SOS Ice Time Needed

I have failed on so many levels. I apologize to my readers. I haven't posted in ages. I stopped skating like a used to. Summer was heavenly, I skated multiple times a week for an average of 10-15 hours a week. Now I consider myself lucky if I get more than 5 hours on the ice per week. My skills have been lagging. I can barely get a complete bronze test in without completely botching at least one of the skills. It's my sad reality. Now that I am back to teaching full time it is nearly impossible to get cheap ice time. Public ice isn't an option any more on the weekends, Christmas is just around the corner and for most that means a trip to the rink for skating. I can't wait for break at this point. I am just about dying for more ice time. I have several competitions early in the year and I plan on testing my pre-bronze freestyle and bronze moves in addition to my first two dances. Without proper ice time I expect to fail in every category. Fun times.

Figure Skaters Are Insane

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

Figure skaters are insane, they do the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Some may call me insane on the ice it’s because I spend way too many hours practicing, I am not insane by that definition. In fact I like to think of my work on the ice as progress through and through. I don’t fail, I definitely don’t give up on a skill, I just find several ways that a move doesn’t work before I find the one that does.

Many of my fellow skaters comment on the speed that I’ve picked up skills. A couple weeks ago, one came up to me and exclaimed, “You’re working on brackets?! Those are gold moves!.” Just a couple days ago another skater came up to me and asked, “did you just do a back 3 turn, it takes adults ages to learn them, how did you get those?” I swear I am not trying to brag here, a close friend of mine would definitely argue against that statement. But this is my blog and I say I’m not bragging. I have learned how to learn on the ice. As a teacher, I feel like the nature of my career really helps me to succeed on the ice. I wouldn’t give up on a student, so why in the world would I give up on myself?

I wouldn’t suggest a student do the same math problem over and over again incorrectly, I’d point out the step of the problem that they are missing. I think back 3 turns are a great example of my work ethic on the ice. Back 3 turns are difficult, I won’t lie, but I managed to do each about 5 times consistently on the ice after about two weeks of solid practice. What is solid practice? Doing different things over and over to “get” a move. I believe that when attempting to work on a new move without a coach present, you must act as your coach.

While working on back three’s and brackets after being introduced to them by my coach, I taught myself to analyze each step of the move. Whenever I couldn’t make the turn I would decide to change something before trying it again. For example, often times when doing a back 3, my arms would literally get in the way of my body, so I learned to check my arms and hold them in position. They start off hugging the circle, then move into position before I turn my foot. On my inside back 3’s I found that my free foot was always getting in the way of my turn, so I remembered that my coach had suggested I keep my free foot ahead of my other skating foot. The last thing I changed in the process is a bent knee. This one I learned when I challenged myself by doing double back 3’s. I noticed that in order to do several 3 turns in a row (forward to back, forward to back) I had to keep my knees flexible, moving up and down with every turn.

I know that the reason I get bored with specific moves on the ice is because I work them to death when I am first introduced to them. Coach shows me a new skill at a lesson, you know I’m about to work on it for an hour straight until I get it. It won’t be consistent by the end of that first practice, but I’m going to come as close as I possibly can at the level that I’m at.

If you’re a skater and you’re working on a difficult move, give this practice method a try. I hope that it finds you well on your way to perfecting something you’ve dreamed of. Happy Skating!

Practice, Practice, Practice.

In the last 4 days I have been on the ice a total of 12 hours. I’d like to say that I’ve made a ton of progress, but that’s not exactly what has happened. Practice has been repetitive. I’ve made no insane strides of progress. I’ve fallen several times. My knees have taken one too many hits. I’ve pulled a muscle in my arm from catching a fall. I’ve taken a 2 hour nap after every session. It has been quite a week. To share a little bit about my experiences, below I will list what a two hour practice looks like for me. Forewarning. It’s insane.  I don’t really take breaks in between skills unless the Zamboni is cutting the ice.

