mtj4500
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in the "mtj4500" journal:[<< Previous 20 entries]
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14:29
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The Week Before Christmas
I had earmarked Wednesday 17th as Christmas shopping day but a 'phonecall from John Turner to say that my new boots had arrived meant I had to choose between getting boots or presents .... Sorry for the low present count this year everyone!
First skate after that was on Friday morning but as I had a lesson at 07:45 I skated the first part of the session in my old boots. Lesson was mainly on field moves which Mark was pleased to see progress with ... until we got to three turns that is. I still don't use my upper body enough which leads to much scraping .... The last five minutes were spent on twizzles, which were not going very well so we decided the next lesson (in three weeks) should concentrate more on them.
After the ice cut I tried out the new boots and blades (Wifa Dance with MK Dance blades). The boots are half a size bigger than my old Belatis and are the widest Wifa fitting to cope with my short square feet. Lots of room in the toe area (very comfortable!) but the heels felt a bit loose, so I laced them up firmly - first mistake. Managed about 10 minutes before the pain in my ankles and along the outside of my feet became too much and I had to get off. Relaced the boots much more loosely this time. Too loosely in fact as it felt like my feet were sliding around inside the boots. After another couple of relacings I think I have found the formula - tight over the toes, loose (but firm) over the foot (this is the most crucial bit as, even if it is only slightly too tight, it causes pressure on the outside of the sole which becomes unbearable after about 10 minutes or so), then very tight over the first hook to keep the heel in place and, finally, loose over the rest of the hooks otherwise it is too painful in the ankles. It doesn't seem to make much difference whether I lace the top hook or not and the elasicated cuff at the back doesn't seem to serve any useful purpose. By the time I had worked out the lacing there was only about 10 minutes of the session left and my feet had had enough so I got off.
On Sunday morning I had a lesson with Sarah at 07:30 and F and I had a joint lesson with Mark at 08:30 so it was back to the old boots to make sure the lessons were productive. Cocentrated on hold, posture and tracking with Sarah, and *almost* got to the first 3turn in the European ... maybe next time!
Mark started with the step sequence, which has been going quite well so far, and changed my LBI bracket to a LBI 3turn while F changes side to accomodate the exit edge. After that we change to Killian hold, LFO mowhawk, step forward LFO 3turn, step forward and LFI choctaw. That lot seems to fill a significant portion of the circular step sequence!
The European was having an even worse than usual day, so much so that Mark vetoed us entering it for BAC and said it would be pushing it for it to be ready by May for Oberstdorf. Not sure what, if anything, I can do at BAC in February as I am definitely in between levels for solo compulsories and have no free skate or free dance and none of our couples stuff is ready yet grrrr!
In OXIST I wanted to try out the new boots again and managed to get the lacing right on only the second attempt! The boots were more or less comfortable for the rest of the session so I could concentrate on the differences in the blades. My old blades are John Watts Dance (10") and the new ones are MK Dance (10 1/4"). Firstly, where are the toepicks?!!! The picks on the Watts blades are quite a bit more substantial than the MK ones and lower down. The bottom pick is quite large but round giving it lots of sideways resistance but doesn't dig into the ice if you catch it going forwards (also makes a very good brake when going backwards!). The MK picks are set much higher and are generally much smaller and also curve around the front of the blade so that you could not engage the full set at once. The main thing is that you can tip a lot further forward on the blade before the picks touch the ice. At the moment this is making my three turns and mohawks much quieter but it also means that you can get your weight even further forwards before your toepicks stop you(making recovery more difficult!). The blades *need* better technique. The second major difference is the rocker - 8' simple rocker for the Watts blade and 7' complex rocker for the MK. The smaller rocker makes the MKs feel more 'tippy' if your weight moves forward or back but you can feel it and make (or attempt to make) corrections. At the moment I am still feeling my way round the blades and testing each element to see where the weight should be. Finally, the MK blades are *quiet*! Just skating around on the Watts made quite a bit of noise, whereas the MKs are dead silent. I don't think this is an inherrent problems with the Watts blades themseves, more the mounting of them. the new blades are tracking properly whereas the old ones were not ... this, at least, should be a great improvement!
Tuesday night was very quiet. Not many dancers and not many public either. I think Mark was going to skip the dance interval until Penny cornered him and he gave in. Nice session to try out as much as possible in the new boots - went through most of the L1 and L2 field moves. Back edges still finding the balance point of the blades, forward crossrolls the same. 3turns and mohawks working but have to be extra careful not to pitch forward after the turn. back crossovers really smooth and fast (no toepicks!) - quite scarey. Could just about manage LFO counter. Twizzles not completely gone away, haven't dared to try a spin yet. Teapots and hydroblades almost back to normal. 3jumps a little tentative as the landing edge is not as stable in the new blades. Solo European waltz just about doable but have to manage the 3turns much more carefully or it all goes to pieces very quickly. Low level dances ok with care.
Verdict on boots and blades: In the short term a lot of things are more difficult and tentative and require a lot more concentration but in the longer term I think the new blades will be good for my skating as they will force me to use better technique to get the best out of them. I am starting to like them already :-) .
Current Mood:  determined
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14:30
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Starlight and Twizzles
With no lessons for the last two Fridays due to competitions and rink maintenance and with F away for the weekend I was looking forward to an extra long lesson on Sunday morning. I managed to get on the ice by 0730, which is a little late for me but I needed the extra sleep! Did the usual warm up of field moves and European waltz and then decided I would try learning the steps for the Starlight waltz, so I spent the last 10 minutes or so of patch, skating round with step sequence in hand!
After the ice cut Mark asked me what I wanted to do in the lesson so I replied that we had better continue with the field moves but I also wanted to spend some time on spins and twizzles. He then asked what I was learning as he had spotted me skating round with piece of paper, so I admitted I had been trying to memorise the steps to the Starlight and we decided to work on that after the dance interval.
Field moves are a long slog. they are improving, but slowly. I have to lean back into my edges more to stay off my toepicks! Three turns are not clean enough and need better checking and I need to be able to hold the back edge better before stepping forwards, and then step forward by opening my hips rather than rotating my whole body. Not much more to be said about L2 FM except practice, practice, practice!
