Training rhythm

I'm trying to get (back) into a training rhythm. I've put "back" in parenthesis because while I was always looking for a training rhythm, looking back, I see that I've rarely gotten it. I feel I'm doing better from both  progress and  motivation points of view when I have the same routine, so a rhythm.

And last week, I've got it. On both Monday and Wednesday I've warmed up with different exercises then the ones I have in my MITF test, then, when I've got to do those I spent more time, and actually work on them. Then I did spins (scratch and back and whatever I remembered from sit spin) and jumps (bunny hop, waltz jump, salcow and tried to recall the toe loop and loop). Then I did the exercises for the Ice Dancing and the Ten-Fox. Everything I did was calm and settled into ice. There was no rushing.

On Thursday, I've had my weekly lesson with my main coach. My plan is to push the moves for testing but I was very hungry for some jumps and spins help. I was hoping to do both but we've got stuck on the Freestyle. On the scratch spin I'm on the right track. All I need at this point is more confidence and that will translate into more power into it. As I didn't work last month on the back spin, I want to get it back were it was first (consistent confident entrance from the inside 3-turn, crossed feet but no proper exit, and not holding the left leg out while centering, I sneak it in quickly) and then ask for more help from the coach. The sit spin got ripped apart. I was taught to enter a little lower in it and then do a C shape with my upper body. My coach wants a normal entrance and then a diagonal (like "chopping wood") movement of the free leg and he wants the back straight! I've barely gotten the sit spin when I stopped doing Freestyle few years ago. And I didn't do it since... How can I have muscle memory of it? I wouldn't have minded if it would have been the correct version. It's gonna take me a while to undo that. The good news is that I figured how to put 2 pads on the left hip and it covered every single bit of what touches the ice when I let myself fall from a sit spin. I don't won't to re injure the left hip... I felt I was doing some progress on the Salchow while working on my program but I was afraid to push it to much and make it unstable for the test. Now, that that passed, I want to continue on it. I still have to make myself wait after the 3-turn but I do it. What I learn now is to bring the free foot around not with the knees together but, as the coach put it, like I would hit a soccer ball. I'm starting to get it... And surprise! that is used in the Toe Loop. I'm used to pick a little laterally for the toe loop, a little cheated :( and that actually hurts my ankle. I don't hurt if I do pick straight back, as I should. For now I've done just the 3-turn, check and pick. My coach taught me to "draw back" on the Half Flip. I probably could very well do it on the Toe Loop but I'll wait for his supervision. The Loop used to be my favorite jump. I couldn't really get it completely rotated lately. My coach said the I'm not staying on the right side after I jump. I think this instruction gonna be enough help to keep my Freestyle time occupied for the next few weeks. I need on the next lessons to get hard into the moves and dance...

And on Friday, my beautiful rhythm started to disintegrate. My legs were tired and as much excited as I was to jump after the new instruction from a day before, I couldn't. Same for the sit spin... I started with the moves, but I didn't really got into them as I was looking ahead to jump and spin. I worked on the Scratch Spin and Back spin, a little on jumps. Then I started the Ice Dancing exercise, but the legs really didn't listen.

Then, during the weekend, I sharpen my blades. I love my sharpener, he is very consistent. I also had the first class of ballet after 2 weeks break. I expected to be tired but I was almost as tired as I was after the very first ballet class.

And here I was on ice again, on Monday. The soreness from ballet was not a problem. The blades were. My sharpener used to smooth the edges after he sharpened them. Not this time... So I spent all day just scrapping around the ice to blunt them a little. The jumps were the best thing. Spins were non existent. Edges for moves and dance were very slow and I had to be cautious to turn really at the correct points. That's what I should do anyhow, but now I was doing this while stressed not to fall... The blades are gonna be fine probably by the next session, but will my rhythm come back as soon as that?

I was saying this before. Progress in figure skating is very slow and the work very hard. It is also hard to keep motivated to keep going. That's why I test, I did the program, I do the ice show. And that's why I look for this training rhythm... to "just do it" as Nike add goes.