Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I haven't posted an update from the beginning of March. The plan was to take a balanced approach to skating in both scheduling, goals/ expectations and even the actual skating effort. Also, I've still haven't finalized the blade adjustment, in the sense that it felt better, but I have hoped it could get even better, so the blades mount had only on temporarily screws so I would able to move the blade/add shims myself.  The first week of March I couldn't skate at all (work related), and the I've slowly deflated and skated on and off, mostly off.

The month of April... no skating! (including this first week of May). The first 2 weeks of April I had crazy work projects, then, as I was very tired, I've got a little cold. Plus one of my cats went through teeth surgery. What I find interesting is that, while I would have been able to skate at least once a week, I've chosen not to... Yes, I was tired and a little sick, but I also reasoned that skating just once a week my muscles are going to hurt. And looking back, I was also unmotivated because I didn't have a clear skating plan and the fact that I'm still not comfortable with the blade alignment.

The plan for the month of May?

The priority is to finish with the blade alignment. If you remember I had a bootfitter on the ice with me for an hour and he basically agreed with everything I was feeling. Then he moved the left blade forward, over the edge of the tip of the boot's sole, as I wasn't feeling stable on the rocker. Now I just have to figure out the balance between inside/outside edge, as I did on the right boot. I pronate (on both right and left sides), so it's not gonna be perfect. My "technique" is to move the blade towards inside, this helping to get on the outside edge, until the inside edge starts to suffer. Of course both the front of the blade and the heel have to be figured out, and they also have to "feel"straight. Then, if I still cannot go hold the outside edge, I add shims.  It is annoying because on ice, instead of skating, I have to run specific exercises that show the balance, then go out of the ice, take the boot off and adjust... then back on ice... 

The alignment on the right boot feels as good as it's gonna get. On the left I was feeling that my heel needs to be a little more "in", I was collapsing towards inside. It wasn't terrible, so I thought let's mostly skate, build muscles and have the alignment in the back of my mind. But it seems that it is holding me back mentally as I perceive it that I "cannot" skate, I'm just building muscles/ exercising. 

The plan is to hopefully progress with the blade alignment, and to skate as I used to skate, for progress, at least 3 times per week, to start with, though, realistically I cannot expect much progress even skating 3 times per week. But I don't think the "balanced" approach to skating worked for me. I am motivated if I have goals and work towards certain skating skills or tests. 

My last goals (3 years ago, before covid and the boots troubles) were Adult Gold Moves and Standard Tenfox. I think I should start working on this and maybe have a lesson to map out the Gold Moves.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

Let's review last month. 

I was finally able to work on the blades alignment. It feels waaaay better! In the past I always felt my right foot more unstable, but on these new boots, the left foot balance was terrible, it ended up I was right to request the blade to be moved forward, you can read all about the alignment here. Now the left foot feels good, the right just OK. I still want to try some things so I'm still on temporary mount  (screws) for now.

And how did the actual skating go last month? Not bad... I was able to skate consistently twice a week. At the beginning of the month I was focused more on feeling the blade and building muscles, the last 2 weeks I decided to concentrate on reviewing skating skills. 

I made a list with what I though to be doable exercises. It included my warm up, edges and the moves in the field up to what I tested, so nothing too challenging. I am trying to hold back for three reasons. Firstly, I am still not 100% aligned and safe on these boots, secondly I am eager, after 2 years of skating cautiously on my old boots, to go fast and that goes against the first point, so against safety. The third point is, I am still building muscles and stamina, I do feel out of breath when I skate faster.  

I'll keep the same plan for this month. I was reviewing my blog and I've realized it took me exactly 2 years to find new boots. My skating feels like a comeback. I have to accept it is challenging, also my available time for skating is not the same as before. In the past my goal was training for progress, now I am committed to approach skating in a more balanced way. I feel I have to go methodically and slowish for a while, to build my balance, muscle, stamina. And I think it is a sensible, safe, challenging enough and rewarding enough plan, all things considering.

Adding to the balanced approach is the fact that I won't skate at all the fist week of March. I've decided I wanted to watch Shyncro Nationals, and I have to watch live as there is no replay and it runs at the same time as my own skating slot would be.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

 Now that I have boots! and my regular Monday to Friday noon/ lunch break ice starts this week, I feel antsy to look ahead. Well, the boots still need adjustments and this week the rink is closed on Monday for Labor day and I cannot skate on Friday so this week is a tease, but for the rest of the month the prognosis for the skating conditions looks good.

I think this month I want to gently and realistically asses where I'm at and where could I go. 

After 2 years without proper boots, firstly, I'm 2 years older, getting close to the big 50. I think I'll have to accept that my physical abilities will slowly decline, and has declined already. Also, I fell my schedule has changed, I had to shift the focus that I had on skating into other activities. I suspect, it will be difficult to commit to skating the same amount of time I committed before. And there is that desire to progress... but is it realistic to expect progress? And if I wouldn't expect much progress, will I find motivation to put hard work in? If not, I will have to set my expectations on skating for pleasure.

My goals for this month are to finalize the boots adjustments, to work my muscles, and to watch my schedule to see how much time I can allocate to skating.

Settling into my old boots

This week, on Monday I started to feel I've reached a reasonable alignment on my old boots. At some point I do have to stop adjusting the blades and allow myself to get used with what alignment there is. I knew from when I've changed my blades few years ago that my right boot is collapsed towards inside. Than, and my pronation that probably cased the boot to collapse in the first place, were compensated by added shims between the sole of the boot and the frame of the blade. I added another layer of shims, as I felt and I could see the old layer was compressed. I also added to the left boot, where while I cannot see the boots is collapsed, it may be, because that is what I feel. This is not an ideal solution, and it may not hold for long (I was hoping for a a whole year), but I finally felt I could skate. I also tried to screw extra screws with a hand screwdriver, and it worked. So I think I'll be safe.

 On Wednesday, I've tried to get into my old skating routine. Part of my warm up are exercises that bring awareness to alignment and the need to press into ice. I do slalom, edge presses and stroking forward and backward. Then depending either on my mood, either on the plan to test something or not, I do either MITF exercises, either dance exercise, or both. I've found myself cautious to go fast so I ditched the dance in favor of the moves. I'm quite comfortable with these Pre-Juvenile exercises so I felt I could work on building back speed. The good surprise is that I feel  the 3-turns are better. I think the new blade alignment helps. The back circle eight is not very confident and not coming around on the inside edges. That may be because of the added shims that push me towards outside. I'll have to get used with it. I've tried all kinds of exercise in the MITF category, mostly on the slow side. I did fast exercises only on the things I'm most comfortable with, stroking, crossovers. I haven't tried jumping yet, that is in the plan for the next skating session. My forward spin is still MIA, that may be because of the new insole that is thicker on the forefoot but the arch is lower, so it's pushing me more to the heel then before? Hopefully I'll get used with that too... it is very frustrating. The other not so pleasant surprise is that I was sore and tired after the skate on Wednesday. The worst surprise is the fact that my hip that was injured acted up again. Those muscles are either not strong enough, either they tense after a more intense work out. I did longer strokes with the extension held, I did the Preliminary pattern of  back crossover to back extension edge, and I did spirals. I'll try to tone it down and build those muscles carefully. I'll also have to stretch after skating, even if shortly, because we are not allowed to stay more then 10 minutes in the building because of covid restrictions.

