Freestyle!

 Since I had the day off AND we had ice at CCIC, I got in a lesson with Coach Holly (YAY!) on the 2 p.m. freestyle.

I warmed up with stroking and some edges.

Today's lesson:

• stroking -- not bad, actually.
• FXO -- I had told Holly I was afraid to do these last week in practice, so she held my hand while I did a few, then on my own.  Yay.
• edges -- I had just done that earlier that day in patch skates, so okay.
• BXOs -- in the Bronze move pattern.  Pretty decent although I was a little off pattern.
• waltz jump -- I had not done these in like a year!  Holly held my hand for the first few, then I did them on my own.  Not the best landing but I did stay vertical so that's good.
• spins -- again, not done in a year.  Not great, and had a dumb fall on one (no harm, no foul).  Still it was good to work on them.

Alas, the ice schedule at CCIC precludes me getting to work with Holly on a regular basis but I'm really glad and grateful I had this chance.  Yay!

Edges, Again

 My lesson with Holly on the CCIC freestyle.  Ice was just okay -- it was really humid from rain last night so a little crusty and foggy.  About 9 skaters.

Unfortunately, when I got to the rink I realized that I brought my patch skates, not my freestyle skates. So we had a patch lesson instead of freestyle.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- we spent out lesson on these.  Forward were mostly okay.  Back outside were pretty good.  Back inside needed some work.  Holly suggested that rather than being so focused on striking perpendicular to the long axis on the initial BI push that I settle for a shallower lobe for now so I can work on just getting a better push that's completely on the BI edge, not, as so often happens, a brief BO followed by a BI edge.  We worked on that a bit.

After my lesson I spent the remainder of my time working on edges and also 3s.

Spins & Jumps

 My lesson with Holly on the 7 a.m. FS at CCIC.  Okay ice, about 12 skaters but very doable.

Today's lesson:

• spins -- eep.  After some duds, I got one really good one!  The key was mostly, I think, to actually bring the free leg in, stand straight up over my skate, and not chicken out too early.  Alas, only that one was good, the rest not so much.  Still, it's progress.
• waltz jump -- just a few of these.  Pretty good, actually!
• salchow -- yow.  The very first one was really good! Well, the landing was a little wonky, but the entrance and takeoff were spot-on.  Again, the subsequent ones not as good. Still, I was pretty happy with it.

After my lesson I worked a bit on 3s and stroking, and then a couple of sals and spins.

5-Step & Spins

 My lesson with Holly on the 7 a.m. FS at CCIC.  Okay ice, 13 skaters. I had first lesson.

Today's lesson:

• 5-step mohawk -- eep.  We worked a bit on trying to get my off my toe on the 3rd step.  Key point -- bend the knee more on the 2nd step and stay down. This really helped a lot.  Still needs more work but some improvement.  Yay.
• spins -- I got one that was pretty decent, tho it traveled. The point on this was not exiting early when I could have held it longer.  Ugh.

After my lesson, I worked some more on spins, did a waltz jump, and spent some time working on 3s also.

I'm not a fan of mornings, for sure, but I'm really enjoying these sessions.  Most of the club skaters are there and it's a really warm, fun environment.

Back At It

 I skated the 7 a.m. FS at CCIC for my first lesson with Holly since.. October, I think. Whee!  Ice was good, but seems the whole club was there!  Nice to see everyone.

We started off with perimeter crossovers.  Some work on the forward side to fix the pattern a bit.  On to 3s on the crease.  These are about the same (well, maybe a little better) as in patch skates.  We finished up with some waltz jumps, which were surprisingly okay.

After my lesson I worked a bit on the 5-step mohawk, and tried some spins (which didn't happen, oh well).

Good to be back.

3s

 My lesson with Holly on the 6:50 a.m. FS at CCIC.  Good ice, 5 skaters.  I warmed up with stroking.  Felt a bit tentative as I've not skated in a bit and also very tired.

Today's lesson was just 3 turns.   Lots of 3 turns.  These are pretty much the same as in my patch skates (don't know if that's good or bad).    They did improve a bit but still not much control.  ugh.

