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.