Frozen or flowing: 5-12 December 2005

[Mrs Redboots]

I don't usually skate on a Monday, but I knew some friends were working at a temporary ice-rink in Canary Wharf, so decided I'd go up there and see what the temporary rinks are like. Expensive, is one way of putting it - but I'm glad I went, all the same. The ice quality wasn't totally great, but could have been a lot worse - there had been a storm on Friday and I gather they had huge problems with leaves on the ice, and some of the leaves are frozen in now, which looks very attractive. And the Zamboni is really a Zambonini, you've never seen such a tiny one!

Flowing: It was a lovely morning, with blue sky and sunshine. The rink itself is tiny, but as there were only 2 other skaters on it apart from me (just wait until the Christmas holidays start, it will be a very different story!), I could do what I wanted to do. It was fun trying to get all the way up the rink in just two pushes, stuff like that. Worked on all my edges and dance moves, and enjoyed showing off to the office workers who had come out on cigarette break.

Frozen: Why is it that when I skate fast, I lose all extension and toe-point? I could feel myself doing it. Grrrr. And I still can't do back cross-rolls, even on a tiny rink, although to be fair they did improve as the hour went on. And I have just remembered I forgot to practice my twizzles, which would certainly have impressed the office workers!

Oh well, it was great fun, anyway.

[kiwibabe]

Flowing: Our ice show was a huge success on Saturday, 1000 people turned up. I got a bouquet (? spelling) at the end for being in charge of props/stage. We had our adult session last night, DH and I were practising the dutch waltz, we have now got the pattern in the right place at the right time.

Frozen: Tired and bruised from shifting heavy props around. Our extension in the free leg for the dutch waltz is really bad. My 3 turns are still non existant

[Summerkid710]

Flowing:Axels are coming along. Haven't really practiced them in 13 years. Just need to jump a bit higher to give myself time to rotate.

Frozen: My left knee hurts after doing said axels. It was really cold in the rink which probably didn't help.

[Skate@Delaware]

Flowing: Our ice show was a huge success on Saturday, 1000 people turned up. I got a bouquet (? spelling) at the end for being in charge of props/stage. We had our adult session last night, DH and I were practising the dutch waltz, we have now got the pattern in the right place at the right time.

Frozen: Tired and bruised from shifting heavy props around. Our extension in the free leg for the dutch waltz is really bad. My 3 turns are still non existant
WOW! That's a lot of people! We are hoping for a sell-out crowd, which will be around 200-250 for two nights (less than two weeks to go).

Hubby is now looking forward to ice dancing and wants to learn the dutch waltz....that's the only pattern I can remember without my "cheat sheet." I showed him the other day and he thinks he can do it. Of course I was doing it really slow....wait until I show him at tempo :twisted:

[Raye]

Frozen: The evil mohawk in the 14-step got me on Saturday morning dance session. Complete Bambi followed by 30 feet of Zamboni Imitation, almost taking out an eight-year old doing a Dutch Waltz.... aaak. (just missed her by inches...) I am still stiff all over and this morning the eight-year old is still afraid of me.

Flowing: The three-turn after the swing mohawk in the Harris Tango is coming along....... still scratchy, but not so scary as it was last week.

[e-skater]

Flowing: Lovely friends who know what's best for you. We are having a skating exhibition this coming Friday, 12-9-05, and I have not had motivation to practice my new program during adult session, using the overhead speaker, as on the day we will skate. My friend "made me" do it today, and that was great! I even landed my waltz / loop combo, which I usually do not land within my program! :D

Frozen: Hmmm, a lot of the rest of this program, particularly the four changes coach has made in the last two weeks. Even if the change is only a different arm movement.... :evil: :) Not to mention the dreaded left mohawks, not my best suit at speed! The exhibition skate date looms large.....

[kiwibabe]

WOW! That's a lot of people! We are hoping for a sell-out crowd, which will be around 200-250 for two nights (less than two weeks to go).

Hubby is now looking forward to ice dancing and wants to learn the dutch waltz....that's the only pattern I can remember without my "cheat sheet." I showed him the other day and he thinks he can do it. Of course I was doing it really slow....wait until I show him at tempo :twisted:

We are lucky that we had people with advertising connections (free radio time, free local TV time, free newspaper space).

If you want to see pictures from the show:
http://www.skating-news.co.nz/articles/20051206-onz1.html

I'm in the bottom right hand picture but I'm partially hidden so you cant really see me.

[sk8pics]

Frozen: The evil mohawk in the 14-step got me on Saturday morning dance session. Complete Bambi followed by 30 feet of Zamboni Imitation, almost taking out an eight-year old doing a Dutch Waltz.... aaak. (just missed her by inches...) I am still stiff all over and this morning the eight-year old is still afraid of me.

Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your crash, and I hope you will recovery fully soon, but oh, I had to laugh at your comment about the eight-year old still being afraid of you the next day! Must have been some spectacular crash!

As for me, one minute it's frozen and the next it's flowing. Yesterday, did my first run through of my new interpretive program with the jumps and my coach occasionally spotting me, and it was pretty good. Today I could barely do a waltz jump and my salchow was completely screwed up... did get it sort of sorted out, but geesh. For once in my life, I'd like to actually make progress two lessons/days in a row! :roll: :frus: :frus: :frus:

Pat

[Skate@Delaware]

We got the date of our in-house exhibition...thankfully, it's been moved from December to January. So, it gives me a bit more time to finesse my routine (and recover from the ice show) and get it really honed before I mess it up in public! :lol:

[Terri C]

Flowing:
Finally, a moves free lesson today!

