Last Week of AZ Rehearsals

 Today was one of those days .. nothing worked.  I managed to get a complete run in but my skating was a disappointment today.  Maybe Wednesday and Thursday will go better.j

Dress Rehearsal for PCAS …

 WYSIWYG.   I have 3 more practices and 1 more lesson before heading to Spokane for the 2022 PCAS event where I will skate in my first competition since 2016 - It’s been 6 years!  I was 56 … now I am 62 … that is HUGE.

I was moderately happy with my run today even though I messed up my choreo a bit.  I finished with the music .. I didn’t fall (well, at least not during my program run!) and eked out a 3 turn Twizzle during practice .. then promptly fell on the subsequent back crossover by the evil “click of death” … Ugh.

Looming PCAS in 17 Days

 Well this is about the worst place to be in prior to a competition.

1. My dress needs some alterations

2. My physical condition is about 30% of what I would desire

3. My program needs a lot of polishing

4. Most importantly my elements: Twizzles, counter, edges, etc. need work.

I have 4 practice days left on ice but 17 days left till my competition day.

Not much I can do but focus and try my best.

√

Double Trouble Thursday!

 Someday I will get to the rink in time to stretch, warm up off ice and on ice BEFORE my lesson!

 Not today … so um .. I had a little trouble with everything.

My lesson with Vitali went slightly better but I’m still really struggling with those European three turns.

Takeaway today was point the heel of your boot toward the long wall on each 3 turn.

Wednesday Practice - Raw footage

 Today I didn’t have much motivation on the ice.  I skipped skating on Monday and today I didn’t put out much effort.  I did show up and skate for 45 minutes but it wasn’t a great practice.  Lots of ice noise!! Sorry!

2nd Day Back … After a Week of Margaritas in Mexico!

 I was wastin’ away in Margaritaville -  Now I am paying the price.  At 62 and with my current level of activity (not enough) I am really hurting when I try to finish a run of my program.  

Today I warmed up for my lesson working on some of the elements.  Did a run through with my coach and then we tweaked some steps that were sounding too scratchy on the ice.  Then to help condition me .. and probably to warm up my coach …. She made me put my program music back on and we skated the full 1:40 power stroking together.  It was fun trying to keep up with my 5 time US Champion Ice Dance and Olympian coach Naomi Lang Strong!

Groundhog Day !!!

Well I never thought I would say this again, but I have entered a competition.  My home club Lilac City Figure Skating Club is hosting the 2022 PCAS - Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals in March 2022.

I am most decidedly NOT in competitive shape nor am I expecting anything more than to show up and hopefully skate without falling.

My last competitive event was September 2016 at the ISU International Adult event in Vancouver WA.  There I skated in the Silver Pairs and Silver Ladies III event.  

Skating since then has taken a back seat to many other things.  I keep posting my practice videos and blogging when I skate but there is no longer a learning curve .. seems more like a slow-but-steady decline in my skills.

Since taking up ice dancing I have come to learn that the discipline is WAY HARDER than one may think by looking at the pattern/compulsory dances.  Putting those steps into the proper rhythm, using good extension, pointing toes and fingertips, good knee action, strong edges and turns and OMG TWIZZLES is not easy.   

When I was free skating I could see progress and improvement but in ice dancing my thoughts of disappointment and self loathing are an everyday occurrence when I watch the playback of my skating.

Nevertheless, I continue.  I do enjoy getting out there and trying and I am coming to grips with my age and body’s reconciliation with what it can and cant do.  Some of it is a mental barrier for sure and I suppose if I wanted it bad enough I would work a little harder.  More stretching, more gym time, doing things to build up stamina, etc .. but I don’t seem to be able to make the sacrifices necessary to do that.

So it is what it is … as they say.

  

Run Day - Lessons

Not much to say. Lessons didn’t accomplish much today. I was exhausted and low energy. I need more ice time. 

Ran it all today.

Happy New Year 2022 !

 First day back on the ice today.  Skipped my Monday practice and trying to cram it all into a short session.  I was pretty tired - PHFS ?  Post Holiday Fatigue Syndrome !  My stamina really bites right now. A run of my solo free dance threw my heart rate up to 164 today.  I never even leave the ice except for a couple of hops.  Gotta work on that.  

Fourteen Step:  Getting better on the pattern but still cannot skate to tempo without coach Vitali.  I sped up the video to 1.25% of the speed and it nearly matched the music.

Foxtrot:  Also getting better and I am thinking this is probably my favorite of the three evil Pre-Silver Dances!  Just need a nicer Closed Mohawk and more power to get the 2nd  pattern in the proper place

European Waltz:  My nemesis.  I am trying so hard to not wide step.  Someday somebody’s words will click with me and I will find a way to make them clean.

Solo Free Dance:  Looks pretty sloppy all throughout.  I plan to really attack this one since there is a possibility I will try and compete with it at Adult Sectionals (non-qual) event in March of 2022.  I also plan to use this program as a test: Adult Juvenile Solo Free Dance sometime.   I need to clean up my twizzles.  Coach would like to see a triple vs a double on both of them.  Me too but I lack the confidence and don’t have good form.  My counter and my chocktaw need improvements.  Most of all my overall extension, hands, head, body need a lot of work to make this a performance skate.    Nothing like a video playback to show you the TRUTH! 

Catching up on Missing Videos

 I just realized I have posted several videos on YouTube but forgotten to post them here.  So this is just a catch up on all my skating sessions since the previous blogpost.

All are just practice sessions on dance ice on Mondays.  Ice Cafe Adult sessions on Wed and Thursday with my lesson day on Thursday.

As they say in publishing:  Nothing to write home about!  I am making minuscule progress while partnering my Pre-Silver Dances.  Skating them alone they rarely are on tempo or complete full patterns.