Road to CSI: The 27 Program Challenge

Next week will be a bit wonky with the holiday schedule. I won't get to skate at the Y on Sunday and the Promenade is closed on Monday so I won't have my lesson with Christopher either. I'll try to squeeze in some extra sessions at APEX to make up for lost time. 

During our lesson, Christopher asked me for a recording of me doing a thing (either a field move or a program run-through) so he can critique it in lieu of our typical in person lesson. I'll have to get one of my unicorn sisters to record for me, I suppose. I had such a great run through this past Sunday and I really hope I can replicate it for a video. We'll see. Which brings me to...

The 27 Program Challenge - I counted how many weeks are left until CSI and then multiplied by 3 (which is how many times per week I skate) and came up with 27. I swear my math doesn't suck. Yes, it should be 30 but I'm giving myself some grace to miss a few days due to holidays and scheduled vacations. Anyway, 27 is a nice number. If I do more than 27, yay! But I don't want to feel bad for not reaching 30 just because life got in the way. 

So, the "Road to CSI" starts now and I really want to be ready. Last year, even though I won Gold, it was not a comfortable win and I felt like I could have skated better with another few practices under my belt. I'm debuting a new program with strong, confident music and choreography. I can't skate passively. I need the judges and the audience to feel it. 

Also, I'm representing a new club and I don't want them embarrassed to have me, lol.

 

Welcome to the Zoo

 The blue rink is shut down for maintenance and so twice the amount of skaters were on the red rink today during my lesson. It was a dangerous mix of little kids who lack situational awareness, ice dancers, adult skaters, and Sullivan skaters. Even with Christopher spotting me, I bailed on a bunch of patterns because I really don't trust anyone. I always fear a little kid will just appear out of nowhere and we both go down. I am really not in the mood for another injury so I skated with an over abundance of caution (with a dusting of fear). 

Lesson - First, I begged Christopher to not make me run the program with all of these people on the ice. Super dangerous! He agreed and so we spent our time looking at field moves and that one bit of choreography that I'm still getting hung up on. We started with the Power Pulls and I think he could see the small improvements because when I asked him if it was passing, he said yes! I still have about a month and a half before the test to make even more improvements but at least it's headed in the right direction. Next up, we worked on the bad side outside mohawk on one of the hockey circles. I made some slight improvement when he had me lean back more facing out of the circle. I just have to remember to practice it this way. We moved on to the Cross Strokes and he noticed some slight improvement with the backward strokes so these are getting better too. Finally, 3 turns. He noticed that I'm looking into the direction of the turn (which is good) but I'm only looking with my eyes. I really need to look with my shoulders, neck, head...everything. It was a good observation and when I made the adjustment, the turns felt easier. 

We spent almost half of the lesson working on the choreography that is troubling me. There is a push under that I just cannot coordinate with my arms. Like, the arms by themselves are spot on but once I do it with the footwork, it gets stupid. I just have to keep doing it, I guess. Of all of the difficult things I'm doing in this program, it's a push under with arms that is tripping me up. Super frustrating.

Fan Club

 Practice at the Y was nice. I made some meaningful progress on some of my moves and I had a good program run through for once. Yay!

Moves - I only stayed an hour so I decided I would work on moves for 30 minutes and then work on my program for 30 minutes. Overall, my moves are right where I left them except I'm feeling a bit more comfortable with the Power Pulls. There hasn't been any earth-shattering developments with this move but the extra speed at the beginning is helping set it up for success. I ran the move a few times just to make sure it sticks. The 8 Step Mohawk is the other move that is kinda gross so I ran that a few times to make sure it has a nice rhythm and that the ccw outside mohawk isn't garbage (spoiler alert: it's still kinda garbage). 

Program - I warmed up all of my program jumps and spins before running the full program and everything felt secure. I was going to to wait until the end of my practice to run the program but I felt good and ready so I ran it. OMG! I hit all of my jumps and spins as well as all of my musical cues! Oh! And I finished on time with the music! YASSS! This is the first time everything came together in the way it should! It wasn't entirely perfect. I had a slight misstep in the middle of my step sequence but that was a fluke and my feet weren't right on the new choreography Christopher gave me leading up to the Salchow. These are minor fixable things, though. I feel like I can actually skate this program now! Yay!

