The Bracket Bar

Alright, I've been practicing all week but haven't updated for each practice so here is a synopsis of each day (as best as I can remember). 

Sunday - My phone was doing some weird things so I wasn't able to plug it in and play any of my music. Just as well, I had Gold Moves to work on. My Backward Circle 8 is making it around almost every time but I would still like a stronger push to make the circle bigger. Forward Power Circles felt pretty good today even on the bad side. My real issue is that I can either make the circle bigger as I go or I can make it faster as I go but I am struggling to do both at the same time. Backward Power Circles seem fine. Forward Double 3s are still icky (it's mostly that damn LBI3 where I put my foot down every time, ugh). I worked on Backward Double 3s. Those are trash. Speaking of trash, let's talk about my Brackets. FO and FI seem fine (although the FO brackets tend to scratch sometimes coming out of the turn). I tried the BO brackets at the wall and I just feel kinda hopeless about them. I couldn't even get them to work at the wall! That's so dumb! To round out my practice, I dabbled in some jumps and spins and worked on knee slides and the step sequence for my Free Dance. 

Monday Lesson - I asked Christopher last week to look at my Brackets for this lesson because I'm struggling so much with these. So he brought out "The Bracket Bar!" It's just the end of the pole harness that he holds onto in the middle and I hold onto at the ends. It's like training wheels for brackets! This was so helpful for the backward brackets because it turns out I can do them (neat!) but I have a huge fear block. They feel so unnatural (as brackets do) and it really helped to have something to hold onto for safety. And I think that's why I was struggling at the wall with these! With the forward brackets, I can practice them at the wall easily by skating toward the wall and at the top of the lobe where I turn, I can grab the wall for a little extra support. However, backward brackets are tricky to do at the wall because you would almost have to reach behind yourself to grab the wall at the top of the lobe. It's too awkward to work properly. I won't have a bracket bar with a coach attached during my practices so I'm really going to have to grow some balls about this and find the courage to work on them on my own. Sigh. We finished up the lesson with the rest of my step sequence for the Free Dance. I complained about the knee slide (because of course I will, I'm not a fan) but I told him I wanted to keep it in. So, after the knee slide, I push under, ballet jump, RFI3 into a backward stop thing, LFO waltz 3 into an illusion, progressive, RFO swing roll into a RFI single twizzle. So, the only thing left for this program to be complete is a transition into my final pose (which we didn't have time for). So yeah, I have a lot to work on. 

Tuesday and Thursday Mornings - I'm just gonna lump these two together since I basically worked on the same stuff each time. On Tuesday, I was brave enough to try a RBO bracket and it sorta turned? But then I couldn't do it again because fear came back. Stupid brain. My attempts on Thursday morning were terrible (but at least I attempted them!). Double 3s were as they are. Same thing with the Power Circles. The step sequence feels better (with the exception of the knee slide). Both of these sessions were at the Promenade and Christopher was on the ice each time so I know he sees me sliding around trying to make these knee slides work. I'm trying so hard on these and I'm just not getting them to work right. I get the first part of the slide (the LFO3 from forward to back) but then I need to switch directions and get back up and that's where it just stalls. It's embarrassing to have it fail so often. Sigh.

Turns and Choreography

There was no practice ice to be had on Sunday due to a hockey tournament that was happening at nearly all of the rinks around the Denver Metro area. I had a choice to not skate at all on Sunday or to slum it at a public session at the Sport Stable. I decided not to skate. No way I'm going to risk broken bones or getting run into by unruly pubic session people (both of which have happened to me at the Sport Stable). I decided on an early morning Monday session at Apex instead. 

Monday Morning Practice - This was a mostly quiet session. There were only four of us on the ice. All older teens and adults. I dedicated 45 minutes of my one hour session to Gold Moves and you would think I made some progress. I did not. My Backward Circle 8 and the Power Circles feel okay but everything else is still just so sloppy. I was pleased that my FO Brackets seem to be better but disappointed that the more time I spent on the Double 3s, the worse they became. My final 15 minutes were spent on spot checking my Free Skate and my Free Dance. My Flip jumps felt awesome today! I'm so pleased at how these have evolved. I used to be so scared of them, then I got over the fear but did them with poor technique for years. Now, I happily do them! Once I got a feel for the proper technique of them, I love working on them! I feel like my skills have a tendency to suck pretty hard for a few years and then I have an "aha!" moment and they are all of a sudden good. I wish my Gold Moves would follow that trend. It's been a solid two years with very little progress. I want my Gold Medalist jacket, dammit!

Monday Afternoon Lesson - Today was all about the choreographic step sequence in my Free Dance. That is the final element we need completed and then some kind of end pose and then I have a completed Free Dance! So far in my sequence I have a twizzle, chasse, progressive, swing roll, rocker, chasse, swing roll, outside mohawk, twizzle, knee slide, and ballet jump. Because it's a circular step sequence, I think he's probably going to add a few more steps to make it completely around to where I started. The thing I struggled with the most was the knee slide. I wore a knee pad for nearly two months and we didn't work on knee slides and the one day I decide not to wear it...we work on knee slides. My right knee is so bruised and sore right now. Ouch! We worked a bit on getting the correct edge on the Rocker before finishing up the lesson with Double 3s (which were predictably awful). I requested that next week we take a look at Brackets because those need some serious help too. Ugh, I have a lot of homework to do!

As the World Turns

Ok, I'm going to try to be better about updating this blog (keyword: try). I practiced this morning at the Promenade because I didn't want to deal with construction traffic over by APEX but, it turns out, there was construction traffic over by the Promenade too. I can't win. Anyway, I got there and the ice was pretty torn up (as it is at the Promenade) but I was still able to get some work done. My goal today was Double 3s. 

Forward Double 3 Turns - I need more speed and confidence on these for sure but where I'm really struggling is on the LBI 3. This turn was so easy for me on the Silver Moves test but now I'm struggling hard with it. I keep forcing the turn and putting my foot down. I know I should be taking my time, looking in the direction of the turn, and easing into it, but my body does what my body does. My brain has no say in the matter. So, I went to the hockey circle and just did turns. When I got tired of the forward doubles, I started to work on the backward doubles (but just the BO-FI side). So many turns today!

Brackets - It's been awhile since I've worked on Brackets so I spent some time on these as well. FI Brackets are coming back but I punk'd out on working on the FO Brackets. Backward Brackets were non-existent before and that is how they are now. I'll ask Christopher to work with me on these. It's still the one element from Gold Moves that I don't have under me yet. 

Power Circles - I did them. 

Backward Circle 8 - I did this too. 

I finished up with jumps and spins since I only had about 10 minutes left in the session. Camel spins are gone again. Figures.

2023 Colorado Springs Invitational Free Skate Recap

I haven't updated in about a week but I assure you I have been working hard during that time to make up for the lost ice time from when I was sick. This past week, I have been living at the rink running this program over and over until it was beautiful again. The day before competition day, I was feeling strong and had a clean run through so I tried to carry those positive feelings with me going into my event. 

15 Minute Warmup Ice - This is a new thing. Every time I compete, I purchase the 30 minute practice ice and it's always crowded and stressful. I spend more time trying to dodge people or make way for others that it's never a good practice. This time, I purchased the 15 minute warmup ice and it made all the difference! First, they made it "adult only" so I didn't have to dodge 6 year olds with no situational awareness. What a luxury! I got everything done that I needed to! I struggled a bit on my camels. The first one was nice and then as I did more, they got progressively worse. My final camel was good though so that was refreshing. Again, I was feeling very at ease and confident in my elements so I was feeling like my skating during my actual event would be the same. 

Silver Free Skate - I was the third one to go on so I did some breathing and visualizing while I was waiting for my moment. When it was my turn, I was announced and got into position for my routine. My music started and off I went. My opening Loop jump was BIG and floaty with arms overhead. It really set the tone for the whole thing. The one change I made since my last competition was I took out the Lutz and replaced it with a Salchow. My Lutz is just not good. It's never good. So why am I putting elements in my program that are not good? I know Christopher wants to challenge me and I'm okay with that but I don't think I should put something in a program if it still needs more time to cook, you know? So I did a nice Salchow and went into my camel spin (which was lovely for once! Wahoo!). The rest of the program was really nice as well. I did a nice strong Flip jump right in front of the judges and ended with a beautiful spin. Honestly, I don't think I could have skated it better! Very pleased!

Results - Ok, here's where it gets wild! I got off the ice and Christopher asked me what kind of score I expect from that routine. I said I would be pleased with anything over 19.71 since that was my personal best and would also mean that I passed my Silver Free Skate Test. After a couple of minutes, he flipped his phone around with the results and staring back at me was 26.12!!!!!! Holy shit! What?! Bonkers! I knew it was a good skate but I didn't think it was that good! There were things I would have knocked me on that the judges didn't (hello Toe Waltz) but the only thing I got dinged on was my combination spin (camel to scratch) and even that wasn't a huge negative GOE. So yeah, I passed my test, had a beautiful skate, and earned a new personal best! It was a good day! I ended up with a Silver medal and I'm so proud of myself I could burst! 

Afterthoughts - So what was different this time? I'm not sure. Everything was so easy that day. I usually stress out about hair and makeup but it only took me 30 minutes instead of two hours to get that done. I had time to drink a cup of coffee which I don't normally allow myself to do. I also didn't "zone" this time. I usually make time right before I put skates on to listen to calming music and visualize success but, this time, I didn't have my phone with me to play music on so I just...put my skates on and breathed. I didn't watch the skaters who went on before me and instead focused only on me. Repeating positive affirmations and telling myself that I'm going to kill it out there. Maybe it was all of these things together. I don't know. But I think I was overthinking before with all of my old rituals. Sometimes change is good. I feel like I have finally earned my place as a Silver-level skater! Doing the IJS Test Protocol to pass my Silver Free Skate Test was the way to go! Highly recommend!

