You Win Some, You Lose Some, and Sometimes You Hecken Surprise Yourself!

The 2022 Spring Funtastics is in the books! My final competition of the season is done and, honestly, so am I. I'm exhausted from this season but I'm already making preparations for the next competition season. So, how'd I do?

Silver Compulsory Moves - There were four of us skating this event and it was a tough one! But is was fun. It was all Unicorn Skaters so it was great camaraderie! Outside of the skater who won first, the rest of us skated really well and the judges ordinals were all over the place. I had some second place, third place, and fourth place ordinals. Ultimately, I got fourth but I'm not mad about it. I know what I did well and what I didn't and can take that information and work on those trouble spots (ahem, spins). 

Bronze Free Skate - There were supposed to be three of us competing but one of the ladies scratched at the last minute. So, again, it was a Unicorn Show! Just two unicorns competing together! This was my last time skating this program and I was ready for it to be done. I skated it well and got first place! 

Memorial Swing Dance - This was the one event I just wanted to have fun with. Since this event is open to all levels of skaters I knew I was likely going to place somewhere in the bottom half of the 8 person group. Here's the surprising thing: I tied for second place and, after the tie breaker I got third! What?! Was it a perfect skate? No. There were a couple of bobbles (including one where I tried to make eye contact with the judges and smile and almost ate it, lol). However, I was one of the only skaters who chose actual Swing music that was the proper style and tempo and I stayed on the beat and skated the pattern correctly. I'm just really proud of how I skated and really surprised at how I placed. Out of the five judges, two of them gave me first place ordinals!!! It was insane sharing the podium with a Senior level skater! Here's the video. 

What's next - I had my lesson with Christopher yesterday and we worked on the Free Dance. The footwork section is pretty much complete and there's just the last 15 seconds to choreograph. It's almost done! We are also going to get back into some of the Bronze level pattern dances since it's been a while since we looked at those. Finally, I sent him my Silver Free Skate music selection for next season and I'm really excited about it. It's one of my most favorite pieces of music in the world and I love that I'm finally ready to skate to it! So now the plan is to test my Free Dance sometime this summer in time to compete with it at CSI in September. We'll start choreography for my Silver Free Skate and I'll work on it all summer to hopefully get it ready by CSI as well. I'll probably officially test Silver Free Skate sometime at the end of the year. It's going to be a lot of work!

Shake it Off

Today was my last practice before my events this Saturday and Sunday! I got a lot done but tried not to overdo it or obsess going into the weekend. 

Warm-up - I did the standard five minute warm-up that I would do for the competition. Unlike Monday where my short warm-up felt okay, this morning's warm-up did not. I felt shaky and unstable and couldn't get any height on my jumps (especially the combos). 

Swing Dance - I ran it twice with the music. Both times were okay. I tried for more expression but my smiles seemed forced and unnatural. However, I feel like I was able to get my feet together more so I didn't give the appearance of wide-stepping and I was able to push out the corners of the pattern more to fill out the rink the way Christopher suggested. I'm as ready as I can be for this event (which will be on Sunday afternoon). 

Silver Compulsory Moves - I ran this 2 or 3 times. As I relaxed into it, it started to feel (and probably look) better. This will be my first event on Saturday and I'll be going in cold since all of the slots for the practice session right before were snatched up. I'll really have to make sure that five minute warm-up is as effective and efficient as possible. 

Free Skate - I only ran it once because I didn't want to obsess. It was nice. A little bumble on the opening jump combo because I forgot to warm it up prior so it was rushed and not in time with the music. Anyway, I'll be fine. 

I did all of this in the first 30 minutes of the session. I spent the second half of the session working on field moves, spins, and parts of my Free Dance. 

Gold Moves - I only worked on two things but I spent quality time on them. The Backward Circle 8 got worked on and I feel better about completing 3/4 of the circles. It's that last inside circle (the LBI, of course) that is still giving me grief. As per usual, it will take a lot of time to get that left leg to work with all of the metal hindering progress. Moving on, I used the same circle to work on the double 3 turns. The first half of the circle going CCW is the LFO-LBI and the second half is the RFI-RBO. Then I switched directions and did the same thing going CW (RFO-RBI to LFI-LBO). The good news is that all of the turns are happening, the bad news is that the lobes are nowhere near a consistent size. After many many circles of every 3 turn known to man, I moved on to spins. 

Spins - Mostly just polishing these for the competition. I worked on leading with my left arm, arching my back and lifting that free leg for the camel. 

Free Dance - I wasn't able to run it with music because the speakers were getting choppy (I love my rink but we really have the worst sound system ever). So I ran it without the music trying to get some flow and confidence. 

So yeah. That's it. I'm going to relax and read some books, calm my mind, cuddle a cat or two, and not really think about this competition until I need to be there on Saturday. Stay tuned :) 

Final Touches before Funtastics

I skipped my morning practice and my Pilates class today and only went to the rink for my lesson. I had a good excuse, though. I had a really soft cat snuggling with me under blankets and it was too sweet of a moment to disturb. Besides, I've been running my Free Skate for about a year now and I doubt missing a practice would ruin me too much. 