1. Pre-Bronze Moves
2. Bronze Moves
3. Speed Stroking (5 laps)
4. Speed Chasses (3 half rink laps)
5. Speed Forward Crossovers (no arms for balance)
6. Speed Backwards Crossovers
7. Backwards Crossovers w/ Graceful Arms
8. Forward & Backward Cross Rolls (at least one lap each)
9. Forward Power Pulls in Silver Pattern
10. Crossovers, Hold Edge, Touch Ice (2 in each direction)
11. Backward Power Pulls
12. Checkouts/Landing Position Down the Ice
13. 10+ Consecutive Waltz Jumps
14. Scratch Spin w/ Entry (5+)
15. Outside & Inside Three Turns Down the Line (4)
16. Mohawk Crosses Down the Line (2)
17. Brackets (2 Left Foot, 1 Right down the line)
18. Back 3’s (at least 5 of each)
19. Back 3’s Pattern On Circle ( FXO, 3 Turn, BXO, back 3 Turn, Repeat)
20. All Swing Rolls (one lap each)
21. Dutch Waltz Dance Pattern
22. Rhythm Blues Dance Pattern
23. Consecutive 3 Turns on Circle -> Twizzles
24. Waltz Jump from BXOs
25. Salchow from BXOs
26. Toe Loop w/ Entry
27. Half-Lutz from BXOs
28. Half-Flip from Mohawk
29. Challenge: Loop Jump
30. Challenge: Backspin
31. Challenge: Waltz Jump to Back Spin

Let’s Get Technical

The last couple weeks of summer got really technical very quickly. Now that I have been doing my bronze moves test in practice for two months, my coach has started to pick them apart. I wanted to test them in October and if I work hard I know that I can pass, but the moves need a lot of attention.

At two consecutive lessons Coach T has spent a grand total of 15 minutes explaining things to me. For example, my scratch spin that didn’t even exist a week ago needs a better entry point. Right now I am on the left outside edge, as I begin the spin it shows as a 3 turn on the ice, I drift off for about a foot and then begin spinning. Apparently I am “choosing” when to spin as opposed to letting it happen on its own. Annoyance.

My five step mohawk has also been picked apart. Every time I “think” I have a skill, I’ll practice it a few times when I get on the ice and then let it be, because it’s “good.” A week ago, Coach T said I was practicing it incorrectly, that my leg had to be straight the entire time, not bent. After spending a week working on it, we have begun tearing it apart again. I now need to work on bringing my feet together after each step before moving to the next.

Skating practice has now evolved and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it. I recently ran out of space to write in my small practice notebook so I decided to stop writing what I do at every practice. Instead I created a “reminders” skating list on my iphone with all the skills I am working on to remind myself to practice those things. Though I don’t believe it’s really working. If my lessons are getting more technical than my practices need to also get technical. I need to get back to writing everything down so that I can focus on small details of my skating.

The days of just doing a skill over and over again have passed. It’s time for me go nit pick. I am not nit picky nor am I a perfectionist, but in this sport you are always working towards perfection. So, I need to become a perfectionist. Sure I do this for fun, but if I want to compete nationally this winter I need to get more technical so that I will present myself as a real competitor even though I’ve only been on the ice for a year.

Happy Skating!

The End of Summer As I Know It

10 weeks of summer contract ice have officially come and gone. I’m so glad to get back to my normal job and have actual money again, but with that I lose my daily skating time. It won’t come as much of a shock to you that I will continue to skate for an average of 10 hours a week. Half of my week's’ ice time will happen on Wednesdays, by winter I will probably be exhausted and irritable, but it will be worth it. That is, until I manage to break myself.

These last two weeks on the ice have been incredible. It seems like my basic skills are improving because my coaches have decided to introduce me to some new skills and speed/power drills. I’ve been introduced to a new dance pattern, the Rhythm Blues, twizzles, back 3’s, a back 3’s pattern (forward crossover, forward outside 3 turn, backward crossover, back 3 - around the circle), brackets, back power pulls, back cross rolls, the half-flip from a mohawk, and “the Jenkin” (a death glide where you do a crossover, hold the cross, bend down to the side, and touch the ice with your fingers).

At every practice in these last two weeks I’ve challenged myself with moves that I am incredibly uncomfortable with. First and foremost, the scratch spin that caused the scar on my forehead. At first I was apprehensive about doing with without my coach, but after a few slow and controlled tries I would give it a rest and resume the next day. With every practice I became more comfortable with the entry. It’s not a full “scratch spin” yet, but I think I’ll have it in a couple weeks. I’ve challenged myself with the brackets and back cross rolls that I could barely do in lesson with my coach. I worked on “the Jenkin” that terrified me on day 1. I had it day 2 of working it (after doing it off-ice several times at home of course). Determined to do things that challenge me? Yes.