Jumps

 My lesson with Holly on the CCIC 6:50 a.m. freestyle.  Ice was okay, about 10 skaters?  I warmed up with stroking.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- these were a bit better than last week.  Pattern was good and while I'd like more speed, really they were okay.
• waltz jump -- just a few of these to get a nice clean takeoff.
• salchow -- eep.  It's been a while. We spent some time trying to get me to hold the LBI edge a bit longer and then jump at the right time.  Needs work, but for the first time in like 8 months I'll totally take it.
• toe loop -- eeep, again.   I tend to rush the jump after the turn, so Holly held my hand to get me to slow down.  It did help some but they are still quite rushed, cheated, and two-footed landings.

Moves & Spins

 My lesson with Holly on the 6:50 a.m. FS at CCIC.  About 12 skaters, ice a bit bumpy on the ends.  I warmed up with stroking.  I'm still getting used to my freestyle blades!

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- the forward pattern was pretty nice, actually.  Speed was improved and I was filling out the space better.  Holly said the BXO side was a bit scratchy so we worked on them a bit. to get me to sit back on the blade a bit.  Some improvement, so we moved on.
• circle-8 -- we worked these in the middle and then on the end (middle had some snow and was torn up from the production ensemble).    The FOs were lacking, and I couldn't get around.  FI was better.  We worked on getting me to lean into the circle more, and push harder.  There was some improvement but a long way to go.
• spins -- just a few times on this.  I did 3 or 4 (or 5?) but they were not great.  It was the end of the session & the Zam was coming  :-) so I was a bit concerned lol.

It's good to be back on the ice in freestyle blades.

Workin' It

 My freestyle lesson with Holly at CCIC on the 6:50 a.m. session.  I got there about 7:05 and warmed up for my 7:20 lessons.  I'm still a bit wobbly on the ice but it's getting better.  Session was relatively crowded, about 12-13 people.  Good for the club!

Today's lesson:

• BXOs -- Holly wanted me to do these around the end circles, like on the APB MITF (er, "Skating Skills") test.  They were actually not bad, though a bit scratchy.  They did improve tho!  It was nice to actually generate some power.
• 5-step mohawk -- eeep.  Actually, all things considered these were not that bad.  The mohawks are pretty jumped and the BO edge is scratchy, but I got through them okay. We did a couple of runthroughs and called it good.
• waltz jump -- my first one in months! It was actually not bad at all, a nice straight take off. Yay!

We'll be in this time slot through mid-July, after that we'll have to figure something out.  Eeep.

Recalled To Life

 This morning I had my first freestyle lesson with Holly since... October, I think.  The CCIC schedule has changed for the next several weeks so I was able to get in a 7:20 a.m. lesson.  The session was pretty busy (about 15? skaters), ice not so great but okay.

I had about 10 minutes to warm up.

Today's lesson:

• Stroking -- eep.  
• back crossovers -- these were actually okay, surprisingly.
• perimeter XOs -- slow.  The forward pattern was kind of okay, but the back was off a bit (and, still slow).
• spins -- we did a bunch of them.  The last one was actually okay, especially considering it's been so long.

I'm going to have lessons in this time slot through the 3rd week of July.  Yay!  After that the schedule will change again.  Ugh.

Jumps

 My lesson with Holly on the CCIC 5:20 FS.  Ice was just okay, and about 11 skaters (competition on Saturday!).

No warmup as we started right away.

Today's lesson:

• waltz jump -- actually not bad.  Decent height and length.  We did a few to improve to work on holding the landing and not leaning out of the circle.
• Salchow -- hmm.  We did a bunch of these and finally got the takeoff to be more or less at the right time.  There was even some 'jump' in the jump.  But the landing is still wonky.
• toe loop -- hmm.  Still very cheated, and I need to jump 'over' (to the right) more.  Ugh.  Still considering how long it's been I really can't complain.

It was great to have a lesson with Holly again, but with the rink schedule and our work office moving I'm not sure what I'll do going forward to make this happen. Ugh.

Perimeter XOs, Spins, Jumps

 My lesson with Holly on the 2:20 FS at CCIC.  My first lesson with her in... 2+ months!  Geez.  I was able to get away from work for a quick lesson.  No warmup!

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- actually not bad.  BXOs were fairly powerful.  FXOs still a bit wimpy, but really not bad especially considering how long it's been.
• spins -- eep.  Not a good one in the bunch.  And I found ways to make them bad in a different way every time!  Geez.
• waltz jump -- better than yesterday.  Good height, but landings a bit wonky still (but better).
• salchow - ha!  This just didn't happen. Oh well.

It was really nice to see Holly and a bunch of the club skaters.  I don't think I'll realistically make this time slot (especially after my work moves to Chandler next month).  Eeep.

