backward Power Circles - These were better but could still use more work. 

Brackets - Ahhhhh, these bastards! However, something cool happened today! When I've been working on these on my own, I was having a problem with the LFO bracket and the fear of attempting them away from the wall was keeping me from making progress. Today, I just did them! I didn't think about it too much and I just...did them! Yay! That means, I have all of my FO and FI brackets! Woot! We also worked on the BI brackets and I admitted that I've been too fearful to work on them. So we did some at the wall, we did some with me holding his hand, and I attempted some without an assist. That helps take some of the fear away and I was able to do some FO and BI brackets down the length of the rink without holding on to anything! That's a huge thing!

So, overall, it was a really productive lesson. I showed Christopher that although progress is slow, it is still happening and I was able to get over some small fears that I was still holding on to. I still have a lot more work to do. This time next year, I'm hoping these moves will be in pretty good shape.

Project Twizzle

Practice this morning and I got a lot done! I'm pooped and sore (I toepick'd on a spiral...ouch!). 

Moves - I've been working on the outside edges of the backward circle 8 for about 6 months now and it's finally at a good place. During yesterday's practice, I was able to get around on both sides so I wanted to try again today to make sure it wasn't a fluke. It's not! I did three BO Circle 8s and everything returned to center just fine without a foot down! Now I need to really start focusing on the BI part of this move. 

Pattern Dance - I ran the Hickory Hoedown with music today and I was able to keep up! Yay! That's really good progress! I know it will feel completely different with Christopher but I'm happy about what I've been able to do so far. The end pattern feels nicer too. I also spent some time on the Ten Fox. I know the steps now but putting them together is a struggle. I'm nowhere near ready to skate this with music but I'm happy I can at least work on the steps of the pattern slowly. The outside mohawk felt okay too!

Twizzles - I'm rebuilding my twizzles from scratch. I'm just starting over! I've learned some really bad habits and they will prevent me from ever getting more than 1.5 revs. If I'm committing to the #IceDanceLife, I need good twizzles! So, I started with singles on both sides. These are fine and the tracings looks proper. Next, I started working on the RFI 1.5 twizzle. This is the same twizzle I currently have in my free skate so it was really hard not to do them like I've been doing them. I was able to get ONE that had the correct tracing. I focused on rocking from the front of my blade to the back and forward again. I almost ate it a couple of times but it was worth it because that one I did, even though it was slow and small, is proof that I can fix this. Once I get this down, I'll start on the RFI 2 rev twizzle (which is what Christopher wants in the free dance). Then I'll work on the left side. This will be a journey for sure!

Free Skate - I didn't run it with the music but I worked on sections. It was here that I toepick'd myself. It's been YEARS since I've caught a toepick on a spiral so I guess I was due for one. I got up in my spiral and I thought "I bet I could go higher" and then the next thing I know, I'm on the ice sliding on my belly like a deranged penguin. I pretended like it didn't hurt but I hit my right knee pretty hard. It's already blossoming into a colorful bruise. Damn. The good news is that all of my elements are fine. This was just a weird thing that happened. After a few sips of water, I got back out there and skated the end of my program again and did a better spiral and had a nice exit from my final spin. I did a couple of loop jumps to make sure I could land okay on that leg and that nothing was broken. I'm sore but not fractured :)

Spins - The catch foot camel is starting to drift away from me. The more I work on it, the more it eludes me. That's frustrating.

Strugglez

Practice at Apex this morning. With the dance test prep and the holidays, I really haven't had a full-on practice in a couple of weeks. I really felt out of sorts today because of it. 

Moves - I worked on the forward double 3s for a bit (both sides) and those are about where I left them. The turns are happening but the lobes are small and shallow and I'm sure I'm not placing the turns correctly. I dabbled in some FI brackets as well. These seem to have gotten worse. I feel like I'm back at the beginning with these. I didn't do the FO brackets or any backward brackets. I worked a bit on the backward circle 8. Oddly, this seems to have improved a bit? Weird. The bad side (LBO) was actually really nice and controlled today. I think some time off from it did some good. Now, if I can keep it that nice. 

Jumps - I ran through all of them (except lutz) and they are the same as they always are. Nothing extraordinary. 

Spins - I was having a difficult time centering today for some reason. They weren't wild or anything but they weren't as nicely centered as they usually are. I did a lot of scratch spins, some change foot upright spins, and some camels but the bulk of my efforts were focused on the catch foot camel. I attempted about 6-7 of these but only 1 was decent. I'm trying to figure out what to do with my free arm. I want to hold it across my chest but that's throwing me off center for some reason. Maybe I just need to work on it some more. 

Pattern Dance - I ran through the HickHoe slowly to make sure my chasses are proper and that I'm curving enough on the end pattern. This feels comfortable at a slower speed so I'm going to hang out here for a bit until I'm confident enough to do it at tempo. I dabbled in some Ten Fox but I forgot a couple of steps in the end pattern. However! I didn't struggle as much on the progressives and outside mohawk. I know I still need to work on bringing my feet together right away after the mohawk. I'm just happy I'm doing the mohawk at all right now. I spent some time on the line working on backward progressives to make sure I'm getting the proper push from both feet instead of the non-push I was doing before. 

Free Dance - I already worked on the catch foot camel so I spent my time focusing on the twizzles and the knee slide. Spoiler alert: I wasn't able to get either to happen (*sad trombone*). With the knee slide, I feel like I'm making it down to the ice just fine and then the turn happens and I can no longer control it so I end up on my ass. I feel like maybe I'm too old for a knee slide but I know that excuse won't work with Christopher. He's my age and he can do it just fine. The twizzle is weird too. I can do a single twizzle on both sides easily enough but when I add more rotations, it gets spinny. It's frustrating because I've been doing a 1.5 rev twizzle in my free skate but it's not proper. It's hard to break that habit. I'm excited about a free dance but it's not as...loose as my free skate. It's going to need to be very precise and technically correct. It will be a nice challenge for me and it will improve my skills so I'm all about it.

Free Dance Second Chance

 Lesson today and I haven't practiced since my last lesson a week ago. I have, however, been running through the steps for the Hickory Hoedown so I'm not totally dumb when he asks about how it's coming along. 

Free Dance Music - I had sent Christopher the music I was thinking of and, even though he said he liked it, he didn't seem inspired. Usually, we put the music on the rink speakers and he'll doodle around on the ice with some possible choreography. But with this music, he didn't seem like he loved it. Too much thinking and not enough doodling. When the music was over, he said he thought perhaps it was a bit slow and it didn't have a lot of excitement to it. It just didn't build, I guess. I think he's right. So, I told him about another song I was considering so we put that through the rink speakers and he.lit.up! All kinds of interesting doodling was happening! Yay! Final verdict: he loves this music and thinks it would be much better than what I had initially sent him. So yeah, new music!

Free Dance Elements - Which brings me to what will actually go in the program. He gave me a few things to work on - a knee slide, another twizzle with two rotations instead of 1.5, and a dance spin. The dance spin is what really surprised me today! He proposed a catch foot camel. Yikes! Since I've never attempted one before, he had me do some catch foot spirals to make sure I knew where to grab my skate (grabbing the heel works best) and once he was satisfied with that, he had me attempt the full thing. I got into my camel and reached back for my free foot and then pulled up and wow that was a ride! As soon as I got a grip on my skate and pulled up by flexing my back, the spin got faster! I wasn't ready for it to actually work! When I skated back to him he said "that was actually impressive!" So I guess this is my new dance spin! I'm sure I can flex my back more to make it prettier and I'll work on that on Wednesday but I'm just really excited that I was able to do it!

HickHoe - Since I know the steps now, we ran it with the music. Oof, I'm not ready to do this at speed yet, lol. So, we turned off the awful country music and just focused on the end pattern which needs the most work. The problem isn't the steps, it's the tracking. If I'm slightly off center from him, it makes it so much harder for him to do his 3 turn at the end of the pattern. I'm also struggling with the transition from Killian to Waltz hold at the start of the end pattern. These are things that I can only really work on with a partner. It felt fine practicing by myself and then Christopher comes along and I struggle. Sigh. 

Ten Fox - We worked a little bit more on this. I asked him to go over back progressives since I'm sure I'm not really doing them correctly. Then we worked a bit on the end pattern with the damn outside mohawk. Ugh. 

So yeah, lots of exciting things in the works. I bought a pretty lavender ice dance dress that was on sale for Black Friday that I can use for tests and comps and I'm brainstorming ideas for a free dance dress (I'm thinking of one of Brad Griffies' new designs in mallard and I'll stone it myself).

A little bit country

Today was my first lesson following my dance tests and we got right to work on the next set of dances. For the Bronze level, I'll need to pass the Hickory Hoedown, the Willow Waltz, and the Ten Fox!

