4th and a half week of July

Monday  I skated at my old rink. They had only 45 minutes but it was more than enough. As I haven't skated from last Thursday I felt cautious. Usually on days like that I ease into skating with edge and alignment exercises but now I pushed through. The next available ice I could find at reasonable distance is my dance lesson. I needed to practice for that. I alternated with MITF/ skating skills exercises and I worked a lot on the B XStrokes. I feel there is something I don't get... There was one run that was better, I felt the push (that I got corrections on the last lesson) was more successful. I think the Tenfox improves slightly each time. I've realized that I'm not sure if I'm successful in implementing the corrections (like longer/ straighter BProgressive, more curved and staying into the circle) BSwRoll and so next run I do something else. I'm not creating habits like this. I'll have to bring this up to the coach. I need more feedback.

Thursday I had the dance lesson. I initially planned to cancel it because I hadn't skated much but the coach offered to partner the TenFox. It sounded like she thought that for partnering I don't need to practice myself, it is a skill that we will practice and improve working at it together.  I started bravely but I stopped at the corner 3 turn. Then I turned it but I pulled away, then I turned it (late) but I pulled away at the stepped forward. Next pattern I pulled away at the end progressives, next on the Mohawk. But... we ended up completing 2 or 3 patterns. I was exhausted, the coach was excited for my progress, and yes, I realized there was progress. I stayed to practice a bit more and I took an unexpected fall, right on the side of my hip that was hurt before. Luckily I didn't hurt it again, I just ended with a big bruise ans spot pain.

 I skated again Monday, but I was late and I got ice for only half hour. I ran through everything, a bit cautiously. I felt I was in the phase where I had more enthusiasm than my body awareness of balance was at that point.

I couldn't find ice until the Thursday lesson, so I canceled the lesson, it felt like I was pushing my luck. I see the progress but I need to put more skating time. I see more ice available next week.

 

3rd week of July

I'm starting to write with a heavy heart... there is not much ice available this week, and even less the following week. I will also be busy with work. So, I'm emphasizing... the goal is to keep skating, do NOT take a break!

 After skating last Sunday, my muscles felt tired so I took a break on Monday and skated on Tuesday. I did a bit of everything, alternating slow and fast skills. The Tenfox 3-turn worked better at the be beginning of the session, then I guess as my muscles got more tired I was slower. I worked also on double 3s, twizzles, spin, a lot on B Xtrokes (I need those on Foxtrot) and Foxtrot and European Waltz. I skate longer sessions than before and push harder and work on extensions. My muscles feel tired and it is taking longer to recover. I hope that my muscles will strengthen... For now I don't really have a choice on it, because there is not much ice, but I want to observe this.

Wednesday there is was no ice. Thursday - dance lesson. I felt I skated to little to show much in the lesson, but also there was no ice anywhere else so I was happy to go there. The coach asked if I wanted to try the Tenfox on music, and of course I did. I started of time but I got better. Even the 3-turn was on time... once (or twice). Anyway, she suggested that next week we should start partnering. I take that as a vote of confidence, a recognition of some improvement. My confidence decreased when I saw myself in a video I took while practicing, but trustfully I know there is improvement. The coach suggested I work on the BPr and BSwR on music to get quicker and confident there... and build from that. I think it is a good suggestion. I also asked her opinion one the end pattern FPr, I felt a bit behind the music and I felt I was "jumping" the steps if I made them faster, she said they looked good.

We also worked on B XStrokes, I suspected something is wrong with my posture and yes, she said I'm leaning forward while I push, and try to have a stronger push. As she demonstrated, it looked like she pushes from the ball of the foot and maintains the tension and that gets transferred into toe pointed extension, while I felt I was pushing from the middle of the blade.

I had work the rest of the week, including the weekend. It would have been some ice available Sunday 5.20 pm but I just couldn't find the energy to go. And like that, this week I skated just twice, one time being the lesson. I am grateful I have these lessons to keep me going...

2nd week of July

As I already complained numerous times, the ice time in the summer is very limited.

At the close by rink there was ice Monday and Tuesday only early morning (6.30am), Wednesday at 6pm and Friday at 3pm. I have planned a dance lesson on Thursday at a further rink at 3 pm but I extra pressure to practice, otherwise I throw away money and more than that I get frustrated because I don't progress. I also don't want to get into the habit of canceling the lessons (I did it last week) because that may snowball into taking a longer break.

Monday, luckily I found ice at my old rink, only it was only 45 minutes. Better than nothing. I did a bit of everything, and I filmed myself. Firstly... the good news, I cannot see in the video that I scrape the 3-turns in the Tenfox, I can feel I scrape them but for testing by sending a video to be judged, I don't think it shows. I can see, though, that I am late. That is bad, and also bad is that I find my posture and extensions quite underwhelming. I also look not necessarily slow but slow in pushing, taking too much time. I need to ask for some feedback from my dance coach to be sure we have some strategy because I'm losing motivation and interest in these lessons. From what I saw in the videos I would ignore the skidding and concentrate in the timing of the 3 turn and start partnering...to keep me going. The rest of the session exercises went fine, I want to remember to not allow the Tenfox to take over my skating! I feel I have incorporated the instruction from the freestyle coach, I would like to see her again soon, only I don't know when...

