Frosty Morning or Sunny Afternoon? (Oct 2 to Oct 8)

[Rusty Blades]

Oh come on! Where is everybody? How come I am the one starting the practice threads? And it's Wednesday already! GET OUT THERE AND SKATE!

Sunny Afternoon: Quite ice (at yet another new club) I spent my practice time doing a lot of backward stroking and glides, 3 Turns, Forward & Backward Mohawks and actually started getting the weight transfer almost right for the forward Mohawks. Worked some more on refining the forward stroking as well ‘cause I knew my coach would start with that 8-)

In first lesson, we started with forward stroking (surprise, surprise!), some backward edges, and 3-Turns. In second lesson (being considerably pooped from a long day and a productive skate) my coach took pity on me and had me do forward edges, inside and outside, and forward cross-overs, clockwise and counterclockwise. To my great pleasure, the clockwise XOs really came together tonight, almost better than CCW (which WERE my good ones!)

Frosty Morning: Ok, now where are my back XOs?

The first day of the winter season which will end (if I work hard enough) at Canadian Adult Nationals in March! - that's both exciting and SCARY! I have SO much to do before then 8O

[Skittl1321]

frosty morningHonestly this week skating was nothing to write home about. I didn't come home from the lesson excited. Nothing was great. It wasn't a bad lesson, it just wasn't good. I don't have any practice time anymore due to an extremely busy schedule so I skate about 1 hour a week. I finally got my skates in for sharpening, but now I'm worried because we "test" next week and it will be the first time I'm back on the skates. Of course without getting them sharpened I'm guaranteed to not be able to hold the left outside edge, so I guess I have to risk not being able to skate at all on sharpened blades, than not passing because I know I can't hold an edge.

I signed up for new classes. They are switching to USFSA and I signed up to be in Basic 7. I really hope they don't move me down to Basic 6, because while I don't have absolute mastery of everything there, I do have a good idea of how to do everything, and a better than beginning level of execution of everything. I don't like taking skating classes with the kids though- I feel like too much time is wasted and it's only 30 minutes to begin with. But for now, it's the only choice I have.


Don't even remember the other title, but I don't really have any positive skating news to report. Gotta have something positive. My two footed spins are looking great. (But I'm working on one footed spins now)

[SkatingOnClouds]

Frosty morning:
felt rather unmotivated and tired at practice last night, unseasonally hot weather = swimming pool ice. Doesn't entice me to do anything risking a fall.

Sunny afternoon:
even though I wasn't motivated, coach started working on a couple of moves for my program for the upcoming artistic competition (EEEK!) which was fun.

Amazingly she said my back sit spin is good enough to put in the program. I didn't think I had it low enough, but she says otherwise. That's a nice surprise.

And I might finally have understood what she has been trying to tell me for months about my turns before jumps. Suddenly I feel I have had a mental breakthrough (as opposed to breakdown) on this. I'll find out tomorrow morning.

I am going to a 7.00-8.00am session tomorrow morning. Which I am really looking forward to, even though it means an early start. Hopefully smooth ice with about 5 other skaters. What a blissful way to start the day! Shame about having to go to work afterwards.

Sunniest part of my afternoon was watching my 9 year old daughter learn edges and finally have a lesson on 2 foot spin. She has been wanting to learn that for so long, and she is so proud of herself. Now she feels like a real skater.

[BatikatII]

Sunny afternoon:

had another very enjoyable lesson today. Coach now has me doing the waltz 3 turns pattern but instead of just 3 turns we do loop jump on my good side and back double 3's on the other. I haven't been able to do back double 3's very well (needed for my interbronze moves test) but find it easier to do them when thinking about loop jump position!

Also tried same thing with flip jumps and 3 turns in waltz 3's pattern.
Ended with all single jumps followed by cherry (toe-loop ) and managed it up to Flip-toeloop.

Yesterday I took a group dance lesson with a coach that has recently joined the rink and am very tempted to take up dance again as she was excellent and I learnt a lot but I so want a partner to do ice dance with - where are all the men? My ultimate dream (in dance) is to do a partnered free dance. I'm not that keen on being lifted but would love to do footwork and turns etc and I love the fact that you can generate so much speed when there are two of you. Ah well dream on!