Frozen:
Coach spent the lesson at my request, on jumps, because I had not been jumping much in order to get my moves test ready. My toe loop decided to fall apart on me, but after a reminder to bend my knee going into the three turn, it was okay.
Same with the loop- couldn't get a RFI edge good enough for the takeoff!
I was also reminded that I still need to practice jumps, even though I was spending so much time on moves.
Remember that thread from two weeks ago "So much to do, so little time?"
:roll:

[e-skater]

We got the date of our in-house exhibition...thankfully, it's been moved from December to January. So, it gives me a bit more time to finesse my routine (and recover from the ice show) and get it really honed before I mess it up in public! :lol:
Boy I hear you there, skate@Delaware! We have an exhibition at our rink 12-9, 8O then a holiday show 12-18. I have a new program, and found myself thinking today that it IS entirely possible to have "Bridge Over Troubled Water" be a comedy.....isn't it?! :twisted: :twisted:

[Skate@Delaware]

Boy I hear you there, skate@Delaware! We have an exhibition at our rink 12-9, 8O then a holiday show 12-18. I have a new program, and found myself thinking today that it IS entirely possible to have "Bridge Over Troubled Water" be a comedy.....isn't it?! :twisted: :twisted:
It's right up there with that thread "so much to do...." but it's renamed for December, "so much to do in such a short amount of time!" We are thankful that someone thought about all that was going on at our rink this month and moved the exhibition!! We also do a big thing for New Year's Eve and it's a big 3 1/2 hour skate! What a nice way to end the year!
When did you start working on your program? Is this your exhibition piece or are you competing this year?

[Mrs Redboots]

Ow, Raye, I hope you didn't bash your tailbone. :lol: at the 8-year-old still being scared of you.....

Frozen: We had a celebrity training at our rink this morning (not sure what for) and great mutters and mumbles among the coaches as they'd been told the wrong time so wanted to use our ice. In the end that was okay, and they didn't take up any more room than any other skater & coach, and worked hard, but it meant missing a few minutes of our lessons while the coaches agreed among themselves and Said Things to the manager.

Meanwhile, in that lesson we worked mostly on our chassés and swings in waltz hold, which needed attention, and at the end of the lesson we did a run-through of the Fiesta Tango, which was awful. I will accept that as being 90% me, as Husband's solo Fiesta is very good indeed, but it is still 10% down to the partnering! But I know what I think I need to work on now. Swing Dance will, I think, be getting fairly respectable. At least the coach diagnosed the problem with the waltz hold - Husband wasn't remembering to lead with his shoulders. When he does, it's way better.

Waltz 3s in waltz hold were a bit of a disaster - at least we can do several now (I got dizzy), but on our RFO3 ones, which are my better side, Husband over-rotates and it makes life very difficult! Only our LFO3 ones I didn't have neat feet, but at least I knew I didn't, so could correct it.

We are going to have to rethink the hip lift, as it really does make my back ache.

Flowing: The coach actually saw our spin, and was impressed! Ta-daaa! And my twizzles are coming on, and I almost did a whole lap of cross-strokes without a "spotter".... and my cross-rolls felt okay, too, but I think my feet were a bit far apart. Oh well....

Solo lesson tomorrow, yikes....

[max]

Hi Annabel,

I believe they are putting together Strictly Ice Dance again. Martin Platt (don't know his real name) ex-Coronation Street was at the Championships on Saturday being filmed watching the Ice Dancers as he is going to be dancing with MH.

[e-skater]

When did you start working on your program? Is this your exhibition piece or are you competing this year?

Sorry for the long answer, but as you can tell, I LOVE to talk. Except when I'm skating. :)

The choreo for this program, though it's been changed a couple times, and many changes recently (like in the last two weeks), was done some time ago.....like late summer. I think it was the end of August, though have to admit it's a blur.

But then, we didn't really focus on the new program. It was like about one lesson out of the month, attempting run throughs. We focused instead on Bronze Freeskate technical program, and decided in October NOT to test it this year (which we had been aiming for November) as the sit and backspins are not good enough. Plus the loop was coming and going within the program. :evil: :frus:

So then it was back to focus on the dramatic. My performance goal for this program is a USFS competition in April 2006. It will be my first time ever competing at Bronze (with people who have been at that level for four or five years now.....EEEK!) I think it is going to take until April simply to improve it. I'm very slow to learn programs, and to combine the elements with my version of "artistry". :oops: ;)

My plan was to do the exhibition with this program as it is now.....not great, but I can get through it. Then do the Holiday Show on the 18th, as another practice in front of people thing. After that I'll be off ice for some time with home stuff. When I return in late January, we will push again the month of February for ice dance and Bronze Freeskate testing in March, hopefully. Along with working the dramatic for April USFS event. Too much to do, too little time.....AGAIN!!!!

[cutiesk8r43]

frozen:
wore the wrong kind of socks today.my feet were actually frozen!! :) coach didnt show up

flowing:
christmas program was ok,axels were good!! :D

~cutie ;)

[Skate@Delaware]

My plan was to do the exhibition with this program as it is now.....not great, but I can get through it. Then do the Holiday Show on the 18th, as another practice in front of people thing. After that I'll be off ice for some time with home stuff. When I return in late January, we will push again the month of February for ice dance and Bronze Freeskate testing in March, hopefully. Along with working the dramatic for April USFS event. Too much to do, too little time.....AGAIN!!!!
Sounds like a good plan! My coach planned for me to skate in a few ISI comps to get the feel of competition, then hit Halloween Classic (USFSA) as a no-test. Then I can test pre-bronze. She says a lot of skaters rush into testing before they are really ready and it hurts them.

We had a snow delay of 2 hours this morning, and I took the boy to school on my way to work. Hubby took daughter to a walk-in clinic to get her throat looked at, it wasn't strep but some infection so they stayed home today.

Frozen: So, when I went to the rink after work, I had it all to myself for 45 minutes!!! Ewwww! I could hear every scratch of my toepicks on my back crossovers! And, I managed a few stupid falls. I think my blades need to be sharpened again.... and I had a senior moment and forgot how to do the half-flip...tried segments of my routine (the sticky parts) and they are still sticky. Didn't work on the loop at all.

Flowing: Notwithstanding dull blades, spins were good and the free leg is coming up higher which makes it easier to cross, and waltz and salchows were nice. AND.......I tried bending more on the 3-turn for the toe-loop and I was able to make it pick more and hardly waltzy!!!! YAY!!!! It really felt like a jump! I could actually spring UP on it!!