Tuesday the ice available was too early and Wednesday too late, I have planned to go skating, but the work got the best of me, I was too tired.

Thursday, dance lesson at 3pm. I shared with the coach my thoughts about working to put the 3-turn on time and not worry about scraping it, and she agreed. She also agreed that I should improve the lines and posture. I asked her to be tougher with me. I also shared that I'm loosing motivation and I need more feedback and positive reinforcement. I think she felt better about positive reinforcement than the thought of being tougher :) The Tenfox felt better, the 3-turns were just a bit late, but I always had some kind of hesitation. We worked on arched back on the B SwRoll and not looking down (this made a lot of difference). We dropped it and we did a bit of Foxtrot as I still don't feel I place it correctly on ice. She emphasized to curve more and place the 4 beat edge centered over the red line, the 3-turn before the red dot, the B Progressive more curved, B CRoll stronger lean after the cross (like a ball running from the right shoulder to the left). Then we worked on the B Xstrokes. I think, overall, I got more out of the lesson compared with the previous one. Looking back, I think that my loss of motivation didn't "look" good on ice, and the coach, not knowing me, didn't know how to help me out of it, or even if I would want that. I stayed and skated some more after the lesson and I definitely gave my muscles a work out with higher extensions! 

There was ice available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I choose to take a break on Friday, I felt a bit tired after the lesson. Then, I didn't go on Saturday either, I got too caught up with house work. I went on Sunday, and surprisingly my muscles were sluggish. I must have worked them too hard on Thursday. I warmed up with the freestyle coach exercises, I continued with double 3-turns since I haven't done them in a while. Then I went to the Tenfox, first the Mo and 3-turns (and they were fine!) and then i did few rounds of the dance. The 3-turns were still slightly late and scraped, but less than before! I moved to the Foxtrot where my plan is to improve the entrance into the Mo, so I can get into it quicker and get some flow after it. I've realized during the last dance lesson that the problem is the BXrolls so I worked on those more. I did some twizzles, just one spin and called it a day because I started to have hesitations. 

Lesson with New Freestyle Coach

 My first love is ice dancing, but I cannot find a coach close by, I have a dance coach at 30-40 minute distance and my old coach at 1 to 1.5 hours distance.  It is pretty time consuming to go and see either of them.Anyway, dance instruction is pretty specific so a half hour lesson per week is needed. It would help to have more instruction towards other skills, in the past I used to ask my old coach to coach moves in the fields, jumps and spins, only for choreography I went to a different person. I was very happy to find a coach at the close by rink (this is 10 minutes away from my house), she is a freestyle coach, so she can help on all things not dance, so then, I keep my dance lesson as pure dancing.

So! The lesson! For the first freestyle lesson we decided with the new coach to show her what I usually do for warm up and exercises (excluding the dance) so she could build on them. As the lesson progressed we decided to keep a list with what I would like to revise on the following lesson, I'll put a star on those exercises*

- slalom forward and backward, play with the rhythm ( 2 slow, 4 quick)

- FI edges play with free leg and arms, free leg at ankle, front, and B crossed*1 love this, and arms over head palms up, connected, or low at the back

- BO edges, and many exercises going forward she said to keep the head calm, looking forward, she feels my extreme head turning is messing my alignment and stability. She went into a variation with the free leg going back, that is actually a swing roll, same note with the head.

- BI edges, she didn't "hear" the power, she showed me how to push just as I finished the previous edge, before shifting the weigh to the next foot. I couldn't really do it, but I understood, I'll work on it.*2

-  FI Twizzels:arms straight over the line, bring the back arm but stop at the middle (I crossed over), in a ballet position or straight forward grabbing fingers. Stay straight (I was forward). Keep free foot close.*3

- I asked for the power 3-turns  for the preliminary test, the 3s were fine, but I released the free foot to quickly, she wanted to hold it close and then to power push (the same weight shift like for the BI edge), she also wanted me to hold the under cross from the B xovers, longer, more stretched*4

- I tried the dropped 3-turn for Tenfox, she doesn't do dance but, she said that I rise too soon and  I don't have enough pressure into the ice. I think this is valid, I cannot wait to try working on them

- B xstrokes, she said to hold the B edge longer to settle into the position (I'm trying now to twist the upper body over the edge, not square) and we worked on that position, back shoulder more back, head forward, free leg over the circle*5

- I shared with hear that I don't always engage my core, and she suggested to stroke holding an elastic band slightly stretched, I loved that!

- I also asked for quick off ice exercise that would help the core engagement, and she suggested the plank (front and sides), because it engage core, shoulders, back, arms and even legs, and since I don't last long, it is really quick :)

- During the class, as I asked clarifications, she asked permission to film me so she can show exactly what to change. I love it so much, and I remember I used to film myself and it was helpful, I plan to do this again.

1st week of July

Guess what... I haven't skated Monday and Tuesday... as I was saying in the previous post, I lost my motivation as I don't feel I have a plan, I ended up exactly where I didn't want to be...working almost exclusively at the Tenfox 3-turn, getting bored if not frustrated... There is not gonna be ice Friday and Saturday, so this week looks like I'm gonna skate Wednesday, Thursday (public session) and maybe Sunday... I canceled my dance lesson for Thursday, I felt with so little skating I have noting to show.  Plus, at the time I have this new lessons at south rink, there is traffic... 45 minutes instead of regular 20... I remind you that I'm taking lessons with this new dance coach because I cannot drive an hour and a half (because of construction on expressway)  instead of 30-40 minutes regular traffic to see my old coach...

