Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Last month I skated more (from 4 sessions to 5 and a half per week) and had 2 private lessons per week with my dance coach as I was registered to test the Willow Waltz and I wanted to be prepared.
As you may know from the previous post, I passed the Willow Waltz test, testing standard track no less. Passing tests is very good for motivation and confirming that I do progress. As much as I love skating, learning it is very hard work and not always enjoyable. There is often lots of frustration.

Ice Dancing: Bedsides working on the specific steps for the Willow Waltz I feel I got to a new level of power in my stroking. That's the biggest difference between adult testing and standard testing, the power. Having more power makes you look (and feel) more stable, so better. I'm very happy I was able to do the Willow Waltz solo on music and keep the count, as I was struggling with that before. Read about it here.
MITF: Taking 2 lesson per week we had time each lesson to review an element from the Pre-Juvenile test that I'm working on. While being complimented on the better display of power, it seams that I dropped the standard in the quality. I had corrections on each and every one of them, on things that I used to do just fine. The good news is that I can incorporate the corrections immediately.
Freestyle: I had just one private lesson with my new Freestyle coach and I asked to work on jumps. I definitely like how I react to his instructions. More then that, because he works with adults a lot, I feel he identified some specific problems that adults have and other coaches, that work manly with kids, just don't think about.

Making plans for next month there are two main things I consider:

Firstly, I would like to balance the Ice Dancing, MITF and Freestyle. I always say this and it never feels I'm doing it. Both MITF and Ice Dancing need fairly empty sessions and last month I was always prioritizing dance over moves. That means I worked on dance at the beginning of the sessions when the ice is emptier. And Ice Dancing tires my quads sometimes so badly that I don't feel like jumping.
MITF: I'll have to work on both slow on the corrections (to became body memory), and fast to improve the power. And as I worked on them for a long time (from before I was hurt, in fact I was close to being ready to test them), I'm not very excited about them. It's sounds to me that I'll actually have to prioritize these somehow.
Freestyle: I think I would be more motivated to work on Freestyle elements if they would be part of a program. I'll have to ask my new coach clearly about the timeline for choreographing it. Up to now I was disappointed as I kept expecting to get the program and instead I've got lessons. He gave me very good instruction but I wasn't ready/ didn't have time, to work on elements on Freestyle because I was concentrating on Ice Dancing.  So we'll have to talk and align our efforts.
Ice Dancing: I'll start working on the Ten fox that I let go these last 2 months and doesn't have too much flow right now. The only really sticky thing about it is the outside Mohawk. I never felt that I've really really got it. But I'm doing it and it may be good enough for this level... So we'll see how that goes.

The second thing I have on my mind is the quad muscles pain. As the hip was ok, I've been skating 5 days in a row, one of the days, Monday, twice. I was curious if I'll have the muscle building pain, as I was getting it last year when I was skating like this. Last year it passed after maybe a month, but that month was very hard. I felt exhausted, I needed more food and more sleep. The last week of last year and first week of this year I'll skate just twice weekly, because of the ice schedule. So I think I'll have no choice but to build slowly on that, and go again with 4 skating days a week, and in the past that meant Tuesday and the weekend off. From the second week on January I'm registered to beginner adult ballet and ballet conditioning. The ballet conditioning is on Friday just before skating and I hope is gonna be focused on core strength (to replace the pilates class) or balanced, but definitely not on leg strength as I don't need it and I may not skate well after a leg focused workout. The ballet is on Saturday morning and my only hope is that it's gonna meet at lest some of my expectations (work and awareness on posture, alignment and port de bras)...

It's customary to make new year resolutions and set goals but I don't really do that.  And planning skating for a whole year doesn't seam realistic. Especially after how it went last year (the tiny hip injury that didn't heal completely for more then 6 months). When I started private lessons in mid 2016 my goal was progress.Two years ago I was able to push very hard and I felt I'm going the right way. Last year I basically skated half the time compared to 2 years ago. But looking back, I progressed more than I expected. Not in the areas that I was planning (power and speed) but starting to put together the skills that I had and working on expression (mostly arms). I also feel I enjoyed skating somehow more then when I was pushing very hard. Learning from all these, my plan for the new year is to be flexible and to make the best out of my time on ice!