We then moved on to twizzles and Mark showed me where I needed to put my weight for them to rotate cleanly. He also pointed out that I was tending to go onto too much of an inside edge which is why the edges bite sometimes. keeping the blade upright and the weight right over the back (when I could!) resulted in some smooth single rotations. The next thing was to try to break the 360 degree barrier. At first I used my free foot to help the transition into the second rotation but eventually managed to rotate a couple beyond the elusive 361 degrees, including one which went round about one and three quarter times! Mark was very pleased but I was elated - my first proper twizzle!
We spent the last five minutes on spins which were working slightly better this time, but I need to counter rotate my body even more in the wind up and straighten up smoothly at the start of the spin.
After the dance interval it was on to the Starlight - I had just about memorised the steps enough to demonstrate a sequnce with out missing any of them out or getting them in the wrong order! Mark decided that it would be a good idea to put the music on so we could work at the right tempo (I was going quite a bit slower as I was trying to remember steps while going round!). After Marks initial concern about going into the three turns I managed a sequence to music (phew, it's fast!). I then asked about the change of edge before the swing going into the three turns as it was not clear from the pattern how this was achieved. I had just been keeping by free leg extended backwards for the first bar and tucking it under for the second. Mark wanted something a little more positive - a half swing followed by a tuck behind. My first attempt didn't go well as I rocked too far forwards, caught a toepick, and laid my length on the ice, sliding quite a long way. Unfortunately I landed on my elbow which was quite painful (and is now sorely bruised and still a little swollen) but I was determined to carry on and make light of it. We finished off by looking at the lilted back edge before stepping forward. It's great to learn a new dance!
In OXIST I managed to do a full two revolution twizzle (only one foot so far and I hope I can still do it on Tuesday!). I also got some help from MP on three jumps - I can usually get moderate height and travel but my technique is poor. I need to point my toes on the swing through and keep my arms in a circle in front of me on take off. Both these things immediately helped make the jumps feel smoother and more controlled.
Current Mood:  excited
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17:38
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Oxford Adult Dance competition 2008
The alarm went off at ten to five, which was a bit earlier than intended but I knew I would need every bit of ice time I could get on the morning patch. And anyway, it was too late to do anything about it once I was awake! The previous evening had been spent packing, making sure the medals and trophies were in the car, and checking through the scoring software on the laptop to ensure it was set up correctly for the competition. Somehow all that had managed to take until about half past midnight and, what with waking up a couple of times in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, I felt a bit short on sleep.
On ice for morning patch, my legs felt like lead and my body really didn't feel like it wanted to push any limits today thank you very much, and it took well over half an hour before I felt even remotely warmed up. By this time F had arrived and was warming up so we spent the last few minutes of patch going through our competition stuff. In our lesson we went through everything, with music, one final time. Mark reminded us to hold our extensions in the fiesta, particularly on the back steps in the end pattern, make sure we did correct waltz timing on the runs and chasses in the Willow and to keep our heads up in the free dance. I am amazed at how little Mark has said about our Willow in the last few weeks since we started working on it for Oxford, almost all of the time has been spent on the Fiesta and free dance!
Skated rather less than usual in the dance intervals, partly to conserve energy and partly to collect guest fees (which is one of the big disadvantages of being treasurer of the dance club!). But it was nice to see so many guests enjoying themselves and sampling the Oxford ice before the competition, although we were markedly down on regulars!
After Dance club there was just time to nip out for a bacon roll and coffee (probably that last chance to eat anything properly for the rest of the day) before the manic task of setting up the competition began. F and P were busy organising helpers and coordinating all the jobs that needed to be done so MP and I set to work on setting up the scoring computers, printers, photocopiers, etc. in the pro's room (just about the only warm room in the rink at the moment!). As we had only been able to extract one IceCalc dongle from NISA (at an outrageously inflated price...) we had to borrow a second one to enable us to run both computers (thanks Bristol!). The set up turned out to be a full time job and by the time F returned to announce that the competition was just about to start, five minutes late, we had only just finished.
MP and I took first session in the results room as neither of us were skating until later. One thing to be said in favour of IceCalc is that the results entry is pretty slick and ran very smoothly. It's just a pity it is so painful to set up the competition in the first place and that it is fundamentally unsuitable to run the sort of competitions we usually run in the UK. After the first couple of classes we started to introduce the software to our replacement data enterers(!) who quickly picked it up and shortly afterwards evicted us from the results room :-).
After finding a cup of tea and something to eat I went in search F who was getting ready for her solo compulsories. She couldn't have looked less like wanting to get on ice, with a cold starting to take hold and the stress and tiredness of organising the whole event weighing heavily on her shoulders. After going through some warm ups and stretches she started to look more like a skater and by the time she was rinkside was more or less back to her normal self. On ice she rose to the occasion brilliantly and skated a terrific Fiesta and an almost as good 14Step - good enough to win both dances against stiff opposition. MP was skating in the same class and also did a magnificent job to come a close second in the fiesta and third in the 14Step, giving her third over all.
As soon as the class had finished I rushed back upstairs to warm up, running several lengths of the rink to get some circulation going and loosen up stiff muscles. A quick change and some stretches later it was back to rinkside with F for our compulsories. Now it was my turn to feel woefully underprepared and not wanting to skate! But on with the Fiesta warm up and after a lap of the rink in Killian hold I could at least feel my legs again. Our first attempt at a Fiesta pattern was well out due to another couple in front of us and then, on the change edge swing, F disappeared and, just as I was wondering what had happened, I was suddenly falling on top of her! We think she caught a toepick or boot hook on one of the lace bows on her boot, taking out first her own skating leg and then mine.... Luckily neither of us were badly hurt and we got straight up intending to do at least one full sequence before the warm up was over. Unfortunately, though, we ran out of time. After tucking Fs laces in as best we could it was our turn. We skated it reasonably well although the end pattern was a bit flat and my mohawks were a somewhat scratchy. The Willow Waltz was much less dramatic, thank goodness, and we got through warm up and dance without incident. Good points - remembered extension and waltz timing. Bad points - back edges round 'bell' were a bit flat and our hold was a mile apart. We knew that two of the other four couples were very strong and we were hoping for third place, so we were absolutely stunned when the final results put us first!
