Weekend Cram

I was at the Stable on Saturday and Sunday trying to pack in as many skills as possible for my lesson on Monday. I devoted much of Saturday's practice to jumps while Sunday was mostly devoted to field moves and spins.

• Jumpz - I'm still not courageous enough to work on the Flip. I'm not sure why this fear is still lingering. I really hope it doesn't become permanent. Nothing extraordinary to report here. I basically spent the majority of my time on Saturday working on jumps that I know I will be tested on soon. Namely the waltz, salchow, and waltz/toe loop combo. I really focused on trying to slow everything down some and being sure to count in between the waltz and the toe loop. I worked a bit on the half lutz because this is a jump that I have been ignoring for a while. I think I'm getting on the outside edge just before the jump but I'm pretty sure it could be more of an edge. I looked at the tracing I left on the ice and it looked proper but whatever I'm doing, I need to think of it as being exaggerated even more and then I'm sure it will be right. Loops and loop combos are good. The loop jump is the only jump I feel pretty sure about. 
• Spinz - Sunday's practice was 50/50 between spins and field moves. I spent a good amount of time in the center of the rink really working on that backspin. It is getting better (slowly) but I'm only seeing progress in the upright one-foot position. When I cross my feet, it's a lost cause. I don't think I can feel comfortable in the crossed-leg position until I feel absolutely secure in the one-foot upright position. Baby steps, yes? Camel still only gets one revolution but on the plus side, scratch spins are lovely which makes doing a forward "flamingo" spin a breeze for the test. 
• Pre-Bronze Movez - Sunday afternoon was a great time to work on these because the session was practically empty. I made some real progress on my BO and BI edges with getting my head and arms where they should be. Because of this I tried some Bronze moves. I worked on some forward power three turns on both sides while on the blue line and then when those felt comfortable, I worked on them down the lengths of the rink. The purpose is just to get a feel for them. I know that they will need some work once Christopher takes a look at them after I pass my Pre-Bronze stuff. Forward and Backward Crossovers felt great now that I got the transition from forward to backward down. Waltz Eight felt good too. The pattern isn't difficult for me so I'm just trying to get it to be more "waltz-y". 

I'm at the point where I'm bored of the Pre-Bronze stuff. I'm ready to get this test over with so I can work on some new things :) 

Wednesday Cram and Thursday Lesson

Wednesday Night Cram - The Wednesday night session at the Stable was only an hour so I had to be strategic with what I practiced. It was also busier than normal. Seems like someone dropped off a gaggle of teenage girls (about 10 of them) and they were in groups of three or four holding hands around the rink effectively ruining any chance I could get to do any field moves. Because of that I was only really able to work on jumps and spins (I can't complain. Those need work too). Although I am getting a better feel for the camel, it is still only getting around 1 revolution. I do find that when I think of keeping my leg above hip height, like I'm doing a spiral, I'm able to find my rocker better. Scratch spins were nice and comfortable. Two foot spins are getting the required three revolutions. Blegh. Have I mentioned that I hate the two-foot spin? No? Well, I do. I hate it hard. Backspins are rotating but they are not pretty. As far as jumps go, I worked on the toe loop mostly just trying to slow it down. I did a bunch of loops, waltz-loops, and one loop-loop (tiny). I did manage to work on CW crossovers with the transition into the backward crossovers. I find that if I tweek my hip a bit, I can make the swingroll/mohawk thing work. 

Thursday Morning Lesson - Typically, we have our Thursday morning Freestyle sessions on the Blue Rink but since the 2017 National Pairs Camp is being held at the Ice Centre this year, everything got moved around. This morning, for the first time EVER, I got to skate on the Red Rink! I know this isn't a big deal to most people, but I've only ever skated on the Blue and the Green Rinks, never the Red. The Red Rink is a bit more closed off so it feels more private and there really isn't a lot of seating in there. Also, the ice is HARD! I did a warm-up waltz jump and there was just no give to the ice. On the other hand, my backspins felt really nice on this ice so, there's that. Since Christopher and I have been working on the MIF for the past few lessons, he wanted to take a look at my Pre-Bronze Freestyle elements. The test asks for two different jumps of either a half or full rotation. I've been having a difficult time deciding what I should do (should I play it safe and do two half jumps or should I go above and beyond and do two fully rotated jumps?). Christopher essentially decided everything for me and I'm okay with that! Waltz jump and Salchow. Bam! Decided! He had me run through the whole test. 

