Time After Time

 OMG! I skated at APEX this morning and the ice was BEAUTIFUL and it was all MINE! YAASSSSS!

I took advantage of this rare occasion to really kick some ass today. I worked hard on my field moves as well as my program. It felt awesome and I was sweaty at the end of it so I know I succeeded :) 

Movez - I plugged in my "Fun Rink Jamz" playlist and got right to work. First up was the 8 Step. I ran it 3-4 times and each time felt like I was dragging ass. This move will probably be the one that makes me or breaks me on the test. The steps are there but everything is sloppy. Sometimes, I have one that's nice but it's rare. I moved on to the Cross Strokes which were actually pretty nice and I even got a couple of rips going forward and backward. I only did one pattern since it seemed to be in pretty good shape. Next up were the 3 Turns. The FO-BI turns are consistently turning without a foot down (especially when I remember what Christopher said about turning my shoulders along with my head) but the FI-BO turns were sketchy. These will be awesome once I get control over my check after the BO3. I spent most of my field move time on the 3 turns because I'm really hoping to get some positive points here not only for my own satisfaction but because I'll need them to make up for the 8 Step disaster (plus, I'll encounter double 3 Turns when I get to Gold moves). Moving on, I did a pattern of Spirals. Nothing to see here. These are great. Finally, the Power Pulls! You know what? These felt good today! So much so that I did them a few times because I was having fun with them. I know they could still use some more power but they aren't terrifying anymore and I think I've got the hang of things now. I feel like I'm getting really close to possibly being in the realm of "passing." I still have another 6-7 weeks or so until the test so I still have some more time to polish things up before I skate for the judges. As long as I stay consistent and don't let nerves take control, I think I have a chance!

The 27 Program Challenge (2/27) - Ok, the ice is mine. There is no excuse not to run this program a bajillion times. So I did (and by bajillion, I mean twice). Technically, I ran it three times but on one of my runs I was so far behind the music that there was no saving it so I started over. So, I had two full run throughs and they were both pretty awful. I'm mostly struggling with the timing. I feel like I'm running an Olympic-level spirint every time I skate this program because it is just so damn fast and if I miss a step, it's nearly impossible for me to catch back up. For both of my full run throughs, I ended the program late. I've narrowed down where I think the timing problems begin. It's the damn Lutz-Toe combo. Because I tend to hesitate going into the jump, I land it late and then I start my camel late and then my step sequence is behind and then it dominos until I'm winding up for my final spin just as the music is ending. Ugh. So, I know this means I need to practice the Lutz entry at full speed, no hesitation. And I need to do this over and over and over until I die. 

Also, I might experiment with a different entry into my final spin. Now that I'm thinking about things, it takes quite a bit of time to do a little swing roll out of the spiral, mohawk, BXO, and wind up into the spin. I bet if I exit my spiral into a RFI 3 turn and then step forward into the spin it might buy me a couple of seconds (and it might look more advanced too!). I'll try it out on Monday!

I was thinking about why this program feels so good at the Y vs. how I'm struggling to keep up when I skate it at the Promenade and APEX and I think it's because of the rink being slightly smaller at the Y and therefore I can get to where I need to be quicker? Ok, hold on, Imma Google this right quick....Ok, no. I can't prove this theory as the Y doesn't list the dimensions of their rink but I'm pretty sure it's not the official NHL size like the other two rinks. It feels smaller though and I don't think I'm imagining that because when I practice my 3 turns there I have a hard time squeezing in four sets down the length of the rink without running dangerously close to the boards so I usually do 3 really big sets on each side to fit things in comfortably. Anyway, the point is that maybe I just need to "get good" and skate faster regardless of which rink I'm at. Sigh.