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.