Friday, as I stepped on ice, I found myself feeling tired and slow. After my usual warm up of slalom, edge presses and stroking I thought I'll try the dance exercises including the dropped 3-turns, without pushing, just observing the alignment and my level of confidence in skating faster. After all these, I felt like going slower, so I did circles 8s, the backward inside still not coming back to center. I did sets of  forward to backward 3 turns, forward brackets, twizzles. I tried the forward spin, nope, nope and nope... Backward spin... fine. I did some jumping just 3 to 5 of each waltz, salcow, my under rotated loop and toe loop... fine. At this point I felt like running the Pre-Juv MITF exercises and they were mostly fine. I did some stroking around and talking to a friend. Then, with renew energy I did the Ten fox. 

All in all, the conclusion after this week's skating, is that while I'm not 100% comfortable with the alignment of my blades, that is probably because the boots are old and deformed and there is not much I can do about it, so I should try and allow my body to get use with them.

My skating skills are kind of there, but kind of dusty.

My body needs a little time to build up the muscles again, no wonder, as I didn't skate at all in January, and most of February I was skating slowly to break in the new boots that I returned.

I'm missing... maybe gumption would be the right word... Hopefully I'll get if after my body will feel stronger.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I write a post with this title at the beginning of each month... it is supposed to be a monthly review. I find it fitting that is has "adjustment" in the title, as that seams to be the main skating related effort I put in these days.

I'm happy to report that the covid cases dropped in my area. We are still under heavy restrictions waiting to see what will be the impact of the Thanksgiving travel and gatherings. So my home rink is still closed, but there are still rinks open for practice ice. Last month I went  skating twice  a week to the rink where I used to take private lessons. Last week I even added a lesson.

I'm putting as much effort as I can into MITF Pre-Juvenile test preparation. I'm trying to test this for more then a year, from last summer, when something went wrong with the registration, then I've hurt my hip, then the winter holiday season slowed me down, then covid happened, then I've got to get back the skills and confidence, then I had blade problems, now, the test sessions are scarce and they fill out the moment they are announced. I want to be ready to test, so when a test is announced I can register immediately.

Lately I've started each skating session with the "5 minutes warm up" for the test that I've described in my last post,  and the test. Then I've worked on the test on the skills I've felt I needed improvement (mostly the 3-turns). Then I did something else (spins, the slow new skills I'm learning), then I went back to the 3-turns. I'll keep up the good work for this test, I'll continue starting with it each skating session.

What I'll add, is the Nutcracker exibition program. I stopped working at it two weeks ago, as the rink that organizes it closed, but it seams it's happening!  The rink did close, but then they allowed private rentals, including private lessons. For the exhibition, the skaters will be staggered, in 10 minutes intervals. Each skater should come fully dressed, skates on, 20 minutes in advance her skating time, warm up for 10 minutes on the second rink, then move on the big rink, do her number (2 minutes), then leave. Each skater can have 2 people with her, and the coach. The event will be live streamed. It sounded a little weird at first, then, I thought that it's gonna actually be sweet, like a private moment for each skater and very immediate family or friends.

Going back to the program... I'm gonna do my old pre-bronze freestyle program, the only program I ever had, on Nutcracker music. I want to challenge myself and add a back spin at the end. My back spin is consistent at this point, but I do it on a line and with a slow entrance. I've had mixed results when I've tried it from steps, with a shorter and faster entrance. I also want to finish the spin with the free leg inside, so I can do a back pivot after, and I keep forgetting that. I'm used to the landing position exit. The rest of the program elements should be fine, but I haven't practice the program from when I tested it, so I hesitate at points, it takes me a second to remember what comes next. And I have other challenges... Firstly, the music it's a little longer, the rhythm it's a little faster, so I think I'll have to add some moves to fill the program. To complicate things, the music doesn't have strong sections, but it's kind of one tone, so it doesn't help me structure the program and look for points to check my timing. I'll have to try it many many times and see what I can fit in and what not. And... at the rink where I skate now, it is complicated to put music, I'll have to try earbuds... I'm planning to skate 4 session until the exhibition and I'll do my best.

I also want a new dress and if you remember, I sew them myself. I had a dream of a silver gray lace and mesh ethereal one, but besides the fact I won't have the time to make it as it's a bit complicated, I also think it may not be a good fit for the occasion. I've also wished for a very simple, like stark simple, white dress. I hope I can make that. If not, I'll use the old gold dress. 

The goal for this Nutcracker exhibition was to get joy and I'm determined to let it be a joyful process even if the choreography, the skating elements and the dress won't be perfect... 

The second part of this month should be mostly about moves. Plus, I'm gonna add it here as a goal, so I won't forget... I have to work on the loop jump consistently. I want eventually to be able to have Bronze Freestyle program and I need the loop jump for that.

Program: Solo Free Dance

I'm having a solo free dance program choreographed. I had only one program, freestyle adult pre-bronze, in my whole skating career, and it was a really good and motivating experience. I enjoyed both the process and the final result. It also made me work hard at the elements included in the program. So it was a win win, for both my goals of improving my skating and enjoying my skating. The only negative was that it did take time away from the other "training" I was doing (moves and pattern dances). I was actively looking for a period of time when the "training" was slowing down anyway to have a program choreographed. That would have been the summer... But the choreographer I worked with before was out of town. I have found somebody else that it actually specialized in ice dance, and I wanted a solo free dance program to test anyway. So I went for it. It's the first level for solo ice dancing Juvenile.

I will say the "but" here, and be done with any negativity and enjoy the process. "But" the summer is gone,  and my old ice is back, uncrowded ice that fits my weekly schedule, so it would be ideal for "training" for progress and tests.

And now, let the fun begin... I had the first day of choreography and we went through all the elements required to be included:
- One edge element not to exceed 7 seconds. I demonstrated all my spirals and the best looking and most comfortable is the right forward inside
- One dance spin. I can do forward and backward upward spins. Combinations are not allowed at this level, and the forward spin is more stable then the backward spin.The choreographer suggested I do some change of position, because that is allowed. I'm super excited, because I've never done that before! She gave me some positions to work on and then we'll see which ones I can successfully combine with a classic or scratch forward spin.
- One step sequence. The choreographer suggested a midline and she gave me some steps to try, they may stay or may change... But what I have up to now is a LFO 3-turn into a wide power step LF mohawk that she was excited I made it look choctaw-ish, stay on the exit edge and continue with a RBI 3-turn, LF step and RFI 3-turn...
- One twizzle. I've never learned twizzles, so I'm excited again that I'll have something new to work on. And... I'm also not excited because they seem hard!

We didn't put anything on music, but we've also listen to the music and the choreographer pointed where the elements will be. From next week we'll start to fill in the steps, on music. I think... I will, of course fill you in....

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

If you remember, I wasn't happy with my skating 2 months ago. I had to prepay ice for a whole month and I bought 3 sessions per week, but the slots that I've paid for, haven't worked for me. Tuesdays sessions were after a hockey camp and the ice was terrible to the point of unsafe. Fridays were better. Saturdays I was tired after Fridays. After the first week, I ended up skating only once or twice per week. I also got disappointed that I couldn't stick with my plan.

