dreamshark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dreamshark) wrote2009-01-23 02:54 pm
dreamshark) wrote2009-01-23 02:54 pm
Entry tags:
Tired legs
I skated 4 times last week, and 3 times so far this week. After being essentially stalled for about 6 months I feel like I'm finally making progress and all I want to do is skate. But man, are my legs exhausted! You would think that after more than a year of skating 2-4 times per week I wouldn't be so worn out by it. I'm skating for longer at a time than I used to, but not THAT much longer (typically a little over an hour). I think I must be skating a lot harder, though, to get so tired out.
I've started taking an Ice Dancing class, which is a little over my head. I'm glad I decided to do it, though. I think practicing swing rolls has been part of the breakthrough I'm experiencing now. The other thing that's really helped is just free skating to waltz time music. I combed through my iTunes library and loaded every 3/4 song I could find onto my iPod and listen to it when I'm practicing. I'm concentrating on 3/4 time because the first dance is the Dutch Waltz. But 3/4 time is the best thing to practice to. It's relaxing, for one thing. And because the beat tends to be slow, it encourages long, deep glides. The Dutch Waltz covers a huge amount of territory with a limited number of strokes, so you really have to PUSH on the first beat of the measure. I did finally make it almost from one end of the rink to the other a few times without adding any extra steps, but it's not easy. [no wonder my legs are so tired!].
I've been stuck for months trying to master 3-turns and mohawks. Finally I think I've nailed the LFI mohawk, and today for the first time I was repeatedly able to execute something that could charitably be called a mohawk in the other direction. What's been stopping me is my poor balance skating backward on my left leg. I've been practicing standing on one foot every time I go to the bathroom at work (assuming no one else is in there) and that has helped. But I think it's the swing rolls that finally got me to the point where I can (tentatively) extend my right leg to the rear while skating backwards on my left. You don't absolutely have to be able to do that to complete a mohawk, but you have to end up in SOME position on that left leg, and that's the most graceful end posture. It's also key to combinations like the 5-step mohawk that require a step-out from back to front. I've been able to do the stepout forever from the right leg, but couldn't begin to do it from the left.
My next goal - get that front foot off the ice before the back foot comes down. Follow through with the leg extension. And then rotate the right hip so I can step forward on to my right foot again.
I've started taking an Ice Dancing class, which is a little over my head. I'm glad I decided to do it, though. I think practicing swing rolls has been part of the breakthrough I'm experiencing now. The other thing that's really helped is just free skating to waltz time music. I combed through my iTunes library and loaded every 3/4 song I could find onto my iPod and listen to it when I'm practicing. I'm concentrating on 3/4 time because the first dance is the Dutch Waltz. But 3/4 time is the best thing to practice to. It's relaxing, for one thing. And because the beat tends to be slow, it encourages long, deep glides. The Dutch Waltz covers a huge amount of territory with a limited number of strokes, so you really have to PUSH on the first beat of the measure. I did finally make it almost from one end of the rink to the other a few times without adding any extra steps, but it's not easy. [no wonder my legs are so tired!].
I've been stuck for months trying to master 3-turns and mohawks. Finally I think I've nailed the LFI mohawk, and today for the first time I was repeatedly able to execute something that could charitably be called a mohawk in the other direction. What's been stopping me is my poor balance skating backward on my left leg. I've been practicing standing on one foot every time I go to the bathroom at work (assuming no one else is in there) and that has helped. But I think it's the swing rolls that finally got me to the point where I can (tentatively) extend my right leg to the rear while skating backwards on my left. You don't absolutely have to be able to do that to complete a mohawk, but you have to end up in SOME position on that left leg, and that's the most graceful end posture. It's also key to combinations like the 5-step mohawk that require a step-out from back to front. I've been able to do the stepout forever from the right leg, but couldn't begin to do it from the left.
My next goal - get that front foot off the ice before the back foot comes down. Follow through with the leg extension. And then rotate the right hip so I can step forward on to my right foot again.