Hickory Hoedown - This is the first time I'm learning these steps! Aghghghgpanic! Usually, I study the steps before Christopher teaches them to me so I'm not completely lost. However, I didn't know we were going to just jump right into Bronze dances today. I thought we were going to look at some of my Gold Moves that have taken a backseat during the last month while I've been preparing to test. But here we are. So, initial thoughts about this dance: it's kinda fun! There aren't any elements here that I can't do so it's just a matter of learning the steps and skating them well. There is a change of hold at the beginning of the end pattern and again at the end but everything flows well so it's not a difficult transition (not like the Fiesta Tango which felt sort of awkward). The biggest confusion was on the progressive-cross roll-hickory kick. I kept kicking with the wrong leg. I think I started to get my brain wrapped around it by the end of the session. So yeah...yeehaw!

Tex Fox - We spent so much time on the HickHoe that we were running out of lesson time but Christopher still wanted to introduce me to the Ten Fox. Seems okay until I ran into my old nemesis the Outside Mohawk. Ugh. Also a new hold - Foxtrot position!

Juvenile Solo Free Dance - It's been a goal of mine to start working on a Solo Free Dance once I pass my first 6 dances. So, here I am! When talking to Christopher about music choices, he suggested something with lyrics and something in 4/4 time. I had a couple of options already floating around in my head but now I think I know what I'll be skating to (stay tuned for the official announcement). I have dress ideas too! So exciting!

Due to the upcoming Holiday, I won't be able to get back on the ice until next Monday. Sigh.

Pre-Bronze Dances - PASSED!

Today's the day! Test Day! Aghghghgg!

Practice Ice - The club gives us a free 45 minute practice ice for testing. The problem is that it's at 7:00am and I don't test until right around noon so there is a lot of waiting in between practice and the test. That's fine. I had some friends taking other tests throughout the day and I wanted to be there to support them. Practice started out rough. My body knows it's a test day so it does the whole "legs no workey" thing that it likes to do. Frustrating. But, after about 10 minutes things started to work again and I started to relax into my practice. I was able to run all three dances with the music and things seemed as they usually do. I didn't feel too worried about testing them. I felt prepared enough. 

After practice was over, my husband and I trekked over to Starbucks for some much needed coffee and settled in to watch everyone test. 

Off-Ice Warm-ups - As it got closer to test time, I did some off-ice warm-ups and tried to "Zone" but my Spotify wasn't working. It would only play for one minute and then cut out. I reverted to putting on my dance music and running through my tests. Big mistake! I started to overthink the timing on the end pattern of the Fiesta to the point that I thought I broke it. Nothing seemed right anymore. Panic! The steps were still there but the timing wasn't!

On-Ice Warm-ups - We got a 5 minute warm up and Christopher and I were able to run one of the dances with the music. I can't even remember which one it was but it didn't suck so I started to feel a bit better about things. 

Alright, here we go. Test time! For each dance, I'll put my comments followed by the judges comments in italics. Also, my husband took video. Watch if you dare. Sorry about the cringe factor, lol.

Cha Cha - This was the first dance and I was thankful for that. This felt okay. My legs got a little shakey coming around on the first end pattern but it seemed like our unison was good enough. I remembered to smile throughout the whole thing. Here's the video.

• Judge Debbie: Very shallow edges in spots. Slightly rushed on end pattern. Lacks expression. Score =0 (Pass)
  
• Judge Susan: Correct steps, some on flats. Unison with partner. Pattern a bit flat. On time. Lacked expression. Score = 0 (Pass)
  
• Judge Leslie: Little oops at #9 first pattern otherwise all steps ok. Unison secure. Timing ok. Some Cha Cha feel present. Score - +1 (Pass)

Swing - This was next and I was actually excited to skate it! This is my favorite dance of the three and the one that I was hoping to do well enough to pass with honors. According to the judges, however, this dance is actually kind of garbage. Only 2/3 judges passed me. That was a huge reality check for me. How could I have been so wrong about this? Christopher said it was good and I felt good about it but the judges marks showed something completely different. Sigh. Here's the video.

• Judge Debbie: Wide-stepping throughout. Very shallow edges. Rushing free leg swings. Lacks Waltz expression. Soften knees. Score = -2 (Retry)
• Judge Susan: Correct steps but chasses must have free foot lifted up, very low on yours. On time. Smooth expression. Score = 0 (Pass)
• Judge Leslie: Chasses a little walked. Edges could be deeper. Ok timing. Some expression. Score = 0 (Pass) 

Fiesta Tango - Ok, out of all the dances, this was the one I was most panicked about. Honestly, I was prepared for a Retry on this. However, I passed and I feel guilty about it. One of the judges really didn't like this dance and I kinda agree with her. I don't think I would have passed me either. Here's the video.

• Judge Debbie: Flat edges. Not doing proper mohawk. Progressives steppy. A little rushed on end section. Lacks Tango expression. Score = -4 (Retry)
• Judge Susan: Steps correct but some are very flat, try for more knee bend. On Time. Lacks sharp steps and crispness. Score = 0 (Pass)
• Judge Leslie: Steps 11 and 12 not clearly done and steps 1 and 3 could be better. Other steps ok. Timing ok. Some Fiesta feel. Score = 0 (Pass)

 

Parting Thoughts - I think I've been a little deluded about my dances. I really thought they were good. I expected the Fiesta to be pretty awful and thinking back on it, it really wasn't completely ready to test. I should have spent another couple of months polishing it up to work out those kinks. But man, I really wasn't expecting the Swing to be so bad! I'm trying to make myself feel better by thinking about the fact that the judges were really brutal on everyone today. There were at least a few skaters that I saw that were in tears over the surprisingly bad scores they got. But I can't put this on the judges being brutal. It's their job to be picky. I just have to go into this next set of dances with a renewed sense of my abilities. The feedback they gave me (as harsh as it was) is really helpful. It tells me exactly what I need to work on. For instance, expression. This counts for 1/3 of the total test score and I'm consistently not meeting expectations on this. Clearly they want more from me than just smiles. Expression is a full-body thing. I just need to figure out how to be better at expressing the feel of the dance. Another thing is that, as curvy as I feel my lobes are, they really aren't. I need to put more work into making my edges deeper. They should be so deep that they rip loudly enough for the judges to hear. So yeah, Dance is hard, ya'll! It's more than learning the steps and being on time with the music. It really has to look completely polished and full of expression. I have a lot of work to do on the Bronze Dances. Ugh. 

     

Last Minute Prep

 I skated early this morning and worked on some last minute improvements before I test tomorrow!

Swing - Ah, this is nice. I'm actually excited to skate it tomorrow. It might be my favorite dance out of the 6 that I've done so far :) 

Cha Cha - I worked on that bit after the slalom to make sure I'm not putting in that illegal chasse. I'm not! Yay!

Fiesta - Ugh. I'm still struggling with that last step. The rest of the dance seems to be fine but that last step is important. 

Program - I also ran my program this morning since I didn't do it with the music last week and it was fine. It's maintaining. I'm separately working on elements to eventually enhance this program (Camel spin will become a camel-sit, final scratch spin will become a layback, and arms up on the jumps). I'm not sure I'm secure enough to practice the program with these new elements. I want to get them more consistent before I do that. I think this will be a New Years Skating Goal. 

So yeah, I'm as ready as I can be for tomorrow. I know nerves are a thing for me on testing days so I'm still going to employ my "Zone" strategy as it gets closer to my test. As it is, I'm scheduled for a 45 minute practice at 7am and then I test around noon so I'll have some time to cheer on my friends who are testing and take some "zone" time before I hit the ice for my test warm-up. 

Fingers crossed for a Triple Pass!

Dance Dress Rehersal

Today was my final practice with Christopher before test day on Thursday! Since I'm testing two spicy dances and one mild dance, I'll be wearing my red and black dance dress for testing. I wore it today to get a feel for things and I apologized to Christopher at the start of our lesson because this dress has a ton of glitter (I didn't know this when I bought it). I warned him he would sparkle too, lol. Glitter gets on everything!

Fiesta Tango - We started with this since it's my weakest dance. I'm still having some timing issues with that last step forward. I feel like the mohawk transition is the thing that the judges will really be looking at and, thankfully, that step is just fine. If I remember to keep my head up, look down the long axis of the rink, and keep my shoulder pressed into his, I think I'll do okay on the end pattern and that final step. 

Cha Cha - I was talking to a friend of mine about the Cha Cha and she told me that she too was putting in a little chasse after the slalom and she got a "retry" on the test because of it! Yikes! Good thing I have fixed this but man, that gives me some anxiety. This dance is mostly in good shape. Christopher just wants me to pay a little more attention on making the end pattern lobes a bit deeper. 

Swing - This is in really good shape! This is the only one of the three dances that I feel 100% good about. Christopher told me that he's feeling really good about this too! This has the potential to pass with honors.