Components - After running the program, I worked a bit on the individual components to try to gain some more consistency. As I was doing so, a family with about 4 little girls (all under the age of 6 or 7) were watching me and oooo-ing and ahhh-ing after every jump or spin I did. Honestly, if the usual gals I skate with were present, they would be the ones getting the oooo's and ahhhh's but, since I was the only one on the ice, I was the rock star by default, lol. When I finished up and started taking my skates off, the girls wanted to meet me! They were super cute and too shy to say hello so they just kind of stood there and giggled as girls do. Their mom brought them closer to say hello and, I'm not going to lie, I kind of felt like a celebrity. It was neat. I asked them if they have ever tried skating before and encouraged them to try it someday and that it feels like flying. Maybe I inspired one of them! Or maybe I inspired their mom to become an adult skater. Who knows! So yeah, I had a fan club for about 15 minutes and it was fun :)

Dodgy

 I skated the 615:am at APEX this morning and got to skate on the West rink for the first time in months. They took the ice down for maintenance so I've been on the East rink exclusively and it sucks because I never skate well on the East rink. I'm not sure if it's the lighting or just the vibes but I'm never at my best on that ice. So, I was super excited this morning when I found out we were skating on the West rink! Yay! I usually skate well on the West rink! Except...

There was a HOLE! In.the.ice! And right next to it was a yellow ice mound of something gross that was dripping from the ceiling. Oh, and the rink smelled mostly like gasoline. Cool. 

So I made a mental note to dodge that area and I warned the other skaters getting on the ice that, you know, they could die if they skate over there. 

Anyway, I spent the first 30 minutes on Moves. My Power Pulls felt slightly better today. Speed helps. My backward cross strokes were also slightly better. I think I even heard some teeny tiny rips! The FO-BI 3 turns were okay but the FI-BO had a foot down after every BO 3 turn. Not only is that disappointing but it's kind of scary knowing I'm testing these bad boys in a month and a half and I still have moments where I'm putting a foot down. I think I might have to add another morning to my schedule. APEX has a 5:45am session on Wednesdays and a 6:15am on Thursdays. Both of those are good options for me to get some extra time in before the test. I just really hate mornings, though :( 

I worked on the program and was having a couple of issues with the new corrected choreography Christopher gave me from the loop jump leading into the salchow. It makes total sense on the floor but doesn't translate well to the ice. Also my end pose after the final layback spin is super precarious. I'll have him take a look on Monday. Maybe I remembered it wrong again and that's why it's so goofy. Or maybe I'm just bad at this.

I still have a lot of work to do on this program and, although my first competition isn't until September, I don't feel like I have a lot of time to get it together enough to compete with. I'm still having timing issues and I'm struggling with those little in between moments of choreography. I think I might do another "Program Challenge" like I did earlier this year. It really got my ass into gear and motivated me. Plus, the end result was fantastic. I had my best freeskate ever at the Cody Spring Classic and I'm pretty sure it was because of the "24 Program Challenge" that I made myself do. I'll think about it some more and come up with a good number. I don't think 24 will be enough.

Soul Tired

 I worked hard this weekend leading up to my lesson but I still feel drained. I'm motivated but the spark is gone. I still love skating but the fire is dull right now. I know this is just the result of grieving and that, with time, it will get better but it's hard. All of it is hard. I spoke to my husband about how I've been feeling lately and he used the term "soul tired" and I can't think of anything more fitting. That's exactly how I feel - soul tired.

Moves - My test is fast approaching so I'm working hard trying to get things more consistent. I feel like I made some slight improvement on my forward power pulls. Since my pulls are lacking power, I figured that if I add more speed, it gives the illusion of power (and it also makes things easier kind of like how balancing on a bike is easier when you're moving). So, when I start this move, I put my all into building as much speed as possible going around the bend to the axis. The more speed I gather, the easier the move is. I also worked a bit on the 8 step mohawks since this is another of my weaker moves. I focused on getting the rhythm and cadence down as well as coordinating my arms with the turns and steps. If I had to grade myself on Silver Moves as a whole, I think I would give myself a C-. It has moments where it looks great (hello spirals) and moments that are really weak (power pulls and 8 step mohawks) so I think it all averages out to a low C. It's passing, but just barely. Add in nerves on test day and it doesn't bode well for me. I need to bump it up and soon!

Program - I ran the program and just wasn't finishing on time. The music stops just as I'm winding up for the final layback spin. This is really frustrating and could result in a deduction if I compete with it like this. The good news is that I'm getting the jumps landed. I even went into the Lutz-Toe combo with some more speed than usual. It would be an edge call but it happened and that's progress!

