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 :)