But, good news, I found a coach (freestyle not dance) at the rink that is close by me! A while ago when I was looking for coaches, I was talking with somebody from this rink, I've found out that a coach I knew from the previous rink, occasionally teaches here. I really like her lines and style, she could be the coach I was looking for to help skate for my own enjoyment... I called her and I felt she understood where I'm at (working hard for progress and losing motivation when that progress doesn't happen, and getting stuck with the same old exercises). I immediately planned for a lesson, for the next day! I specifically asked for her to give me new exercises and moves and to correct my posture, core and extension, to make me feel "pretty"

Wednesday I had a freestyle lesson, well more like skating skills... I haven't put any expectation into it, as I haven't skated since Saturday, and the new coach didn't know my skating level at all. We decided to show her what I usually do, excluding the dance stuff, and she would correct and build on it. Well, I was very happy! I will write a separate post about this, but I've got new exercise or variations involving, edges, B xstrokes, 3 turns, weight shift from BI push, Twizzles. I couldn't wait to go back skating.

Thursday there was a public session, it was reasonably crowded at first, I could skate the exercises (incorporating the lesson suggestions) using the whole length of the rink. I then went into Tenfox, 3-turn still scraped :( Then it got crowded, so I worked on smaller ice spots, on Twizzles, spins, 3-turns, brackets, 3-turns again. Then the ice got cleared but it was choppy. Knowing I won't skate until Sunday, but more probably Monday, so I'll have time to recover, I decided to go for muscle tiring exercises, those that require deep knee bend, like xovers, chasees, progressives. And then I did cool off exercises on 2 feet and deep knee bend to have stability, so I could add arms and breathing. It was a good day! The new exercises from the new freestyle coach invigorated my stale approach on them... exactly what I thought I needed for motivation and enjoyment.

I checked the ice schedule for the next week and I see Monday 6.30am (definitely not for me), Tuesday 7am (maybe?) and Wednesday 6pm (I don't know, I will probably be tired). I should have the dance lesson Thursday at 3pm, so I need some skating to prepare.

I don't usually skate on weekends, but, with the awareness of the lack of ice for next week, I decided to go skating on Sunday, . It was crowded but it was a freestyle session so at least it had some rules. The intention was mostly towards the TenFox that went just like before, so scraped and late 3-turn. But I had the new exercises from the new freestyle coach that I was able to figure out and develop. So I was happy about that!

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The first two weeks of last month were unfocused. The fist reason was that my work schedule was full, the moon was also full and I am usually restless during that, so I was tired and unfocused to begin with. Then, I added to it... as I had a meeting Northside (where is hard to get because of construction traffic) so I decided to take a have a lesson with my old coach (that coaches only Northside). I also decided to finally mount the blades on my boots with permanent screws and sharpen the blades, that is Northside too. Those were two days lost driving. The ice schedule also changed, I cannot find ice every day, and on some days the available time doesn't work for me. And so, all these took my focus away from my Tenfox more than I would have wanted. I sooo want to test it... But in those circumstances I couldn't concentrate on it, so really, I'm not ready yet.

The 3rd week of the months I talked myself into approaching skating with a positive attitude and I did better. 

The 4th week, I was busy with work again and I lost my positive approach, again... I felt pretty disappointed, and... doubtful about my skating ability. 

Then I thought back and I can see I have a solid foundation of skating skills, what I feel is missing is an holistic approach.  I had to think of  positive things that happened  and practice gratefulness.

- While Northside I finalized my boot mounting (and had a sharpening), that is a huge accomplishment after 2 years of skating with temporary mounted screws. 

- I reminded myself that my goal for last month was to balance my skating effort and enjoyment. So having options besides working on the Tenfox is part of that goal

- Maybe most importantly, I didn't stop skating. In the past, during busy times and feeling distracted, I would have taken a break (and then I would have had to go through the terror of building muscles again). Now, because I had committed to the dance lesson, I kept skating, even if not focused enough.

- I know I can do it, well the dropped 3 turns for TenFox, I had them in control in the past, they will come back!  

The plan for this month?  

-Firstly, don't give up, don't interrupt skating... especially because I have difficult work schedule ahead.

- Then, continue the plan from the last month in looking for a balanced approach to skating that includes working towards testing the TenFox, maybe working towards testing the Juvenile Skating Skills or adult gold, but also enjoying. The only thing I feel I concluded last month, is to not get stuck on the TenFox 3-turn and the TenFox, it was becoming a chore... 

- TenFox, at this point the only setback is that I scrape and I'm not quick enough on the 3 turn (it is improved!).  I feet it is good enough to start working at partnering. I did mention that to my coach that I would like to start partnering 2 lessons ago, I will have to ask again what is the hold up...

- I also feel I should start exercises for specific muscles, I work the ankles when I feel weakness, but I should work the core, back, arms and even legs to supplement the skating...

 

4th week of June

Monday I skated on a busy public session (because that is all it was offered at this rink). I couldn't work on stuff, and I also couldn't find enjoyment. 