So, I have one more practice on Wednesday morning to do some last minute polishing and then I test on Thursday afternoon. Aghghgh!

Feelin' Good

I skated early this morning and had a really great session! My jumps jumped and my spins were hella centered today! 

Moves - I spent a lot of time on the outside part of the Backward Circle 8. I want to make sure that's stable before I add the inside circles. So far, I'm making it around the RBO about 95% of the time and the LBO about 50% so it still has a way to go. Today was one of my better days on this move where I made it around most of the time. Using the Theraband helps so much in keeping me aligned but I still need to work on getting a better push at the start of each circle. I worked a bit on the Forward Double 3 Turns too. 

Spins - Yeah! These were good today! Every spin I did was centered! I even had a really nice sit spin where I was so centered that I was able to push farther down. I didn't take video but it felt like I was at 90 degrees! I'm still struggling with that transition from camel to sit but I worked on it a bit and I know it will improve little by little over time. 

Jumps - Arms up! I worked on all of my jumps with arms overhead. Oddly, the one jump that feels bad with the arms up is the salchow. Weird. 

Program - I ran it without the music but at full speed. Everything did what it was supposed to. I'm maintaining at this point. 

Dances - I ran the Swing once and the other two dances were run twice. Everything feels good. I spent some extra time on the crossfoot hold right before I step forward and restart the pattern on the Fiesta. I feel like I'm more secure on that step now.

So yeah, I got a lot of work done this morning and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress :)

Just like the Russians!

 Lesson today and I told Christopher about how the Jumps Clinic went. He told me that Christy Krall actually used to be his coach! I guess that makes sense. My husband and I often joke that we know who Christopher's skaters are because they have such pretty arms. Christy just so happened to make arm magic happen as well so now I know where "Christopher Arms" come from. They were originally "Christy Arms!"

Of course, the first thing he wants to see is the flip jump with arms overhead and the first one I did was nice! So we continued to work on it but I got more and more sloppy as we went on. Sigh. We did some lutz jumps with arms and those were slightly improved but still not where they need to be. Basically, jumping with arms overhead works for me and he's okay with me doing it on all of my jumps ("just like the Russians," he said!). The judges will appreciate the added difficulty and when I skate Silver next season with IJS, my scores will thank me. 

On to dances. Besides today, I have one more lesson with him before test day. I've been practicing my trouble spots and have made some improvements. He took video of me running the Cha Cha on my own and the little chasse I've been putting in after the slalom is gone! Yaasssss! We ran it together and it felt pretty good except I need to make the end pattern lobe a bit deeper on the edges. Next up was Fiesta. Although I've been able to improve the timing of the end pattern, it could still use some work. I think the problem now is not so much the last step as it is my arms not moving along with the last step. I need to get the top half of me and the bottom half of me in sync. Finally, we ran the Swing Dance and it was nice. He reminded me to smile, though. I said "fine, I'll remember to smile on test day" and he responded with "you gotta practice it with the smiles." So we ran it again with more smiling action and I almost cracked up laughing halfway through because I felt silly. Ugh...so awkward. But that's what the judges want so I guess that's what I gotta do. 

Next week is the dress rehearsal so I have to remember to look all kinds of fancy with my dance dress. Eventually, I think I'll need to invest in another dance dress. I have the pretty grey one and I have the black and red one but I've been wearing them for lots of things. I probably need another to spice things up. I have ideas about what I want :)

Jumps Clinic with Christy Krall

 Ah, yet another reason why I love my club so much! I just got done participating in a jumps clinic at my rink and I am pooped! I learned a lot and came away with some cool new tricks. The best part? It was FREE! Our club provided everything! So, this was originally supposed to be a spin clinic with Janet Champion from Broadmoor but something came up unexpectedly and the club had to pivot. They changed it to a jumps clinic with Christy Krall (also from Broadmoor) but it was only for skaters who have an Axel or higher. So, basically this excluded the adults. When we brought this to their attention, they allowed the adult skaters from the club to participate anyway. Hells yeah!

Off -Ice: The day started with all of us doing an hour of off-ice jumps and spins. We were split into two groups. The Green Group were the adults and younger kids and the Red Group was made up of skaters working on double jumps and above. Josh Farris (from, you guessed it, Broadmoor) took the Green Group though off-ice jump exercises meant to get us into the air with some height. We were each given a Theraband and were told to wrap it around our waist twice. Then we either used our left arm or right arm to extend the theraband out as we jumped. Super hard. After 30 minutes we switched and did off-ice spinning with Christy to get some good positioning as we rotated on the spinner. Also pretty difficult. Basically, Josh's job was to get us up in the air and Christy's job was to get the in-air positioning better and to get us back down for a good landing. I now have some new ways to use my at-home spinner!

On-Ice: We had some lunch and then got on the ice for two 10 minute private lessons, one with Josh and one with Christy. I had Josh first and he asked me what specific jump I'm struggling with the most so, of course, I said the Flip jump! He had me do one and it was gross (as it usually is) and he asked me how long I've been working on it, probably expecting me to say a few months. When I told him it's been 4 years of working on it and not making progress, he seemed surprised but tried to hide it out of politeness, I suppose. He ran me through a lot of the exercises that Christopher usually has me do so, while it helped to get some perspective, I didn't have any "aha!" moments. I had some time to practice a bit before meeting Christy for my 10 minute lesson with her. When I got to her, she asked what I was working on and I said I was struggling with the flip. She had me do a loop jump, then she asked to see the loop with arms overhead (I've never done that before!), and then she asked to see the flip again but with arms overhead. Holy smokes! The flip was easier!!!! Getting the arms overhead stopped me from pre-rotating the jump so it had more flow. It's still not perfect but it feels 100x better (and it's prettier with the arms). 

I had some more time after my lessons to work on both the flip and the loop with my fancy new arms. I took a video of the loop with the arms overhead and look how it FLOATS! :)

Dance Progress

Practice this morning and my main focus was dance, not only because I have a test coming up but also because jumps were not happening today. My right boot has basically no support left so I'm falling on stupid things like loop jumps. 

Cha Cha - Before I ran this with the music, I spent a lot of time on the step out of the slalom. I finally got it to the point where I'm not inserting a tiny chasse right after but the muscle memory is so strong that I have to focus pretty hard to make sure I'm not doing this. 

Swing - This was pretty good!

Fiesta Tango - I worked on that last step where I hold the free foot crossed behind. I did just the end pattern a bunch of times to make sure it stuck. I think I made some progress. 

Towards the end of my practice, I ran all three dances with the music. I feel really good about the Swing and the Cha Cha and, although I feel better about the Fiesta Tango, I don't feel entirely great about it. I feel like if there is a dance that will be marked as a "retry" it will be this one. It's not bad, though. Maybe I'm just being hard on myself because it doesn't feel as good as the other two but man, I wish I was more comfortable with it. I still have two weeks until test day so I still have time.

Tiny Courage

I had the ice all to myself this morning (yay Wednesdays!). I got a lot done because of that. 

Dances - After my warmups, I started with dances. I was able to Bluetooth into the speakers (yay) but the sound quality wasn't the best (boo). At least it was something and I didn't have to skate with my phone in my pocket! My Swing dance felt really good, my Cha Cha felt alright, and my Fiesta was still pretty meh. I still have a couple of weeks to spice them up so I have hope that I'll come through with a pass. Maybe. 

Spins - I worked a lot on camels, change foot spins, and camel-sit spins. The most frustrating thing is that I can do a camel and I can do a sit but when I transition from camel to sit, I get on my heel and can't get my sit to go lower or go beyond 2 revs. I gathered some tiny courage and attempted a Camel-sit-backspin. It was gross but I tried it. I did a couple of mediocre laybacks as well. 

Jumps - I worked a bit on the Lutz and Flip to get the left leg up sooner after I pick in. I don't know if I made any progress but I did the thing. I didn't spend too much time on jumps because I wanted to make sure I had time to run my program. 

Program - This is the first time I have run my program since last week's competition. It was okay. I struggled with the Lutz-Toe combo (as I do) but I got it done and I ended on time with the music. 

Moves - I worked on Forward Double 3 Turns which are coming along. I'm able to do the full pattern even though my lobes are small and misshapen. I've got two years to improve them so I'm happy with what I have for now. I also worked a bit on backward outside edges on a line in preparation for the Backward Circle 8. Finally, the remainder of my time was spent on Brackets. FI brackets are still maintaining and the RFO is still happening even though it's hella scratchy. I gathered some tiny courage once again to work on the LFO bracket away from the wall for the first time. I promised myself I wasn't leaving the ice until I try one without chickening out. I tried TWO! They were gross but the turn happened! I ended up getting up on my toepick right after the turn so there wasn't a glide out but I did a brave thing and I'm proud of myself.

