Preliminary Test Runthrough

My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Café.  Nice ice and 4 skaters.

I warmed up with edges, FO8 and FI8 and scribed some circles (we wound up not using them).

For today's lesson Danette wanted to run through the Preliminary test:

• Edges -- generally quite good, except the BO8 I pushed too hard on the 2nd lobe and almost fell forward, then trying to recover the lobe was huuuuuge. I did manage to keep going though. The BI edges were really nice!
• FO8 -- layout in a random spot.  These were pretty good, some small wobbles.  I was having a hard time seeing my axis mark.
• FI8 -- layout in a random spot. I chose a spot where there was paint so I could see my mark.  Not bad.
• waltz-8 -- ugh. We did this twice.  The good part was that I didn't fall and I did skate the figure, but it was not good.  Return to center was elongated so my circle was an egg. Ugh.

About what I expected.  

Jumps, Circle-8, Spins, Power Pull Intro

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  There's no FS ice on Friday so we had to move our lesson time.  Ice is really horrible, they are taking it down Friday so I guess they are thinning it?

I warmed up with stroking, crossovers and circle-8.

Today's lesson:

• toe loop -- a fair amount of time on these.  I'm doing a better job of bring the R arm around/through, and they are a bit free-er, but still cheated wildly.
• salchow -- mmph.  I'm still tending to rush these.  A got a couple that were okay.
• circle-8 -- just a little time on this as I was whining about it.  Of course the ones where Holly was there were much better than when I did them before by myself.  The last one was almost okay.
• spins --  I did some really nice ones in the exercise, and then about 50-50 from the windup.  I really need to sit back on my blade in the windup, I tend to get up on my toe and it throws me off.  Ugh.
• back power pull intro -- we just spent like 3 minutes as I asked about them since Melissa had commented to me about them.  Yikes!  Trying to push into that BI edge is harder than I expected.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler as usual.  I think we only have this session a couple more weeks and then it's gone for hockey :-(.

I warmed up with stroking and then some crossovers, then worked on spins for a bit.  Still not very consistent but I got some okay ones.  Finished up working on salchow and toe loop, trying to implement the feedback from last week about the upper body.  Meh.

Jumps & Spins

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  Ice was pretty crappy :-(

I warmed up with the "odd" Bronze moves and then a little bit of the spin exercise.

Today's lesson:

• waltz jump -- first one was really nice, others okay. Holly would still like me to look UP on the landing :-)
• salchow -- mostly okay.  Need to remind myself always not to rush.  Still need more height and to bring it around a bit more.
• toe loop -- mmph.  Some work to try to bend the knees more and get it to come around; also Holly reminded me not to drop my arms. This actually does help! lol
• spins -- the exercise and then from windup. I actually had several that were pretty good! I'm really pleased I am finally making progress. Still need to work on consistency but it seems like it's slowly improving.

Waltz-8

My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Café.  6 skaters and two coaches and generally nice ice, except that apparently there's a thin patch near the lobby that someone on a previous session had picked clean through to the concrete!  Ugh!  If those were my blades I'd be pretty upset.

I warmed up with edges, scribed some circles, then went on to work on FO8, FI8 and BO8.  They were about the same as Sunday (minus FI8 issues).

For our lesson today (after a quick competition debrief) we worked on waltz-8.  Specifically we worked just on the turn, getting it placed better and doing a better turn.  One trick we used was to make me count out loud (so I would actually count and not forget). I have to use a 4 count to get proper placement.

The next trick was to work to get me to bend my knee more and press into the ice more going into the turn.  We did this by modifying my 4 count to be "1-2-DOWNNNNNN-UP" with the 3rd count being held out to emphasize keeping the knee bent until the turn.  This actually helped quite a bit.

Believe it or not that's all we had time for.  Hopefully these improvements will stick.

Perseverance

I skated the Chandler 5:30 p.m. FS as usual.  Ice not so great.  About 8 skaters and 5 coaches.

I just got my freestyle blades sharpened... fortunately it was not too extreme and I was fine. Warmed up with stroking and some crossovers, then on to 5-step mohawk for a little bit.

From there I worked on spins (very inconsistent) and jumps (meh).  Not my best practice.

2018 Sherwood Invitational

I competed three figures today at the 2018 Sherwood Invitational.  Here's how it went.

Practice Ice -- I thought this was scheduled for 6:45 - 7:15 but apparently there was a last minute change to 7 - 7:30.  Oh well, I was early, no big deal. Coach Kelli met me before and then we got on the ice.