Tuesday, finally I got on Freestyle ice.Unfortunately mu phone had low battery so I couldn't put my Tenfox music. I still worked on Tenfox, that looked good to me, except the 3turn that is just a bit better. I don't know if there is something else I should do about it? I skated hard as I decided to not skate Wednesday. I did some double 3turns, twizzles, forward spins (that I want to ask for instruction revive, now that I have the blade mounted with permanent screws), the Foxtrot (that I instruction on last week), and the European Waltz (I wanted to see if the 3 turns work differently there, and I think they do). I'm pretty confused on how to approach skating in a balanced manner, so I can enjoy while still working for progress... But, at the end of the session I wasn't unhappy about it, so there is that... I think I am more content when I work on more things, maybe because some of them work well enough?

Thursday lesson was fine, it just felt scattered? I'm still scraping the 3-turn for TenFox, and I'm not sure how to ask the coach about what is the plan, because I thought I did...  I mean, should I do 20 patterns of TenFox per lesson just because the 3 turn could be improved? From my side I would start partnering and try and test. Because the previous day I controlled the 3-turns in the European Waltz, I asked her to start working on it together. I also asked for help on the Forward Spin.

Friday I couldn't skate because of work, but I was able to skate Saturday. I got caught up again in trying to make the TenFox 3-turn work and I haven't work on much else... 

 

3nd week of June

I approached this week with the goal to loosen up, get out of my head (especially for the TenFox 3-turn situation). I usually dread to put pattern dances on music, because that makes any technique problem more visible, as i cannot put it on time. But I know eventually I have to... So I prepared in the weekend the music (I moved it to my new phone). I clinched on the goal to make it fun, not stress, enjoy the music.

Monday, firstly, not all music played, so later in the day I worked on my phone and playing apps some more. But skating on whatever music played, definitely made me tense. But then I slowly relaxed. And, I remember from the past, the steps work better on music, and the quicker knee bend/ rise is not tiring my muscles so badly as when holding the bent knees and extension longer. Of course for this, I have to be able to control the steps. With all the focus on the music, I didn't have the time to pay attention to the 3-turns, yei!

Tuesday, more skating to more music, it actually worked way better, including the 3-turns. I had way less skidding and they were almost on the beat. I also skated quite hard, knowing that there is no ice, so I will not skate on Wednesday. I was careful to alternate the TenFox work with some edges and breathing, and just gliding on music. 

Thursday lesson. The coach said big improvement! The 3-turn is not yet quick enough, but otherwise, I was able to show her several patterns in full control. I still got corrections on details, but the foundation is solid. 

Friday it was a busy public skate session, disappointing because I expected a Freestyle session. My bad in not paying attention, though there was not a Freestyle session offered that day. So Friday skating was fragmented, nothing to write home about...

2nd week of June: thoughts on rest and balancing my skating

I knew I’ll have a meeting on Monday so I decided to skate on Sunday. I never skate in the weekend because usually there is no ice, if there is, it is very crowded. Plus I formed the rhythm of skating during the week and resting in the weekend.

The minute I decided to skate on Sunday, I felt unhappy.  As I tried to acknowledge my thoughts and feelings,  I have found many... What set my negativity off, is that while looking for ice for Sunday, I had to face the fact that the ice schedule is gonna change for the summer, I'm gonna have fewer options for ice time and the ice is gonna be crowded. Then, I've realized that I am actually tired. I am physically tired from skating ( 5 times last week) but I'm also more tired because  most of my free time goes into skating, I have less time to rest. I was then thinking again about goals, and, if I want to improve, I do need lessons and practice, so I do need to put in all these time, planning and work. I think, this will get better as I will find more clarity in how to balance the skating.

As for this particular Sunday, I found it difficult to decide what to work on, and it felt like I just didn't want to work on Sunday. So I decided to have a skating day for my own pleasure. That lifted the pressure and the unhappy feeling. At the rink, I started slowly and concentrate on feeling my breath, my posture and my extensions. I took the time to finish the exercises with a pose.  I ended up actual working at lots of things!

So, note to myself, do occasionally slow down and smell the roses! I guess, this is, in fact, part of a balanced approached to skating...

Monday, no skating because of a business meeting. But... I have to acknowledge that I was very tired the whole day, unusually so, and it made me wonder if I may be skating too much?

Tuesday I was very busy and I still felt tired. Then I’ve realized there is a full moon coming, I never rest well when there is a full moon. In this circumstance, I’ve decided to not go skating, be gentle towards my body and schedule.

Wednesday. Tuesday night there was this huge beautiful strawberry moon, so of course I woke up at 5 and couldn't fall back asleep. I was even more tired than the previous days. In the past I would have definitely not gone skating. But I have planned a lesson on Thursday, so I felt I had to go. This is one of the benefits of having planned lessons, they make you commit. I didn't stay that long but I was pretty happy on how the Tenfox worked. I was careful ti alternate the work on the Tenfox with slower exercise.

Thursday, I had a dance lesson with my new coach. I woke up rested but I worked so hard to catch up on work, I felt distracted before leaving for skating. Then, I had traffic, it took me 40 minutes instead of 20-30. Then, this session was a Freeskate one, a bit busier that I'm used to. Anyway, these are my excuses for not doing well. The 3s in Tenfox were skidding all the time, every single time! I left very, very disappointed.

