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!

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