Next class was MP and A's solo free dance class. Both skated really nice programmes which, barring a couple mistakes, went very smoothly. A did a tango with attitude and MP's was 'Summertime', both very effective!
As soon as that class was over F and I had to rush off to get ready for our free dance. There was just time to get changed and do a quick off ice run through before heading back rinkside. The warm up went well (apart from not rotating the lift) and we managed to fit most elements in. We were first to skate and it went pretty well, although we did almost hit the barrier (again!) at the start of the step sequence - I guess the extra adrenaline of the performance must make us push that bit harder! The step sequence worked as well as it has for the last few weeks and I even heard the camera click as we did the assisted teapot at the end of it! We came out of the step sequence on time and I made the decision that, as we did not rotate it in the warm up, we would do a straight line lift and just try to push it really high. The spin went pretty well too and then it was over, our last competition outing for 'Cabaret'! We were also pleased to get second place with it.
After that we were free to watch the last few classes and then the presentations. Unfortunately I was busy in the results room dismantling computers and missed the fd presentation so apologies to the winners of that class for the incomplete podium shots.
Finally it was time to pack everything up, which is still about an hours work after the competition is over, although the rink staff were marvelous, both before and after the event and helped out where they could. Fourteen and a half hours in an ice rink with just a short breakfast break is enough for anyone!
It was great to see so many friends and even catch up a little with some of them! I regret not being able to watch more people skate but it is quite difficult - part of the time being in the results room and most of the rest of the time trying to focus on my own skating. I have learned from bitter experience that if I am not very selfish at competitions I soon loose the plot! So if you were there and I didn't see you or say hello, I apologise!
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15:24
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Sunday
This was always going to be a long day, with morning patch at one end of the day and Bristol RIDL at the other. I was slightly late leaving home but still managed to be on ice by 0730 in spite of thick fog on the roads.
The patch was very busy with extra people in to practice for the Solo Dance Championships and Dance Club was *really* busy. In our lesson we continued where we left off last week with the step sequence and finally finished it off (yay!). After my bracket I now mohawk to backwards then F 3turns to get into open Killian hold and we both do a complicated series of steps involving mohawk and cross in front on both feet (I can't help it if I'm step dyslexic!). Finally F does two drop 3s and we end up with the assisted teapot that MP and CB have christened 'the lobotomy manouvre' (can assure you that there is no risk of contact between toepick and forehead!). We now just have the final 20-30 seconds to choreograph but much of that will be taken up by a lift and spin.
In OXIST Mark offered me an extra half hour to make up for missed time on Tuesday night. I decided to take half of it solo and half to continue the mornings good work on the free dance with F. After a couple of runs through of the step sequence Mark decided the next thing to go in should be a lift so he asked us to demonstrate some. We started with the stag as that is easily our most reliable lift although, even with this lift, by the time we have finished turning we are stationary. We worked on how to keep it moving during and after the rotation (with some success) and then moved on to the leg wrap, which I think Mark prefers even though it is less reliable and we can't get into it at more than a snails pace. By the end of the lesson we had gained a little speed into the lift but still need to work on getting more height.
Straight on to my solo lesson, Mark wanted to work on compulsory dances for the next competitions (Bristol and BAC) which, for me, will be Canasta Tango and Dutch Waltz. He decided that my CT didn't have enough tango feel to it and immediately set to work on better edges. I need to bring the swing rolls round so that they finish at 90 degrees to or from the barrier and the slip chasses round to finish parallel to the (side) barriers. The run at the end needs to finish on a really deep LFO edge so that I am traveling back up the rink parallel to the barrier before stepping on to a really deep RFO (he demonstrated with collapsed ankle for both LFO and RFO but I am not sure whether I can do that!) to bring the crossroll swing back through 180 degrees directly towards the end barrier. This is a real challenge, even though the steps are so simple....
Finally it was down to Bristol for the RIDL where, on arriving in the car park, I realised that I had left my skating trousers with Sarah for some alterations after a fitting at lunch time (hadn't occurred to me at the time!). I ended up having to skate in tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt (thankfully all black). I skated a Rhythm Blues with MP and a 14step with F and lost both matches. Thankfully both MP and F had better luck with their other partners (S and TOM) and won the other RB and 14. Unfortunately M&V had to pull out at the last minute so F and TOM had to skate both Starlights (which meant that F skated 2 Festval Cha Chas, 2 14steps and 2 Starlight Waltzes consecutively!). Overall I think Oxford managed second in the junior competition and last in the senior. Didn't really take part in the social dancing, other than to warm up a few dances before the competition, so retired to the buffet before the crowds got there.
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17:33
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Sunday - no Dance Club
A short day with ice only available until 0845 due to an all day hockey event. To make the most of the day I made sure I was on ice by 0700.
Did a thorough warm up and run through of solo dances for Bracknell before starting on the 14Step and Foxtrot with F. This was the first time I have felt properly at home on Oxford ice since getting back from Europe (and the nicest the ice has been since getting back!). Even so, after having to abort a 14Step to avoid a close encounter with D&J I found I could not seem to get onto an inside edge for the mohawk on the next go. It took a few attempts to work out what the problem was and I hope it will be ok next time I skate!
Finally have our lesson back with Mark! While Sarah has given some very useful help and a different perspective, it is great to have Marks more technical approach back. Unfortunately he had to take the lesson from the barrier having hurt his foot a couple of days before. We started off with the foxtrot, knowing that it would take the whole lesson. After a couple of sequences Mark introduced pauses after the cross behind at the start and after my forward run (before the second crossroll 3) which helps us to keep together. He also got me to do a *really* deep edge after the first 3turn followed by a 'flat outside edge' before the step forward. Finally he made us do proper (deep) inside edges for the start/restart, all of which improved the pattern a great deal. Unfortunately there was no time to practice any of the improvements as we had to get off the ice straight after the lesson so we will have to make sure we go through it thoroughly next time we skate. Worryingly, F seems to be experimenting with new forms of 'encouragement' if I get the steps wrong .....
Very strange to leave the rink by 9am. Took the opportunity to spend a very relaxed Sunday. But I don't think I could do that every week!
Current Mood:  relaxed
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16:40
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Late update for last week
More or less caught up at work .... now for LiveJournal!
Starting back in Oxford last Tuesday (Oberstdorf and Mountain Cup will follow).
