Feeling graceful

It was a bit of a mixed bag today. I was off work, so went up to Ally Pally with my patch pass in tow, to mooch about the rink at will.

This morning the ice wasn't so good. They had a powercut on Wednesday in the public session before my lesson, and was just beginning to freeze up again after my lesson. Today there were still some puddley bits and big gouge tracks in the ice.

Saying that, this morning it was blissfully quiet with only a handful of other people, so I got to practice some big things.

I spent a bit of time on forward edges, working on my back and forward extension. I am trying to get a nice elegant forward extension with a turned out leg and pointed toes, but boy, I can feel it in my thighs! Time to crack open those ballet exercises from so many years ago, such as développés and fondus.

I did a bit of Russian Stroking - I am getting the pattern much better now, but have a strange problem where my left FXO doesn't want to go out at 90 degrees, instead trying to in the direction of travel.

Slow and steady progress on my FI3's - they are starting to happen on the left ones now too, much to my relief. Mohawks on the other hand, were not bad at all. It feels like my feet are getting neater.

One of the things D showed me on Wednesday was a nice arm "port de bras" (sorry - I can only describe in ballet terms - but a nice arm flourishy thing!) to do on the four strokes going into the NF. Today I spent a lot of time doing plain vanilla stroking, but with those big arms. I always felt a bit of a prat doing this previously, but now I love it! And it was nice to be able to use expressive arms again, for the first time in about 14 years! It's all about extending out through the fingertips, and I could feel the muscles in my back creaking into a position they had almost forgotten about :)

I did a bit on the NF - however, i have encountered a small problem. The entry (with the big arms!) goes great. The first lobe feels really nice now. And then . . . because I am going at a fair speed, I bottle it on the left progressive. Same issue really as with my Russian Stroking above - I know I should be doing it at 90 degrees to the direction of travel, but something feels really odd. I think its just confidence and I need to build this up somehow on my CW crossovers. The swingrolls are feeling nice though - as long as I don't hitch that free hip up.

That was about it really. I think it could have been better, but considering I was in Bristol on Tuesday and York yesterday, both 5.00am rises and arriving home at 8.00pm, I am accounting for the fact that I am still a little tired. The rink started getting busy at about 15:00 with liddle Munchkins clinging on to the barrier (cute) and a bunch of teenage boys being Oh So Chavvy Fashionable, with their Lonsdale pants around their knees (not so cute). I was also a bit outraged seeing a beginner skater, who looked in her late teens and very obviously pregnant. Lots of common sense there . . .

I now have to go and Hoover - Stacey is moving out tomorrow and in with her fiance (sob . . .!) and we have some viewers for her room coming round this evening to look at the flat. I am feeling a little sad though . . . :(