Spinz - I skated the 6:00am freestyle this morning and spent a good chunk of my time just working on spins. One of my problems with spins (besides the wonky LFO entry edge due to the injury) is the fact that I open my arms too quickly going into the spin. I need to keep that left arm in front of me until after I hook the spin or else it travels every time. I did a bunch of spins where I forced myself to keep my arm crossed in front longer and guess what? The spins were better! I know Christopher has been telling me this for a while but I always forget when it comes time to actually do the spin.
Jumpz - A lot of time was spent on the toe loop trying to unwaltz it. Lots of jumps at the boards and then some out on open ice. I think I got one or two that were proper and not cheated. Overall, my jumps today just felt messy. I just wasn't feelin' it today, I guess.
Programz - I did a couple of run-throughs of my compulsory moves just to keep it solid and then I ran the program. Again, no skate monitor so I had to start my own music and then rush out onto the ice to jump in. Everything went well except I fell on a stupid footwork thing that I have never fallen on before but I got back up and was able to land everything else and still finish on time. It was just a freak thing, I guess. It's not anything I'm going to worry about.
Also, blades got sharpened. My next practice should be an interesting one.
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Friday, August 31, 2018
"There were some nice moments"
I dropped in on a Friday morning freestyle today since the rink will be closed for the holiday weekend and I won't be able to have my Saturday lesson. As soon as I got to the locker area I saw one of the students that I've been working with here at the college. We've talked before about skating and how we belong to the same club but we've never actually skated on the same ice. It was a bit intimidating because she's a very adept junior-level skater and I'm, well, I'm just me. But it was actually beneficial skating alongside her because I think I worked harder during this practice than I have in a while. Honestly, I just didn't want her coming back to campus and spreading the rumor that the librarian looks like a fool on ice (although she's a lovely girl and I doubt she would do that!). Still, I tried hard to look decent today so as to not embarrass myself.
Lessonz - I got to warm up for a good while before Christopher got on the ice. This is our second to last lesson before the competition so we had a lot to go through. He started out by asking me to skate my compulsory moves. All went well and I felt pretty comfortable with everything. He had me spend some time on the glide-through for the toe loop as I still have a tendency to pre-rotate. I was doing really well on these for a while. I was on a roll where I was doing proper, uncheated toe loops but it seems as though I have fallen back into bad habits. I'll focus on these more in practice. He then handed me the sash and I got ready to skate the program. All went well here; no falls, decent spins, a nice big loop jump like the one I did during my last practice, and I finished on time. When I skated back to him he said "there were some nice moments" which is as good of a compliment I can get from him since he doesn't hand them out often. I'll take it!
Competition Warm Upz - We talked a bit about what warm up will be like for the competition and he says to expect a 4 minute warm-up although don't be surprised if we get 5. He wants me to be strategic about my warm up and even practice it (I like having a plan!). So, he would like me to do a single lap of stroking, power stroking, and slaloms. Then, I move onto spins. He wants me to just do two; a simple one foot spin and then the attitude. He said to keep an eye on where he's at because if my arms go wonky during my spins he'll give me a signal to remind me to fix it. Then, I should warm up all of my jumps and try to do them in each quadrant of the rink so I get a good feel of what each part of the rink feels like. Finally, if I have some time left over, I should work one section of the program that is giving me the most worry. In this case, I'll choose the transition from the jump sequence to the attitude into the loop jump. All of this should easily take up four minutes. Having a plan means I don't need to worry about forgetting anything.
Makeup and Hairz - When we got off the ice he asked me my plans for hair and makeup, even down to the details such as what shade of lipstick will match best with my dress. I'm really glad I thought ahead and organized a hair braiding session. The makeup will be done by me and he would like me to go for more of a glam or nighttime look as that will be seen from the judges stand much better. Hair accessories are on order and should get to me next week. Oh! And he reminded me that now is probably a good time to get a blade sharpening so I can get acclimated to them before the competition.