Since we had assigned patches for this competition (we hadn't done that at previous competitions) I tried to skate in one of them (patch 8).  We started off with FO8 and it was a little rough at first, but got better.  Then FI8, which was relatively okay.  Then we spent I think 15 - 20 minutes on the BO8. At first it was kind of all over the place.  I managed to get my pushes under control but still having some issues finding center.  On the positive side I was able to easily see my traces so that part was golden.  One of the issues with finding center was that I was tending to wait until I could see the center mark, by which point I was already past it :-( ; so we worked on anticipating that so I pushed more close to the mark.  This was somewhat successful.  The half hour of practice really flew by, and then it was time to get off.

FO8 -- I had one competitor (Tina) for all 3 figures and she was always before me.  We got approximately a 5 minute warmup on patches 1&2 (in practice it was a bit more than 5 minutes).  I got on to warmup the FO8 and at first I was so nervous I couldn't even hold an edge, and of course that scared me.  Eeep!  Kelli talked me down and I was able to get it together.  Then they called me up and I went to compete the FO8 in patch 4.

I did my best to choose a spot that was relatively findable.... and pushed off.  I can't remember specifics much but in general it went better than the warmup.  I think my first LFO was a bit small but after that it was okay.  Return to center was generally okay and I was reasonably happy with this.

FI8 -- after my FO8 I went back to warmup FI8 as I just had a 5 minute warmup between while Tina did her FI8.  The warmup was relatively okay.  Then they called me up to compete in patch 6.

I found a spot that was on a (small) slightly dark paint spot.  Marked my center and pushed off.. and a wave of nervousness went over me and I was on a really bad edge and was off balance... and I PUT MY FOOT DOWN. AGGGHHHH.

I picked it up immediately of course, but by then I figured I was toast and all I could do was skate the best I could as some kind of proof to the judges that I'm not totally inept.  The rest of it went relatively well, actually.  Finished it and got off the ice.

I'm so upset with myself. FI8 is my best figure!  I can't believe I did that.  In all the time I've been competing I've had sucky skates and issues but I don't think I ever did this before.  Oh well.

Then we had a short break.

BO8 - after the break, same deal, 5 minute warmup for BO8.  I asked the referee and he let us move our warmup patch down since 1&2 were pretty well beat up.  So I had cleaner ice to warmup the BO8.    Warmed up and felt relatively okay about it.

They called me out to patch 8 to skate.  I choose a spot a couple feet from the blue line and right in line with one of the red dots so I would see it as I returned to center.  Pushed off... good flow, but return to center was a little too far out.  Pushed to the LBO and I made a rather small circle... ugh.  The rest of it went okay other than I still was not pleased with the return to center, but I had good speed and flow and my circles were reasonably controlled.

And I was done!

Results -- I got 2nd of 2 for each figure.  Took a picture with Tina and we had our usual group picture.  Not happy about the FI8 but in general I was reasonably happy with it, and grateful as always for the opportunity to compete figures.

Competition Prep

My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Café.  We had a longer lesson (45 minutes) and I skated that extra 15 minutes as I really felt I needed more time.

I warmed up with edges, then scribed some circles, and warmed up FO8, FI8, then spent the remaining time on the BO8.

Today's lesson:

• competition review -- we went over the skating order and diagram as to where I'll be skating.
• FO8 -- laid this out in approximately the same patch as for Sunday.  Not too bad.  Still had some issues on the LFO; I realized that in my efforts to keep the free shoulder back I'm tending to drop my R hand waaaay low and that's why I can't rotate forward well.  So I fixed that!
• FI8 -- moved to the appropriate patch and laid this out. Not bad, actually.
• BO8 -- moved to the appropriate patch and laid this out.  Eeep!  Having real issues with my return to center, couldn't see my mark at all.  Danette worked with me to try to help me to turn my head better.  Next we moved to my scribed circles and worked on it there, and they were of course much better.  Back to a random layout and it was not as bad as before, but I'm still losing the center.  We worked on it a bit more, then we were out of time.  

Competition is Sunday!  Regarding my BO8 issues, I have to hope that having really clean ice and less glare well help me find the center.  Eeep.

Spins & Jumps

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert. We moved this lesson from Friday due to my travel schedule.  I warmed up with stroking and crossovers.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- from the exercise and then the windup.  A bit inconsistent; a couple good ones and some not so.  I do better when I don't rush it.  Urph.
• jumps -- a couple of waltz jumps, a couple of salchows, and a bunch of toe loops, all of which were pretty bad.  Ugh.

