BO8, Waltz-8, 3s & Serpentine

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler coffee club as usual.

Today's lesson:

• BO8 -- we decided to try this in a competition format -- so a fresh layout AND no starting mark.  Whoa!  Really tough.  I came back to center pretty well on the R side (it's pretty predictable) but was unsure where the long axis was to start the L side.  Then when I started the second R side I was on a much larger circle and I couldn't see my previous trace at ALL.  The rest of it went like that. It wasn't really THAT bad but my centers were off by 1-2 feet.  We moved over and did it again and it was a little better perhaps.  Wow, really tough.
• Waltz-8 -- okay, still struggling with the L side step forward.  3s have improved though. Still a bit elongated on the R side, and the L side has a long way to go.
• 3s to center -- I did my best-ever turn on the L side, actually got some flow out of it for several feet!  Other than that, slightly better than before.  It's a process.
• Serpentine -- these continue to slowly improve.  Really, the most difficult part is the initial edge.  If I can get a good edge to start with it all seems to work from there.  So my edges (LFO especially) need to continue to improve, and then I'll need to be able to push harder to get all the way around.

Patch Practice

I got to Chandler for 40 minutes worth of patch practice during coffee club today.  I had a pretty good skate!  3s to center are really improving, I even got some flow out of the L side (just once)!   Serpentines and waltz-8 are about the same.  BO8s my circles are a little large right now -- I did a fresh layout and that was a little daunting, nothing to really cheat from :-).  Since I'm going to compete these in a month (!) I really need to start working them in a more competition-like environment.

Program Prep

My lesson with JJ on the 7:30 a.m. FS -- moved to Tuesday this week due to a work trip.

Today's lesson was focused on the 2nd half of the program.  We worked through some issues, changed the final pose (it's now a sort of "Atlas holds the world" position).  We ran the 2nd half 2 or 3 times.  I'm not ending on time (what a shock) but the biggest thing is that I really need to work the waltz-sal into the traveling 3s.  I tend to be a little off balance so I do the first 3 but then can't do the 2nd one.  All in all this half of the program needs a lot of work (what a shock) but it's also a lot more difficult than the 1st half so that's not surprising.  It feels really short -- it goes by quickly.  This whole program feels like one big sprint to the finish -- but that's pretty much what I expected when I chose the music.  Quite different from the Apollo 13 program where there were some quiet moments at the beginning!

I met with the costumer on Sunday for a fitting.  The costume is coming along well.  I think it's going to be really awesome.

The Usual Suspects

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler coffee club as usual.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- Lynne had me do a fresh layout.  LFO is still a bit problematic at times, RFO is much better.  Generally speaking circle size is okay and tracing not bad, just a bit uncontrolled on the LFO.
• BO8 -- These are doing reasonably well, but still not consistent enough.  It's tough for me to reel off 3 on each side that are all good as I'd have to do for the test.  Usual the LBO is the issue but sometimes it's still the RBO also.
• Waltz-8 -- these are a little better.  Weak spot is still the step forward on the L side; I need to step immediately to a good FO edge, not step to an inside and then fix it.  Grrr.
• 3s to Center -- R side is so much better than L!  The R side I made it about 1/3 of the way past the turn! L side the turn is still very forced and I am putting my foot down immediately.  Grrr.
• Serpentines -- these are coming along well.  FOI I am generally getting halfway through the new circle after the change of edge -- key determiner is the quality of my FO edge (LFO is too variable).  The FIO is really coming along and the R side is pretty decent, almost as good as the FOI.  The L side I'm still struggling to get the change of edge consistently, it's still pretty tough.

Altogether a pretty good lesson.

Patch Practice

I managed to get in about 40 minutes worth of patch practice at Chandler coffee club.  Not much to report, things were pretty much where I left them...

Perseverance

I managed to get to Chandler coffee club to skate for about 40 minutes today... since this was "bonus time" I brought my freestyle skates.  I worked almost exclusively on program components/elements.  I think I'm getting the hang of the traveling FI3s JJ wants me to do... but OMG the combination of waltz-sal-3s leaves me a little dizzy, so to go into a spin from there... eeep!  Did some good spins, and some not-so-good.  The circular footwork seems too slow right now.  Speed into the half flip is not freaking me out quite as much, so that's good.

