Power

I got my fixed boot back yesterday.  They did a great job!  I still need new boots, but at least that eyelet (and the ones on either side of it) are not going anywhere.

My power lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  This was a fun session as José and Donna were there, and also Melissa (though she wasn't skating) and Stephanie who has returned to skating after 4 years or so off the ice.

Today's lesson:

• stroking - not bad.  My blades felt a little weird somehow.  I'm glad I'm getting new boots soon.
• slaloms - actually, while I'm not getting any "rip" on the L side, and I'm sure my feet are not close enough together, these are actually getting better.
• swizzles -- just forward, a full lap.  Not too bad.
• pulling w/harness -- I pulled Holly around for about 2 full laps wearing the harness while she braked.  It was okay.  This is def. harder than pushing her while she brakes, though.  And of course a lap afterward.
• lunges -- alternating lunges, a full lap.  Ugh.  Still, they weren't bad.

I do think this stuff has improved.  Yay!

In other news, my R knee has been bothering me a bit for the last few weeks so I am going to the doctor next week so he can take a look.  We'll see.

Preliminary Test & 3s

I had my figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Cafe as usual.  I got on the ice a little late; had just scribed circles and done forward edges when Lynne came on the ice.

Today's lesson:

• back edges -- not bad.  Still widestepping the BI push a bit, but in general I'm pretty happy with these.
• FO8 -- pretty good.
• FI8 -- nice.  I really traced them well today and circle size and push alignments were all pretty good.
• waltz-8 -- ha!  Coming around on the L side, I somehow got forward on my blade so far that the front of the blade dug in and tripped me! Down I went.  It was pretty funny.  After that we restarted and spent some time on these.  Really it's just down to the step forward, so after some time doing the whole move, we went back and just work on steps-forward for a few minutes.  I think they got a little better, but I really need more practice.
• 3s to center -- just about 5 minutes on these.  I have good flow through the turn, for the most part, so my issues are mostly with my body position after the turn.  We worked on getting me to bend my knee more after the turn, and to control the free leg more.

Patch Perseverance

I skated the Chandler Ice Café today for patch practice.  A quirk of my work schedule made it possible so I was determined to take advantage.

I had a good skate -- just two of us on the ice.  I ran through edges and the Preliminary test, with some extra attention on the waltz-8.  In general it's looking a lot better than a few months ago.  The step forward is still "out" too much but the BO edge is much better and everything looks and feels more controlled.

After that I spent a little time on alt-3s just for the heck of it, and then more time on BO8 and BI8.  Yikes.  Not too happy with either of them although they did improve.

All in all a good skate and I think if I can just find a timeslot that works for an hour of practice a week besides my lesson day, I can make good progress.  Urph.

Power

My power lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate... as I was lacing my boots, I tore through the 2nd from the top eyelet on the right side of my right boot!

I relaced so that I skipped that one and the corresponding one on the other side, and got on the ice to warmup.  After a brief warmup it was time to start!  Since we were running late (AND I'd not done power for like a month!) we decided to do just 15 minutes and not 20.  It was a good thing...

Today's lesson:

• stroking -- of course.  I actually felt pretty good about this. Two full laps.
• slalom -- ugh.  Although I think they were better than they had been.  A full lap. 
• lunges -- alternating, a full lap.  Not too bad.
• pushing Holly -- a full lap.  Not bad, actually.
• FI3s -- LFI3s were scary and I need to keep my free leg close when I'm trying to do these down the line.
• twizzle prep -- ugh.

That was about all we had time for and I was pretty tired. Not so much my legs, actually, as my back.  Bleah.

I took my boot to a cobbler in Tempe and he should be able to fix them by Wednesday or Thursday.  Bad timing for this, but I certainly do need new boots!  I'll have to rearrange my schedule for next week unfortunately.