Summer is over and I am really pleased with my progress. I am happy to say that I met each of my on ice skating goals. My off-ice goals were not met, those included taking yoga and ballet classes, but I look forward to beginning both of those this fall.

Finally, some new skills!

I’m learning new things!!!! Finally today during my lesson I felt like I couldn’t do the moves my coach wanted me to do, and it felt great! Have you ever been so challenged you were happy? I used to hate working on things I couldn’t do during my lessons, I quickly learned that lessons are for working on new things and challenging yourself. Only not when there’s a test or competition coming up. For the last couple months, my coaches have been working on jumps, spins, and repetitive pre-bronze and bronze moves.

I spend between 3-4 hours on the ice when I have skating days (usually 4 days a week). How on earth am I supposed to enjoy my practices by doing the same moves over and over again? It is torture. But torture no more, in the last two lessons with the amazing Coach T I have been introduced to several new skills and exercises that will definitely be kicking my butt for at least a month.

Coach T is now working with me on speed and power. We spent the first 15 minutes of my lesson on stroking very quickly, using my arms to help push my body forward by swinging them back and forth as I skated. We worked on very quick, short, and choppy crossovers, forward and back. Later in the day I learned that this kind of 3 count crossovers is called Russian stroking. Damn Russians making skating difficult. Next we did chasse’s with speed. Coach T clapped to the beat of my steps and clapped faster and faster as I went on. We did a couple other exercises similar to the ones I described before moving on to some other moves.

My bronze moves are starting to come together, exactly one month after starting them. At every practice we usually focus on one or two of them, today we did the figure 8 edges and forward crossovers to the landing position. In the next 40 minutes we spent a slew of time learning new skills. She had me doing backwards crossovers while attempting to touch the ground as I held the cross (I need this exercise because my hips are super weak). She asked me to do consecutive 3 turns, forward and back, as an introduction to twizzles. I was introduced to backwards cross rolls (aka cross strokes) even though my forward cross rolls are nearly non existent. I learned inside brackets, a new dance - the Rhythm Blues, and all back 3’s.

Talk about an exciting lesson! I don’t think I’ve ever felt the need to be this challenged, but I have been longing for it over the past two months. I thought that summer was going to come and go without acquiring new skills, but alas they are here. The best thing about feeling this challenged is knowing that in just a week of practice I am going to have some of these skills down, and in a month, I’ll have more of them down, and in about 3 months I’ll have them down consistently, with speed and power. I’ve been doing these for 7 months now, and it’s a clear trend. And I LOVE it.

I tend to be very timid on the ice and a lot of it comes from fear on the ice. Though I’ve let go of a lot of the fear, and my fellow adult skaters can attest to that, you can still see that I’m somewhat uncomfortable on the ice, my shoulders are often raised and sometimes I hunch over. So on my hand I wrote, “Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” I think it got me through this lesson. Fellow skaters, I always suggest looking at some motivating quotes before hitting the ice. It almost always makes my skating sessions more productive and enjoyable. Here are some examples below:

“The difference between champions and skaters who didn’t place is how they handle fear”

“Stop thinking you’re not ready, life happens beyond your comfort zone”

Figure Skaters Are Insane - “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”

“Great skaters are not made up of their technique but by their passion and love for the sport”

“Failure is simply a cost you have to pay on the path to being right”

Summer's Almost Gone!

Why is summer flying by? I’m not quite ready to be back on my normal work schedule, because it means less skating. On the bright side I’ve upped my summer skating hours. Sure, it means I’m spending more of my weekends and evenings icing, but the end is near and I need to reach my summer goals. I’m hoping that in these last two weeks I can start to pull together some of the skills that I had on my summer goals list.

My lessons in the past couple weeks have been somewhat repetitive. Most of the skills I’ve been working on with my coaches are older, things that I was introduced to in the last few months. So, even though I’m working hard during my lessons to improve, I’ve been getting more bored by the week. I desperately need something to spice up my practices. Argh!