Last month I bought ice only Mondays and Fridays and I added an occasional Tuesday lesson at another rink. Did I have one, or did I have 2 lessons? I don't even remember. It wasn't a productive month, being that I skated only twice a week, but as I knew I coudn't expect much, at least I didn't get frustrated.

I worked mostly on MITF, trying to get closer to test the Pre Juvenile ones. I think the only thing I miss is the confidence in 3-turns. I can do them fine few session in a row, and then I don't... On the last lesson, the coach corrected my alignment, and asked me to add more speed. The speed really makes them flow. And speed is confidence.

For Ice dancing I've ran my exercises, but I haven't had corrections from my coach in ages, I don't really work on them, I mostly observe the flow and the posture. I've tried to listed to Ten Fox music (that's the dance I work on now) in just one earbud, while doing these exercises, to at least work on timing. And that worked. Even the Ten Foxed kind of worked once or twice. But I felt it asked for more speed then I was comfortable to put on the quite crowded sessions. Plus dance at speed is the thing that gets me the most tired, so I've done more then nothing but not much.

I did Freestyle consistently, but again not much as I was afraid to not aggravate the last injury, the right hip. The jumps are fine, I'm just not making them bigger at this point. I saw in the last jump lesson that I can make them bigger, so I'm not gonna worry about that now. I've hesitated to work on the loop jump because it is on the right hip, but the few I've done haven't hurt, so maybe I could have worked more on those.  I've definitely felt pain on the back spin, so I've scratched that... Meanwhile, the scratch spin is finally comfortable (I was getting dizzy after the quarantine).

I did the Figures from the first test whenever I felt tired. The forward outside and inside circles look good, I'm working at the restart of the each circle, the marks of the push have to be on top of each other... they are getting closer... Then, on the waltz eight circles, the back push after the 3-turn and the forward stroke after the back edge need to start on the same exact spots. I'll have to ask my coach if you can mark with a marker those spots to be more visible. I don't even see those spots. You need to look down for those marks without getting out of alignment.

So, last month, while I haven't skated enough to improve anything, I think I skated enough and consistently enough to consolidate the old skills.

This month I bought ice for Mondays, Wednesdays (finally they had ice on Wednesdays), Fridays at my rink, to skate on my own, and I'll have each Tuesday a lesson at another rink. The adult only ice will start only from the second week, and I'm holding my breath to be the same that it used to be, safe... But it may be not. There may be too many newcomers and they may give it a different pace. I've heard a high level freestyler signed for this ice. This is not Freestyle ice, so nobody has priority, not the lessons, not the jumps, you don't have to spin in the middle or not use the lutz corner, the music has to be in a public skate style, nobody can run their program time after time... This is ice meant for adults with a wide variety of skills, to enjoy while feeling safe (from being ran down), and being respectful to each other. But will the new people know?

Another issue that may arise is hip pain. I have an old injury at the left hip and a new one at the right... While they feel mostly fine, I'm worried if I will be able to handle skating 3 days in a row (Monday, Tuesday with my coach and Wednesday). This week was I skated like that and I have to say I felt a little pain the hips, more like tiredness but.... I'm definitely gonna be watching out.

And just one more development. I saved another kitten! He is at the point when he starts eating on his own, so while there was a couple of nights that I woke up to feed him, he should be fine from now on, and soon on his way because I've already found a home for him!

I find my self, again, not sure how to plan next month. I was writing in the last post that I hope I'll be able to "train" for progress, but after how this first days of September went, I'm not so sure I can. The problem is, that if I make it my plan to train, and then I cannot stick to the plan, I get disappointed, discouraged... Also, if I approach the skating session pushing to train, while the ice is crowded, or there are several strong skaters on ice, the ice is bad, I'm tired or I feel pain, I cannot train, and I ask for injuries... I was looking before the pandemic at having a process oriented training instead of goal oriented (passing tests) training. I thought that setting my expectations to test on a certain date, and then seeing I wasn't, made me frustrated. But what I'm seeing now is that I actually cannot plan the "process".

So, for now, the plan is to "let it be". I'll add the song on the skating play list, maybe that'll help?

New thoughts about skating for progres versus enjoynment

I had a talk with my coach. Between other things we reviewed our work together. I first hired him just to partner me for tests for dances. But I liked his way of explaining, so I continued working on dances with him, then I added moves, then Freestyle, then figures. My goal was to progress and I was skating 7 to 9 sessions a week (4 on my own, 2 private lessons and one or 2 group lessons). I've got bursts of frustration when I couldn't train as I wanted because the ice was bad, it was too crowded, or I was tired, but I was generally satisfied.

Everything changed when hurt my left hip. I starting skating less to allow the hip to heal. But even when I skated I was holding back. I was hurting when I worked on extensions (and in dance everything has extensions), on 3-turns on that hip, etc. Then, I started saving stray cats and kittens, I had some orphaned kittens that needed to be feed by bottle including during the night, so I was tired for months. Looking back, it is clear that I couldn't progress in those conditions. I also couldn't enjoy skating while I was hurting, tired. And I also was having expectations about progress and not actually progressing, so I was getting frustreted... It is also clear that I couldn't see all these, then.

I was back on a good training pace before the quarantine, but then "that" (the quarantine) happened. Hopefully I can get back, from this week, on a good schedule and skating training (skating 3 times a week plus one lesson)... for progress....

But I also want to not forget the perspective I have now, about the time I couldn't "train" because I'm sure there will be times like that again. I want to be prepared to handle those kind of times better... The first challenge I see, is to be able to acknowledge when I cannot train. If it's short term I should just accept it, not push but hang in there don't give up on "training". If it's longer term, I should forget about progress for a while, anyway I saw that after 3 months of not being on ice, the skills were still there. So I should do something else, not the same exercises that I do for testing.

This summer, for example, I kind of knew... after quarantine... the available ice was all over the city, so I couldn't  create a well paced schedule, plus I knew I'm gonna be distracted by life.... I had the intention to have program choreographed to break from the "training" just that my choreograph was out of town. I think that would have worked. With my regular coach I shifted the attention from the pattern dances and moves (that I knew I couldn't train) to freestyle. Unfortunately my ankles hurt for 2 weeks and also my "good" hip hurt after a fall. So I've ended up doing exactly what I didn't want to do... the same old exercises for dance and moves, that I do for 2 years now, that I knew I couldn't improve (skating just once or twice a week on bad or crowded Freestyle ice). I'm soo happy I'll have a program choreographed! I think I'll also have to ask for new things from my regular coach when I'll know I cannot "train".

New hope and update on progress and goals

I've heard that my rink is gonna have back on the schedule the adult figure skaters only, noon ice, from the second week of September. Before the covid interruption, it used to be offered Monday, Wednesday, Friday on the big rink and Tuesday and Thursday on the studio rink, except during the summer. It was usually quite empty ice, and if crowded, we were all adults, looking out for each other. I usually skated Monday, Wednesday, Friday on the main rink on that session, on Mondays I also had a private lesson later in the day on Freestyle Package Ice and just before the lockdown I was also skating Thursdays on the studio rink, mainly figures. That was my ice... I really really hope it's gonna be back. I haven't seen it yet on the schedule.

