Back In The Saddle

I skated at Gilbert this morning.  There had been a bad thunderstorm last night and apparently it whacked out the controller for the lights in the building, so when I got there (about 7:20) there were no lights on at all. I called JJ and he said to wait 'til he got there.  About 7:40 they were able to get the lights on (yay!) and then the guy brought the Zamboni out and did a quick pass to fix some nasty condensation bumps (yay!).  So I got on the ice about 7:50 and skated for a half hour or so.

I spent part of my lesson time talking with JJ about my skate at Cactus.  While I feel I did okay with my actual skate, I am disappointed that I didn't place better and I think that in general I need to start addressing some basics in my skating -- speed, flow, confidence and posture.  These are longstanding issues and fixing them will take time.  JJ agreed, but also felt the need to point out that (due to work schedule the last 3 months) I've not had the ice time that I've usually had, and in particular that I had had a lot more ice time prior to Cactus last year.  Anyway we will circle back to this after the Sherwood competition at the end of the month.

Today's lesson:

• BXOs -- we worked on these just a little, trying to descrape the harder side.  I think it's primarily a fear thing.   JJ suggested I practice just doing the cross and hold, and also that I need to think about bringing my feet close together before beginning the BXO so that I can get a better weight shift.
• FXO -- we worked on the weaker side here too.  I have been starting to practice these more so they are not quite as awkward, but they are not nearly as smooth as the other side and I don't get any real underpush.

That was pretty much all we had time for.  Since I didn't get much warmup time and I hadn't skated FS since Cactus it was just as well to keep it simple.