Breakthrough:
-Coach is thinking ahead to ISI3 and watched me run through (sans music) my pre-bronze FS program today for the first time. It's rough, but anyhoo: yes, the change-foot spin is THERE! Probably the backspin portion isn't on a true outside edge--really it's just a spin 3 revs, change feet, go around 3 times, change feet again, go around 3 more times. BUT it's a good start, and the fact that I can in fact balance on my backspin foot is an advance.

Breakdown:
-Coach is really pushing the loop jump (because it and the backspin go hand in hand, in terms of position/alignment/weight). I'm chicken. I think it's because it's taking off AND landing on the ankle I broke 2 years ago. Maybe? I dunno. I'm feeling very uncoordinated with: free leg placement, bringing arms in, aligning the whole body, feeling the outside edge, NOT looking down--one of these days I'll manage to remember all these things at the same time!

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Breakthrough:

-Double sal - feel like I'm getting the hang of it. It's nowhere close to being an actual double, but I feel I'm getting more than the single + backspin now.

-Double loop - just started working on this a couple weeks ago. It's at the single + backspin stage, but it's fun, so I'm putting it in the "breakthrough" category.

-Spins - did some good camels and sit-backsits.


Breakdown:

-Axel - It was SO good all week until my lesson. Lesson arrives and *poof* it's gone. So irritating.

-Catch-camel - still trying to figure out the secret to this. I keep dropping my right hip, which makes it impossible to do the catch.

breakthrough - worked bronze moves, paying attention to notes from lesson, things coming together. Didn't fail to keep working on the pre-bronze moves. worked on the FS4 16-step sequence (and they lie, it is 18 steps!) it is almost memorized.

breakdown - jumps were awful - low and slow, it is just a low energy day.

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It's all about the dress!

This is for yesterday:
Breakdown: old boots are done...blades were put onto new boots (saving me some $$$) and sharpened.

Breakthrough: after skating and a slight re-adjustment of the right blade (again, moved to the inside cause my body is just that way) my backspin is ok and I could land a solid jump (only did a few waltz jumps) which is weird doing so with someone I didn't really know watching hehehe!

I couldn't really tell by gliding forward because my right blade at first kept me straight, but Mike moved the whole blade over 1/8" and I was good.

Now I just need to break them in a bit.

And on another note: when my son and I were over there visiting with my daughter, we messed around shopping and tried out some beds at a mattress store-big mistake! We both fell in love with the Tempurpedic beds then had to go back to the hotel (Navy Lodge) and sleep in those really bad beds LOL!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Tempurpedic mattresses are amazing! You can get almost as good with a memory foam topper, and they are a lot less expensive.

Breakdown:
My R leg/ankle/foot. Since I came back from camping, I've been having trouble with RFO edges, in particular holding one long enough to complete a figure 8. I kept feeling my weight shift to the arch as soon as I got to the mid point of the circle. I had this same problem about 2 years ago and new boots took care of it, so I went back to Klingbeil twice to have him work on my boots, but no luck. Then, yesterday, when I was shopping and trying on dresses, I realized that I could balance just fine on my L, but not my R. I tested this and it looks like the problem is with my R leg, ankle, foot or all three. I'm not at all sure any boot can fix this. I'm going to do a simple balance exercise as often as possible and hope that helps.

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I do have a memory foam topper on my regular mattress and it was nice at first BUT that was a few years ago, maybe I need a new one (and a thicker one at that?)

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!