CN Training Day 30 FINAL REPORT
White cross Ao12: 16.77 (original 17.49, -0.72)
15.56, 18.88, 15.57, (19.03), 15.10, 17.65, 18.03, 16.54, (12.91), 16.96, 15.88, 17.56
Yellow cross Ao12: 17.24 (original 19.89, -2.65)
(20.98), 15.80, 16.59, 17.42, 17.73, 16.76, 16.69, 18.54, (13.47), 15.35, 19.55, 17.98
Green cross Ao12: 19.46 (original 24.28, -4.82)
18.28, 18.82, 17.85, 20.72, 20.51, 18.79, (17.61), 19.92, 19.12, 19.72, (24.13), 20.83
Blue cross Ao12: 19.02 (original 22.39, -3.37)
20.37, 21.53, 17.50, 18.93, 16.69, (21.65), (16.03), 20.98, 19.24, 16.63, 17.96, 20.36
Red cross Ao12: 19.23 (original 24.37, -5.14)
20.58, 17.73, 20.03, (23.41), 15.86, (15.85), 23.59, 18.35, 16.36, 20.10, 21.67, 18.24
Orange cross Ao12: 17.98 (original 22.35, -4.37)
16.04, 17.52, (15.48), 18.79, 19.47, 18.00, 17.99, 18.80, 18.80, 17.93, (20.08), 16.43
Result analysis
It appears that I improved on all fronts and I'm quite relieved to see that my white cross times have not suffered even after a month of nearly no white crosses. It was expected that the greatest improvement appeared in the 2 remaining "colour filters" for green/blue and red/orange though the final results from this Ao12 exercise was not as good as I hoped it might be. Green/blue/red were all sup-19. Orange was a surprise as I had not gotten a sub-18 Ao12 during my orange-specific training days. I am pleased to note that my yellow result (17.24) was better than my original white (17.49). Of course, Average of 12 can vary from hour to hour or day to day. Most people would probably agree, so results have to be taken with a grain of salt though I feel that it's obvious I am still biased towards white/yellow, and particularly my original colour, white.
Summary of experience
As has been said many times by jsklyer91 and others, frustration at some point or another is quite normal and was to be expected. I have a naturally persevering personality but found it slightly frustrating on the days when I did not feel myself improving or when it felt worse than the day before. But generally it was not so very bad because I expected this exercise to be difficult. There were times that I was tempted to revert to my original colour. I probably "cheated" about half a dozen times by doing a white cross. During the 5 days for each colour, it was encouraging to see daily improvement. Colour neutrality is about choosing which cross to start on (fewest moves, best for finger tricks, possible best X-cross, etc.) which is supposed to help with look-ahead into the first pair. However, I found the hardest part of the month to be the last part, when I had the choice between all the colours and was constantly switching colours from one solve to the next. I had to constantly remind myself which colour filter I needed for the current solve. Planning the cross was fine, but then I had a tendency to forget which colour I was doing halfway through F2L which meant I had to look at the center sticker of the U face and figure out what colour cross I started on. All this takes thought and time. Even a split second of thought totally disrupts look-ahead. Now, even without this problem, cross selection was not that easy either. Granted, I have not really learned X-cross yet and only know the concept behind it, but just from the perspective of easiest cross, most of the time all crosses were more or less equal. Even with 6 choices, really easy crosses (3 moves or less crosses) appeared infrequently. One shouldn't worry about lousy times when transitioning to being CN, but eventually, one does have to worry about lousy times because the whole point is to get faster. After spending a month on the program, sup-20 still appears way too frequently for my comfort when on white I was pretty much past getting sup-20s.
Conclusion
I do not regret spending the last month on CN training. What is one month when I plan to be cubing for the rest of my life? Cubing is a wonderful hobby and I love it. I'm not out to set a WR... my life is too busy for that (3 young kids, actually will be 4 later this year). Or even for those who are trying to be best of the best, colour neutrality is still controversial. Plenty of people have gotten sub-10 on single colour. If I could get that far with single colour, I would be elated. Sorry for disappointing those who were rooting for me to be CN. It was a good experience overall, but no thanks. I still believe I could be CN if I stick with it, but I think it's more trouble than it's worth. I'll try for dual colour W/Y. Unless after a few weeks the switching between solves still confuses me.. well then I will go back to white and be happy.
Today's dual W/Y Ao12: 16.68
16.90, 16.78, 16.47, 16.24, (13.47), 16.77, 15.57, 19.14, 16.27, (19.70), 16.76, 15.92