Lesson - Since Christopher caught me working on the back 3s, that's what we started with. We broke out my theraband and he had me do several patterns holding it out and down in front of me to make sure my arms are stable and that they are checking the turns. My biggest issue with these turns isn't the turns themselves, it's the lack of control with my upper body after the turn. This is particularly a problem with the FI-BO turns. Once I get that under control, these patterns will look really nice, I think. We moved on to the 8 Step Mohawk pattern and he took video to show that on the ccw circle, I'm leaning just slightly on an inside edge when I do the outside mohawk. This creates a subcurve within the curve and it looks messy. This isn't the case going the other direction so it really is just a bad side vs. good side issue but it could be noticeable enough to the judges to result in a low score. Finally, we ran the program. I admitted that it was a mess to prepare him for the suck that was about to happen. Again, as expected, I finished late. But, more than that, he noticed that I got the end choreography wrong. I've been working on it all weekend but I've been working on my version of what I remembered and not the version he actually gave me. In my defense, we worked on it during the last few minutes of my lesson last week so I'm not surprised I remembered it wrong now that I think of it. I'm just annoyed at myself for wasting time working on the wrong thing. I wasn't too far off so it's an easy fix. He also changed a bit at the end of my step sequence to buy me a couple more seconds of time leading into my loop jump. Nothing major, just turning to the right instead of the left. We ran the program one more time and I finished late again. I was disappointed but he reminded me that I'm still making good progress on it and that there were really nice moments in it that I'm not seeing because I'm too focused on what I'm doing wrong. 

I got home after my lesson and I cancelled my evening Pilates class. I just want to exist for a bit without having to do stuff. Normally, "stuff" is a nice distraction but I'm feeling pretty fragile lately. I need rest mentally and physically. My husband and I have a small trip planned so that should help. Until then, I just keep moving along.

That flow, tho!

 I skated the 6:15am freestyle at APEX this morning and besides my spins leaving me altogether, it wasn't the worst practice. 

Moves - During my lesson with Christopher this past Monday, we decided to shoot for an August test date for Silver MIF. Inspired by one of my unicorn sisters who recently passed her Silver Moves, I'm just going to "put it out there" and see what happens. I'm not 100% confident that I'll pass (and, in fact, a lot of adults don't pass Silver MIF on the first try) but I've been working on this for 2 years now and I think it's at least at the point where I can try to test. I ran everything this morning and I had some control issues on the BO 3 turns and my forward Power Pulls were still wimpy. I was able to work a bit on getting my arms right on the 8 Step Mohawk and getting my feet closer together on the back cross strokes. If I really focus my energy on making this the best I can get it, I might have a shot in August. 

Program - I only worked on sections today. My goal was "Flow." This is really important in the step sequence and coming out of it into the end of the program. I worked on the new ending that Christopher gave me and I think I get it. It's just really fast. The whole program is fast and well, I'm not. So, in addition to flow, I need speed. Speed and Flow. 

In other news, US Figure Skating updated my member profile to show my new club affiliation so it's official now. It feels nice. I'm in the process of getting a new club jacket but they need at least 4 orders to take to the embroiderer so I might have to wait a bit. I liked my old RMFSC jacket, though. Too bad I'll never wear it again. It's now an artifact of a past life :)

Picking up the pieces

 I know I haven't been updating this blog as often as I used to. I'm still struggling with my loss and the things that were once enjoyable have lost a bit of their spark. But, skating has always been an escape for me. Now more than ever I need to let it be just that. I'm determined to find my motivation again and get back on track. 

My practices have been sporadic due to scheduling issues and then, when I did find ice time, I mostly just skated around and didn't work too hard on anything. That will change starting now!

Today's lesson was mostly focused on field moves but we did dabble in the program in the last five minutes and (I think!) it's fully choreographed now. Woo!

Eight Step Mohawk - These are getting there. One side is still obviously stronger but it's at least testable. On the bad side, I just need to make sure I emphasize the outside edge on the outside mohawk. Also, more speed would be swell. 

Cross Strokes - The forward strokes are nice and I'm getting a rip sometimes but they need just a tad more curve to them. Using my shoulders would help with that. The backward strokes have improved slightly. They were a bit steppy but Christopher gave me some exercises to help with placing my feet closer together on the strokes and that has been working! He actually said he saw improvement. Yay!