Summer Goals & Achievements

It’s week 6 (out of 10) in my summer skating program, but what do I really have to show for it? I knew deciding to test would halt my learning progress, just like my competition did a month ago but I went for it anyways. See here’s the problem, when you sign up for a competition or test you work it to death. The program? You’ll do with your coach at least 5 times at each practice and outside of actually doing run throughs you are often working on stringing a few elements together at a time. A moves test? Say hello to running it at the start of every lesson, well there goes 10 minutes of my 15 minutes with a coach. In the last five minutes you might work on a couple spins or simple jumps. You say you want to learn something new? “Gina, you can’t get injured before a test/competition.” And that my friends is the end of that.

The purpose of this post is to share how my summer skating is going. Not to share my experiences off the ice or my thoughts about certain elements. Today I am sticking to facts, “this is what I am working on and this is how it needs to improve.” To this day I have been skating for just over 6 months, I spend nearly 10 hours a week on the ice, and have been for the last 4 months. If you’re just getting started, I wouldn’t compare unless you are on the ice for the same length of time. For two months of those last six I was on the ice with a coach between 2-3 hours every week.

[underlined statements are goals that were achieved within the 2 week time constraint]

Week 1-2 Goals: Be fearless. Take care of yourself - don’t over do it so that you don’t get hurt. Practice pre-bronze moves at the start of each practice.

Jump Goal: Strong check on the half flip and Salchow. Work on the toe loop from backwards crossovers. More distance and height on Waltz jump.

Spins Goal: Consistent 4-6 revolutions on 1 foot spin. Work on crossing leg on ½ of my spin attempts by the end of week 2.

MIF Goal: Consistent LFO3 on Waltz 8, more confidence when raising leg for spiral. BI edges need to be strong from the first push.

Program Goal: Pick a song and begin choreography

Dance Goal: Learn the steps to the Dutch Waltz. (learned only ½)

Week 3-4 Goals: Pass my pre-bronze moves test. Learn bronze moves patterns. Challenge yourself w/ 1-2 new skills at every practice (after your test).

Jump Goal: Work on the toe-loop with entry.

Spins Goal: 4-5 consistent revolutions on one foot spin.

MIF Goal: Consistent LFO3 on Waltz 8 and learn bronze moves.

Program Goal: Adjust music for jump spin jump spin choreography. Put together a difficult step sequence.

Dance Goal: Learn the steps to the Dutch Waltz.

Practice Goal: Mohawk crosses down the line, consecutive 3 turns down the line, power 3’s, and backward alternating crossovers.

Week 5-6 Goals: During open skate practice, work on improving basic skills. Check shoulders on all jumps. Learn a couple silver moves patterns. Do bronze and pre-bronze moves at all practices (preferably the beginning of each practice). Learn pre-bronze freestyle test order and practice it.

Jump Goal: Salchow w/ entry

Spins Goal: Scratch spin w/ ½ entry (try to get 1-2 good scratch spins at each practice)

MIF Goal: Power 3’s - less scratchy, backwards crossovers w/ landing position (work on arms and leg extension).

Program Goal: Adjust music

Dance Goal: Increase speed on Dutch Waltz and learn the next dance.

Practice Goal: Stay focused. Challenge moves: backwards spiral and shoot the duck (both haven't’ been introduced by a coach yet).

I am hoping that despite my conversation with coach last week that she’ll teach me something new at one of my lessons this week. I am so sick of doing the same skills over and over again.

Pre-Bronze Moves Test

Just over six months ago I decided to go to the ice rink to prepare for my friends annual Campus Martius ice skating outing in Downtown Detroit. The first day I came home, I was incredibly sore, but decided to go again the next day. I found myself at the rink everyday for a week. I even signed myself up for a learn to skate class a few days later. Before I knew it I was addicted to ice skating (to read more about my beginning click “here”). If you had asked me what the purpose of ice skating was then, I would have told you that I was just there to learn for fun. I had no idea that within a year I’d compete in a figure skating competition, take a moves test to pass into the first official level of adult skating, or even learn a couple jumps. It was beyond me, yet the skating community that surrounded me believed that I would succeed and learn quickly due to my age, dedication, and determination.