Less than a day after arriving back in the UK it was back on ice for the usual Tuesday night free for all. Having been spoilt by two weeks of really good ice (or at least one week of superb ice and one week of not quite so good bit still very nice ice) it was a bit hard to get back into Oxford ice. It was hard to warm up properly and I found myself stopping to chat to people quite a lot. The difference in rink size is also much more apparent when coming back to a smaller one. The dance intervals felt a bit more tentative than usual and we attempted the Foxtrot without much hope. In fact it survived remarkably well (although that was not to last ... see Sunday!). I couldn't really bring myself to do much dance practice so I practiced some spins instead and was still doing so when Mark came over for my lesson. So we spent the fist part of the lesson on spins (yay!) and he picked up on a couple of things that really helped. The rest of the lesson was spent on the Fiesta Tango, which he was mostly quite pleased with but put more emphasis on bringing the edges round further. I really hope I can get this dance together with enough reliability for Bracknell. I worry that I know I can generate enough speed to make the mohawk scary and it's that knowledge, rather than the actual mohawk, that could cause me problems. I guess I just need to practice it more going faster and faster. After the second dance interval F and I left early for much needed coffee.
Friday 8th June.
What better way to start your Birthday than getting up at 5:30am to go skating! The ice felt a little better but still somewhat alien ... at least there was plenty of room to warm up properly with plenty of edges and crossovers (just like the training camp!). Spent a little time on spins and think they might actually be starting to feel like spins at long last (whether they look anything like them is another question). Spent most of the rest of the time practicing dances and chatting to MP.
Sunday 10th June.
Opened my eyes to see the clock showing exactly 0600, an hour later than it should have read. One thought - "S**t"!!! Left the house at 0618, which included shower, shave and quick breakfast (just fruit and a biscuit, but I can't skate on an empty stomach!). A slightly liberal interpretation of some of the speed limits meant that I made it on ice with seconds to spare before our 0700 lesson. Not the best way to start a lesson, especially as I usually need about 20 minutes to warm up properly. We decided to start with the 14Step (there was a time, not so long ago, when I could not have contemplated using the 14Step to warm up!). It was well short of perfect but but went round. I am still not standing up straight enough. Sarah wants me to imagine I am skating inside a toilet roll so the body has to stay straight within it. Now I am familiar with having to do some Pilates exercises imagining you are between two very close walls, but a toilet roll?!!!
On to the Foxtrot and Sarah asked us to do 3 sequences. She stopped us after the first sequence (yes it was that bad) and after tweaking our hold a bit decided that we needed to go right back to basic stroking in hold ... a whole week of outside edges. Slowly rising on the skating leg and sinking into the ice for the next push in a continuous sine wave motion. We did work on it for the rest of patch and it must have been doing something because the backs of my legs ached a lot more than usual afterwards.
Last Gala practice. The routine is more or less finished but rather fewer people than I would have hoped seem to know what it is. I keep getting asked 'what are we supposed to be doing now?' 'Um, I haven't been here for the last few rehearsals - you tell me!'. I hope it will be somewhat better in the dress rehearsal next Saturday. But I hold out little hope.
Sarah has finished Fs dress for our free dance and it looks great. My waistcoat is also being fitted but I will have to wait until July before it is finished :-(.
In OXIST we tried some couples spins and managed a few decent ones. It seems to work best if I treat F as just being along for the ride. Lifts we going well. Was a bit worried that we haven't tried them for the last month or more.
After playing around with some solo spins and three jumps F asked how my Salchow was. I said that I didn't know how to do one so she showed me. I tried it and it worked! I can now do two jumps! Very pleased - Thanks F!
Rounded off the day with a late birthday lunch in Oxford. A very nice way to end the weekend.
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15:33
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Friday Morning
This will be my last journal entry before leaving for Oberstdorf on Monday and until I return form France on June 4th.
Arrived in good time to get on the ice just after 0730 but spent too much time chatting and didn't actually get on the ice until 0750. Then after a quick warm up MP arrived and spent more time chatting! Actually, the session (and much of the chatting) proved very productive as the ice was good and not too busy.
In practice I was a bit selfish in my use of the ice and did many patterns of Canasta, Swing, Fiesta, Foxtrot and 14step both with and without the music. I wouldn't normally hog the ice quite so much but as it was my last Friday patch before the competitions I did make the most of it.
The CT was going quite well (much better than Tuesday). The pattern was quite large and fast and I remembered to let the edges run, make the swings and slips snappy, and even the xroll swings didn't feel too out of control.
SD was not too bad and I am happy I can get round it ok with enough of a warm up (mainly on the forward chasses and swings as I find it hard to lift my foot high enough on a deep edge). The back edges were a little too toe scrapy but at least that reminds me to lean back and keep my hip up. I did continuous sequences through all four of the US tunes I had with me (yes, even *that* on) so apologies to everyone else at the rink for the earbashing!
After I had got fed up doing sequences of CT to MPs music I moved on to the Fiesta and did a few laps of that. Not bad but will have to start serious solo work on it after the Mountain Cup (for Bracknell).
Put some Foxtrot music on so I could practice it solo (which should help when we come to do it in Oberstdorf). My patterns are smaller and slower than with F and I tend to pull out at the 4th or 6th xroll3. Managed all other parts of the dance including the long back edges and the restarts. Tried to gradually inject more speed at the start but will need to practice that more on Sunday.
After three tracks the music changed to the 14step so I thought I might as well practice that as well. Side steps ok but rather scrapy end steps. I need to build up my speed into the mohawk - I can do it fine if I start from the swing and run but if I try from the first run I don't always manage get the edge into it.
Hay fever season is really starting to kick in today - really itchy eyes, sore throat and feeling pretty groggy. At least I don't feel it so badly on ice!
My last skate before leaving for Europe will be on Sunday morning. Not sure if I will be able to stay for OXIST as I will have to finish packing and go and pick up F from the airport.
Current Mood: satisfied
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14:47
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Tuesday Evening - Last Lesson!
well, unless I can blag an extra one on Sunday ....
As ever on a Tuesday night I was too tired to skate very productively even though the session was very quiet (only a couple of skaters not taking lessons of some sort or other) and the ice was good. The fact that there were very few novice skaters had it own problems though and the whole ice pad was taken up with people practicing elements making it hard to do patterns or warm up properly.