I feel so comfortable on that adult ice. And I was often spooked going for lessons on regular ice. To my coach's visible disappointment, I often aborted patterns even if (in his view that I bet was right) I was in absolutely no danger of collision... When I was a beginner, I was more confused and uncomfortable then afraid, but after I hurt my hip, I was afraid. The little kids are not looking and the big kids are soo fast, so of course I'm afraid. But you know that my goal is to progress into an intermediate-ish level skater, not an adult skater... and I test standard not adult track. Well, that ice is "standard", the adult ice is comfortable because is slow...

After the initial excitement of having my comfortable ice back, I've realized that I'm not that uncomfortable anymore on the Freestyle package ice! Yeap, I've grown, I'm a big kid now. I'm sure this is a result of me progressing. Sometimes I feel I hold myself back by not being confident. After the quarantine, we've first come back on ice with maximum 10 skaters, then 15, now 20. It was a progression that made me forgot to think if I'm afraid. I just thought to acknowledge this new skill and confidence, as I'll soon go to my slow ice. While I feel happy and hopeful for the easier ice conditions, I think I can also be hopeful for progress!

My other goal (beside progress) is to find a way to, occasionally, break away from training and to skate for my my own enjoyment. I've set up in the past to train and test as kids do, and lately it backfired. I had to reduce the time I've spent on ice not because I've got bored but I think mostly because my hip injury. Then I've wondered if it's even realistic to expect my aging body to train as kids do. I also wondered about motivation... I feel that kids have their skating buddies, syncro teams, shows, competitions to motivate them and make them enjoy. I do have skating friends, but I feel that for the majority of them skating is a social thing, so I don't get the motivation. I also have adult skating friends that compete and I feel that is a good vehicle for both motivation and enjoyment. What I see them doing, is skating twice a week and that much time on ice allows them to maintain the skills they have and have one or two programs choreographed per season. But I want progress... and I don't skate enough to both progress and prepare for competitions. The only thing is that if I get unmotivated it's not good for progress. So, I'm having a program choreographed, for testing but mostly for myself!

I've had in plan for a while to have another Freestyle program choreographed, because I enjoyed working on the previous one so much. But before the covid I was working on moves and dance for testing so I didn't want to take time away from that. Now, my choreographer is out of the city. I've decided to ask somebody else, and she is a dance coach, so she can choreograph both dance and Freestyle, while my previous choreographer can do only Freestyle. So I've decided to have Solo Free Dance choreographed instead of the Freestyle. We'll start working on it from September, we couldn't find ice for now.

I'll mention just shortly that this month as I skate just twice a week, I know I cannot progress. But my skating goes better compared with the last month when the schedule, ice quality and a little injury worked against me. I'll try from next week to have weekly lessons and from next month I think I'll be able to skate on my own 3 times a week, and then I think I can settle into a training rhythm.

So I see lots of hope!

Mid month update

This week I skated just once. Part of the reason was that I was busy, but that came on top of the previous week bad skating experience.

I told you that from two weeks ago I started skating on my home rink, as they've finally opened. I had to buy a certain slot for a whole month and I've bought Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, as they were the only days they had some afternoon ice. They allow 20 skaters on ice, and I thought it's gonna be a little crowded for me to skate comfortably. And I was right, but... there was an even bigger problem... ice quality.... It was the second worse ice I ever saw indoor for both Tuesday and Friday. The ice was flooded, like quarter inch of water in some places and it was terribly chopped underneath. Both days a hockey camp went on just before the figure skating package ice. I couldn't do long edges for dances or moves, or figures... just Freestyle. Luckily, my last private lesson was all Freestyle. Another obstacle was that there were many "obstacles" on ice. Coaches are not allowed on ice, they teach from the hockey box, and their (beginner levels) students stay near the boards, near the coaches, basically blocking any use of ice in length. Then. Saturday the ice was reasonable but there were lots of very strong freestyle skaters (many of them adults that I've never seen before, yey to seeing more adults skaters!) and with 20 on ice,  the skating patterns intersected all the time. I've wasted lots of time setting the patterns for moves and the dances, took two falls, and I ended up giving up and working on Freestyle elements again. I also felt tired, as I skated the day before too.

Last week I was busy on Tuesday, and the thought of bad ice discouraged me to even try to get at the rink. I did go on Friday and the ice was actually great. Friday session is 1.5 hours and I knew I will not be able to make it skating Saturday so I took my time to re asses the alignment as I haven't skated for a week now. I don't know how on some day an hour passes and I cannot fit in everything I want to work on, even if I push. This Friday I didn't push, in fact i did the opposite, I took my time, and the hour passed and I went trough everything... 10 minute warm up and alignment exercises, 20 minutes moves, 20 minutes dances and 10 Freestyle. There weren't 20 skaters on ice and all the coaches were teaching on one side of the rink, so the other side was quite open to do moves and dance patterns. The last half hour I felt tired, so I worked on slower things (3-turns both for moves and dances, the Foxtrot Mohawk, then figures), then just did exercises involving breathing and stretching on ice.

I was planning at the begging of the month to pay attention on how my skating goes so I can re ajust my goals, expectations for progress and enjoy more. And I feel I've got some data I can analyze.
- when I'm tired I don't enjoy skating and I don't think I'm effective in working for progress either...
- when is crowded I can do Freestyle, no whole patterns, only isolated elements from moves and dances, maybe even parts of dances or figures.
- when the ice is bad... Freestyle is the only thing I can expect to do.
- it seems I'm doing better for both working for progress and enjoyment if I start the session slower, working deliberately on alignment AND awareness of pressure into ice.

I had a little awareness of this, on a recent lesson, when my coach asked me to do one of the dances fast. I feel that in the past, when I was trying to go fast, I was rushing, not taking the time (or not being able) to do a good push...from underneath me and pressing into ice. That made me feel not stable, so afraid to go fast. I used to think that I don't like to go fast... well, I actually do... but I need to feel comfortable, align over a good edge and feeling that the ice hold me. Maybe that is the breakthrough I need to get from a beginner to an intermediate level... Getting a good push but quicker... and that would allow me to get faster while feeling comfortable. This is gonna be the first question to my coach on my lesson next week.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I've already described in detail how the skating went last month in my previous posts. Overall, I would say that I feel as comfortable on ice, as before the quarantine.

This week I still skated at the north side rink where I skated all last month. But starting this month, they allowed 15 skaters on ice instead of 10.

For the rest of this month, I have already bought ice at my home rink 3 times a week. That's gonna save me lots of time of sitting in traffic. They allow 20 skaters on ice plus coaches, and I know I'm gonna feel overwhelmed especially as last month I've got used with 10 skaters on ice. I fell lucky that I had this week the opportunity to skate with 15 people on ice to smooth a little the transition. 

And one new happy development, as more ice was added on the schedule to the north side rink, where my coach is teaching, in the sense that more skaters will be allowed on ice on the same time, I was able to get some ice there so I can still have lessons. I'll have a 45 minutes lesson every second week.

Plan and goals for this month?... I'm not sure. My big skating goal was always training for progress and lately I think more and more about skating for my own enjoyment.  I feel crowded skating sessions will not help "training" the moves for testing. And seeing my coach just every second week will not help "training" the Ten Fox for testing as for testing I need the dance partnered and from past experience, I forget the partnering part unless I'm seeing my coach, twice a week. I also don't think I can work on figures in crowded sessions. That only leaves on freestyle (jumps and spins)... as those are individual elements that don't take so much space on ice at my level. I also think I can work on specific turns, like dropped 3-turns and the Foxtrot mohawk for dance, and maybe learn new turns like brackets, double 3-turns for moves...

