Aaah or Aaarrrgggh! 14-20 November 2005 [Archive]

Mrs Redboots

11-15-2005, 07:01 AM

Aaah: There was a photo of my coach doing the rounds this morning that showed him with his hair dyed red on one half and green on the other! Allegedly, so his wife said, it was for a fancy-dress competition, but she was at pains to point out she wasn't married to him back then so didn't know that for a fact.....

Meanwhile, we had our couples lesson in its new Tuesday slot. We spent most of it doing exercises - forward and backwards swing rolls and chassés in waltz hold. Coach is great at knowing we are trying to up our standard and thus criticising points he didn't used to. Like where our free legs are, and the hold, and where (at last!) Husband's shoulder is, and so on.

We also did "mirror" stroking in Foxtrot hold, which was hard, and "mirror" swings, which were much easier (I kept thinking we were going to do a Tango Mohawk), and finally cross-rolls round the rink in Foxtrot hold.

Aaarrggghh: Yes well, it was better than it used to be, BUT..... I know we won't ever be satisfied, but there are times when I wonder if we'll ever make it. It really is hard to skate together, both in Waltz hold and Foxtrot hold (the latter is easier, actually, but harder on the body!). Coach spent so much of his time correcting the hold, correcting our arm position, reminding us where our free legs needed to be.... but he was still complimentary.

So we thought we'd finish by showing him our spin. Big mistake - we went into it too fast, and guess what part of his anatomy Husband ended up spinning on????!! Yes, that's right..... prostrated himself at my feet, he did!

jazzpants

11-15-2005, 10:53 AM

This is for my current lower back condition...

Aaaaah:

I got my skates sharpen on Saturday and it's much MUCH better! I feel more secure on my edges now! :mrgreen:
I'm also starting to get back my strength and recovering from my long weekend at Skate SF.
Spins are fine, except for camels!
Moves are starting to come back, though I really won't know until I go out there and do that whole entire test w/o distractions from other skaters. (Gotta find myself a nice quiet session...)
Aaaaarrrrgggh!!!

For the past week, I've been having backaches, triggered by doing too many jumps. (Should have quit when Jay told me to.) ;) Though it's much better now, I don't dare attempt to jump until I get back my range of motion on the lower back. Before I felt like I was twisted up. But right now, I feel very numb around that lower back area... (Well, not numb but it's like I don't feel that area much...) ThermaCare back warps are helping me a LOT!!! :mrgreen:
Didn't dare try jumps, though I am working on loop drills (Don't worry, you guys in the Peanut Gallery! I didn't not jump at all!!! This is all EDGE work!!!)
Camels didn't happen at all... I think the lower back problem killed it. Doesn't hurt, but just don't feel it. (Not that I ever had a camel, mind you.)

Skate@Delaware

11-15-2005, 11:03 AM

What do you mean by loop drills?

Mrs Redboots

11-15-2005, 11:10 AM

For the past week, I've been having backaches, triggered by doing too many jumps.
You and me both! Why did I think this hop, step & jump was a good idea? Oh well, in less than 3 hours it will be over.

I've put streaks in my hair (I plan to ham this thing up like you wouldn't believe) and, irritatingly, they haven't dried.....

And my e-mail delivery is playing up, so if you expected an e-mail from me and didn't get it, that's why.

NickiT

11-15-2005, 01:15 PM

Aaaaah
I skated for an hour yesterday and my big achievement was that I landed five out of five loop-loop combinations. Nothing fantastic about that you may think, especially considering I've been doing them trouble-free for some time now, but this was my first attempt at this combination after breaking my wrist so it was quite an achievement to me. I really could "feel" the ice and feel the way the jumps used to feel, so I'm getting my confidence back now. I also did some decent flips and several camels and camel-sits that worked well.

Aaarrrgggh
Nothing. I came away feel very content as I hadn't expected to have the confidence to do as many jumps as I did. My only low point was that I didn't try the lutz - I haven't quite got the nerve for that one yet!

Nicki

jazzpants

11-15-2005, 02:32 PM

What do you mean by loop drills?Just practicing getting the feel for the takeoff, but never leaving the ground. I have a tendency to not wait long enough before I take off on the jump and with loops, if you get the timing and feel in sync, then it's really easy. Needless to say, I still haven't gotten that timing to date. :evil: :frus: (Well, there are other things besides timing, like body position, knee bend, etc...)

Keep in mind though... the injury is b/c I did WAAAAY too many jump and I took a few falls along the way. ("Happy now, coaches!!?!?!") Chiro should fix that in a couple of days and my lower back should be better then... :D (Okay! Show of hands -- how many of you guys have their chiro on speed dial on their cell?) :twisted:

Mrs Redboots

11-15-2005, 03:14 PM

Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Husbands! Don't you just hate them????

So we come to the hop, step and jump competition, in which we are required to do a cherry flip - toe loop, to those of you from across the Pond - an upright spin and a forward spiral. So the kids go through theirs, ranging from a step rather than a jump, to an extremely good jump, to a spin that was basically just a 3-turn with a great entrance & exit to a spin to die for.

Then the Under Level 2 kids do their sals, sitspins and back spirals.

