Got Luck?

I had one of my best skating days today. It was absolutely incredible! I got to the rink fairly early to get my very first hour of contract ice and it was empty. I literally had the ice to myself for an hour! As soon as I saw my coaches sitting outside an empty rink my face lit up. I did a quick warm up and got onto the ice with Coach T.

We worked on my program and a few other moves before she had to leave. Wait...what was that...did you just mention a program? Why yes. Yes I did. My very first program is in place. I am skating to “All of Me” by John Legend (ft. Lindsey Stirling). It is a simple program, I am skating at adult level 5. Right now I am working on skills at a much higher level (toe loops, consecutive edges, consecutive 3 turns, waltz jumps, etc.) , but this is the best level for me to compete according to my coach. Oh how I would have loved to compete at level 6 where I can do a lunge or spiral in my program, but I digress. If I do well in this competition, I might have some luck convincing her that I can compete at a higher level next time.

I decided to stay for adult open skate, because there were only a couple other skaters. I didn’t get as much as I wanted done during practice since Anne was there “watching” me again and I didn’t feel so hot about that, but I ran through my program a few times and practiced several moves (3 turns, consecutive edges, mohawks, waltz jumps, and crossovers). Adult open skate ended and I walked out of the rink to find no one else getting on for public skate. My heart did a little jump and my face lit up again. Could I really get this lucky two times in one day? I wasn’t planning on staying for public open skate, but an empty rink. That would be a waste! Ice time is precious time.

I said goodbye to the other adult skaters, got on to an empty rink, and plugged in my iPhone to my program music. I ran through it about 15x before moving on to other things but boy did I fall in love with it. This morning I could barely remember the sequence of the program, by the end of my session I had gotten my figure 8 crossovers to the speed I need them to be to follow the song lyrics and because I sped them up I was able to add a few moves that feel comfortable to me. My coach put this program together for me and while I greatly appreciate that, I also felt like it wasn’t all “me”. I wanted to add steps and arm movements that felt natural to me but I couldn’t do it when we first began because I needed to get the footwork down first. What I can’t believe is that the second day that I have worked on this program is when I’ve gotten the footwork down and have begun this process of making the program more of my own.

I can’t wait to perform this at my first competition in June. My goal is to have this program clean by mid-May (that gives me two weeks) so that I won’t hiccup (aka fall on my butt) during the competition. “Don’t practice until you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong” that is how I am approaching my competition. Whether or not I end up competing against someone else, I will rock it!

I got off the ice feeling confident and satisfied in my work. After 4.5 hours on the ice I was starving and needed food immediately. I didn’t realize until I got home and laid down for an hour before work, that I also needed a great deal of sleep too. My body was so sore. 4.5 hours of ice skating is the same as working out for 4.5 hours. I don’t know why I don’t realize this when I am on the ice.

Until tomorrow friends! I have my first official private lesson on contract ice with Coach C (my soon to be official USFSA coach).

Practice Sessions & More

Another incredible skating weekend under my belt, I skated for just over 3 hours on Friday and about 1.5 hours on Saturday. I feel like I am really getting the hang of these new boots, finally. I know I’ve been saying that for a few days now, but every time I put them on they feel a little better than the last time. I got off the ice both days feeling really great about my practice sessions without a coach present.

I worked a lot on skills that I’ve been taught in the last learn to skate session, nothing new besides the power 3’s (which are incredibly fun by the way, when people aren’t skating through my line). At this point I really can’t wait to get back on the ice for a real session with my coach. I want to start jumping! I want to land my waltz and I have a feeling it’s coming in the next couple weeks. I also really want to clean up at least half of the skills that I need for my pre-bronze test. I feel like I can do my forward stroking and forward consecutive edges comfortably, so I have about 4 more skills to nail down: backward consecutive edges, crossovers, waltz 8, and spiral or lunge.

I also wanted to mention the fact that I missed my skating-versary a few days ago, it’s been 3 months! I will update my progress report in just a couple days, though I didn’t learn as much this month as I have in the past - I know that I’ve come so far from where I began. Much of it was due to the fact that I was breaking in new skates, but now that they’ve molded to my feet hopefully I’ll jump right back on to the progress bandwagon.

**Side note: Coach C walked in on me totally jamming out, singing, and dancing on the ice when I had it all to myself on Friday morning (for a short period of time). I was a tad bit embarrassed but totally in my element, if anything it shows that I am ready to present myself on the ice, have no fear skater Gina is here.... argh I can't help myself, I just had to go there.

