"Perfect"

I went to coffee club today for my first lesson after my accident. Alas, Anna was running late, so Nicole and I both got a 15-minute lesson instead of the usual 30.

She asked me how I was feeling, and I told her I was slow and a bit scared. She reassured me that I'd get over that and be fine. We started by looking at stroking. Slow and lacking power, but not so bad. Anna had some corrections on posture (long through the shoulders!) and a reminder to push from the heel, don't point the toe until it's off the ice, and keep the hips set.

Next we looked at edges on the line. First we worked on outside edges. After some initial corrections on timing and rhythm, I did one that evoked that magic, oft-dreamed-of word, "Perfect." I was so floored! Anna has never said that to me before. I'd put it down to trying to encourage me, but Anna really isn't the type for that. So I was really pleased. We worked on both outsides and insides, and afterward Anna remarked in a somewhat surprised tone that they actually looked better than before -- that I seemed more sure of my edges. Interesting.

Then we looked at backward glides, and BO edges on the circle. These need a lot of work, especially to keep the position firm, weight firmly over the skate, and keep looking where I'm going.

Finally we looked at backward crossovers. Anna once again remarked that my CCW ones actually seem better than my CW ones. She pointed out that I need to push the outside edge from the heel, not forward. In general they were not bad for now.

Before the lesson we discussed our lesson schedule. I had asked her about moving to two lessons a week, at least for the summer. Next week we'll do a Thursday lesson during the 5 p.m. freestyle session, and the other 15 minutes of today's lesson on the Friday. Then starting the following week we'll work Tuesdays and Thursdays during the 5 p.m. freestyle session. I'm really excited at the chance to get more lesson time in and make more progress.