Frankenprogram

 I just got thrown for a loop (no pun intended)! So, I had registered for two events for Casper - Bronze Free Skate and Silver MITF. I was informed about a week or so ago that I was the only one registered for Silver MITF and I had a choice to either skate it as an exhibition or withdrawal with a refund. I asked if I could instead switch to Silver Compulsory Moves so I could have some competition (I have yet to receive a default gold and I really don't want to start now). I never heard back from them about switching and they put me on the schedule for Silver Moves Exhibition so I thought that was that, right? Well...that was not that! I finally got a response last night and they have indeed accepted my request to compete Silver Compulsory Moves. Wonderful! But now I only have a week and half to put a compulsory moves program together! Aghghghgh! I'm skating twice today so the plan was to work on choreography during my morning practice and then see what Christopher can fix during my afternoon lesson.

The 12 Program Challenge (10/12) - I ran my program this morning and it was gross. Not feeling awesome about it right now. Ugh. 

Self-Made Choreography - I don't have a lot of time to throw a Compulsory Moves routine together so I figured I would steal bits of past and present choreography and make something out of that, sort of like a Frankenprogram. I'm using the intro from my old "Fix You" program, I'll use a pretty spiral as a transition into a Salchow-Loop as my required single-single, I made up some stuff and borrowed some things from my current program for the required straight-line footwork, I'll do the required loop jump but with fancy overhead arms for extra pizzazz, and finally end with a camel spin as my required spin. I will use my old end pose from my "Fix You" program. I timed everything and it came out a little over the required 1:30 time limit. I need Christopher's help big time!

Lesson - Ok, right away, I explained to Christopher my dilemma and what I've been able to throw together so far. He kept all of my elements but the footwork sequence needed hella help! My anxiety was just really high at this point and when I get like this, it's nearly impossible to skate so I was stumbling through nearly everything. However, I remember all of the fixes he gave me and where to put the pretty "Christopher Arms" and I promised him this will get worked on and apologized for being such a spaz today. I'm really thankful that he not only fixes my garbage skating but keeps me calm and talks me down enough that I don't have a full-on anxiety attack. I say this all the time, but he really is the best coach :) 

So yeah, I've got a lot to work on and barely any time to do it. No pressure, right?!

Slacker

I've been a slacker and haven't updated this blog in a week so here I am with an update on what I've been up to. I've been skating a lot! I'll try to sum it up in one post. 

Dance - I'm still plugging away at these. The Hickory Hoedown feels pretty good. The Ten Fox feels less so but is getting there, and finally, I've been studying up on the Willow Waltz. I actually splurged on a $10 app called Solo Dance and it's totally worth it! The USFS dance app only has the frst six dances and since I'm beyond that, I need an app that does the same thing but for all of the rest of the dances. This new app is perfect for studying and it has all of the things I need from it - the diagrams, information on what makes a particular dance unique, problem steps, style, tempos and times, and a demo from an expert dancer. Super helpful and totally worth the $$$. My only real critismsm would be that it would be nice to have some of the music built into the app like the USFS one has. Alas. I will still need Christopher to show me the Willow Waltz in person but I think I have a good foundation now. 

Moves - I dabbled in some Gold Moves but mostly I've been focusing on my Silver Moves event for Casper (which is the five step mohawk and the consecutive spirals). Boring, I know. But it needs worked on if I want to do well in this event. 

The 12 Program Challenge (9/12) - Like I said, I did a lot of skating this week. I ran my program twice on Monday, twice on Wednesday, and two more times this morning. Most of the run throughs have been nice and I think I'll do well in Casper but this morning's runs were pretty gross. I'll chalk it up to an off day and I'll get back on track on Monday. 

Free Dance Choreography - Heck yeah! We started choreography for my "Lifts" free dance! We basically just worked on the intro. There is nothing here that is particularly challenging but I just can't get it to look like when Christopher does it. His movements are just so much more natural than mine. Ugh. But, that process has begun and I ordered my new dress from Brad Griffies (which should hopefully ship in late February). I'm excited to get it in and start stoning it. 

I think that's it. I've just been busy working on things. :)

Ten Fox Fail

I didn't skate this morning because the roads were too icy to risk getting into an accident over skating. But I did skate yesterday and tried my hand at attempting the Ten Fox with the music. It wasn't pretty, lol.

Dance - I started with the Hickory Hoedown and that was feeling pretty good (at least it feels good when I skate it solo). I was on beat and I felt capable. Yay! So, I moved on to working on the Ten Fox. That was also feeling pretty good so I decided now would be a good time to try to run it with the music. Spoiler alert: it was not a good time! I got halfway through the pattern and I had to nope myself right out of it. I'm just really not ready to do this at speed yet and it's heckin speedy! So I felt a little defeated. Sigh. 

