Public Friday

Realizing that 1-2 days a week will never get me ready for a test next month.. I headed back to the rink today for a public session.  My jumps and spins are really looking and feeling weak to me..

Time to get out the jump rope.

A Slow Climb Back..

I had a much needed lesson with my choreographer today to continue working on my unfinished Silver FS program.  She is laying it out for competition and my skating coach will tweet it for testing .... i.e. make it EASIER!  It is no where remotely near a competitive program at this point, but little by little we'll get it completed.

My goal in the next 3 weeks is to complete this program and increase my stamina.  Also to work on stretching and extension at home and at the gym.  (That's the short list)

Lesson on 1st Day Back in 3 Weeks

Need I say more?  3 weeks no skating = a really difficult climb back.  It may take a while to get back into any progress.

Skated a public session and had a lesson today.  My regular coach had not seen my Silver FS program progress.  We decided to change things up to make it easier to pass my test in January.  Very important or else I won't qualify to skate as a Silver at Sectionals or Nationals in March and April.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who peruses my blog.  I am so grateful this year to be healthy enough to skate and to have the love and support of my husband who makes it possible for me to do so.  And to all my skating friends of all ages and abilities who frequent my blog and give me encouragement I thank you and my Thanksgiving wish is that your holiday is spent with family, loved ones and friends, that your travels are safe and that your turkey is cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 165!

 

Last Skate For a Week: Before Pacific Coast Sectionals (at our rink)

I will be spending the next 5 days at the rink as a volunteer for the 2015 Pacific Coast Sectionals qualifying competition for US Nationals .. pretty exciting for all of us at the rink.  I'll be an ice monitor for a lot of the time and I will also be helping out with the trial judges.

Today was my last day on the ice but there was already a bunch of kids from the competition coming to get some unofficial practice time on our public session.

I brought my scribe and got a chance to draw some circles for the first time in about 44 years on the ice!  That was exciting.  I couldn't however see the tracings without my glasses!  The glare in our rink hardly made them visible.

Skated about 45 minutes then it got a little chaotic with all the higher level skaters mixed with some of us adults and some hockey skaters and I just didn't have the motivation or energy to continue so I got off the ice and decided to do an OFF ICE LESSON today instead of working on Moves in the Field.

I contemplated putting all 16 minutes of it on my video but it would have taken a long time to upload and most people would  not have fallen asleep at the computer watching it.. so there is just a few minutes of my lesson included on it.

Basically I am trying to get my 136 lb body to jump up and around 1 1/2 times without hurling my arms into the air recklessly and cross my feet in the process... IT AIN'T EASY !!!

Saturday @ EWU

Went out to EWU to skate today.  It  was 26 degrees outside but it felt like 65 inside the rink.. It was seriously HOT in there...   Had a quiet practice with the ice almost to myself.

Lesson Canceled - Bad FS Session - Ugly Fall

... Today made up for all the fun I had yesterday.  Coach texted me after I had my skates on that she couldn't make it today.  I decide to be a brave soul and skate on a FS anyway.. what could go wrong?

You will soon see.  Bad take off edge from a Loop Jump.  Nothing looked good today, nothing worked.  The only thing I got out of it was that I exercised a little and I have a bruised elbow, knee and wrist as a result.

Grrrrrr.

My Pair Skating Debut

OMG .. I have been off the ice for a week.  No excuses.. just haven't been in the mood.  I think the fear of the Axel is contributing, but that's beside the point.

Got to the rink today on a public session to get reacquainted with the ice after 7 days and I was out there getting my legs back under me.  My skating friend Hank was there.  He is also a competitive adult skater at the Silver level.

Toward the end of the session he offered to show me a few PAIRS moves.  I have never done pairs in my life.  As a child skater I always wanted to, but I was too chunky!  I still am .. but adult skaters at our age rarely do the lifts unless they have been doing them a long time.

I just wanted to know what it felt like to try and synchronize ... it was SO MUCH FUN.  I really loved it.  I wish he was available to skate pairs with .. but alas, he already has a partner.

Anyway, it was great fun!  Thanks Hank!

Coffee Club

Went to public session today to skate with my friends Heather and Hank.  Heather is an Adult Bronze skater and Hank is Adult Silver.  You will see them in the background of my videos from time to time.  I went wine tasting yesterday and followed up with dinner and more wine with friends.. .gee I wonder why I had no energy today?

Knowing I have a lesson on Thursday on the harness I know I need to keep moving each day.. so I did what I could, but it felt awful.  I was really fatigued and it shows.

Twizzles

I had to name my post today Twizzles because my MIF lesson was long and boring (on video) and I just didn't have the energy to sit at the computer for hours doing an edit to find something worthwhile to post.

Need to spend more time on the ice and actually doing off ice exercises than talking about it.

.... Sorry everyone... here's a few RFI Twizzles to entertain you today.  Maybe less IS more !