As for skating for my own enjoyment, I haven't figure it out yet. Las month in this "Mid month update" post, I was saying that I thought I would enjoy doing easier things, on what I wouldn't struggle. Coming back on ice after 3 months gave me the opportunity to see with fresh eye what I enjoy. And I actually enjoy everything, the difficult exercises too. A friend that is an accomplished  violin player, said that when she studied as a kid, she got extremely bored to keep  working and practice the same thing over and over. And then, a new instructor scheduled "playing" time in her practice, when she could play whatever she wanted, and not work at it, just enjoy. And this resonated with me. So I'm thinking now that is not what I do on ice, but the intention behind it, "work" or "play". This month, when the ice will be too crowded to work on things, I will have the opportunity to just "play" on ice.

My desire to skate for my own enjoyment came after losing that enjoyment and getting frustrated. I'm also looking back at the times when I've lost that enjoyment for skating in the past, before the quarantine. My coach thought it was  related with me getting frustrated that I wasn't progressing as fast as I expected. I didn't have any better explanation, and I'm sure there is some truth in that. So I was trying to make my progress goals more flexible and have a process oriented training instead of a goal oriented training. But... I'm starting to think that the frustration is actually more related with my body being tired or in pain... I mentioned in the "Mid month update" that I was hurting and frustrated, and then, at the End of month update" I was better and I really think what changed was how I felt physically. Two years ago I used to skate 6 days a week, two days twice, that's a lot, of course I was getting tired. Then I hurt my hip, and I had some kind of pain for almost a year. I will have to wait and see if the pain or feeling tired will prove to be the main source of my frustration.       

Mid month updates

To balance the joy of skating... I'm hurting, I feel tired and some frustration is sneaking in. I did say I wanted to balance my skating life, just two posts ago... right? Well, it's not what I've meant...

This week, on Monday, it was the first time skating after the quarantine break, when I allowed myself to not hold back at all... and I don't know... ... Firstly, some of my hip muscles were more tired then on the previous weeks, hopefully they are building up not getting hurt again. Then, my whole body was feeling tired and hurting. I went through this tiredness before, as I was building muscles and stamina, and if I remember well it took weeks to months to feel strong, I hope this time is gonna be easier.

On Wednesday I had my lesson. We corrected the Ten Fox, the dropped 3-turns, and I wanted to learn the theoretical technique on the  backward cross rolls and the backward outside edges from the European Waltz. I felt it was a productive lesson, but it was my least energetic day on ice since I've been back on ice, so not a happy skating day. I haven't said it before, because I didn't want to jinx it, BUT... when I first got back on ice with a refreshed awareness on alignment, my dropped 3-turns worked like a charm! And now, they are not :(

That brings me back to the goals I've set at the beginning of the month: to keep the alignment awareness and to work off ice on my core strength. I've done the core exercises, and got sore muscles after, proof that they've got weeker. But it seams to me that the alignment awareness is not as strong... The first step in fixing things is identifying what is wrong with them. Some reasons I can think of: body feeling tired and hurting, less mental engagement, rushing, feeling less excited to "feel" the ice, probably because I was tired and hurting.

As for the frustration... On Ten Fox, the coach gave me 3 corrections. I was unable to do what he suggested on the 3-turn as my mind took over and gave me extra stuff. I was disappointed, but my coach pointed out that the 3-turn was better, and I corrected the other 2 things he asked for. Then, he asked me for speed/ power and instructed me to just go for it and not think about mistakes. He was happy with what I put out there, I was unhappy about the mistakes!

I don't think there is another way to learn then to have something explained, then corrected until you do it. And there are so many corrections in skating... This brings me again to the goal I was working on just before the quarantine break, of having my skating training (learning), process oriented, not goal oriented (that led me to feeling frustrated a lot). And I feel I'm trying...

And still, I feel I need something more to balance the effort of learning. When I first got on ice after the 3 months break, I was soo into what I (me, me, me...) was feeling. I'm trying to remember what I was feeling. And I remember I felt that I didn't care if somebody is watching or how do I look, I've just stepped back on ice after 3 month, I was allowing myself to " re learn" without judgment.   But I also remember I actually felt "pretty" (like not awkward). And that may be because I was doing easy things that I was comfortable with. And this may be what I'm yearning for... to have some time on ice when I don't learn/ train, to be there, on ice, feeling "pretty". I used to think of this as a goal of skating for my own enjoyment. So I'm planing to look for exercises that are comfortable enough so I can enjoy skating trough them, and also try to not "work" when doing some harder exercises, just go trough them...This may add joy to the training process and give some confirmation of progress.

About my progress... After the break I was lucky I skated the first three times at a rink with uncrowded sessions, we were just 4, 6 and  2 skaters on ice. Where I skate now, we are 10 skaters on ice and in the Monday session all skaters were high level and fast. I felt intimidated, but way less, then I was felling lets say a year before, and I felt I've held my own way. That's the biggest proof of the progress I've made!

First lesson after the break

I've got to skate on my own four times before I've had a lesson. As I told you in the previous post, some things felt better then before the 3 months break. Not the speed and power, but the balance and alignment. I was very eager to see my coach to get feedback on if I truly improved my alignment and how bad is my power, speed and extension...

I decided to use this first lesson for the MITF exercises from the Pre-Juvenile test. I will mention that at this rink, coaches are not allowed on ice, they teach from the hockey box, or by the doors, I was skeptic on how this will work. Only 10 skaters total are allowed on ice, all students.

1. Forward and backward crossovers on lobes holding the inside edge. For forward I was reminded to start the inside edge perpendicularly away from the axis, so I'll get to set a good inside edge.On the backward ones, while I understood theoretically, I've never truly felt that I've done well the weight transfer for the inner edge. And now I did, it needed a wider step then I used to do so the weight could go solidly on that side while being on an inside edge. Before, I either steeped on an outside edge, or to correct that I wasn't transferring all the weight to that side, so to force the edge I was twisting the upper body too much. My coach also hasn't mentioned anything about power, I know that The moment to work on it will come in the future, but it confirms to me that it is not appalling.

2. Forward outside to backward inside 3-turns. The first two I was in my head as I knew the coach was watching... and I haven't rotated the upper body enough, but I self corrected, and they all when well. I've got the correction to extend less, as it makes me lean forward with the upper body.

3. Forward inside to backward outside 3-turns. The only correction was on my best of these 3-s... On the left forward inside, on the exit edge I was holding the free leg to much to the back, making the edge too deep., so I have to hold the free leg more to the side... no problem. Everything else fine! I asked.... ok how slow are they, because that was an issue in the past when I was getting them ready for test. He said, well, they are slow, but you are not a freestyle, the judges shouldn't mind.

4. Power pulls, forward great. Backward, I never truly got them, but again, I feel I understood now a little better. I knew I was using the upper body too much and I also was leaning forward. Now, as my coach demonstrated in the hockey box, I saw more clearly the hips movement. He also said it should feel like a hop. I did a little better, still leaning forward. I'm thinking next time when I'm on ice to try to hold the free foot bent near the skating foot. It may be that I extend too much and that makes me lean forward.