F and I had a final run through of all our dances. The Foxtrot held together but was less than spectacular. I think it is, at least, on the mend and another few sessions would have improved it. Unfortunately we don't have another few sessions so it will have to do as it is.
The 14step was ok but we need much deeper edges on the swing. We can do it in the Swing Dance but it doesn't always happen in the 14. My mohawks are always the first thing to suffer when I am tired and they were a bit scrapy - not enough of an inside edge.
The Fiesta still needs quite a bit of work - we are starting to achieve more depth of edge in the CoE swing but I was stepping round into the mohawk rather than letting the edge run round, which was putting the end steps out a bit.
The Willow was ok but I still need the occasional reminder from F to let the RBO edge after my 3turn run round and not step round on to the LBO.
The Swing Dance is still going pretty well although we are apt to get a little out of time with each other on the end steps if we don't concentrate. I also managed to do a completely silent mohawk, probably for the first time ever in a dance! And it felt very smooth. I wonder whether I will ever be able to do such a thing again ....
After that we decided to call it a day on the dances as we didn't want to break anything due to overtiredness with no chance of fixing it before we go to Europe.
With TOM on holiday Mark took me for my lesson straight after the first dance interval and as I had only sat out the Riolado Samba, I was pretty exhausted to start with. It showed, firstly in the Swing Dance and then in the Canasta. Same problems in both really - too fast, not enough control, need to keep my free leg straight and keep the timing on the swings snappy. Mark says that the speed is good but not if I look out of control. I think I am going to have to decide on the day (for the MC) how much speed to put into each of them but after the training camp I am hoping that I will be sufficiently acclimatised not to have to hold back too much.
Decided that more dance practice was going to be counter productive so tried a few spins and discovered that I can make them rotate with quite a bit of speed, if only I had the balance to keep them going.
F and I decided to call it a night and left early for coffee at the station where we filled in our Bracknell paperwork.
Current Mood:  pensive
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16:08
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Sunday
Another marathon day.
With D&J not in, Sarah had put back our lesson to 0730 which meant an extra 'lie in'. But I woke up at about 0405 and could not get back to sleep again. I gave in a 5am and got up anyway so I was on ice by 0650. I think I was dreaming the 14step! Probably a good job I was not dreaming about the Foxtrot as that would probably have been classified as a nightmare ....
I had the rink to myself and it was nice to warm up and be able to identify all the marks on the ice as your own. Some of the Swing Dance patterns even seemed to match pretty closely, at least in places. Eventually Sarah came on to warm up and then F.
In our lesson we all wanted to work on the Foxtrot. Sarah was reasonably happy with what she had seen of our 14step last week so we left it at that. We rejigged the Foxtrot start again so that we do two pushes in open hold and then go straight into Foxtrot hold on the first run, followed by two more pushes in hold and another run. This gives us both time to get the hold sorted out and stable by the time we get to the two inside edges at the start. I still need to concentrate on a shallower edge before the xroll3 and Sarah wants us tracking nose to nose on my back edges with a shallow, almost flat edge before Fs 3turn. And I need to stay behind (in front of!) F right up to the xroll leading into my second 3turn before moving to her side. We didn't look at much more of the dance but I am still sticking my hip out to the side on the long back outside edge (which is even worse than sticking my bum out apparently!). It was certainly going better today than it was last week but, frustratingly, is not as good as it was two weeks ago after our first lesson with Sarah.
In Gala practice, after the ice cut, the routine was choreographed up the end of the music, although it is a bit free form and depends on who is there at the time. We now have airport arrival, boarding the 'plane, a quick circuit of the rink and a landing. It is still quite short (less than three minutes) so Mark is going to add some 'summery' music to the end, presumably for when we reach our holiday destination. More to be revealed next week ....
Mark had a 15 minute slot free in Dance Club to make up for the missed lesson on Tuesday which, although it was pretty busy, was still better than my usual time. We worked on the Swing Dance and Canasta Tango which were ok but could still benefit from deeper edges and I am not committing to the xroll swing nearly enough.
Not enough people stayed around for the mid morning dance interval, which was annoying, especially as we had even though it would have been nice to go straight out for breakfast (we needed it by 10am!). We came back before OXIST so F could have the second fitting for her dress. Am looking forward to seeing the end result!
In OXIST Mark had a spare lesson slot so F and I were able to have a final lesson together before F leaves for Tallin on Thursday. We asked if we could do some spins but Mark had other ideas and went straight on to the Fiesta Tango. We spent a lot of time on the CoE swing and making sure we crunch to the left for the inside edge. In the Swing Dance we worked on getting the end steps more together and a more relaxed hold (need to bend my elbow more as F has shorter arms than me!). in the Willow we worked on the two edges after my mohawk and into Fs 3turn, the first one deep and the second on shallow, almost flat. At the end Mark found time to look at our spin which has stopped working recently. The main problem is that we are not getting enough push into it, or rather that I am not pushing into it enough as I have to 'swing' F round. We both need to lean right into the spin to counter the rotational force which is pulling us the opposite way.
Another long day with 1.25 hours of lessons. This time next week (as I am writing this) we should be in, or in the vicinity of, Oberstdorf, and hopefully getting ready for our first taste of ice there. We even got a lovely good luck card from one of the kids (her solo 14step dwarfs even our very best efforts!).
Current Mood:  sleepy
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16:47
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Friday Morning
Slightly later start than usual as F had taken my blades to be sharpened, but still on ice shortly after 0800. The regrind was just about perfect and I could stop normally straight away but edges felt more secure. Still took my time to warm up slowly to get used to them though.
MP put some US CT music on so I took the opportunity to do a few ccts of that which were mostly ok except for the xroll swings. Then progressed on to the Fiesta Tango as it looks like I will have to do this solo at Bracknell. But it takes a bit of getting used to without a partner! I think it will be very useful to work on the FT solo for a while and should help when F and I have to come back to it for BAC. Finally, the Swing Dance was reasonably ok.
