February 2011

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2011-02-06 17:18:00
back in the saddle..
Two weeks in a row! I woke up Saturday morning and went to freestyle ice (also, rink, I'd be happy to pay for freestyle ice if you had an employee there to collect money. I know it's too much of a hassle for someone to turn the lights on, and we all gladly skate in the dark, but maybe around 8:45 someone could come in? I'm not hanging around until 9:15 LTS...) This week was much better than last week. Basic stroking felt a little better, and not so hunched. I wasn't scared of catching a toe pick or a silly mistake- I was able to move on the ice better. My back crossovers are back to about where they were (the left side is still weak), my forward crossovers are still a bit scary when going fast, but I felt better about it. I told myself to bend my knees, and I actually did - so I can see the comfort is coming back. Edges were better (back insides were awful though.) I did a few patterns of the silver moves 3-turns and all was well except back inside- I two footed all those turns just to get the movement down. 5 step mohawk is feeling better (I haven't even considered the 8-step!) My spins were very good. Scratch spins were mostly on, though I'm feeling quite dizzy when I exit spins which is not a good thing. I tried one sit spin, and while I'm sure it wasn't low enough, I think it was pretty decent. The best news was backspins- I did at least 3 with my foot crossed over! They were all very slow though. I also tried a waltz jump, and it was pretty awful, and then another one landing with my foot crossed and it was pretty awful too, but I can still do it (waltz loop? I'm never passing that freestyle level...) I tried a toe loop and it was HORRIBLE. That ended my jumping adventure. I also tried some power pulls and those weren't so good, and cross rolls- I can make a rip noise on my right side going forward, and my left side crossing over isn't too bad. Backwards I only tried a few crosses before I realized I've lost my nerve on those. I'll have to wait until I start lessons again. And then lessons bring up the problem- I'm not sure where those are going to come from. I haven't heard back from Courtney about whether or not she is interested (she had mostly stopped coaching due to a new job...), Andy is graduating in December and hella busy this semester, so I think he's out. I'm not sure if my style meshes well with Carson, I don't adore his group classes, but private might be better... I asked Taylor and she is a bit more expensive than I expected, and I also don't know much about her. I could go back to Burton... I also need to decide if I should go back to group classes. The pro is that I need to go back to some freestyle basics, I've lost a lot of skills. The con is that I don't think I'd be in the high freestyle group anymore, because they've moved on without me... and I don't know if I can handle being in the low freestyle group where we rehash basic 8 and do waltz 8s till the cows come home- because those aren't things I need to work on anymore! (I can do edges on a line on my own!) So I'm back to being a skater- but I feel like a lost little puppy.
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2011-02-14 09:48:00
Saturday skating again.
Went skating again this saturday. The rink had someone at the front desk so I actually paid (well, had my card punched). That makes me feel better. I hate stealing ice, but they won't staff the darn rink! So three weeks in a row I've made it to the rink. I had my skates sharpened this time- and that made a huge difference. It's nice to have edges again :) The actual skating was about the same as last week. Scratch spins are excellent, sit spins as good as mine get, backspin is meager but it exists. I tried waltz jumps and toe loops. I look like a no-test skater, but I think I always did. I need to add salchow back in. I nearly fell on a back outside three turn and that really shook me up. I don't handle falls or almost falls well. My whole body trembles for the next ten minutes. Its hard to even stroke, much less do actual skating. I was able to do back cross rolls this time, though they aren't good. So that's an improvement. Maybe my knees are loosening up again. But power pulls hurt too much on my left side- even using the left leg to guide on right power pulls was painful. I most definetly have to get new skates. My skates started too loose (felt like I nearly broke my ankle spinning), so I tightened them, then they felt so tight it pulled my foot differently in a spin, so I loosened just a bit. The third time I tied my skates, it hurt just to tighten the laces on top of my foot- major pain in my feet. But when I got back on the ice, it wasn't so bad. I also need to figure out a coaching situation. I'm still waiting to hear back from my old coach, but am pondering taking LTS classes to save some money. I'm not sure private coaching is what I need right now, but I'm also not sure LTS is. Private coaching I can focus on my own goals, LTS I'l be doing a lot of jumping (which I need, but hate) and a lot of very very low level MITF (waltz 8 here I come...) which I guess given my regression wouldn't be awful. The problem with focusing on my own goals, is I'm not sure what they are. I want to test silver moves- but that is out, probably permanently due to knees (power pulls), hip (spirals), and fear (8-step). I want to test bronze moves, but that is out, probably for years (loop, backspin). I want to test preliminary dances but I don't know if I'll ever be able to do the step behinds in the RB (and since I blame them for my hip injury, I'm not sure I ever want to.) So what's left? Competing pre-bronze I guess. Competitions always just seemed so expensive. I'm not sure they are worth the money. Especially since around here "adult" often gets lumped into one category- what good is it to compete against a Gold level skater who will kick my ass? So I'm a bit aimless. But at least I'm skating again!!!
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