I met with the costumer on Saturday to discuss my costume.  She had some great ideas.  I go back for a fitting next Sunday.

Patch Practice

I managed to get 45 minutes of patch practice in at Chandler coffee club today despite a busy work schedule.  A pretty good skate; no big improvements from Wednesday.  Spent some quality time on the LBI edge of the BI8 with maybe a little progress.  I need a better push here and to work on keeping the free foot close.

Program Prep

My lesson with JJ on the 7:30 a.m. FS at Gilbert.

We spent our time today finishing up the last bit of program choreography.  For the last part of the program, after the waltz-sal sequence I'm supposed to do 2 or 3 traveling RFI3s with a toe assist (sort of like a star but with legs down) into a final spin; then a little footwork and final pose.  We spent a lot of time on the traveling RFI3s ... eep.  I can do them against the boards but not well on the ice.   This will take some work.

FO8, BO8, Waltz-8, 3s To Center, Serpentine

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler coffee club.  Fresh ice and not too crowded!

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- I had just done some of these that were decent; Lynne asked me to do a fresh layout and for some reason I became horribly nervous so that my first 2 circles on each side were pretty bad, then I calmed myself down and the last ones were okay.  I have to say in spite of being so nervous I at least got around okay and my tracings weren't *that* bad.
• BO8 -- these were really nice!  Even the L foot was better, I did a much better job of holding a good edge on the 2nd half.  Yay!
• Waltz-8 -- R side not bad though I'm still tending to put my foot down before the step forward.  L side the step forward is still out too far.  Turns are a bit better and I'm lining them up pretty well.
• 3s to Center -- these are about the same as yesterday -- RFO3 is coming along, I'm getting at least a bit of flow out of it. LFO3 is still just barely there and there's nothing after.
• Serpentines -- these are coming along nicely though I have a long way to go.  FOI I'm usually getting halfway around the new circle so that is better.  Worked on the FIO and it was pretty good!  Got well past the half-circle mark on the R foot, and almost that far on the L foot.

All in all I'm really pleased with my progress!

Patch Practice

I got to skate for 45 minutes at Chandler coffee club for patch practice.  I worked on most of my stuff.  L foot of BO8 is still weak; as is the L side of the waltz-8.  On the positive side serpentine are improving, even the FIO (even the L foot of the FIO!); and I had really improved flow-through on the RFO 3-to-center.

Perseverance

Kudos to me for dragging myself out of bed this a.m. to go skate the 7:30 a.m. FS even though I got like 3 hrs of sleep!

I had an okay skate.  I was kind of tired (duh), but I worked a bunch on my footwork, toe loop, and spins.  I've noticed my arm position on my spins seems to be a lot better, but they are not consistently better :-(.  Grr.  Toe loop is still a toe waltz.

Perseverance

Chandler has Sunday a.m. ice this month so I skated the 11 a.m. FS.  I was running late, though, so I ony got 45 minutes in :-(  but I had private ice for about 30 minutes of that!

Had a decent skate, though it took me a while to warm up.  I ran the program 2nd half footwork several times, then I ran the first half with music.  Wow, I actually managed to be on time!! Of course that was partly made possible by the fact my spin was crappy and only like 1.5 revs.  I am discovering that it's a bit scary because I go into the half flip at what is, for me, really high speed... eeep!  Then into the lunge and I was a little off balance but managed to make it through.

All in all a good skate.

Patch Practice

I skated the coffee club at Chandler for patch practice.  I got a good hour in and got a lot done.  Still very frustrated by the L side of the waltz-8, the step forward is still not controlled very well (though it is maybe a little better).  On the positive side serpentines continue to get better.  I worked a bit on the FIO serpentine and while it's not there, I did see some real improvement, even on the L side.

Program Prep

My lesson with JJ on the 7:30 a.m. FS at Gilbert.

We started off by working through the 2nd half footwork sequence some more.  I was able to actually do the RFI mohawk straight out of the FXO (i.e. from the FXO FI do the mohawk w/no intervening steps) which was a bit scary but really tightens things up.