And, got a free cookie from the guy at the snack bar (only because I made a face at the name cranberry-choco chip....so he gave me one to try. They aren't bad!) :)

[blisspix]

flowing - got my skates sharpened in desperation after the megasplat on Saturday. A pro shop job, so not the best, but I didn't have the time to arrange for a sharpening pro at the other rink.

Am now skating Saturday mornings at one rink, and Wednesday coffee club at another before work. New schedule is working nicely.

Today was not bad, still a bit sore after the megasplat, but was mostly trying to iron out the kinks after a few average sessions in a row.

Bunga pads have arrived in the mail (only 1 week! wow!) so will try them out on Saturday.

frozen - spins were off, again!

[The Ice Demon]

Frozen
nothing went bad today thank goodness, unless you count back inside and outside figures :roll: Oh, and I didn't try any axels. Ah, and I thought about trying flying camel jump to forward sit that my coach showed me and then after spinning in back camel position for a while decided it was not for the faint-hearted!

Flowing
Due to the "Change in skating style over the year" thread and the Tim Wood clip I played around with various jump combos including half-flip - flip and then played with split off a lutz entry which I often do, but doing an inside mohawk after split landing and going into salchow and weird things like that, just to be interesting. Don't know if I achieved anything, but I've certainly never seen anyone do this combo before. I love playing round with unusual moves/combos etc. Inspired by that clip I'm determined to get my walley and learn how to land split jumps backwards, both of which I have toyed with in the past.

[Mrs Redboots]

Hi Annabel,

I believe they are putting together Strictly Ice Dance again. Martin Platt (don't know his real name) ex-Coronation Street was at the Championships on Saturday being filmed watching the Ice Dancers as he is going to be dancing with MH.
Thanks, Max. And by the way, you and your team did a superb job at the Championships! I was only there on the Saturday, but everything seems to have run very smoothly. Your flower-children were gorgeous...... can we have them for the Adults again next year, we missed all the trimmings this time!

Back to training.....

Frozen: Oh, how I hate taking everything up a level, which is what happens in winter training. You always feel as though you can't even do basic vanilla stroking!

Flowing: Having said that, when you suddenly get a breakthrough, it's the best feeling in the world. And I have discovered that an awful lot of what is wrong with my back crossovers is to do with my upper body - if I focus on keeping it still, everthing immediately improves.

Plus I had another breakthrough (yes, two in one day!) on the FO swing rolls. I kept getting my shoulders stuck, but when I thought "ribcage" instead, everything went into the right place and I even gained speed!

And I haven't even finished skating for the day - it's our monthly class and social dancing at Alexandra Palace (Tashakat, are you going, now you're back?!)

[e-skater]

Frozen: So, when I went to the rink after work, I had it all to myself for 45 minutes!!! Ewwww! I could hear every scratch of my toepicks on my back crossovers!

Flowing: Notwithstanding dull blades, spins were good and the free leg is coming up higher which makes it easier to cross, and waltz and salchows were nice. AND.......I tried bending more on the 3-turn for the toe-loop and I was able to make it pick more and hardly waltzy!!!! YAY!!!! It really felt like a jump! I could actually spring UP on it!!

And, got a free cookie from the guy at the snack bar

Oh, aren't those quiet times at rink the worst?! It's quite the wake-up call to hear that lovely scratching!

Good job on the spin work.....and the evil toe loop....never been my favorite jump. My coach put me back on the boards for six months, doing this drill, then trying the drill on ice. I finally got it corrected.....and I still don't like it!

The cookie was the best part of a good day, huh?

[jazzpants]

Another day with the back crossovers!!! This time we aimed towards getting myself to BEND my knees AND do a reach into the circle to get more power on those crossovers while still looking behind me.

Frozen:
Only got one out of two. I managed to stay down on those crossovers. No bobbing up and down either!!! I go down and STAY down for the duration of those back crossovers!!!

Sorta Flowing:
My weaker direction (CCW) is now my technically stronger one, mainly b/c I still need to practice the same exercise in the CW direction... And it seems to be unianimous that there's improvement on those back crossovers now!!!

Should be interesting also if I keep this going tomorrow at my lesson with primary coach tomorrow...and then some!!!

[mikawendy]

Frozen--
Me, literally, after 3 hrs. on ice during show rehearsal Sunday. Then in my program run-thru, I tried really hard to make my waltz-toe BIG, which resulted in big SPLAT flat on my back after I landed the waltz wonky and went for the toe anyway!

And then it snowed during the week and I discovered that someone had nipped my ice scraper from my car a month ago when it had been broken into! The only things that turned out to have gone missing were my bag of free AAA maps, a blank notebook, and the ice scraper. Not the music or the money. Grrrrrrrr :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Flowing--
Had a good show rehearsal on Sunday (I'm really looking forward to that show and also the show that flo's club is putting on). Worked hard on moves afterward. (They're sorely in need of work as I had a 2-month break from working on them in lesson!)

p.s. Good to see you starskate6.0! Sorry to hear about the job situation. Will you be in our neck of the woods (with stilts?) for any of the holiday shows coming up?

[sk8pics]

Frozen I had decided (or suddenly realized) that my whole problem with my jumps is the left back outside edge going into them (I'm clockwise). I can do alternating back outside edges, I can step forward from a jump landing, I can do those alternating back crossovers to back outside edge from the bronze moves test. But when I'm going to skate on that left back outside edge and then step forward into a waltz jump or toe loop, I always curve it very sharply and really I'm leaning forward instead of sitting back on the edge. Blech. It works when I'm not going too fast but as soon as any of my coaches start pushing me to go faster, it doesn't really work. And then I get freaked out, and then that makes me more insecure on that edge, and so on and so on. So yesterday I asked my spin coach to work on that with me instead of spinning. He of course sees my toe pick scratchiness on that step forward as an even bigger problem :roll: but did agree that the two are connected.