I was first for a lesson today so Christopher had me do the same 5 minute warmup that I would do on competition day. He only stopped me twice for corrections. After that, we got started on all the things. 

Free Skate - I did a run through for Christopher and it went mostly well. I didn't get to do the loop jump because there was a young skater in my way (even though I was wearing the sash, ugh). He made an adjustment on my camel spin to make it look slightly more advanced. I was doing the camel to forward upright to backward upright. He wants me to do a scratch spin instead of the forward upright. It looks better. Overall for this event, I think he wants me to have more expression and confidence. 

Compulsory Moves - I ran this a few times for him on both ends of the rink. He timed me on one of them and I clocked in at 1:17 which is great. He wants more speed going into the salchow-loop combo and a stronger push on the camel. Since I'm under the time limit, I can really spend some time on the final spin and draw it out a bit more. He gave me a nice compliment on my spiral - beautiful extension and arch in my back :) 

Swing Dance - Just some minor corrections on this. Mostly, he would like a ton more expression. Also, he corrected some of the places where I was wide stepping (mostly on the back chasses). He also spent some time with me on pushing the pattern out to the edges of the rink and getting that mohawk to be a bit more smooth. He asked me what my plans were for exit choreography and I'm glad I had a plan because he asked to see it. I think this is in good enough shape to compete with this Sunday. 

At the end of the lesson, he asked me what my goals are for this competition and I told him 1). strong camel spins 2). Lutz-Toe combo looks deliberate, and 3). EXPRESSION! All very obtainable goals. He mentioned how much I've improved from two years ago when I skated my Star Wars program. I really needed to hear that. I know I've made progress but sometimes I get mentally stuck on obsessing over the things I'm still struggling with that I forget how my overall skating has matured over time. It's a refreshing reminder going into my final competition of the season. 

Girls just wanna have fun

Ooof, this morning was a lot! I packed about three hours worth of practice into one hour and I feel like I got some meaningful work done. 

Moves - I started on moves right after my warm ups. Since we were just working on the backward circle 8 during our lesson on Monday, I spent some time on that using the theraband to help with my arms. I'm not sure the theraband helps as much on the inside circles as it did for the outside circles but I feel like I'm getting around better on the first inside circle. I still wasn't able to get a strong push on the second inside circle but I know it will come in time. I have to keep reminding myself that this is one of those moves that looks super easy but in reality takes a lot of technique, core strength, and persistence. I'll just need to keep at it. Next, I worked on the backward double 3 turns. I worked on the BI-FO side mostly since it's been a struggle lately trying to get my free leg right. I think I'm finally understanding where to place it and can start working on getting the feel of it. I dabbled in some forward double 3s before moving on to Dance. 

Dance - Feeling warmed up enough on edges and turns, I thought working on dance next would be a nice transition. I ran my competition Swing Dance about three times focusing on expression (SMILES!) and making sure the pretty arm movements Christopher gave me were consistent. My first run through was not the best but the next two were pretty good. My goal for this event is not to get first place (because I'm up against some senior level skaters and that's just not going to happen realistically). But, I would like to not place last and it would hella nice if I could place in the top half. I'm working hard to look my best. Next, I ran my "Lifts" Free Dance. I ran it a few times to get timing, extension, and expression up to a level I can be proud of. This program is still not finished being choreographed but hopefully we can finish that up after the competition is done. So far, my biggest struggle with this is the dance spin. It's supposed to be a catch foot camel but I'm having a difficult time grabbing my free foot in time to get the required rotations and finish when I'm supposed to. I'll talk to Christopher about it. 

Free Skate - I ran it twice. Both times, I had one little mistake that I don't normally make. The first time it was accidentally leaving out the last step of my choreographic step sequence and, during the second run through, I rushed my salchow and almost biffed it. I need to remember to breathe, take my time, relax into the music, and remember that this is my last time skating this program before I retire it. I need it to shine!

Silver Compulsory Moves - I actually lost count of how many times I ran this. It was the last 10 minutes of the session and I packed as many run throughs as I could in that time. Considering each run through is a minute and a half, that's probably at least 5 run throughs with rest and sips of water in between. It got better the more times I ran it. I'm up against some pretty stiff competition for this event and I'm still pretty new to the Silver level so I'm not expecting first in this event but I would like to get at least one first place ordinal. 

I'm pooped. I worked my ass off this morning to fit everything in and I think I made some progress on some things! Like Monday, I had the ice to myself so I could play whatever music I wanted to (it felt like an 80s pop kinda day) and I didn't have to worry about where other people were in relation to me. I'm ready for the competition and I'm feeling better about my skating today than I was on Monday. Hooray!

Anxiety Happens

Double skate day!