Moves & Spins

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert.  Ice was not so great, but only 3 skaters so that was nice.

I warmed up with some laps, then ran through some Bronze moves (except power-3s), and some additional time on FXOs.

Today's lesson:

• power-3s -- yuck.  Have not worked on these for a while.  RFO3s are not good, LFO3s are better but not really great either.
• perimeter XOs -- we spent some time working on the clockwise FXOs as I can do nice ones around the circle, but when I get in the move they are horrible.  After some work it seems I am stepping onto an outside edge, which is why I have to immediately pick up the other foot.  I need to work the cross and hold, I think.
• spins -- a couple of times at the wall, then some from windup. A couple of really good ones, and a couple not so good.  In general, though, they have improved a lot which is really gratifying.

Competition Prep

My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Café.  I warmed up with edges, FO8, FI8, and BO8.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- we did this with some random layouts.  In general pretty good, but need to really watch the upper body position when pushing (hold shoulder back).
• FI8 -- not bad.
• BO8 -- not as much time on these as I would have liked.  We mostly worked these on the circle, still.  I'm doing a better job of looking into the circle,  but that came (at first) at the expense of not keeping the free foot in front long enough.  Eventually we were able to make all of them happen at the same time.  The RBO was pretty okay so we spent most of our time on the LBO.

Competition is a week from Sunday!  One lesson left, we agreed to do an extra 15 minutes.

Perseverance

I skated the 5:30 p.m. FS at Chandler as usual.  Ice was really yucky.

I warmed up with some laps, then worked on FXOs and BXOs, then ran the perimeter crossovers.  The XOs in the move are improving, so yay.

After that I worked on spins for a while, the exercise and then from the windup.  I got some good ones!  Very pleased with this.

I finished up with some jumps.  Waltz jumps are a little better;  salchows about the same; toe jumps... eh.

Spins & Jumps

My lesson with Holly on the 8:15 FS at Gilbert, as usual.  Lots of people running programs today as there's competition tomorrow at Chandler.

I warmed up with stroking and crossovers.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- first the exercise, then from the windup.  I actually got several that were pretty decent!  I'm really jazzed.  Still not consistent, but it's definitely improving.
• waltz jump -- the jump itself is fine but I'm still not checking the landing well and I tend to have to step forward.  Ugh.
• salchow -- still a work in progress.  Entry is improved but having issues landing well.

Still working on getting music for my new Light program.

BO8

My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Café as usual.  I had a half hour warmup, so I did edges and FO8/FI8, scribed circles, and worked on the BO exercise Danette suggested to me last week.

For today's lesson we just worked on BO8.  We started on the scribed circles, then did some layouts, then went back to the scribed circles as Danette felt I needed to ingrain the circle size in my muscle memory more.

The good news was that I'm getting around pretty well, which is what I focus most on since that would be really embarrassing.  The not-so-good news is that my circle size is not consistent and my return to center is being a bit dicey.  I need to work on that more.  I'm really bad about turning my head to find the center mark and that needs work.  I did do better on holding the free foot in front longer and keeping the skating shoulder back longer.  I was having an issue with the first circle cutting in from the push, so we worked harder at getting the position stronger and being more sure on the blade for the very first part of the circle; that helped a lot.

Competition is 2 weeks from this weekend!

Perseverance

I actually made it to the 8:30 a.m. FS at Chandler!  I'm really proud of myself. I know it probably seems silly but I have been so unmotivated and wanting sleep that making it to this session seems like a big accomplishment to me.  Session was relatively crowded, about 10-12 skaters and 3 coaches.

I warmed up with some laps, then spent some time working BXOs and FXOs on the circle.  BXO goal was to do good crossovers and have some speed.  FXO goal was to get a consistently good, real cross and underpush.  I seem to consistently underestimate how much I need to bend to get a real underpush!  I made some progress here.

After this I worked on spins some more, both in the exercise and from the windup.  They were about the same as last night :-).

After this I warmed up my bunnyhop in preparation for running my dramatic program.  Unfortunately I did something weird and got an intense shooting pain in my left ankle on this.  It only hurt in one certain position, but apparently any kind of jump involved that position so I decided not to jump any nor to run the program today. Urph.  I'm sure it will be fine (I can walk and otherwise skate just fine with no pain).  Very annoying.

This was a nice session, despite the large crowd.  Very nice to see Dakota and Hannah again, and as I was leaving I saw Squid in the gym doing her PT. Nice.