Saturday, April 4th, 2009

11:13a	I feel really guilty because I didn't go to freestyle this morning. I woke up with plenty of time, but my neck hurt and I was really dizzy (the reasons I came home early from work yesterday). I really need to practice my program, but I didn't. (Comment on this)
6:42p	Ice show went well, it was only like 30 minutes long. Both programs were fine, 60s was probably better than Thriller, both felt like we skated really slow. I hate not smiling in Thriller, since we don't have any sort of expression we are supposed to use I feel like I look bored. I'm not good at "blank".

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

8:12a

Lesson and Synchro
Hmmm, figuring out how to post from my email really seems to help me
remember to update :)

Last night we had an excellent synchro practice. I'm feeling much better
about the competition coming up. It should be a good battle for 3rd place,
seeing as how the top 2 teams are miles above the other 3 in the event
(assuming they are who I think they are. I know who the good two teams are.
They are USFS teams who use the ISI competition as an extra event, and
predominantly made up of lifelong skaters, not adult starts.) I really
don't care about the medal, but that drives me crazy. "Adult" is not a skill
level, it's an age group.

Dress rehearsal for the show was also last night. The synchro team chose not
to put our skates on to learn the finale. It's (pay careful attention, this
is complicated): skate to a line, bow. Follow Burton around the rink in a
circle, waving. Go back to the line, bow. Wooo. I'm not sure we'll be able
to handle that. (Do all skating shows end with waving? Coming from the
dance world, that's so weird.) The show is only 7 numbers (I thought 10,
but Brianna said 7.) and 2 of those are us. TINY. The rink had a benefit
show last weekend for one of the kids who is raising money to skate in the
Malaysian nationals (at a low level)- so I think everyone is show-ed out.
Still only 7 numbers is a bit crazy, that probably won't even be half an
hour.

My lesson was interesting and frustrating. We worked on very little parts of
the program. First the entry into the loop, then the entry into the salchow,
then the footwork. The entry into the loop is from back crossrolls, and I
really really have to bend. That went fine. The entry into the salchow is
just a backward one foot glide, but we spent a lot of time on the step
forward into the 3-turn from a glide that doesn't scrape. It's on my left
leg, which I'm not as comfortable on, and getting off the toe pick was much
harder than it should have been. We worked on the jump too, but mostly just
on that one foot glide. Silly, huh. Then I got annoyed at Courtney because
she was telling me I was doing my footwork starting with the wrong mohawk-
and I was NOT. She told me I got "confused" at the second mohawk, and that's
why I stumbled, but the second mohawk is the hard one, and I stumbled
because I can't do it! I stumble everytime I get to that part of the
program. I was NOT on the wrong foot. Then we did a whole heck of a lot of
mohawk-cross-mohawk things. On my bad side I need to concentrate on hitting
an edge and not a flat. That improved it a whole lot.