Long Camel

Lesson today and we focused on my upcoming Dance tests. But first: 

I was working on spins before my lesson and they were feeling pretty good. In fact, I did one camel that had some speed and was right on that sweet spot! I think I counted 5-6 revs on just the camel alone and then the scratch coming out of it had about 8-10 revs! I think this may have been the best spin I've ever done! Like...EVER! Of course, Christopher wasn't there to see it and I didn't get it on video so it's almost like it doesn't count. But it was there! That means it's evolving and I'm getting better at this whole camel thing! Yes!

Before our lesson began, Christopher and I had a discussion about whether or not I'll register to test as Standard or Adult. We are thankfully both on the same page with this. I will register as Adult. Although he said I could pass at the Standard level, there is going to come a time when I'll need to switch over to Adult anyway and he thinks I'll have a better shot at passing with honors if I register as Adult. Okay, we're doing this! Aghghg!

Swing - I've been able to improve this quite a bit. His main criticism is expression. This is such an awkward dance for me because it's the first one where we are in waltz hold face to face. I either keep looking down or turning my head away from his when I look up. He told me to just look past his ears...and SMILE. We ran it again to try it out and although I didn't smile, looking past his ears was really helpful. I even skated better! Who knew? 

Cha Cha - This still has a couple of spots that need some polish. I need more emphasis on stepping on the inside edge on step 3 and again right after the slalom. Speaking of the slalom, I'm still picking up my right foot at the end of it. It doesn't feel like I am but he took video and there it is. I have to really concentrate on not doing that or else it's just going to happen naturally. 

Fiesta Tango - This is getting better but I'm still messing up that last step. We made some progress on it during our lesson, though. Turns out that I'm not holding the XF-LBI for the proper length of time so I step forward before Christopher is ready to (because he's holding his correctly). As a result, I push him away. Now that I know this, I can fix this. 

So yeah, I'm getting close to these dances feeling pretty good. Test day is Thursday November 18!

Small Victories

I got back to work this morning on all of the things!

Moves - My forward Power Circles are coming along. I was actually surprised at how not terribly scary the forward CCW ones feel. It's a horror story going the other direction, though! Backward Power Circles were just okay. I worked on all of the Double 3s. Something happened today that was sorta delightfully surprising - my LBO 3 turn (you know, the one that took a year and a half to get) was just so easy today. Like, really easy. That's a pretty amazing development! I also had a good day with the Backward Circle 8! I was able to make it around the outside circles without a foot down! My LBO is my weaker side and I've been having a difficult time with stability but today, it worked! Finally, Brackets. No progress here. I still cannot do the LFO bracket away from the wall and I still can't get the backwards brackets to work but the other ones are still there. That's something. 

Spins - Christopher gave me some spin homework and I worked on it until things started to get worse instead of better. However, my backspins are feeling good. They are flamingoed but I have control over them. 

Jumps - I worked on the Lutz exercises Christopher gave me and I don't feel like I made progress but maybe it's like the Circle 8 where it just gets better really slowly over time until it's good. 

Program - Didn't run it. I'll do it next time. 

Dances - I ran all three without the music. They are okay. I'm trying to lean back more on the backward chasses and swing rolls on the Swing Dance and I think I made some progress on that.

Frightful Lesson

Well, it's the day after Fright Fest and I sent my Freeskate video to Christopher so we could talk about what worked and what didn't. There was plenty that didn't so we had lots to work on today!

Lutz - Um yeah...like I said in my previous post, the Lutz jump is not good. It has never been good. It's worse than the flip and that's pretty bad because my flip sucks too, lol. He gave me some different exercises to work on and they seemed to help a bit so I'll keep on working on those. I wish it were a fear thing like what I had with the flip but it's a mechanics issue. My brain knows what to do but my body says "nope." Super frustrating. 

Camel - He agreed that the camel was nice but I need to do better with holding it. It would have been nicer had I actually completed the required three rotations. He had me work on camel-sit again and even a camel-back sit. Since I don't compete again until March, I have some time to work on increasing the difficulty of my spins (which will be much needed when I move up to Silver next season). We talked briefly about my nausea issues with the layback and he suggested that, instead of saving all of my laybacks until the end of my practice, I should split them up by doing half at the beginning and the other half at the end of the session so I don't dump the sickly spinning on my body all at once. Seems logical. I'll try it!

Dances - We ran all of the dances and had a discussion about whether or not I'll test them at the Standard Level or the Adult Level. He said they will definitely pass at the Adult level but with some time cleaning things up, I could pass Standard. I haven't registered yet because I'm still undecided about what level to test.

2021 Fort Collins Fright Fest

Here we go!

Practice  - I had practice scheduled for 8:00am and my event wasn't until noon so I didn't wear my dress for practice ice. This is the first time I haven't worn my dress during competition practice ice and I was worried I wouldn't feel like it's competition day. Well, it totally felt like competition day! Not in a bad way but the vibes were still there and I had enough anxiety and adrenaline to do well. Christopher wasn't able to make it to Fright Fest this year but I worked on all of the things he would have told me to work on. My spins were good (such a relief!) so I decided not to change them for my event. So, camel spin and scratch spin it is! My jumps felt good too. Honestly, this was the best practice I've had in a while so I'm glad my skills showed up today!

I had a few hours to kill before my event so I spectated until it was time to change and "zone." 

Freeskate - There are only two of us competing Adult Bronze this year so I was guaranteed a medal but I still wanted to kick ass. I wanted to compete as if I were up against an entire group. My five minute warm-up was good with no falls and my spins spun just fine. I was the second skater to skate. Other than feeling a little sluggish, my program went well. My camel happened but I overestimated the rotations. It felt like three but it was only two. Ugh. I ended on time with the music and I was happy with how I did. 

Results - I got FIRST! Woo! The podium was decorated super cute and the medals were spooky as well. I got to watch the video (you can watch it too if you dare but please ignore the obnoxious kid screaming at their dad in the background halfway through, lol). I made a mental note to find a way to make my Lutz jump an actual Lutz. I know Christopher wants to challenge me by having it my program but it really doesn't look good. I understand the technique of it but I cannot get my body to make it look even remotely close to a Lutz. I guess I just have to keep at it. Someday it will look like a Lutz, right? Right?!

Down to the Wire

 I was able to squeeze in some practices this week to give some extra love to my program before Sunday's competition. The speakers are still broken at the rink so I had to run my program with my phone on full blast in my zippered pocket. 

Mostly, I'm still struggling with consistency on my camel. I tried switching it to a sit spin since those have been nice lately but that actually made everything worse. Ugh. My scratch spins have been really good lately. So good, in fact that I'm spinning forever which would be nice but I only have so many seconds for my final spin and I'm having a difficult time stopping in time with the music. To fix this, I have reverted back to the spin that Christopher originally choreographed as my final spin - the layback. I stopped working on it because I was getting really nauseous but I think I might put it back in. It's slower so I have a better shot at ending on time with the music. But man, I practiced it a lot this morning and I'm still feeling queasy several hours later. 

I think I'm ready for Sunday.We'll see how it goes and what spins I do. I'll know more about what I can do when I get on practice ice the day of the competition. Anything could happen, lol.

Video EviDANCE

 Lesson today and I brought my husband along to take video per Christopher's request. Since Christopher can't record us while we're dancing, it's nice to have someone there to do it. My hubby is super supportive of my skating (and I'm so thankful for that) so he was a willing participant. Watching these videos later was very illuminating. Of course, Christopher has told me to fix certain things but it doesn't really hit home until you see it for yourself. Here is what I witnessed:

Fiesta Tango - Oh hey speed! This looks good in terms of our tempo and our first change of hold looks ok. But man, that second change of hold right before we start the pattern again is a little dicey. It needs more snap and I can clearly see how I'm still shoving Christopher out of the way. There are some timing issues as well where I can see that I'm just slightly behind Christopher. It's making things look sloppy so I gotta fix that. Finally, the swing roll change of edge right before the mohawk looks...not good. My extension right before the mohawk is kind of out to the left slightly instead of behind me. These are all things I can fix (at least I'll try) before test day. The skills are there and so is the speed so I think things just need polish. 

Swing - The main thing I noticed was how far apart we are! It looks like we are awkward teens dancing for the first time at a Middle School dance. It doesn't look bad but it would look better if we were closer. Actually, this is probably the better looking of the three dances. The one thing besides distance I should work on is that little slide chasse I do right before we start the pattern with him going backwards. My leg is slightly bent and it's so subtle that it doesn't even look like a slide chasse. Oh! And pretty much all of my chasses need to be...chasse-ier :)

Cha Cha - Ok, I need to talk about how ugly that cross behind step is on the end pattern right after the swing roll. Christopher's looks great (of course) but my free leg goes up so high that it's looking a little flamingo. Oddly, the one I do during the Fiesta Tango looks lovely but this one is wonky. There were some slight timing issues as well but overall, I think this one looks okay to test. I still have time to clean it up before test day, though!