Morning Practice - Yay! This was a really productive practice (it helps when you have the ice all to yourself!). I was able to run my Free Skate, Free Dance, Compulsory Moves, and Swing Dance several times and then really spend some time on spot checking problem areas. I dedicated about 15 minutes to Moves, which I know is not a lot but I have this competition coming up in two weeks and I really need to make sure I'm ready for that. But, in terms of Gold Moves, I worked on everything except brackets. I feel like I have really improved on my Backward Circle 8 but made a mental note to have Christopher take a look during our lesson. The outside circles feel like they are mostly controlled and I'm coming back to center but the inside circles are wild with the arms and not consistently coming back to center. They need a lot of help! But I do love how I am noticing progress with this every time I skate it. 

Afternoon lesson - We started with the backward Circle 8 per my request and we discovered I'm just really not setting myself up correctly for the inside pushes. For the first inside push, I need to initiate the push just before I get back to center so I'm not creating an additional subcurve outside of the circle. It's not pretty but at least I'm making it around the circle. Now, for the second inside circle, the push is super wonky. I'm definitely creating a huge subcurve, and that is affecting my ability to return to center. I'm coming up short about two feet which just so happens to be the size of the subcurve. If I can get rid of the subcurve, I'll be able to get back to center. I just feel like I'm so close on this move. It's almost there! We moved on to the Double 3 Turns which are still not great but I think they have improved (maybe by 5% but improvement is improvement!). Finally, we ran my Free Skate. Of course the Lutz-Toe combo was wonky as it always is so we spent some time trying to clean it up. The rest of the program wasn't too bad. He gave me some minor corrections (hold the landing of my loop a bit longer and hold my final spin longer too). I think I'm in a good place for the competition coming up. 

Anxiety - I have it. That's no secret. But lately, I've been really beating myself up over my skating. I'm making progress on things but it's barely noticeable. I'm always worried about whether or not I'm disappointing my coach. Things like my Flip and Lutz jumps for example. It's been years. YEARS! And I still can't get the hang of these jumps. I know Christopher has the patience of a saint but sometimes I'm frustrated that I still can't get my body to do the thing. I'm sure he's got to be frustrated too. He gives me corrections and I try my best but I still just can't do the thing. Anyway, I'm just venting and spending too much time in my own head. Again. 

All the things!

Practice this morning and I literally worked on ALL.THE.THINGS. 

Moves - Here I am, rededicating to working on Field Moves during every practice! I started with the Forward Double 3 Turns. Yesterday, when I was working with Christopher on these, he suggested picking a hockey circle and doing them there to get the lobe size consistent before putting them in the pattern. So that's what I did! I worked on FO-BI on both feet and FI-BO on both feet. I don't know if anything improved but I know I'll see progress eventually if I just keep at it. I also did some of the BO-FI backward double 3s and those were eww. Again, I know they will improve over time but they were really gross this morning. Yikes. 

Free Skate - Again, I ran this facing where the judges will sit. Everything went as planned except I double footed my loop jump (stupid broken down boots!). I really need to schedule time to visit my "dealer" and get fitted for new boots. My current boots are at an almost dangerous level. I was doing a backward catch foot spiral the other day and could feel the rubber coming off between the heel and the blade. That can't be good! He's not close by so I'll need to take a day off work to make it happen. Ugh. 

Silver Compulsory Moves - Oh hey, this is nice :) 

Free Dance - Oh hey, this is looking pretty snazzy as well (now that I've got the new choreography figured out). 

Swing Dance - I spent quite a bit of time working on some exit choreography. I think I'll step forward from the end of the pattern into a pretty one foot glide with arms, into a twizzle, right into an attitude spin, and finish off with a pretty end pose. That should do it. 

Getting back to business

Double skate day today!

Morning Practice - So much to work on! I started off with running my Silver Compulsory Moves and it's still holding strong. I just have to maintain it. Next, I ran my Free Skate but I did it facing the other way. This upcoming competition is at my home rink and, for testing, the judges sit on the same side as the audience but for competition, they'll be sitting in the announcer/music box area so I need to practice facing the other way. It went really well and I hit all of my elements so this is looking fine. Finally, I worked on the extra choreography for the Free Dance and was able to get it more or less looking like it should. There wasn't any time to work on anything else. 

Afternoon Lesson - We started with field moves, specifically the forward and backward double 3 turns. These are really not looking good. I admitted to Christopher that I haven't been making time for field moves in my practices but I committed to making sure these get worked on during every practice from now on. Over the summer, I was dedicating half of my practices to field moves and that's one of the reasons why I was able to pass Silver Moves on the first try. I really need to get back to that. We moved on to looking at the Swing Dance. This is fine. He seemed okay with the pattern and my speed so he gave me some pretty arms to add throughout so it's not so boring to look at. Finally, he took a look at the Free Dance. This is okay as well but he did suggest not looking down at the ice during the new choreography. This dance needs expression and I can't convey that if my head is looking down at my feet. Noted. 

Practice tomorrow. I'll make sure to add the field moves :)