Then it's our turn. There's me wearing my new skirt and a matching collar, rather elaborate make-up and coloured streaks in my hair to match the skirt. There's his Lordship, in the blue shirt he'd worn to the office & his one and only pair of skating trousers.

So I'm on first, so I go out there and do a respectable, if small, cherry. So he goes out there and does a huge one. So I go out there and do a not-very-good spin - maybe 2.5 revs? His spin hasn't worked all evening - until competition-time, when he goes out there and does 5-6 fast revolutions and a not-forced exit.

My spiral hasn't worked all evening, either, but it does during the competition. It's okay - but only okay. So the Husband goes out there and does a spiral that goes round, and round, and round, and round the hockey circle, about four times!

Grrrrrr....

Of course I don't mind - I knew he'd outskate me. What I do mind is that he can never do this sort of thing in practice, he always skates infinitely better in competition, even that sort of informal, doesn't-matter-a-scrap competition.

Oh well, we wives have ways of getting our revenge.... like putting more chilli in his supper than I know he likes!!!!!

AnnM

11-15-2005, 04:04 PM

Aaaah: I was back on the ice today after a three week absence due to vacation and illness. It was good to be back. :) Sit spins and scratch spins were pretty good. So was my first attempt at a camel spin. The position wasn't entirely pretty, but I managed four good revolutions. I also found out that all the off-ice jump practice I've been doing is paying off. My coach asked me to do a half-flip, but I just naturally pulled in and ended up doing more of a 3/4-flip before I popped out of it. I think it's safe for me to say that I'll be getting my flip jump before the loop jump.

Aaargh: Did I mention the three weeks off the ice? My feet were screaming at me by the end of my lesson. And now that I've been sitting at my desk for a while, I can feel my muscles tightenng up much more than usual. I need a massage!

This isn't exactly "aaargh", but my coach asked me if I wanted to do a piece for the Christmas show, which will be in exactly one month. To do so would however, would entail finding new music and putting together a new program. I'm kinda torn. On the one hand, it's just for fun and I've always wanted to do a Christmas show. On the other hand, I'm going to need to do a heck of a lot of skating in the next four weeks so that I don't entirely embarrass myself. Any thoughts or input?

batikat

11-15-2005, 05:10 PM

Haven't posted for a while as after the British Championships I rather lost focus and also can't help feeling that I'm unlikely to better what I achieved this year, winning our rinks open at my level and medalling at the British. I'm not ready to move up - I can't do a backspin which is required for next level - but doubt that I can win again at current level. I've also expended a great deal of mental and physical energy on organisational matters for our rinks upcoming panto on ice recently and am pretty drained right now.

Never mind, I am still having my lessons and concentrating on Field moves for a bit which shoudl improve my overall skating - I can feel a difference in control already.

aaaah

Did some nice spins - I love spinning - except the backspin!
One or two lovely salchows - mostly when the music playing had just the right beat for the timing.

aaaarrgggghhh!

The dratted loop -where did my loop go? I had it - even in competition - now it's gone. The daft thing is I actually did a loop-loop last week that felt so easy but it happened exactly once - now I can't even do a single loop or 3 jump -loop which I also had. I hope it comes back soon I miss it! :(

aaaagh!

Really enjoyed watching daughter run through one of the programmes for the panto - it looks really fun. She's paired with one of the boys who she doesn't know well but he's a nice lad and they are getting on OK. I like the music too - Blondie's 'Call Me' which was a lucky find as we were listening to a CD with some other songs we were considering but when it ran on to this one my coach said - 'how about this' and we realised we could make it work as it is when Aladdin first 'calls' the Slaves of the Ring so fits the plot. :D

jazzpants

11-15-2005, 05:52 PM

blisspix

11-15-2005, 11:42 PM

aaah: today's session started out really well. A few tightly centred scratch spins (with a dozen rotations) a super flip/loop/loop combo and a few nice big loops. but then....

aaaarrrghhh: had some problems with lacing all session and had to retie them about 10 times, no use. I'm getting some bad pinch and pain issues near the vein above my anklebone. It is causing jumping problems. Boots still need a little more breaking in. Might need to seek out some bunga if I can get them.

oh well. But since I got the new boots and blades my spins have been more consistently centred than ever, with two tracing lines for the picks which is a new and welcome thing for me :)

Skate@Delaware

11-16-2005, 07:52 AM

AAAAAARRRRRGGGGH!!!!

Where the #$@#&* is my RFI mohawk today? I did a bunch of those last night and I did a bunch early in the session, but afterwards they just disappeared!!! :frus: (Would whoever have my FI mohawks, please return them back by Thursday in time for my lesson?)
I'm sorry----I had to "borrow" it for a bit yesterday! I'm done with it now. Thank you very much-it was VERY NICE! I am now looking to "borrow" a LFI mohawk for lessons tonight...any offers? (mine is crappy) :yum:

And since I'm shopping, I'd really like to "borrow" a full-rev loop (ok, I'd settle for a 3/4 way around) for lessons tonight! And, more ooomph on my toe-loop....and forward scratch spins....and a backspin...and a sitspin...and... :lol:

Blisspix-try getting some of those 1/2 sole gel pads that are made for dress shoes-you can get them at the drug store or Walmart in the shoe stuff aisle. Put 2 of them together and stick them on your ankle where the pinching is...I use them for lace bite and they work very well; PLUS they are MUCH cheaper than bunga pads ($4-6 vs $$$$)! They feel the same-squishy gel stuff.

