Probably Going To Scratch The Free Skate

I have had another 6 days off the ice.  This past weekend we went spring skiing at Crystal Mountain.  Had loads of fun, but it kind of wrecked my back.  The snow was very stop-and-go and the next day a 5 hour car trip home = sore lower back.

Coincidentally I had an appointment this morning with an Orthopedic Surgeon to evaluate my hip and knees.  He only handles one thing at a time, so today it was the thing that hurts the most:  my hip.  After an exam and X-rays we learned that my hip is perfectly fine and the good news is my bones look healthy.  The bad news is my problem is my SI or Sacroiliac Joint.  I guess there are some bone spurs there and it's something I just have to deal with unless it gets so bad I am willing to do more invasive things.  He recommended NSAIDS and physical therapy 1-3 times a week for 6 weeks.  Next week I will have my knees examined.

Maybe I should have my head examined at the same time.  Skating at 52?  Really?

Practice went ok today for my Moves In The Field practice.  I think I will still be able to test and pass by June 12.  My freestyle however was another story. Nothing felt good today, especially my backspin ... which is the first required element of my program.

Tomorrow I have a lesson.  I plan on warming up extensively before hand, as well as taking the doctors advice and using some Ibuprofen.

My camera today was tilted at the ceiling.  18 minutes of bad music and no skating were recorded!

Here's a glimpse of my spring skiing day instead!

Tuesday Lesson

No video to post today.  I had a 30 minute lesson to work entirely on my Bronze free skate program.  We were hoping to finish it, but due to my lack of memory retention, lack of ability to execute some of the elements and lack of stamina ... we only made a little progress.

So far we have:

Forward ccw pivot
Bent R knee spiral (artistic)
Inside Edge to back spin
Exit spin to Ina Bauer
Step out into L Mohawk to back LO edge
Back R crossovers to forward glide to cross ice (artistic arms)
LF3 turn to back crossovers into Waltz Toe Loop
Hold landing, LF3 turn to back R crossovers into sit spin
Exit spin, forward stroking into RF spread eagle
Exit to RBO edge into flip

.... it's a work in progress....

On top of that, my practice session following the lesson resulted in quite of bit of frustration.  I'm feeling a little discouraged right now and plan to take a few days off and resume next week.  

Monday Practice ... Ugh

Mondays are not my favorite day to skate. I know it would help if I did a better warm up, but today my fleece skating pants were still in the wash and I boldly and stupidly skated in a skirt. I was cold the entire time. I'm sure my muscles warmed up some, but I never felt loose.

Nevertheless I did practice instead of staying home. Today I ran though my Bronze MIF and then some freestyle:

(Ignore my typo ...  this was 2012, not 2013)

Practicing Bronze Moves In The Field

Here is a really boring clip of my practice today.  I muted the annoying music playing at the rink.

I skated #3 and #4 out of order.


1. Forward and backward perimeter power stroking
2. Forward power three-turns 
3. Alternating backward crossovers to backward outside edges 
4. Forward circle eight
5. Five-step mohawk sequence 

Here is a clip from the rest of my practice.  I didn't do anything that pleased me very much today.

Lesson on Private Ice

My lesson today was on rink #2 as they are still redoing the ice on rink #1.  The ice was free from 9-10 am so we got to have a lesson on private ice.  What a treat.  Aside from not having any other people skating, there was no loud pop music playing.  That's a subject for another day.

We split the lesson to work on Moves In The Field and Freestyle, but ended up spending more time on the Moves.  I don't normally skate at 9:00 am.  I haven been off the ice for 6 days and I wasn't properly warmed up.  It's not just about having your muscles warm and stretched.  You have to actually execute some spins and turns, small jumps and get "familiar" with how you connect to the ice on that day.  You may skate on the same ice every day, but each time the Zamboni cuts the ice it may feel different.

One of the things I need to incorporate into my training is an off ice warm up ritual, followed by an on ice warm up ritual.  I do warm up now, but not thoroughly or properly and not fast enough.  At a test or competition you may or may not always have access to "practice ice" preceding the event.  You are always allowed a 3-5 minute warm up with the other skaters who are in the same event.

At my first test experience last month I was able to skate on a public session for about 1 hour prior to the test time.  Just before the test, my group of 3 went on the ice to warm up for 5 minutes.  After the warm up I was the last of 3 skaters.  Staying warm was difficult even with an overhead heater and a counter top heater nearby.  My rink is super cold.

Today my warm up consisted of:

1. Sitting in my hot tub before getting dressed to go to the rink
2. Doing a few stretches on the floor of the rink before putting my skates on
3. Skating around (forward stroking, crossovers and back crossovers)

That was it.  Recipe for disaster!

We practiced all of the Adult Bronze Moves today.  Establishing the things I need to work on:

1. Forward and backward perimeter power stroking
More even cadence
2. Forward power three-turns
Smaller lobes
3. Alternating backward crossovers to backward outside edges
Work toward 5 equal lobes
4 Forward circle eight
No work needed.  My coach said it would have passed a "figures" test!
5. Five-step mohawk sequence
Work toward 5 equal lobes + stay on proper edges + hold/extend 4th step longer


Then we walked through the parts of my program that are loosely choreographed.  Rather than perfect each element as we go, the plan is to finish adding the required elements and choreography and then start working on the trouble areas!