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

Time

Event

10:03a

Hmmm, well last I told you Ianded a loop and did a real toe loop. And then came the drama again (same stuff too) and then life is calm again. So here's last week. Tuesday was a fantastic skating day. I was done with the drama of the week before (see Feb. 3 entry), had ice monitored at Iowa Games and talked to Tanya about the ice dance number so that I'd be doing the willow waltz instead and learned it on Tuesday. I was relatively confident that with continued practice I'd have it no problem, as long as I was able to partner (which I made clear at Iowa Games when I talked to her about it). So Wednesday I have a lesson with Courtney, we continue working on the willow waltz, I feel relatively good about it. I have a great drop 3-turn, I mostly remember the steps (there is one progressive I always want to do a chasse) and I have a lesson planned with Tanya. I tell Tanya how I'm doing, that with a partner I'll be fine- she says "oh, but you'd have to do it solo, because all the partners are paired up and already practicing." I ask her if she just wants to run through it for kicks since I have the lesson scheduled but THANKFULLY Ryne wants to take the lesson so I'm not out almost $40. Then I go home and completly lose it. I'm FURIOUS. Twice now I've had this rug pulled out from under me. I want nothing to do with her at all. I am so unbelievably mad. Probably more so then I should be, but furious. Then I go to synchro and it goes mostly well. We have a bit of new choreography, and some of the run through isn't perfect, but not horrible. Then I come home and as I'm trying to go to sleep I start crying again, and violently shaking and I can't make it stop. I was up until about 3:30 that night. I emailed Andy basically telling him I want out of the show completely because I'm so upset about all this nonsense that I want nothing to do with it (but sort of want his okay, because I'd be quitting his number too) It is just easier to wipe the entire thing away then just confront this one issue because I am so furious with Tanya I don't even want to talk to her to tell her how ridiculous this is. While I'm doing all this I see Andy's facebook page has a message from Tanya "I need to teach you the willow waltz- you're still game for it, right" Partner's paired up and practicing already? BULL SHIT! Either way, if Tanya has a partner she could easily be the one to do it solo, not me. As a coach you should be the one to be flexible, not the skater in your number. Thursday Andy calls me with a "what the hell was that email about" sort of call. He probably stayed on the phone with me for 40 minutes during lunch and convinces me that while he thinks I'm justifably upset, Tanya probably has no idea what she's done. He also thinks I should stay in the numbers I'm enjoying- and talks to me about the "recasting" of his, which I understand was a time thing more than anything and I'm not mad at him, even though I was a bit and it did hurt me. So okay, I'll do the show, and decide on Sunday if I'm doing the adult number. I'm glad he called me. Saturday I go to Coralville freestyle and Danilo and I do the willow waltz a few times together. I have some timing and tracking issues (both things Courtney didn't really cover with me yet) but it really wasn't THAT bad. It would have been a stretch for me to get it, but I still think I could have! He also does the Dutch with me, and that's not so bad partnered, but I don't want to do it solo! Otherwise practice didn't go great- my blades are VERY dull from working on all the stops this month. Then I go up to Cedar Rapids for club ice. First off- I love the ice up there. I can actually do power pulls. My spins are FAST and usually centered. Man is that ice awesome. (Although I think jumping is harder up there). Then Andy's group was about as frustrating as it always is. Ryne has no sense of blocking or space and routinely cuts me off in intersecting lines. It's one thing when Brooklyn (a 7 year old) does it, but Ryne is old enough to know better. Of course, one of the times I got in Mark's way, because he skates so much faster than me and I couldn't tell if he was just going to cut me off, but he was trying to wait for me to go... oops. I apologized for it though. The footwork at the end I've finally connected is almost the same as our footwork in synchro- (we call them "brackets" but they aren't really) except on a curve and going REALLY fast. I can't do it. I also can't do the choctaw. :( But it went well. I thanked Andy for calming me down. Sunday was opening number rehearsal and I can point and gasp my mouth with the best of them. It's mostly just pantomime and skating from one place to another. No footwork. I've found that middle schoolers are just as catty as they were when I was there. (I'm a "fan" of the "celebrities" and there are 4 other girls who are "fans". They told me they were the "main fans"- and maybe I should be a "paparatzi" instead. Oh get over yourself. The high schoolers I skate with in the other group- and on freestyle ice- are much nicer) Then we did adult ice dance rehearsal. I decided if I'm going to do any of the show I need to do all of it. So I'm going to suck it up and do the dutch waltz. I found out another adult (a coach, actually) was also pretty pissed off with Tanya for reasons related to the willow waltz. So it's not just me who thinks she's being really selfish about this number. That coach was doing it solo, but Tim (a junior level skater) offered to learn the dance and do it with her, so she has a partner now. That was really nice of Tim. Anyhow- Andy told Tanya he would like to partner me for the Dutch Waltz (thanks Andy) so I'm much happier with the number. It's still just one lap around the rink, and kind of silly, but at least I feel like I'm doing something. The three adults (two ladies, one man) who are soloing are barely doing crossovers. Lisa was right that it was LOW level. Another adult who is working on her bronze dances is also doing the dutch, and Danilo is partnering her, but she is thinking she'd rather do it solo. Even if she does- I am NOT giving up my partner. Andy and I actually did it fairly well together (which is good, because that means I get out of having to pay for Dutch Waltz practice)- on the end pattern the swing roll that always gives me trouble continues to because his edge is SO deep I trip myself nearly every time. But regardless it will look good. It was kind of funny the first pattern we were on the third entry step when he asked me if I could call the steps because he didn't remember the dance. At the end of the pattern we kind of do an acting thing where he casts me aside for Tanya (and Danilo his partner for Lisa) and they go off and do the other dance. I'm just really glad Andy offered to do that. It makes doing this number much more fun. And then, just because while I'm much happier, and much calmer, I was quite happy that Tanya's rehearsal got a bit hijacked by Amy who was working on Lauren's solo and wants the adults to be background actors for it. So we spent a good amount of time practicing that while you could see Tanya get progressively more upset with Amy. Ha. I'll just be glad when this ice show is over. Unless I'm a better skater next year, I don't see myself doing it again.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Time