5. Back circle eight. Outside is really good. Inside, it slows down after 2/3rds, to the point that if I don't get a very good push, I'm always worried if I'll make it all the way around. I've got the same corrections that I've always got: that I'm leaning outside of the circle as I move the upper body and bring the foot in after the half circle, and that I'm opening the free hip.

6. I haven't got a chance to do the 5 step mohawk, but that was generally good before.

So I'm filing all the moves in my head as on the right track! If I would have my coach available once a week, I think I would be tempted to work at them to test them. But, I'll see my coach only twice more. I misunderstood that he said he'll be at that particular rink for the entire summer, and I've bought ice only for June. Now, of course July and August ice is sold out. Hopefully as more rinks open we'll find ice that works for both of us and I can add more lessons.

Anyhow, coming back to testing, I definitely don't want to get caught up again in working at my skating so hard (for progress or for passing tests) that I lose the joy, so I'm welcoming the fact that I don't even have the possibility to test soon, to hopefully figure up a skating rhythm that will suit me better than the one I had before.

I'm also happy to report that I've skated now 6 times, and I'm mostly pain free! While skating, I'm not holding the extensions for now, I hope until I get to really get to work on dances to build the muscles needed. I also started this new skating journey by taking it easy, by holding back on bending the knees too much, so I'll give the quads a chance to strengthen. I'm adding more  knee bend on each skating session. After skating, I fell my left thigh and hip tighten,  so I stretch after immediately and I roll when I get home.

For now, all is well in my skating world.

Process oriented versus goal oriented training

I was writing at the beginning of the month, here, that I'm always surprised of how much more I enjoy skating when I just go and skate (without focusing on training and progress). And now, that I'm skating with the desire to test in my mind, I'm very surprised again of how less enjoyable skating becomes (the degree of it and also how quickly). To be clear, what I'm saying is that when I "train" I loose the enjoyment and also the motivation. Also, I'm wondering if I wouldn't make the same progress anyhow, without "pushing"...

I started private lessons knowing that I want to improve my skating. And the obvious process, was to do what everybody does, use the testing to structure and motivate the training. Somewhere along the way it seems to me that I've lost the "process" and I've lost sight on my goal to progress, and I've got hooked onto the goal of passing tests. And that, passing tests, wasn't even a goal to start with, that was just part of the "process"!

I've been talking to skating friends about this and also googling "process oriented versus goal oriented training" and it confirms what I feel, that in the long run, a process oriented training is more effective. But, wait, you still need to have goals! And you "have" to find ways to enjoy the process. And whoever red my older posts knows that I'm actively trying to find enjoyment  because I've lost it at points, I think when I was training too hard. In the end, my research's conclusion is that training should be a combination of process and goal oriented approaches. Great!, but I haven't really found specific advice, something that I could apply and help me.

Trying to analyze here: my goal was and is, progress... to became a goodish (in my mind that is an intermediate level) figure skater, and NOT an adult figure skater. The difference in my eyes is that the adult skaters look more hesitant. I don't think this is unrealistic... The second goal would be to enjoy my time skating, and in my past experience, pushing for progress was going against the enjoyment and vice versa.

My approach, "process" was to train as the kids do and test as the kids do (standard track too, as the kids test)... Is this unrealistic? Obviously the kids have more energy, stronger bodies, they come back quicker from injury, they don't injure themselves so easily, they have less life responsibilities (maybe?), they have their skating friends that do the exact same thing, they have a support system from this skating friends community, they "play" with their friends, are in competition with their friends, are inspired and motivated by their friends. On the other hand, my injury hold me back big time, and I feel alone in my endeavor, while there are adult skaters, they all are very different from each other and myself.

I'm wondering if testing standard (that is part of my "process" now), may be unrealistic? Should I switch to adult track testing to make it more manageable, it would be easier to pass the tests, so maybe not motivate me so much, but would still be a process. I haven't tested in a while (I wasn't ready) and that makes me feel I'm not progressing. I believe I AM progressing but I don't have that confirmation of progress and that makes me not confident. I have to keep an eye on this.

I'm also looking forward to make the training "process" more automatic, in the sense that I would make a plan to do a certain number of a certain element and move on. At this point I feel I "judge" myself all the time in an effort to improve what it needs the most improvement. On the other hand I feel I've used a more automatic approach in the past and it felt boring and it hasn't allowed me much emotional involvement... that translates to me in enjoyment. But then again, judging myself gets me frustrated, that it's not any better.

So, after all this thinking and research, my conclusion is that there is no conclusion... I should keep an eye on balancing things, like I feel I was trying anyway, but it seems I've lost the awareness of it lately.

Mid month update

I'm posting another update because there is nothing new with my skating, I'm just... skating. I feel I'm finally back from the flu. I was feeling fine for two weeks now, but I just couldn't breath deeply. I've skated my usual days Monday, Wednesday, Friday, with a lesson on Monday. That is not enough to really improve on anything, is mostly maintaining and... some very slow progress.

Ice Dancing: The Ten Fox definitely improved lately, I've focused on it from last October I think. But, my coach was saying it and I agree... I need two lesson per week to push it to test. I think it would be fine for testing it as an adult, but the rest of the dances in this level I tested standard, and I still think I can test it standard. But I forget from one lesson to another some detail, so then, in the lesson I have to go again over things that theoretically I know and I can do, instead of working at new things. Also, I need to skate more then three times a week, as the kids at this level do, just if I want to test standard... I'm quick enough to feel of ice and to find the balancing points if I skate only three times a week.

MITF:
On the pre-Juvenile patterns, that I just maintained, not really work on them, from when I started to focus on the Ten Fox,  I saw how progress has sneaked in...
- On the first pattern, the power stroking, my coach kept adjusting the starting of the edges to be perpendicularly away from the axis, and the pressure into the ice. I finally got it in the backward side too...
- The 3 turns got stable and aster than I realized, but I was doing them by bringing the free foot at the ankle at the moment of the turn. My coach pushed me to do them with the foot extended (for the backward ones), despite my mumbling that that would make me unsure. He said, no, that would make you a better skater. How can I argue with that?
- The forward power pulls got good, sometimes really good. My coach was never happy with the backward ones and lately I'm doing them worse. I think I'm trying different things but it didn't come together yet. The correction that I doesn't seem to be able to apply is to not lean forward.
- The back circle eight was very consistent lately.
- The five step mohawk lobes were considered good long time ago, my coach haven't seen them in ages. I did get the correction to look up that I surely haven't succeed in apply yet. I'm trying...

Freestyle:
- The only jump I'm doing, maybe once a week are a couple of waltz jumps. I gave up working at the loop. But as I'm writing, I do realize I should keep jumping the salcow and the toe loop if I don't want to loose them, as I've lost the loop.
- I usually spin a little every time I'm on ice. I gave up on them while I had the flu and I was congested, and I just started them again this week. I'm maintaining the forward one foot spin, scratch spin and the backward upright spin, that's it.

Progress... slow progress

I haven't really worked at my skating skills and for progress, since the beginning of the summer. The reasons were the lingering pain after the small hip injury, getting upset and put off by the politicking in the skating world, to what it was added the inconvenient summer ice schedule. As a result of all that, I've got both unmotivated and out of my skating rhythm. I've tried to get them back in the fall and I just couldn't find a way. So I've decided to skate for my own enjoyment, which I have lost when I was working too hard, for progress, and I wrote about it here. Ideally would be, of course, to work for progress and enjoy the process, but I couldn't find a way to do that just yet.