Click here for video!

2023 Cup of Colorado Free Skate Recap

 Hello! It's been awhile. I really meant to update sooner but I got sick right after Cup of Colorado and it put me on my ass for a bit. Here's how the competition went!

Morning Practice Ice - I felt kinda weird. My skating felt as solid as it could be but my nose was unusually runny and I was pretty tired (which I chalked up to not getting a lot of sleep the night before, but that's typical for me before a competition). It was a 30 minute Practice Ice and Christopher was coaching two of us. Not a problem. We touched on everything and I felt pretty ready. 

Since my event wasn't until later in the evening, I went home and had a bite to eat and just generally chilled. I played some Mario Kart and hung out until it was time to get makeup and hair ready. I got to the rink about an hour and a half before my event and did my mental prep, stretching, and floor run throughs. I was exceptionally hot. Like, really hot. I didn't remember being this hot when I was there earlier that morning. Even when I got on the ice for my five minute warmup, I was roasting.

Adult Silver Women Free Skate - My five minute warm up felt good. I landed some solid jumps and my spins felt okay. Footwork was good. I ran the last 30 seconds with the 6 jumps and 1 spin and hit my end pose right in front of one of the judges with a look like "yeah, you saw that? Wait, it gets better!" So yeah, needless to say, I was feeling pretty confident that I would skate a clean program. I was introduced and I took my starting pose feeling pretty good (albeit still really tired and hot). My opening Loop jump was great with arms overhead and my camel spin camel'd. When I started my footwork, I was starting to feel the fatigue. I made eye contact with the same judge I eyed earlier and then promptly missed a step. I got through everything else. The Flip-Euler-Salchow wasn't the best but it got done and I felt really good about the Salchow-Loop combo and the final Flip. Finally, the last spin, the easiest thing in my program, ugh. I just couldn't center it even though I rarely have trouble on this element so it was not the solid, confident ending I wanted. I was awarded Silver with a score of 15.90 (a far cry from my personal best of 19.71). 

Afterthoughts - It was not the skate I wanted or planned for but it wasn't the worst case scenario either. Later, on the drive home, I told my husband that my throat was really sore but, even then, I thought maybe it was from cheering on my fellow skaters. The next day, I was dead. Absolutely sick. And for over a week after, I was the sickest I've been in about 5 years. I took a week off of work to recover but during that time I lost my sense of smell and taste and had really bad bouts of dizziness. I took a home Covid test that was negative and even went to get a test done at my doctor's office and that was negative but I swear, this was not a cold. I don't know what it was but it was awful. I slowly got my sense of taste back for savory foods and then a few days after I was able to taste sweet foods. I can even smell things now (yay). I think adrenaline helped me get through my event and then once my brain sent the signal to my body that it can relax, all hell broke loose. I'm thankful I got sick after my event but I'm now realizing that I was probably sick during my event too and that may have contributed to how my program went. I purchased the pictures from the competition and I look so pale and sickly in all of them. Ew. 

Final Prep

Cup of Colorado is this weekend and I feel pretty ready and have been working hard this past week or so making sure my program (and all of the changes) are solid. 

I had one very lucky day this past Sunday at the Y where I was the only one on the ice for nearly two hours! I ran my Free Skate multiple times and my Free Dance a few times as well. My lesson this past Monday was also okay. I lost my focus on my camel spins for a bit but was able to get back on track. Also the Flip-Euler-Salchow could be better. It's happening but I really need more power in the Euler. I have so much power in my Loop jump but I think with the Euler, I hold back more because I know I'm landing on the other foot. The few times that I've been able to power through it, I've performed it better. 

Starting orders came out this morning. I'll be first in front of the judges after the warm up!

I still have time to practice tomorrow and then Saturday morning I have practice ice at the competition venue. I'm also practicing off-ice by running through the program physically with the music and mentally by visualizing the routine. 

Even though I'm not the only one in my event, I know the only person I'm really competing with is me. I want to skate a program that I am proud of and I want to see progress in terms of my score. If I can get above a 19.71 I will have earned a new Personal Best. 

Let's get it!

IJS Test Protocol!

Whoops. I went another couple of weeks without updating. Sorry.

Cup of Colorado - The schedule is out! They have the Adult Free Skates happening at 6:00pm. Ew. And practice ice is scheduled at 8:00-something in the morning so, double Ew. So, I figure I'll do my practice ice in the morning, drive back home and nap maybe, and then go back for my event. I really don't want to be down there all day. Ugh. I'm struggling with the Flip-Euler-Salchow combo. Sometimes I get it and it feels great and sometimes it's just garbage. We'll see which version decides to show up on competition day. AND...more changes! Nothing too major and these changes were in response to me requesting the IJS Test Protocol for CSI. I'm just switching my single jumps and jump combos around in order to comply with the requirements of the test.

Colorado Springs Invitational - I'm registered! For the low low price of only $10, I added the IJS Test Protocol onto my registration so my Silver Free Skate event will count as my Silver Free Skate test. Two birds, one stone. However, this means we had to switch some things around in my program. If my Lutz was good, I would have kept my PPC as is but, as we know, I am a consistent Flutzer. So, for my three single jumps, I'll be performing a Loop, a Flip, and a Lutz (the Loop and Flip will be the ones that count for the test) and my combos will now consist of the Flip-Euler-Salchow and a Salchow-Loop. Since these are easy changes to make, I'll be skating these elements for Cup of Colorado too. Good thing I still had a couple of days left to make changes on my PPC for that. I did some research about IJS Test Protocol and saw that I can fall twice (worst case scenario) and still pass as long as I meet the minimum score of 16.80. Considering last year's CSI score with this same program was 19.71, I'm hoping I'll be fine. If not, our club is hosting a test session later in September and I can retest then. I've never done IJS Test Protocol before so I'm hoping this will be an easy way to knock this test out (I'm already in front of judges, Christopher will be there, I already have the day off, etc). 

New Free Dance - We added some more to the choreography and, with that, I think I'm about 80% through the program. We already have the edge element, two twizzles, a spin, and we are now starting on the Step Sequence. Looks like it's going to be a circular step sequence this time and we have about half of it complete. It's all coming together and once I get more comfortable with being "spicy" I think this program will be really fun to skate. I promised myself I would stone the dress once the program was fully choreographed so I guess I have to start planning for that now since we are getting close to a complete program. 

Cup of Colorado next weekend!!!!

Running on Ice

 Lesson today! 

I spoke to Christopher about the challenges I was facing with the toe steps and what I am thinking of doing instead. So I showed him the swing roll into the bracket and he gave me his blessing to keep it as long as I emphasize the change of edge between the outside swing roll into the inside bracket on the same foot. We worked on it for a bit to really slow it down and make sure it's a proper bracket instead of a rocker or 3 turn. The trick is to bring my free leg back in after the swing roll and take a second to change to the inside edge. An extension after the bracket looks nice too so I'll do that. 

We took a moment to look at the new jump combo and I told him that I'm not punking out on it and that I'm committed to challenging myself with this by officially putting it in my program. We stated by looking at an Euler-Salchow and then we added the Flip to it. A weird thing happens when I add the Flip - the Euler is under-rotated. Huh. I didn't think this was the case but in super slow-mo video it's clear that I'm under-rotating it by a quarter of a turn. Yikes. I blame anxiety. I'm so anxious about getting it right that I rush through it. If I take my time and make sure to not open up too soon, I can make it work. Also, landing the Euler with my left arm in front helps me to not rush the Salchow. There are so many moving parts to this combo but I think I'm getting the hang of it and can skate it well come competition time. 

He wanted to see the full program, so I got the sash on and got into position. The new step sequence was good and he complimented me on a nice speedy camel but things fell apart during the last 30 seconds (the dreaded last 30 seconds where I have six jumps and a spin and I'm already exhausted). As predicted, I bungled the new jump combo which got me in my head enough to bungle the Flip-Loop and the subsequent final spin. Basically, the last 30 seconds were a shit show. He asked to see the 3 jump combo again and I performed it well. Then he asked to see the final spin which was better too, proving that I'm capable of doing these things. I just need to get out of my head about it all and perform as I've been trained. 

We finished up by looking at the new Free Dance. I spoke to him about my concerns about timing with the spiral and the overall speed of everything so of course he wanted to see it. I put the sash on again and got into position and skated really well, actually. I guess I'm concerned over nothing. In fact, he was happy that I was finally holding the spiral for once. He said it was nice :) Cool. Moving on, he added a little bit more to the choreography. He added only 10 more seconds of choreography but since it takes me so damn long to learn new things, it ate up the remainder of the lesson. So, after the twizzle and backward spiral, I step forward into an inside spread eagle and two alternating half-pivot things, then a big dramatic wind-up move into running. Yeah, running. Ya'll, I've never tried running on my toepicks before. Christopher was shocked that I haven't ever tried it. I told him I didn't want to catch a toepick and he responded with "you can't catch a toepick if you are already running on your toepicks." He's got a point. So I tried it and it's scary but I'll keep it. So, I run on my toepicks for a few steps and then go right into a rocker. 

Overall, a good and productive lesson.

Hybrid Choreography

Practice this week was excellent. I feel like I've made a lot of progress on jumps, spins, and Free Dance choreography but not a lot on the new step sequence choreography for my Free Skate. 

