Look up, Lutz!

So changing your choreography, your music and your costumes four weeks before the National Championships does not come without its hang ups. We are actually really lucky the music fits as well as it does because we are able to keep several of our elements. It's the linking footwork that has changed the most. And of course, putting it to a different tempo makes all the difference in the world. When you're used to skating it at one tempo and then have to alter to a different beat, it's a bit frustrating.
I fell on my fanny twice today. Hard. It hurt. What's with me and falling lately? I even knocked the wind out of myself again today. The excuse? There was a nice big Lutz hole in the ice and my toe pick caught it (a lutz hole is a large jagged hole in the ice that results from a freestyle skater who jams their toe pick into the ice to launch themselves up into a jump). How boring is that? Wham. I hit the ground. Grrr... No glamor or anything. Just a simple...whack! One minute your up, the next your down. You know it's bad when folks come up to you afterwards and say,

"Wow that looked like it hurt." Ummm... yeah! It did. I feel like a complete moron too! LOL.

Overall? I'm really happy with the new program. Leone is kicking us in the rear to get our heads up and stop looking at the ice.

"What's down there?" she asks.
"Paperclips?"

Funny how the minute your eyes look up, your head comes up and your core stablizes and your knees bend and your center aligns. Hmmmm..... and you skate a WHOLE lot better! Maybe it's just me looking for those darn Lutz holes.

If there's one thing we've really improved upon these last few weeks, it's confidence and presentation. This dance feels like us. We can express it so much easier. We feel like we know what we are doing, even if we don't. Does that make sense? Strange, I know. No one ever did call me normal.

((giggle))

We've been spending a lot of time at Lloyd Center lately and I have to say, the warm rink is really nice! What's even nicer? Skating with Tim and Terri. Terri, of course, is judge-extra-ordinaire, dancer and co-moderator of Ice Dancers Online. She has been invaluable to us in these past weeks. The other morning, she insisted on being late to work so she could help us with our Paso Doble and Starlight Waltz. What awesome tips she gave too. Now all of sudden, the cross rolls on the Paso are MOVING forward! I love it. Jordan is having a ball and realizing that Lloyd Center, as small as it may be, is a pretty hip place to hang out as an ice dancer. Yeah, you have to do your program in pieces because it won't fit across the entire ice. And there are several times when we have been flying across teh diagonal at full speed only to yell,

"Boards!".... and come to screeching halt, but hey. It makes skating more interesting. Certainly more of a contact sport. Ouch. ((giggle)) It's also just nice to have another team on the ice to skate with. Talk about competitive motivation!

We have to thank local judge Becky Post too. She has spent time watching and evaluating as well. To have all of this input in one city is just incredible. The Portland community is so generous, forthright, constructive and positive. Could a dancer ask for a better place to skate? No Way.

We leave for LP in one week. Oh what a week it's going to be.
Stay Tuned.

Until Next Time,
---J