I wrote here, over a year ago, about progressing from a skating Beginner level to a High Beginner level. I though at that point I was at a High Beginner level, and I think I was right. I was wondering then and I'm still wondering, how to push into an Intermediate level (a beginner Intermediate level). I think I'm at the threshold. I need just a final push to get over it. And I think working towards finally testing the Pre-Juvenile MITF and the Ten Fox will finally get me there. So I'm trying to pump myself up to work for testing. And I'm shooting for testing in mid January. There are few test sessions in mid December that that's after the week and week end I'll be busy with the Nutcracker on ice, so I expect I'll be too tired. Testing  though, is just a symbol of passing a threshold. What I'm wondering is what skills should be acquired for a skater to be (look like) an Intermediate level skater.

I'm so grateful to my coach that he asks and listens about me feeling stuck and unmotivated, not confident even, and trys to help. Lately, instead of going trough the MITF exercises and the Ten Fox, he actually went for skills developing exercises. I mentioned them here and here.

So, just to review what I need to work on with awareness:
- posture and looking up,
- alignment over edges,
- pressure into ice
- touching the boots before pushing (so no wide stepping)
- bending into the ankles at pushes
- pushing perpendicularly away from the axis
- holding the whole body engaged (I think of it at tense, but is more like core engaged, upper body lifted, keep the tension after the push to have straight knee and pointed toe for the free leg.
- speed

I feel quite solid on forward skating. On backward skating I still don't find the balancing point quickly, I feel the push on the left outside edge is "empty". I immediately loose the good posture after the push and I'm not always on the edge. Theoretically I know I have to work on all the things I mentioned, and allow them to became body memory. So I plan to do lots and lots of backward stroking, chasses, progressives both on a circle and on alternating lobes, swing rolls. And of course, the turns (the dropped 3-turns from Ice Dancing and the forward to backward 3-turns from the moves) will get better when the back edges will be better.

Ice Show Rehearsals

This year I'm doing an ice show at a different rink than where I usually skate. I watched it last year and it was charming so I wanted to be in it, the Nutcracker on Ice. They do it every year and it actually follows the ballet quite closely and I love ballet. I'm in the adult group number. The adults are the "guests to the party" so we are on ice the whole first act. I'm impressed that they allow adults to have solo numbers too (at my regular rink, they don't).

We've had two rehearsals and they were soo relaxed, especially compared with my old rink rehearsals. You can find my posts about the ice shows I did, under the tab "ice shows". The choreographer/ instructor started by saying that he wants us all to feel safe and enjoy, and we don't have to do anything that doesn't feel like that. Then, he explained the process: we'll try different things and depending on what they look he'll decide the choreography for the next week. He asked who can do what, and had us do some things together.

On the second week rehearsal he gave us the backbone of the choreography. We are split in 3 groups, filling the middle and the ends of the rink and will do 3 main things, a line with some steps and a spiral for who wanted to do it, then some steps into waltz jumps, then pinwheels. We haven't actually put it all together, but some of the skaters do this show every year and they seam confident that it's all gonna work, plus they are very used to work with each other and they are part of each of the three groups on ice, so I feel they'll lead the rest us well. I also loved that it allowed for each of us to choose the costume. No stress there, again, compared with the previous shows I did, where we had quite strong unhappy voices about the costumes. And then, we went to breakfast, almost all of us.

We have a two weeks break, then four more rehearsals all on the weekend and week before the show, two one after the other on the same day, then a matinee for the neighborhood school kids, not open to the public, then three performances.

Up to now it aligns well to my idea to skate for my own enjoyment, as a balance to skating hard to progress. I'm especially happy because I feel I'm finally starting to get some desire to push for progress again, and for testing.

Skating technique: Intermediary skating skills (power, press, alignment, lean)

I usually have my private lessons on Monday and I get to skate before the lesson, so I'm warmed up already. I cannot skate next Monday so I asked for an extra lesson this week. It was on the first hour of the "Freestyle practice ice" so i had to start with a warm up with my coach watching and obviously helping and correcting.

After slalom forward and backward I did the forward outside edge presses. First the forward outside. My coach said that the hip is sticking out. That is the hip inside the circle. I am supposed to lean into the circle, with the shoulders parallel with the ice, but the rest of the body being a straight line. Like here. I tried and tried again and we ended at the boards looking into the glass and modeling my body to achieve the hip in, so the straight body line, the lean into the circle. This lean should be achieved on all edges forward, backward, outside, inside and it is always the same visual of not having the hip inside the circle sticking out. Another way I was asked to not stick the hip out was to feel, to make a hollow, that somehow doesn't work for me. I was even allowed to look down, at the hip... blasphemy! I've learned that the hip that is mentioned in the skating instruction is lower then I thought of it. That may make a difference in trying to align it. One other words I remember I've red about this hip in, were to push with the hip from inside the circle into the hip from the outside of the circle. Whaaat? No, actually that made sense when I've tried it, that's why I'm mentioning it here. To add to that is to make a hollow under arm of the arm towards the inside of the circle. That is to help the lean but I suspect also to not drop that shoulder. And also, on all the edges the upper body should be align over the circle.

After this anatomy (or contortion) lesson, I did the crossovers to inner edges from the PreJuvenile MITF test as my next warm up. My coach said to press into the ankle, so ice, the inside edge on both forward and backward. Not to just glide there. Use each step energy into the next step. We've run this 3 times. But it seams the coach was happy seeing that I was able to incorporate some of these corrections (that I've heard many times before), so he decided to continue with all this concept of power in skating. I mentioned the concept of power in skating many times, like here. The first step in building power in your skating is the correct push, (from underneath you, and pressing into the ice, that I described before (forward and backward)

So  we've continued with the rest of the MITF test exercises. Next were the power pulls. There, the biggest correction today was on the backward ones to align the upper body over the circle (the edge) so on the back outside edges pull the opposite shoulder back to lead with it, and on the back inside edges, the same side shoulder. Obviously on the power pulls you press into the ice. The 3-turns had less corrections then usual! But the focus was the same, the same alignment over the circle and lean into the circle. And then it was mentioned probably the biggest component of power on ice, the speed. I have to put more speed into the 3Turns. But generally, speed goes hand in hand with feeling confident in the edges, lean, alignment, press into the ice. You cannot have speed without having the others, and I think when all these "others" work, the speed increases automatically.

Back circle 8, you've guessed, we've insisted on the exact same points... On the inside ones I'm leaning out of the circle as I bring the foot in at the top of the lobe,  then I'm twisting too much facing inside the circle  (that would be not align over the circle) and that's slows me down. I worked at this alignment over the circle when skating backwards mostly trough backward edge presses, that I'm realizing I've never described, but I will soon...

