Spring Break!

This week, I am on Spring Break, as the high school I work at follows the university schedule pretty closely.  So, not only am I on break, but so is the ice arena.  Our arena is only open for part of the week, so I'll be making the most of that I can on the ice, as well as some extra off-ice training. 

That being said, skating has gone VERY well for me these past few days, and I met my goal of doing a salchow!  Jeremy and I started working on them on Wednesday morning, and I took a few spills in the process.  I also ended up with a big bruise on my left knee from my landing edge, but man, has it been worth it! I know this jump will take a lot of work for me to get down, but my coach was very happy with me just landing on a 3/4 rotation.  We also attempted a few toe loops, but I haven't worked on those much on ice yet, as I've been addicted to getting the salchow down.  I worked on salchows at the FS session the next day, and managed to take a video of them.  As I've said, I've got a lot of things to work on with this jump, but for doing them for only a day, I was pretty proud of myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoMP0M1T1ME

Off-ice training
I've been making an effort to go our indoor track to practice off-ice several times a week.  I'll be honest, my most dreaded thing there is jogging/running.  I think it's partially being due to being inside, and feeling like being on that track is like a being in a hamster wheel. I'm hoping that once our weather warms up (I'm in Central-East Illinois), I'll be able to start running at a local park, or throughout my neighborhood.  In the meantime, in order to hopefully boost my interest in jogging/running is by using a "C25K" (couch to 5k) from my ipod.  I have absolutely NO interest in signing up for a 5k (which is approximinately 3 miles) at this point in time.  However, I am hoping that following the training program, which spreads over 9 weeks at 3 days per week, will help build my endurance. 

In addition to running, I can really use ideas for plyrometrics, as I'm really needing to work on power and rotation with my jumps.  Here's two things that I'm doing for anyone that's wanting some ideas:

Bench Jumps (use a bench that is fairly low, about mid-calf in height).
1. Start with feet facing forward
2. While still on the ground, bend your right knee, other knee up (arms are behind as if to prep for a jump)
3. Hop onto the bench with your free foot landing on the bench. (arms come forward)
4. Use your body weight to step up on to the bench with your left leg (arms begin to cross)
5. Hop with the left leg to change legs, so you land on your right leg. (arms are crossed)
6. Step off the bench with your left leg. (arms back down)

I've been doing these in about 2-3 sets of 10.  You can also switch the legs depending on what you need to work on, or whatever you feel like doing.

Stationary Jump
1. Stand with feet shoulder apart
2. Squat down as low as you can with arms behind you
3. Jump up as high as you can, bringing the arms forward and then crossing them.
4. Land on your feet with arms behind you.  Do 10 times.
4. On the last time, when you land, instead of landing on both feet, land in your landing position, and hold for 5 seconds.

Circular Jump
1. Repeat the steps from the stationary jump, but for each jump, you rotate 1/4 around.  If you want more of a challenge, then go 1/2 away. 

One last thing
With doing off-ice work, especially with jogging/running, I find it very helpful to listen to music with a beat, so for me, this means a lot of pop music. As much as I love classical music and other genres, pop music is generally the best for me when I need something with a strong beat.  If you're looking for a playlist, feel free to use these as suggestions:

Lady Gaga: Born this way, Judas, You and I, Edge of Glory, Scheibe, Just Dance, Paparazzi, Poker Face, Bad Romance

P!nk: Raise Your Glass, Try, Just Give Me A Reason

Shaikira: Waka Waka (This is Africa)

Madonna: Revolver (feat.Lil Wayne)

Adelle: Rolling in the Deep, Rumour has it

Kenny and the Scotts: I Would Walk 500 miles

Beyonce: Halo, Single Ladies

Kelly Clarkson: Stronger (What doesn't kill you)

Dynamite: Taio Cruz

Happy Skating!