Friday. I went skating, it was very crowded, I mostly worked on the Tenfox 3s that didn't go much better than Thursday.

This week was rough, I was excessively tired following the very busy previous week. I kept the skating schedule and the lesson, and that is a win in itself. I got disappointed in the Tenfox 3 turns but I have to remember that progress is not linear, I was tired, or I was too much into my head... Otherwise skating felt in fact good! I think this is the perfect reminder that I have to skate for my own enjoyment and continue in organizing the skating weeks and months so they feel balanced between work for progress and enjoyment.

1st week of June

On Wednesday I'll have a business meeting North side.  That is where my boot fitter is and there is where my old coach is. I've decided to drive up and have a lesson on Tuesday and drop the boots, and pick them up when I get off my business meeting on Wednesday/

Monday. In preparation for my lesson with old coach, I practiced the double 3 turns. They were very rusty but got acceptable during the practice. The only negative was that I took a pretty heavy fall and my muscles tensed up and hurt. But luckily I haven't injured anything. 

Tuesday. The drive there was 1 hour 15 minutes, but back was an hour and a half... so, yeah, it not doable to see my old coach too often. As I work on dance with the new coach, I though to have this lesson toward moves in the field. I requested a full hour lesson. 

- The warmup was edges (correction: look where I'm going - I was flicking my head towards forward, and don't  twist, meaning stay square and encourage the edge by leaning). For the FI edges, tailbone under and more ankle bend. More ankle bend (push into the tongue of the boot, knees have to surpass the toes) I continued to hear during the whole lesson. On B edges more ankle bend and arched back, forming a Z.

- The coach wanted to start with simple 3-turns.  LFO3, surprisingly, the correction for the (the one that troubled me as I couldn't control the exit) was that I didn't turn it on the ball of the foot, I was towards the middle of the blade. I was also not completely aligned over the hip, the correction that worked was to lift the ribs over the hip. Then, a strong check is needed. RBI needed better alignment (lift over the hip and the free shoulder should pass the skating heel, so I should lean into the circle way more) and have the free leg thigh/ knee press into the skating leg. RBO same correction for the free shoulder. Also turn on the back of the blade, on the last 2 screws...

- For the double 3s is very important to check the 1st 3, use the top of the lobe carefully to change the upper body and extend the free foot (for the B 3s)

- Power 3s, after Mo, a push into B3 is acceptable, then the power comes from a lift like for a Loop jump. Strong check and repeat 

Wednesday, after I picked up the boots, I stopped by the rink on my way home. It was a bit of bad lack that the session I used to go to, was now an hour later. I decided to enter the session that was on right then, but I had just 15 minutes of skating. They had then, a 30 minutes break... so I didn't stay for the next session. With that little time I decided to not go through the 3-turns correction. I decided to work on the TenFox 3-turn. Yeap still scrapping...

Thursday. After 2 days away from home and work, I had so much to do. There were 2 skating sessions that day, morning at 9, and mid day 1.30. I decided to go to the 9 am one, because from my previous experience, when I get too much work to do I get caught up or exhausted  and I don't go skating anymore. While driving I though on how to organize the skating sessions and I couldn't really. My mind kept slipping back to work. So, I skated in default mode, and that took my again into the TenFox... mostly the 3-turn. I skated only TenFox related exercises and I skated hard so I felt tired after 35 minutes. Maybe it was ok for that day, as I had lots of work waiting. But,  this is exactly what I don't want to do... I want to balance each skating sessions (to work on more things) and the skating journey in general. My goal from this month, is to find ways to do that.

Anyway... the TenFox 3-turn. 

- I figured I was pressing towards the ball of the foot to accentuate the FO entry edge while rising, so at the point of the turn there was no more space to rock forward.  So I have to stay on the back of the blade. Probably a stronger core and posture, with the tailbone underneath, or hips forward, would help

- While twisting (and turning) I have to bring the hip forward (the free ribs and hip feel stacked over the skating side). And of course, the feet together (correction from my new coach). Then, I figured maybe I should think ate pigeon toe instead of feet together, that may bring the hip forward too.

Friday I went skating with the thought of finding balance in my skating. 

- I warmed up as I always do - fast

- I added some alignment awareness warm up exercises (like slower edges) - slow

- Chasses and SwRolls - fast

- Those seamed to help the entry into the TenFox 3-turn - slow

- TenFox - fast

- regular 3-turns with emphasis again, on alignment. I insisted on the LFO 3-turn and the circles (edges) F and B - slow

-TenFox - fast 

- exercise for TenFox of RFO double bend into the 3 turn. I think I finally figured out how to fix it. I was rising at the end of the 4 count double bend. The new coach suggested to stay low, but you have to rise to push into the 3-turn. I watched some videos of the dance and it looks that both the rise in the middle of the 4 count, and at the end of 4 count are very quick, not a full beat, so the rise is AFTER the 4 count double bend edge, and it IS the push into the 3 turn. With this approach the 3-turn seems to be on time. I think I was adding almost 2 beats there... one to finish the 4 count lobe and one to push into the 3-turn. If this is figured out, fingers crossed, I still need to make everything a little quicker to match the required tempo. 