Preliminary Test & BO8

My figures lesson with Lynne on the Chandler Ice Café.  I got on slightly late, scribed circles and was warming up edges when Lynne came on the ice.  My edges are looking good; even the BI push is much better and my first lobe is about the same size as the others now.  I still need to work on not wide-stepping that first BI push, though.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- not bad.  Some body position issues and also I wound up following the wrong trace on my 2nd RFO... would not happen on clean ice but the freestyle folks mark things up.
• FI8 -- pretty good, though my tracings were not as tight as I would like or as they usually are.
• waltz-8 -- actually not too bad.  They are looking more controlled and the BO edge is greatly improved.  Still working on improving the step forward but at least most of the time it is a good edge, just too far out still.
• BO8 -- whoa.  Had not looked at these for a bit and I had a really hard time getting a good RBO.  Yuck.  Push was inadequate and I was doing something strange at the end of it that put me off balance.  Then I was curving in too quickly.  Grrr.

After my lesson I worked a bit on 3s to center and then just for grins a bit on alternating 3s.  They actually were a bit improved but the LFO3 to RFO3 step forward is really getting me.  

Free Skate

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  I warmed up with jumps and a runthrough of my dramatic program (less than stellar).

We spent this lesson working on the free skate, and ran it several times.  The mohawk-cross is still a problem area for me.  We worked a bit on that and on arms for a few spots -- into the moonwalk, in the spiral, and in the opening sequence.

In general it just feels a little rough.  I think the choreo is good, I just need to be more confident and execute better.  Bleah.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler as usual.  I had an okay skate.  I warmed up some stroking and then warmed up jumps and spins.  I also practiced bunnyhop and mohawk-cross.

I ran each program once with music.  Free skate was more or less okay although the salchow was horrible.  Dramatic was okay but I was way behind and I'm not really clear on the last parts... but I did do a bunnyhop so that was something.

I like this session.  The ice is always crappy but it's fun to be around everyone.

Choreo!

I skated the 9:10 FS at Chandler for choreo with Tammy.  Just two skaters on the ice! I had a half hour warmup so I ran through Bronze Moves, then warmed up jumps and ran my free skate.

First we did some refresher on the program as we have it.  Tammy had watched me during warmup  and decided she wanted to change the mohawk-cross from R-L-R to two right-foots in a row.  Next, we worked on the elements we had talked about at the end of the last session, the elements after the waltz jump.  These will now be FXO, stroke-stroke, bunnyhop (x2), lunge, toe loop.  We worked on bunnyhop since a) I don't like them and b) I'd not done one in like 3 years.  So we spent some time relearning those and it was okay (key learning: bend the skating knee to get into the bunnyhop).  Tammy also asked me if I could do a half-flip and I demonstrated one, so we might put one in somewhere (perhaps in place of the current side toe hop).

We reviewed that section and then briefly worked on the last part, which will be slalom-slalom two-foot spin/turn kind of thing, then a spin and final pose.  The slalom move is very similar to ones I had in my "100 Years" program.

Right now the program looks like:

• look right - arm
• look left - arm
• LFO crossroll, arms
• chaîné turns - LFO x 3
• swizzle back w/arms
• BXO x 2 into a one-foot spin
• backward stroking x 4
• BXOs, step forward inside
• attitude
• mohawk/cross foot Rx2
• side toe hop
• LFO3
• BXO CW/balance/2 BXOS CCW
• waltz jump
• FXO
• 2x bunny hop
• lunge
• toe loop
• slalom L, slalom R w/arms 
• two-foot spin/turn
• spin
• pose

I feel like we've made really good progress in just two sessions!  There's an awful lot of polishing to do though.  Still I'm now pretty confident this can be ready for Sectionals.  Yay!

Preliminary Test & BI8

I skated the Chandler Ice Café for my figures lesson with Lynne.  I got on the ice promptly, scribed circles and warmed up w/edges and then we started.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- actually, pretty good.  I'd been having issues with getting around on the RFO but all was well today.
• FI8 -- pretty good.
• waltz-8 -- these were better.  I'm doing a better job of waiting on the BO edge and holding the circle a bit better.  The step forward is better though still short of what it needs to be.  Turns were okay also.
• BI8 - ugh! we had not looked at these in a while.  My push was lacking though it improved.  I need to work on these more -- as I keep saying, I need more practice time.  Grrr.