You Know You're Excited When You Start Counting Down The Hours Until Class

It’s the last day of session two. I have been counting down the hours until class since yesterday evening at 22 hours. I’m down to about 7 hours now. The wait might actually be killing me. I am excited to show my coach the things I’ve been working on outside of class like my 3 turns, mohawks, and lunges. I haven’t done any of them in learn to skate, so this will be quite a surprise for coach C (who I’ve had serious discussions with about coaching me at the club level!)

I cannot accurately describe my excitement to get on the ice today. It cannot be compared to anything. Spring break is coming up and I’ll get to be on the ice everyday. So long as I don’t injure myself, I’ll be on the ice for at least 15 hours in 5 days. I’ll also be doing my own version of boot camp (details to come) when I’m off the ice, so it will be a challenging week physically.

My goal in spring break is to learn my test. I know the skills I need to perform and the only one I haven’t been introduced to is the crossovers in an 8 pattern. I know that if I spend an hour a day on my crossovers, I can have this down. I need some intense practice on ALL of the other skills too, but I know that after 15 hours on the ice I can get them to where they need to be. The test isn’t until one month after spring break anyways so I have time to perfect my moves.

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.

3rd Private Lesson

Today I had my third private lesson. I still can’t believe that I am taking private lessons! I warmed up a lot today by running around the ice a few times and doing the stairs in the bleachers. I also stretched and did some off ice jumps.

The lesson was good, we went through a lot of things that we started in our previous session like lunges, spirals, and 3 turns. We went through some new things like backwards slaloms, power 3’s, and the waltz 8. While I am glad that we started some new things, I am really pleased with my progress on the backwards crossovers. I worked really hard on them after our session so I can’t wait to show them to Coach T tomorrow.

After the session, I continued skating during public free skate and worked on a lot of the elements that we worked on during the lesson. Unfortunately for me, I may have went to hard because I took a few difficult falls. I fell on my hips numerous times, I fell on my butt a couple times, and I can’t even count the number of times I fell on my knees. All learning experiences right? Instead of being scared now, I just go for it and a lot of the time that means falling. Olympic skaters fall, it’s a part of the sport. I’ll get over it one of these days.

I am really looking forward to my next session with Coach T tomorrow, I hope I don’t get stuck at work for the second half of the day. I am going to try my best to get out as fast as I can so I can get some practice ice time before the make up class. And following that, I can get some one on one time with coach! Woot Woot!

**OHH I forgot to mention what happened during public ice time today! A girl (about my age) came up to me to ask how I do that thing where I bend down, so I said, “like a lunge?” So, I told her, a few times actually, that I was still learning and probably shouldn’t be giving a lot of advice, but I proceeded to show and explain to her what I knew. From this experience, I just can’t believe that someone came to me for advice, as if I looked like I knew what I was doing. Ya’ll know I’m excited by this!**

Lesson:

Warm up

Stroking

Swizzles

Stopping

Spirals

Lunges

Crossovers (forward and backward)

2 Foot Turns

3 Turns

Consecutive Edges (inside and outside)

One Foot Glides

Slaloms (forward and backward)

Waltz Jump

Swizzles Crosses (forgot actual name)

Power 3's ( I think that's what they're called, one foot slaloms)

Waltz 8

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.

Lost Count Of The Falls .... Another 3 Hour Day On The Ice

Not sure when I’m going to learn my lesson, 3 hours on the ice is not for me! Or perhaps another way to look at it, I’m not sure when my body is going to get used to being on the ice for 3 hours. I lost count of the number of falls today, but after I hit five in a row practice should have been “cancelled” aka I should have gotten off the ice. But then, people started leaving, two by two, and soon enough I had the ice to myself and I couldn’t get myself off. Thank God for my knee pads, too bad I don’t yet have hip pads because I took a really hard hit today. Two and a half hours in my body was starting to feel sore so I began to take it easy.

Soon enough, I got right back to work. I wanted to try a new move on my own, the lunge, and since it’s so close to the ground I figured it wouldn’t hurt as bad if I fell. That’s true, however it gets old when you fall over and over and over again. I’m not even sure if I was doing it right, but it was fun! I literally can’t wait to get on the ice again with my coaches. I have a good handle on what they’ve already showed me, except for the crossovers. But if I spend one more lesson working on those darn crossovers I might hurt someone. I’ve been working hard on them during open skate, but my heart rate literally goes up whenever I start doing them. Not the problem, I just want to be comfortable with them so I don’t have to spend valuable practice time working on them. I want to learn new skills so I have more to practice during open skate!