Top 10 Goals

As you know, this I don't make my New Year's Resolutions quite the way the time management gurus tell you to because I don't care if they are achievable.

That's right.  They don't have to be achievable.

Rather, I ask, "What are my top 10 goals for the year IF I AM GUARANTEED TO SUCCEED?"  It frees me up to work on things I might not otherwise do, like finding a pair skating partner.  Then I commit to taking one step toward one of those goals each week.

Generally, I take a lot of little steps towards several of the goals, especially since several of them revolve around skating.

So, here's what I did last week . . .

• Pass my Silver moves   (yes, this means passing bronze moves first).  I skated TWICE.  Andrew was there and gave me some extra help and by golly, it really felt like I was figure skating again. 

• Take a vacation with Carl. I forgot our anniversary.  It's not 'til next Saturday, so technically, I didn't forget it, but I did forget to take time off.  To make it up to him, we have planned a getaway for Valentine's Day.  It's not a full vacation, but it is one night by ourselves. 

• Have a baby.  When you screw up as badly as I did this week, working on this goal helps a lot to smooth things over.

•  Lose 30 pounds.  I committed to doing at least 10 minutes of exercise every day.  This week I added The Gift of Yoga, a gift given to me by our roommate.   

What are you doing to reach your Top 10 Goals? 

Bronze workout

Jana Kading, one of my coach friends in Phoenix, used to provide workouts for various levels of skaters on her website.  Her Pre-Bronze workout was the basis of my skating practice for a long time.

Now that I've passed my Pre-Bonze tests, I've modified it for Bronze MIF.  If I were to do the entire workout without stopping, it would probably take a little over an hour.  Since I do stop for water breaks (that's adult skater for "gasp for air") and to visit with other skaters, I takes closer to 1.5 hours.  No, I don't really have that kind of time, so I cut back on the number of repetitions or leave sections out (adult skater for "forget to do something")
 
Holly's Bronze Workout
Warm-up/Bronze MIF

• Forward and backward perimeter power stroking.  
• One full lap forward, end pattern per rulebook, one full lap backward
• Forward power 3 turns (2 laps)
• Alternating backward crossovers to backward outside edges (1 full lap)
• Forward circle 8 (x2)
• Five-step Mohawk sequence (1 lap)

Plus . . . 

• Alternating 3-turns:  1 hockey line each FO & FI 3-turns

Or, if that's not working very well, 

• Pre-bronze 3 turn pattern, since it uses all 4 forward 3's

Spins: 5x each

• 1-foot spin
• Scratch spin
• Backward outside edge on hockey circle with free leg in back-spin position
• Back spin
• Change-foot spin

Jumps:  5x ea

• Individual jumps
• Waltz (5 in a row, if possible)
• Salchow
• 1/2 flip
• Toe loop
• Combo jumps
• Waltz/toe-loop
• Salchow/toe-loop
• Toe-loop/toe-loop
• Jump sequence:  waltz-1/2 flip-Salchow-toe-loop

Footwork - 1 length of rink each

• Mohawk footwork
• Alternating crossovers/tap-toe

Program:  run through entire program at least once

Cool down:  2 laps (any pattern)