 -Twizzles - I didn't work on them in a while and they weren't stable - slow

- the B power 3-turns, but slow, working at the form 

-F  Stroking and Xstrokes - they were slow, a sign that I was tired

- Winding down 

This took 45 minutes, I was happy at the end. Of course I could have felt happy because I felt progress on TenFox. But maybe I made this progress because I tried a different approach. Also, a shout out to the alignment exercises, they seam to help and I can do them slow, when I'm tired. I should continue to incorporate them into most of the session. And I looks that I intuitively worked on some fast things, then some slow things.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I was skating hard and the Covid interrupted, well, everything. After Covid I had a hard time picking up skating again because of boots problems, I actually almost gave up.... Then,  I skated on and off. Whenever I picked up the skating again I had to go through a painful phase of building muscles. I also couldn't reach my coach because of heavy traffic during construction on expressway. I had no structure in my skating week or sessions, I've got demotivated, and got busy with other things.

But I figured out basically all of these! 

-The boots. I needed tighter, lower volume, boots and none of the four acclaimed boot fitters could not figure out a model to do that, including a custom boot, I bough in desperation on ebay, a half size too small and stretched the tip of one of the boots that felt too small. I have to keep stretching it weekly and it is not as tight as mi old boots, but it works! I still skate with temporary screws, I hope I can have the mounting finished this coming week.

-The building of the muscles. I am hyper mobile and so, my muscles get tired easier than regular people. I figured out after studying all kind of articles that I should not skate too hard when I'm building muscles. If I overwork the muscles, they get too damaged, I am in too much pain, and they need a long time to recover, like a full week, and they don't get the chance to build, and the following week I'm back to square one. Instead, I have to skate just to the point of feeling tired, then I can skate after 2 days, or even the next day and in couple of weeks I have some improvement!

- Coach. The expressway in my area is under construction and the traffic made it unrealistic for me to go to the rinks where my coach teaches, what it used to be a 35-40 minutes drive is now an hour and a half. I just found a coach at 20 minutes away, and my old coach was her coach back in the day, so there is some continuity there. I will still see my old coach whenever I can find the time, but now I can count on continuous instruction.

- Structure, motivation and goals. Having a coach gives some structure to my skating week and makes me skate harder as I have somebody to show my progress.

- Ice time. While floating around in between rinks, I ended up going more to a new rink that is very close to my house, just 10 minutes. It is the training rink (with two surfaces) of the big city hockey team. I tried it when it first opened, but they had unreliable schedule. Now, they figured it out better, and they have freestyle ice and public skate almost every day. 

My plan for the next months is, of course, to test the TenFox. 

BUT... my main goal is now: skating longevity, I want to build a balanced practice, a more uniform effort. When I used to skate hard in the past, before covid, I used to yo-yo in between feeling motivated to progress and test, and frustrated by any adverse condition, and even bored to stick to working on the same skills. So the bigger plan is to pay attention on the effort towards progress versus the enjoyment I get from skating day by day. 

 

4th week of May

 Monday was Memorial Day and the skating session was crowded, I expected it but I went anyway. I didn't stay long and I didn't do much, but I figured it would help both the balance and the muscle conditioning to not have a break from Friday till Tuesday.

Tuesday I worked hard at TenFox, maybe too hard. I definitely  feel motivated when I know I have a lesson. I worked on what the coaches suggested on the last lesson, the dropped 3s and Mohawk and skating everything quicker with mixed results. At the end of the session I felt very tired, but... I did a lot and I stayed longer, so putting it in perspective, there is an improvement in the muscle conditioning. Driving home I felt a bit unhappy that I haven't worked on other things. I think I'll have to be careful to balance my skating, keep the motivation up by having goals like testing the TenFox but allow time to also work the other skills, and new things for enjoyment. I think I'm mostly afraid that I may burn out.

Wednesday it was a rainy and drab day. In the past I wouldn't have gone out of the house, but knowing I have a lesson on Thursday, I did go. After a short warm up, I started immediately with the TenFox. After 2 patterns I decided to work on some skating skills. After one exercise I went back to the TenFox, and so forth. I think this may work! 

Thursday I had my second dance lesson with the new coach. There was definite improvement on the TenFox, I'm gonna add the corrections to the previous post. And we squeezed in few other exercises because I needed to rest a bit in between the TenFox patterns.

Friday I was tired but I was excited to try some corrections I've got in the lesson, so, this week I skated 5 times! 

TenFox update

I was working at the TenFox when the Covid interrupted, well everything. I had an intention to start working at it again at the end of last year, I had a private lesson towards it but I gave up as it became clear that I wont be able to see my coach regularly. I do work and test the pattern dances by partnering my coach, so without him... I now found a new coach, and the first lesson was promising. 

Here are the corrections:

- start at the red dot on the hockey circle, not at the edge. That helped a lot in filling the ice.

-intro dropped 3 turn. I worked on these at the end of last year. I could do them at a pace of 3 counts, so turning on 3. Whenever I was trying them in the TenFox, on a 2 count, I was scraping them. The correction from my old coach was to straighten up completely as I was turning, also to keep connected the skating shoulder with the free leg, I guess to help the free hip come around. More than that, I was interrupting the flow after the first stroke, I was rising and then twisting the shoulders, while the skating foot also stalled. I have to rise and twist at the same time, let the skating foot continue and bring the free hip around more. The 3s improved, but now they are slow again. I think the biggest reason is that my muscles are tired and sluggish so I'm not quick enough.  The new coach suggestion was to allow for a lower, shorter, extension into the stroke, so I can rise and turn quicker. And instead of rise, her cue is together (feet together), that helped straightening faster I guess!