As serious as all of this sounds, he reminded me that this is supposed to be FUN! Go out there and have a blast skating with other adults. This isn't as serious as it is for the younger skaters. I just need to remember to relax and enjoy skating :)
Lessonz - I got to warm up for a good while before Christopher got on the ice. This is our second to last lesson before the competition so we had a lot to go through. He started out by asking me to skate my compulsory moves. All went well and I felt pretty comfortable with everything. He had me spend some time on the glide-through for the toe loop as I still have a tendency to pre-rotate. I was doing really well on these for a while. I was on a roll where I was doing proper, uncheated toe loops but it seems as though I have fallen back into bad habits. I'll focus on these more in practice. He then handed me the sash and I got ready to skate the program. All went well here; no falls, decent spins, a nice big loop jump like the one I did during my last practice, and I finished on time. When I skated back to him he said "there were some nice moments" which is as good of a compliment I can get from him since he doesn't hand them out often. I'll take it!
Competition Warm Upz - We talked a bit about what warm up will be like for the competition and he says to expect a 4 minute warm-up although don't be surprised if we get 5. He wants me to be strategic about my warm up and even practice it (I like having a plan!). So, he would like me to do a single lap of stroking, power stroking, and slaloms. Then, I move onto spins. He wants me to just do two; a simple one foot spin and then the attitude. He said to keep an eye on where he's at because if my arms go wonky during my spins he'll give me a signal to remind me to fix it. Then, I should warm up all of my jumps and try to do them in each quadrant of the rink so I get a good feel of what each part of the rink feels like. Finally, if I have some time left over, I should work one section of the program that is giving me the most worry. In this case, I'll choose the transition from the jump sequence to the attitude into the loop jump. All of this should easily take up four minutes. Having a plan means I don't need to worry about forgetting anything.
Makeup and Hairz - When we got off the ice he asked me my plans for hair and makeup, even down to the details such as what shade of lipstick will match best with my dress. I'm really glad I thought ahead and organized a hair braiding session. The makeup will be done by me and he would like me to go for more of a glam or nighttime look as that will be seen from the judges stand much better. Hair accessories are on order and should get to me next week. Oh! And he reminded me that now is probably a good time to get a blade sharpening so I can get acclimated to them before the competition.
As serious as all of this sounds, he reminded me that this is supposed to be FUN! Go out there and have a blast skating with other adults. This isn't as serious as it is for the younger skaters. I just need to remember to relax and enjoy skating :)
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Pumpkin Spice Ice
Ah fall...changing leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and a new contract. From now until December, I'll be skating on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. It was pretty empty this morning as it was only me and a coach working with her student. However, the ice was absolutely terrible! There must have been some hockey drills last night because there were deep curved ruts in four different spots on the rink. I was actually pretty scared and briefly thought about taking my skates off and leaving. I'm pretty sure a hockey rut was responsible for breaking my leg last year at the Sport Stable (hence why I don't skate there anymore) but the ice at my rink is usually so well maintained. I was surprised to see it so bad this morning. But, I needed the practice so I just made a mental note to stay away from those areas as best I could (not the easiest thing to do when your program takes you there anyway).
Today, I focused quite a bit on transitions. The transition from the waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence into the attitude spin is tricky so I worked on that to make it a bit more seamless. The other tricky transition is right after the salchow-toe loop so I spent some time polishing that as well.
I did a lot of spinning today and got a number that had about 8 revs and were centered but it's really just hit or miss. When I'm off, I'm really off but when I hit that sweet spot on the entry it's lovely. Spins for days! Still a work in progress, though.
Compulsory moves got some attention too. I tried adding speed and it's flowing much better now but I think I'm not taking up the whole 1:30, even with the added fluff moves. So, now what?
Finally, I ran my program. Since there was no skate monitor, I had to start my own music and then rush out to the ice to jump into the program. Overall, it went well. I almost ate it on the lunge because the student working with her coach almost ran into me but I didn't fall and I recovered nicely. Spins were spinny, jumps jumped, and I ended on time. Cool.
