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”

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?

Skating Weekend

What an incredible skating weekend! It was rough at first, but I ended on a high note and that’s what makes this experience worth it. On Wednesday, I attended my group class and it was awful with the new skates and I began to lose faith in my ability to continue with this sport. The pain was unbearable.

On Friday, I went to the rink and practically begged the director to let me skate on learn to skate “practice ice” and he said yes, thank God. I got on and skated for a while and again, it was unbearable. The whole losing faith thing, totally applicable here.

On Saturday I woke up with a renewed passion after waking up from a dream of me skating (this happens often now that it’s taken over my life). I texted my coach to see if she had time to do a lesson with me and she did, woot woot. I just needed a quick pick me up to get me used to the new blades.

We spent a half hour together on the ice (less than what we usually have unfortunately, but I couldn’t afford to do longer on a lesson like this). The entire time was “breaking in skates time” we did knee bend exercises the entire time. I took one really bad fall while doing my crossovers and fell on the same exact spot that I fell on last week, that was miserable. I’m so glad that I’m seeing my doctor tomorrow to check out my knee. After a few minutes of relaxation after that horrible fall, I got back on the ice and managed to get a little more breaking in done.

After my lesson Coach T came off the ice and requested to “play” with my shiny new skates. She then began to bend them in a few different ways. This made a world of difference for me as I got on the ice today to skate. There was still a little pain at times, but it was such a great practice session because I felt like I was getting my moves back. I worked on my  3 turns, consecutive edges, mohawks (I think I got them down!), lunges (nailed the new technique a couple times), stroking, slaloms (wide strides and short fast ones), 2 foot turns, waltz jump, and spins. I didn’t have any “bad” falls and my feet weren’t killing me by the end of it, so I’d say my practice was quite successful! 

I am pleased with the progress I’ve made in these new blades and I am very excited to start jumping and working on some more complicated moves in the field. Who knows, I might be testing a little earlier than I expected.

My Unfortunate Reality (Private Lesson #4)

Well I’m not broken, yet, that’s the good thing. But I have reached a progress plateau. My 4th private lesson was yesterday and I was working hard, but my boots just weren’t working with me. I kept skidding on my consecutive edges and my ankles and feet were killing me while I was doing simple bunny hops. I just won’t have it any more. If I want to progress I need new skates. After my lesson I actually got off the ice and didn’t want to skate anymore (first time since I began, oh no!). I had fallen on my butt three times during practice, now usually I just stick through it but now that I’m seriously considering new skates I feel like I’m going to lose a lot of what I’m learning on my current boots.

And so I have officially decided to pick up my new pair of skates this week. After doing some extra work this weekend, I have made some more money and will shell out the $300 for the Jackson Freestyle Skate. While it is at a lower level than the Jackson Competitor, I remember it was a lot more comfortable for me.

Now, back to practice, we didn’t get through as much but I think it’s because we spent more time working on my 3 turns. I think I have the small 3 turns down, but when I move onto the larger circle they become a lot more difficult. Coach T and I worked on spins, bunny hops, swing rolls, lunges, and the waltz 8. After our session we discussed testing again and I learned that each rink has a testing session each month. So I very well may be testing before June. I imagine it will probably take another month or so for me to get the skills down. The only thing coach hasn’t showed me yet are my crossovers in an 8 pattern. My crossovers are still clunky but I know that if I keep up with practice I’ll get them down eventually. Afterall, I learned my backwards crossovers way faster than my forwards.

Unscheduled Private Lesson #2

I got really lucky again this week and had a half day at work, even left a half hour earlier than I usually do, so skating! I headed to the rink knowing that there’s an adult class on Friday mornings that I could catch if I got there fast enough.

Sure enough I made it to the rink with time to stretch, change, and get my skates on. Coach T was teaching this lesson, which is awesome because she is my favorite, haha! During class I showed her the mohawks that I had been working on, only I found out they weren’t exactly mohawks because I was doing them on two feet. She showed me the proper way to do them on one foot, then helped me do them the right way. Then looked at me and said, “your turn”. Now, I just want to take a moment here to describe my experiences with Coach T thus far, she shows me what I’ll be working on, I blankly stare at her thinking there’s no way I can do that. She guides me through the move, I do it with her a few times. Then, she says, “your turn” and I blankly stare in fear and hysteria. HAhA, you want me to do THAT on my own? Good one.

So, I tried the mohawk on my own and didn’t die. Sure there were a few close calls, but I did it! As with any move I learn, it needs work, but I am so glad I learned the proper way to do it! In the last couple minutes of class I worked on spins with one of the other women in class. I am still using my toe pick to hold my left foot in place, but besides that I can get into my spin about half the time. Coach T came over and said to turn it into a one foot spin (start on a two foot spin and lift right leg). So again, I stared at her blankly thinking, really? She knows what I am thinking and pushes me to do what she’s asked anyways. And that my friends is why I love her.

Having a coach on the ice with you is great, they push you to do things you don’t want to do or you don’t think you can do. I don’t think she’s ever proven me wrong though, I have never hurt myself trying something new - yet. So, I trust her.

After class I asked Coach T if she had any time to come out on the open skate with me for a lesson. She had time! Woohoo! It was a great one hour lesson - unscheduled private lesson number 2! I learned several new skills so I have a lot to practice on my next open ice! During a break I also showed Coach T my new binder! I started a journal last week to write down notes during practice, but the binder thing, that is new. It has all the adult and basic skills curricula in protective sheets. I also included the pre-bronze competition sheets to reference. She wants me to compete and I have decided that I want to compete..officially. The next competition that I can attend (that isn’t too far) is in June. Look out other adult skaters, I am here to stay!

Total ice time: 3.5 hours. So naturally, death and destruction. Everything hurts, I need to ice. I need to stretch. And I need heat pad like 5 minutes ago. I’ll learn my lesson one of these days. So far this week I have had more than 8 hours on the ice! Not sure if I’ll be this lucky next week, but I am going to try for at least 5 hours. My official - planned - private lesson is Thursday! I bet you can guess how excited I am on a scale of 1-10. That’s right, 20 :)

1. Class: Warm-up stroking, crossovers, mohawks, spins.
2. Inside and outside consecutive edges. Switch feet, one pump only down the line. Shoot for 6-8.
3. Backwards crossovers, body straight - not leaning forward.
4. Lunges, two feet first, make sure leg isn’t behind you.
5. Spirals, stretch on wall first. Make sure arms are out, chest up and head up, strong core.
6. 3 turns, turn stomach, stay strong, weight on toes.