BXOs To BO Edges

 My lesson with Holly on the 8:30 a.m. adult FS at CCIC.  Nice ice, 4 skaters.  I warmed up with stroking & a pretty decent circle-8

Today's lesson:

• BXOs to BO edges -- we worked on this for a while.  I had better power/speed, which was nice.  We worked on improving the pattern, especially bringing the first lobe around a bit more... promptly.
• BO edge -- I was up on my toe a lot on the RBO in the above, so we worked on it for a while.  Weirdly I don't have this problem on the LBO -- it's nice and stable.  So we worked on just skating a strong RBO and holding it without getting up on the toe and without swing.  We made some progress -- I really need to flex the foot and stand up straight!  Urph.

No lesson next week as it's National Showcase.  After that I will have to figure out August as I will be gone a lot for competitions.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the 8:30 a.m. FS at CCIC.  Nice ice, 4 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- not bad.  F side was a bit slow, but the pattern was spot on.  B side was pretty good.
• circle-8 -- honestly, it was really nice.  Good flow and decent tracing.
• 5-step mohawk -- not bad.   Mohawk was better and doing a better job throughout, but a little long on two feet from step 4-5.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the CCIC adult skate.  Beyoootiful ice, just 2 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• circle-8 -- wow!  This was really, really nice.  Well traced and good circle size.
• perimeter XOs -- Pretty good.  Pattern was good, and really nice power on the BXOs.
• power-3s -- ugh.  We spent some additional time working on BXOs because the BXOs in the moves are not good on the L side.  Those CW BXOs are not so great on the circle, either. I'm up on my toes too much and the body position is not good.
• spins -- just a couple of these at the end.  Ugh.  Not good.

Private Ice

 Whew!  After a bit of an unintended break I was able to skate the 8 a.m. adult skate at CCIC for a lesson with Holly.  I had private ice!  And it was fresh and just gorgeous.

I had about 10 minutes of warmup time, which I badly needed as I felt like Bambi on ice.

Today's lesson:

• perimeter XOs -- just once through these.  Eeep.  Actually they were not that bad, considering.  I was a bit slow, and off pattern on the FXO side.  BXO side was also slow and lacking power, but the pattern was okay.
• circle-8 -- just once.  Actually, it was really nice! Good flow.  Of course it helped that the ice was immaculate.
• spins -- just a couple of these.  The first was pretty rough and traveled a lot.  The second was a bit better.  I was a little nervous in them so they were not as good as they could have been.

Moves, Again

My lesson with Holly on the adult session at CCIC. Ice was a little rough.  Just 2 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• circle-8 -- pretty good!
• 5-step mohawk --a little improved from last week.  I really need to push into the ice more, and take my time.
• power-3s -- about the same
• BXOs to BO edges -- okay.  I still feel like I'm really slow.  The pattern is good, though.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the adult session at CCIC. As usual, nice ice and just 2 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• 5-step mohawk -- we started with these since they've been getting short shrift lately.  The RFI mohawk is actually not too bad, but the left one is still pretty rough.  Beyond that, about the same -- need to settle into the BO edge more and not rush.  
• perimeter XOs -- okay
• power-3s -- I thought I would escape doing these but nope!  They are about the same.  I need to just work on them a lot more to have some kind of control, both for a longer entrance edge and also for a better BXO - step forward.  Ugh.  Holly pointed out I need to be sure to step perpendicular to the long axis on the step forward so I have better lobes.  Eeep.
• circle-8 -- really good, actually.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the CCIC adult skate. Nice ice and just 3 skaters.

For today, we continued working on the Bronze Moves:

• perimeter XOs -- Better.  My forward pattern was a little skewed to the end, back was fine.
• power-3s -- about the same as ever...
• BXOs to BO edges -- these are better, but still too slow.
• circle-8 -- really nice, actually.

Once again we ran out of time before doing the 5-step.  We should probably start with that next time.

Moves

 My lesson with Holly on the 9 a.m. FS at CCIC. Nice ice, just 3 skaters.

Today's lesson:

• Perimeter XOs -- not too bad.  I still feel like it's too slow, but the pattern is okay.
• power-3s -- still as bad as ever.  I know these won't get better 'til I have more time to work on them, but it's still frustrating.
• BXOs to BO edges -- meh.  I feel like they are really slow.  The pattern is okay and I think extension is decent.
• circle-8 -- actually okay!