Preliminary Test & Serpentines

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Gilbert adult skate.  I was running a little late so Lynne scribed circles while I warmed up with edges.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- ugh.  Like last week, I'm having issues getting around the circle.  This hasn't been a problem for so long that it's freaking me out.  It's either a) my newly sharpened blades, b) Gilbert's ice, or c) me.  I'm guessing c) but it's weirding me out.  Anyway I need to fix this.
• FI8 - better than last week, though my flow is still not what it was :-(.
• waltz-8 -- actually, really (surprisingly!) nice!  I think these were overall the best I've ever done.  3s were decent, I did a good job of holding the BO edge, step forward was still "out" a bit but not nearly as bad as it has been, and return to center was okay.  We did two sets and they were both pretty good. Yay!
• serpentines -- mmmph.  Having issues getting around the circle (see above!).  Transitions were not too bad, though.

Jumps

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.

Today's lesson:

• waltz jump -- today we worked on improving my entry and takeoff.  I do okay on the back edge  but after I step forward it's... step forward JUMP.  I bring the arms forward but never really bring them back so they can help me spring up.  So ... we worked on that.  Unfortunately that also involves actually holding the LFO a little which is not a strong point.  Not a lot of progress.
• salchow -- we made a little progress on this as far as not over-checking the 3 (I was tending to lean outside the circle as I was so concerned about being over my skating side after the turn) and bringing the free hip around on the takeoff.

No lessons next week as I'll be traveling for work. :-(

Preliminary Test & Serpentines

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Gilbert adult skate.  Since there's no Ice Café during Christmas break we were at Gilbert.  As it turned out we had the ice to ourselves for about half the lesson.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- Like two weeks ago, I had some issues on the RFO :-(.  Not sure if this is something to do with the recent sharpening or what, but I'm sure being off last week didn't help.
• FI8 -- okay except for one of the LFIs was rough, which doesn't normally happen.
• waltz-8 -- actually not that bad (surprising!).  About the same as two weeks ago, I'm doing an okay job of holding the BO edge and the step forward is a little better also.
• serpentines -- meh. My flow was not very good so I didn't make it around any of the 1.5 circles at all :-(.  FOI was not too bad, FIO was a bit rougher than in the past .

After my lesson I had a little time so I worked on BO8.

Spins & Jumps

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  It was really nice to share the ice with Sam, who's visiting for the holidays :-).  I warmed up with spins, jumps and of course stroking.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- The first one I did was really good, 4 revs!!  So naturally the rest were not as good. *sigh* The first one felt very relaxed and I just couldn't seem to get back to that happy place :--(.
• toe loop -- just so-so.  Even when I do a better job of keeping my arms to the right before I pick in, JJ says I'm turning my head too soon.  I think we fixed this.  The last one was a bit cheated but had nice lift, and I landed on one foot.
• backspin -- We had not really worked on these in some time.  Just doing an RFI3 from the line and crossing the free foot.  This actually wasn't that bad, I think because of the work Holly's had me do on the twizzly things.
• loop jump -- on the wall.  After the work we'd just done with the backspin this actually felt pretty easy.

Power

My power lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  I warmed up with stroking and some jumps.

Today's lesson:

• stroking -- as usual.
• pushing -- pushing Holly around the rink while she braked; one lap, then a lap of stroking.  Eeep.  This has gotten a lot better though.
• slaloms -- forward slaloms, 1.5 laps.  These things kill my quads.  I'm not sure they have gotten any better, either.
• swing rolls -- FI swing rolls down the line.
• cross rolls -- FO crossrolls down the line.  I don't get those nice deep lobes Holly has when she demonstrates :-(.
• twizzly-things -- yuck.  The R side has gotten a lot better, the L side is still pretty weak.
• BXOs -- around the hockey circles.  The better side was not too bad, actually.  Still need to get down in my knees more on the weaker side.
• lunges -- alternating lunges, 1 lap.  These have gotten a lot better for sure but they are very tiring!

Due to the holidays and some travel I won't have a power lesson again 'til January :-(

Jumps

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  Just Brenna and I on this session for the most part.

Today's lesson:

• toe loop -- I'm still tending to cheat this a bit, but I am landing it (mostly) on one foot.
• salchow -- we are making a little progress here.  In general the entry is now pretty good -- a good 3 and I'm jumping at the right time.  That's something.  Where I'm still struggling now is to get some real lift/jump in this jump, and then to land on one foot.  Urph.
• loop -- still working these on the boards.  It's getting a little easier.  I need to remember to work them in my practice!

After the lesson we talked a bit about my showcase dramatic program.  I pretty much have music picked out and JJ gave me permission to choose a new choreographer for this.  Lots to do as theoretically I'd like to skate this at MidWinter (2 months!!) Ugh.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler as usual.  I wasn't feeling too great, but since I'd already paid for the ice time... off I went.

I had an okay skate. Mostly worked on spins and jumps; I had no good salchows :-(. Toe loop was about the same.  I worked on the waltz-toe combo and most were pretty horrible, I was not getting a good transition from the waltz jump to the toe loop as my landing position wasn't setting me up correctly.  I did manage to get one that was relatively okay though.

Power

My power lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  I was really happy to bump into Stephanie W. at the rink when I got there.  She's just recently returned to skating and I'm really happy for her.  And of course on the adult session we had myself, Ward, Heidi, Melissa, Liana and another skater I don't know so a good crowd.