Mrs Redboots

11-16-2005, 08:17 AM

I'd lend you mine, Skate@Delaware, but I don't honestly think you'd thank me for it, it's not all it should be!

Oh, but I was stiff this morning - still am, come to that. Back much better, though - I think I stretched it out yesterday. But just generally heavy-limbed. However, got my 2nd wind when skating.

Aaargh: Husband woke up when his alarm clock went off, and decided he wasn't going to skate today - he'd had a bad fall yesterday, not on the ice, and although he was fine to skate last night (that spiral!), he decided to have a rest day. So he made tea and then proceeded to tell me, in detail, about the footwork he wanted to do for his free programme.... (mostly 3-bracket-3s, which neither of us can do yet!).

I was so slow in my warm-up moves I really thought I'd freeze to the ice! Finally got moving, though, just about in time for my lesson. Probably because, as I didn't have to be down at the rink before 08:00, I had my breakfast before leaving the house, and was not on the ice until about 08:45.

Aah: In my lesson, did my cross-cuts the best I've ever done them! Who-hooo! And my B cross-rolls weren't bad, either. Got given a new exercise I absolutely adore - you do F cross-rolls down the rink until you reach the centre line, then you speed them up and try to get them Paso Doble speed (I beat each!). I can't quite do that yet, and I find, when I try, they lose all their flow. Coach says he doesn't think I'm able to make them flow at that speed, as yet, as I don't get enough under-push, but he still wants me to work at it. Anyway, it's terrific fun, and after a couple of laps in post-lesson practice, I've decided it's my current favourite exercise!

Coach had a good correction for my I-O changes-of-edge, which was basically to remember to change my shoulders (but that, as I said, won't work when Husband and I try to do this exercise in Kilian or Reverse Kilian hold, which we do. Still cross that bridge when we get there.).

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! But then my cross-cuts disappeared. But totally! I was listening to Kirsty McColl's version of "Miss Otis Regrets" on my headphones which is the perfect rhythm to do them to, and I couldn't do them at all! Finally, when I had nearly given up in despair, they came back! And the trouble is, I still have no idea what I was doing differently!

Discovered I can't keep my weight in the circle when doing circular exercises. When I was doing back crossovers round the circle, I was fine with the coach, but not solo. I asked him why, since I wasn't leaning on him, and we were only just barely holding hands, but he said it was because he was applying sufficient pressure to keep my bodyweight over my left (or right, as appropriate) hip. Then when I did the end pattern of the Fiesta round the circle (that's a good drill, too), I kept wavering my upper body all over the place. I told him to work out some drills for me for next week, but I am not too sure whether I shall look forward to that!

NickiT

11-16-2005, 11:43 AM

Aaaaah
YAY!!!! I had a brilliant lesson today. Everything worked. I showed my loop-loop to my coach and it was a good one. She then asked me to try the entry for the lutz, but not to actually jump. After doing that she said I could have gone for the jump so I had a go and landed a perfect lutz with a decent running edge out of it! I am so pleased. The last time I attempted a lutz was before I broke my arm the first week of September so it's been a long while. I also pulled off a really nice sit spin and a sit-change-sit, then some decent camels and camel-sits. It was such a wonderful feeling to "be back"!! I never expected to get back to it so soon after my injury. I guess I'll be doing my programme again soon.

Aaaarrrggghhh
Nothing!!!

Nicki

TashaKat

11-16-2005, 11:58 AM

jazzpants

11-16-2005, 12:39 PM

I'm sorry----I had to "borrow" it for a bit yesterday! I'm done with it now. Thank you very much-it was VERY NICE!Glad you liked it! Now PLEASE FedEx it back to me for my lesson on Thursday with primary coach!!! Thank you!!! :mrgreen:

BUMMER, TashaKat!!! :( :( :( Definitely try again next week and meanwhile, REST UP!!!

Mrs Redboots

11-16-2005, 01:58 PM

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Have come down with a really bad dose of the cold, I was sent home this morning from work :( The ARGH is because I can't go to the adult skate lesson this evening :( Oh well, try again next week!Oh, bad luck. If you feel well enough, pop down to Streatham tomorrow night & try your luck with the dance.... or even just come and watch and chat & get your head together!

Hope you feel better soon. Did you enjoy the pole-vaulting... sorry, pole-dancing?!

Debbie S

11-16-2005, 02:30 PM

Well, my practice today started out Aaarrrgggh when I got pulled over by the speed trap on the highway on the way to the rink. But it quickly became Aaah when the state trooper told me as long as I had a clean driving record (which I do) he was only giving out warnings - something about a new laser enforcement system.... phew! Anyway, it was still a bit Aaarrrgghh b/c I got to the rink a few minutes late.

