Saturday Zoo

I attended the Saturday public session as usual. I arrived about 1:15 and stayed 'til 4:30, so with a Z-break, about 3 hours of skating. As usual I wasn't trying to focus on "accomplishing" stuff since it's too crowded for that. Still, I did work on a number of things of course, including the waltz jump. I actually did manage a couple of them! I was pleased with that. I think I tend to go into them without a well-bent skating knee, which (duh!) makes it hard to get a good jump. I also noticed what Anna had mentioned to me at one point, that I'm tending to lean back a little -- a subconscious fear reaction, I'm sure.

I had some fun giving some feedback to Veronica H. on her loop jump, and some ideas for spin variations for her program. As usual the best part of the whole thing is hanging out with my young (and sometimes not so young) friends. I also managed to answer one of the trivia questions the DJ was asking, and so I won a free soda at the restaurant. And, I was lured (by Sarah and Veronica H.) into taking part in the game of "Red Light, Green Light" -- of course, I stink at it. I don't accelerate quickly (thank you, Mr. Newton), and my hockey stop is not reliable enough yet so I tend to default to a snowplow. Still, it was fun.

I noticed while practicing BI edges (a little scary at a public session!) that I am able to get the free foot in front on the push about 30 - 40% of the time (especially on the left foot). Good stuff! And on the BO edges I am staying down in my knee better on the RBO edge so it's not quite so yucky coming back to the line. It's these small things that make me happy...