Event

8:49a

Last week of January I'm getting really bad about posting about skating. I used to remember to post after every session and now I barely remember to post every week. So this is last week Tuesday: Sue told me I could take low freestyle in addition to my regular class. Poor Tanya has her hands full, the girls in that class just do not pay attention at all. We worked on backward edges and waltz jumps-toe tap-waltz jump. You know what's funny. When I was in that level, I could do that from 3 crossovers no problem, now I have to do weeny little crossovers or I can't do it. Guess that says my crossovers are getting better. I generate too much power/speed from them and then can't jump. Andy was gone so Lindsey/Ryne taught Freestyle. We did some jumps, then worked on spins, and spirals. I got complimented on my backspin. Spirals were okay- we did some weird combinations of edges/directions, and man on my bad side do I feel like an ungraceful airplane. Wednesday: The good kids are back at freestyle- they had been gone for 3 weeks. I had to put contacts in because my perphial vision isn't good enough with the glasses, and with the low skaters I can look and tell where they are going and be fine, the 3-4 of the good skaters move so fast I can't always track their path and need to have that extra bit of vision! Lesson with Courtney was okay. We did backspins and sit spins. My sit spin can be really good, but not always. I don't know what I do to make it different. She wants me to hold my edge for less time on the backspin and really whip into it. I can always get into the spin, but not always get my leg crossed- urgh. Then we did an incredibly frustrating time with loops. I hate loops. I did one that Courtney said would "count" as a loop- but no way, I barely have a quarter of the rotation off the ice. We concentrated a lot on landing on my toe, crossing my leg in position. Then I had to stay for club ice for group practice for the 30s number in the club show. This is where I found out that I would be in the LTS adult group who are doing the dutch waltz solo. Yawn. I'd be okay if it was -based- on the dutch waltz, with some flourish to fit the music or something, but nope, just the dutch waltz, one pattern around the rink. I should have never done the show. see next locked post. Felt really sick and didn't go to synchro, went to bed at 8:30 instead. Saturday: Skated 8:00 freestyle, did some moves patterns, did some backspins and sitspins. Wasn't really a great practice. Had to go to club ice in Cedar Rapids- I kind of like skating up there, the ice is really fast and I can actually do power pulls! Group practice was fine, but incredibly frustrating, I cannot jump where he wants us too (an intersection where we cross every other person) it is just WAY too fast. Andy suggested I bunny hop instead. Holy crap no way is that happening, that's more terrifying than a waltz jump. We learned our end footwork, and it involves some weird toe hop backwards (while moving very fast) and a choctaw. No way, just more crap I can't do. Should have never done this show.... The week wasn't as bad as I'm recapping I'm just in a really bad mood right now. See locked post for more info. Warning: pissed off Jessica ahead. This morning we got an email about the "recast" of the 90's (Disney w/ Andy) group number. The result - a super pissed off Jessica. I'm starting to regret skating in the club show. It's expensive to be in, and ice time for practice is even more expensive. I knew all that- but here's the thing, there is no place in it for a low level freestyle skater. I really feel that I'm getting completely shafted. First off- the cost is $75. That's understandable, they have to buy a lot of ice, and that's expensive. Each number gets 1 hour of "private ice"- but the 30's number I'm in the coach chose not to use the private ice. I don't know if the club bought it and it sat empty, or if they just didn't buy it. But either way I paid for it, and I'm not skating on it. The 30s number is also pissing me off because I was cast in a number that was filled out with a bunch of coaches. Okay, that's fine. Well then they invited the LTS adult class to be in it. Being a low level skater, I'm obviously not as good as the coaches and am now skating with the LTS group. Which is not at all what I signed up for. We're doing the Dutch Waltz, solo. YUCK. AND the LTS group isn't having to pay to skate in the show. If I'm skating the same thing as them- what the heck did I have to pay for? Each number consists of 3 songs- the LTS group is skating about 1/2 a song- the coaches are filling out the other 2.5 songs. That's crap. I should have thrown a fit like Ryne did when I was cast in this group (at that point it was the club adults- Ryne, Danilo, me, and a teenage girl- and Ryne didn't want to be in the "adult" number. If I had known it would be coaches and LTS I wouldn't have wanted to be in it either) and got put into another group. I really feel like I'm being screwed here. Then there is Andy's group. Andy's group is really difficult for me, and it's very frustrating because the levels in it range from a little 4 year old who can't skate backward to novice level men. Andy told me yesterday that it was too tough for him to get everyone to skate at the same time, so he was going to recast the remaining two songs. Don't you think it would make sense that he would do one of the songs with the high level skaters, one song with the low level skaters- plus the featured pair? Nope. He dropped the low level skaters entirely. So 4 little girls, and me, just don't skate the rest of the number. WTF? Not only do we have to half ass our way through a first song that is way to hard for us, then we don't even get to skate any more? I am so upset about this. I'm probably unreasonably upset about this, but what an ass. Even if the 5 lower skaters can't do the complicated footwork he wants, he could still use them somewhere, but if you don't have an axel, you're out. They should have never put the 5 of us in that group if that's what he wanted. At least that's fewer sessions I have to pay for for rehearsals. The opening and closing numbers are just acting and skating from place to place. But at least by skating them, I'm using some of the ice time my money paid for- because the group numbers sure aren't doing that. Needless to say, I won't be doing the club show next year.