Shortly after competing in my first competition, my coach recommended that I begin improving upon my pre-bronze skills so that I could take my first skating test. Normally, when coaches suggest adults “test” many defer and choose to continue skating for fun. I on the other hand was excited to have someone truly judge my skating ability. I taught myself the elements testing order within a month and signed up for the test, with my coaches approval of course. Soon after I signed up, I began to see the weaknesses in my elements as both of my private coaches pointed out my many flaws.

I worked hard over the next few weeks. At every practice I began with the moves test from start to finish, without “re-dos” or  a proper warm up. Later in practice I would go through the elements that were weak in my first run through and within the next hour I’d run the test again. I’m not sure exactly how many times I ran the test in a month's time, but I did it everyday I was on the ice between 2 and 4 times. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.

I had a hard time falling asleep the night before my test, so I used lavender oil to help me fall asleep. I got up very early the next morning to get my skating dress on and have substantial time to warm up at the rink. The drive there was nerve racking, so I brought peppermint oil with me to calm myself. Once I got to the rink, I found that no one was there, so I quickly strapped on my skates and ran my through my test once. People began to show up, so I got off the ice, tied my tennis shoes, and began my proper warm up. I ran one lap around the outside of the rink, went up and down the stairs in the stadium seats, then slowly stretched my leg muscles to prepare for my spirals.

My test time was 9am and I was the first on the ice. After warming up my "difficult" test elements, my coach requested I do a couple other moves - she said they looked good, but 5 minutes later, my time was up. The judges called my name, I skated up to the boards and said good morning. He asked if I knew the test order, then welcomed me to begin once his hand was raised.

It wasn’t my best skating, nor was it my worst. I could sit here and pick apart the weaknesses in every single one of my elements, but I’ve chosen to just go on and be thankful for the “pass”. Some of you other skaters may watch this and think, “how in the world was that a pass?”, but others of you outside of the skating world may see this as I do; a joyous skater trying her best on the ice. If you watch the video closely, you may even see me crack a smile as I draw near to the glass.

Thanks to all of my readers for your continued support and motivation. I can’t believe that this blog has reached 2,000 views. Enjoy the video below of my very first figure skating moves test. I look forward to doing my freestyle (jumps and spins) pre-bronze test in September and my bronze moves test in October.

July Update

I cannot believe it’s been weeks since I’ve had an update on this blog. Sorry to my regular readers, things have been crazy. In these last two weeks I’ve been entranced in planning two very important events and attending a week long conference. Any who, I am happy to be back with exciting news. First and foremost, on July 13th I passed my very first skating moves test (pre-bronze). I’ll write more about the actual test in a different post, I also have video footage of the whole thing!

After I finished my test and got my results at 9:30 I jumped for joy, literally over and over again. I sung my heart out as I rushed to my home rink for a 10:00 private lesson (w/ the same coach that came with me to my test). Due to the fact that my lessons are during Learn to Skate, it could not be rescheduled. As I walked into the rink I saw the skating director and exclaimed that I had passed. To which his response was, congratulations, now what are you doing here? “I am here for my lesson of course!” I ran over to the bench to get my skates and just 7 minutes later I was on the ice. Obsessed you say? I just got back from a one week Christian conference in at Bowling Green State University where I continued practicing daily. I got home at noon and by two o’clock I was at my home rink for an open skate practice session.

On The Ice

I’m bored. I just passed my pre-bronze test. In the lesson following my test, coach T showed me the bronze moves test (one of the elements was a “pass” according to her, on the first try). The other elements I did fine. It was shocking to me how I picked up the test so quickly, considering that my first moves test took me months to learn. I expect I’ll be testing bronze moves very soon, which makes my dream of skating at nationals this year a little more within my reach. All week at BGSU I did the moves test first and then continued on with freestyle. Within 30 minutes of every session I was bored and didn’t know what to do next.