The 12 Program Challenge (3/12) - I ran my program and it was going well until I missed a couple of beats coming out of my camel. The second half of the program felt really rushed as a result. The problem, I've discovered, is the scratch spin coming out of the camel. It's usually really centered and so I hang on to it longer than I should. So yeah, I should just not do that, right? It's not that easy. It gets speedy and I'm having a difficult time stopping it facing the right way. So, I've been playing around with that fun catch foot camel into the upright catch foot thingy and if I can make that work, that might be a good solution. I have a few weeks until Casper so I'll keep playing around with it some more. 

In other news, I got my blades sharpened and, while I was there, I had a discussion with my fitter about new boots soon. Although, I've had my eyes on the Jackson Elite, he highly suggested the new Jackson Synergy boot. I've never even seen this boot before (and honestly, it's kind of ugly) but I polled the greater hive mind (aka the U.S. Competitive Adult Figure Skaters group on Facebook) and I'm hearing some great things. Here is what I have learned:

• The U-shaped throat is way more forgiving on your ankles (yay, I have ankle issues so that's nice)
  
• The Synergy has amazing heat moldability. 
• It has great flexion, meaning  you can bend in the boot really well right out of the box yet it still feels supportive.
• It comes with insoles already that will correct various degrees of pronation.  
• It's slightly lower cut than my Premieres (great for dance)
  
• They offer different degrees of stiffness - 65, 75, or 95. 
  
• Break-in time isn't as bad as for the Elite.
  
• According to one person "the fit is INSANE"

So, if I can get past the ugliness of the boot, this really might be a good option for me. I trust my fitter and he thinks that with the amount of time I skate and how hard I am on my current boots, this is a nice step up for me. But dang...they are ghastly to look at. 

All by myself

Christopher was out today so no lesson. I needed the practice anyway so I headed to the Promenade right from Pilates. It was a little on the busy side since school was out for MLK Day so I wasn't able to run anything with music or work on field moves. Jumps and Spins it is!

Jumps - My jumps felt really good today! Everything landed and even my flip jumps felt like they had a little more lift. The Lutz is still not great, though. This jump haunts me. 

Spins - It was a good spin day where most everything was centered so I did a lot of spins! I would really like to get a catch foot camel on video because I feel like it looks like I'm struggling to find my foot. I don't think I'm flailing but it probably looks like I'm reaching back and then just taking forever to find the catch. I did one that was pretty neat though! It was an accident but it worked and I think I'll try it again (and hopefully get that on video too!). I did my camel, reached back for the catch, and then finished with an upright spin while still holing on to my free leg. If you've seen ice dancers do a twizzle while holing on to the blade of their free foot, I guess it was like that. And I did a pretty thing with my arms too. I exited the spin and just kind of stood there like "did that just happen?!" Neat! When I go for my practice on Wednesday, I'll give it another go. It might be a fun dance spin! I also did a lot of sit spins today. They felt really low and speedy so I did a bunch to take advantage of the moment. I even worked on transitioning them into a back sit (not very successfully). 

Also! I was asked to demonstrate the end pattern of the Cha Cha for a coach and her student since there was some confusion about the steps. I haven't skated the Cha Cha since my test a few months ago but muscle memory is a beautiful thing. I did it perfectly! Yay! I was an example!!!! :)

Spinning Out

 I wish I could say that today's practice had the same energy as yesterday's but, alas. It wasn't terrible, though and there were some good moments (and some not so good moments. I'm looking at you, Spins!).

Moves - Once again, I worked on the Backward Circle 8. I think I'm going to integrate these into my typical warmups so I'm sure to work on them every time I skate. I feel like I'm making some real progress with it so it's important to keep that momentum going. I probably did about 5-6 of them today and I was able to get back to center on 3/4 circles (that LBI is still a real pain). Using the Theraband really helps keep my arms where they need to be and prevents me from twisting my torso. I didn't do any other moves except I spent a bit of time doing some short and speedy forward crossovers so I can speed up the ends of my Power Circles. 

Jumps and Spins - I ran through all of my program jumps and spins to get ready to run my program. Jumps were okay but I was having a hard time centering spins today. Only about half of them were centered. Sigh. 

The 12 Program Challenge (2/12) - I really didn't feel like running my program today but that's why I do these challenges. It keeps me accountable. So, I ran it and it was rough in spots. My Lutz-Toe combo wasn't placed correctly and that led to a rushed camel spin. However, I was able to get things back on track coming out of the camel so that was good. My final spin was really nice. Well centered and speedy. 

Dances - I ran the HickHoe with the music and it was good. I moved on to the Ten Fox to fix some problem spots. I feel like when I do the lilt, it's not far enough down the rink. So I added more speed (I need that anyway) and that got me a little farther. 

I'm pooped. 

It's a Good Day for a Good Day

 I got to APEX this morning bright and early and felt really good about things before getting on the ice. I did some running and some dynamic stretching and just felt ready to kill it today on the ice. I love when this happens!