Aaah - well, I was pleased that I could still cover the longer ice surface in my moves run-throughs. I have been practicing them on smaller rinks lately so I was worried that my ice coverage had suffered. It felt like I had good speed and flow and that I was hitting the right edges. I practiced the 8-step and it was reasonably well-done for the first time practicing the whole sequence - but it's got a long way to go to be comp-ready for NYI. Landed some loops and salchows that were OK.

Aaarrrgggh - still too much scratchiness on anything involving back crossovers! I didn't feel the loop was getting as much height as it had during a practice last week. Backspins were very inconsistent. Spins have started traveling again.

Skate@Delaware

11-16-2005, 09:02 PM

Jazzpants-I'm done with your Mohawk, so you can have it back. Thanks for letting me "borrow" it.

Annabel-I'm loaning you my spiral; I can spare it for a while.

Aaah: I talked with my coach about my goals and testing and competing and everything. I told her I had been a bit upset but had to look at things realistically. So, after stewing for a week and reviewing, I'm ok with competing no-test while I get some experience. She said she was unsure how I had taken it last week, she thought I was upset but I hadn't said anything about it at the time. Yeah, reality bites sometimes. (yeah, this really is an Aaah moment).

We started putting my routine together! Yay! And, even though I had a migraine cooking (stupid weather), I managed to to several very nice scratch spins! Yay!

Aaarrrgggh!: Ok, so we started working on my routine, and we're going through it and we get to the salchow part-and I forget how to do a salchow! My mind went completely blank!! Ha! :oops: Then, I'm supposed to do this back spiral.....sure....it was a twilight zone moment. Out goes the back spiral, in goes my toe-loop (waltz) :lol: Whatever! Now I have to work on speeding up my steps, because I was still going when my music ended.... :roll:

sunshinepointe

11-16-2005, 09:08 PM

I wanted to interject that these posts make me so sad - still no ice for me...I bet I'd have a solid lutz by now and a decent backspin and possibly getting close to working on the axel by now :cry:

Imma have to work extra hard when I get back I suppose :twisted:

Skate@Delaware

11-16-2005, 09:16 PM

Mrs Redboots

11-17-2005, 07:15 AM

Ok, so we started working on my routine, and we're going through it and we get to the salchow part-and I forget how to do a salchow! My mind went completely blank!! Ha! :oops: Then, I'm supposed to do this back spiral.....sure....it was a twilight zone moment. Out goes the back spiral, in goes my toe-loop (waltz) :lol: Whatever! Now I have to work on speeding up my steps, because I was still going when my music ended.... :roll:Been there, done that! I was doing my "Master of the House" interp from a couple of years ago and turned the wrong way - had to "wing" the programme (badly), and ended up coming down in front of the judges, I was supposed to do a back spiral and a toe-loop, and totally forgot which leg to do the spiral on, and which way to jump in the toe-loop.... well, duh.... so I did a sort-of clockwise-half-flip, which was really weird and didn't even leave the ice!

TimDavidSkate

11-17-2005, 07:21 AM

AAAHHHHH - still relaxing from my 3 week off ice vacation ;)

Hannahclear

11-17-2005, 03:58 PM

Aaaaahhhh:

~I had my first program runthrough where I landed every jump and did every spin. All elements completed. No falls. Footwork done.

~I'm getting pretty comfortable with sit/change sit.

Arrrgggh:

~Remember the program run through? Well I didn't mention that my footwork was clunky, my spiral sequence slow and I only got two revs on that back camel. :mrgreen:

~On the axel, I can get into backspin position, but lack enough oommph to get around. Then when I try to generate oomph, I lack the ability to get into backspin position. Coach seems pleased about it overall though, so I guess that's something.

~I'm not really achieving the "check" between the lutz and loop on the lutz/loop combo. I kinda just land with my arms tucked in and take off for the loop hanging on for dear life. The combo isn't that great in quality and it's bugging me. Have to work on those.

sunshinepointe

11-17-2005, 06:10 PM

Any word yet on when they will be done with the restorations?

I haven't called or spoken to anyone, but last I heard from my coach it was going to be at least a month or two as of last week.

He did mention that he would be coaching at a different rink, but I'm going away this weekend so maybe next weekend when I get back...sigh :cry:

luna_skater

11-17-2005, 06:25 PM

Aaaaah: I think I can confidently say that all my jumps are consistent (I have my singles through lutz, and everything in combo with a loop). This week was rather hellish (I DETEST incompetence!), so I didn't get to rink for extra practice...thus, hadn't worked on free skate since last Thursday. But I could do everything just fine on the first try. There is some slight variance in quality, but if I was asked to go and do x jump with no warm-up, I could do it. ;) In the spin department, coach says my backspin is actually a spin now, instead of little turns. However...

Aaarrrggh: I've learned that spinning in general is NOT my forte. Feels like every spin I work on is one step forward, two steps back. *sigh*

Skate@Delaware

11-17-2005, 07:33 PM

Aaah: Had a very nice uncrowded session today! Notwithstanding the crappy music we have to listen to now (radio with TONS of commercials) because they've locked the music cabinet.....the usual crowd of over-40-year-olds was missing (hey, guys, where are you?) So, for once, there was 4-6 people on the ice at the most! Glad I brought my mp3 player! Ran through my program several times with and without music. And, was able to "speed it up" so I finished before the music did (so I added a back spiral...just messin' around).