Flowing So we basically did that for 20 minutes. I'd turn backwards, do one crossover, push onto the LBO edge, and hold the position about 1000x longer than I usually do :roll: and then step forward. Oh and he held my hand lightly throughout all this. I have to say, it really helped! I hadn't realized how bad my position had been until he had me correct it. After he left, I practiced it with some waltz jumps and salchows near the boards (so the edge wasn't as long, but still better than it had been) and I think I made some progress. I'll work on it some more tonight, but it's nice to feel a little bit of progress and see the light at the end of the tunnel --meaning I can imagine being able to do this with a good waltz jump relatively soon. I'm sure my primary coach will be happy to see this tonight, too!

Happy skating everyone! Good luck to those in shows! Mika--more snow is coming!

Pat

[Skate@Delaware]

Had a fairly decent lesson last night:
Frozen: "forgot" how to do the flip (again) and had to have her show me :oops: . Waltz-8's are wacky and lopsided. Program run-thru is fun when you are doding people who are where you are supposed to jump! Need more speed and control on stupid toe-loop, and 1/2 flip. I'm now to do 3-4 run-thrus of my program at each practice session 8O and not bail on my jumps (yeah, or rush my salchow, because then it looks like a "sour-cow")

Flowing: Waltz-8 3-turn was where it should have been, as was the change of foot!!! Coach said that it was better, but to practice (yeah). Toe-loop is looking better. Did a great scratch spin in my "program"....Oh, I had "Barbie" hands, coach said that was better!!!

Yeah, all that ice I had to myself the other day, I should have practiced the waltz-8 and I could have seen the pattern and counted out loud....will I ever learn??

[sceptique]

Frozen

That's how my legs felt yesterday though it wasn't even cold. I couldn't figure out what was wrong - my blade kept slipping (and it's recently sharpened so that couldn't be the problem), and I seemed to lose the ability to land jumps - fell twice on a salchow, not sure it ever happened before! And then, to add an insult to injury, I caught my toepick on forward crossovers. 8O Since it was almost end of session and the ice was empty I was going quite fast when I tripped, and it was also pretty rough so I didn't enjoy the slide on my bare tummy as much as the few remaining skaters probably did. Starting to love my hand-made silicon knee-pads!

Flowing

I think I found another thing that stops me from doing a good upright spin - I do not swing my leg forward but rather pull it in while it's still exended to the side so hence the right shoulder drop, poor balance and not enough speed for a long rotation.

My jumps are getting higher, especially the toe loop, but that's probably it. See how it goes tonight.

[max]

Thanks, Max. And by the way, you and your team did a superb job at the Championships! I was only there on the Saturday, but everything seems to have run very smoothly. Your flower-children were gorgeous...... can we have them for the Adults again next year, we missed all the trimmings this time!


Thank you for the compliments. We do get some good feedback. I went to the Skaters Banquet this year and it was super. I know there was a large contingent from Steatham there so I hope they all had a good time.

I understand the Adults is going to be at Lea Valley next year. Not so far for you to travel. I'm sure Alan Seabrook and his team will put on a good event.

I'm only just recovering and we have our show this Friday and Saturday!

[Mrs Redboots]

I understand the Adults is going to be at Lea Valley next year. Not so far for you to travel. I'm sure Alan Seabrook and his team will put on a good event.

I'm only just recovering and we have our show this Friday and Saturday!Good luck to you! I hadn't heard about the Adults - goodness, I hope they don't choose compulsory dances that are difficult to fit in a hockey-sized rink! I also hope they post the requirements soon!

Skated at Alexandra Palace last night, which was fun. The class wasn't so hard, as only one instructor for both beginners and the more confident skaters - her cohort is working at Canary Wharf, where I skated (and saw him) on Monday. So there were slightly harder exercises coupled with easier ones.... you could choose which you did. But even the beginners had a go at some really quite difficult moves.

The social dancing was fun, although Christmas dance music is weird.... I mean, who would have thought of arranging "Christians, Awake" to be able to skate the Paso Doble to it??? You do wonder, sometimes....

Very tired today and bottling out of our dance club's AGM, so I'm not skating.

[Skate@Delaware]

Frozen: Well, the normally empty day session was occupied by about 8 kids all zinging about....it was an in-service day at one of the schools :evil: so it made running through my program a bit of a challenge. So, I had to break it down into pieces.

Flowing: The rest of the session just ROCKED!! I started with Waltz-8's and even though I had to wait a few times for the little kids to move out of my "strike zone" (he-he-he), they were actually pretty good! Then I moved onto alternating crossovers (front and back) and I didn't even get on my toepicks!

Next was some jumps (I've learned to do them early in the session so I'm not as pooped). They were good, even the evil TOE-LOOP. Didn't work on the loop, though.

Ran through my program as best I could, and did the most stretched awesomest spiral ever!!!!! (I saw my reflection in the glass). Even remembered how to do the 1/2 flip! Did my run-through 3 times (with my mp3 player) and ended up on time!!!!!

Spins were ok, even with the migraine meds I took this morning. I'm getting better at raising my free leg.

Ended the session with swing rolls and a crossover extension exercise, where you cross over and leave your legs crossed and the leg that is under is extended, but not on the ice. It's a good one!

I'll probably really suck tomorrow :lol: but that's ok. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get to the rink on time. I wore my skating duds to work today (pants, not a skirt 8O ) and had a meeting so my skate bag came with me. Everyone was joking that I was running away....yeah, right. Luckily, the meeting ended an hour early and I left on time!!!!

[mikawendy]

Ended the session with swing rolls and a crossover extension exercise, where you cross over and leave your legs crossed and the leg that is under is extended, but not on the ice. It's a good one!

There's another crossover extension exercise where you push your pushing-under foot under but do leave it on the ice. Two different coaches have given it in stroking classes I've taken. It's a real leg-burner, too!

[Skate@Delaware]

Mika:
I thought about doing that one, but since my balance was good yesterday, I thought I'd push my luck!!!
Occasionally I use the other one to work on the extension that my coach wants me to have....esp on those darn back crossovers :frus: :frus:

I need help for that stupid toe-loop. Even though it's helped to bend more on the 3-turn, I still end up bailing out of that jump 3 out of 4 times :giveup: It has become my new "nemesis" jump.

