My Husband, the coach: Part 2

My husband came to see me skate on Friday - the first time since July. He was very impressed by how much I've improved. He remembered that a few months ago I didn't have any edges, and couldn't do my two-foot spin. There I was on friday showing him BXO's, 3-turns, mohawks, and all my edges. Plus, he commented that I seem much more confident on the ice now. Here is a pic of a spiral I did (which I held for a LOOOONG time as he took the picture) my skating leg is slightly bent, but look - It's hip height!!!!

He helped me with a couple of things. Good thing he's a physics genius! I was struggling with FO3s a bit, but I was skating slow. He told me to speed things up. Speed scares me at times because the faster I go, the harder I fall!! Well, I picked up the pace, and had greater succes with the FO3s. Speed is a good thing.

He also noticed that my right foot does not look right in the skates. I drew a primitive pic to show what he was talking about. HAHA..I'm no artist. But the dotted line shows my foot alignment in respect to the boot/blade alignment.

I pronate and I already have insoles to help with that, but my whole foot is not aligned with the blade. The blade itslef is aligned with the boot, but since my foot turns out, my weight is not distributed correctly over the blade. Thank goodness for blade alignments - but that will come with new skates. These skates are cheapies and I don't think there's any way to correct the alignment. We are going to Denver next week and I'm stopping at a skate shop for some advice and maybe some new skates!!! Yipee!

Bought an annual skating pass (only $80!) so now I can skate as much as I please. First official private lesson with my first official coach is tomorrow!

Great Skate

Finally got to skate after 5 days off the ice. Crowded session with lots of figure and hockey skaters....Hockey skaters with cell phones....those things should be banned on the ice!!

FO3's: These are progressing nicely! And somehow, my troublesome R foot understands 3-turns better than my reliable L foot! I initally learned to do these by putting the skating foot arm (L for LFO3, R for RFO3) in front and then switching arms while bringing the free foot close to the skating foot, bending the knee, and then initiating the turn. I did a few in a row and some with minimal arm movement. Less karate chops! Oh, and I was starting the bad habit of keeping my chin up. The chin must be UP! Pretend you're performing!

BXO's: These are feeling a lot better, but CCW are still shaky. The power on the CW BXOs was very impressive. I didn't have that impending sense of doom that I was going to fall on my as*.

Mohawks: Piece of cake. R to L still scratchy at times, but much improved.

First OFFICIAL private lesson next week!!!

Competition and Practice

My instructor told me about a local skating competition, so I decided to check it out.

I watched the junior ladies short program and the Adult level skaters (all were women). It was interesting to see the difference. The ladies short program had lots of double jumps, and their spirals were really good. One of the skaters had an absolutely effortless spiral and had her leg straight up in the air (think Sasha Cohen). Talk about flexible!!! And these girls looked like they had been skating their whole lives.

Watching the adults (2 gold, 2 bronze), I could tell they hadn't been skating since the age of 2, and some were a bit unsteady. But their programs were really good! Even if their elements were not perfect, I could tell that each and every one of them loved what they were doing. And everyone looked so elegant. It was nice to see a range of ages, and I even heard one kid yell "yay mom!!" after one skater had finished skating. I hope that could be me some day.

I observed some of the skaters and coaches, and I could sense some tension in the air. Not much different than when I competed in speech and debate in high school. Overall, the crowd was very supportive of the skaters, and I didn't see any backbiting like I had expected. I know this sport can be cutthroat at times!

I'm hooked, I'm sold, I'm starting lessons. Calling my soon-to-be coach this week. :)

Practicing:
3-turns (FO3s): I really like these, but I seem to be relying on my arms to make the turn. It almost looks like some karate chop martial arts move. Must use the lower body too!

BXO's: getting more comfortable with these, and can even alternate them down the rink. My instructor pointed out that I am not using my hips as much. yay! no more low back pain or ugly looking BXOs!

FXO's: these have relapsed. I can't seem to get my weight where it needs to be. I'm hesitating on that outside edge, which throws off the weight transfer.

Mohawks: R to L are scratchy, but happening. :)

FXOs-Mohawk-BXOs: learned this from my instructor and another skater at the rink. You do 3 FXOs, and immediate mohawk, and then 3 BXOs. I get too much speed with the crossovers and hesitate with the mohawk! I'm much better with mohawks at a slower speed.

Spins: finally used to the newly sharpened blades and spins are mostly back. I tried a one foot spin and can get one or two revs out of it. I thought it would be cool to try at put my head back like in a layback spin and WOW I got dizzy and disoriented.

I'm trying to teach myself a waltz jump, but I'm afraid of landing wrong and breaking my ankle! I can do a waltz jump off ice, and sorta do one on ice with out the jumping part. For my readers...how did you learn to do jumps???

Hopefully I'll start private lessons by next week!

Makeup Class

Tonight was the makeup class for the one missed due to Hockey. I was the only one there (again), so I got yet another private lesson. Yay!

I have to get this out of my system...OMG I DID A 3-TURN!!!!!!

It was amazing. I did one RFO and one LFO 3-turn (out of 15+ attempts!! haha). It was a huge epiphany for me. I have been curious about 3-turns for awhile, and I know once I am proficient at these, so much will open up in my skating potential. For me, this is a milestone. Most recreational skaters that i've observed can't do 3-turns. Some can do two-foot spins, and many can do crossovers forwards and backwards. Being able to do a 3turn makes me feel like I am progressing to a higher level of skating. I think I actually shrieked when I did it - I was so happy! A tip for 3-turns...bend the knee!!! Doing 3-turns with a straight leg leads to that awful scratching sound.