- B progressive, quicker stroking. The coaches cue is push, push... 2nd lesson correction, stay low during all strokes.

- B SwR make it tighter, quicker. 2nd lesson correction for BSwR in general was to arch the back

- Step forward

- 4 count edge with knee bend, point the toe and maybe don't rise at the end completely, so I gain time to get into the 3turn, where I'm late :(

- B progressives towards back, along the hockey circle 

- Mo, don't swing the free leg, that brings the foot at the skating foot toe, after 1st edge bring the free for directly at instep (that would make me rise too). I'm excited to have the new image and cue of together  instead of rise, I guess just because it is new, it grabs my attention quicker. I figured while training that if I push the right shoulder back more, the hip seems to open and the free foot seem to go easier towards the instep

 

 !!! (June 6th) I think I finally figured out how to fix the timing of the 3-turn. I was rising at the end of the 4 count double bend. The new coach suggested to stay low, but you have to rise to push into the 3-turn. I watched some videos of the dance and it looks that both the rise in the middle of the 4 count, and at the end of 4 count are very quick, not a full beat, so the rise is AFTER the 4 count double bend edge, and it IS the push into the 3 turn. With this approach the 3-turn seems to be on time. I think I was adding almost 2 beats there... one to finish the 4 count lobe and one to push into the 3-turn. If this is figured out, fingers crossed, I still need to make everything a little quicker to match the required tempo. 

 

3rd week of May - New Dance Coach

I expect to be tired and hurting when I start skating after a break, but last week I was more tired than I expected. Through past experience I’ve realized is better to skate shorter sessions so I don't get the muscles so tired that they would need a week to recover. I skated short sessions, and still... tired.

And this Monday I was still tired, both as overall feeling and the muscles felt sluggish.

Wednesday I’ve met a Friend and skated together, I did bursts of skating harder and then breaks for social skating. I felt OK, but not strong. 

Thursday I’ve took a dance lesson! I found a new dance coach! My old coach is an hour and a half away, the new one, 20 minutes. I will work wit the new coach towards testing the TenFox. During the lesson I skated quite hard (speed and knee bend) to show her the dance. I was careful to pace myself, take some breaks. My tiredness level was OK, better than my very diminished expectation from the previous week experience. The lesson was also OK, I tried to not put much expectations being that I like my old coach so much, plus the new coach is a lady so it will be probably more difficult to partner. But she used to skate with my old coach so there is some similarity in their style so some continuity.

Friday I was out of the house for a meeting that finished when the ice was available, so I went and skated again. I was very tired but excited to try some corrections I’ve got. I feel I can correct most things, the hardest to correct is the quickness needed. I feel pretty balanced, I think, at this point, what holds me back is the muscles strength. That will come. 

I feel excited to push the dance. It is nice to feel excited after so long of feeling hopeless and frustrated. But, for next week I will have to be careful to be patient and not work too hard, to let my muscles recover.

 

 

2nd week of May

This week I have skated 3 times but... not much...

Monday I was excited and I skated 40 minutes. I know from experience that when I pick up skating after a long break I should start with 30 minutes. But Monday skating felt quite good.

Wednesday I skated 30 minutes, I had to leave and go to an appointment but my muscles felt tired anyhow, it was ok.

Friday was the worst of these 3 days. I don't know if my muscles were still tired... probably yes, but I was tired because I haven't sleep well (thunderstorms). I was sluggish and not very focused.

I'm hoping for a lesson next week, but I don't feel I got my "skating legs" back. 

*Note to my future self: DO NOT take so long breaks anymore, you will regret it! Instead of skating, you will have to use 2 weeks to build muscles and you will hurt! You will also not be able to plan lessons and think at goals.

*Note to check with my coach... Today I suddenly scraped the European Waltz dropped 3s (they were fine for a while now). I think it is because my muscles, or the body, were tired and as I stroke the outside edge I leaned forward (not engaging the core and hips to stay on the back of the blade), so when I raised and twisted I didn't have more space to go forward on the blade ti turn cleanly... 

*Another question, towards what direction should I point the toe when skating backwards. Because I push with a pigeon toe, I don't seam to be quick enough to get a turned out foot.

 

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

 After not skating at all in April, I skated now once per week for the last 2 weeks. Interestingly the balance and skills felt pretty good (or could have been a comparison with my low expectations). The building back the muscles will be a problem... again. I think it would be way easier if I would skate at least 2 times per week, and/or I would do some off ice leg workout when I take a break from skating.

The next weeks I'm gonna (hopefully) skate 3 times per week. Besides the physical pain from building the muscles working at the old things feels "grinding" to me, there is a disappointment that the things don't improve, and after a break from skating they actually regress and there is lack of excitement.

Breaks are gonna inevitably happen again, so I'm trying to build some wisdom in dealing with the breaks. I think the problem is more mental than physical and it is a loss of motivation, a disconnect from skating. And talking about breaks happening again... the summer ice is starting in 2 weeks so very little ice is gonna be  available (and because the kids are on vacation and have camps).