Moves - I only worked on the backward circle 8 because I had a lot to pack into my session today and I wanted to make sure I got everything done. I kept in mind the things that Christopher had me doing yesterday (strong pushes, smaller circles) and I made it around on both BO circles AND my RBI circle! This is a first! I've never made it around on the inside circles! Hells yeah! Progress! I was not able to get a strong enough push for the LBI circle but that's to be expected. Anything on my left foot takes twice as long because of the hardware. But still, I count this as a win today!

Jumps and Spins - I warmed up all of my program jumps and spins to get ready for running my program. Things felt pretty good so I got my music set up and into my starting pose. 

The 12 Program Challenge (1/12) - I have not run my program with music in a while (probably since the beginning of December? *ETA* it was November 17th. Yikes) so I wasn't expecting much. But! I skated a clean program, hit all of my musical cues, and ended on time with the music. I'll take it! There are still some areas that need some polish. For instance, I would like my Lutz to be Lutz-ier and would love one or two more revs on my camel. But it was a good program! Yay! I also realized that I really only have 10 practices until Casper, not 12. So, in order to meet the challenge, I will need to do a double run-through a couple times. It's good for stamina anyway. 

Dances - I worked on the Ten Fox without the music because I'm still at the learning stage with this. I spent some extra time on that step forward after the back progressive on the end pattern. Mostly I just want to keep it on the proper curve and not make noise. I ran the HickHoe a couple of times with the music and it went well enough. I really need to skate this with Christopher because that's where I really struggle. Partnering this dance feels so different from skating it solo. Sigh. 

So yeah, it was a really good skate day. Let's hope for a repeat of this energy tomorrow morning!

Hydroblade?! More like Hydroblegh!

 Lesson today and I only got one practice session last week due to a snowstorm we had. My rink ended up closing for the morning of my second practice of the week due to snow so my session fees for the whole week were refunded. Sigh. 

Lesson - We began the session with a talk about goals, particularly in regards to Dance. He said he's cutting my free dance music now so we should be able to start soon with choreography. We spent some time working on some free dance elements - twizzles and a potential long/short edge move. The potential edge element he had me try today was a legit hydroblade! What?! First of all, my old lady body can't get down to the ice that way and then once I'm down there I doubt I'll ever be able to get back up! Still, I was a good sport about it and I tried a million of them. I fell...a lot. At least I didn't have too far to fall. We worked a bit on the backward circle 8 and the Hickory Hoedown to finish out the lesson.

The 12 Program Challenge - Time to get it together! I'm considering competing at the Casper Invitational in February so I need to get this program back in tip top shape. I've been sporadically running it so I don't forget it but now I need to get back into competition mode. I have roughly 12 practices before the competition (which really doesn't seem like a lot) so I'll need to plan to run this thing at least once per session. I'm also considering competing in Silver MITF at Casper. It will be my first time competing Silver Moves since passing my test this past August and I'm a bit nervous about that. Lucky for me, the two moves for this season are Consecutive Spirals (my strongest move from the test) and the Five Step Mohawk (from Bronze Moves). It seems weird to me that it wouldn't be the Eight Step mohawk but it says what it says. Maybe I should work on both just in case.

The Everything Lesson

 Well, it's been 3 weeks since I've been on the ice and I have a lesson today. Should be interesting. I warmed up all of my jumps and spins and parts of my program to make sure I'm capable by the time my lesson started.

Jumps - We started with jumps. He had me begin with a couple of loop jumps (man my blades need a sharpening!) and those were fine so we moved on to flip and lutz. These are right where I left them - terrible. 

Spins - My scratch spins were hella centered today but he wanted to see camels, backspins, sits, and back sits. We spent a lot of time getting me the courage I need to cross my leg over on the backspin. I had a couple with the crossed leg that had about two revs. My regular upright backspin averages 5-6 revs. I have really good speed with my backspins and I think that's why I'm terrified to cross my leg over. I just don't feel like I'm in control of it. Forward sit spins are getting good speed and revs and are as low as my body allows. But still, he would like for it to be lower. These are painful. Back sits are getting about one rev. They are in a sorry state but at least my leg is crossed as I'm wrapping the free leg slightly around my skating leg. 

Moves - Time was limited so he asked me to pick one move to look at today. I chose Forward Double Three Turns. My arms felt better on these but my timing is off. I'm waiting too long on the first turn and then not waiting long enough on the second turn. He's given me some homework. Pick a circle and do them that way focusing on the placement of the turns. 

Dance - Again, time was limited so we only had time to look at the Ten Fox. His main criticism is to make sure my lobes are actual lobes. Currently, my lobes are super shallow because I'm focusing so much on the steps. But, overall, this is actually better then the last time I skated it. Well, I'm not sure if it's necessarily better, just more comfortable for me. 

I'm back to my usual grind now. Pilates and Lessons on Mondays and practice at APEX on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. It was nice to have 3 weeks off but I feel like a sloth now. I was sedentary for most of those 3 weeks and it feels like I have so far to go to get back to where I was. Sigh.