Perseverance

 I skated the adult skate at Gilbert today.  I was supposed to have a lesson, but Holly was unable to make it.  Really nice ice (they just finished remaking it), but 16 (!) skaters.  It was a bit of a zoo.

I ran through Bronze moves -- pretty much the same as yesterday.  I'm only briefly on two feet on the R side of the power-3s, though.  Progress!  

A few spins and some jumps at the end.  Nothing special.

Perseverance

 I skated the 1:15 p.m. FS at Chandler for more freestyle practice. Beautiful ice, 9 skaters.

As usual, I worked on Moves first.  In general not bad.  I'm working to not be on two feet before the step forward on the RFO3 power-3s, with some success.  Alas, my 'Monday miracle' did not repeat, and I was not able to get around the circle-8 today.  I really don't know why, as the ice was actually better today than yesterday.  Weird. :-(

I spent the last few minutes on spins and jumps. Got one nice salchow.  A little time on toe loop without much to show for it.  A bunch of ukky spins.  Bleah.

Perseverance

 I skated the 1:15 FS at Chandler for freestyle practice. Ice was pretty good although there were some hockey ruts.  Just 4 skaters.

I ran through Bronze Moves.  The big news for today was that I made it around the circle-8!!  3 times!  Okay the RFO was just barely there, but still, it was a lot better and I don't really know why.  Really pleased, though.

I spent the last 15 minutes or so on spins and did manage to get one that was pretty good. Yay.

Perseverance

 I skated the 1 p.m. FS at Chandler for freestyle practice.  Okay ice, 8 skaters.

I spent the first 40 minutes or so working on Moves.  Sadly my circle-8 still stinks.  Most things were okay other than that.  I do have to agree with Holly that now the R side of my power-3s are better than the left! ugh.  I need to be more focused on them -- I think I've tended to take them for granted, if that makes sense.

For the last 20 minutes I worked on spins, mostly, and they were mostly bad.  Also some bad salchows.  Ugh.

Moves, Spins, Salchow

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Ice was okay.  About 9 skaters.

I had a long warmup so I worked a little on my strengthening exercises as well as stroking and crossovers.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- good, actually.
• power-3s -- not bad.  Still on 2 feet on the R side before the step forward -- I need to wean myself away from that. Other than that the R side now actually looks better than the left!
• BXOs to BO edges -- not bad
• circle-8 -- ugh. Same ol' issues.
• 5-step C-step -- better! I really think the key here for me is 1) to hold the 2nd step longer and 2) to really bend the knees and sweep back on the push for the 3rd step.
• spins -- just a few of these.  I did get one that was okay.
• salchow --  meh.  I did not get any good ones today.
  

Perseverance

 I skated the 4:30 p.m. FS at Chandler for some freestyle practice.  While it seemed a good idea at the time :-) sometime between when I signed up (4:30ish on Sunday) and the 5 p.m. cutoff, the number of skaters on the session went from 8 to 17.... oh well.  Apparently the Chandler holiday recital is tomorrow, which explains a lot.  Also it was after a full day of skating and synchro, so the ice was horrible.

I worked on some of the Bronze moves that seemed relatively save (perimeter XOs, 5-step mohawk) and most of the rest of the time (when I wasn't dodging people running programs, or the dance team) on spins and a few jumps. Bleah.

Spins & Jumps

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Holly had to leave early, and I was sharing the session with Jose, so we just had a 20 minute lesson.  Ice was okay, 9 skaters.  I warmed up with circle-8 and perimeter XOs.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- Ugh.  Had not worked on these in a long time and it showed.  I finally got a couple of good ones, when I chilled out and stopped trying to force things.  Eeep.
• waltz jump -- just one.  It was okay.
• salchow -- I actually got a really good one, first try!  So we left it at that.
• toe loop -- we worked on these on the line again. I still need to bend the R knee more.

After my lesson I worked a little on Moves before I had to leave.

3s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler Ice Cafe.  First lesson, so no warmup.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- not bad. 
• 3s -- We just worked on 3s today.  Danette had me hold The Stick so I could see how much I was (or wasn't) turning into the circle.  Yeep.  I felt a bit off and it was just kind of rough all around.  We spent most of our time on the L side but did do the R side at the end.

After my lesson I spent some time on FO8s. Yuck.  Not good.

Patch Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for patch practice, since I had just gotten my patch skates back from being sharpened.  

The skates are fine -- as always, Northwest Skate Authorities for the win!  I managed to somehow hurt my L shoulder last Friday-ish though and while most things are fine, tying my skates really hurts!  Oh well.  I had a doctor appt. on Tuesday.  He says it will probably be fine on its own but he wrote me a PT prescription just in case.  Urgh.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Good ice, about 9 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking and some crossovers, and I also remembered to do some of the exercises Holly gave me last week.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- Holly thought these were really good.  I thought they were good but lacking power.  Oh well!
• power-3s -- actually not too bad. Still cheating the step forward on the R side.  The L side was actually not so great, so I need to work on those.
• back XOs to BO edge -- okay.
• circle-8 -- still not making it around. Ugh.
• 5-step mohawk -- still a bit rough, but not too bad.

Perseverance

 I skated the Chandler Ice Cafe for freestyle practice.  Good ice, 9 skaters.

I warmed up with stroking, then ran through Bronze Moves.  Power-3s are improving.  I'm still cheating (two-footing) before the step forward on the right side, but I'm getting some muscle memory for leaning into the step forward so I am hopeful that I can soon un-cheat it.  Alas, the circle-8 still stinks.  Grr.

After my moves work I spent a few minutes on waltz jumps, salchow and a few spins.

Unfortunately, I forgot (until I was off the ice) to work on the exercises Holly gave me to strengthen my push.  Argh.

Taking Stock

 My lesson with Holly on the Gilbert adult skate.  Okay ice, about 9 skaters.

I had  a brief warmup, just stroking and a little circle-8.

For today's lesson, we started by talking about my experiences yesterday working on circle-8 and my push test.  We did it again with similar results -- my left leg push is markedly weaker than my right.  Not surprising, but it's enough to be causing me problems.  So, we worked through some exercises that Holly wants me to work on on-ice:

• bend & straighten -- just stroking forward on each foot and repeatedly bend the knee and straighten it again
• slalom -- just doing laps of slaloms, concentrating on deep knee bend.
• BI edge/stroke w/tap -- alternating BI edge strokes down the rink, bending the knee and tapping the other foot to the skating foot.

Of course, when I can get back to the gym that will help a lot, too.

After that we had a few minutes left for spins.  I managed a couple of good ones amid some really yucky ones.

Perseverance

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

I ran through the Bronze moves, yes, even the power-3s.  Actually not that bad, except that I still can't get around on the circle-8.  I did a push test and I get about 12 feet farther pushing onto my left foot than my right. Ugh.  I'm assuming this is a strength issue since I was pushing onto a flat, not trying to hold an edge.  Ugh.  I need to get back to the gym, but I don't feel the middle of a pandemic is a good time for that.

I finished up with some spins and a waltz jump.  Spins were horrible.  Waltz jump was okay, though.

I sent my patch skates off for sharpening but I won't have them back 'til sometime next week, so no patch lesson this week.