 I hope I won't "fall" into a break again, but it doesn't look that during the summer I can build  a full skating practice for progress. Progress motivates me.Testing motivates me, because even if I have to grind on those skills, I have a goal. And learning new things motivates me because that is exciting in the moment. 

Testing the Tenfox is not in the stars until I find a way to take weekly lessons, the skills I believe are there, but because I test while partnering with my coach and I need consistent time partnering to get comfortable. 

The next Skating Skills (former Moves in the Field) that I could test are the Standard Bronze (former Juvenile) or the Adult Gold and most of the skills in these tests are the same. I haven't have instruction on them in forever, I guess I can have a lesson in that, but with unpredictable skating time I'm not sure I can see progress and testing may be not close by.

 For learning new things I definitely need another coach, my old coach is into "grinding" the fundamentals (ice dance and everything else), and he is great at it. But he is also more than an hour driving distance away from me. So it would be great to find a coach at the rink that is close to me. A new coach would be a whole new adventure, could be good or not...

These are some thought on some possible scenarios. 

I don't feel I can plan much, I think I should have a lesson towards moves with my old coach and try and find a new coach at the close by rink.

 

 

 

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

 Well, I have not skated at all this month :( 

And I'm terrified of the painful "come back" I'll have to go through.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

 Last month was grinding, it felt like a commitment more than enjoyment. 

I planned for a lesson at the end of the month but my coach couldn't make the time we agreed on, with good excuse. This unrevealed my meticulously plan for motivating myself into skating consistently. The problem is that work is very busy, some day I cannot skate, but what is even worse, is when I have to travel for work half weeks. I have to travel the second week of March, then again the last 2 week in April and 1st week of May. I need lots of effort to get back into a skating schedule after these long interruptions. I am happy that it seems that I found the recipe for building the muscle strength back by taking it easy and not overexerting myself. And I was hoping I found the recipe to keep my interest and excitement up through these monthly lessons.

So, for now, I'm giving up on any planing for consistency and keeping the muscles in shape, it is just too much effort for the time I have. I will have to have another "come back" in May.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

The second part of the last month I worked hard into getting at the rink 3 times per week. It is hard to make time for it, but it seems the biggest problem is that my muscle hurt and I feel pretty tired for the first two weeks when I skate 3 times per week. The thing that I discovered during the last skating "come back" is that I build strength faster if I take it easier and stop skating when I feel tired. Then, I'm not hurting so badly and I can come back and skate in 2 days.

So I took it easy and slowly built while working on the easier and by now more boring exercises. And then I worked on the newer things that I had instruction on the last lesson (basically the European 3turns and the Foxtrot). 

I think that having some shinny new things to work on, helps my motivation. I used to take weekly lessons and now I don't have the time for it (my coach is an hour driving distance, worse with traffic). I plan on another lesson, it looks it is a full month from the previous one, and I think that while I cannot really build new elements, I get some corrections so I don't build or continue training with bad form.

I also feel that the lessons help me mentally by having a commitment. It is forcing me to train more consistently, the boring stuff. And I also  get excited for the lesson to maybe ask for some little new thing.

Private Lesson

For my private lesson I prepared a bunch of questions on things I felt I regressed, and also on things I wanted to work in the future on and didn't want to create bad habits.

- Left Inside Mohawk (the regular one, done in MITF or FS) Problem: I was changing the entry edge from I to O just before the turn; Correction: twist the upper body sideways to align over the circle, so the L shoulder back  (I used to stay more square and the left shoulder stayed back, outside the circle, pushing me to an O edge)

- The European Waltz 3turns Problem: I was delaying the turn (I guess to find the alignment) and then force the turn from the foot/ ankle. Correction: the regular 3 turn has 5 phases after the entry edge: Rise, Turn the upper body, Turn, Check, Re-bend, then exit edge exit. The European Waltz being quicker combines the first 3 phases, so you use the rise from the entry edge to get flow into turning the upper body over the circle; the back hip stays only slightly back (I used to leave it back, the correction felt like I had to engage it to bring it forward), engaged in opposition with the upper body twist and release at the point of turn. This release of the hip creates the turn. The check is with the shoulder down, arm up like being pulled backwards by somebody. Interestingly I was recently working after some youtube videos, at the regular 3 turns check, and they were saying press the palm down and back... I guess this does the same thing, shoulder down and upper body straight/ not forward. The strong check and balance allows to be able to not wide push. In order to push neatly, the skating foot moves out of the way, the new skating foot stays underneath

- The Foxtrot O ClMo Problem: I can do it but not at full speed, and it feels jumped. The correction: O entry edge by looking to the left, Rise and bring L foot toe to R foot heel (I think I was bringing the instep at the heel), Plie and twist the left foot (I guess the ball of the foot/ little toe to hold the outside edge) out of the way by maintaining the outside edge by staying on the little toe, this twist makes way for the right foot to step down underneath the body, and the left foot pushes from the plie.

- B  Cross Strokes Problem, not much flow. Solution: after the stroke the free leg opens to the side so it can come back (for the next stoke) directly behind the heel, plie and push, then the knees stay togheter to help the body weigh on the new O edge

- F Cross Strokes to improve, feel the force of the  push going into the skating knee

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

As expected, the ice availability was scarce during holidays. I skated occasionally so I don't get totally disconnected.

 I am planing a private lesson so hopefully I get some structure and some enthusiasm back into my into my skating.