So, yeah. The videos helped a lot! Again, these are all things that I know need to be improved but seeing it was a huge reality check.

Swingin' in Paradise City

 I skated at Apex today and the speakers (or the thing that operates the speakers?) weren't working. The speakers are never the best anyway and I guess today they just decided not to work at all. Normally, this would be fine but I have a competition in a week and a half and I need music for my program. Aghgh. Instead, they were able to pipe in some random music just so it wasn't so quiet (which is nice) but then I couldn't hear my program music from my cell phone (not so nice). 

Moves - I worked on every double 3 turn - forwards and backwards. I tried the whole "passing my arms through" thing but all it did was destroy my balance. I'll keep working on it. Luckily, the turns themselves are turning so I just need to adjust to the set up and where to place the turns on the lobes. I tried some brackets today. No progress. Backward Circle 8 is still meh. 

Program - Well, I ran it twice without the music and it was okay. I'm still struggling with the camel. Yesterday, my camel came back but it seems to have gone AWOL once more. Frustrating. 

Dances - So, they were piping in a weird mix of music because of the speaker issue. It was all over the place in terms of genre. Some country, pop, R&B, and rock. "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses came on and it was almost exactly the right tempo for the Swing (who knew?!). So yeah, I ran my Swing patterns to GnR and I didn't hate it :) 

When I was taking my skates off, I had a nice conversation with one of my unicorn sisters and it was refreshing to hear that the things I am currently struggling with in Gold Moves are things that she was terrified of as well back when she was working on them. She's a beautiful skater and her brackets and 3s look amazing so it gave me hope. I know I haven't been working on them for too long but it's hard not to feel defeated by them sometimes.

Ice Dance Psychology

 Lesson this morning and we had to do a 6:15am session at the Promenade to make up for my usual Monday afternoon slot. I had an all day staff training event at work and couldn't do Monday. Alas. So, here I am on a Wednesday morning instead. I had an "oops" moment when I was taking my skates off at the end of my session. The morning sessions here are 45 minutes instead of an hour. My brain knew this but my body skated the whole hour. I feel like I stole those extra 15 minutes. Normally, I would call and pay the extra $2.50 or whatever but I remember a few weeks ago when I accidentally left 15 minutes early because I was too tired to read a clock properly. So, I figure it all balanced out. Right? 

Moves - We only had a 20 minute lesson today since his schedule was pretty booked but we got a lot done during such a short amount of time. We started by looking at the forward double 3s. I'm getting it done but the turns aren't placed exactly where they need to be and I'm doing some weird stuff with my arms. After the first turn, I should reset for the second turn and pass my arms through and then turn. So much control needed for this!

Dances - We moved on to dances, starting with the Fiesta Tango. My change of hold on that mohawk is much better (yay! I've been working on it) but the second change of hold on that last step is still wonky. I keep bending at the waist and I'm kinda shoving Christopher away. I'll spend some extra time on the end pattern leading up to test day next month. Next up was the Cha Cha. This is fine. He just wants me to polish some things - more chasse here, less chasse there. Finally, we worked on the Swing. This is getting better too and I think it might be okay for next month. I'm doing better at the first end pattern where I go towards him to get back into waltz hold but when it's his turn to come back to me, I tend to block him. I lock my arms and don't let him get close. This is an unconscious behavior. I have anxiety about people getting too close and it makes sense that it's easier for me to come to him. It's on my terms, sorta. But when he needs to come back in close to me, I react as I would with anyone trying to get too close - I push them away/don't let them in at all. So, basically this means I just need to make a conscious effort to let him in. Ah, the psychology of Ice Dance, lol.

Where have all the Camels gone?

 Do you ever have one of those days where a certain jump or spin just won't work? That was me today with my camel spin. No matter how many I did (and I did a lot!) I kept falling out of it. Super frustrating. On the plus side, my sit spins were sorta nice and my scratch spins were all centered. 

Moves - I worked a lot on my forward and backward double 3s. They were okay. I did some brackets. No progress there. I did some backward circle 8s and those are pretty abysmal. Finally, I worked on CCW Forward Power Circles since I was the only one on the ice and I was actually pleasantly surprised to actually kinda do it. I didn't try the other direction but I did do the backward CCW Power Circle. It probably needs work but I think it's not the worst. 

Program - I'm registered for the Fort Collins Fright Fest on October 24 and my program is in okay shape now. My run through today was good except for the camel that never spun. 

Dances - I ran through all 3 dances but I spent a lot on time of the Fiesta Tango. I hope I made some progress with the change of hold in the end pattern although I was doing it with an invisible partner since I was by myself. I have a lesson tomorrow with Christopher so hopefully I can see if any of the changes I made actually made a difference.

Do ALL the things!

 It was a nice morning on the ice for me today at Apex. It was just me and Coach Michelle working with a brand new adult skater. It's always exciting to see new adult skaters! So yeah, I had a lot of room to work on things since they were mostly just working on stroking and stops in secluded areas. 

Moves - Forward and Backward Double 3 Turns are coming along. Some sides are better than other sides but I'm getting through it. Backward Circle 8 is still a struggle but I feel like it gets .5% better each time I do it so that this time next year maybe it will actually be sorta nice. I didn't work on the other moves but I need to start working on the Power Circles again since I only really did them twice (once on my own and once in my lesson). I did a few FI brackets but none of the others. 

Dances - I ran all three of my Pre-Bronze dances with the music once and then I worked on trouble spots for all three for quite a bit. These are coming along. 

Jumps & Spins - With spins, I worked on everything (including the backspin and a really bad attempt at a back sit). Jumps are okay but my flip and lutz are just really awful. They always are. 

Program - I ran it and it was okay except that I biffed the lutz-toe combo which led to a wonky camel spin coming out of that. The deadline to register for the Fort Collins Fright Fest is Sunday and this program isn't in the best shape. I'm still going to register but man, I'm not feeling great about things.

Dicey Boots

 I was at Apex this morning bright and early! I feel like I made some progress on some things :) 

Moves - I'm now able to do both sides of the Forward Double 3 Turns but the lobes are small, I'm slow, and I'm struggling coming back to the axis. However! It's a start and considering I've given myself a two year deadline to get Gold Moves test ready, I think it's a pretty damn good one! The backward Double 3 Turns were better today too. All of the problems that I have with the forward turns are here too but they are better than they were last week so that's neat. I worked on brackets some more but still can't get the LFO bracket to turn and yeah, the backwards brackets are impossible right now so nothing new there. Backward Circle 8 was frustrating though. I was struggling to get a good push so I wasn't making it back to center every time. I have time to get it right though. It took me a good year to get the Forward Circle 8 to be nice and it ended up being the highest scored move on my Bronze test. 

Dances - I ran all of my dances several times without the music but at speed. I tried to fix some of those problem spots that I mentioned in my last post and I think I made some progress in all of them except for the Fiesta Tango. That last step is a doozy (for some unknown reason). 

Program - I ran it with the music and it was hot garbage. But when I worked on sections at speed without the music, it was tons better. I think I'm starting to forget to do all of the relaxation stuff I was so into about a month ago. My program is kind of a disaster without that. 

Boots - Man, I really need to get something done with my right boot. I feel like it's a broken ankle ready to happen. My sharpener guy sent me the name and number of a cobbler who can reinforce the tongue and I haven't contacted them yet. I should because things are getting dicey. Oof.

Backspin Homework

Today's lesson was split between spins and Dances.

Camel spin still needs a ton of work. It's happening and I'm sometimes getting the required revolutions but it's still very hit or miss. I need to work on better technique to get it consistent. Then, upon my request, we looked at my sit spin. Revolutions are happening and it's actually centered and speedy but I'm not quite at 90 degrees. Of course, my ankle is made of metal so I'm not sure it will ever get down that low but at least it's down as low as I can get it and it is otherwise a good spin. I should really incorporate it more into my practices and competitions. To prove to Christopher that I have the strength to go that low, I demonstrated with my right leg. He had that look on his face that he gets when he starts getting ideas. Ugh. So now, I've been tasked to work on the back sit every time I practice. Joy. 

Dances - We ran all three dances with the music to get them test ready for November. They are "passing" according to Christopher but each dance has one thing that just isn't as perfect as we would like. For the Cha Cha, I'm inserting a teeny tiny chasse after the slaloms and I've been doing it for so long that I haven't noticed it. So, I need to break that habit. In the Swing, I'm getting better at coming back into waltz hold in the end pattern but there is still room for improvement there. Finally, the dreaded Fiesta Tango. I'm still struggling with that last step and it's not even that hard! It's such a dumb thing to get hung up on. For most people, it's the mohawk that gives them trouble. For me, it's a stupid step forward. I keep pushing Christopher out of the way. It's like I'm cutting him off in traffic. Frustrating. Overall, the dances are in good shape and it's just these little things that should be pretty easy fixes. I think I'll be ready for November, though.