FO-BI 3 Turns - These are my better turns but, even though the turns are good, my free leg is doing a weird thing where it's in front before the turn and after the turn but somewhere during the turn, it tucks behind. It's an awful habit and Christopher is trying to break me of it but I've been doing it for 2 years now so it's going to be a journey. I don't think it would prevent me from passing but it would look a lot nicer and probably help my turns be a bit more smooth. 

FI-BO 3 Turns - The technique on these is not as good but my free leg is nicely placed throughout. Ugh, why can't everything just be good?

Spirals - These are hella nice! Christopher says I'll get plus points for them (and I'll need all the plus points I can get!). 

Power Pulls - Backward pulls are fine but the forward pulls are still wimpy. I go around the bend with a lot of power to start the move off right but then I pull the reins and the pulls turn into swerves. Frustrating. 

Program - I ran it with the music and it was okay but I bailed on the Lutz-Toe Loop combo. Again, lack of practice and motivation but I'll change that! He laid out the rest of the choreography to the end and it looks like I'll be doing some connecting moves to a Salchow and then a spiral into an Ina Bauer into my final layback spin. 

I asked him if August was realistic to test Silver Moves and he said he thinks it is! So, I really have to get out of this funk and get back to the grind. I lost a lot of progress feeling sorry for myself this past month. Gotta change that.

Now Representing...Alpine Skating Club!

 Well, it's official. I'm no longer a member of Rocky Mountain Figure Skating Club. I have instead joined the Alpine Skating Club!

Why the switch? I'll be real here. There have been a lot of changes at the Promenade (home of RMFSC)  this past year and for certain skaters the changes have been great. For others, not so much. These changes don't feel very inclusive and seem to favor families with money for specialized training. Half of the coaches got absorbed into a club within the club and for the skaters who do not desire to be a part of this new academy or who can't afford it, it feels like we are being left behind or tossed aside. It honestly feels kind of icky that the club is divided in this way. The haves and the have nots. 

Basically, I want to be a part of a club that represents ALL skaters at ALL levels and ALL ages and ALL abilities. I found a club that does just that. A club that celebrates the achievements of all of their skaters and not just those who may someday go to the Olympics. I found a club that is accommodating to adult skaters as well as the younger skaters. I found a club whose members are all on the same team. 

I thought I would feel a bit sad switching over considering I've been at the Promenade and involved with RMFSC for a number of years now (even serving on the Board this past year). But it was surprisingly refreshing to change clubs. And the best part? I can still keep Christopher as my coach! I can be proud to represent my new club and enjoy being a part of a team once again. What really sealed the deal for me was that I asked for a return of the 6:15am Saturday sessions at APEX (home to Alpine) and the coaches and skating director actually listened and brought it back!

So, goodbye RMFSC. Hello Alpine! Thanks for having me :) 

Ice Drama

 Ugh, it's so hard being a "Nomad Skater." By that I mean, I don't really have home ice anymore since my home rink got rid of any sessions that would accommodate a working adult. I've been splitting my time between 3 different rinks and now APEX has gotten rid of their 6:15am Saturday session and the Y has turned their 11-1 Freestyle into an 11-1 Rec Skate. 

I have a few options remaining but it will require some juggling. So far this week, I've only skated once at the Y so I am utterly unprepared for my next lesson on Monday. 

However, my practice at the Y was fruitful. I was able to spend quite a bit of time getting more flow on the step sequence and am becoming more confident with skating it at speed. I ran the program in its entirety with the music (with an audience! I was sharing the ice with one of my unicorn sisters!). I improvised the end by throwing in a Salchow and a botched layback since that's all we have to add but man, it was a rough run through. I was trying to keep up with the music but the program is speedy and there were a few moments when my transitions were really sloppy. But! That's okay! This is a brand spankin' new program and there are still a lot of kinks to work out. I'm just happy I was able to do it at all without a fall! Both combos got landed (including the Lutz-toe loop!) and the step sequence was right in beat with the music. My loop jump was nice too. But I botched the camel-sit and I botched the layback, turning both into scratch spins. Gross. I mean, yay, I ended on time with the music but it would be nicer if my spins were the proper spins. Sigh. 

So anyway, I'm just going to have to figure out a way to get practices in with everybody's schedules so wonky for the Summer. I'll find a way. I always do :)