It was a good and productive practice. I had a couple of falls and one of them was a hard backward fall off the end of my blade but instincts kicked in and I tucked my head in so I didn't get a brain bleed or something. It's been a while since I've had one of those kinds of falls. And on a loop jump no less! So, to cancel it out, I did another one at full speed and it was BIG and AMAZING! Probably the best one I've ever done! The other coach saw it too and the look on her face made me proud. She seemed impressed. So I left on that note. :)
Today, I focused quite a bit on transitions. The transition from the waltz-falling leaf-half flip sequence into the attitude spin is tricky so I worked on that to make it a bit more seamless. The other tricky transition is right after the salchow-toe loop so I spent some time polishing that as well.
I did a lot of spinning today and got a number that had about 8 revs and were centered but it's really just hit or miss. When I'm off, I'm really off but when I hit that sweet spot on the entry it's lovely. Spins for days! Still a work in progress, though.
Compulsory moves got some attention too. I tried adding speed and it's flowing much better now but I think I'm not taking up the whole 1:30, even with the added fluff moves. So, now what?
Finally, I ran my program. Since there was no skate monitor, I had to start my own music and then rush out to the ice to jump into the program. Overall, it went well. I almost ate it on the lunge because the student working with her coach almost ran into me but I didn't fall and I recovered nicely. Spins were spinny, jumps jumped, and I ended on time. Cool.
It was a good and productive practice. I had a couple of falls and one of them was a hard backward fall off the end of my blade but instincts kicked in and I tucked my head in so I didn't get a brain bleed or something. It's been a while since I've had one of those kinds of falls. And on a loop jump no less! So, to cancel it out, I did another one at full speed and it was BIG and AMAZING! Probably the best one I've ever done! The other coach saw it too and the look on her face made me proud. She seemed impressed. So I left on that note. :)
Friday, August 24, 2018
Make me Shiny!
Ok, one of the bigger things that has been stressing me out about this competition is my hair. Like, I am so not a girl when it comes to hair and makeup so I have no idea how to make myself "competition ready." I have to make sure my hair is secure and my face has the right amount of sparkle.
I can at least stop worrying about my hair because there will be a hair braider at the competition who has agreed to make me pretty for the day! Who knew these magical people existed? I certainly didn't until now. She asked me to browse some styles and decide what I want. I told her she would have creative control. Just get my bangs out of my face and make sure everything is secure in terms of bobby pins and accessories.
What will I look like on competition day? Who the hell knows but it will be an improvement on my every day hair (which is typically a disaster!).
I can at least stop worrying about my hair because there will be a hair braider at the competition who has agreed to make me pretty for the day! Who knew these magical people existed? I certainly didn't until now. She asked me to browse some styles and decide what I want. I told her she would have creative control. Just get my bangs out of my face and make sure everything is secure in terms of bobby pins and accessories.
What will I look like on competition day? Who the hell knows but it will be an improvement on my every day hair (which is typically a disaster!).
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Speed Racer
Nice early morning freestyle today. There were only three of us - one young lady working on doubles, another young lady working on what I assume might be junior moves, and....me, the slowest of the slow. I spent the majority of my practice just trying to stay out of their way :)
Spinz - So, I really spent some time today working on the exercises Christopher gave me and I got a couple where, although the entry edge wasn't as long as it should have been, they were spinny and mostly centered. I think this is just something that I will always struggle with now. It's definitely not improving much with practice, but I will keep working on it. This is my new normal.
Jumpz - I ran through all of my program jumps in isolation but I added more speed than I usually do. During our last lesson Christopher told me to speed things up a bit. Right now I'm skating at "adult speed" and I really should be going at a nice clip. Let me tell you, a loop jump from speedy back crossovers is FUN! Scary, yes, but fun!