Did a very nice toe-loop (not in my program, but afterwards) that was less waltzy! I tried to do it again, but couldn't, darn it!... And, when I did my spiral on my program run-through, the little girl on the ice with her mom said "Mommy, look at that lady, isn't she pretty?" Wow, that made me feel really good!

Aaarrrgggh!: Ok, I bailed on the salchow part of my program, the beginning pose is a bit awkward (it's just me), I bailed on the toe-loop :oops: and my exit to waltz jump going into back crossovers has me turned around and I'm stepping on the wrong foot! Sheesh! But....

Aaah: After having that nice talk with my coach about goals and testing, I feel more at ease now! More settled and not feeling like I have to hurry and get everything done by April (when my rink closes for the season).

cutiesk8r43

11-17-2005, 08:02 PM

Aaah:
did some really good sit spins, coach liked my axels :D

Aaarrrgggh:
Need major work on split jumps 8O camels are horrible and failed my dance test in the dutch waltz (sighs) oh well maybe next time i guess :roll:

~Cutie ;)

Casey

11-18-2005, 02:11 AM

Aaah:
Well it's good to be taking lessons again, even if they are rare for the time being. And even if I haven't learned lots of fancy new things super-fast, I'm enjoying skating a lot, and that's the important part.

Have been focusing more on edges and moves, and I feel like it's paid off, I feel a bit more stable.

I wondered randomly into the rink where I bought my skates where it's very difficult to catch my fitter as he's always skating or not there, and miraculously, he was there and able to do a much-needed sharpening. So hopefully no more horrible falls as mentioned below...

Aaarrrgggh!:
Apparently it's just a matter of time until the nearby rink closes it's doors for the last time. The city is widening the highway it's on at some point (they're already working on it farther south), and has apparently already bought the buildings that will have to go. Yeah, the rink is old and dilapidated, and yeah, the other, nicer, rink will still be close. But it will be very sad to see it go. Maybe they'll be able to rebuild and reopen, but I don't know if their finances will allow it.

During my lesson, my coach had me do a flip...I don't know what exactly happened - I think it was related to my dull blades - but after takeoff my lower body moved forward a lot faster than the rest and I landed directly on my right knee, and then onto the right hip. It was one of those fun falls where I couldn't get up for about a minute. A little boy skated by and gave me the helpful advice that I lost my edge. No really? ;-) Then, frustrated, I finally did get back up, and went and did another one right away, though a bit wobbly because of my knee, I didn't fall. :) My coach probably thought I was nutters because she thought I should ice it, but I suppose people thinking I'm nutters is nothing new. Anyways 2 days have passed, and it's only a wee bit sore to the touch, so no serious harm done.

Aaarrrgggh! Still can't do a lutz. Aaarrrgggh! Can do some great half ones though. :P

jazzpants

11-18-2005, 02:30 AM

Aaaaah!!!

Looks like toward the end of the session I was able to start getting some of the mojo back on the first two moves!!! And it looks like once I'm warmed up a bit, my lower back doesn't hurt much.
Went to see my chiro tonight... my lower back is back to normal again!!! :mrgreen:
Aaaarrrrggggh!!!

Skate@Delaware: Did you overnight my FI mohawk back? I still haven't gotten it back in time for my lesson... :?? (Thankfully, I didn't have a lesson on 5 step mohawk.) Of course, that's b/c...
Primary coach spent 20 minutes making sure that I get enough edge on those forward crossovers and he was adjusting me the entire time and making me feel REALLY nervous while adjusting me. And he says "No more Mr. Nice Guy!!!" When I wasn't getting the forward crossovers on the pattern, he made me do them around the circle (which he knows I HATE doing!) until he sees me doing them right, then go back and made me do them on the pattern until I do forward crossovers on the pattern the same way I did them on the circle too! Some of the other skaters on the rink was going "Uh oh!!! Jazzpants is really getting a workout now!!!" 8O
Funny note: Primary coach knows of my plans to work with the "Moves Nazi" during my visit to NYC. Since primary coach was being particular "NOT Mr. Nice guy", I said "I guess I shouldn't have told you that I would be working with the Moves Nazi while I'm visiting NYC, huh?" Primary coach then replies "Well, all the more reason I'm being tough on you now!!! I don't want him to think that I wasn't doing my job..." :roll: http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/a020.gif :lol:

Skate@Delaware

11-18-2005, 06:48 AM

Skate@Delaware: Did you overnight my FI mohawk back? I still haven't gotten it back in time for my lesson... :??
I swear I did!!! Must have gotten held up somewhere for some reason or other (because I sure didn't have it yesterday!) Maybe you'll get it today!

flying~camel

11-18-2005, 06:51 AM

Aaah: I passed my Bronze FS test so I can go to ANs this year! Plus, I can finally put that program to bed and start working more on my new program :)

Aaarrrgggh: I skated waaaaaay too much in 1 day (test + 2 back-to-back FS sesssions) and strained a muscle in my left ankle so now it hurts whenever any pressure is put on it (including socks and shoes 8O). Thankfully, outside of ice show practice on Sunday, I have the next week and a half away from the ice for the Thanksgiving holiday so I'll have plenty of time to rest up and get my ankle back into working condition!