January 7th, 2009

6:32p

Remedial class...
Yesterday during LTS we did "ice show for dummies" a remedial class, mostly for me, but to help Y. also. The other two skaters in the class who are not in the show learned the choreography and also worked on the steps we needed.

The first thing- the mohawks that cross up the ice. Andy has us doing a crossover pattern that snakes up the ice, changing direction at each side but with your front always facing the front of the "stage". You change directions with a mohawk, but I couldn't figure it out at all on Saturday, so I just made sure to do back crossovers, and then just kind of rode the edge on the side to change directions, with my body facing forward. Since I don't imagine too many people will watch me, as long as I'm in the right place facing the right way, my feet aren't THAT important (Andy actually agreed with this, and told me just to do the closest to what everyone else is doing that I can). But we worked on the mohawk and the problem is that it has to be VERY turned out, and I do the perpendicular to the instep sort of mohawk. But after a few tries I got it. The missing link for the direction change was that there is a step cross at the end. (So back crossover, step forward, mohawk to backward, step cross and ride the edge a bit and then you are going the other direction, but the mohawk doesn't change your direction, it's just there to be fancy.) It's all too fast for me to do it in the show just yet, but its possible I'll get it in at least one direction.

Then we worked on stops. We do one stop that I think is the tango stop synchro used the year before I joined, but with a kick so it's more one footed. Andy is letting us stop on either foot (thank goodness!) So I'm stopping on the right. Skating on the left foot, with most the weight on the left foot, you slide the right foot in front of it, on the outside edge (so the toe is pointing right). As you come to a stop, kick up your left foot and throw hands up. Andy told me if I just do the hands he's okay with it. At very slow speeds I can actually stop. At slow speeds, I mostly stop, but then kind of fall over. At medium or high speeds, I give it a try, don't stop and quickly snowplow. LOL. But still, I can at least do it slowly, last year I couldn't even come close!

The other stop we did is a one foot hockey stop, thankfully on the right foot. This one is on the inside (I think) edge, so the toe points left). I can do this one at slow speeds pretty well. I had never tried it before tonight, so I was pretty impressed. I remember seeing skaters stop on one foot when I was little and was so amazed by it, so I'm pretty excited to learn how to do it. At medium speeds, I don't quite stop, more skid, but right after the stop, which ends with the left foot slightly kicked up, and then we jump onto the left foot and dig the right toe pick in, so I can almost stop, and then just jump and stop during the jump/toepick jab.

Honestly both stops would be way better if I could just trust my edge and lean. I know I'm not leaning away from the blade (like I don't do in a t-stop either) and that's really how it needs to be done.