Jumps - I've been working on the Flip-Euler-Salchow combo that Christopher had me try in our last lesson. It's not beautiful yet but I'm more comfortable with it. In fact, I think I got it to the point where I can put it my program and not have it be a total disaster so I changed my PPC for Cup of Colorado to add it in. Fingers crossed I don't mess it up. In my program run throughs, my muscle memory is so strong with the original 3-jump combo that I end up bungling the whole thing. However, when I'm intentional about it and remember that there is a change there, it works. The Flip-Loop combo at the end was nice and strong too. Also, my Flips in general have been pretty fantastic and, now that I can do them with proper technique, they are quickly becoming my second most favorite jump (my first love will always be Loop jump!). I had one Flip today that was so lofty! It just felt so damn good. Maybe someday, my Lutz will feel like that too. One can dream. 

Spins - Spins have been kind to me in practices. I am pleased with them. 

Free Dance - I'm getting better at skating this with speed. The music is so fast and I really need to meet my musical cues for max effect but I feel like I'm slowing everything down when I get to the catch-foot spiral. I'm counting in my head at least four seconds but it somehow feels like I need to rush it because four beats of the music is faster than four seconds (if that makes any sense). I have to consciously tell myself to hold the damn spiral twice as long as I think I need to. But anyway, the spiral is nice so maybe it's good to hold it. 

New Free Skate Step Sequence Choreography - Ugh. That pretty much sums it up. I have really tried with these toe steps but when I do them, I almost come to a full stop since I hesitate so hard. So, on Sunday, I spent way too much time figuring out what I can replace it with instead. I came up with a sort of hybrid between what Christopher gave me and what I am capable of doing but is still challenging. I basically took the toe steps out and replaced them with a RFO swing roll, change edge, RFI bracket. We'll see what he says about it. I'm not giving up on the toe steps as I still have them in my new Free Dance but they somehow feel more comfortable there than here.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

 Lesson today! I told Christopher that I registered for Cup of Colorado and wanted to pick his brain about spin and jump changes. 

Spins - I told him that I wanted to do a Camel-Scratch combo for my first spin and an Attitude spin for my final spin. He asked to see both and I performed them well enough that he didn't ask to see more, he just gave his blessing for the change. Yay!

Jumps - I told him I wanted to switch my 3-jump combo to a Flip-Loop-Toe Loop since my Flip-Loop was pretty strong. That backfired! He suggested changing my last combo to a Flip-Loop (yay!) but then that puts me over my Loop jump quota so he wants me to do a Flip-Euler-Salchow for my 3-jump combo. NOOOOO! I hate the Euler! Even when it's done correctly, it's one of those jumps that just looks like a mistake. It's a "Wrong Loop." Ugh. But he wanted me to try it so I did. Most of my problem is I can't not think of a Loop while doing it so I end up landing it like a Loop. When I make a conscious effort to land on the left leg instead of the right, it works. But damn, I shouldn't have to think that hard on this jump. It just feels so unnatural. I promised him I would work on it as a potential combo. 

Footwork - He asked to see my Choreographic Step Sequence so I reeled it off for him. It was nice but he wants to change it to add some more difficulty. The beginning of the step sequence is admittedly sort of boring with just a couple of back crossovers and some pretty arms so he added some elements to the beginning part only. When I exit my Camel combo, I push under, do some clockwise toe steps, one back crossover with pretty arms, step forward into a Waltz 3, step forward again into a short Attitude glide, then pick up my choreography from the Ina Bauer and continue as usual. All of this stuff fits into the space that the previous two back crossovers were so it's...a lot in a short amount of time. It's not un-doable, I just have to rewire my brain to do the new stuff since I've been doing it the same way for the past year. 

After all of this, we didn't have time to run the program with the changes or work on new choreography for the Free Dance. This was enough. I have a lot of homework to do!

Feeling Strong

Practice this week was lovely! I had some really nice run throughs of my Silver Free Skate that left me feeling pretty confident that I won't embarrass myself come competition time. 

Jumps - I've been playing around with my 3-jump combo in my free skate. It's a Flip-Toe Loop-Loop but I have discovered that if I switch the last two jumps, the whole combo is more consistent. I'll run it by Christopher next time I see him. 

Spirals - I have never done so many forward catch foot spirals in my life! I've been scared of them but working on them so much has lessened the fear. I'm better able to get into them quickly without hesitation and the increased confidence has allowed me to really try to stretch up into them making them as pretty as the backward catch foot spirals I've been doing. 

New Free Dance Choreography - I've got it under control and am excited for Christopher to add on to it. 

Gold Moves - About where I left them. 

Spins - Spins have been great this week! I feel like when my spins are on, they are pretty nice but the consistency still needs work. I still have days where I just can't get any spins to work. Luckily, I have more days where they do.

More Choreography!

I did a double session this afternoon because I didn't get my typical Sunday practice in due to the Ice Dance Clinic. I'm just not built for double sessions. So tired. Oh, and I was at the Pilates Studio this morning too so, yeah. Dying. 

Nothing remarkable to report for the one hour of practice before my lesson session except that I lost all ability to spin. That's frustrating. 

Lesson - I was first lesson but I had been skating for an hour already so I didn't mind. I was plenty warmed up. He asked straight away how the new intro choreography looks and I told him truthfully that it's getting done but I feel so awkward. Nothing is muscle memory yet so my brain is working hard to try to remember musical cues and directions and stuff. I showed him what I had and he seemed okay with it enough to add on to it. So, after the intro, I do some back crossovers to gather speed for my first element which is the Short Edge Element. During our last lesson, he mentioned putting in the backward catch foot spiral but it seems this week he has other plans. Looks like I'm doing a LFO catch foot spiral. I've been working on these in practices, of course, but on my own terms and at my own speed. Now that I'll be doing it to music, I can't hesitate going into it or slow it down like I've been doing. I really have to go in with some speed and make sure I get on the outside edge (I've just been doing them on a flat). Then I go into a cross stroke with sassy arms, an Ina into a swing roll then a lunge into a LFO twizzle. We literally spent the entirety of our lesson on just this since it takes me so long to grasp choreography. However, I really like what we have so far. It's fun!

Ice Dance Clinic Recap

Today was the Ice Dance Clinic hosted by my club and it was a good time. I learned a lot, got to meet Keiffer Hubbell, and got lifted!

Effort vs Ease - We started with a discussion on effort vs. ease. Every element we do in skating must have a balance of both of these things. Too much effort results in tension (which can lead to injury) and too much ease doesn't engage the core enough to perform the element properly. I know this but having it phrased this way is something I'll remember and keep in the back of my mind when I work on the trickier elements like Double 3s or Brackets. Twizzles too!

Interpretive Choreography - Expression and how you interpret the music is huge in ice dance so we worked on exercises to help us really engage with the music. They were animal themed and the first exercise was to watch the Hummingbird Dance from So You Think You Can Dance (one of my favorites!). There are so many ways to interpret being a flower or being a bird that go beyond the typical movements. We were given some time to work on choreographing ourselves to music to tell a story. In this case, we are a hummingbird who wakes up hungry, finds the nearest flower to get a drink of nectar, but then gets chased by bears for some reason (kids came up with the story, not me). The final part of the story is the joy of freedom from finally escaping. After about 10 minutes, they asked for volunteers to skate their piece. I raised my hand knowing that they never call on the adults to do these things but...they picked me! I think this was the most expressive I've ever skated AND later when we were having lunch, Keiffer told me he was really impressed with my solo. Yay!!!!

Yoga - We did an hour of Yoga before lunch. 

Lunch - As per usual when we have a special guest, they end up sitting at the adult table during lunch. I can't blame them, kids can be a lot sometimes and it's nice to eat with people your own age. Lucky us because we got to ask him all kinds of questions. He was intrigued by our Alpha Unicorn Tau jackets so I made him an honorary unicorn and gave him a, AUT sticker. Welcome to the herd, Keiffer!

Off Ice Spins and Lifts - We met off ice after lunch to talk about dance lifts. He taught us two lifts that he was going to put us in. The first one is an inverted lift and the second one is a cantilever lift. He showed each of us how to get into the lifts and we each had a turn getting into the lift with him on solid ground before we took it to the ice. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. 

On Ice Spins and Twizzles - We spent some time on ice working on twizzles with Brad and Spins with Keiffer and Brad. Let me tell you, partner spins are really weird and tricky. I was paired off with my friend Ruth and we struggled so hard hooking into the spin. My main problem is, as always, I'm impatient and if one person does something wrong, the whole spin goes to hell. I didn't stay in the entry edge long enough before the spin therefore, we weren't able to get it to work. Alas. 

On Ice Lifts! - I was slightly nervous about this but he's a champion ice dancer so, I trust him. He didn't drop me and I had a lot of fun. Here are pictures of me in both lifts. 

Super fun day and I'm very appreciative to my club for hosting this!

 

Break-aversary!

Six years ago, I broke my left ankle and fibula and thought for sure I was done with skating. Here I am six years later just having competed in my first U.S. Figure Skating Adult Nationals and getting ready to test Silver Free Skate and working on Gold Moves. I've come a long way and what better way to celebrate than to get on the ice!

I was at the Y today and it was really busy since a lot of local rinks are closed for the holiday weekend but I was still able to get some meaningful work done. Of course I worked on jumps, spins, and Gold Moves but I spent the majority of my time working on the new Free Dance choreography that Christopher gave me during my last lesson. It's just 20-30 seconds of the intro but it's tricky. It took me a few minutes to get my brain right on this but eventually I was able to complete it and even get it quicker. I really love it and it works better with expression so I think this will force me to be more expressive during my practices rather then just when it counts on competition day. 

