Pep Talk

I've been spending a lot of time on MySpace the last couple of days, reconnecting with friends back home, in particular a lot of my skating friends in Tucson. That led to me reading back over this blog and thinking about the progress I'm NOT making.

Some of the elements that I'm struggling with right now (poster child -- LFI3) are ones that I have been able to do better in the past, if I believe the blog. (see, there are some advantages to this thing) Not only that, but many people I know are making a lot faster progress than I am. Yes, some of them have more natural talent than I do, and some of them have more time/money to skate than I do; but that's not really it.

I'm realizing that I need to be more effective, more efficient, and more determined in my practicing if I want to really get where I want to be. I have made some great strides in the last couple of months -- taking lessons from Sonya, being more consistent in my practice time, taking Pilates to improve my core strength, etc. Still, the next big thing, I think, is not so much to try to spend more time practicing (although that would be nice, and helpful) as to get more out of my practices. How many practices have gone by where I avoided working on the things that most need work, or gave them short shrift? How many practices have I avoided working on FXOs or LFI3 or whatever because I'm tired, or afraid of falling, or whatever?

A few weeks ago at the rink I overheard one of the coaches talking about some study that said that figure skaters only really skate 16 minutes of every freestyle hour. The rest is stretching, blowing your nose, getting water, taking off extra layers of clothing, talking, etc. I don't know where that number comes from but I believe it's probably fairly accurate. So, how can I be more efficient and get more out of my practice time?

It wouldn't hurt to make a specific list (like I used to) of things I want to work on, and bring it with me. Blogging my practices helps a lot, but it's after the fact. It does help me track breakthroughs and ideas though.

Anyway, I'll conclude my self-pep talk by saying that I can do this, but I need to be more focused and more disciplined than I have been. I need to be willing to Do What Needs To Be Done, whether it's getting up early, trying something scary, or just staying focused on my problem areas. It's in my power to be a good skater if I will just make it happen.