Frosty:
Backspin !!!! help!!!!!

[quarkiki2]

All sunny afternoon for me!

Had a very productive Synchro practice - decided on the costume and ran through the program off ice. Went pretty well!

On ice, we worked trouble spots and I discovered that FIANLLY, I'm not the one with the trouble! I've never been able to say that about a practice before -- everything we did, I was doing as well as teh majority of the team, wa-hoo!!! We did the circle footwork and I'm comfortable with all of the steps (at normal speed, not necessarily at the speed with which we enter the circle in the program).

Then we worked the pairs spiral and I've lucked out in that my partner is the tallest person on the team and the one who who skated with Disney on Ice -- in other words, the one person on the team who I've never seen fall or trip over her feet. Talk about security! I know that the ice is slippery and anything can happen, but it's sure nice to really trust your partner! She and I ended up farthest away from the line we get into after the pairs spirals, but decided that was OK as it was much easier to push normally through the footwork to get there than it is to try and slow down (as we were doing previously). Never though I'd say that!!!!

Then we worked the spirals around the end of the rink. I wasn't having issues with the stepping around, just stepping around when flying at the boards. Got that straightened around, too.

I guess there's one Frosty Morning: My tango stop still sucks. Workin' on it!!!

[kateskate]

Frosty Morning
Free skating teacher was ill so no lesson :cry:
My blades make a funny noise on my right back outside 3s - I am clearly not turning correctly.

Struggling to maintain speed on the bronze field moves Choctaws exercise. I'm ok on the left to right Choctaws but the right to left are tough - and I also lean a lot (and get stuck!) on the back three of that exercise too! On the right foot of course!

Tried to do the paso doble to music for fun and once again could not do the swing mohawk!!

No jumping and spinning today as I have to have to have to practise field moves! Test next month!!!! Argh!!! Scared!!! NISA cashed my cheque - no going back!!!

Sunny Afternoon
I think I've cracked the bronze field moves forward inside brackets. I know where my hips should be and when they are incorrect. And the bronze field moves double mohawk step was a lot better.

Ran through some dances for fun! 14 step and starlight waltz. 14 step is for next test but I have no idea if I'm doing it right as I taught myself and have had, I think, one lesson on it subsequently. But its fun - I think its my favourite compulsory.

Forward double threes felt a lot more in control. Thank goodness. And did the terrifying back double threes on my right foot - two whole circles of each without stopping or putting my free foot down - although the speed wasn't great! They are getting slowly better.

[Skate@Delaware]

This is for last night...but I was too tired when I got home to write:

Frosty: too tired! did not really warm up to the ice until the session was almost over. Everything felt sluggish. Towards the end, things picked up. I was a bit upset because I missed my massage appointment (I forgot!); AND one of the big girls was horsin' around on the ice and almost knocked me down!!! I gave her the "what-for" mom speech and she apologized (she outweighs me by 75 pounds and it HURT where she whomped me in the hip!!!)

Sunny: Kicking my spins and was able to get about 2-3 centered revs before they start travelling....although on one, I left my leg out (towards the front) and kept on going until I ran out of steam. that one was about 12 revs and very centered. So, maybe it's to do with a shift of my body weight when I cross my leg???

Also, got the list of parts for the Nutcracker on Ice show....I'm a maid for the beginning party scene (cool) and an Iced Delight (in the Land of Sweets, which is cool, I think). I'm also an understudy for Herr Drosselmeyer!!!! Yay! I get to skate with a cape!!! Another evil part (even tho I'm understudy) :twisted: !!!!

I can try for a snowflake next year <<<BIG HUGE HONKIN' SIGH OF DISAPPOINTMENT>>> (but I'm a big girl, I won't cry about it)

[Sonic]

Frosty:
I really need to sort out my swing rolls and timing on the Novice Foxtrot. Yeah I know it's only the Novice Foxtrot, but untill I get that right I'm not going to be any good at any other dances.

Stamina.
I am going to have to improve this. In starting a free skate programme I've found out the hard way how unfit I am.

