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.