• Waltz Jump - Good. Maybe a little bit more height. 
• Salchow - Good. Maybe slow it down more. 
• Two-foot spin - The required number of rotations are happening. Maybe bend the knees more and bring my arms in slower. 
• One-Foot Upright Spin - I asked him if I should do a scratch spin or if they only want to see the one-foot spin. He looked at the rule book and noticed that for Pre-preliminary, one has the option to have their freeleg however they want it. For the Pre-Bronze, it just says "one-foot spin", no optional freeleg. So I did a proper one-foot spin in the "flamingo" position (that's what I'll call it from now on because I'm from Florida and I need to represent). I got six revolutions out of that before I exited. He was pleased. Moving on. 
• Forward and Backward Crossovers - I asked him if it needs to be in the MIF pattern and he said no. Just do the forward, mohawk, then backward. No need to be redundant and repeat the MIF pattern. 
• Lunge or Spiral - I hate lunges because I feel like they scratch up my boots and, believe, me, they have suffered enough through all of my falls. I was planning on performing a spiral but again, Christopher thought that may be redundant since that is already on the MIF test. Harrumph. Lunge it is. 

So, I'll pass, no problem. It's not the most exciting test in the world but it needs to be done in order to move forward. Speaking of moving forward, he glanced ahead at the Bronze Freestyle test and had me look at some of the requirements for that. Since one of the jumps can be a fully rotated jump of the skaters choice, I suggested the loop. We did a few of those and they feel comfortable (they should, I've been practicing them quite a bit). I need more glide out and he would like to see more cross in my legs mid-air. Something to work on. Then...the FLIP! I admitted to him that I have hit the fear wall with this again and haven't been able to practice it without chickening out. He's seen me land it before. He even passed me on it in our Jumps class together so I think he was a bit baffled about why I can't do it now. We worked on some half flips slowly and then moved on to a half-flip/loop hybrid. Because this is really a mental issue I'm dealing with, he suggested putting me in the harness for our next lesson. I get to go in the harness, ya'll! Another first :) Our lesson next week will also be kind of screwy because he'll be in Colorado Springs for the 2017 Broadmoor Open during our normal Thursday lesson so we switched it to Monday. That means I'll be cramming over the weekend rather than Wednesday night. 

Sunday Practice

I got to the Stable for my Sunday practice and the ice was AWFUL! It was super torn up from the hockey session before and, even though they zam'd the ice, it was still riddled with ruts and gashes. I did the best I could with what I had. I worked on:

MIF: after my warm-up I started with some stroking paying close attention to where I was placing my crossovers at the end so I don't "cheat" the move. I was only able to work the CCW stroking due to how many skaters were on the ice. I ran through all of my edges and the waltz 8 and those seem comfortable. I briefly ran through spirals but, again, it was busy so I was timid. Where I spent the bulk of my time was on the CW forward crossovers. I wanted to make sure I got a good strong underpush on these. Also, the swingroll/mohawk transition coming out of the CW crossovers is a mess so I spent some time on that as well. I'm not sure how much I improved but I know this is my weakest part of the crossover move so I need to pay particular attention to it to ensure it's done well.

Jumpz: I worked mostly on combos and sequences today. The waltz/toe loop combo will be on my upcoming Bronze Freestyle test so why not start to get comfortable with it now, right? I can land the sequence but I want to be more deliberate with where I pick in for the toe loop. I feel like I'm still toe-waltzing this. I also worked on the waltz/falling leaf/ toe loop sequence. I need to slow the falling leaf part down. In reality, I probably need to slow the whole thing down. I tend to rush through jumps. I should remember to count. I made some great strides with my waltz-loop combo! I feel like these are really becoming more consistent. The key is speed. Some things are just easier when you are moving at a quicker pace (think riding a bike in motion vs. trying to balance on a bike while it's not moving). Going into this combo with a bit more speed really made the difference. I think this was my "aha!" moment. It seems obvious enough but for some reason, the fear I had was making me approach this too slowly. I ran through a bunch of these just to make sure it stuck. Speaking of fear...the flip jump. Ugh. So, weeks ago I was so proud of myself for breaking through that fear barrier and landing my flip jump. I landed it several times in my lessons and even have a video of me doing one so there is proof that it exists. However, the fear has returned and I'm scared to do it again. It makes no sense. I don't know why the fear is back, it just is. I'm at least trying it, though. The weird thing is, I'm not two-footing the landing, I'm two-footing the takeoff. Don't even ask me how I'm managing to do that. What I need, is crash pads. I'm thinking of investing in some leggings with the crash pads built in. Maybe having that extra security will help the fear issue.