Sunny
Blades need sharpening, but I am still able to pull off reasonable (if sometimes uncentred) spins, and flips and loops - though the loop has gone down hill a bit.
It sounds like a contradiction, but I'm falling on more flips and loops - because there getting more height, speed and rotation.

I am really, really enjoying working on the free skating programme, even though it's really hard. Coach has re-mixed the music because he wasn't quite satisfied with the previous version.

Bless him - I really appreciate that, in my mind it shows he doesn't have the attitude 'Oh well she's only a recreational adult skater'.

S xxx

[Rusty Blades]

I can try for a snowflake next year <<<BIG HUGE HONKIN' SIGH OF DISAPPOINTMENT>>> (but I'm a big girl, I won't cry about it)

Awe, poor Delaware!

*** pats S.D. on the head ***

[doubletoe]

Sunny Afternoon:
Took it easy in my lesson yesterday morning and just "played" for the first time in a long time. Instead of working on all the elements that are in my program like we always do, I decided to have my coach show me how to do the cross-foot spin. Although I never actually got to the point where I was spinning, I got the idea of how to get into it and am now at the point where I can practice it on my own.

Frosty Morning:
Unfortunately, I didn't get my frosty morning on the ice today and I won't get one tomorrow morning, either. Our rink is closed for a major competition from today through the weekend. It feels so weird not to be able to skate!

[TaBalie]

Sunny afternoon:

I haven't skated in about two weeks since I have been out of town, but went to the outdoor rink with my mom just for fun (I wasn't even wearing my skating stuff, just jeans, etc). Well, I was teaching my mom how to snow-plow stop, and I kepy saying "you have to COMMIT" to the stop!" :) Then she turned it around on me, and said, well you have have to COMMIT to that jump you are having trouble with... :giveup:

I have had my flip on and off this summer, mostly off since I abort midway. It has been frustrating since it was my best jump as a kid, and I know I can do it, but I keep ckickening out. Well, today, I just went out there and did it -- I was so shocked! I did like ten in a row effortlessly, it felt amazing. I can't wait to suprise my coach (she is out of town at regionals with another skater) with this!

Now, I just need to have the same miracle with my lutz...

Frosty Morning:

Just have been off the ice for a while, and am looking forward to getting back to practice! :)

[skating_babe11]

Frosty Morrning: Ive been off the ice for almost a week now because i sprianed my achelies (dont know how to spell it) and i tryed to go back on today but i had to get off within 5 minutes. Im just is such a bad mood over skating right now. I love it but just the people an poltics are getting to me.

Sunday Morning: My old coach is coming down next friday to give me a couple lessons if my ankle is heeled by then. Hopefully it will be ok with my current coach but i dont know we havent been on the best terms latley.

[DallasSkater]

Rusty Blades: How is your home rink progressing? Have not heard you talk about it lately. Is it ready? When will it be cold enough? I am so jealous! I would freeze my pool but not even a slight chance in Texas!

Skittl: I wish the skating programs did have more adults as it is tough with the munchkins at times. Awesome that your rink is switching to USFSA though!

Skating on clouds...congrats to your daughter and her spinning ways!

Skate@Delaware: Congrats on your parts in the christmas show! I was hoping you would be the snowflake but an Iced delight sounds so delightful! (Wondering what the snowflake gets to do to make it such a sought after role?) Was told by my coach that last year's christmas show was unorganized disaster...egads....Now really worried!

double toe: I always have issues with abandonment when my rink closes especially on a weekend. I then seek outside the relationship from near by rinks...giggle.

Tabalie: Congrats on the flip!

[DallasSkater]

Frosty Mornings: Well, I mentioned last weekend that I felt a slight strain in my ankle from all my off and on ice attempts at the salchow. I woke Monday morning to my entire right leg feeling twisted. Stayed out of the gym for three days but did go to bridge program last night. Seems to be doing better. Worried I will not be able to learn the loop jump or practice the salchow this week though.

Learned a strong lesson. (Note to self: When you are doing the jump wrong and you know it is wrong...quit throwing yourself up there a million times as if one more fling up would somehow correct it!) Not one of my brighter moments!