Mrs Redboots

11-18-2005, 08:14 AM

Aaaah: The ice was wonderfully empty this morning, as a lot of people weren't there. Just enough people for it not to be miserable - although at one stage I was the only person actually on the ice, as everybody else was taking a break of some kind.

Husband and I had great fun working on things that we may or may not incorporate in our free dance - various steps, lifts, spins, etc. All a bit slow, but then, we were focussing on technique this morning, not speed. Also playing with things Husband might put in his free programme, things like a toe loop from a back spiral, and a salchow-toe loop combination. Not that either of us could remember how to do a salchow, but that's another story....

I spent a further 30 minutes on the ice after he'd gone, working on my dance moves, and the Circle Cycle, as that was being played. To my delight, I was getting really good edges on the Circle Cycle, much better than I ever have before! Now I'd better start doing some backwards exercises to it.....

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh: No more ice until Tuesday, however will I survive?

My back cross-cuts were okay, but of course, Husband had to show off as his have far better edges, and then he had to be rude about my back edges. I pointed out that he finds back edges easier than I do, end of! I was miffed, though, especially as I'd just congratulated him on how good his back edges were, he didn't need to be rude about mine. Anyway, they are less flat than they used to be, even if they aren't deep enough yet.

blue111moon

11-18-2005, 08:53 AM

Ahhhh: College hockey before club ice cancelled last night so the ice was empty for two hours and the Super-nice Rink Guy made it again fresh just for us. It was like glass! And just in time because I've started working figures again in prep for Mountain Cup and last night was my first lesson on them in months. Having perfect ice made gliding easier, speed was okay and I didn't have to worry about losing a three-turn in a hockey rut.

Free style went good, too. I'd taken a few days off and for some reason I always seem to skate better when I come back. I hit everything Coach asked for. Her watchword for the day was "beautiful" as in "Now let me see a sitspin with beautiful position and a beautiful exit." I did my best to oblige and for the most part succeeded.

So Happy Happy Day for me.

The only Argh: I haven't used my patch skates since I got back from France last spring. When I pulled them out of the terry bags for my lesson, I discovered that one lace was missing. Belatedly I remembered breaking a lace on a freestyle boot in Villard and ripping the patch lace out as a replacement. It was too short and I replaced both freestyle laces as soon as I could, but evidently I forgot about the patch boot. So I had to skate my figures lesson in my stiff freestyle boots with the blades with the flatter rocker and massive picks and deep hollow, which was severe challenge. Even figures I can do easily had major flats, which showed up clearly on the perfect patch ice.

NickiT

11-18-2005, 10:41 AM

Aaaaah
Another good session on the ice today! I practiced all my jumps up to flip, then did a few loop-loop and flip-loop combinations before working on my camel and camel-sit spin.

In my lesson I ran through my jumps again and managed another lutz. Also did a pretty good camel spin for my coach. She asked me to try my programme for the first time in 3 months. I agreed to try half of it as I've done no programme work at all and I didn't want to kill myself, so I skated up to the flip, but although a little shaky it felt better than I thought it would, so my next target is to skate the whole programme. After my lesson I landed my lutz three times, so next week I'll have a go at the lutz-loop again.

Aaaarrrgggh
Nothing really, apart from the fact that it was so cold today plus the ice was quite rutted.

Nicki

phoenix

11-18-2005, 07:28 PM

Ahhh: Well, in a weird way--I was glad when my partner didn't show up for our team lesson this week because I was really in the mood for a solo lesson! :twisted:

Aaagghh: We started working on the Kilian, & I have a total mental thing with that dance. Before I went back to standard track, I was working on it with my former coach & it was one of the contributing factors in the unravelling of our working relationship; he got very, very, very frustrated with me & I wasn't understanding the dance at all, & was afraid of it--especially the choctaw, & there was even one time when he walked off the lesson in the middle of it. So lots of bad baggage & it surprised me this week when, two years later, it's still there.

Aahhhh: Wise coach knows how to make things work! I have a couple of things to work on, building up to the choctaw, which will teach me to be very balanced going at that speed. And I think then the choctaw will be easy if I'm solidly balanced beforehand. I trust him & I think he'll be willing to be patient enough to get me through this one!

Casey

11-19-2005, 05:02 AM

Aaarrrgggh!!!

Where did my spins go??? Okay, I've had bad days before, but not like this. I went skating tonight, and my spins are *gone*. I tried and tried and just kept failing. I just had my blades sharpened so maybe that's why, but usually that helps, and everything else was fine. So whomever borrowed my spins without asking, please return them! You don't want mine anyways, go for one of the better skaters at my rink! :frus:

Casey

11-19-2005, 05:13 AM

ThermaCare back warps are helping me a LOT!!! :mrgreen:
O_O Where exactly does your back get warped to? :lol:

Skate@Delaware

11-19-2005, 07:36 AM

This is for last night's session:
Went early for public session; ice was perfectly rutted and gouged.... Where was the smoothness from Thursday? Yuck! Of course, I mentioned it to the programs director, who passed it on to the rink director, who told the zamboni driver to take extra time (and he actually did!). So for lessons we had very nice ice!

