Just for kicks: full test record

08-03-1991  PART 1: FIGURES - PREL (Extinct)                   PASS
08-03-1991  PART 2: TURNS IN ISOLATION - PREL (Extinct) PASS
14-05-1994  PART 1: FIGURES - 1ST (Extinct)                      PASS
14-05-1994  PART 2: TURNS IN ISOLATION - 1ST (Extinct)    PASS
04-12-1993  PART 1: ELEMENTS - PREL FS                        PASS
04-12-1993  PART 2: PROGRAM - PREL FS                        PASS
28-11-1992  DUTCH WALTZ - PREL DANCE                         PASS
04-12-1993  CANASTA TANGO - PREL DANCE                    PASS
04-12-1993  BABY BLUES - PREL DANCE                          PASS
01-11-1996  SKATING SKILLS CLASS 7                               PASS EQUIVALENCY
09-12-2010  PRELIMINARY SKATING SKILLS                      PASS
18-03-2011  JUNIOR BRONZE SKATING SKILLS                 PASS
16-12-2011  SENIOR BRONZE SKATING SKILLS                PASS
28-02-2013  JUNIOR SILVER SKATING SKILLS                   PASS

What's wrong with my Axel

I'm reaching my arms too high, and I'm not bringing my foot through.
Gosh, that's what my coach has been saying all along, it's almost like she's been watching!!!!!

A great post about Axels

If you haven't read it, here is a link to one of Xanboni's Axel articles.
It helps on those days when I'm just not feeling it.
http://xan-boni.blogspot.ca/2010/10/dont-think-about-elephants.html

Haiku

she dreams of Axels
glide, crunch, foot through, butterflies
fearless in harness

Eventful week

• A handful of Axels
• Couple double Sals
• Couple double loops
• One solid program runthrough
• One new spiral sequence 
• One synchro practice
• One bruised and skinned knee
• One sprained wrist
• One sore back
• Tomorrow I turn 32!

I'm back!

I didn't post for a while. Not for any particular reason, I'm still skating. Just laziness I guess. What has happened in the last year?

• I passed my Sr. Bronze Skills test!
• I choreographed a new interpretive program and performed it in competition twice
• I competed in and won two competitions in Freeskate!
• I learned some new moves - all 8 loops and an assortment of rockers and counters
• I started doing off-ice training for jumps, including Axel
• I started on-ice Axel practice and even did a really cheated Axel the other day
• I started pushing myself with new spin variations
• I wore out my skates - the blades are almost done and the boots are really weak
• I made the synchro team

It's been an eventful year with ups and downs. I've experienced the joy of making improvements and skating well. I've had stretches of consistent shitty skating that leaves me wondering what I am doing spending all this time and money on something I suck at. The ice giveth, and the ice taketh away. But overall, I still enjoy skating more often that I loathe it. Every day that I get to skate, I know I am lucky to get to practice my first love, and I keep coming back to the rink.

Fear and Awe

So the other day I was skating at the rink, minding my own business, when Emanuel Sandhu decided to drop by and practice some footwork and jumps. Uh, yikes! He was pretty good about not disrupting us; he mostly stayed at one end of the rink and only did some enormous jump when there was a clear path. I imagine that this is how I looked while trying to stay out of his way:


Looking him up just now, I discovered that we were born in the same month. But, even had I know that at the time, I don't think it would have been good enough to convince him to help me with my bracket turns. I'm dying to know why he was practicing, as far as I can tell he isn't competing anymore. Maybe he is still in the elite training program trying to break back in to the National crowd. Or maybe he just wants to maintain some of the skills that he worked so hard to attain. As far as I can tell his jumps need a lot of work before he could compete nationally again, but he still jumps high and has the carriage and grace of a champion.

In other news, my bracket turns still suck but slightly less now; my back camel is an ugly duckling but I can get in a couple of revolutions; I still jump about one millimeter off the ice; I feel more confidence in sit spins; I feel less confidence in forward camels; and my coach thinks my layback spin has improved a billion percent. She actually said today that my leg position is stunning. This is a great compliment considering that when I first started on layback spins, she immediately went to work on my leg position. Now that part is fine, and it's the whole rest of it. Oh we also had a neat breakthrough with my upright backspin. Coach recommended keeping the skating knee bent when I hook the spin, and gradually straightening it over some revolutions. This made a huge difference, the spin feels faster and I don't feel so wobbly either. Now I need to make sure I practice it again before I forget how to do it!