Bronze Moves & Spins, Again

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate, in our new time slot.  Good ice (kinda hard today) and 7 skaters.  I warmed up stroking and circle-8.

Today's lesson:

• circle-8 -- working on these starting with the LFO.  Much better.  I made it allllmost all the way around "close enough" on the R foot.  I need to practice these but I think this will work.
• 5-step-mohawk -- did these twice.  They were much better, actually.  I just need to remember to really sweep back on the BO edge.
• power-3s -- actually not that bad.  We did them a couple of times, the second time Holly reminded me to bring the free knee in on the turn and that really helps.  The turn is still too early but I'm doing a better job of holding the exit.  Not quite happy with the step forward on the R side though.
• BXOs to BO edges -- we did these a couple of times also.  Holly really wants me to push the lobes to the center/boards (make them bigger).  I was pretty happy with these.
• spins -- just  a few minutes on these.  Windup is nicer but I still need to let the edge come around a bit more.  I need to be patient and chill with this.  I finished with what may be the best spin I've ever done, 5 revs and it was pretty well centered.  YAY!

We had a brief conversation about testing.  I think we'll probably go ahead and do it although I don't expect to pass the first time.  I think my nerves will be pretty bad so I might do it just to get that out of the way so I can take it again and presumably/hopefully pass.  It's been 5 years since I took it last and that's way too long.

Bronze Moves & Spins

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Good ice, 8 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking and circle-8.

Today's lesson:

• Perimeter XOs -- actually, pretty good!  I had good speed and in general I was really pleased, and Holly was too.  I may need to make the lobes a little narrower as I am running out of rink!
• power-3s -- meh.  I had a momentary loss of balance on the first one on the R side so that threw me off a bit, though the last one on that side was okay. L side was mostly okay.
• BXOs to BO edges -- we did these a couple of times as Holly wanted me to get the lobes deeper/larger.  I was pretty happy with these.
• circle-8 -- still having issues on the RFO.  I tried starting with the LFO first and I can actually make it around okay that way, though I still am not happy with my flow.  I'm going to work on starting with the LFO and probably stick with that. If I am reading the form correctly I can start on either foot.
• 5-step mohawk -- not so great.  I did these a couple of times and while the 2nd time was definitely better, it was still rougher than it has been.  Bleah.
• spins -- the last 4 minutes or so.  The first few were just so-so -- trying to hard.  The last one was really good though!

The is my last Friday lesson for a while.  Due to a schedule change at work I'm going to have to move my lesson to Wednesdays starting next week.  Unfortunately this also probably means I will drop from a nominal 4 days of skating a week to 3, unless I can get a bit more motivated :-).

F8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Cafe.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.

I had first lesson so no warmup and no scribed circles.  I'd not skated patch for 2 weeks so... things were approximate.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- meh. FO edges I had some issues with keeping a good edge, esp. on the L side.  FI edges were okay. BO edges were also okay.  BI edges... we worked a bit on the initial push. I'm still kind of wide-stepping it and I still need to get the heel out more -- the initial lobe is too small.
• FO8 -- a lot of time on this -- still having issues on the LFO where I'm leaning out the circle, especially when I rotate the arms.  It improved a bit.  Really need to work to keep the shoulder back and lean into the circle more, and of course sit back on the edge more.
• FI8 -- just a few minutes on these.  Not too bad although some issues on the RFI.

After my lesson I stayed another 15 minutes to work on BO8 a bit.  I'm getting around the RBO okay (!) but need a better push and more control on the LBO.  Urph.

Perseverance

 I finally got to skate again today, so I skated for 45 minutes at the Chandler Ice Cafe.  I ran through most of the Bronze Moves (conveniently omitting the power-3s, :-) )and then finished with a waltz jump and some spins.

3s & Toe Loop

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Okay ice, 10 skaters.  I warmed up with stroking and some crossovers, and a little bit of circle-8.

Today's lesson:

• 3s -- we started by running the power-3 Bronze move, then spent a bunch of time working on the RFO3 on the crease with Holly holding my hand.  Of course they are much better if she's holding my hand.  The main takeway from this is that I need to be on a better edge, and I need to turn into the circle a lot more on the R side.  
• toe loop -- we'd not worked on these in forever.  Like before, we worked them down the line, aiming to push the RFI edge out to the side and pick in on the line.  I did a couple very badly and then asked Holly to hold my hand so I could feel what it felt like to really bring my feet together. That helped.

All in all a good lesson.  Lots to work on in my practice.

F8s & 3s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Cafe.  Really nice ice, 8 skaters.  I had 15 minutes to warm up (edges) and scribe circles.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- Mostly okay.  I didn't quite make it around on one of the RFOs, but in general it was okay.  Still, I need a bit more speed and flow.
• FI8 -- Mostly okay, also.  Pretty much the same comments as the FO8.
• 3s -- Ugh.  We worked these on the waltz-8 circle and also at the wall. I just don't feel like I have any timing on the RFO3 anymore, and I know I did like a year ago.  Ugh.

Patch Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for patch practice today.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.

I warmed up with edges, which were actually pretty decent.  I did manage to make myself fall starting the BO edges as I pushed to hard so I pushed my feet out from under me :-) lol.

After that I scribed some circles and worked on FO8 and FI8.  I am getting around these, but just barely, even though the ice was pristine. Geez.

Then I spent a bunch of time on 3s and the first part of the waltz-8.  I had not looked at these in a long time and the 3s were pretty awful.  I did a bunch on the wall, then more on the scribed circles.  The LFO3 was kind of okay but the RFO3 -- ugh.  I finally got an okay one at the end of the session.

Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for freestyle practice.  Ice was just okay (it was foggy and a bit crusted), 10 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking, then ran through the Bronze moves.  Meh.  I scribed some circles for the circle-8 and it did help me to have a smaller circle, but I couldn't make it around any of them at all, either foot. Yuck.

I had just enough time for a couple of spins at the end, which were not so great.

Circle-8 & Spins

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate. A bit crowded today :-(.  I warmed up with stroking.

Today's lesson:

• circle-8 -- So we worked on this quite a bit.  Holly doesn't think the problem is my push or my flow, she's mostly concerned that my R foot circle is too big.  She had me skate it and then outlined my circle in marker.  The R foot circle is indeed waaay too big.  So she had me try to do a smaller circle and I was able to almost make it around.  So the lesson from this to me is I need to take my scribe to my freestyle practice and use it to work on these so I can adjust my circle size.  I still think I need a better push though.
• spins -- just a few minutes on these.  I got some decent ones.

F8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Cafe. Nice ice and just 6 skaters. I warmed up with edges, but forgot my scribe.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- most of our time on this. Posture posture posture!!  Still working to not break at the waist or hunch over.  I still need to do a better job of "resetting" when I start a new circle.  Grr.
• FI8 -- ugh.  The R foot is so wonky!  Not happy with it. Bleah... These used to be easy for me.  Not sure what's going on.

Patch Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for patch practice.  Nice ice, 6 skaters.

I warmed up with edges, then spent 20-30 minutes on FO8 and FI8.  FO8 I am finally making it around the circle on the R foot (barely).  FI8 not so much.  Ugh.  I finished my time with BO8.  RBO not bad, LBO not so good.  Grrr.

Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for freestyle practice.

I ran through the Bronze moves test.  Mostly okay (5-step was better, though still a little rough).  Still struggling with the circle-8 though.  Ugh.

After that I worked on spins, but didn't get any good ones.  Ugh!  Then a couple of decent waltz jumps and a bunch of not-so-great salchows.  Not a great day.