[singerskates]

Thursday was flowing and frozen.

Flowing: I've got at least 4 revs on my back catchfoot forward spin a few times.

Frozen: I still need to move inward the left blade more because I'm still not quite getting enough outside edge on my spiralling edge going into my forward spins and my waltz jump take off sometimes is a bit flat.

Flowing:
toe loops (good threes going into the jump and nice landings),

waltz jumps (decent height even though the forward take off is kind of flat and doesn't curve like it should unless I really lean into the edge more than I should; I haven't really tried for alot of height)

Salchows are a bit too wippy because I have too much inside edge but I can do them. If I were to try to do a double, I'd fall on them because they aren't quite right. Reason, left blade needs a bit more adjustment.

Loops: I didn't do any because last time I came off fo the ice, I saw that my right blade came loose and moved out of alignment (still only 4 adjustment screws in the boots holding the blades in place)

Flips: same story as Loops.

Two footspin: decent but could be better.

Forward: 5 to 7 rotations before I get upset about travelling and pull out.

Backspin: Didn't even attempt one.

Sitspin: Didn't attempt one because I need to get that left blade alligned correctly so that I can get my spiralling edge to work.

Layback: Not with this back and neck.

Lunge: Did a few before stretching and now have a reminder of why one must warm up and stretch first. IT's almost better now but ...

singerskates

[e-skater]

Let's see, it's still the 9th, so...

Frozen: Today was our rink exhibition during adult session. And it was really, really cold. In fact, when it was my turn to skate, there was a glitch which resulted in another 15 minutes before I could go. I had taken off my jacket and gloves and got really cold. So, frozen, literally! Then, frozen again, when, after landing my waltz loop comb every time I've tried it this week, DID NOT during my program skate! :evil: :frus: :lol: Then there was the blank I drew :?? in another portion, which almost threw me into a fit of laughter! :oops: It was absolutely hysterical! EEEEK! on having to perform this AGAIN next Sunday, at the rink's Holiday Show. 8O

Flowing: My husband, bless his heart, who hasn't seen me skate in a few months was "very impressed". I suppose he's biased, but he's also honest, so I was thrilled. Made my day, along with several elements within my program which went better than in practice 8O 8O . I got my bauer into backward twizzle, and the RBO three exit from my camel spin!!! It was GREAT finally having the ice to myself, and getting some speed in certain portions of this routine. I haven't performed since 12/2003, so....it's been a while.

[mikawendy]

Flowing--
Skated in Wilmington, DE, today--really really nice ice--very smooth and quiet and almost buttery but not too soft! Got in some good work on my backspin and waltz-loop, waltz-loop-backspin, and waltz-backspin, and got an introduction to the inside axel jump. (*Nowhere*near being able to do it, but it was fun to play around with it.)

Frozen--
Still much work to do with the backspin and on converting the weight from the waltz to the loop so I'm not jumping outside of my circle....

[Skate@Delaware]

Frozen: As good as I was yesterday.....it sure wasn't that way today! Guess I was a bit tired. Not bad, though. We went to public skate before lessons and it wasn't as crowded as it usually is. During lessons we hit on power pulls!! Yuk! I haven't done those in a while and wasn't able to do them one-footed!

Flowing: We did the crossover-mohawk sequence, then did spins. After lessons, I worked with hubby on his scratch (yes, he is finally working on it) and he got all mixed up AND HE DID ONE FULL REVOLUTION OF A BACKSPIN :twisted: !! Like it was Nuthin'!! I could not believe it! Yay for him! Oh, yeah, and he can do those power-pulls.......he just can't bend his knees much :giveup: Not bad for an old man!! He-he-he! At public session, we did a lap of side-by-side stroking and crossovers! It was really cool!

I put new laces in my skates, and although it seems like such a small matter, I think it has helped with the fit of my skate. And they don't slip and loosen and come untied like the other laces.

And, the last bit of "flowing" things: I'm just about done with show costumes! I have one dress to stitch together, 4 bloomers to make, 2 vests, 2 dresses, and one jacket to alter! One boy's shirt was given to another lady for alterations (he is difficult to sew for-such an attitude-you make it the way he wants, he changes his mind and wants it another way. I'll not sew for him again :twisted: ). I'd tell you it's been fun, but I'd be lying! :halo:

[mikawendy]

And, the last bit of "flowing" things: I'm just about done with show costumes! I have one dress to stitch together, 4 bloomers to make, 2 vests, 2 dresses, and one jacket to alter! One boy's shirt was given to another lady for alterations (he is difficult to sew for-such an attitude-you make it the way he wants, he changes his mind and wants it another way. I'll not sew for him again :twisted: ). I'd tell you it's been fun, but I'd be lying! :halo:

I can tell you've been doing a lot of sewing if "one dress to stitch together, 4 bloomers to make, 2 vests, 2 dresses, and one jacket to alter" is "just about done"! :) :) :) :)

[Skate@Delaware]

I can tell you've been doing a lot of sewing if "one dress to stitch together, 4 bloomers to make, 2 vests, 2 dresses, and one jacket to alter" is "just about done"! :) :) :) :)
Yes! It's the smaller of the whole!!! THANK GOODNESS! Then I can start on the fun stuff for Christmas:
-a skate dress (present for a little girl who can't find anything to fit and what she wears looks bad-she is a bit chubby)
-new pants for me
-new pants for hubby-probably with shirt to match pants, possibly coordinating with the new pants for me, and maybe a shirt for me (so we can match when we practice!)
-new skirt for me
-boot soakers with my friend's name embroidered on them
-blade towels with names embroidered on the for a few friends

These won't take long to make.....and they will be fun! No pressure at all!

[mikawendy]

Skate@Delaware, your list of things to make reminds me of a co-worker on maternity leave who was talking of all the crafts she was doing--making rag rugs and soap and sewing baby clothes and so on! We half expected her to call us and tell us she was also spinning yarn or making flax into sewing thread....