Sunny Morning: Leg is improving daily and I am still able to practice spins, edges and just stroking which always needs work anyway. Will decide tomorrow if I am willing/able to attempt jumps. Skated at lunch time today. It does feel ok. Had a few one footed spins that were better centered off the toe. Some progress there! Practiced basics as well. I am planning on reviewing all basics at least 10 minutes of every practice as I noticed since I have not been doing simple T-stops often they are not as good as they used to be.

[doubletoe]

Frosty Mornings: Well, I mentioned last weekend that I felt a slight strain in my ankle from all my off and on ice attempts at the salchow.

Yikes! Due to the nature of the salchow takeoff, it is not a jump that translates well to floor jumping. I would advise against it, in fact.

How's your waltz jump? The salchow is really the exact same jump except that you are facing the opposite direction as you start to take off. As you start taking off, you end up curving the edge so that you aren't completely backwards, but sort of facing 90-degrees to the side, which puts you just 1/4 turn short of a forward takeoff.
So the only difference between the salchow and waltz jump is that you need to sort of cross the free leg in front of the takeoff leg as you take off in order to end up facing the direction of travel once you've left the ice (on the waltz jump, you're already facing the direction of travel when you take off). So as soon as you've left the ice, you will be in the exact same position as the waltz jump: facing forward in the direction of travel.
By the way, I think a lot of errors on the salchow are because people don't realize that it's so much like a waltz jump. Even though you are "backward," you still need to get your weight onto the front of the foot before you take off, and you need to spring straight up off the toepick, not try to jump off the middle of your blade.

[jazzpants]

Frosty Morning:

My rink as of 12:30pm today!!! It was REALLY cold and we have our first rain storm of the season! And the rink started fogging up right towards the end of my lesson. Hey, it's matching what it looks like outside the rink!!! :P :twisted: (You guys in SF Bay Area know what I'm talking about. Sunny California... WHERE!?!?! :P )
No loops, but very close call. :frus:
Didn't try flips or camels...Sunny Afternoon:

Waltz jump progress is glacially better... I am starting to kick thru a wee bit!
Toe loops are ehhh... not perfect. Jay can live with what I have for now, since it's "not as bad" now.
Working on kick thru on salchows now...
Spins are pretty good this afternoon.

[DallasSkater]

Doubletoe: Now you tell me! giggle. Yes, I noticed as of Monday morning that it indeed was not a good off ice jump! In fact for me it is not exactly a very friendly on ice jump! My waltz jump is just ok...I have a problem really kicking through. Sometimes I do a few bunny hops first to remind myself of that kick. I have a mean bunny hop! Thanks for the salchow tips. I need all the help I can get. Will see how the leg is holding up tomorrow as I have my private lesson as well as two LTS classes. If it feels good I will try thinking more what you have said in my attempts! I did land a few good ones last weekend but fear the days in between may contribute to a relapse! EEEEK!

Jazz: My most favorite thing about visiting SF is to watch that fog roll in and over!

[doubletoe]

double toe: I always have issues with abandonment when my rink closes especially on a weekend. I then seek outside the relationship from near by rinks...giggle.

Are you kidding?! I'm spending the whole weekend at the rink watching--and helping out--at the competition, ROFL!! But I'll be at my usual Sunday rink for 3 hours; that should give me a bit of a fix. ;)

Happy to help with the salchow anytime! Hope your ankle is all better soon! :)

[Sk8pdx]

Frosty Morning:
sit spin is still a challenge bringing the free foot around to the front and holding it there. I tried backward shoot-the-ducks to get a sense of balance and to get a feeling for where the sweet spot is. I am still cast forward at the waist. :roll: I haven't taken any videos of skating in a while to asses what changes I need to make. I am due for a whole lesson on sit spins. I am waiting for Coach to return from Regionals. Loops are still tucked away in the side pocket of my skate bag for now. Managed to avoid travesty during Moves practice when "The Click of Death" reared it's ugly head during alternating back XO's to Back edges. 8O :lol:

Sunny Afternoon:
The puzzle pieces of my scratch spins are starting to finally gel together.
Ran through my technical program today actually ended on time for a change. I am working on a new program for our Holiday Show in December. It is helping with skating and moving faster down the ice as well as not tripping over myself in between jumps. Coach put in an attitude spin in this program. to work toward a nice layback spin someday. ...pretty!