Practice makes progress

 So, it's been slow going with all of my Gold Moves. I haven't worked at all on the Power Circles and I feel guilty about that but I have been working on the other stuff quite a bit. 

Forward Double 3 Turns - Until today, I was only able to get the FO-BI side done but today I was able to make the other side (the FI-BO) consistent as well. It's that damn LBO 3 turn that was holding me back. I feel like it will always be a problem. Sigh. But, I was able to do a bunch that turned properly so yay! This is now getting to the point where I can start practicing the full Move in the pattern. 

Backward Double 3 Turns - This is still a struggle. I'm getting the BO-FI side done but it's hella sloppy. The BI-FO side isn't happening at all even though BI 3 turns are typically easy for me. The issue with these is adjusting to a new way of entering the BI turn. Instead of having my free leg out in front, it is now crossed underneath for the turn and there is a certain amount of fear associated with this new thing. I'll get over it eventually and I'm sure it will be a breeze but until then, it's kind of a hot steaming pile of garbage. 

Backward Circle 8 - I was able to get around both BO circles! They are by no means perfect and I wasn't able to replicate it but this is a start! Heck yeah! I've been warming up my Circle 8 with BO and BI edges down the line. I haven't done edges like this since Pre-Bronze so it's nice to see that they have improved so much. Anyway, I think revisiting edges is helping me get a better push and better edge quality for the Circle 8. 

Bracket Hell - This really is hell, ya'll. The FI brackets are okay but I'm still only able to do the RFO brackets and not the left ones. And even though I spent some time at the boards trying to get some Backward brackets done, that is still a mess too. I feel like this is going to be my biggest struggle with Gold Moves

Program - Oh yeah! I ran my program today too. Ummm...it was rough. I haven't run my program since my competition at CSI (btw, I have added the video to that post in case you are interested). Everything happened but  it was just sloppy and really scratchy. My next competition isn't until the end of October so I have some time to freshen it up a bit.

Brave Things

 I've been trying to do "one brave thing" during my practices lately. I don't want to leave the ice frustrated that I didn't at least try something scary. Today's brave thing was trying the FO brackets away from the wall. I sorta succeeded. 

The FI brackets are still there! So I moved on to the FO brackets by the wall and I noticed that the turns themselves are pretty smooth most of the time. No toe scratching after the turn and everything is gliding nicely. So, I did a brave thing and moved over to the hockey goal and attempted the turns without something to hold on to. The RFO bracket happened! I mean, it's hella scratchy because of fear but I did the thing! I wish I could say the same for the LFO bracket but it's getting there. In fact, it probably would have happened today but I left the session 15 minutes early because I can't read a clock apparently. I was already in the car before I realized I had cheated myself out of precious ice time and I was so close to the LFO bracket too! AGHGHGH! I'm so mad at myself. I guess I'll try again when I go back on Thursday. 

So yeah, I did brave things but I'm not going to count it as a win until I can do both right and left sides. Still, this is progress and I'm pretty stoked about it!

Test Ready?

 Lesson today!

Movez - We started with brackets. I'm still not able to do the FO brackets without holding on to the wall and to hell with the backward brackets! Those are not even being attempted at this point. So, we spent some time looking at the backward brackets to get me more comfortable with them. He was able to clear some things up for me, too! Because the point of the turn happens outside of the circle, I was under the impression that I needed to face outside of the circle for all brackets. Turns out that isn't true for backward brackets and that's why I was having such a difficult time wrapping my head around these damn turns. For the backward brackets you face inside the circle! What?! Things make so much more sense now. I mean, I still can't do them but at least I understand them now! Woot! We moved on to the backward double 3 turns. These are still a mess. Sigh. 

Dancez - Oh hey! We skated the Fiesta Tango at speed with the music! I don't think we've done that before. Yay! It wasn't bad actually but he would like my arms to be a bit snappier with the change of hold in the end pattern. We did some Swing and ended with the Cha Cha. When we were finished, he said the dances are "passing" (even though I have doubts). He's never lied to me before so I guess they are passing. I'm just thankful that I have another month-ish before the next test session because there are still some things I would like to clean up. But, if I pass all three, I will not only have finished another ice dance level but I will have passed my 7th test this year! That's pretty neat.

Feeling like a beginner again

 Some people might think I know how to figure skate but man, let me tell you the truth of it all. Today? I could not skate. Like, I felt like a beginner again. This is largely due to lack of ice time over the last few weeks. I have skated maybe a few times since the end of August (not counting competition) and it's starting to show. Combine that with the fact that my right boot is pretty broken down and I have stability issues with that and it really does make me look like a beginner. 

Complaining aside, I think I have my new skate schedule figured out and I'll be back on track soon. Monday will be at the Promenade with Christopher for our lesson and then I'll wake up at the ass crack of dawn to skate at Apex on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Not ideal but I cannot continue to suck like this on the ice. It's depressing. 

I was able to sneak a Saturday practice in this morning since my work schedule allowed me to. My practice this morning was pretty blah. I worked on BO-FI double 3s and I dabbled in FO-BI double 3s. These have such a long way to go and that's just half of the patterns. I worked on FI brackets away from the wall and FO brackets at the wall. I think there is some improvement with the FO brackets as I'm finding that I'm not holding the wall as much. I think if I were to be brave and try it away from the wall they might just happen but it's a confidence thing. I'm just not ready (or brave) enough yet. 

I did some jumps and spins but not too much and I definitely didn't run my program. In fact, I haven't skated my program since CSI a couple of weeks ago. Sigh.

Breaking Down Brackets

 Lesson today! Truth be told, I have not really practiced because the local rinks have changed their schedules once again now that summer has ended. I am scrambling to find ice time and, with a working adult's schedule, it's not always the easiest thing. 

Before our lesson started, I had time to cram a week's worth of practice into the space of about 15 minutes. Luckily, my FI brackets were still there so I tried to mess around with the double 3s and the backward Circle 8. Ugh, not enough time!!!!

Brackets - I told Christopher how proud I was that I was able to do FI brackets on my own without wall assistance so of course he asked me to show him. They are not the best turns but they are happening. They still need a lot more work but I feel like at least I'm getting the snap needed and my free foot placement is sort of okay, albeit a little swingy. So, we moved on to FO brackets and I warned him that I am not courageous enough yet to do them away from the wall so he offered to hold my hand. Still scary! The biggest issue is that, because of the fear, I'm super heavy on the toepick after the turn so there is no glide out - just a stop. Finally, he introduced me to the dreaded backward brackets! I admitted to him that although I've watched videos of people doing these, I'm still not quite sure how to do these. We went to the boards and he broke it down for me. This just seems...weird. Like, why would anyone want to do a backwards bracket when they can do a backwards 3 turn? Do.not.like. 

Backwards Circle 8 - Turns out I've been facing the wrong direction when I've been starting this on my own. I'm glad Christopher pointed it out early on in my learning of this move. With the way I was facing, I was actually going outside of the circle in order to start the RBO. When I start the LBO, I'm cutting the top of the circle short so that was another thing he pointed out that needs fixing. We didn't even get to the Back Inside Circles. This has a long way to go. Sigh. 

Dances - We didn't have a lot of time left but we partnered the Swing with music and it was much improved. I think it will be ready to test soon. We also did the end pattern of the Fiesta Tango without the music to get a feel for that weird switching of the hold position. 

So yeah, it looks like the Y has removed their Sunday sessions and Apex won't bring back the 6:15am Saturday session so now I'm scrambling to find two sessions during the week that will work. I'm going to miss the Sunday Y sessions. It was two hours for $10 and about half the time I had the ice to myself or I shared with 1 or 2 other skaters. It was luxury. RIP Sunday Session :(

Turnsday Thursday

 I was at Apex this morning and decided to just focus on Dances and Turns!

Swing Dance - When we worked on this on Monday, Christopher pointed out that my Chasses were not exactly chasses since I wasn't picking up my free foot enough. I worked on several patterns of Swing in order to really make sure I was picking my feet up as well as getting that nice turn out on the swing rolls. I think I made some improvements on this!

Cha Cha - Since this is my most familiar dance, I only ran a couple of patterns but I tried to focus on stepping on that inside edge after the first progressive. 

Fiesta Tango - I think I spent the most time on this because I haven't really touched it at all in months. I remember the steps just fine but I know it needs a lot of polish, especially when I end one pattern and start another. That's a little disjointed and I'm not sure why. I'll have Christopher take a look next Monday. 

Forward Double 3 Turns - My lobes are pretty small right now and I'm not really going full out with the amount of speed I need but at least I'm working on them. I think I made some progress with the FO-BI turns in terms of waiting after the first turn and resetting for the next. Not so much on the FI-BO. Those are still a mess. I'm not doing any of these in the full pattern yet, just taking it slow to get a feel for them. They feel a bit different than the ones from Silver Moves. 