Cup of Colorado - I just registered for my first competition of the new season. Usually, I start my season off with CSI in September but since I already have a well-established program, there's no reason not to start sooner. I've never done Cup of Colorado so I'm excited to see what kind of vibe it is. It's happening from August 18-20 so I still have time to polish my Silver Free Skate and get that Flip jump under better control. I have some video of my practice today and I did a single Flip and a Flip-Loop combo. Watching the video back, it looks like the launch is more powerful (which I can feel!) but it would look nicer to have less of an open position in the air. I definitely have that "h" position but in all of the videos I see of a nice Flip jump, the ankles are pretty close together even on a single. So maybe this is something I can talk to Christopher about. I mean, it's still a Flip jump but can I get it even better?

Ice Dance Clinic

Alpine announced that it is hosting an Ice Dance Clinic on July 9th with Brad Kleffman and Keiffer Hubbell (Madison Hubbell's brother!) so, of course I signed up. 

Looks like we'll be learning some Ice Dance technique, choreography, and an intro to lifts! Should be fun and there are other adults coming (although it's mostly kids). I'm guessing that this is mostly for people who are thinking about dance and want to try it out more than it is for people who are already competing dance but, what the hell, it's free and it's a good opportunity to work on dance for the day.

New Free Dance Choreography Begins!

Lesson today! Christopher finished cutting my music, adding in the changes that I asked for last week. OMG! It's AMAZING! It's fun, it's flirty, it's sassy! Now for choreography!

He threw some new elements at me at the start of our lesson to see what would stick so we worked on Ina Bauers, some spirals, and this other thing that I'm going to call the "Michael Jackson" where I skate, make a sharp turn and get up on both toepicks while I strike a sassy pose. Terrifying at first but I started to get the hang of it. He also mentioned that he really likes my backward catch foot spiral and may consider recycling that into this program (the judges won't remember that I used it in my previous Free Dance). 

We spent the rest of the lesson working on opening choreography. I think we got the first 25 seconds done. It's definitely sassy. There are really sexy glides and toe steps, a neat pivot, the Michael Jackson stop with a smize toward the judges, and some saucy crossovers leading into a maybe forward catch foot spiral. The music feels really fast right now (or at least the music is going faster than my brain can comprehend the movements). 

So now, time to order crystals for the dress and stone the damn thing.

Bonus Practice Day

I had an extra day off this week so I was able to squeeze in an additional day of practice! Yay! I needed it!

Gold Moves - Okay, so I realized that I have been spending a lot of time on the Forward Double 3s but completely ignoring the Backward Double 3s. I think I've been avoiding them because, even though I can do the turns, this move requires more speed and flow. So, I dedicated some serious time to doing these during my practices this week. I focused on the move itself rather than the speed and flow (which I'm hoping will come later once I'm more comfortable with everything). The placement of the turns on this move is quite different than the Forward Double 3s so I have to keep that in mind too. I was able to get one side of the move done (BO-FI) without a foot down but it was hella slow and the pattern was wonky. But hey, I worked on it. I worked on the other Gold Moves as well and I feel like they are improving. Still can't get those damn Backward Brackets done, though. Boo. 

Knee Slides - I worked on them. They are getting better but my right knee is so bruised. Good thing I never wear shorts because it looks gross. I was finally able to get a few where I turn and jut my left leg out without touching the ice with my hands so...progress. 

Spins - My broken leg sit spin really only seems to work if I do them from a standstill. I cannot seem to get it right from the windup yet. These feel a lot lower than my sit spin. I worked on camels too. No backspins. 

Jumps - I had some really nice and floaty Flip Jumps this week. Floaty like my Loop jumps! It feels so good to finally be doing this jump properly and my confidence in them is growing each week. These might be my favorite jump now (after loop jump, of course). 

Footwork - Speaking of loops, I worked on the BI loops down the length of the rink. The LBI loops are smaller than the RBI loops so I need to work on making those more consistent. I had a few RBI loops that were the proper size so I was pleased to see those tracings. I'm definitely getting more comfortable with these. 

Silver Free Skate - Run throughs have been going well minus the whole "I need to get used to my new Flip Jump" stuff. Should be in good enough shape for CSI in September, though.

Be Cunning and Full of Tricks

Lesson today!

I've been so busy at work that, believe it or not, I'm struggling right now trying to remember everything we went over. Libraries are so busy over the summer. My brain is mush. 

New Music - Christopher sent me his cut of the music I chose and I like it but I made a suggestion for changing it slightly. There is a really nice guitar solo in the music that I thought would be a lovely place for footwork so I asked if he could add that. I felt really bad asking him and it's my fault that I didn't just share my thoughts on what I wanted before he cut it. I hate that I don't speak up about stuff sometimes because now he has to edit the thing all over again. #worststudent

Gold Moves - We briefly looked at the Forward Double 3s. He really wants me to focus on looking in the direction of the turn when I'm doing my backward 3s. I know this but I still rush through them every time. 

Twizzles - These were broken today. Really struggled getting these done. 

Loops - Next up, he asked if I had been working on the Loops from last week and I was excited to show him the progress I made. Again, the LBI makes a small loop and the RBI just makes a circle. All of this can be remedied by, you guessed it, bending my knees more. Also, I've been using my free leg as a sort of training wheel for these but he had me do the RBI one with my free leg held crossed in front slightly and HECK YEAH! I made a loop!!!!! So now I have both my LBI and RBI loops. Of course, they need finesse and they are still a bit scratchy on my toepick but I did them! I was pretty excited so he showed me an exercise to work on them alternating down the length of the rink. It looks like the same thing from Junior Moves. Hopefully I can get them good enough to add to the new Free Dance. 

Knee Slides - I was able to make some progress on this as well but as soon as I get down and jut my leg out, I come to a stop. I want one of those dramatic knee slides that turn and then I get back up and continue with my program like a badass. Looks like I need more speed, an LFO 3 turn after getting down, and some knee pads (which I swear I'm going to purchase but I'm researching the best ones for me). 

Illusions - We touched on these a couple of weeks ago but turns out I've been practicing them wrong. The illusion comes on the exit edge of a forward 3 turn, not the entry edge. I tried it this way and I did one that was so good (for me) that it caught me off guard and I promptly fell on my ass. But anyway, now that I know the proper way of doing this, perhaps I can practice it without collecting bruises. 

Spins - We tried to end the lesson with some camel spins but the session was so busy, including three little girls all wearing the sash so I couldn't tell who exactly to look out for. I couldn't focus enough to get a proper entry for a spin. I don't trust small children on the ice. I've been run into before and really would not like a repeat of that. I did some really nice spins in practice so I was a little disappointed that I couldn't whip some out during my lesson. Broken leg sit spins are becoming a thing too so I kinda wanted to show him that I've made some progress there.

I think this is everything we worked on. New stuff is tricky but I'm excited to add some spice to my choreography.

Loopy

Practice this week went very well. I worked on all of the new things Christopher gave me during our last lesson and I dedicated a lot of time to Double 3s. 

Gold Moves - Forward and Backward Power Circles are finally starting to take shape (literally). I'm starting to get the hang of gaining speed while increasing the size of the circle. It's trickier than it seems, ya'll. All of the time I have been putting in with these has the added benefit of making my crossovers stronger overall so that's neat. Yay! Forward Double 3s are coming along too. I'm able to do the full pattern with minimal disruption but I'm still having random "foot down" moments. I skipped Backward Double 3s and went right into Backward Circle 8, which I only did twice. I still need a stronger push at the start of each circle but I'm getting around nearly every time now. Finally, Brackets. FI brackets are nice and controlled, FO brackets struggle but still happen, and backward brackets are just non-existent. Sigh. I feel like once I figure out the backward brackets, I can really start seriously drilling these Gold Moves in preparation for testing. Right now, I feel about 50% capable overall on this test. It sounds like a long time away when I say that I might be ready to test these in a year or two but I think I really need that time. But man, those backwards brackets are the things that are really holding me back right now, otherwise, I think I would be ready next summer if I put in the work. 

Loops - Christopher taught me BI Loops during our previous lesson and I think there's been some improvement this week. The RBI is still a big circle but I had some legit loops with my LBI. I did a few to make sure it wasn't a fluke but how cool to see that kind of progress!

Silver Free Skate - I've been struggling with the Flip jump combos lately in my program because of the new entry and also the new feel to my recently fixed Flip jumps. However, I ran my program at the Y on Sunday and everything worked! I think I'm finally getting used to my new and improved Flip jump. I've come a long way with these. Years ago, I was struggling with the fear of attempting them at all, then I started getting them done but with poor technique, and now I feel like I finally have a legit Flip jump that might at least not get negative GOE! It's been a journey!

New Things!

Lesson today and I was ready for it. I've had so much confidence lately. I think passing my test, getting my Flip jump under control, and spinning well has really helped me feel capable (and when I feel capable, I skate well). First of all, I had a huge fangirl moment when I got to the rink. It's National Pairs Camp at  the Promenade and there were some amazing people there. I got to see Chris Knierim, Timothy LeDuc, and Nathan Bartholomay! It was so cool to see them skate in person!

