Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Forgive Me Ice For I Have Sinned .. It Has Been 12 Days Since My Last Confession..

Yep.  12 days.  No ice.  No off ice either.  That last photo shoot of me trying to do an off ice Axel and the previous days off ice lesson really made my body (bones, muscles, joints, back, feet, ankles) ache.

Then I took a weekend holiday and when I returned home there were golf obligations for my league (that I am president of) and then my husband and I took our travel trailer out for one last fall excursion to Glacier National Park.

So I did exercise a bit.  Walking the golf course a few times and going on a 4.7 mile hike, but nothing skating related.

Today I attempted to skate, but oh the price we pay for time off ice....

This video is about 12 minutes of boring moves in the field, done poorly with a little comic relief at the end.


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Off Ice Lesson and Spin Practice

I had a 15 minute off ice lesson today prior to skating.  I didn't video it - but it consisted of doing
L Step
R Cross Step
L Bend and Jump (either Waltz Jump or Axel attempts)

I am guessing I did about 10 off ice Axel attempts.  This will be no easy task.  I have difficulty in a number of things:  getting into the "rotation position" see number 6 & 7 (right to left) in the illustration below:




I can't seem to get my free leg/foot to comfortably cross  over my jumping/landing leg/foot.  It's not familiar or comfortable because I never really learned it as a kid - I was probably jumping out and around then too.

I also am having trouble with my arms.  If you see my jumps, my arms are usually wild!  I have to really concentrate to get my arms in close to my body.  I often lead my jump with my left arm instead of rotating from the right and pulling my left arm into toward my right shoulder...

Coach says no ice jumping until I can land 8 out of 10 on the ground first.  Wonder if my knee will ever make it to the ice?

I forfeited the 2nd half of my lesson today because after doing this 10-20 times I acquired a foot pain from my arch back to my heel.  I was probably landing on a part of my foot I never do on skates .. and then of course my knee was cursing me.

So I skated 30 minutes of freestyle and just worked on spins primarily.



Monday, September 15, 2014

Monday Moves

I have reserved my much hated Mondays for MIF practice and lessons.  I don't mind the Moves In The Field at all.. I just hate Mondays!  (because of 2 days off the ice on the weekends.. usually)

So far all we are working on are the Power Circles and the Backward Eight.

Learning the placement of all the steps on the Power Circles is my challenge.  I was counting each crossover vs each step and it was not working out.  I had a 1-2 1-2 1-2 cadence going.  I need to learn 1-2-3-4-5-6 .. and so on.  Each step must increase with speed and be stronger.. the last 10 strokes get wobbly especially on the CW direction.

The Backwards Circle Eight is really holding me back right now.  I can't control my core and stay on edge.  Coach Berkley suggested I keep my head on the inside of the 2nd back outside circle, but it feels very unnatural to me.






Thursday, September 11, 2014

Pretending I Belong On A Freestyle Session

I agreed to skate FS sessions on Thursdays so I can take my FS lesson there.  I seem to work harder now on FS session than I do on publics.  Accountability I guess.

Good session today.  I feel like I worked really hard at a lot of things in just an hour on the ice.
My lesson was all jumping.  We worked on my Loop jump, using arm variations and my Flip jump using entry variations and combinations.  Most of it was caught on camera except the Lutz jumps and the 1st Axel lesson which I was not expecting.  That was at the board - drawing a tracing of the proper take off edge and landing edge and trying to do Waltz jumps on it - Harder than I thought.  Hmm that sounds familiar lately!


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Freestyle Session - Jumps

I have a FS lesson tomorrow and I didn't want to show up without any FS practice this week.. so off I went in the middle of the day to a 2:15 session ... Lots of kids as you can see.

Any day I attempt a Lutz jump without my coach present is a day I am working hard!

I am supposed to be working on a Lutz-Loop combination and a Flip with a more difficult double three turn entry as well as a Loop jump with a different arm position.

Today I tried a few Flip-Loop combos and I did try a Lutz - Loop combo at the end of my practice while running what I have of my program so far.  (Choreographer out of town till next week)

Spins are off and I am finding there isn't enough time to practice everything in 1 session any more, but I don't have enough energy for 2 sessions.

Monday I went to the gym after skating and I feel wrecked.  Back and shoulders and lower back are in agony ... thankfully there's Advil and .. Alcohol (Chardonnay).


Monday, September 8, 2014

Monday MIF

Newly sharpened blades + a weekend off the ice enjoying the last dog days of summer = Splat !

Had a great fall today doing backward crossovers during my warm up.  The camera didn't catch the fall, but got me in the belly slide backwards!  Such talent.

Coach showed up unexpectedly today.  She was giving a guy a private lesson.  You will see him in the background (or foreground) of my videos today!  More entertaining than my warm up and MIF lesson... that's for sure.

So far all we are working on is the Power Circles.  They are so much harder than I thought they would be.  Staying on the pattern and especially holding a good edge for the first 4 strokes is hard.

Video didn't upload right... some funny pixel things .. sorry


Friday, September 5, 2014

Blades Sharpened ....

Had my first FS lesson in quite a while.  Newly sharpened blades felt great except for the first 10 minutes... when you think one false move might send you hurling onto your face from tripping.

Didn't have my camera going for my lesson.  We worked on a Lutz/Loop combination and trying to do a Flip with a more difficult double three turn entry (really slows the energy down).  After that my coach says "I think I am going to start teaching you a Death Drop" ... I nearly fainted.

Here is what they look like:


This is definitely something I never did as a child.  I don't really have a Back Camel or a Back Sit Spin yet... so why she wants me to start thinking about this Death Drop into a Back Sit ...is beside me.  My motto this year is not to be negative and just go for it.

So far - All I have to show for a lesson on Death Drops is a broken fingernail from the at-the-wall exercises.  I think there may be bruises involved in learning this one.


Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Back on Public Sessions


Now that school is back in session I can return to skating on public sessions most of the time.

... but I have to admit, this summer I spent a lot more ice time on club ice free style sessions and I have lost my fear of skating with the kids.  On the contrary, I think they motivate me to skate harder during my sessions.


Getting busy on these Silver Dances

I have been working on these silver dances too long!   Planning to go all in on them until I can test them in the next few months.