Backward Double 3 Turns - Well, these are a full on disaster. I just did the first side, the BI-FO and not much progress was made. Damn.

Brackets - Once again, I started to work on these by the boards because I'm still not stable but I noticed that my FI brackets felt better than the FO ones so I decided to be brave and try it out in the open. I moved over to the goalie area and used the small half circle there as a guide. Hey! Guess what? I did both sides of the FI brackets! YAY!! They were tiny and apprehensive but they were legit brackets! Why are the inside ones easier than the outside ones? I decided to count this as a win and not push my luck today so I moved on to some spins and jumps to round out my session. 

*Achievement Unlocked* Forward Inside Bracket Turns! :)

Welcome aboard the Struggle Bus!

 So, I was able to enjoy the high of winning for what? 24 hours maybe? Today was lesson day and we started with Gold Moves. I told Christopher I was able to putz around with some of the moves but there is a lot I don't really understand. 

Forward Power Circles - Oh man. These are actually pretty difficult. Like, when you watch videos of people doing them it's like "no problem, it's just forward crossovers." But it's not just forward crossovers! No more than 15 crossovers are allowed but I already started out making the spiral pattern too big and I was only on crossover 8! And then the faster you go, the smaller your crossovers need to get and all it would take is just one "click of death" and you go flying! Yeah, nightmare fuel. We did both directions and they were equally terrible. 

Forward Double 3 Turns - Ahhh, the return of my nemesis - the backward 3 turns! The first problem was that I was turning too early and the second problem was that I wasn't giving myself time to reset after the forward turn so I could do the backward turn properly. We did both sides and they were equally terrible. 

Backward Double 3 Turns - These look fun but I didn't try them out on my own because I wasn't sure how to set them up properly. It looks so different than how I did my backward 3 turns for Silver Moves. So, for the back insides you do a back crossover and it's on the push under that you turn. That's just weird for me to wrap my head around. I do like how flowy this move is and the extensions are pretty but it's a struggle for now. We did both sides and they were equally terrible. 

Christopher wanted to go over Pre-Bronze Dances so we'll work on the rest of Gold Moves next week. 

Swing Dance - Oh it's been months since we've worked on this! I was forgetting steps and I didn't have any turn out on my swing rolls so Christopher had to warm me not to stab him with my toe pick. Ugh. Embarrassing. It was a disaster. We'll get it together. I would at least like to test Swing and Cha Cha in December. 

Cha Cha - Speaking of Cha Cha, since this is so fresh, we partnered this today without the music and it was in good shape. His main critique was to remember to step wide on the inside edge after that initial progressive. Other than that, this is probably testable right now. 

So yeah, I have a lot of homework and today was humbling. I mentioned to Christopher that I'm giving myself a two year deadline to get Gold Moves test ready and he seems to think I can get it together in a year. I kept thinking he'll change his tune once we start working on brackets because those are the hottest of messes, lol.

Colorado Springs Invitational - Day Two

Coming off the high of my freeskate from yesterday, I was ready to go into today with a kick ass mentality! 

Practice Ice - I had another practice session reserved but this one was only 15 minutes instead of 30. All was well and I was able to practice my intros and fiddle around with some exit choreography (which, yeah, I should not have waited until competition day to figure this out but here we are, lol). 

Dutch Waltz - There are only 3 of us competing in the Adult Preliminary Solo Pattern Dances so no matter what, I'm going to make the podium. I still wanted to do my best though. My music started and my intro choreography was nice, I stayed on beat throughout the dance, and my exit choreography looked nice even though I was wingin' it. My only critique was that my left progressive was a little steppy on both patterns. Meh. 

Canasta Tango - Twenty minutes after my waltz, I got into position for my Canasta. My intro choreography was spot on, my timing was okay (I've done better), and my exit was great and retained the theme of the music even though I was wingin' it yet again.

Results - I won both dances!!!! Wooo! I was given two gold medals, one for each dance, even though I explained to the awards people that it's really just one event with two dances and that I should technically only get one medal. They said "whatever" and handed me two. So, I have two gold medals for today. Why not!

The Ashleyann Carlson Memorial Cha Cha - So, this event is just for fun. It was a $5 entry fee and a lot of my unicorn sisters were doing it so I thought, sure, let's do it. The thing about this particular event is that since it's a memorial dance, it's open to all levels. ALL LEVELS! So, I was competing against Senior level skaters. Needless to say, I wasn't planning on placing (spoiler alert: I did not make the podium, lol). But it was fun nonetheless and it was neat to be "competing" against Senior level skaters. I came in 10th out of 14 so at least I didn't get last place. I skated well, though, so I can't be too disappointed in how I placed but now I know for next year that this event isn't so much about your timing and knowing the steps but more about the entertainment factor. One senior skater did her Cha Cha to "I'm a little tea pot" and she absolutely killed it! It was so much fun to watch. Next year, I'll make it more of a production because apparently originality matters in this particular event as opposed to a traditional Cha Cha event :)

I'm not ordering video from today but my husband took a really nice picture of me on the podium with my double Gold! 

Colorado Springs Invitational - Day One

It's time!

I only had one event today but it's the one I care about most - the freeskate!

30 Minute Practice - I registered for a 30 minute practice so I could get a feel for competition ice. In the past, my practice ice sessions on competition day were filled with bloopers and anxiety. This time, however, I was calm and collected and everything went as planned. Yay! 

5 Minute Warm Up - After my practice session, I had enough time to take my skates off for a brief spell before needing to put them on again for the warm up and main event. I was able to listen to some relaxing music and zone out for a bit and I think that was really helpful in getting me to that calm place where I perform at my best. It didn't feel like a lot of time but it did the trick. When we all got on for our warm-ups, I was as cool as a cucumber! Everything in the warm-up went as planned. I landed everything and my spins were fine. In fact, with just a minute left in warm up, I was done. I just wanted to get out there and skate! 

The Main Event! - I was the third skater to go on so I still felt plenty warmed up and the urge to get out there and kick ass was still strong. So, how did it go? Honestly, I think this was the best I've ever skated my program! My camel spin was one of the best ones I've ever done, I had expression, my jumps landed, and everything had flow. I got the job done!

Results - Out of seven skaters, I placed FIRST! Gold Medal! If you want to watch the video, here it is!

Final Thoughts - I feel like I have finally found the thing that works for my anxiety. It worked in Cody when I slayed on my freeskate, it worked on test day when I passed Silver Moves, and it worked today. Tuning the world out and listening to calm music really gets my heart rate down and stops me from obsessing and overthinking about what I'm about to do. It took me four years of testing and competing to figure this out but hey, now I know and now I can use this every time I'm about to do a big thing :) 

Dress Rehersal

Today was my final lesson with Christopher before the competition next weekend. He literally has not seen the entirety of my program with the music since we finished choreography so this should be interesting! I slapped on my new freeskate dress and some sparkly tights and got started.

Dances - Before we made it to the freeskate, we had some cleaning up to do with my dance intros. I choreographed all three intros myself so I was hoping he would be okay with everything. He was! The only one he made adjustments to was the intro to the Dutch Waltz and let's just say his choreography is soooo much better! I admitted to him that my dances have taken a backseat to everything else I've been working on lately so they might be a little rusty. He gave me some last minute reminders but I think overall, they are okay. 

The 27 Program Challenge (27/27 COMPLETE!) - Oh hey! I completed the challenge today when I did my run through in front of Christopher. It was a good run through but my camel got a little off center because there were people standing close to where I needed to spin and I got distracted. Overall, it was a good run through. He had me reskate the camel to the end one more time once the area was free and clear and I got the #slowclap! Yay! We spent quite a bit of time on the dreaded Lutz jump. This jump and the flip jump haunt me. I just don't ever feel like I can vault the way I need to so my technique is always so sloppy. But Christopher said, in a pinch, it's better to get the rotation than the correct edge (ideally, it would be lovely to have both). 

I'm ready for next weekend's competition. I haven't been obsessing about it like I normally do. I'm much more relaxed. All of this relaxation work I've been doing lately has me a lot more chill about things. That's nice compared to two years ago when I needed to see a therapist friend of mine to help me with performance anxiety. Although I'm not sure if it's me learning how to be more relaxed or me being more comfortable with my skills so that I'm not stressing about whether or not I'll get the job done. Maybe it's a bit of both. 

I have two more practice days scheduled and then it's showtime!

Boots - My skates went in to get sharpened and my sharpener said that the tongue on my right boot was pretty broken down and soft. I know this but I've been in total denial about it because I've only been in these boots for a year and a half (although I've been skating hard during that time). I've noticed that my loop jumps in particular are very unstable and that my right boot is super loose around the ankle halfway through a session. But man, having it confirmed like this sucks. So, he said I can visit a cobbler and see about getting the tongue reinforced or I can look into getting new boots. I wonder if I can just get a new right boot. My left boot is still pretty stiff. Luckily, my blades have plenty of life left in them so there's that at least. Ugh, I'm not ready to do this! $$$$!