The last thing we learned is the "dance break" in the song. And you wouldn't believe what trouble it's giving me. I think this is the 'ackward adult on ice' syndrome. Elite skaters who are so comfortable on ice can do anything, and little kids who just don't have fear can do anything. I cannot. We have to shimmy, while walking alternating with the left heel of the blade in the ice in front of us (leg extended), and the right toe pick crossing behind the left leg. The concept of putting my heel into the ice just baffles me. I have a mean shimmy- I have no fear of looking stupid. I cannot for the life of me walk on my heel and my toe, and when I try to shimmy while trying to walk heel toe I look worse than Dan did marching on the amazing race (if you don't watch amazing race- it was pretty bad). I was very sad when i realized my shimmy had been compromised! I had that part down! Andy told me I just need to not worry about looking stupid- but that isn't my worry at all. I just can't make my legs do it. If I was worried about looking stupid, trust me I would NOT be skating to Disney music with elite skaters. Stupid is going to happen no matter what :)

Also- I gave up on the Billy Joel program, too hard to cut. I think I'm onto Sound of Music now, if I can cut the music alright. The soundtrack has a medley on it, but it's long, so I need to see if there are logical places to cut it down. Then I don't have to worry about lyrics at all.

Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

1:10p Happy New Year!
Howdy everyone! Happy New Year, I am SO out of practice skating wise. I skipped the last few sessions before my vacation, and started back up today. EEK.

My knees are killing me this year. I had a rough time with them over my vacation, even without skating, so I'm really worried about how this year will go.

First- the cute skating story.
I took my 2-year old (3 in March) nephew ice skating in Dallas. We had SO much fun. He could barely stand on the mats before we started, so I was a bit worried, but he LOVED it. Unlike some little kids he understood that he had to keep his feet flat to let me push him, so me and his Dad took turns pushing him around. It killed my back (could barely move the next day) but was totally worth it. When I would push him really fast, and do curves with him (he could hold his feet well enough we could go back and forth) he said "Too fast, Aunt Jessi!" It was so cute. After about 30 minutes we tried "stand like a statue" and he was able to stand all by himself on the ice. I tried to get him to stomp/march, but he'd just pick up both feet and make me or his Dad hold him! After wards he went with Lovely (grandma) and decided he liked to ice skate out on the mats better- the ice was "too slippery". Listening to him say slippery (which he came up with on his own) was SO cute. Later he told everyone he liked it, but it was very slippery.

Now my skating.
I skated club ice in Cedar Rapids today ($7- I hate paying for ice) after having skipped morning freestyle so I could save my knees. I have completely forgotten how to skate. I couldn't even do 3s in the field! The ice up there is so weird- really smooth and very hard. It is very fast, but hard for me to skate on. It was difficult to practice, because a group was rehearsing and coaches were spotted along the boards with their kids, so I didn't know where it would be safe to spin or jump. I did one scratch spin, and it was nicely centered :) No backspins though- I need to stand in place for those, and that didn't seem safe. The one good news- power pulls were WAY easier up there.

Then we did rehearsal for the club show. It's going to be a disaster. It starts with some chassess into two repeats of the 8 step mohawk. If I was in the other line I might have a chance, but my line does my bad mohawk- I can barely do it slow, now imagine it to the beat of "under the sea". I don't want to ask to be put in the other line though, because the group is large, and as is I don't know how it's going to be possible to have this done by late February. We got about 1/4 through the first of three songs! The good (not really- I hate that the only thing that is good for me is someone else who is clearly not happy) news is I'm definetly not the worst skater- as I can just turn the wrong way and keep my feet going at roughly the same time as the people doing the move correctly. There is a little girl who I doubt is out of basic 3 (she can't skate backwards, I don't think. At least not more than wiggles), who, poor thing, just cannot keep up. She actually broke out crying, and Andy tried to console her and encourage her throughout the thing. After Andy went to work with the other group I said "L. want to know a secret? I'm a big girl and I can't do it either" That made her laugh, and at least for then I think she felt better, but I was so frustrated the entire time I can't imagine what she must have felt like. I'm behind her in the passthrough section and the last 4 people have to slow down so much because of it that I don't know how we'll ever make our next mark in time, but she still does the marching/toe pushes, that I don't think she can safely go any faster. I'm wondering if Andy will go home and retool her part, having her highlighted as some cute fish or something instead of with the group (which includes multiple national level skaters). I just can't imagine she's having too much fun, but it's only the first rehearsal. I was so stressed the whole time, but it was mostly fun, and this way I get to meet some of the club skaters.

Still no schedule for the second number at all. That's also stressing me out. We did get a change today, though, and now instead of 4 adults, it is 3 adults (one who says he isn't doing it) and LTS skaters. So I'll be a competent skater in that group, but I hope Danilo and I are somehow highlighted and not part of the LTS group- that's not what I signed up for.

Knees are dying, but I'm going to have to live at the rink for the next two months if I even want a chance of doing well in this show...
Lessons start again wednesday.