I was able to do a couple of things on the Adult 4 list, and attempted backwards chasses. I think it's a move used a lot in ice dancing. These will take a lot of practice because I'm not totally confident on where to put my weight yet. I can picture it in my head, but my feet haven't gotten that message yet.

There is a local skating competition this weekend, and a couple of adults competing. I'm going to check it out, and see what skating competitions are like.

Now I get to talk to my husband about private lessons. :) I think I'm progressing faster than the group classes are going. My instructor recommended that I take private lessons. and she's right - I'd be bored in the group class. I'm sure I could afford a lesson every other week.

Newly Sharpened Blades

I was sliding a lot in my last lesson, so I decided it was time to get my blades sharpened. It's the first time I've had them sharpened since buying the skates (the shop I bought them from did the initial sharpening). The guy did a good job, but I'm not used to super sharp blades. Stopping was difficult, but not impossible. Edges were clean - which was very nice. Mohawks were clean (except for the upper body, but that's doesn't have anything to do with the blades). The only thing that really suffered was my two-foot spin. For those who are new to reading this blog, I LOVE TO SPIN!! I was sad to see my spin run away screaming from the newly sharpened blades. I kept hitting the edges, which were very grabby, and that was the end of it. Perhaps my blades were really dull before and I was cheating by not spinning completley on that sweet spot. The spins improved slightly by the end of the session (about 1 hour), which gives me hope that I just need to adjust to the sharp blades.

OK Readers: How long is the adjustment period typically, and what can I do to help dull my blades a bit?

Other bits from this week: I skated at the Olympic Oval public session, which was on the speed skating oval. I really really like the ice there, but trying to figure skate on an oval was strange. There was no middle area for spins and such. Still, it's the best ice I have ever skated on, and if it wasn't so far away, I'd skate there all the time.

My goal this week is to make progress in controlling my upper body, especially with mohawks and crossovers. I have been consciously locking my upper body in place, which is helping a lot. I can now do consecutive mohawks, and my CW FXO's are more secure. It is very interesting to see how much the upper body influences the lower body.

My rink may not be offering Adult 4 next session. Perhaps this is the point to seriously consider private lessons....

Adult 3 Week 5 - Passed!!

Finally a skating class!!! I've waited three weeks for class. None of the other students were there to skate, so it was pretty much a private lesson. I can't believe how much we covered in half and hour!!!

BXO's: Worked more on crossing under, and holding the crossing position. I was wobbily, but my bad side felt more secure than before.

FXO's: It helps to push and extend the leg behind, then quickly bring it to the front and cross it over the skating leg. My instructor pointed out that I was extending my leg to the side, which made it harder to shift my weight. I get much better flow with extending the leg behind. It also helps to keep the upper body turned into the circle, with arms slightly diagonal, meaning the arm behind is slightly elevated, and the arm in front is slightly lowered. So no more airplane arms!!

Edges: coming along nicely. She said I don't need to lean into them so much. I find this funny because for a while there I wasn't leaning enough!!

Mohawks: Worked extensively on these. She pointed out I was putting my weight on my toes. When doing mohawks, the weight should be placed on the heel when switching feet. So with the change in foot, it helps to put the toe down first, then the heel, and keep the weight on the heel. I attempted to do multiple mohawks in a row, but I kept overrotating my upper body, making it nearly impossible to step forward to start another mohawk. I just have to keep my upper body in place, and keep that weight on the heel. This improved in practice today.

Two foot spins: Not much time on these. I can spin and love to spin. Worked more on delaying bringing the arms in, which helps me find that sweet spot on the blades.

So I've already passed Adult 3. I will still go to the makeup class next week, and then hopefully move on from there!

Great Skate!

Practiced today for 45 minutes. Great skate!!! Went towards the end of a long public session, and the ice was much better than expected. I was the only one on the ice for the first ten minutes I was there. :)

Edges: All of my edges were there! and BI edges are coming along, a little shaky though. FI and FO were great!!

Mohawks: A bit scratchy with the R to L weight transfer. Still beautiful L to R.

FXO's. Steppy today. I don't seem to have as good of flow with CW. I think it is a mental block more than anything. Keeping knees bent helps a lot.

BXO's: Fell once on these, but that's a good thing. I got right back up and tried the same maneuver. Scratchy with the cross. CCW feels a bit more comfortable now. I just have to look behind me and keep my head and arms up!

Spins: a couple of good two-foot spins, nice and centered. If I don't keep my upper body stiff, my spins travel and I wobble all over the place. I just have to remind myself to keep my core strong and my shoulders square.

Stroking, etc: I have been practicing dips and stroking with the knees waaaay bent...good quad workout! Also tried a spiral...it's only at hip length. and sorta did a "shoot the duck". The other day, I tried a few "bunny hops" which are kinda fun, but feel very unnatural.

Great skate overall. Just as I was taking my skates off, someone came on to the intercom and ordered everyone to evacuate the building immediately. Turns out there was an ammonia leak in the building. Very dangerous stuff to breathe! It even ended up being breaking news.

I can't wait until next monday for another class. It's been almost 3 weeks!!! The make up session with be one week after that. Then onto Adult 4!