Today's lesson:

• stroking -- of course.  A full two laps.
• slaloms -- a full lap forward (ugh!) and a full lap backward.  The backward ones were not as bad as I was expecting.
• lunges -- 2 laps!  ugh.  Actually though, these are not bad.  I noticed the R side lunges go out to the side but I can do the L side ones straight.  Holly says it's probably both a strength and flexibility issue that will undoubtedly get better as I do them more :-).
• twizzle-things -- down the line again.  These are still difficult and awkward for me.
• waltz jumps -- she had me do 3 in a row, and then 4.  Ugh.  I'd never done that but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It did get me a little dizzy though.
• slaloms on the circle -- just forward.  These are really hard for me for some reason.

And of course a closing lap of stroking, and some laps of stroking in the middle of all that. Ugh.  I could really tell I'd skipped 2 Fridays!  Holly said she wants to do bunny hops next week. Eeep!

Preliminary Test, BO8, 3s

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café. I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.  I had had my blades sharpened on Saturday but they were fine.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- weird.  I couldn't make it around on the RFO. It happened 4 times!  I am assuming something about the sharpening was weird.  Oh well.  I fixed it.
• FI8 - good.
• waltz-8 -- some progress here.  I don't know if it was having sharp blades or what but I was doing a better job of holding the circle on the BO edge and stepping forward without stepping out so much.  We did this a couple of times and worked on some specific parts.  Yay!  Still a long way to go.
• BO8 -- ugh.  Not so great, in particular getting that first circle was really rough and I kept running out of steam or cutting into the circle.  Yuck.
• 3s to center -- About the same.

After my lesson I worked a little on alternating 3s.  They were a little better.

Spins & Jumps

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert. I warmed up with some BXOs and jumps and spins.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- I was working on these when we started, so we spent 10-12 minutes on them.  I did a couple of 3 rev spins (these were all from standing start).  I'm getting better at not bailing out too quickly, so that's good.  Still a lot to do.
• waltz jump -- just a couple to warm up.  Not bad.
• salchow -- I did a couple that were not bad and a bunch that stunk.  The good ones feel more relaxed so I'm trying to focus on that, not rush things.
• toe loop -- I managed to land most of these on one foot, so yay me!   Still not consistent in bringing in around all the way on the takeoff though.
• waltz-toe -- just one of these at the very end.  It was actually pretty good!  I was happy.  It was a nice gift to end the lesson :-).

After we got off the ice JJ worked with me for about 5 minutes on off-ice spins.  I thought I had put my spinner in my bag, but apparently not, so JJ let me use his little plastic one.  Ugh, so awkward off-ice.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler as usual for practice.  About 11 skaters and 6 coaches.  It's hard to run moves on this session because everyone's constantly running programs so I stuck with spins and jumps.  I managed one 3.5 rev spin (yay) but most were pretty bad.  No good salchows.  Some okay toe loops and waltz jumps.  I also spent a little time on the waltz-toe combo with a little bit of success.  I have to remind myself that it's okay to sit on the RBO after the waltz jump and spend a second or two to prep the toe loop.

I had just sharpened my blades over the weekend but they weren't too bad so it didn't bug me too much.

Perseverance

I skated the Gilbert adult skate today.  Normally I would have had my power lesson with Holly but I neglected to talk to her about it (we were off last week due to the holiday) so we didn't.  I worked mostly on Bronze moves, and a little bit of time on salchow and toe loop.

Preliminary Test, Alt-3s

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  I warmed up with edges and scribed some circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- actually, pretty good.  A little diagonal on the return to center on the L foot but in general pretty nice.  Lineup on the pushes was nice, too.
• FI8 -- nice.
• Waltz-8 -- doing a better job holding the circle longer on the BO edge.  The step forward is still problematic.
• alternating 3s -- this is the move from the Pre-pre test (was on the APB moves test when I first started, also).  I wanted to work on these because it embodies a lot of my problem areas as far as controlling my 3s (3s to center and power-3s) and the step forward (power-3s, 3s to center and waltz-8 though sometimes that's a mohawk and sometimes a choctaw).  So we worked on them me by myself, and then I asked Lynne to hold my hand after the turn so I could feel what the position should be like.  This was quite the eye-opener!  The biggest problem really seems to be that my hips close after the 3 (poor check) and I have a hard time opening them again.  This got a little better though.  

After my lesson I had a few minutes so I worked on the alt-3s a bit more -- they were actually a bit better so yay!  Then a little time on serpentines.

Waltz-Toe, BXOs

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.

Today's lesson:

• waltz-toe loop -- we warmed up with a few waltz jumps, then a bunch of toe loops of increasing quality, and then we worked on the waltz-toe loop combo.  The first couple were not good, but I did later manage a couple that were mostly okay.  The key seemed to be to get a good check on the landing and not to rush entry into the toe loop -- it's okay to hold that RBO for a bit.
• BXOs -- just a few minutes on these, working to de-scratch them.  It really helps if instead of thinking of just "pushing the back foot out"  I specifically think of flexing the back foot and pushing the HEEL out.  Ugh.

We also talked about dramatic program.  I need to choose some music and then we'll talk more.  Ugh.

Perseverance

I skated the Chandler 5:30 p.m. FS for practice.  The ice was really bad today, apparently there was no 3:45 ice cut for some reason.  About 10 skaters and half a dozen coaches.

I worked on jumps and spins.  Toe loop is still not quite there.  I also ran my free skate for the first time in... forever, it seems.  Some parts were pretty approximate but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.  I want to change the waltz-side toe hop in the program to a waltz-toe loop but I didn't try it today.