Hubby report: Spent some time with him on edges, 3-turns and stuff. Worked on chasses, which I think will help him get gliding on one-foot (he has issues with that). With the 3-turn, he is stiff-legging it and when he goes with turn the 3, of course his blades scrape...plus, he's thinking you whip it around with your arms :giveup:

Worked more on back edges, but I stopped holding arms with him as he kept leaning on me :evil: once I stopped holding on; he didn't want to do them anymore. He is soooooo afraid of falling! Annabel-why are husbands such a pain? The funny thing is, I'm such a harsh-skate-instructor (according to observers), yet he keeps coming back for more! Yikes!

Lessons: Working on Moves Stuff
Aaah: Coach liked our edge warmups so we only had to do them once.

Aaarrrgggh!: Rockers! Brackets! The rockers were easy (we had learned them last season so this was a review); brackets, well, what can I say? She had us do then against the wall, which we didn't like because the ice there is always chunky and you can't do anything there. Anyway, they are very interesting! I think I like them (so far-maybe I won't once I fall a few times) :D I think she said these were inside edge brackets. They do make a neat pattern on the ice! Boy are they hard! Of course, she had to say this is the one move we are certain to fall on! 8O Thanks for building up our confidence!

Then we ended by doing spins; mine sucked because my migraine is still tagging....and I didn't want to feel spacey so I didn't take anything for it (waited until I got home). So instead I felt all wobbly and uneven.

Debbie S

11-19-2005, 02:31 PM

Aaah: This morning's freestyle sessions were probably the emptiest in the history of Saturday morning sessions at this rink! I think everyone must have been at Wilmington. Got a lot of work done. My coach gave me some exercises to do to get on the correct edges and get more knee bend in the Bronze moves, which I need to do if I'm ever going to pass this freakin' test. I told her about NYI and the um, interesting selection of required elements in the Pre-Bronze and Bronze events, and she showed me the 8-step. It's a good thing I had her look at what I'd been doing, b/c it turns out a couple of my steps were being done incorrectly. Geez, this move is hard - after the lesson, I practiced it and was scraping all over the place. I will say, though, that it's good to have a new move to work on other than these Bronze moves which I feel like I've been doing forever, and will keep doing, b/c.....

Aaarrrgggh: My coach thinks I should wait until the Feb test session to retry Bronze MIF. I had been hoping to test at another club's session on Dec 9 in a last-ditch effort to qualify for AN. But I think my coach is right that I need more time to work out the kinks in the problem moves. So no AN this year for me :cry: . Still a card-carrying member of the Pre-Bronze Peanut Gallery.... Good luck to flying~camel and all the others who have qualified or will qualify! (and of course, my backspin was "on" today in practice)

So now, my plan is to get new skates, since I think my current ones are partly to blame for my problems with the moves. And I need to think about getting a new FS program. I would have used last year's program, with modifications, to test Bronze FS, but I was worried about the way the program was constructed and whether the judges would think the choreo (esp the footwork) was challenging enough. And I need to decide if I'm going to be brave and enter the Bronze CM and/or MIF events at NYI. (couldn't they have just picked Bronze-level moves? :twisted: )

jazzpants

11-20-2005, 03:19 PM

O_O Where exactly does your back get warped to? :lol:Hopefully something useful and painless??? BTW: It's supposed to be ThermaCare back WRAP!!! (Don't you love those typos?) :lol:

mikawendy

11-20-2005, 03:40 PM

Aah--Had a good double practice session yesterday--worked hard on moves, jumps, spins, fun edge stuff, program. The session would've been empty but for the synchro team practicing there, but they often took breaks, so I was able to get my run-throughs in. They offered to be my cheering section when I did my second runthrough--that was great! Most of the girls went through group lessons the same time I did. My runthroughs were okay, not spectacular (missed the loop loop and the flip). I was able to change the RFO 3 after my spiral to RFO rocker with more footwork. Hopefully coach will approve (I think it makes the footwork harder and cover more ground).

Edited to add--I worked on T stops in both directions and was able to teach myself the other direction (I used to be able to do them only on one side). I went down the rink, alternating T stops with right leg in back, then left leg in back, etc. Then I tried to work on tango stops and didn't have much luck with those!

Argh--Camel is still inconsistent, though improving. I'm still having difficulty putting loop on the end of any jump other than loop. I can tack it on to waltz, toe, or sal, but only if I do those jumps really TINY....

Skate@Delaware

11-20-2005, 07:44 PM

Aaah: Had show rehearsal this am-ran my costumes by "the girls" for fitting and they were (mostly) fine! Some work to on the arm things....

Finally, we got our routine for our featurette number!!! We four skate among the candy canes and gingerbreads and gumdrops in the Land of the Sweets....we have power-3's (glad I just learned them 8O ), intersecting circles of back crossovers, waltz-waltz, scratch spins (mine sucked this morning), and a hooked-together spiral around the end of the rink! It's really COOL!!!!

And I managed several very nice centered scratch spins in the afternoon session!!! (why didn't they happen this morning during our program run-through???)