Lesson - I was first lesson so I did one lap for warmup and then we got right to work discussing the new Free Dance. I did an attitude spin for my Dance Spin element in this previous program and would really like to challenge myself this time. Last year, I was working on a catch foot camel spin and it just didn't come together in time to compete with so that's why we went with the attitude. But now I feel stronger and think I can make it happen. My camels are stronger, yes, but my back flexibility is not. I tried a few and only one of them worked. I spent a lot of time reaching back trying to blindly find my foot to grab. So...stretching. I gotta work on some back bends or something. He had me try what I'm calling a broken leg camel and he really liked it. I go into the camel and bend my free leg as if I'm going in for the catch foot but don't. It was nicely centered and it felt like a lot of revolutions. I don't know. He likes it but it feels like a mistake spin. I'll keep working on it. Next up was a broken leg sit spin. My sit spins were gross today because I really have not been working on them but I had one broken leg sit spin that was actually good! I did it slowly from a standstill on the blue line and he told me to go down so low that my "broken leg" drags on the ice. It was REALLY low! I think being able to anchor myself like that helps me get lower. Something else to work on. We worked on some Twizzles with different arm positions and that was about as expected. These are getting better but slowly. Finally, I told him I wanted to expand my turn vocabulary for this next Free Dance. My FI Brackets are a good contender so he had me work on those with an extended free leg on the exit edge. We touched on Rockers and he introduced me to BI Loops (my attempts were either just really big circles or backward 3 turns. These are HARD). 

Knee Slides - We talked about adding a knee slide so we worked on these for about 10 minutes. My old lady knees hurt to begin with so this didn't feel lovely. I think I got the hang of it but I'm reluctant to go down quickly because of the pain. Time to invest in knee pads, I guess. 

So, it was a good lesson and seeing amazing skaters on the ice helped inspire me as well. Yay for feeling fantastic!

Adult Juvenile Solo Free Dance Test

It's test day!!!!!

I think this is the most relaxed I've felt going into a test. Normally, I start getting really anxious in the days leading up to the test and start overthinking things. Then, when I get to the rink for the test, my legs turn to mush and I start making stupid mistakes. That did not happen today! Before I go further, you should know I PASSED! wOOt!

Practice - Our club is so accommodating to testing skaters (one of the many reasons why I love Alpine!). They had a 45 minute FREE practice this morning at 7:00am for testing skaters and, even though I wasn't testing until 10:30, you better believe I took advantage of that. Practice went really well! Everything was happening as it should, I even threw some camel spins in there and they were some of the best I've had in a while. It was busy and there were some close calls with running into people but I didn't get anxious about it! I just did my thing with no worries! This has never happened, EVER! I'm usually at my most anxious during practice ice because of the chaos. I'm not sure what was different about me today but I wasn't bothered in the slightest. Neat!

Six Minute Warmup - Christopher got to the rink right after I finished my off-ice warmup. He asked me how practice went this morning and I told him it was lovely. I then got my skates on and our group got called out to the ice for our six minute warmup. This is the time when he usually has to work hard to keep me calm. None of that today. I did my laps, did my spins, ran through my footwork and twizzles and skated up to him for next steps. He wanted to see the twizzles again but overall, he seemed pleased. Easy! I really only got a five minute warm up because I was the first skater out of the group to test so I spent that last minute just breathing and relaxing. OH! Also, they played my Free Dance music during the entire warmup so we had some background music to warm up to and I know I should have taken advantage of that and worked on sections of my Free Dance while my music was playing but that seemed like cheating. I know it's not but it felt wrong somehow.

The Test! - I skated up to the judges and they were super friendly and excited to see me do well. We joked a bit because they asked if I was here for the Adult Juvenile Solo Free Dance and I corrected them saying that I was there for the Adult Bronze Solo Free Dance and how silly it is that it's the same damn thing and why they need two different names for the same damn test. Their score sheets said Adult Juvenile so that's what we went with. Someone make this make sense. I thanked them and told them I appreciate them and then took one final breath before I got into my starting pose. There was a false start on my music so I had to start again. Basically, my music started playing before I really got into position but I just went with it. I guess the judges told them to stop playing the music so I could start again properly. Fair enough but I've been trained to roll with the punches so I was prepared to do it either way. Everything went well. My short edge element was my backward catch foot spiral and that was nice. My solo dance spin was lovely and I got 4 revs in position. Step sequence was nice too. Finally my twizzle got done with 2.5 revs. The only snag was my end pose. My competition gloves are very slippery on the ice and I have to put a hand down to get into my end pose since I end on one knee. I have had my hand slip out from under me before in competition and did not want a repeat so I got down gingerly and a bit slower than normal to ensure I didn't fall. So yeah, it was a great skate! I bowed to the judges and they said "Thank you" to me and I was done! I got positive marks from all three judges! Here's what they said: 

 

Judge Karen: 

• Short Edge Element - Nicely skated
• Solo Dance Spin - Well done
• Step Sequence - Good. 
• Twizzle - A bit slow
• Overall comments - Good form and expression throughout. 
• Elements = +1
• Skating = +1
• Program = +1
• TOTAL = +3 (Pass!)
   

Judge Janet: 

• Overall comments: All skating looks easy and flows. Good mix of elements throughout. 
• Elements = +1
• Skating = +1
• Program = +1
• TOTAL = +3 (Pass!)

 

Judge Kelly: 

• Short Edge Element - Ina and Catch Foot Spiral elements performed with confidence. 
• Solo Dance Spin - Upright spin 4 revolutions
• Twizzle - 2
• Overall Comments - Understanding of music and consistent rhythm shown. 
• Elements = +1
• Skating = +1
• Program = +1
• TOTAL = +3 (Pass!)
  

 

 

Test Prepping and Flip Progress

Lots of stuff happening this week so let's get started!

Sunday Practice - It was busy at the Y but everyone was respectful of space. I warmed up and then ran my Free Dance. It went very well. In the last month, I have been working on adding another rotation to my twizzle at the end so it is now 2.5 rotations instead of 1.5. Looks a bit more twizzle-y, I think. So yeah, everything looks good and the twizzle at the end happened as it was supposed to. Next up was my Free Skate that went well until I got to the last 30 seconds with all of the jumps. It's the damn Flip Jump again. Since I've been working on getting the technique better, I've also discovered that going into it with the LFO 3 Turn works better for the jump to happen. However, since I've been going into it from a mohawk entry for an entire season, my muscle memory is all wonky. I just have to reprogram that too, I guess. Moving on, I worked on Gold Moves and was able to do the full Forward Double 3 Turn Move. I had a couple of "foot down" moments but at least I'm getting through the whole move. Power Circles also felt better today. 

Monday Lesson - I got on the Blue Rink and did one warm up lap before we were told to get off the ice and move over to the Red Rink while they Zam (they had 15 minutes to Zam the ice prior to our session but forgot so now we have to jump from rink to rink, ugh). I got 10 minutes into my lesson with Christopher on the Red Rink when we were told to move back to the Blue Rink. So annoying. At that point, just let us stay on Red instead of having us  move. Anyway, rink shenanigans aside, we worked on Gold Moves first. Same thing as yesterday with the Forward Doubles 3s - A couple of "foot down" moments but I'm getting through it. Power Circles were meh. I either get the sizing right or the speed right, but never both. We didn't have time to look at the rest because he really needed to see my Free Dance ahead of Thursday's test. It was so lovely yesterday and today it was a hot mess. I fell on the twizzle, didn't get enough rotations in position during my spin, and then fell again during the reskate. I really hope I'm getting all of my jitters out now and can pull it back together for the test. I know I can skate this program well. So frustrating. Moving on, he wanted to see my Flip Jump progress. It's been two weeks without a lesson and during that time, I've been working really hard on this damn Flip Jump but I couldn't tell if I was making it worse or if it actually improved. Today he confirmed that it actually improved! It's still rough but the tracings prove I'm finally doing this damn jump correctly. I've been jumping the Flip for 5 years using the wrong technique so it has been really difficult to break the jump and start from scratch doing it differently. But, what a relief! It's still not beautiful but I'm getting it done. And, I have to admit, all of these years when he kept telling me to think of it like a loop jump...he was right. When I do it properly, it really does feel like a loop. Neat!

Testing on Thursday!!!! 

Memorial Weekend

It's a holiday weekend and because of that, there are no sessions at the Promenade so no lesson this week. I took this opportunity to get some meaningful work done at other rinks. I'm testing next week (!!!) and just got my schedule. Looks like I'm in front of the judges at 10:30am and I'm in the last group of the day. ALSO! Unicorn Sister Katherine is testing her Gold Moves so I get to be there to cheer her on. I'm so excited for her!

Practice at the Y - This was busier than usual. I'm not sure if it was because of the holiday and people have more time or if it was because of the Promenade not offering sessions. Either way, it was a bit crowded. At least everyone was respectful of space and made way for programs. I ran my Free Dance first and did really well. It's as ready as it can be. I'm just excited to be done with it. I cooled down for 10 minutes and then ran the Free Skate. Outside of my Flip jumps being wonky because I'm rebuilding them, it was actually a nice program. So yeah, the Flip jump. I have basically broken the jump so I can start from scratch and build it back the right way with proper technique. This has been so tough, ya'll. The jump feels so different now and I'm not sure if it's because it's finally correct or if I'm just doing it even worse than before. I feel like most of the time, it feels good but then I put it in a combo and I slip right back into bad habits. It's the same thing with my Toe Loop. On it's own, I can get a good one that isn't waltz'd but then in combo, it's a mess again. Bad habits are really hard to break. I finished up my practice working on Gold Moves. At this point, progress is so minimal but I can see it poke its head out every now and then. For instance, my Backward Circle 8 gets around almost every time now and I was able to do a whole pattern of LFO-LBI double 3s without a foot down. All of those skaters who told me that Gold is easier than Silver are liars, lol. Gold is humbling me. 

Practice at APEX - Ahhh, home ice. I love it here! I just really haven't been spending a lot of time here lately because of all of the construction. It's a real pain in the ass to get there and back but since it was a holiday, at least traffic wasn't too bad. The ice was so nice! And I was sharing it with only one other skater. I ran my Free Dance, Free Skate, Cha Cha, and Hickory. I also worked on the entirety of my Gold Moves since I had so much room. I saw some improvement with the Power Circles! I think I'm starting to get the knack of the whole increase-the-size-while-increasing-the-speed thing. It's not perfect yet but it feels better than it has been. Overall, practice here was nice and it was good to skate on test ice before the 8th hits. Looks like they did some upgrades since I was last there. They improved the sound system, I think, and the lighting is different. It's a lot brighter which is nice but it's that white light that gives you a headache after an hour. Sigh. 