From there we looked a bit at the first half of the program and then we ran it with music.  Yow!  Not surprisingly I was a bit late getting into the spin.  Half flip was pretty crappy but then I don't think I've ever done one that fast.. eep!  I'll need a lot more work, but that's what I expected at this point.

Wednesday Night Zoo

I skated the Wednesday night public at Gilbert... ice was pretty crappy, it was very crowded, and there was no one I knew there :-(.  I only skated for 45 minutes.

I worked a little on footwork, some spins (none good), a little bit of waltz, sal and toe. 

I was really feeling off.  I don't know if it's being tired from my trip, my new boots, or the conditions.  I really felt like I could barely skate for the first 15-20 minutes, which is dispiriting.  I've got like 20 hrs of skating in these boots so I don't know why it's still so bad, but I'm sure in part it is that I have just not gotten much ice time in the last several weeks.  Grrr.

Lesson in the a.m.

BO8, Waltz-8, 3s To Center, Serpentine

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler coffee club.  I was running a little late and didn't get on the ice 'til exactly noon so I only had 10 minutes to warm up before my lesson.  Bleah.  On the positive side my FO8s were actually pretty good in warmup!

Today's lesson:

• BO8 --I'd not skated in my patch blades since my last lesson and hadn't warmed these up so they were a little rough, but after a little bit of practice they were about as good as last week.  The last half of the LBO is starting to improve but still needs work to get it to curve appropriately without falling short or flatting.  Grr.
• Waltz-8 -- the R side of these has come a long way!  Still not quite turning around enough on the step forward but it's *almost* there.  On the L side I'm still not turning enough on the step forward, and I need to keep the free foot closer.  Turns were improved though!
• 3s to center -- these are about where I left them.  I did get one on the R side where I had some good flow out of the turn though so that's something :-).
• Serpentine --the FOI are much improved!  I'm getting almost to the halfway point of the new circle on each side.  Now I just need a better push and better flow to get all the way around.  We worked briefly on  the FIO... R side was not so bad... L side... wow, that's tough.  It's going to take a lot of work to get that edge change.

All in all pretty good for not having had any practice this week!

Footwork

I had a lesson this morning with "special guest star" Sonya at WSC, while I'm here in Oregon.  Per JJ's request we worked on improving the speed of my footwork.  This was on the 6:45 a.m. FS at WSC.  Ice was not so great and there were like 18 people there!  I got to see Amber, and also Madison and her mom! YAY!

We first worked on the 2nd half footwork, the FXO-Mohawk-slidesteps-BXOs-landing position.  We spent some time just on the mohawk, making it less hoppy.  We reviewed inside spread eagle (which I can't really do just yet) to get me more comfy with the idea of having both feet on the ice at the same time.  Sonya says I'm leaning a bit out of the circle after the change of feet so that needs to be fixed.  Then we worked on the slide steps, getting me to bend my knees more and have a little push on them, and a little push into the landing position as well.  It helps.

Next we worked on the first part, to get the FI edges more swoopy (bend knees) and then get the power weight shifts to be more authoritative/committed.  I think we made some progress.

FO8, BO8, Waltz-8, 3s To Center, Serpentine

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler coffee club. 

Today's lesson:

• FO8s -- I did a set as Lynne came on the ice.  These are actually improved, although I think I'm still cutting off the circle a bit on the LFO.  Still my tracing is not bad.
• BO8s -- these are so much fun!  They've improved a lot, it kind of astonishes me.  The L side is still a bit weak and I have more work to do to improve my tracing and be more consistent, but they've come a long way.
• Waltz-8 -- these have improved.  The R side I am still not stepping around enough so it's a little egg shaped, but I'm getting back to center on a pretty nice edge.  The L side the step forward is still quite weak and I'm not stepping to a good edge and coming back to center very well; but it's better also.
• 3s to Center -- about the same; but they are getting more comfortable.  The R side is not bad, I actually had a bit of flow out of the 3 a couple times.  The L side is much worse.
• Serpentine -- the improvements I saw in these on Monday stayed with me!  On the L side I got past the half-circle mark on the FI edge so that is quite an improvement.  The R side not quite as good even though it feels better (strange!).  Much better though, the edge change is pretty smooth and the edge going in to change is much better.

I was really pleased with this lesson!