Skating backwards.  Others make it look sooo easy.  It's NOT.  It takes a lot of leg strength and balance.  I admit I'm improving, I can now skate backwards with more confidence than before, I feel more balanced, and can go a tad faster than I used to.  I remember not too long ago it was a huge effort just to get around the practice circle even once...it was exhausting.  Now I can go around 2 or 3 times before my legs start cramping up.  So, improvements are slow but sure.

Tabitha is trying to get me started on doing backwards crossovers.  While going around the practice circle backwards, you move your inside leg a little behind the outside leg, and bring the outside leg in towards the circle.  Eventually, the outside leg should cross over the inside leg, and the weight transfers to that outside leg, freeing up the inside leg to start over again.

Believe me, watching someone else do them, it seems pretty easy.  Once you know what your feet should be doing, you think to yourself Oh!  I can do that!  Then you try to put it into practice and it's like Oh!  I can't do THAT!  Here is a link to a video on YouTube, showing how it's supposed to look:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ietq5bz9Lbo

Right now, I can do the backwards swizzles in a circle, both clockwise and counter clockwise.  That part is becoming a lot easier for me.  I'm working on getting my outside leg to go in front of my inside leg.  THAT is the hard part.  I can get it almost there, I think.  But it's hard to maintain going in a circle that way.  As soon as I move my inside leg back a little, and bring the outside leg inwards, I end up wanting to move backwards in a straight line instead of a circle.  I think I need to be more on the inside edge of my skate.  I don't really practice this TOO much on my own, because it's hard to stay balanced and I don't want to fall.  I prefer practicing this with Tabitha, so she can hold my hands to stabilize me.  I know, I'm a wimp.  :)

So that's mostly what I'm working on right now.  Backwards crossovers.  Sometimes you have to go in reverse before you can move forward.  ;)