Programz - There were only three of us and no skate monitor to press play for our programs so one of the girls was kind enough to start music for me and the girl working on doubles. That was nice of her! So, my goal with this particular run-through was to be speedy and intentional. Because I added speed, it was much easier and less stressful getting to all of my marks. I actually had extra time for my first spin! The toe loop on my salchow-toe loop combo didn't get done because I went into the combo with too much speed and I spooked myself. But, I landed a nice salchow on its own and moved through the final part of the program. Final toe loop, final spin, and I ended on time! Bam! Despite missing the second jump in my combo, the program felt pretty good. Like, I may even feel confident for the first time that this could actually be competition worthy! It's amazing what a little speed can do, huh?
Compulsoriez - I only ran it through one time because my session was ending but I wanted to see how this felt with speed as well. You know, it wasn't bad. Hot damn!
Spinz - So, I really spent some time today working on the exercises Christopher gave me and I got a couple where, although the entry edge wasn't as long as it should have been, they were spinny and mostly centered. I think this is just something that I will always struggle with now. It's definitely not improving much with practice, but I will keep working on it. This is my new normal.
Jumpz - I ran through all of my program jumps in isolation but I added more speed than I usually do. During our last lesson Christopher told me to speed things up a bit. Right now I'm skating at "adult speed" and I really should be going at a nice clip. Let me tell you, a loop jump from speedy back crossovers is FUN! Scary, yes, but fun!
Programz - There were only three of us and no skate monitor to press play for our programs so one of the girls was kind enough to start music for me and the girl working on doubles. That was nice of her! So, my goal with this particular run-through was to be speedy and intentional. Because I added speed, it was much easier and less stressful getting to all of my marks. I actually had extra time for my first spin! The toe loop on my salchow-toe loop combo didn't get done because I went into the combo with too much speed and I spooked myself. But, I landed a nice salchow on its own and moved through the final part of the program. Final toe loop, final spin, and I ended on time! Bam! Despite missing the second jump in my combo, the program felt pretty good. Like, I may even feel confident for the first time that this could actually be competition worthy! It's amazing what a little speed can do, huh?
Compulsoriez - I only ran it through one time because my session was ending but I wanted to see how this felt with speed as well. You know, it wasn't bad. Hot damn!
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Oh, It's Gettin' Real. Really Real!
Busy day! I had a lesson this morning and then later I got the schedule for the competition...plus things are bonkers busy at work. Whew!
Lessonz - Once again, we spent quite a bit of time on my spins and holding the LFO entry edge longer. Once I step forward from the wind-up, my body just goes into a three-turn and the result is a traveling spin. I need to really force myself to hold that edge longer so that the spin is more controlled. One exercise he gave me was to step forward onto the LFO edge and just glide in a circle on that edge while holding my left arm in front across my body and keeping the free leg behind. He wants me to just hold hold hold for as long as I can before it starts to turn in on itself and spin. Easier said than done. Before all the broken leg stuff this was cake. Now it's a chore (and a hurt-y chore at that!). But I'll keep working on it. I won't let this defeat me. After we worked on spins for a bit we ran the program a couple of times. The first run through was just okay. My loop jump was unremarkable and didn't get much height but I finished on time and didn't fall. The second run through felt rushed and wobbly. I fell on the final toe-loop and took too long getting up so the final spin was never completed. It was one of those slow falls, too. The kind where you almost sit on the ice rather than fall onto it. When I skated back to him, he said "You know that fall didn't have to happen right?" Yeah, I know. I just kind of didn't try to save it and let gravity have its way with me instead. It won't happen again. He also wants more emotion. Like waaaay more than what I'm giving. I have zero feels right now. I need to work on expression. The more I perform, the more the audience and the judges will enjoy watching me, even if I fall on a thing. I still have so much work to do and this free skate program is weighing on me. Christopher told me to try to think about why I chose this music, what it means, and skate as though I'm invested in the story. Roger. I'm on it!
Competitionz - I got the schedule for the competition!!!! There are six of us skating in the pre-bronze free skate and in the compulsory moves! The more skaters we have, the higher the points we earn overall for the series. For example, if I'm the only competitor and I get first by default, I only get 3 points. Meh. If there are 2-3 skaters and I get first (let me dream, ok?) I will get 5 points. If there are 4-8 skaters and I get first, I will get 10 points. So, not only will it be more fun because I'm skating with a bunch of other adults like me, but we will all get more points overall for our placements. It's also pretty neat to see where the other competitors are coming from! There are two from South Dakota, one from New Mexico, one from North Carolina, and two from Colorado. Now that I know who my competitors are, this is all feeling pretty real. Pretty.Damn.Real.
Lessonz - Once again, we spent quite a bit of time on my spins and holding the LFO entry edge longer. Once I step forward from the wind-up, my body just goes into a three-turn and the result is a traveling spin. I need to really force myself to hold that edge longer so that the spin is more controlled. One exercise he gave me was to step forward onto the LFO edge and just glide in a circle on that edge while holding my left arm in front across my body and keeping the free leg behind. He wants me to just hold hold hold for as long as I can before it starts to turn in on itself and spin. Easier said than done. Before all the broken leg stuff this was cake. Now it's a chore (and a hurt-y chore at that!). But I'll keep working on it. I won't let this defeat me. After we worked on spins for a bit we ran the program a couple of times. The first run through was just okay. My loop jump was unremarkable and didn't get much height but I finished on time and didn't fall. The second run through felt rushed and wobbly. I fell on the final toe-loop and took too long getting up so the final spin was never completed. It was one of those slow falls, too. The kind where you almost sit on the ice rather than fall onto it. When I skated back to him, he said "You know that fall didn't have to happen right?" Yeah, I know. I just kind of didn't try to save it and let gravity have its way with me instead. It won't happen again. He also wants more emotion. Like waaaay more than what I'm giving. I have zero feels right now. I need to work on expression. The more I perform, the more the audience and the judges will enjoy watching me, even if I fall on a thing. I still have so much work to do and this free skate program is weighing on me. Christopher told me to try to think about why I chose this music, what it means, and skate as though I'm invested in the story. Roger. I'm on it!
Competitionz - I got the schedule for the competition!!!! There are six of us skating in the pre-bronze free skate and in the compulsory moves! The more skaters we have, the higher the points we earn overall for the series. For example, if I'm the only competitor and I get first by default, I only get 3 points. Meh. If there are 2-3 skaters and I get first (let me dream, ok?) I will get 5 points. If there are 4-8 skaters and I get first, I will get 10 points. So, not only will it be more fun because I'm skating with a bunch of other adults like me, but we will all get more points overall for our placements. It's also pretty neat to see where the other competitors are coming from! There are two from South Dakota, one from New Mexico, one from North Carolina, and two from Colorado. Now that I know who my competitors are, this is all feeling pretty real. Pretty.Damn.Real.
Thursday, August 16, 2018
My Jumps, My Jumps, My Lovely Lady Jumps!
There were no other sessions available for me to go to at my rink (because of the goofy drop-in schedule) so I drove to APEX and skated at their Wednesday night public session again. It was nice! Only about 5 other skaters on the ice so I was able to get quite a bit done.
Movez - I haven't been focusing on moves too much with the competition coming up but I wanted to take advantage of all of the empty ice. I spent a lot of time on the Circle 8 and have come to a conclusion. Since my LFO circle is so big because of my wonky leg, can't I just make the the other circles bigger to match so it doesn't look so disproportionate? I tried it out and I am not having any problems making it around on the bigger pattern. I mean, it's not so huge that I will lose points. If anything, wouldn't they be more impressed that I can do it with a bigger pattern? Just a thought. I'll ask Christopher what he thinks. The good news is that I'm making it around every single time now without a foot down. So yay! Perimeter Power Stroking felt solid forward and backward so I didn't spend too much time on that. I moved on to Five Step Mohawks and ended up tripping myself on the last lobe. I got up, did the pattern again, and did fine. Silly feetz getting in the way. Harrumph. I skipped the Power 3-Turns and BX-BO edges.
Spinz - Lots of spinning! The attitude spin is getting better but it's still not where it needs to be. I'm going to have to dedicate a good portion of my practices to this one element. Everything else in the program is consistent but this...this has me worried. I got a few that had the required 3 revolutions. The trick is to center the spin first and then get into position (obviously) but I don't have a lot of time to get into and out of the spin in the program so there are some things I need to adjust. If I rush getting into the spin, there is no way it's going to be centered. Finally, I threw some back spins in there just to say I did them but they were unimpressive at best.
Jumpz - At my last practice my spins felt great and at this practice my jumps felt great. Why can't I just have both in one practice? I took advantage of feeling jumpy and worked on a bit of everything including waltz-loops and loop-loops. Mostly, though, I concentrated my efforts on program jumps. My waltz-falling leaf-half flip is coming along nicely. Since that sequence is in both programs I worked on this the most. For the Geisha free skate program, I worked on transitioning from the landing of that sequence into the attitude spin. Since it's so crucial that I get that part right so that my spin works, I wanted to make sure I spent some quality time on it.
Programz - I was able to run the compulsory moves in its entirety a number of times. This was pretty easy since it only uses half ice. However, I wasn't able to run the Geisha program from start to finish because it was still a public session and people kept getting in my path. But I did work on sizable sections. It's so much easier to run it during a freestyle session where I can wear the sash and have the right of way. Sigh.
Movez - I haven't been focusing on moves too much with the competition coming up but I wanted to take advantage of all of the empty ice. I spent a lot of time on the Circle 8 and have come to a conclusion. Since my LFO circle is so big because of my wonky leg, can't I just make the the other circles bigger to match so it doesn't look so disproportionate? I tried it out and I am not having any problems making it around on the bigger pattern. I mean, it's not so huge that I will lose points. If anything, wouldn't they be more impressed that I can do it with a bigger pattern? Just a thought. I'll ask Christopher what he thinks. The good news is that I'm making it around every single time now without a foot down. So yay! Perimeter Power Stroking felt solid forward and backward so I didn't spend too much time on that. I moved on to Five Step Mohawks and ended up tripping myself on the last lobe. I got up, did the pattern again, and did fine. Silly feetz getting in the way. Harrumph. I skipped the Power 3-Turns and BX-BO edges.
Spinz - Lots of spinning! The attitude spin is getting better but it's still not where it needs to be. I'm going to have to dedicate a good portion of my practices to this one element. Everything else in the program is consistent but this...this has me worried. I got a few that had the required 3 revolutions. The trick is to center the spin first and then get into position (obviously) but I don't have a lot of time to get into and out of the spin in the program so there are some things I need to adjust. If I rush getting into the spin, there is no way it's going to be centered. Finally, I threw some back spins in there just to say I did them but they were unimpressive at best.
Jumpz - At my last practice my spins felt great and at this practice my jumps felt great. Why can't I just have both in one practice? I took advantage of feeling jumpy and worked on a bit of everything including waltz-loops and loop-loops. Mostly, though, I concentrated my efforts on program jumps. My waltz-falling leaf-half flip is coming along nicely. Since that sequence is in both programs I worked on this the most. For the Geisha free skate program, I worked on transitioning from the landing of that sequence into the attitude spin. Since it's so crucial that I get that part right so that my spin works, I wanted to make sure I spent some quality time on it.
Programz - I was able to run the compulsory moves in its entirety a number of times. This was pretty easy since it only uses half ice. However, I wasn't able to run the Geisha program from start to finish because it was still a public session and people kept getting in my path. But I did work on sizable sections. It's so much easier to run it during a freestyle session where I can wear the sash and have the right of way. Sigh.
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