I need a challenge. Doing the same thing over and over just isn’t working for me. I feel like I need to get frustrated with a move or jump. I was really irritated because I couldn’t do a waltz jump for the longest time, I chickened myself out of the toe-loop for a month. Why is it that nothing scares me right now? I used to be scared to practice the cross-behind dance step, now I just do it whether or not I feel comfortable. I was deathly afraid of crossing one foot in front of the other and now it’s become second nature. I talked to my coach about needing a new challenge today, but I was shot down, “Gina, you need to work on improving the skills you know now.” Arghh! I want to learn a backspin, a sit spin, the half-flip, a lutz, back 3’s, twizzles, and more before the end of the summer. How on earth is that supposed to happen if I keep working the same skills over and over. I am on the ice 10 hours a week, do you want me to die of boredom in that time?

More to come soon! Thanks for reading :)

The First Bad Hit

“Try that again, this time don’t swing your leg like that so that you remain in control” - Coach T

“Okay!” (I said enthusiastically)

Push forward. Swing leg around. Die.

It was all in slow motion, one moment I was swinging my leg around for a scratch spin and the next moment my head had hit the ice. I thought my glasses had shattered as they rolled forward on the ice. My nose was numbing. I lifted my head with a smile on my face, “I’m okay.” Within seconds, I looked down and there was blood dripping everywhere. I didn’t know if it was coming from my mouth or nose, because it surely felt like I had broken something. Turns out I actually had a cut near my eye (still no idea how I managed to get a cut) and my nose was bleeding from the force of the hit to the ice.

Within one minute, nearly every other adult had gathered around to see if I was okay, surely the blood wasn’t a very good sign. I got up, put my hand under my chin to catch the drips and made my way to the side while my coach ran off to get supplies. I can’t say it enough, but she’s actually the best. She came back and wouldn’t let me do anything, she literally wiped the blood off my face, cleaned the cut, and put a bandaid on it. Then instructed me not to get back on the ice. She had to yell a little for me to get the picture, but I appreciate that she’s like that. I convinced her to only take a half hour break so that I could continue my lesson with her.

Today was a hit for me. This week I’ve heard no less than three outrageous injuries that happened at my home rink including two concussions and other head injuries (w/ blood). I knew my time was coming as I thought to myself last Sunday, I’m so lucky, I haven’t hit my head on the ice yet. The entire time my coach was helping me with the cut I just wanted to get back on the ice and move on. Some would say I’m a trooper, haha.

I may be a little shaken up, but it was worth it. Looking back, the entire scenario was crazy. The cut is not even an inch long, it sits in the inner corner of my eye and runs up through my eyebrow. I’m glad I was with my coach and not on my own. I used to laugh about this before, but today I learned that I really should do what my coach tells me to do the first time around. It’s hard to make a quick fix when learning new skills on the ice, but I should have been more careful. I should have taken my time on the spin.

My pre-bronze test is next week. It would be great if I didn't injure myself before that. If only I could skate and be assured that I won't hurt myself. Yeah, that would be nice.

Nightmares.

How is it already July? I feel like the summer is going to pass before I have the chance to even soak it in. I haven’t been in the sun enough, because on most days I am cooped up in a 35 degree rink (my choice, I know). Now that it’s July I can begin the countdown to my pre-bronze test, just 12 more days to go. Please kill me now. Maybe I’m not ready for this…

Last night I had a dream...no a nightmare, that I failed my pre-bronze test. I was hysterical. I wish I knew what I had done wrong, all I remember is asking to reskate an element and the judge wasn’t having it so I started crying. I tried telling her that I had only been skating for 6 months, but she wasn’t having it. I went home angry and didn’t want to ever go through testing again.

I hope I don’t react in the same way on testing day if I do fail, but God it was miserable. I woke up so confused, as if I had actually failed my first skating test. I haven’t skated since Friday and don’t skate again until Wednesday. I will try my best to get on the ice at some point tomorrow before my lesson on Wednesday, but that is dependent on the availability of my physical therapist. I am actually worried that I will get on the ice and flub everything I’ve learned due to that stupid dream. I know I need to put it behind me, but my exam isn’t for two weeks, surely I will have more of these dreams. Funny thing is that usually I have skating dreams if I’ve been skating a lot in a week, but I’ve really kept to a strict schedule (physical therapists orders) with recovery days so I don’t over do it. Why was I dreaming about a test I haven’t thought about in days? I don’t know.

Right now, I just can’t wait to get back on the ice. It’s been too long. Happy Skating!