[Casey]

Flowing:
I set a goal at the beginning of this month to skate every single weekday. So far so good, I've logged 22 hours this week since Monday. It's leaving me pretty tired, but it hasn't affected my ability on ice thus far, though progress has been slow. It is there though, I can feel the backspin creeping along...very very slowly getting closer, and I almost landed another lutz Friday morning! I'll be curious to see how well I do after taking the weekend off, and going in fresh on Monday. I've recovered nearly fully from my previous nasty injuries mostly to the knee, so I'm quite thankful that it wasn't anything as bad as it felt at the time.

Frozen:
My quad muscles are quite sore, since doing a bunch of leg squats and shoot-the-duck exercises off-ice on Wednesday, they've been sore. This weekend should allow them to heal up nicely though...

[Skate@Delaware]

Frozen:
My quad muscles are quite sore, since doing a bunch of leg squats and shoot-the-duck exercises off-ice on Wednesday, they've been sore. This weekend should allow them to heal up nicely though...
Take a look at the file I uploaded on your hosted site-pistol squats. They will also help you build those muscles. I've been working on these (off and on since summer). For anyone else interested:

http://www.sk8rland.com/users/tkahline/

pistolsquats.zip

If you like those exercises, they are from the book "The Naked Warrior" which is awesome-all about using your own bodyweight for working out-no weights, stretch bands, fancy equipment.

[Casey]

http://www.sk8rland.com/users/tkahline/pistolsquats.zip
There's something wrong with the file, I cannot unzip it:

Archive: pistolsquats.zip
End-of-central-directory signature not found. Either this file is not
a zipfile, or it constitutes one disk of a multi-part archive. In the
latter case the central directory and zipfile comment will be found on
the last disk(s) of this archive.

But I looked on Google and found this page:
http://www.powerathletesmag.com/pages/pistols.htm

Those are what I was doing, after some 2-legged squats as well. I just did too many without having done any recently. Gotta keep disciplined about exercising on a regular basis, and slowly building up to more of them, not trying to go crazy the first day...

[sk8pics]

Hey, Mika,
Did you skate at the Skating Club of Wilmington? What session? Was it crowded?

I had a good practice myself. Good ice, not crowded. Got to work on everything I wanted to. Made good progress on fixing my back outside edge leading into my jumps. All 3 of my coaches worked on that with me this week and while I don't hold the edge as long when I'm doing it myself, it is SO much better than it was, so that's encouraging.

What's not so good is that my salchow is relatively out of control. :frus: :frus: I think with the new improved back edge, my angle into my 3-turn is different and so the turn is a little wild or just not right. It would help if I checked and remembered to bend my knee to jump :roll: but it will come back. I kept crashing into my coach on Thursday but it's good that he was standing right there because otherwise I would have been splatting every time, and it wouldn't have been any fun at all! He kept catching me so I didn't splat. :bow: Anyway, I did make some progress on that yesterday and I'm hopefully it will all be resolved tomorrow. Crossing my fingers!

My dressmaker and I agreed on a design for my dress for my new interpretive program, so that's good, too!

Happy skating!

Pat

[Skate@Delaware]

I turned on my computer this morning and it was stuck in a "loop" AAAGGGHH!! It's sort of fixed right now, and as soon as I get things sort-of working, I will upload the right file for the squats :oops: :oops: :oops:

[Skate@Delaware]

I hate computers sometimes!!! :evil:

http://www.sk8rland.com/users/tkahline/

and click on the the box pistols file (warning! it's about 13 pages long)

Also take a look at the link that Casey provided-it's is a condensed version of pistols.

Ok, back to my sweat shop!

(Casey, I'll fix the directory thing later on...........promise!!)

[sceptique]

Flowing

Finally some progress on spins - I learnt how to pull my right shoulder forward and make it stay in place. I'm now spinning faster and holding it longer.

Got a compliment for my teaching skills when helping to coach Skate UK. My coach suggested I think about getting certified.

Frozen

Started to learn spread eagle and got stuck. I'm sure I have enough turnout in my hips to put my feet in 2nd ballet position on the floor, but it totally doesn't work for me on ice. All I can do is a sort of quick semi-circle and then step out.

Can't quite swing free leg around when landing loops and flips and exiting back spins. It just doen't want do go there. Rrrrrr. Whatever.

[Casey]

...and click on the the box pistols file
Ahhh....he 's using a box to cheat!! Hehe, actually, that looks like a really good idea - I can do forward and backward squats on the ice without issue, but I usually use 2 feet to stand back up, which is why I was practicing off-ice - but I have a skating friend who is trying to build up strength to go lower in her sit spin, this is such an obvious solution and good exercise - you could use a chair or about anything depending on what height you needed and lower it as you go...I'll be sure to pass this on!

(Casey, I'll fix the directory thing later on...........promise!!)
Err...what's wrong with it? :P

[Casey]

Ooh interesting I'm actually *reading* the text now, and using a box will even exercise different muscles than the plain old squats I was doing, namely the glutes and hamstrings, as you lean more back. I'll definitely have to start doing these. Thanks again Skate@Delaware. :)

[Skate@Delaware]

Ooh interesting I'm actually *reading* the text now, and using a box will even exercise different muscles than the plain old squats I was doing, namely the glutes and hamstrings, as you lean more back. I'll definitely have to start doing these. Thanks again Skate@Delaware. :)
I bought the book only because my super-macho boss showed me his video of Pavel doing these squats....absolutely phenomenal!!! That dude goes all the way down to the floor, then back up on one leg! He can also do it holding the kettlebell weight! I'm in awe! Of course, I tease my boss that he can't do these (he has bad knees).

I don't have a set of boxes, so I used the steps off my deck (no side railing to get in my way, and they were the perfect height!)

Don't use an adjustable office chair on wheels....... 8O Don't ask.....