I also did a good Bosu workout this morning for 30 minutes. I got the Bosu Ball a month or so ago and haven't really been using it but I'm going to start incorporating these workouts in with skating and Pilates to see how it goes. It's definitely challenging and so very versatile. Today, I just did some planking, bridges, and core balance type stuff but that was enough for me to break a sweat. 

So yeah, getting ready for test day and then before I know it competition season will start up again. Ahghghg.

Progress?

Busy week!

Sunday Practice - I'm always better on fresh legs so 15 minutes into my session at the Y, I put my Free Dance music on. This is fine. It's ready to test. I'm kind of tired of hearing this music every practice for the last year. So ready to move on. I cooled down for another 15 minutes while I worked on spins, jumps and footwork for my Free Skate and, feeling ready, I put that music on and ran that as well. I didn't have the best camel spin during my run through but everything was okay, not great but okay. It definitely shows that I put it on the back burner for two months when I was prepping for Nationals. With my programs out of the way, I focused on Gold Moves, Bronze Pattern Dances, and the new little bit of dance choreography that Christopher gave me. He also gave me some spiral homework to do. My new Free Dance needs a short edge element and I really don't want to do the same backward catch foot spiral I've been doing from this last program so I played around with a forward catch foot spiral. This is infinitely more anxiety inducing than going backward but I was able to do it. My kingdom for a spread eagle or one of those really long dramatic Ina Bauers. Sigh. 

Monday Lesson - In practice, I felt like I had a breakthrough on my Flip jump and was really excited to show it to Christopher to see if I'm finally doing it correctly. It felt bigger so I thought I was finally getting that vault from the toe pick. Alas, he saw it and confirmed that it was higher but still incorrect. So, I was basically just doing it wrong differently. Ugh. We spent some time on it and I had one that had the proper pick in and a bit of a draw but then I freaked out mid-jump and landed it two-footed. It was a shame because that would have been an almost properly done Flip. Stupid brain freaking out over doing a good thing. We moved on to looking at some camel spins and these were looking better than usual today! I just need to still arch my back and straighten my spinning leg a smidge. My attitude spins were looking pretty decent as well so he put the music on and I ran the Free Dance. It's looking good, just need more expression (which I am able to do just fine when it counts but struggle with during practices). Finally...backspins. Lots of them! These were better. I was able to get my leg crossed on all of them but I struggle with crossing tight at the ankles like I need to for the Axel. But like, they had the proper checkout and everything which was nice because I've never really been able to do that. Yay progress! So now, Christopher wants me to really work on those Axel walk throughs with the waltz jump into the backspin. Yikes. 

Anyway, things are progressing albeit at a glacial pace. I'll take it. It's better than nothing :)

Testing and New Free Dance

 Been awhile again, I know. Sorry. 

Okay, I'm officially signed up to test my Adult Bronze Solo Free Dance on Thursday June 8! Wahoo! It's tricky testing dance at my home club because they have a difficult time getting dance judges for tests. I emailed the test chair well in advance to let them know that I would like to test so that they have plenty of time to get dance judges and...they did! So I registered and can finally test my "Lifts" Free Dance and move on to my new one for next season. 

I sent Christopher my music for the new Free Dance and he approved! It's sassy and flirty and I'm so excited to have a different vibe to my Free Dance this go around. I'm not going to announce the music until the new season starts so you'll just have to be patient. ;) 

At our lesson this past Monday, he put the new dance music on the rink speakers and we played around with movement for a bit. He gave me a little bit of choreography to work on that might go in the routine and I can already tell he's trying to challenge me with new skills. Also, he brought back the damn hydroblade. I swear he not going to give up on me doing this until it actually makes its way into one of my routines. But also, I'm old ya'll. My body really doesn't fold up like it needs to to do a proper hydroblade. I'm going to work on it for him as promised but if it looks bad, I'm pretty sure it has no place in my routine. It's one of those things you really shouldn't do unless you can do it well. 

So yeah, I'm excited for new stuff. My new Brad Griffies dance dress came in last week and I tried it on and DAMN it's sexy! Can't wait to make it sparkle. I'm thinking fuchsia, light rose and crystal AB stones for the crop top and some jet black for some extra sparkle in the belt of the skirt.

Shark on the Ice!

Since nationals is over, I can relax and have some fun! The library I work at checks out non-traditional items such as fitness equipment, telescopes/microscopes, board games, musical instruments, and more. It feels like every week we get new things that people can check out. We just got a bunch of inflatable costumes and I got a hold of one and decided to try it out on the ice. :) 

My experience as a shark: Okay, first of all I'm short. These things are not made for short people so I felt a little top heavy and my arms didn't reach to the ends of the fins. Also, I had fins! I couldn't take my guards off (thank you, husband!) and when I fell, I couldn't get up on my own (Thank you, Leslie!) because my fins didn't have grip. Basic skills were pretty difficult. Since the shark legs were puffy and short, I couldn't do a nice spiral, jumps, or a scratch spin. But I did manage to do some turns in both directions.  Enjoy the video here :)

Moves, Dances, and Musings

I didn't get a chance to write about last week's lesson (oops). Anyway, here's what we worked on this week. 

Lesson - Christopher caught me working on (and struggling with) the Forward Double 3 Turns. I lamented about how I was able to pass Silver Moves with good backward 3 turns but now I am struggling with the same turns at Gold. He suggested going back to working them in the Silver Moves pattern to get the feel for them again. I'll try it. But like, it's not like I don't practice these every freaking day. Why are they getting worse and not better? It's so frustrating. Moving on, we looked a bit at Brackets. My FI brackets are lovely. No problems there. My FO brackets are turning but I struggle with momentum after the turn. Backward brackets are non-existent. Even doing them at the boards is a struggle. These truly feel impossible to me. The backward brackets are the one thing on the Gold Moves test that I just can't do. Like, at all. Ugh. After that torture, we took a look at my Backward Circle 8. These have seen some improvement. I'm getting around almost every time but I could still use stronger pushes and some better placement of my feet in the center when I push. To round out the remainder of our time, I requested we look at dances. I feel pretty solid with my Hickory Hoedown so we spent some time working on the Ten Fox. This is one of those weird dances that actually feels better partnered instead of skating it solo. His main criticisms were to not block him (I do that all the time mostly because of anxiety) and to have neater feet on the end pattern. I feel like if we practice this a bit more, I can test this in the Summer. 

So yeah, I'm back to working on Gold Moves, my Silver Free Skate (which I'll keep for another season since I only got to compete with it twice) and choosing music for a new Free Dance. I asked Christoper to pick the theme - Fun and Flirty or Soft and Dreamy. He chose Fun and Flirty to contrast more with my Free Skate which is already soft and dreamy. I have dresses ready for whatever he chose and I'm really excited that he chose Fun and Flirty because my dress for that is amazing! I was able to snag one of the 25 coveted spots that Brad Griffies offered earlier this year so I ordered a dance dress that has a black skirt and a hot pink crop top. Once I bling it up it's going to look hot! Excited for something new!

2023 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships - Solo Free Dance Edition

Today is a new day and another chance to skate great! Today is Bronze Solo Free Dance and it's a large group since they combine both the I and II age groups. 

Practice Ice - My practice Ice yesterday was so good. All of my spins were hitting and I was feeling pretty confident. Today was the exact opposite. I could not center even a simple one foot spin and the more I tried and failed, the more anxious I became about things. Aghghghghg. Thirty minutes was over before I knew it and I had just enough time before my event to take my skates off and decompress a bit. Decompressing helped. And I remembered Christopher's advice to do some breathing exercises. That helped too. 

Warmup Ice - Right after our warm up was concluded, the Referee called us to the podium to remind us to skate around the slushy hole.  I was not a victim to the slush today! Wahoo! 

Solo Free Dance - You know all those troubles I had with spins earlier? They were not a concern by the time I got out there and skated my program. In fact, this is the best I have ever skated this routine. EVER. My timing was spot on with the music, I had expression, my spins spun, and my twizzles twizzled. It was awesome! This is what I wanted to feel when I stepped onto Nationals Ice! 

Results - LOL. Oh, the results. Well, despite skating beautifully, I still only placed 10th out of 12 skaters (ordinals were 8,10,10,11,8). And you know what? I'm okay with that. I allowed myself to be disappointed for little bit but watching the other dancers perform their routines, I can see that there is more to do to enhance my skills. My good friend and Unicorn Sister, Cheryl, said that I need more skills performed on one foot, there was a lot of two footed skating happening. I really appreciate that kind of honesty and she's right. There is a lot more work to be done still as I grow in Ice Dance. But anyway, that's future Mandi's problem. Right now, I'm focusing on the fact that I'm done! I made it! It's over! I survived 2023 Adult Nationals!

Final Thoughts - OMG! I had so much FUN! My events were the first two days and then I got to spend the rest of the week watching amazing skating by even more amazing adults. The oldest of whom was 83 years old! Wow! That means I have roughly 40-ish years to continue to enjoy this beautiful and challenging sport. I'm inspired and in awe of everyone who participated. It takes courage to get out there and do what we do and I just felt like I was with my people. Next year is Cleveland, OH and you better believe I'll be there. 10/10 would recommend :) 

I come home empty handed but with a full heart.