Spinz: Scratch spins are much better! I'm definitely getting better at finding my center. I briefly worked on camels and sit spins (which are more like squat spins right now because of my back). Those are...meh. I was able to find one tiny patch of ice that seemed smooth so I worked on back spins for a good 15-20 minutes. I have moments where I magically find the rocker and get 3-4 rotations but then I have those that I can barely get around one time. They are getting better but god, it's slow progress!

Wednesday Night Cram and Thursday Lesson

Wednesday Night Cram - It's amazing how much better one can practice when they can breathe. I found an old inhaler that still had some puffs left so I inhaled and then made my way to the Stable for my pre-lesson cram session. After my warm-up, I ran through all of the Pre-Bronze MIF (including spirals!) and all is well here. My BI edges still have wonky arms so I made a mental note to have Christopher fix this. My jumps...OMG, my jumps. They are missing. Like, they are just gone! I know I can do them. Did I not just spend an entire 7 week session working with Christopher on nothing but jumps?! But now I feel like I am over thinking everything to the point where nothing is really happening. I'm feeling like I'm actually regressing. Waltz jumps still exist but my loop, flip, salchow, and toe loop are MIA. I was doing them better when I didn't think about them and just threw myself into the air. Maybe I should go back to that? Spins are about where I left them. We won't talk about spins.

Thursday morning lesson - After my warm-up I worked on cramming MIF again. As soon as Christopher got onto the ice I pleaded to him to fix my BI edges. As I warned him, they are a "hot mess." So yeah, he made some adjustments. Turns out, it wasn't so much my arms that I was doing wrong but my head position. Who knew. Then he wanted to see my CW Perimeter Stroking since he only saw CCW last time. I thought I did well but when I finished the move and skated back to him he said "yeah, I wouldn't have passed you on that if I were the judge" (*sad trombone*). I was able to fit the minimum number of crossovers at the end but he wants to see more and, apparently, I took a shortcut and should have gone around the pepperoni dot instead of just inside it. I also finished on the wrong leg. Ugh. So, back to the drawing board on this one. Good news, at least my strokes were okay even though he would like some more extension. On to Spirals! Both are at least hip height so yay for that but on my left leg spiral (right leg in the air) he would like me to work on bending forward more (hello, fear!). We spent the remainder of our lesson chatting about testing and whether or not I should focus on just the adult track or just the standard track. Apparently, it's unheard of to test both tracks simultaneously. But, you know me. Ever the over-achiever! My main concern with the adult track is that, even though I know the tests are challenging, I know judges have lower standards for adults and are more willing to pass a candidate even if mistakes are made. I don't want that. I want to be held to the same standards as those who test the standard track so, for me, testing the standard track is a means of quality control to ensure that I'm at the same level as the kiddos. Christopher suggested sticking with the adult track for now and he will personally hold me to the standards of the standard track. When I pass Gold he can then work with me on Intermediate and above if I want to keep moving up. So yeah, I guess I can expect him to be super picky from now on and that's a good thing :)

"Take my Breath Awaaaaaaay"

Sunday practice at the Stable was unproductive at best. It wasn't so much my back acting up but the fact that I just could not catch my breath. After about an hour of practice, Dustin insisted that I get off the ice and go home. Part of me knew he was right, but the other part of me knows that I have a lot of skills that still need polishing and that I should stay to work on them. Dustin was worried so I left. Before my departure from the rink I was able to work on:

Moves in the Field - I decided to run through everything in order as if I were doing the test. I repeated a couple of elements that I wasn't entirely pleased with but, overall, I think these look okay.