Summer Week 1 & 2

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in a month. Since school got out for summer I’ve basically lived at the rink. Between skating and working, I am here at least 40 hours every week. It’s been great, but I’m in bed most nights by 8 or 9pm. I get up early to prepare for skating or work and on non-skating days I work then head to physical therapy.

My moves are definitely improving and my coaches can see it, Coach T recommended I test in July, so in just a few weeks I will be testing my pre-bronze moves. I’m obviously hoping for a pass, but if I don’t, I can retake it in August. I am most worried about my left foot outside 3 turn in my waltz 8 and the second spiral in the pattern. Everything else is passable - barely. I’ve only been skating for about 6 months, so I know I’m ahead of the norm.

I have printed goal sheets in two week increments this summer, but I have already attained most of the goals from week 1 so right now I am just working harder on those moves. My summer goals? What a joke! Those included being fearless when learning the salchow and half-flip (done), improving on my crossovers (in the process of), less hammering/pre-rotating on the toe loop (done), learn a scratch spin from backwards crossovers (done), and back 3’s. The one thing on my list that I haven’t yet attempted are the back 3’s. But realistically, I need some new goals. Unfortunately, I don’t even know what’s up next on my “things to learn” because my coaches both don’t go in order of the USFS curriculum guides. So I wait. And wait. And wait some more, until they introduce me to some new skills.

I already find myself bored during my open skate practices, I want something new to really challenge me. I want one of my coaches to introduce it so that I don’t practice it incorrectly over and over. Hopefully, I’ll have something more interesting as week 3 rolls around. For now, happy skating!

Waltz Jump-Toe Loop? How? ... I Need New Summer Goals

There’s a good chance I am going to have to re-write my summer goals...I haven’t yet published them to the blog but it’s clear that I am going to achieve them considering that in the last two lessons I have learned two of the skills on my list. There’s always room for improvement in this sport, I don’t think perfection can ever be achieved, I just want to learn as many new skills as I can this summer because I won’t have as much skating time during the year.

I attended my last learn to skate lesson today at the other rink, it was a makeup class so I didn’t know the group that I was skating with. The coach asked me what I was working on, but I didn’t want to be a bother so I asked what the other skaters were working on, I figured I could work with one of the groups. Fortunately there were several levels of skaters so I could choose if I wanted to work on mediocre skills that need improvement (like the dreaded crossovers) or I could work with the youngest skater on more difficult skills like spirals, jumps, and spins. I chose the latter.

Though my basic skills need improvement, I have found that they look much better now that I’ve learned more challenging skills. For example my three turns have become consistent because I use them for my jumps. Consecutive edges have helped me skate deeper into my edges for power pulls and swing rolls. I decided to work with the young girl because I wanted to be challenged, and sure enough I was challenged. She was working on freestyle 2 and I am more comfortable in freestyle 1 (but I have learned a few of the skills in 2).

We began working on spirals then moved on to backwards consecutive edges. Since it was test day I asked the coach to test me on my edges, they are on my pre-bronze test and I needed the “pressure” for practice. She passed both my insides and outsides, which was shocking because my insides totally suck. I think the pressure helped, haha! Next we did spins, she said that I spun really quickly but needed to pull my arms in at the same time for even more speed and control. Finally we worked on jumps. I showed her my waltz from backwards crossovers, the half-flip (which I haven’t actually worked on with a coach yet), and my toe loop. I was surprised when she told me the half flip was correct (I need to end on an inside edge instead of an outside edge), my coach showed me this one time at the end of practice and I’ve just made myself practice it so that it isn’t miserable when I am working on it with her.

We still had a couple minutes left of class and the younger girl needed to do a watlz jump-toe loop. Coach asked if I had done it yet and I said I hadn’t so she told me to give it a try. Hmmm…. I don’t know how I feel about that. I thought I’d be doing a combination jump by the end of summer not the beginning of summer! I tried it anyways and once I again I made (what seemed like) the impossible, possible. I got it on the second try, the first one was a fluke after I couldn’t even land the waltz properly.

So, sure enough my goal to land a combination jump before the end of summer skating happened before summer officially began. I need new goals. Crazier, more difficult goals. My updated summer goals will be posted later this week. Summer skating officially begins on June 20th, can this next week just fly by so I can live at the rink?