Aaarrrgggh!: Well, because I just learned (for the most part) power-3's means they are S L O W ! ! ! And, my spins really reeked this morning! We went back to the afternoon session (which was delayed because of a fire alarm) and worked on power-3's....I'm told I need to bend more in the knee of the 3-turning leg and really rip on the back crossover for more speed 8O 8O 8O Yikes! Now I'm thinking about taking the power skating class a few times before the show to see if that would help improve my speed....or if I should just be a little gutsier!

And, I tried a few jumps, but they sort-of sucked today, but that's ok. :frus: I didn't really feel like jumping, I was pretty tired....

I just realized that my regular long skating day is Thursday.....turkey day.....and the rink will be closed! I'm wondering when I can squeeze an extra session in without tons of kids? They are off from school Wednesday - the weekend.....so the rink will be packed!

jazzpants

11-21-2005, 01:50 AM

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/n010.gif

I got a speeding ticket on my way to my weekend rink. Cop must be trying to fill out their speeding quota... http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/boese/a025.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/figuren/k065.gif
When I got to the rink, the ice was already crappy and crowded with kids...and the weekend rink NEVER took a break this afternoon to surface the ice.
AAAAAH!!!

Well, I started building up a bit of speed doing the intro-3 and the FI mohawks. (Thanks, Skate@Delaware. I got them back this afternoon!)
I am well enough to start jumping again. (Of course, the loop didn't come back along with the lower back, but at least I CAN jump w/o it hurting now...)

Thin-Ice

11-21-2005, 03:40 AM

Aaah: I passed my Bronze FS test so I can go to ANs this year! Plus, I can finally put that program to bed and start working more on my new program :)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
:) :) :) See you in Dallas!!!

phoenix

11-21-2005, 09:41 AM

Okay where do you guys get those cool little smilies & how do you put them into the posts??

Aaahh: Kilian is better! Worked really hard yesterday on my exercises & was feeling confident enough to actually put a pattern together--& it worked! The secret of this dance is to stand up straight, and then stand up even straighter. And use your knees and only your knees to get the depth of the edges. I was able to do 2 patterns several times with what I'd call reasonable speed, and twice I did absolutely beautiful clean choctaws. I think there is hope for this dance yet! Edges still need to be a lot deeper, & the whole thing needs to be a lot sharper.

Aaargh: no private lesson this week due to Thanksgiving, just a team lesson on Wed. Plus very little skating over the weekend, if at all.

mikawendy

11-21-2005, 04:32 PM

Aaah: Had show rehearsal this am-ran my costumes by "the girls" for fitting and they were (mostly) fine!

Tee, hee, I sat there reading your post and wondering if "am-ran" is a word in some kind of code language, similar to pig latin! I'm a bit slow on the uptake today!! :D

Skate@Delaware

11-21-2005, 09:06 PM

Tee, hee, I sat there reading your post and wondering if "am-ran" is a word in some kind of code language, similar to pig latin! I'm a bit slow on the uptake today!! :D
That would be funny; although skaters have their own language anyway!!! Rockers, choctaws, hollows, lutz, CoP, twizzles, etc. When I mention skating terms at work---I get the blank stares from my co-workers 8O

e-skater

11-21-2005, 09:25 PM

[QUOTE=Casey]Aaarrrgggh!!!

Where did my spins go???

Well, Casey, the same place mine have gone!

I just had my blades sharpened so maybe that's why, but usually that helps, and everything else was fine.

Sometimes sharpenings magnify errors in technique in spins, or at least I think so.....The sharper they are, the less you can get away with! :lol:

So whomever borrowed my spins without asking, please return them!

Hmm, could have borrowed a camel, as that one worked today. But I DO want your spins, especially if you have a sit or back spin you can give me!

sceptique

11-22-2005, 02:37 PM

Aaaah!

Had a weekend of my life that started at 8:00 on a bright sunny London day at Tower open rink - yes, me and Andrey where anong the few lucky that took part in the filming of the Christmas episode of the Bill.
(Actually, the weekend started from the mad drive to Brussels airport to just to get lost in the car park and catch the plane to London just 10 minutes before the gate closure).

And then on Friday, a plane again, this time to Paris, to see for the first time in my life, LIVE skating of top athletes at Eric Bompard. These were 3 days of sheer delight and awe, something I couldn't believe is actually happening, after all troubles with my visa (don't ask!) and a sudden last munute posting to Netherlands that made everything quite a logistical challenge: 3 countries in 4 hours on Sunday night (train Paris-Brussels, then drive Brussels-Maastricht). Wicked.

Aarrgh!

There is a rink in 5 min drive from my project site, but they have very limited patch times for figure skating - mostly hockey and speed skating popular in Holland. I still haven't talked to administration yet, but if it turns out that I can't have any early morning ice (they only time I can do it) it would be a real blow. I can't possibly drive 60 miles each way to Eindhoven, which has a really nice rink, so it would mean again weekend-only skating for another 4 months (plus a bit of public sessions at an open-air rink in Maastricht). WHat a shame - to have a rink with a pad and ice track so close and not be able to skate! :cry: