Stroking

I spent Monday's practice entirely on stroking.  I subscribe to icoachskating.com which I use as my "coach in between lessons".  There are countless videos there of high level coaches giving tips to skaters and other coaches on how they teach everything from basic stroking to triple jumps.

I love to watch videos of skaters from all levels, especially my level.  The aging adult skater .. getting out there and taking their sport seriously.  I feel their pains, frustrations and great levels of accomplishment when progress is made and things go right.

So today after having a talk with myself about my warm up habits and general quality of my stroking - I decided to look them up for some stroking tips.  My coach had a family member sick and had notified me she couldn't keep my lesson today... so I used this instead.

This video is my attempt at doing what the coach and choreographer: Pasquale Carmerlengo called "Russian Stroking".  I know if I told this to my own coach ... she would laugh and say that it's not Russian Stroking... that the kids from our club do this pattern all the time.  I don't care what it's called or who named it.  I just know it's a far better warm up than the one I presently do and if I could learn to stroke well in this fashion... I would be a better skater.

Here's my first time trying the patterns.

Figures

I decided to isolate the figures I was trying at the end of my session onto a video all by itself.  Open for critique .... but I reserve the right to dodge any tomatoes!

Back to Basics...

This has been so hard ... being off the ice and being sick and then vacation and being sick all over again and trying to squeeze in some skating here and there.  I get so disappointed on the ice that I am so fatigued and so many skills are out of reach.  I just have to keep chipping away at it..

This week I skated twice.  Next week I will try for 3 or 4 days.

This practice I just worked on basics.  Stroking.  My new "artistic" stroking to be precise.  Using my upper body to "present" on the inside edges.  I should do this all the time... but it's hard work and my core is weaker than normal.  Just holding my free leg behind me (with extra vacation lbs) is so hard.

For fun I tried some old school forward outside loops.  And for giggles, at the end of my session after all the others got off the ice I decided to do as much of a run through as A) I could remember and B) opting to do omit combos and put in 1/2 jumps instead of full jumps and just simulate the spins.  I was beyond exhausted.

Camera Pooped Out

I got 3 Waltz jumps in today before my camera ran out of memory and shut down.  Darn it.
I actually got some practice in today.   No use talking about it if I can't prove it!

I signed up today for our club's bi-annual ice show.  June 19-20 for 3 shows.  This will be another first for me.  Safety in numbers.. I am sure it will be a group number or production number.

Has It Been Another Month?

Just returned from a relaxing 2 week vacation on a Carribean cruise.  Great fun, but if you have ever been on a cruise you know....   It's all about the food.  Yes there was a gym onboard and I did go there maybe 5 times over the 14 days.  I brought my IT band and jump rope and flex cord, did a few squats and some time on the elliptical but that didn't make up for the untold calories consumed in food and drink.

So the scale says +5.  Not bad, considering.

Today back on the ice for the first time was really weird.  The ground is still moving somewhat from still having sea legs ... so I wondered how it would feel skating.. and attempting a spin.  I took it so slow my practice felt like a learn-to-skate class!

Went To A FS Session Today

Usually I save my FS sessions for my lessons, but today I couldn't get moving early enough to hit the ice during pubic.  Our 2:15 session is pretty quiet until the last 15 minutes.  I worked on everything I had strength for today.  Pretty frustrating skating at this level amid these girls who can all do doubles.

First Good Day of Practice

Public session at my home rink.  First time in a month.  Felt really good to be home and skating, but realizing how much ground I have lost and knowing I will miss Adult Sectionals and Nationals this year is disappointing, but a relief at the same time.  If I keep my current program that I was working on for my Silver test I should be totally prepared by next spring... what would that be like?  To actually be prepared?

Finding Ice Time

While visiting family on the other side of the state I brought my skates along just in case I could find time to skate.  My opportunity came on Sunday January 11 on a public session mid day in Bremerton.  I wasn't in much shape to skate with a nasty cold and out of shape from being off ice and such, but it felt good to get out and get my heart racing.  Nothing really worked, but I was happy that I at least tried most of my jumps.

Putting The Pieces Back Together

I was able to get to the rink today for a good practice.  I felt apprehensive about trying any jumps but took my time and ended up being quite satisfied at what I was ABLE to do - rather than what I was UNABLE to do.

I stroked a lot before during and after everything I took video of to achieve some cardio exercise and I forced myself to work on the dreaded Toe Loops, Back Sit Spin and Back Scratch Spins.

Flushing out any idea of competition in the near future will make room for me to improve on my fundamentals and correcting these jumps and making them stronger.  That's my immediate goal.

This will probably be my only time on ice for the week if not longer but maybe I will drag my skates with me in case an opportunity arises west of the Cascades while I am there.

Thank you to all my dear blog friends for all your kind words.  It has helped.

Skating On The Back Burner

My last post was Dec 18th.  I have not skated since.  We had a family tragedy just before Christmas and I have been called away from the ice, naturally by more important things.. being with family.  I don't really want to post the details, but I wanted to explain my absence from the blog and from skating.

Today, January 3, 2015 I went skating for the first time.  I did not have the motivation or inclination to record anything.  I will most likely forfeit my Silver test scheduled in the Bay Area on January 14 because I am so out of shape now, weary and also have a cold now.

No test before Feb 1 means I would not qualify to skate at Sectionals or Nationals at the Silver level and I know that no matter how hard I try, my skating won't be up to a competitive level by then.  I think if I say it out loud, I will be able to accept it.  I am disappointed, but I must remember that skating is my hobby.  I am not an elite athlete vying for a spot on an Olympic team.  Adult skating will be there next year for me and I will keep skating no matter what.

*****

I wore my Vivofit today and my heart was pinging away at 179 bpm (my max heart rate) much too soon.  I did land most of my jumps at least once, but nothing was worth bragging about or even talking about.

More next week.