Double Run Through

Note to self: Wednesday mornings at Apex are the best! For the first half of the session it was me and two other skaters but during the second half, it was just me. The whole ice to myself! It was awesome and I definitely took advantage of it and got some good work done. 

Moves - Day two of Gold Moves. I spent quite a bit of time working on the backward circle 8 and those forward double 3 turns. I didn't make any progress. Everything is pretty gross. Later when I had the ice to myself, I tried a forward power circle. Oh man. It was bad. I pretty much have two speeds: slow and sorta moderately fast, lol. There was none of that gradual increase of speed like there should be. These are deceptively difficult. I also messed around with some brackets by the boards. The forward inside and outside feel better than they did the last time I tried them but I'm still not ready to move away from the boards and try them out in the wild. I attempted a backwards bracket and my brain exploded. I'm going to need Christopher to help out with explaining these to me. 

The 27 Program Challenge (26/27) - Since I had the ice to myself, I ran this twice back-to-back! It was exhausting but I know it's good conditioning. They were both okay. I had a couple of bobbles but no falls and I ended on time with the music. 

Dance - I did DW, CT, and Cha Cha. The patterns are fine but I'm concerned about whether or not my intros are good and reflect the character of each dance. I don't usually choreograph things on my own for a reason - I'm just not good at it. But, I have a lesson with Christopher this Friday and hopefully we can run all 3 of these with the music.

The Theraband is my new BFF

I have had a love/hate relationship with the Theraband ever since Christopher introduced me to it. Everything is so much more difficult with it. I know that's the point but I've always...resisted...working with it (heh, puns). Anyway, today was different. I discovered how helpful it actually is and I think I like it now :) 

Gold Moves - Ahhhh, day 1 of working on a new level of moves. It's always a humbling experience. My first day with Gold Moves was not nearly as defeating as my first day working on Silver Moves and for that I'm thankful! I started easy with the Backward Circle 8. I just wanted to work on the outside circles today and I was having a difficult time making it back to center. In addition, my circle sizes were not the same and my arms were all kinds of wonky. I broke out the Theraband and like a miracle, things worked! Like, what? How? So I did a bunch more and they were all really nice. I moved on to Forward Double 3 Turns. I just did the first side trying to focus on placement of the turns since I know that's a big deal. I did one full length down the ice without a foot down and I didn't struggle on a single turn. When I was done I literally stood there and said out loud "Why is this so much easier?!" So, I ventured back down the other side of the ice and did the second side and yeah, I struggled a bit but it really wasn't terrible. So, I grabbed the Theraband and did them with that and they were even better! Again, the Theraband works miracles! Finally, I thought that since today is going so well why not try some Brackets! I was only able to do them by the boards and I was only able to do the forward inside and outside brackets, nothing backwards. But! It's a start. And it's a damn good one. I'm feeling like a boss!

The 27 Program Challenge (24/27) - I'm almost done with the challenge! I ran my program twice today and both of them were clean! I'm feeling ready to rock my freeskate in two weeks!

Dances - I ran through all of them and they are looking good enough to compete with. I'm excited to run these during my next lesson with Christopher so he can spruce them up a bit. I'm sure they've gotten a little rusty since I've been focusing on other things. 

The last couple of weeks have been the best I've ever skated! Clean programs, clean test run throughs, and a passing Silver Moves Test. Getting started on Gold Moves with all of this newly found confidence is really nice. I'm hoping this feeling sticks around a bit. It feels awesome!

Silver Moves in the Field Test - PASSED!

 Oh hey, I did a thing! I PASSED MY TEST! *Celebratory Noises, loud cheering, and some tears* This is going to be a long post. Be forewarned. :)

Warm-ups - I got to Apex with plenty of time to do some off-ice warm-ups before my 7:00am practice session. Btw, shout out (again) to Alpine Skating Club for providing a FREE practice session reserved just for testing skaters. It's a nice touch! I didn't think a 45 minute session would be enough to get everything done but it was actually too much time. With 5 minutes left, I told Christopher I just wanted to get off the ice so I can listen to some relaxing music and mentally prepare before getting on again for my test. I had about a 45 minute wait before I was supposed to get back on so I took my skates off and put on some relaxing tunes while I watched the group before me absolutely slay on their tests (congrats to both of them for passing!). 

5 Minute Test Warm-up - Well, this was a train wreck! I've been able to keep my nerves at bay but then I saw the judges and my legs turned to jelly (as they do when I'm nervous). I took a couple of hard falls on my easier 3 turns and then skated back to Christopher in a panic. He calmed me down and sent me back out to finish the warm-up. 

Introductions - I was the first skater in my group to go (which is always nice) and so I skated right up to the judges to introduce myself (I can't do this at the Promenade since they sit up high in the bleachers). I smiled and said "hello" and "I'm absolutely terrified right now." They said hello and that there is no need to be nervous. They are all rooting for me and they all really want me to pass. It really helped to hear that and I relaxed quite a bit. I got into starting position for my first move. Here we go...

Eight Step Mohawks - I've skated this better but I've also skated it worse. It was scratchy and my outside mohawks were not the best. Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: Scratcy, slurred 678 step, control issues = -1
• Judge Kelly: flow consistent, some toe scratching on turning fwd to bkwd = 0
• Judge Hazel: not an even cadence on either side = -1

Cross Strokes - I heard rips on the forward strokes and I thought that was pretty neat and the backward strokes felt good. Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: Steppy forward cross strokes, back cross strokes better = 0
• Judge Kelly: flow maintained, bkwd were cross steps, not strokes from outside edge = -1
• Judge Hazel: forward continuous flow. back continuous flow = 0

 FO-BI 3 Turns - These felt good :) Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: Good placement. Work on push to back edge = +1
• Judge Kelly: Turns done on stable edges = +1
• Judge Hazel: RFO edge good control good. LFO edges controlled 3s pretty good = +1

FI-BO 3 Turns - These did not feel good. I had a very obvious foot down. Oops. This might be worthy of a reskate later on :(  Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: FD. LBO weak, RBO 3 jumped on many. work on push to back edge = -1
• Judge Kelly: One touch down after LBO 3. Some BO 3s jumped = -1
• Judge Hazel: RFI "wiggles" after 3s. Watch toe pushing. LFI 3s lack control = -2 

Spirals - Wheee! Best move! This felt good. Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: Beautiful extension. Nice control, Nice edges = +2
• Judge Kelly: Both O+I good extension and stable lobes = +1
• Judge Hazel: Outside nice extension above hip, inside nice extension = +2

Power Pulls - No audible rips on the forward (sigh) but I got a couple on the backward! At this point in the test I was just hella excited to be done! Here's the video.

• Judge Betsy: Adequate = 0
• Judge Kelly: forward pulls shallow, backward pulls strong = 0
• Judge Hazel: fwd pulls look *unreadable*, back okay with some continuous flow = 0

Final Scores - They didn't ask me to reskate anything even though I was sure they would ask to see the FI-BO 3 turns again. So, I waited anxiously for the results thinking that I probably didn't pass. When the score sheets came out and they were passing, I started crying with happiness. Christopher said "Did you not think you would pass!?" and I said "Actually, no, I didn't think I would pass." Total disbelief! I can't believe I passed!!!! Woooot!

• Judge Betsy Final Score = +1
• Judge Kelly Final Score = 0
  
• Judge Hazel Final Score = 0 

My husband wasn't able to come but Christopher took video for me (super thoughtful of him!). 

I'm Ready!

I think the old Mandi would have titled this post "I'm Ready?" but the new Mandi is going to take that question mark out and make a clear statement about tomorrow's test: I'm Ready!

Moves - I had my final practice before the test this morning at Apex and this was the best I've ever done my 3 Turns! Not a single foot down. Since they felt good today, I didn't obsess and spend the whole hour overworking them. Instead, I ran everything at least once and then moved on to Dance and Freeskate stuff. Honestly, there is nothing I can do today to make tomorrow better. I just need to go out there and skate my best for the judges. 

The 27 Program Challenge (22/27) - I ran my program and it was clean! My last few run throughs have been clean and calm so I'm feeling pretty good about CSI in a couple of weeks. There are still a couple of areas I want to spruce up but overall, if I skate like this at the competition, I think I'll make the podium. 

Dance - I just ran Dutch Waltz and Canasta today because I didn't want to use up the whole session playing my own music in case someone else wanted to run theirs (although it was just me and two other adult skaters). I spent some time on the Cha Cha on Sunday so I don't feel bad about skipping it today. Have I mentioned I hate the Dutch Waltz? 

So yeah, test tomorrow. May the odds be ever in my favor.