2023 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships - Free Skate Edition

We're in Salt Lake City!! We got here yesterday afternoon after the most boring drive ever through Wyoming. Since we couldn't check into the Airbnb yet, we stopped by the rink to get registered and walk around the facility. I'll be skating both of my events on the East rink. We grabbed dinner then tucked in for the night since I had practice ice super early. 

Practice Ice - The ice here is hard. Not like Casper hard but a bit more solid than I'm used to. However, all of my spins were Amazing! Super centered, fast, controlled. My jumps were bouncy and consistent. Basically, it was a great 30 minute practice and I was feeling really confident. After practice, I had some time to head back to the Airbnb and get dressed and do hair and makeup before needing to get back to the rink for my event. 

Warmup Ice - This also went really well. I tested out my camel spins again to make sure they were still good and they were. I was ready to go!

Free Skate - Oh man, here we go. I think this is the least nervous I have felt for a competition. The practices I've had recently were great and the warmup ice was great. I was cool, calm, and collected. I hit my starting pose and the music began. First jump combo was good, I made eye contact with the judges on my way to the opposite Lutz corner for my second combo. That combo was good. Lots of expression going into my camel spin and then... I went down. Ugh. I have been competing for 6 years and have never taken a fall during a competition but here I am at Nationals and I fall on the camel entry. Not trying to make excuses here but if you have been following the "East Rink Drama" on the Adult skaters page on Facebook, you know all about the roof leak and the soft ice (and the ensuing cone followed by the bucket affectionately named Herbert to catch the rain water). I went down right there and it wasn't the typical camel fall. It looked like I just sat into the fall in the spot were the ice was a bit soft. So yeah, I feel like that spot is cursed. But here's the thing, I got up, did a quick one foot spin to kill time and then went right into my footwork sequence. I slayed the rest of my routine because I was skating angry and somehow that lent itself well to my music. I finished everything as planned and ended on time with the music. Outside of the fall (which may or may not have been due to "Pre-Herbert" shenanigans) this was the best I've skated this routine. 

Results - Out of 9 skaters, I placed 7th after a tie breaker. Ugh. The ordinals were all over the place (4,6,6,9,8). I think what stung the most was the one last place ordinal because I didn't think I skated the worst. And the judge who gave me that last place ordinal was from Denver. Double ouch! Anyway, I was really proud of how I got up after the fall and basically badass'd the rest of my routine. My overall goal for coming to Nationals was to skate a routine that I was proud of and, you know what? I was damn proud! :)

Final Practice!

I got it! I finally got my wish of getting to run my programs without having to abandon elements! Woot!!

No lesson with Christopher because the Promenade was closed to figure skaters today (I think for a hockey tournament?) but APEX was still open so I went to an afternoon session and I was the only skater for the whole hour! Just what I needed the day before leaving for Nationals!

Free Skate - Heck yeah! This was as clean as it could be. My spins especially were solid!

Free Dance - Also clean!

Since I got both programs out of the way and they both ran clean, I spent the rest of the session just skating around to music I love and embracing the joy of skating. I didn't work on anything. I just skated and had fun. No stress! It was a nice mental cleanse :) 

I leave for Salt Lake City bright and early tomorrow. Eeep!

Final Lesson before Nationals!

I swear, I have not run a clean program in weeks. Every time I run a program, someone is in my way for at least one element (sometimes more) and I have to abort. Hopefully, I can get some emptier ice (or more courteous ice mates) to make it happen just once before Nationals. I can rest easy knowing that I'm comfortable with my programs and on competition day, it will be just me on the ice by myself. 

My practice yesterday at the Y was particularly annoying. There was an ice dancer (late teens) running her program over and over...and over. I feel like the typical program etiquette is running a program no more than twice in a one hour session. But to commandeer an entire session like she was doing is a bit rude. Nobody could work on Moves or anything else without breaking their pattern to make way for her. I was able to squeeze in a run through of both my Free Skate and my Free Dance so at least that got done. Sigh. 

Lesson - We started with a look at my program jumps and spins and then we ran the Free Skate. Per tradition, I had to abort my loop jump for a young skater who didn't move for me so Christopher had me skate that part again. We spent some time looking at the Lutz-Toe Loop to get me to wait a bit more in between the two jumps and to make sure I'm keeping my left arm checked in front before the Toe Loop. He also took a look at my Camel spin combo. I'm taking my time pulling in on the scratch spin and he wants me to pull in immediately after the camel so I can get more revolutions in. Plus it looks nicer when it's faster. We moved on to the Free Dance and everything looks okay here. He had me do my dance spin again and it was better the second time. Overall, I think I'm in okay shape. He gave me some encouraging words and a reminder to breathe and then gave me a big hug for good luck. So yeah, Nationals next week. Yikes!

Bloody Monday

Lesson today!

I was feeling great, my energy was up, and practice throughout the week was nice. I did my off-ice running, stretching, and jumping then got on the ice for on-ice warmups before my lesson with Christopher. Totally normal, right? Ugh, not so much. 

I had just finished a really nice camel spin when it felt like my nose was dripping. Um...it was dripping all right. Blood! I was dripping blood from my nose onto the ice! So I rushed to my rinkside bag and grabbed some tissues and started to clean myself up before Christopher got to me but it wouldn't stop!!! I titled my head back, I squeezed the bridge of my nose. I tried everything but it was still bleeding when Christopher skated up to me to start our lesson. He was kind about it but we have work to do so he told me to plug it up and get started. Seriously, my mose was bleeding for the whole 40 minute lesson. I had to keep going back to switch out the tissues because I was soaking through them. Not ideal. 

Free Skate - After warming up my jumps, we ran my Free Skate with the music. It went well but I could have held the landing on my loop jump longer and he wants me to have a bit more expression. It's kind of hard to smile and emote with tissues sticking out of your nostril, ugh. He also wanted to take a look at my entry into the Lutz-Toe Loop. I'm currently doing a mohawk cross step thing but that puts me in a weird position to pick in so he wants me to take it out for now until I have better control over my Lutz. Other than some details that need smoothing, my Free Skate is looking pretty good for Nationals. 

Free Dance - This was okay too but I ended the routine about a second earlier than the music (which never happens!). Honestly, skating with a bloody nose was really distracting and it was all I could focus on. I'm not surprised I was doing out-of-the-norm kind of things. 

Christopher said he was proud of me for powering through despite my face hemorrhaging. And, of course because it could be no other way, as soon as I got off the ice and started taking my skates off, my nose stopped bleeding. I hate my stupid face.

Too Pretty

I didn't update this past week again but here's what happened at my lesson on Monday.

Christopher had me start with a 4 minute warm-up for Free Dance as I would do on competition day. When I was doing this, it felt like I had plenty of time so I skated up to him for a time check and he said I was over time. Oops. Anyway, we went right from this into my Free Dance. 

Solo Free Dance - I thought it went well. When I skated back to him, his main criticism was "it's too pretty." Since the music has some attitude to it, he wants me to be expressive in that way. He wants my movement to be "harsh" and powerful. So I ran the footwork with that in mind and he was pleased. Christopher has been my coach for 6 years (!) and I love that he has taught me to "be pretty" with my movements so it really takes some thought to move a different way. All part of the process, I suppose. 

Next up was a warm up of my jumps and spins to get ready to run the Free Skate. 

Free Skate - This went mostly well except I two footed the salchow because I was getting tired. When I compete with this in a few weeks at Nationals, it will be on fresh legs so I'm not worried. This isn't a typical mistake. Christopher said he liked that I skated it a bit more harsh like the Free Dance and he said he didn't hate the camel spin but would like one more revolution and a bit more speed. Three revs is the minimum but of course I should always shoot for more. So we worked on that a bit before moving on to Axels on the harness.  

Axels - So, my biggest problem with this is the pull in into the backspin position. Seeing as how that's a problem for me when I just do a regular backspin, I'm not surprised that this bad habit has carried over into my Axels. I had a couple that were landed but they were still really open. I really need ankle to ankle, not ankle to mid-calf. I'm at least crossing my legs which is good. I just need to bring it in tighter. He said I have enough height for the Axel, I just need the snappiness to bring it all together.

Nationals - The schedule it out! Looks like there are 11 of us in Bronze Ladies Free Skate II and 14 of us competing in Bronze Solo Free Dance I/II. Aghghghghggh! Once Nationals is over, I'll retire my Bronze Free Skate (again) and get back into getting my Silver Free Skate ready to test. I really want to test this summer and become "official" with my levels for Free Dance and Silver FS. It feels pretty dirty to compete at the Silver level this season except for Nationals where I'm skating Bronze. Sigh.

Nats Prep

I've been sort of bad at updating this blog. I've been practicing and getting ready for Nationals so preparations are still ongoing. I've got my registration done, music uploaded, forms signed, and cat sitter acquired. The only thing I'm still waiting on is the schedule to come out, the practice ice selection that goes along with that, and my hotel reservations (which is dependent on the schedule). 

I've been running my two programs every practice and continuing with Pilates every week which really helps my core (and subsequently, my spins). My employer also gave me a $100 fitness credit to be used on equipment, gym memberships, or fitness attire. Last year, I used it to upgrade my old FitBit Inspire to the new FitBit Sense (which I love!) and this year, I bought myself a Bosu Ball! I've been using them at the Pilates Studio and they are great for balance training and core work so I'm excited to get that set up and start using it. AND! It comes in pink! Who knew!?