After the resurface I tried a few spins, which are slowly starting to actually feel like spins rather than a method of drilling through the ice using a toepick. Then F and I spent the last half hour working on the Foxtrot, 14step, Swing Dance and Willow. The foxtrot is gradually recovering and we think we have worked out why the starts are so awkward - we start facing the end of the rink and do two pushes, a run round the corner and two more pushes followed by another run, with change of hold from open to foxtrot. Because I am on the inside for both runs I hold back so that I don't leave F behind. On the other hand, F also holds back so she doesn't get ahead of me. The result is that we lose any speed into the start and we both end up in the wrong position anyway. If I don't hold back, F is perfectly able to keep up anyway and we start the dance actually moving. And in a much better position for the first 3turn.
The 14step was going pretty well. We went through it several times alternating between 3 and 4 sequences. Could do with slightly deeper edges on the side steps though. The Swing Dance was also going very well so we moved straight on to the Willow with just enough time for a couple of sequences before the end of the session. Again, it is going fairly well but we still have a tendency to roll off the edges on the end steps.
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15:59
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Late entry for Tuesday
A short session - Mark left early so no lesson.
The rink was not very busy but some rather overenthusiastic students made doing patterns of almost anything pretty difficult. I think we aborted about six attempts at the Willow before successfully completing a single sequence (how many times can a group of people hang around the corner of the rink holding on to the side and *only* skate out in front of you just as you are about to mohawk past them?). Did managed to get one of them (totally out of control, racing with another one) with a back swing on the Swing Dance though (how many points is that?!). No one hurt anyway. I think F and I did just about manage to give all our dances an airing, even if some of them were in the (abbreviated) dance interval.
Didn't really work on any solo dances but took a bit of time out to do a few spins. One or two might even have been recognisable as spins if you didn't look at the tracings too much ... Will have to make sure I try them every time I skate from now on. I'm starting to learn that they actually fit into much less space than I think they do and that I don't need (quite) half a clear rink before I can practice them!
F helped me (thanks!) with some back crossovers as I have a tendency (to put it mildly) to stick my bum out - as Sarah so graphically demonstrated on Sunday. And this translates into some of the dances (like the long back edge in the Foxtrot). Part of it is due to not committing to the back edge enough and part is due to the inflexibility of my upper back, both of which need to be worked on.
As none of us seemed to be having a particularly good session, MP and CB suggested adjourning to G&Ds for ice cream and no one was going to argue with that!
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16:46
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Late Entry for Sunday
Another marathon session - 4.5 hours on ice with 1.25 hours of lessons!
Got on ice for 06:50, with just time for a quick warm up before the first lesson with Sarah. We started off with the Foxtrot as this had almost stopped working altogether during week. Sarah changed the start again so we go straight from open to foxtrot hold rather than via killian hold. This makes it a lot better for F as she is less likely to get twisted into the first steps. Unfortunately I find it much more difficult and can't get into position to do a stable 3turn so we lose all the speed we had going into the opening steps. I wish we could find a start that worked for both of us. If the start goes wrong we can almost never recover it so I guess we will just have to keep trying and hope it works on the day.
On to the 14step and I think we surprised Sarah that we could actually do it (good job she didn't see it last Tuesday!). I suppose she was thinking it would be like our foxtrot but, when it goes well, we can skate it with pretty good speed and flow. She made a couple of tweaks to our waltz hold to bring the swing round on a more stable edge which immediately added about 5-10% to the size of the pattern! She was a little concerned that I might not be able to cope with the extra speed into the mohawk and kept telling me to decide on the swing whether or not to do it .... but I think (hope!) I have laid that particular ghost to rest and quite enjoyed the extra flow, just concentrating on striking a better inside edge into it. Sarah was quite keen to ditch the two extra pushes we do into the start of the dance but we said we need the extra speed and stability at the beginning so we compromised and moved the start towards the end of the rink to ensure the pattern stayed in the centre. We still need to present ourselves better, but that is slowly starting to sink in.
After half an hour with Sarah, Mark had a 45 minute slot free as his regular student was away at Deeside so, naturally, we jumped at the chance of an extra lesson. It meant that we could cover our other three dances for the Mountain Cup as well. Starting with the Swing Dance, Mark had us do a sequence to music so he could assess what we needed to work on. When we had finished he said that it was much better than he had expected but he had been looking out for the wrong things and could we do another sequence so he could assess it at a different level! He chose to tackle our timing on the swingrolls to make the transitions snappier, i.e. back for two beats, forward on three and down on four ready for the next step. He also mentioned posture (seems to be becoming a theme with both coaches .... either we're both hunchbacks or maybe our upper bodies need to do some catching up with our footwork!) and threatened F that if she didn't keep her head up and shoulders down I might start to 'outshine' her. I could practically hear the 'That ain't gonna happen' she was thinking ;-)).
In the Willow Waltz almost all the corrections were for me. Deep edge followed by a shallow edge after the mohawk, rise into the step forward with feet in 'T' (I scrape my toepicks dreadfully at that point and could never work out why). After the 3turn I need to really push onto the first RBO edge (had been just stepping back on to it) and let the edge run round until it is 90 degrees to the barrier before pushing onto the LBO in the same direction and then letting it run and stepping onto the RBI, again, letting it run in the same direction as the previous edge. The temptation is to step round and cut the corners (well actually 'temptation' is far too mild a word for it).
In the Fiesta Tango F needs to crunch her waist more on the CoE swing and into the mohawk while I need to make sure I position myself better on the end steps.
The first half hour of dance club was devoted to Gala practice. The routine looks like being quite short and simple, at least for us passengers. At least we get an opportunity to do our couples spin at the beginning!
By the time OXIST started tiredness was starting to set in so spent most of the session doing spins and jumps and chatting (but mostly chatting!).
Current Mood:  exhausted
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18:04
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Friday Morning
This is going to have to be an ultra quick entry as it has been an extremely busy afternoon and I have to leave in a few minutes to meet an old friend who has just arrived back over from the States.
Early patch was lovely and quiet. I gather that the University Skating Club is now split over two days, the advanced on Thursday morning and the beginners on Friday. Hopefully that means no more holes in the ice for a bit ;-).
In couples practice with F, the 14step was working really well and I think some of the sequences went about as well as we have ever skated it - much, much better than Tuesday night. You can still tell when one or other of us remembers some of Sarah's advice on posture and long necks. At the moment I think I tend to remember on the side steps and F remembers on the end steps. Should make an interesting spectacle for the judges! That aside, if we can skate it like we did this morning in Oberstdorf and Villard I will be very happy.