After my lesson I worked a bit more on BI8, then some time on 3s to center.

Jumps & Spins

My lesson with JJ on the 8:15 FS at Chandler.  Just 4 of us on the ice.  I warmed up with some Bronze moves then some jumps.

Today's lesson:

• waltz jump -- reminding myself to do the entry correctly (arms back and then through/up).
• toe loop -- ugh.  JJ reminded me I need to keep looking into the circle after the 3 until I pick in.  And then be patient and bring it around!  He had me do an exercise on the circle to do basically a chaîné turn (funny how these things come around) RFI3s while keeping looking into the circle.  It did help a bit.
• salchow -- I did some nice ones and then I started overthinking too much and they got worse.  yuck.
• spins -- from windup.  A couple that weren't too bad.  JJ reminded me to try to step more back the way I came when I step forward.  That really helped.

After my lesson we talked some more about my boots.  I really do need new ones; I checked and I bought these boots in March 2011!! Yikes.  We're still talking about what to get.  I will probably stick with Riedells since I have narrow feet and they do seem to fit me well.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler for practice.  I had a pretty good skate!  I spent about 20 minutes on Moves, mostly working on 5-step mohawk.  I reviewed my test feedback and it was mostly about being on my toes too much so I really worked that.  A little bit of progress, I think.

After that I worked mostly on jumps and spins.  Salchows were actually cooperating!  I did several that were pretty decent.  Toe loop was a bit iffy but I did a couple that were okay. Worked on fixing my arms on the waltz jump.  Also did some good spins from windup :-).

I spent a little time running through what I have of the dramatic program, without music.  Ugh.  I really need to practice the Mohawk/cross step since I have them in both programs and they are really stinky :-(.

Choreo!

My choreo session with Tammy (new showcase dramatic) on the  7:30 a.m. FS at Chandler.  Tammy had a lesson to teach first so I had a good long warmup.  I ran most of Bronze Moves (except 5-step), then worked on jumps and spins.  After some not so good ones, I actually did some nice salchows!  yay!  Toe loops were not really cooperating though.

We began working through the program.  Here's what we have so far, as I can remember :-) :

• look right - arm
• look left - arm
• LFO crossroll, arms
• Chaîné turns - LFO x 3
• Swizzle back (?) w/arms
• BXO x 2 into a one-foot spin
• backward stroking x 4
• BXOs, step forward inside
• attitude
• Mohawk/cross foot R, L, R (?)
• side toe hop
• LFO3
• BXO CW/balance/2 BXOS CCW
• waltz jump
• 2x bunny hop
• lunge
• toe loop

The last part is a bit approximate and there are some things I'm not entirely sure about, but that's the gist.  In all I think we are about halfway done, maybe a bit more, though there's lots of tweaking and learning to do. 

I'm really stoked.  I got the final cut from Michael on Saturday and it's awesome.  Tammy is fun to work with for choreo.  I'm just now getting started on a costume and that might be an issue but we'll see.

Perseverance

I skated the 3:30 p.m. FS at Chandler today for practice.  It was quiet (just me and Midori).

I had a pretty good skate.  Worked on Bronze moves for about 20 minutes, then some time on jumps.  I actually was able to do the arms correctly (mostly) on my waltz jump!  Worked on toe loop and made a little progress, I think.  Did some salchows and they were actually not bad!  The good ones feel very relaxed and free -- need to hang on to that idea.

After that I ran my free skate with music.  It was actually not bad!  A little rough in a couple places but generally okay.  I need to keep running it every time I skate.

I finished off working a little on the backspin and loop jump exercises JJ's had me working on.  All in all a pretty good skate!

I am finally getting my music cut for my new showcase dramatic program.  I'm going to start working on that in a week or so.  Tammy J. is going to choreograph it for me.  I'm really psyched to get started!  Unfortunately I don't think I can compete it at MidWinter so it will have to debut at PCAS.