Freestyle!

 Coach Danette is out, so I skated the adult session today to get re-acquainted with my freestyle skates. Whee! Nice ice, 5 skaters. 

As usual, the first 15 min were... interesting. I worked on stroking and edges. Mostly okay, eventually, but could not do BO edges for the life of me. Uck.

Just 30 minutes today due to a late start (work), but good to get on the ice.

F8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, about 9 skaters.  I warmed up with edges.  I didn't scribe circles today.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- most of our time on this.  We worked a bit on getting a better push, and sitting back on the blade more *from the beginning*.  I'm surprised that despite the fact I've been working on this stuff forever, I still often fail to hold back that free shoulder/side and then I have a crappy position.  Like, it should be automatic by now.... oh well.
• FI8 -- just a couple minutes on these. As usual, much nicer than the FO.

Edges

 My figures lesson with Danette.  Nice ice, about 11 (!) skaters.  I was running late and didn't get a warmup.

Today's lesson:

• edges -- most of our time on these.  We ran the FO twice to work on posture.  FI were okay.  After the BO, we did them again on 2 feet, working on getting me to actual turn my head and rotate arms at the top of the lobe.  Then we ran them again and they were better.  Then a couple times through the BI edges.
• 3s - just like 2 minutes at the end, on the side crease.  As usual I had trouble making myself actually turn.  Ugh.

F8s

 Back from my travels and I had my lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice but quite crowded, presumably due to the MLK holiday.  I warmed up with edges but didn't scribe any circles since it was so crowded.

Today's lesson:

• FO8 -- most of our time.  Considering how long I have been off the ice, not too bad. At one point we worked just on getting a better push; pushing on a flat from the red line. Improvement required, for sure.
• FI8 -- just a few minutes on these. Still not quite getting around the circle.  Argh.
• 3s -- just a couple minutes on these.  Yuck.

FO8, BO8

 My lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, 7 skaters.  I scribed circles and warmed up with F edges.

Today's lesson:

• B edges -- More or less okay.  Some extra time on the BI edges to try to get a better first circle and to make the new lobe start perpendicular to the long axis.
• FO8 -- not making it around.  Still issues with posture but a bit better than before.
• BO8 -- just a couple minutes.  Not too bad, but still need a much stronger push.

FI8, BI8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  7 skaters, beautiful ice.  I scribed circles and warmed up with F edges.

Today's lesson:

• edges --  we went through these since I wasn't happy with them anyway (after a week off). Much better.  FI and BI were really nice.  FO were better than before, and BO were... okay.
• FI8 -- These were the best they've been in a long time.  Posture and push were better, and I alllllmost made it around each circle each time (about 50-50).  Very happy with these.
• BI8 -- still somewhat lacking in control and the push is insufficient.  We worked on trying to get me to consistently turn my head to actually look for the center, with inconsistent results.  Eeep.

F8s

 My lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Beautiful ice and just 6 skaters.  I warmed up with edges and scribed circles. It was nice to be back after 3 weeks off.

Today's lesson:

• FO edges -- I had warmed up with these but they were a bit wonky so we spent some additional time on them, focused as always on posture.
• FO8 -- most of our lesson on these. Made some improvements in the flow and posture but it was hard to be consistent.  Still, after time off it was okay.
• FI8 - just 3 minutes on these.  Much better, as usual, than the FO.  Still need to work on being stable during the return to center and watching posture on the push.