Sadly, the Foxtrot was having it's turn to have a bad day and we were struggling to keep it going. The worst spot has moved from my 3turns, the long back outside edge and the restart to the bit where I step forward. Not sure why it has chosen that particular bit but I suddenly find myself out of position. We couldn't fix it today so we will come back to it on Sunday. I really hope it holds together in Germany....
Of the other dances, the Swing Dance was going pretty well (it even feels like you have all the time in the world to bring the edges round with the US music). The Fiesta was mostly ok but the mohawk still needs some work and my change of edge swing needs to have more change and more edge. The Willow was not great today either. It is not really consistent enough - when it goes well it is fine but today my step forward and run was very scrapy, the 3turn rushed and the back edges on the 'bell' were a bit random.
In solo practice I went through the CT and SD, both of which were not too bad but could have been better, and then played with some spread eagles, Ina Bauers and pivots (I have managed to get through me entire skating life so far without being introduced to pivots...).
All the entry lists, patch ice and competition schedules have been posted for Oberstdorf and it suddenly seems very real. Half of me can't wait to get out there and the other half is thinking OMG only two weeks to go...Help!!!
Current Mood:  cheerful
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16:29
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Tuesday Evening
Tuesday nights are never the best session for me. Even though it was pretty quiet I just felt too tired to skate properly. Not physically tired but it's just the end of a long day by then. It showed too, particularly in practice with F where I found it hard to do decent patterns, my timing was badly out and all the posture corrections that Sarah made on Sunday were in hiding. We Persevered, mainly with the foxtrot, so the time was not all wasted. But in the end we had to concede that it was not going to be a productive night.
My own lesson went little better with none of last weeks improvements (which worked perfectly well on Friday and Sunday) showing up. So we spent most of the time going over the same things as last week, only with less success. Mark practically forced me to do one decent sequence of the Swing Dance though, mostly by skating alongside me telling me to get down in my knees, push to the barrier, lift the left/right hip etc.. Wish I could get him to do that in France ;-).
Also managed to talk to Mark about starting a solo free dance over the summer. He wants music now .... damn! hit the first hurdle already as my mind is completely blank on the subject!
After the second dance interval decided to call it a day and have coffee/chocolate instead. Hope next time I skate is better!
Current Mood:  indescribable
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16:47
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Sunday
New Coach, New Perspective
Our first lesson with Sarah now that our usual 0830 slot has been given over to Gala practice. We even managed to be on ice warming up before 0650 ready for our 0700 start. The lesson plan was to work on the 14step and foxtrot and use any spare few minutes to look at our other dances. We started with the foxtrot and, in the event, stayed with it for the entire half hour, which was fine because it needs a lot of work and we continued to make good progress through the whole lesson.
Sarah's approach is quite different to Mark's. After watching us do a couple of sequences she started corrections from the top down, i.e. to our posture, hold and positioning, whereas Mark tends to start with the pattern and footwork and work upwards. That's not to say that she ignored our footwork, she had plenty to say about that too, but the first corrections were to the way we hold ourselves in the dance - long necks (no hunched shoulders!), arched backs, firm (but not rigid) hold, arms in a curving 'C' shape in waltz hold. We worked our way round the various parts of the dance correcting specific issues as we went but a lot of things were general enough to (hopefully) feed back into other dances too. After the lesson we spent the rest of patch continuing to work on the foxtrot. Time well spent!
In Dance Club the first half hour was devoted to Gala practice. The theme for the Gala is air travel and our bit is to 'Come Fly With Me'. Four skaters were chosen to be aircrew and the rest of us are passengers going on holiday (so that should make costumes easy!). So far all we have to do is mingle at the airport and queue up for check-in. Nothing too difficult at any rate .... yet!
In OXIST I spent most of the time practicing a few solo elements but it was mostly a bit disjointed and interspersed with lots of chatting. Probably getting a bit tired after about 4.5 hours on ice. Must have spent some of the time productively though as I still ache rather a lot today!
Current Mood: exhausted
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15:25
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Friday Morning
A busy session this morning. Quite a few people in from the University skating club (but no S and E), mostly beginners but a couple of good skaters too. Luckily no one seemed to be doing much in the way of jumps so the ice stayed nice and smooth all morning.
F and I spent what can only be described as a frantic forty minutes before the ice cut going through all five of our Oberstdorf and Mountain Cup dances, starting with about five sequences of the Swing Dance, eight or nine sequences of Fiesta Tango, and the same again of the Willow Waltz. Then two 14 Steps with three sequences each (for Oberstdorf) and one with four sequences (for MC) and finished off with twelve sequences of the Foxtrot. By the time we got to the last three sequences of foxtrot, tiredness was starting to show and our pattern was getting a bit small and ragged, with a few jumped 3turns! F commented that 'If we don't feel the effects of that tomorrow we weren't doing it right!'. I certainly felt thoroughly worked out and by the time I got back on the ice after the cut my legs were starting to get quite stiff (I blame the down-up-down-up bit on the long back edge of the Foxtrot!).
Finished off with some solo Canasta Tango and Swing Dance trying, with some success, to finish off edges and push on to deeper edges.
Back to filling in my APR this afternoon. I hate this time of year - so far I have managed fill in my name, my LMs name and my department. I'm not even sure what my job title is so I will have to make it up. Now what have I done I done over the last year?!
Current Mood:  productive
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13:45
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Tuesday Evening
The rink was really quiet with only some of the LTSers staying on after the group lessons and a small number of public skaters. Leo showed up again although I think this will be the last time on a Tuesday evening as he really needs to be on patch to get better ice and be with people who are aware of what is going on around them ....
After the first dance interval F and I spent some time on the Fiesta Tango as this dance has now taken it's turn to be what feels like our worst .... But we also had time to practice some Swing Dance and Willow. We set about trying to eliminate (or at least reduce) the rolled edges on the end steps of the Willow, which is starting to improve the end pattern somewhat. Of course, the Willow isn't the only place we roll our edges, the side steps of the Swing Dance also suffer greatly which means we tend to run out of rink on the swings.