Hello there Sal!

I can’t believe that I worked on the Salchow today! I briefly mentioned to my coach that I had given it a try at practice on Monday and she was shocked, “Gina, you were so scared to jump at first, I’m so proud of you for trying.” I showed her what I had tried on the ground before getting my skates on and she said it was pretty close.

We started the private lesson with some stroking and forward crossovers on the ends and worked our way through the pre-bronze test. Coach says I am ready to test this summer so I am really excited about that. Every one of my practice sessions now starts with the test as my warm up.

Next she asked to see my waltz jump from backwards crossovers, she said it looked good (if you skate you know these comments are far and few in between so I was pleased with myself). Then we worked on the toe loop, which Coach T also said looked better after a few tries. And finally she asked me to see Mr. Sal. As I briefly stated before I had given this a try on my own during practice so I wasn’t exactly nervous to jump, more so just nervous to show my coach. I asked her to show it to me first, but she wouldn’t do it, she said she wanted to see what I thought it looked like first. So I gave it my best shot and looked up at her with a question mark on my face, was that it? “Sort of, not bad for doing it on your own.”

I was smiling my way throughout the entire session. When coach said we would be working on jumps I was so relieved. After working on my program for the last month I felt excited to finally be working on something new. My Salchow isn’t nearly a Salchow, it’s more like a half-Salchow, too bad that jump doesn’t exist. Nevertheless, it’s going to look much better by the end of the summer.

After my private lesson, I headed over to adult public skate. I skated my heart out, beginning with the pre-bronze test and on to jumps and swing rolls (forward and  backward). An hour later the session ended and I got off to give my feet a break before getting on the second session of open skate. I had an incredible skating morning thus far, why I couldn’t just head home after? I don’t know, but I was about to pay the price for my obsession. Just 10 minutes after being on the ice I fell on my left knee and could barely get up. After my friend begged me to get off the ice I got off and began to ice it thinking that I could just get back on after icing it for a bit. Twenty minutes later I could barely bend my leg, I knew then that it was time to head home.

After icing in 20 minute segments this entire afternoon and evening I feel much better. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I will feel even better. I am excited for skating this summer, though I know there will be more falls I also know I’ll just have to learn to get through it as I have in the past. I felt like the fall today almost broke me. For a half second, I actually second guessed continuing on with this sport. But it brings me too much joy to just quit because of a careless fall. A summer at the rink is so close I can taste it, just 10 more days!  

First Skating Competition

I cannot believe that I skated in my first competition today! A childhood dream come true. Though I didn’t nail every move, I tried my best and really enjoyed performing in front of the judges, my family, and friends. Going into this, I was so over competitions. I worked this program for about a month straight and didn’t learn many new things, just worked on perfecting what I’ve learned thus far in my journey...a perfectionist's’ dream come true, right? I am not a perfectionist. I want to learn new things and clean up my moves along the way. By the end of this last week I had reached a point of boredom. Ask me to do my program one more time. I dare you.

Nerves? What are those? Before the first day of school or a new job I rarely get any sleep, so I just assumed it would be the same before my first competition, but I happened to sleep like a baby last night. I woke up ready to go! I spent some of my morning stretching and warming up and then I went to get a relaxing manicure before heading home to get dressed. When I got to the rink I thought the nerves would kick in, but surprisingly nothing. I was calm as can be. My mom on the other hand... she was more nervous than I was! After seeing a skater my age fall on her knees, she got even more nervous!

It was my turn to warm up on the ice with the two other adult skaters, I had the opportunity to  skate my entire program and fix a couple elements, so I was confident when judging time came. I was first after warming up, lucky me! I got out there, smiled at the judges and made my way to the starting position. Though it wasn’t my best skating, it was my first competition and I am so happy with the results, after all I didn’t fall and make a fool of myself in front of family and friends #goals (I'll see if I can get a video up soon). Got myself a nice first place medal too, funny how that works when there’s no one competing in your level, haha! Hopefully next time I’ll have some actual competition.

Quick shout out to my readers: Thank you for supporting this blog and my skating endeavors, I wouldn’t keep this up if I didn’t have any readers so thank you for being one of them. You da best!