[Debbie S]

Flowing: Today, my jumps seemed pretty good. I continued my progress of getting runout on my loop landings (as opposed to a dead stop). Salchow seemed good, too. Backspins were OK (boy, they are frustrating!) and I made some progress on doing the forward scratch with arms over the head - I did this for a while a couple of years ago, and then just pulled in my arms straight b/c it seemed to work better, but now I'm trying the raised arm thing again. Moves were OK, when I was able to get them in w/o little ones landing jumps backward into my path :roll: . The second session was less crowded and I thought I'd have a chance to get some good practice in, especially the spins, but it was not to be b/c....

Frozen: Disaster on the 8-step! Well, I should have known it was coming. I haven't fallen on that move yet, so I guess I was overdue. But instead of falling on my rear, I fell sideways on my hip, which was not a problem itself, but the second after my hip hit the ice, the other knee (still moving apparently) clunked the ice right on the kneecap. Ouch! Ever since I had a really bad knee injury a couple years ago, I panic whenever I fall on a knee. I got off the ice, rubbed it for a few minutes, decided it wasn't going to swell up, so I got back on, but I decided no jumps or spins. Just moves, which I did need the practice on, but it hurt to do the BO edge glides and power 3's. I've been icing my knee on and off since I got home. It's swollen a bit on top of the knee, but not in surrounding areas - hurts to bend it, though. Grrrr.

[jenlyon60]

ICE on the knee. Lots of it. If it's not swelling, try to keep flexing it regularly.

[Mrs Redboots]

Skate@Delaware, your list of things to make reminds me of a co-worker on maternity leave who was talking of all the crafts she was doing--making rag rugs and soap and sewing baby clothes and so on! We half expected her to call us and tell us she was also spinning yarn or making flax into sewing thread....What's wrong with those? I don't have time to spin any more, or even to knit much - but I certainly have done it! And I make soap (as those of you who were at AN or the European competitions know)..... not rag rugs, though!

Meanwhile, this morning I was very tired after a booze-up - no, booze-cruise to France & Belgium on Friday/Saturday, so really only pottered around the rink this morning, mostly watching Husband.

Flowing: He was shown how to do a parallel - camel - spin, also a sitspin. We think he'll master them by May. We did a Fiesta Tango together and, while it is not yet good, at least it was moving!

Frozen: We tried a Foxtrot, but I have got muddled with some of the steps and need to be reminded what to do. It is coming, though... slowly.

Our Winter Festival is tonight; unlike many rinks it's a competition, not a show, and sadly, this year, only free skating, no interpretive or artistic. So we are helping rather than skating. We bought sparkling wine for the judges while we were in France, must go and wrap it!

[Skate@Delaware]

What's wrong with those? I don't have time to spin any more, or even to knit much - but I certainly have done it! And I make soap (as those of you who were at AN or the European competitions know)..... not rag rugs, though!
I made "boot deodorizor" spray the other day.....150% grain alcohol, lavendar oil, tea tree oil, water....because my skates were starting to reek!!! :oops: Maybe I should try making soap too!

Sprayed some in my daughter's skates when she wasn't looking!

Coming this summer-Terry's 2nd attempt at dying lycra! (yes, I will be ordering the good dye from Dharma Trading!)

[mikawendy]

What's wrong with those? I don't have time to spin any more, or even to knit much - but I certainly have done it! And I make soap (as those of you who were at AN or the European competitions know)..... not rag rugs, though!

Nothing wrong with spinning yarn, making soap, or making rag rugs, etc. We were all just astonished at how many craft projects she was doing with a newborn and a two-year-old in the house and her husband away on business (and I think she was doing some freelance work, too)!


Hey, Mika,
Did you skate at the Skating Club of Wilmington? What session? Was it crowded?

Yup, it was SCW, the 2:55 session. Not crowded at all--perhaps two or three other people in lesson. The sessions before and after were not crowded either. The ice felt so nice. I had a heck of a time getting there, though, because of the road construction. I missed the turn the first time, then turned around, missed my other chance for a turn, turned around again and realized that there was a jersey wall between me and the turn I wanted to make, so I had to turn around yet again! Getting home was much easier.

[Debbie S]

ICE on the knee. Lots of it. If it's not swelling, try to keep flexing it regularly.
Thanks, Jen. Yep, that's what I did yesterday and last night. Today, it feels better - I can bend it now, and it hurts much less (and really only at the spot where it hit the ice). It's just a bruise now (which will probably be there for a while), but no swelling, thank goodness.

I have a lesson tomorrow and was planning on skating 2 sessions, with an off-ice jump class in between. Depending on how the knee feels tomorrow, I may just do the first session (the one with the lesson) and call it a day. Darn 8-step!

[Hannahclear]

I made "boot deodorizor" spray the other day.....150% grain alcohol, lavendar oil, tea tree oil, water....because my skates were starting to reek!!! :oops: Maybe I should try making soap too!


Does this work? My skates do sorta stink. :lol: I didn't know there was anything you could really do.

I wipe down my feet with antibacterial handwipes after a session, but the skates stink.

Anyway, practice was pretty good today. We got about six extra minutes. I was constructive and got right to work. Starting with moves, I went through the bronze test, not in runthrough, but did each element. Forward and backward perimeter stroking felt fairly strong, I'm getting comfortable with those elements. Power 3s were a bit better. This other adult skater who passed bronze moves said they looked pass worthy to her, so that was encouraging. The back crossover to back edges were ok. I'm still not generating any power when I do the extension, but I think they are competent. Finally, the 5 step mohawks were ok, still just a wee bit wobbly.

Freestyle was ok today. No lutzitis. Did have a case of flip trouble though. I also kept missing my sit/change sit. Finally got annoyed and just told myself I needed to shut up and do my program, no excuses. I was able to do a pretty good spin. Also landed the lutz/loop, which was very nice. No flip toe combo though and a wonky second lutz. The rest of the program felt smoother.

Worked on axels at the end. I'm not there yet, but not too bad either.