Lesson - My lesson this week was just jumps. Seriously, he picked everything apart which is great. I need it. Most of the time was spent fixing my Toe Loop again. I tend to fall into bad habits (Toe Waltz) when I'm rushing so we slowed things down and really focused on the reach back and pivot. They are improved, but I still need work on the reach back. In addition, my arms were wonky. I really need to keep my left arm out in front and slightly across so that I don't rotate too early. Next up was my Lutz. I'm still not picking up my free leg early enough and I'm hella pre-rotating. However, my Lutz is a lot better than my Flip so there's that. We also spent some time looking at my first jump combo in my Bronze Free Skate (Salchow-Loop-Toe Loop) to try to get better flow. Finally, footwork. It looks good but he wants me to have more eye contact with the judges and more emotion. 

So yeah, things are happening. I'm preparing to kill it in SLC. I'm determined to not suck :)

Unsupervised

Christopher is on a much deserved vacation this week with his family so I've been left unsupervised! I practiced at the Y on Sunday and then at the Promenade on Monday. 

Sunday at the Y - All is well. I had some big jumps on fresh legs as soon as I got on the ice so I wanted to take advantage of my energy and run my Bronze Free Skate early. I was having some issues getting my music to loop so I had to run the second half of my program first and the first half of my program second. Super weird but I got it done. Same situation with my Free Dance. It was a weird music day anyway. My music was too loud for one of the other skaters on the ice and every time I turned it down, they asked me again to lower the volume. Finally, I just turned it off completely for a while because my phone was not allowing me to lower it any more. I'm not sure if it was my phone reacting to the cold but my phone was acting hella goofy. During the silent portion of my practice, I worked on Gold Moves, specifically Double 3s and FI & FO Brackets. When I had about 10 minutes left, I put the music back on and ran some pattern dances. I did the Hickory and the Willow Waltz with the music but ran the Ten Fox without music since I'm still trying to get the end pattern right. If I slow it down, it's less scratchy but as soon as I do it to the music, I'm riding my toe picks. 

Monday at the Prom - I skated an earlier than normal session since I didn't have to work with Christopher's schedule. Like Sunday, I ran my Bronze Free Skate early on in the session to take advantage of fresh legs. I got through the program with energy and expression and hit all of my elements! Yay! I worked some Moves and Dance for a while and then ran my Solo Free Dance. This also went well. Actually, this was the first time since my surgery that I ended the program with a ton of energy to spare. I wasn't even winded. Neat! I'm feeling more and more like myself every passing day. By the time Nationals comes around, I'll be in really good shape.

New Skills, Who Dis?

Lesson today! After Sunday's awesome practice, I was feeling confident going into my lesson this week. Christopher said that this is the lesson where we focus on details (and by details, he means fixing my jump technique). 

Jumps - So, we started with the Toe Loop. A few years ago, I fixed my Toe Loop so it wasn't a Toe Waltz but an actual technically correct Toe Loop. However, somewhere along the way, I slipped back into bad habits and have been Toe Waltzing again (especially when it's in a combo). We started off reviewing a back pivot and then went on to do some small Toe Loops. Once I got those correct again, we added Toe Loops onto Toe Loops. Now, I just need to keep up with it and not fall back into the bad technique of the Toe Waltz. Next up, we looked at the Flip jump. He had me doing four half-flips into a full flip. That was helpful but not nearly as helpful as the next exercise he gave me which was to do a walk through of the Flip and make sure my free leg was crossed in front. Somehow, this made things click. It forced me to lift the free leg up into that "h" position quicker and just overall improved things. Next was the Lutz. We worked on the same exercises as with the Flip but more of an emphasis on the outside edge entry. Then something neat happened! He asked to see a Lutz-Loop (which I've never done) and I DID IT! I've never attempted it before because my Lutz is so technically bad that my landing isn't secure enough to add a loop but damn! I did the thing!

Spins - Next up were spins and, like Sunday, it was a good spin day. I was getting some good camels and I even managed a Camel-Sit-Upright combo. 

So yeah, I'm not sure why I'm killin' it lately but I am and I like it!

New Guards, Who Dis?

I got a much overdo sharpening yesterday and also got a new set of guards too since I have been having some strong feelings lately about my Edea guards. 

Guards - When I got new boots and blades last spring, I had to give up my Rockerz guards because they were too big for the new blades. I tried to buy new Rockerz from the Rockerz website but they did not have my blade type listed on their site. I contacted someone from Rockerz and they told me that the reason was that they didn't have the specs on my particular blade so they weren't going to cut guards for them. But, he said I could go to my local skate tech and they will cut them (apparently, they need the blade present). I ended up getting Edea guards since those fit most blade types and was really happy with how they felt once they were on, but getting them on and off has been a struggle, especially with my bad hands. So, I decided I've struggled enough and asked for some Rockerz to be cut while waiting for my sharpening. I cannot tell you how much better it is! Never again will I stray from Rockerz. 

Stamina - I skated at the Y today and immediately realized how good I feel. Not only because of the sharpening but I just had a load of energy! I ran two Free Skates, my Free Dance, and the Hickory Hoedown with the music. And! I still had energy to spare! Yay! I haven't felt this strong since pre-surgery. 

Spins - My spins were AMAZING today! All of them were centered and solid. Amazing what a sharpening can do! 

Jumps - These were nice too. I mean, my Flip and Lutz are what they are but my other jumps were pretty good as well. In fact, I had two loop jumps that were BIG! I even worked on Axel prep. 

Overall, I felt awesome today! I don't know what changed but I like it and I hope it sticks around.

Harnessing My Skills

Lesson today and Christopher was running a bit behind so I had extra time to practice stuff before my lesson. I felt inspired to work on some Axel prep and I'm glad I did because that's what we worked on today!

Harness Lesson - We only had about 10 minutes left in the session when Christopher got there. I told him about this weekend's competition and how out of place I feel at Silver. He gave me some encouragement and then asked me if my doctor has signed me off to get back in the harness. I said I was good to go and he said "Great, let's do fun stuff today!" It's been 6 months since I got in the harness for Axels so it took a few tries to get it right but I was able to land two of them towards the end. I forgot how much I needed to jump up and on a curve (I was jumping out and on a diagonal, oops). It feels good to work on these again. Maybe I can make this an additional goal for this year - to at least attempt them off the harness :)

2023 Casper Invitational Recap

I'm back from Wyoming! Ugh, it's always so windy there. It was a good time and I got to skate with my Unicorn Sisters (and meet a new one!). Most of the Unicorns were in Colorado Springs volunteering with 4 Continents so I didn't have too many people to compete with. Here's how it all went down. 

Morning Practice Session - I was placed into a "high" practice session and by "high" I think they just meant "old" since it was just the adult competitors. It was nice though because there were only 6 of us on the ice and I didn't have to dodge the Snowplow Sam skaters who rarely look out for other people. Because of this, it was a really productive practice session. Despite the ice being insanely hard, I managed all of my spins and jumps. In fact, my husband said one of the sit spins I did was really nice. So yeah, it was a good session and I felt confident going into my two events. 

Solo Free Dance - There were only two of us competing in this event and we both skated well. I ended up placing second behind Angie and I'm really okay with that. She skated beautifully! I got first place ordinals from one judge so I can be proud that at least one judge thought I did well. 

Silver Free Skate - There were three of us competing in this event (one lady had the flu and withdrew). So it was me, Angie, and Dawn. I knew what I was up against and so I expected my placement (I got third). I didn't skate a bad program, it just wasn't as good as theirs. They have really low sit spins and flawless combos so I get it. I have room to grow still. 

Final Thoughts - I have so many thoughts about this weekend. The biggest of these is I really need to get my spins in shape. I'm just not the best spinner but I think I can at least get them better. At this level, I really need some spin combos. Trying to get by on just a Sit Spin, Scratch, and a Camel isn't going to cut it. Another thought is that the judges were absolutely fair in their placements. Angie and Dawn are on a whole different level. Basically, I was a big fish in a little pond while I was in Bronze and now I'm a tiny fish in a big pond in Silver. I just need to "get good." However humbling it is, I know it's good for me to be skating at this level. I need to be challenged and pushed and this is sure as hell doing that. Finally, I have to give myself some grace considering I just had surgery about 2.5 months ago and then I just jumped right back into competing. My lack of stamina comes through in the video playbacks (which I am not going to post, sorry). I just looked a little slow and cautious. I know I've been skating pretty guarded since I got back from surgery but I didn't realize how much until I watched the videos. Alas. It's all part of recovery. Anyway, it was a fun competition and it was run well. The medals were pretty snazzy too. First competition of 2023 is in the books!

Casper's Comin'

 Oof, I've been really bad about updating this past couple of weeks. My apologies. Anyway, Casper is approaching this weekend and I'm in super cram mode trying to fit in as many practices as I can. 

Solo Free Dance - In general, this is in good shape as long as I remember to make eye contact with the judges and emote. Working on this is difficult in a busy practice session. It feels like lately I've had to abort parts of it because people are in the way. I'm always aware of who is running a program and make a point to stay out of their way but sometimes I don't think that same courtesy is extended to adult skaters. Sigh. 

Silver Free Skate - This has been rough lately in practice and, usually when that happens, it means my performance on competition day will be pretty good. I hope that holds true. I ran it this morning and besides having to abandon my final jump combo because someone wouldn't make way, it was okay. I got the schedule and I know who my competition is for this event (except for one skater who I haven't met yet) and I know I'll be up against some tough competition. I'm really trying to focus on skating for me and doing my best rather than focusing so hard on what medal I will earn. If I can stay calm and really feel this program, I might do okay. 

Nationals - Well, I'm registered! I guess I'm committed now, lol. I'll start really working on the Bronze Free Skate again once Casper is over. It had to take the backseat for a couple of weeks. 

Future Solo Free Dance - Once Casper is over, I really want to get my Solo Free Dance tested and passed because I already have my music picked out for the next one (and a custom dress on order!). It's going to be lovely!