• Forward Perimeter Stroking: Since the session was practically empty, I was able to do both CW and CCW! I remembered what Christopher instructed me to do and they felt pretty comfortable. I was able to fit in 3 crossovers at the ends now that I'm starting the turns at the pepperoni dots. That meets the requirements so I'm happy with that. 
• Basic Consecutive Edges: FO and FI edges are just fine. BO edges are much better with the adjustments to my head and arm positions that Christopher made. BI edges need work. The initial push is fine and I'm keeping steady with the power down the line. On my first run, I put my foot down so I did another set. These were better but I'm going to have to ask Christopher to adjust my arms on this one as well. I'm doing the move, I just feel like there is a better way. 
• Forward and Backward Crossovers in a Figure 8: I repeated this move a couple of times so I could get the timing right with the swingroll-mohawk transition into the backward crossovers. Since I have been doing it for so long on the wrong leg, it's a hard habit to break. Also, I was pretty scratchy on the backward crossovers for some reason. I'm pretty sure the answer to that is to bend my knees more. When it doubt, bend your knees!
• Waltz 8: This was another move I repeated a couple of times because I have to readjust my timing on everything now that I'm skating a bigger pattern at the hockey circles. It's getting there. 
• Spirals (X3): Yeah, I did these three times. The more frequently I do this, the less fearful I am. I also wanted to get both spirals to equal height. When I'm skating on my right leg with my left leg up, I have flexibility for days. Not so much on the other side, though. I either need to lower my first spiral or stretch out the other side more so that it's higher. But hey! It got done! w00t!

So yeah, that's the Adult Pre-Bronze MIF test. Will I be ready for an August test? I think I might be :) 

Freestyle - This is where I started going downhill in terms of stamina. Practicing my MIF winded me enough so I didn't have much left in me to really put in a good effort. I did some decent waltz jumps. I worked on slowing down my toe loop and salchow, but my loop jumps were a freaking mess! I just didn't have the gusto. Spins were abysmal. I actually fell on a scratch spin! I mean, that's a first. I just kinda fell out of it and my body made no attempt to stop that from happening or abort the spin. Geez. I was just wiped out and out of breath. This is super frustrating! 

"Old Lady Problems" Update - I went to the pulmonologist on Friday for the Lung Function Test. I should be hearing back from my doctor early this week about the results. Maybe I'm growing a tree in my lungs after all. I also went to the sports rehab place at the Ice Centre to get an evaluation. The therapist who worked with me was great. He noticed how tight my lower back muscles were and gave me some stretches to do at home until I come back later this week for more physical therapy. They also gave me some electro-stimulation and while that felt awesome (I almost fell asleep on the table), I'm not sure how much it helped. But, they are the experts so I'm putting all of my faith in them. 

Old Lady Problems

I've mentioned a couple of times here already about pain in my lower back. It's getting to the point where it's debilitating. In addition to this, I've been having a difficult time breathing (I'm completely winded just doing a waltz jump!). I haven't complained to Christopher about either of these things although I'm sure he'll notice soon enough, especially if he asks me to do a sit spin.

I went to my doctor last Friday for the back issues and the breathing issues. Because he suspected asthma (family history) he had me do a spirometry test to see if that's the case. Good news: I don't have asthma. Bad news: apparently I have the lungs of an 80 year old! I had to kind of laugh because I don't smoke or do anything weird with my lungs. It's a bit of a goofy diagnosis. Anyway, it worried my doctor enough that he referred me to a pulmonologist to have more testing done. Hopefully I can get this figured out so I can practice better.

With my back, the doctor prescribed me some muscle relaxers but that isn't fixing the problem so, conveniently, there is a sports rehab place at the rink and they are supposedly excellent. I have a consultation with them after the pulmonologist appointment tomorrow so they can look at my back and maybe find a way to fix me. I got nervous when the guy on the phone asked me who my coach was. I'm not sure I want Christopher to know I'm seeking therapy for my back. I don't want him to think I'm making excuses. Hopefully they can fix me soon so I can make some progress on things like sit spins and spirals and such.

So yeah, I'm broken in at least a couple of different ways but I'm determined to find a way to fix it so I can move on and continue making decent strides with my skating.