[Skate@Delaware]

Everything seems to be FROZEN lately! We had show rehearsal this morning, during which our party scene went smoothly (for once), however, it turned ugly after that.....found out mandatory (miss it and you're out of the show) dress rehearsal is on Thursday instead of Friday (oops, didn't catch that one) on the same night as daughter's Winter Concert (which is mandatory and counts as a grade)!!!

After much discussion, and skating director not relenting, the only choice was to send notice to the choir director letting her know the situation and asking for leniency. Since daughter does not have a solo piece, and people have been known to get excusal for extenuating circumstances, I'm hoping she can get one.
-----edited to remove my rant----some things are better left unsaid------
I tried to work on my power-3's, but they suck and will suck for the show. Right now, I don't care. I'm really disgusted with everything at this point.

[Skate@Delaware]

Does this work? My skates do sorta stink. :lol: I didn't know there was anything you could really do.

I wipe down my feet with antibacterial handwipes after a session, but the skates stink.

It seems to be working! Here's what I did:

Filled a spray bottle with 2 Tablespoons of the grain alcohol-this helps to disperse the oils so they mix well. I used grain alcohol because it doesn't have it's own odor and I always have it on hand (for medicinal purposes ;) )

Add 20 drops of lavender oil-for scent

Add 20 drops of tea tree oil-it's a disenfectant

Fill bottle with 1/2 cup of water and shake well. It will look cloudy. Spray as needed, usually 1-2 squirts (set to fine mist) into the boot after you've skated (you don't want to put a wet boot on). I've sprayed it once and skated about 3 days and so far-no reek! Again, these measure are what I used, adjust to suit yourself!

I suppose you could use lemon/orange oil or vanilla if you wanted to. I'd be careful about using too strong a scent or perfume-it might react with the foot bacteria in the boot and give a "different" odor than what you want.

I don't usually care for lavender, but this isn't too strong. I smell it when I take my boot off, then is goes away.

[Hannahclear]

Hmmm I'll give it a try. I'm getting into making my own "soft chemistry" cleaners.

Where does one obtain grain alcohol?

[Skate@Delaware]

Hmmm I'll give it a try. I'm getting into making my own "soft chemistry" cleaners.

Where does one obtain grain alcohol?
The liquor store. If you are underage use rubbing alcohol. If you don't want to go in, send someone else or you could use vodka, gin, or rubbing alcohol (cheaper at $.50/bottle at the dollar store). It all works the same, since you will be covering it up with the oils.

I had it on hand.....use it for skin stuff so I have to use the grain alcohol (that's the medicinal purposes-I don't drink!)

[Hannahclear]

Oh ok, I can just use the vodka we have at home. Two tablespoons isn't very much.

I was thinking of that 100% pure grain alcohol, I thought you had to get in Canada or something. :P

[sceptique]

Flowing

Hah! Fixed that LFI 3-turn jinx! They still need a lot of work, but yesterday I spent a whole hour doing nothing but darn thing and finally got it. So now I can do it both ways, finally.

Frozen

Well, the only reason I got down to 3-turns was everything else simply refused to work. Spins were shaky, jumps - clumsy and mohawks - scratchy.

To compesate, went home early and had a nice walk while the sun was still out there. Sometimes it's good to be reminded that there are other nice things beside skating (though skating still comes first!)

[Skate@Delaware]

Oh ok, I can just use the vodka we have at home. Two tablespoons isn't very much.

I was thinking of that 100% pure grain alcohol, I thought you had to get in Canada or something. :P
No, you can get it anywhere, eh!

[mikawendy]

No, you can get it anywhere, eh!

I think mostly anwhere, at least in the USA. I think it's illegal in Virginia. (Friends of mine from VA stopped by a liquor store in MD on their way through the state one time and were thrilled to find it.)

[Skate@Delaware]

Wow, I didn't know that, Mika! And, I used to live there! Well, they strictly regulate everything down there, so whatever you find in the ABC (I think that's what they are called-brain fart right now) stores......

Now, up here in Delaware, we just got booze sales made legal on Sundays, so right after church :halo: you can now buy your six-pack :twisted: ! but you still can't buy lottery tickets on Sundays?!?!?!?!

Vodka or gin will do (for the purists), as will rubbing alcohol (for those on a budget, who don't care, or underage).

[Terri C]

Frozen:
Simply put, my rink!! My toes were numb when I took my skates off tonight.
It was very hard to bend knees and get into the ice, which made the runthrough of my freeskate program, well as disaster.
My toeloop and sitspin are totally frozen!

Flowing:
My backscratch and forward scratch spins- once Coach worked on them with me!

After this Christmas show, it's full tilt boogie work on the freeskate to get it back to competition shape for February!

[Skate@Delaware]

Terri C:
You have until February to compete. Coach handed me the schedule and my first one is January 16! That's the day after my program debuts at our exhibition skate! Yikes! That leaves me NO time to "fix" any problems (there are many now :lol: )...

oh, well. Never said I wasn't insane.....

Glad to hear your backscratch is good!

[mikawendy]

Now, up here in Delaware, we just got booze sales made legal on Sundays, so right after church :halo: you can now buy your six-pack :twisted:

...and you live in the land where it's TAX FREE..... :lol: :lol:

[Skate@Delaware]

...and you live in the land where it's TAX FREE..... :lol: :lol:
Yeah, but the shopping SUCKS!!!!

We went to the King of Prussia mall no long ago.....I was in nirvana!!!

Glad I can now buy clothes in an "off the rack" size!!! I luv to shop now!!!

And, dragging hubby into Victorias Secret (just to "browse") got me 2 very nice rings!!! This is from el-cheapo man who doesn't buy birthday cards!!
Whatever it takes!

[Casey]

Some new videos (taken with my digital camera even, so the quality is good) here: http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/2005-12-12/

Flowing: Well my spins are not *too* terribly bad these days.

Frozen: The last 2 videos show examples of "when spinning goes wrong". Not only that, but my posture is bad and arms are uneven in all the spins. Sigh...gotta figure out how to fix it. And I need to exit spins in practice more, it's apparent that I never do it. :P