In my lesson we focused on the forward part of the Swing Dance and placing the chasses and pushes in the right place i.e. not rolling off the edges and not stepping round to the new direction. It means I *have* to get better edges on the pushes but it feels so much better when I do. It also means I have less tendency to run out of rink!
In the Canasta we worked on the xroll swing at the end to get on a really good edge and bring the free leg through quickly before it causes the weight to transfer to the outside and pull me off the edge. When it works you can really feel the accelleration! (something I normally only get when doing strong inside edges).
After the second interval we finished off with some work on the free dance and, even though we are going through it regularly it is still difficult to keep it flowing. But then, I think we were both very tired. I think that F will be very relieved once Oberstdorf and Villard are over and we are only working on two compulsories so that she can dance with other people than me again ;-).
Current Mood: tired
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17:07
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Sunday Skating
Last lesson with Mark before Oberstdorf and Mountain Cup!!! We decided to concentrate on the 14 step and Foxtrot and then use any time left at the end to go over our next worst dance ....
Starting with the 14 step, Mark wanted more leg extension on the runs, especially from F (it's easier for me as I am going forward at that point) and for us to be closer together on the swingroll. To do this I need to strike a really strong edge to the inside of F, which is far easier said than done! I don't think we will ever get to the touching tummies that Mark wants but even a bit closer than we are now would be good. It is also a good reminder to arch the back for good posture (shoulders back ... this also applies on the end steps). The new start was working well, giving a nice snappy feel to the beginning while still allowing us to get up a decent speed to carry into the dance.
In the Foxtrot it was my turn for all the corrections. first on the back run after the first xroll 3turn and then on the edge and run after the second xroll 3turn - I need more extension on the free leg. Mark also introduced me to the knee bend on the long back outside edge after the back run which sort of made sense when F explained it to me after the lesson. I have visions of us doing the knee bend 180 degrees out of phase with each other, with one of us bobbing up while the other bobs down ....
With about five minutes of the lesson remaining, Mark asked what we needed to work on next so we both said the Swing Dance as we feel that this dance has suffered a lot of neglect recently, mainly because it always gets pushed back to the queue. Mark looked a bit sceptical and said he thought it looked alright the last time he saw it. so we skated a sequence and he confirmed that he thought it was ok and as we couldn't explicitly tell him what we though was wrong (more than a general feeling that we had lapsed into bad habits) we moved straight on to the Willow Waltz with about two minutes remaining! We just had time for a couple of sequences and the main problems are on the end patterns where we tend to roll off the edges and not make it curvy enough.
It now feels like the Fiesta has gone down to the bottom of our list but it's probably only because it is now the one we have worked on least recently.
After dance club we just had time nip out for a quick bacon roll and coffee before the newly reinstated dance interval. In OXIST we tried a few spins but they were not working at all well and some lifts - the leg wrap is still improving with a bit more speed, faster rotation and push to keep the exit moving.
Current Mood:  bouncy
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16:23
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Friday Morning
Got on the ice at 0715 and had to get off again at 0720 due to a large pool of slightly steaming water in the Zamboni corner which, although it was mopped up fairly quickly, left a long trough in the ice. Hopefully it will all be refrozen by the weekend.
Patch was a little busier than it has been of late with the University skating club back on ice (or at least two of them) and a couple of other people in early. MintyPoppet arrived to try out her new Tango dress, and she looks rather stunning in it.
Skating wise I spent most of the time on the CT and SD, attempting to put into practice all the advice Mark had given me on Tuesday to neaten up the end steps in both dances. Tried out some US music for the two dances and although it was pretty awful and I am not sure of the timing of the intro's, the beat was fairly easy to pick out. Most of the Tangos were for the Fiesta rather than the Canasta but the tempo should be the same and I think whatever they play at the MC will sound pretty alien anyway. The SD was not as bad as I thought to the slower USFSA music and I didn't run out of rink, mainly because I can make the edges run better if I hold them longer.
Spent a little time with MP going through the BW but it stubbornly refused to work this time mainly due to tracking issues. That dance always seems to be a struggle whoever I dance it with!
Discovered an oddity with my back crossovers: Generally they are easier and faster going CCW than CW due to better technique. But I can now just get the inside leg onto an inside edge going CW but not CCW thus giving a longer pull, which should give more speed. However, I still go faster CCW even though I stretch less. I guess I am a little nervous of getting too much power into the back crossovers anyway as that would make me go *too* fast and therefore I have to limit the stroke CCW but can be a bit more adventurous CW as I don't end up going as fast (does that make any sense?!). Maybe one day I will have decent back crossovers ....
Current Mood: refreshed
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15:06
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Tuesday Evening
A quiet evening session with very few public and not too many of the LTSers staying on after the classes. Plenty of time to warm up and chat (mainly about devious man eating woolly pigs) with the usual Tuesday nighters before getting down to serious work.
Went through the new starts for the 14 step and foxtrot with F, which are starting to feel a lot better with some practice, and as much of the dances themselves as we could get round dodging in and out of traffic. The improvements to the Foxtrot pattern still remain from Sunday although the dance itself is a little inconsistent. There seems to be some psychological element to starting the pattern in the right place - if we manage to hit the blue line with the cross behind at the start of the dance the pattern is ten times better than if we miss it! There appears to be no good reason for this other than the fact that it is there. There are no Hockey markings at Oberstdorf to use as a guide and I can't decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing! We also spent some time working on the Willow Waltz and the Swing Dance, both of which have been much neglected recently. And finally we spent the last part of the evening on the Free Dance.
The dance intervals were fun - I don't think I sat out a single dance. Mark played all our CDs at some point during the evening and we were even able to try out the new starts. I was persuaded out for the Hickory Hoedown by Coral and, after missing the right 3 turn in the first sequence, managed it without any problems in the second. One of the public skaters on the session turned out to be an ex World Junior Championship level dancer (he remembered Candice Towler-Green and James Phillipson so must have been around 2002-3) who wowed everyone with his amazing skills, even though he claimed to be a little rusty ....
My lesson was devoted to the Canasta Tango (trying to encourage more extension on the slip chasses and swingroll, along with straighter legs) and the Swing Dance, mainly working on the mohawk and the steps into and out of it.
The list of competitors for Oberstdorf has been posted on their website and the competition suddenly seems all too real and imminent!
Current Mood:  nervous
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