First Private Lesson!!!!

I had my first private lesson with Christopher this morning and I must say, it was really nice to work with him on non-jumpy things. This was also my first contracted freestyle session and boy was that an experience! In a way, it was nice to share the ice with skaters who know what they're doing but, on the other hand, I felt like everyone knew what they were doing and I didn't. I didn't have that sense of...I don't know, capability? Or maybe confidence! Yeah, I didn't have confidence. There were lots of younger skaters who could jump and spin with ease and here I am just trying to get by. I felt like a fish out of water. Thankfully, there was one other adult skater who seemed to be in the Adult Bronze/Silver range so there's that, I guess. I don't feel entirely alone. I do like the fact that it's like a cohort. I'll be seeing these same skaters every time I attend this session. So, eventually, I'll come to know them, if not personally, then I will at least become familiar with their faces and watch them progress alongside me. Neat.

Warm-up - I had 30 minutes before my lesson so I warmed up with stroking, slaloms, and backward perimeter power stroking. Then I moved onto edges, waltz 8, jumps, and spins. Everything felt pretty solid. When I practiced last night at the stable, I felt pretty off on a lot of things. But today I felt like I had more control of my body so I wasn't so...flail-y. 

Lesson Time! Christopher asked me what I wanted to work on so I told him of my goal to test Adult Pre-Bronze in August but I also said that I wanted him to look at my moves and let me know if he thinks I'm ready for August or if I should test later in the year. We started with: 

• Waltz 8 - He had me place it at the hockey circles at the end of the rink. This is a much bigger pattern than I'm used to! He also had me do intro steps and add a count to it to ensure that everything is pretty equal. I have obviously been rushing this during my practices because it felt as though I had to hold every edge for FOREVER! But the judges will be putting a special emphasis on edge quality so I need to make sure I am holding those edges long enough and showing complete control in all my movements. With these fixes in place, I'll need to change the way I practice this but now I at least know what I was doing wrong. And this is why I needed a coach :) 
• Forward Perimeter Stroking - We only did these CCW because of how many skaters were on the ice. First thing he fixed was my intro. I have been starting my intro at the blue goalie area but he backed me up a bit so that I can add more steps. More steps = more power and speed going into the move. With this move, judges will be looking for power and extension. I was ok on the extension, not so much on the power. He also moved me away from the boards a bit on this. I should be going from pepperoni dot to pepperoni dot and at the last pepperoni dot I'll start my crossovers so that I have room to fit 4-5 in at the end. This was something I have been struggling with! I was waiting too long to start the crossovers and was only able to get 2 in at the end of the rink. With Christopher's instruction, I'll be able to fit more in. And this is why I needed a coach :) 
• Spirals *gulp!* - So, you know how I'm terrified of spirals? Yeah, about that. In practices, I've been doing them in isolation and only on one side. I've NEVER practiced the actual full move down the length of the rink. But when Christopher said "let me see your spirals," I was like "sure, no problem!" like I do spirals all the time but in my head I was like Oh my Glob! I'm going to DIE doing this!!!!! So, it was shaky and I put my foot down on the right leg spiral but I did it! I made it the length of the rink switching legs at the red line and, most importantly, I didn't die! He made some suggestions and had me start the intro steps farther back like I did with the stroking. He also told me to remember to stay on my heel so I don't face-plant. And this is why I needed a coach :) 
• Backward Outside Consecutive Edges - We didn't spend too much time on these because time was winding down. He wanted to see where I was at with these. He changed my head position and added a scissoring action with my arms that seemed to make these flow much better. And this is why I needed a coach :) 
• Forward and Backward Crossovers in a Figure Eight - Only five more minutes left. He observed that my CW forward crossovers where weaker than my CCW ones (duh) but he gave me some tips to at least make them look prettier. Transitions were fine except I was doing my swingroll with the wrong leg during the transition into the backward crossovers so he corrected that. And, yes you guessed it, this is why I needed a coach! 

When it was all said and done, I felt pleased that I have some direction now. It was lonely trying to figure this all out on my own. I could do the moves but those little things like the number of intro steps, head position, and arm movements are the things that will really make the difference between just doing the moves and doing them well. I'm super motivated now! Yay!