When the lesson was over I had 15 minutes to enjoy clean private ice.  The last thing my coach told me was "be careful" and "don't try anything new until you have your legs back under you".  She knew I wasn't really warmed up.  Here's what happened during practice:

Here are a few things that went right:

My Rink Is Down This Week

I skipped skating on Monday since it was my husband's last day home before a trip.  I was all set to skate on Tuesday and have a longer 30 minute lesson when I received a text from my coach.  NO ICE TODAY.  Turns out my rink (which has 2 surfaces) is doing some maintenance.  They are redoing one of the surfaces and some other main rink improvements.  Ice #2 is being used mostly by hockey and club ice, but I may get to skate a public session on Thursday or Friday this week.  Of course this could not happen at a worse time.  I am pressed for practice time in preparation for a June 12th test date.  Oh well.  So instead I went golfing.  I belong to a ladies league called the Par-Tee Girls.

Pink Ice - Skaters for the Cure

We had a small turnout for "Pink Ice - Skaters for the Cure" yesterday, but it was fun and it was for a good cause.  The weather was wonderful.  Blue sky and warm (for Spokane).

Bay Area Skating

I am home from my week long trip to California. I visited a friend in Santa Cruz and family in Oroville (Northeast of the Sacramento area). While I was there I took advantage of getting my boots fixed at Harlicks and I was able to squeeze in 3 days skating at 3 different rinks. This is the video from my last stop at the Vacaville Ice Sports complex.  Great ice.  Warm rink.  As you can see I have no gloves on!  

Next Test Date Posted

My rink posted the next test date (and last test for the 2011-2012 season).  June 12, 2012.

Entry deadline is May 11th.  Now I am really pondering.  That would be 15 skating days prior  to the deadline (2 lessons) to decide if I am potentially capable of passing all the elements on June 12, 2012.

Here is what the current test book requirements say:


TR 25.10 Adult Bronze Moves in the Field Test
The fundamentals of ice skating must be demonstrated although not necessarily
mastered. Candidates must show knowledge of the steps and continuous flow
and strength. Attention should be given to depth of edges and proper curvature
of lobes.

1. Forward and backward perimeter power stroking
I feel confident I can pass this element.
2. Forward power three-turns
I think I can pass on LFO three turns.  Not sure on the RFO
3. Alternating backward crossovers to backward outside edges
I feel confident I can  pass this element.
4 Forward circle eight
I feel confident I can pass this element.
5. Five-step mohawk sequence
I feel confident I can pass this element

One element may be retried, if necessary.
Passing Total Passing Average
Adult 12.5 2.5
Masters 11.5 2.3
(Approximate time for test: 12 minutes)

Judging panel required: Three bronze or higher rank singles/pairs or dance judges
who are certified to judge moves in the field tests; or one silver or higher rank
singles/pairs or dance judge who is certified to judge moves in the field tests.

Here is the hard part.  Passing the Free Skate:


TR 32.10 Adult Bronze Free Skate Test
The candidate must give a reasonably good performance showing a command
of the following technical elements, a sense of speed, flow and depth of edge.
The fundamentals of free skating must be demonstrated, although not necessarily
mastered.

Jumps:
1. At least three different single jumps of which one must be a Salchow and
one must be a toe loop I am struggling with the Toe Loop.
2. One jump combination consisting of a waltz jump and a toe loop (no turn
or change of foot between jumps) I am really struggling with the combination
Spins:
1. One-foot upright spin (minimum four revolutions in position) I can pass this element.
2. One-foot backspin, entry optional (minimum three revolutions in position) This is quite difficult for me to do.  Sometimes I can get 4-6 revolutions, sometimes I get 1-2 and get on the wrong edge and fall off the spin.
3. Sit spin (minimum three revolutions in position) I am getting better at this.  I should have it by June.

Steps: Connecting moves, steps and edges throughout the program This is actually the hardest part. I can do any of these elements above in practice, all by themselves, but having the stamina to string them all together to music and show some grace... takes so much energy.  Add some nerves and some not-so-perfect execution of a jump or spin and that could mean the difference in pass or fail.
Extra elements may be added without penalty.
Duration: Ladies and Men — Not to exceed 1:50 to music of the skater’s choice.
Two different elements may be retried, if necessary
Passing total: 5.0   Passing average: 2.5
Judging panel required: Three bronze or higher rank singles/pairs judges, or one
silver or higher rank singles/pairs judge.

So .... tomorrow I plan on skating my way out of the Bay Area.  Heading to Vacaville tomorrow morning and might squeeze in another session in Oakland before catching my flight back to Spokane in the afternoon.

Ask me tomorrow about the TSA and carrying ice skates on the plane!

More Bay Area Skating.....

Skated Monday at Dublin Iceland.  This is raw footage of part of my practice session toward the end.
I met another adult skater named Sharon who used to work at Berkeley Iceland.  She knew my childhood coach Tony Howard!   When we finished skating she took off her figure skates and put on hockey skates and gear and played pick up hockey with 20 + guys...  amazing.