I'm very happy with this lesson. It made me feel that I'm on track to getting the power.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I started last month with not much of a plan, but a "laissez-faire" attitude (the economic concept of free market translated as "let it happen"). I work on Ice Dance, Moves in the Field and Freestyle and I used to prioritize only one at a time so I can push it for progress and test. Now, I skate less time then before because I don't have enough energy (physical from my hip still not being 100% after the injury and emotional even) so I cannot push for progress on any of those. So I let them all be, progress or not, and try to enjoy the process. In a way I also wanted to experiment and see what happens if I don't push. And I think I've got confirmation that progress doesn't happen unless I push. So I have to be ready, at some point to start pushing again. But not this month... I think this month will go more or less like last month. Here is how last month has gone:

Ice Dancing: The private lesson went towards Ice Dancing, I think I took just 3 lessons. I'm getting more and more comfortable, with the basic steps exercises and the Ten-Fox. I didn't prioritize Ice dancing in my training for close to a year now, from when I tested the Willow Waltz. Whenever I want to work on Ice Dancing I need to do it when the ice is emptier so I have a better chance to hold the pattern, so I have to prioritize at least from that point of view. And I'm doing this now.

MITF: I still do them but without trying to add power. I hope I do maintain them because I certainly don't improve.

Freestyle: I started taking group lessons for Freestyle. I've had 3 lessons. And we did a review of spins and jumps (scratch spin, back scratch, waltz jump, salcow, and toe loop), that was most welcome. We didn't get yet to my targets, the sit spin and the loop jump. I feel it would be beneficial to work a little more on freestyle, but then again as I'm taking more time for Ice Dancing, I do not have more time for Freestyle.

Falls and Injuries: In my almost 10 years of skating I've never caught a toe pick. But I've caught one today. I was late to the group class and I joined  as they were just finishing the warm up with bunny hops. The first line, on the easy leg, was fine, but on the second line, on the harder leg... toe pick. I really blame it on not being warm up, I just didn't jump high enough... And I splashed on ice in a "superman" position, and slid... Yeah, it was a good one. I have scratches and a big blue bruise on my left knee, the side where my hip is still hurting and I had an ankle injury few year ago. It seems it is my favorite side to injure. I think I'm fine, but I'll know for sure just in few days.

Off ice: I said I have to do off ice strengthening exercises... I'm not doing them regularly...  I'm also not warming up before I get on ice, because I'm always late. So, I hope I'll do better. At least the ballet class is on again and I feel that helps with strengthening. I also did some stretching after few of the skating sessions and that seemed to help.

The kittens are doing fine, but they still take soo much time and energy.

The Skating for my own enjoyment saga: Because I don't push for progress I don't get frustrated. So at least I have that. On the other hand I don't think I'm really consciously enjoying. I'm comparing this enjoyment with the feeling of being present in yoga and with the feeling I get sometimes at ballet (not always), and that is again a feeling of being disconnected from the regular day and connected with the music and feeling lighter both body and soul. I've had another lesson with the new coach that helps just with this. On the first lesson we established some concepts of  musicality and soul involvement but we also did 3 clear exercises that I can practice. We polished some things from the first lesson when and did 3 new exercises. It's all I wanted from these lessons, my only disappointment is again, that I don't have more time to practice them. I firstly need to "get" the movement before I can incorporate soul and music into them.

NEXT MONTH, as I said, I expect it's gonna be the same and... more.

The Nutcracker on Ice: I'm gonna have 2 rehearsals this month, the first one this coming week. I'm very very excited.

Skating training: My main coach pushes the Ice Dancing, that it's covered. I don't feel I have to work much harder on my own. Most of the work it's happening during the lessons, especially now that we started partner the Ten-Fox. The Freestyle I plan to keep at the same intensity... On the MITF I plan to train the 5 minutes warm up for the test, but not on the first 5 minutes on ice. I feel that was throwing my whole session of. And I'm thinking at this point that is the thing that I'm least confident about the test day, go figure, the warm up...

Skating technique: Intermediate Chasses and Progressives (Ice Dancing)

As I didn't work much on Ice Dancing lately, it seems I regressed. My coach said so, but I do feel it myself. I don't balance the positions as fast as before, or at all. 

My coach starts every Ice Dancing lessons with 15 minutes of some the basic steps, whatever the time allows: stroking,  chasses, progressives, swing rolls, 3 turns... And on my last lesson we did forward and backward chasses and progressives. Seeing my disappointment after so many corrections, my coach said that some of these, are new corrections, plus he's asking more from me then before (extension, timing, geometry and better transitions between lobes). That may be so (it is so), but even not trying to incorporate these new corrections, I felt unsure. Luckily I have my notes (on paper and here on the blog) and as I went back and review them, I was able to correct many things.

Here is a review of beginning technique of these steps:
Balance point on blade for forward skating is the back of the arch of your foot and for backward is the front of the arch of the foot. This I do.

Posture: lift ribs up, ached back (push shoulders back) and core engaged. AND look up...And keep a controlled tension (engagement) in all the body.
Posture forward: torso a little forward, allow the lower back to curve to accommodate the leg rise back
Posture backwards: torso straight, feels like leaning back, lower ab engaged, butt in, like ballet, push the heals back to balance, after push, don't let the free hip go back.
This I've lost and I really feel that nothing will work if this is not "on"

Stay square on the circle you are forming (mostly square, just a little twisted into the circle, more like lean into the circle then twisted). I've allowed myself to twist too much into the circle, as for crossovers, and then I cannot untwist it all, and twist it all the way for the next lobe when I change the lobes without loosing balance.

Press into the ice. This would help with keeping the tension in the body.

Bend the knees more! HaHaHa... and more... That actually made a difference in stability

Press the boots together before each push, helping with the tension...

Push the whole body, like it is a wall.
-Forward: feel that the push forward pushes the knees, tailbone, middle of ribs 
Backward: push from the upper thigh, feel that the push backward pushes the heels, tummy (lower -back sides), shoulders blades, don't let the free hip go back after the push.
- push perpendicular away from axis
- at top of lobe push along the axis, don't hook

Geometry of the lobe and timing (count 1-2-3,4 and 1-2-3,4....)
- initial push is before the axis
-  second step is at a quarter of the lobe at count 1
- 3rd step is at half, top of the lobe, at count 2
- start rising approximately at an eight till axis
- at "and" re bend and push before reaching the axis

Extensions: HOOOLD...
- hold each extension, on each step

Re bend before the push
- re bend while on one foot, then push, or don't re bend while you push
- keep the weight on the pushing foot
- Forward: after re bending, flip the pushing foot 45 degrees  so you can push  on an outside edge


And particular corrections for each step...
Forward Chasse:
- hold the first extension extension longer1 beat
- lift the chasse foot higher and hold one beat
- start rising at a eight till changing lobes,
- change upper body while rising
- re bend after rise
- after re bending, flip the pushing foot 45 degrees  so you can push  on an outside edge
- keep the weight on the pushing foot

Forward Progressives:
- geometry
- push perpendicular to axis and along axis at middle
- hold first extension 1 beat
- start the under push while still extending, and "fall" on under push, let the hip go under
- hold under push
- under push not lateral but to the back
-  under push extension not lateral (as for crossovers) but more to the back to match the partner

Backward Chasse:
- geometry and push
- finish perpendicularly to the axis of travel
- push straight back, perpendicularly to the axis, not around
- step on outside edge (keep weight on the other foot until pushing)
- rise on the outside edge to bring free foot at ankle
- flip on the inside edge, bend into the knee and ankle and keep the weight on inside edge until push
- inside edge bring boot higher (sole of free boot over the skating boot)
- don't lean out of the circle on inside edge, feel the weight under your armpit, like somebody pulls your arm
- change arms between lobes while rising
- extend higher

Backward Progressive:
- same...
- point the toes on both inside and outside pushes