Skate@Deleware: Iced Delight sounds like a yummy coffee drink with chocolate in it. :yum:. Send us a photo of your costume. I imagine you will look delicious!

Jazzpants: ...Glacially....I like that word, :lol:

[Rusty Blades]

Rusty Blades: How is your home rink progressing? Have not heard you talk about it lately. Is it ready? When will it be cold enough? I am so jealous! I would freeze my pool but not even a slight chance in Texas!

It's finished (for this year)! I put up flood lights (in addition to the 250 Christmas lights) and speakers last weekend (the amp/tape deck/CD changer is in the house & remote controlled - select your music from the middle of the ice! :mrgreen: ) It looks great and sounds great! If we have a normal winter, I could start making ice in about a month's time.

I'm going to take a night picture with all the lights on when I get a chance - I'll post it.

[Skate@Delaware]

oops! hit the wrong dang button!

[Skate@Delaware]

Awe, poor Delaware!

*** pats S.D. on the head ***
Thanks!!!

Skate@Delaware: Congrats on your parts in the christmas show! I was hoping you would be the snowflake but an Iced delight sounds so delightful! (Wondering what the snowflake gets to do to make it such a sought after role?) Was told by my coach that last year's christmas show was unorganized disaster...egads....Now really worried!
The "flakes" get cool music and their piece is considered a spotlight piece. They also get way cool costumes (think slip dress with garland) and nice routine BUT their piece is really short.

Ice shows can really run away and become CHAOS ON ICE!!!! 8O

Skate@Deleware: Iced Delight sounds like a yummy coffee drink with chocolate in it. :yum:. Send us a photo of your costume. I imagine you will look delicious!
If it's the same one as last year, it will be cool!!!! Fuschia with lots of stones, one shoulder strap and one gauntlet glove, asymetrical hem. We have used the costume twice before and it's nice.

[blue111moon]

For Last Night:

Sunny: layback spin 8O was actually centered AND laid back so that I could see the ceiling. Considering that I get dizzy standing still and looking up, the fact I attempt laybacks on ice is a minor miracle; actually doing one that other people recognize as one is totally amazing.

I also had a nice half-hour of doing figures, with only one coach persisting in directing her skater to skate through my circles (the other coaches indulge me by having their skaters attempt to avoid me, just because they're happy to see someone still doing figures at all). We're waiting for the announcement of the figures for next year's Mountain Cup so I'm doing mostly the ones I can do. Oh, and the first basic outside eight I laid out had all three tracings within an inch of each other :D on there was one section where all three tracings made ONE LINE. Even my coach was impressed, although for as long as I've been doing the darned things, they should be that good all the time, I think.

Frosty: Left ankle is still painful on jump landings. I did attempt loops and flips and they really aren't any worse than they were pre-sprain but they still hurt.

[Debbie S]

Congrats on your parts in the holiday show, Skate@Del! Although you aren't a snowflake, the parts you have sound pretty "meaty". :)

Sunny:
I think I had a breakthrough last night on the change sit. I was actually able to spin for a couple of revs in the sit position and come up for a back scratch - unfortunately, I couldn't exit very well. In my lesson, we worked for a bit on the 3-turns in the field and my coach said my back 3's were coming along well. I just need to work on getting more power in the pushes to the BO and BI edges. My coach thinks the problem with RBO turns is that I am not aligned properly over the hip/edge, rather than a blade mounting issue.

Also skated at my regular weekday rink for the first time in over 3 months. It's finally open, albeit on a limited schedule. But no horrible highway traffic to deal with on the way to skating!


Frosty:
The ice was terrible. The end area on the Zam end was blocked off b/c there was no way anyone could skate on it w/o killing themselves. The rest of the ice had lots of ridges and bumps, and doing anything near the wall was a challenge (the ice slopes downward). Plus, the ice is not cold enough yet, so wherever you skated, you could hear cracking and crunching sounds underneath. Really freaky at first but I got used to it. Hopefully within a few weeks it will be back to normal.

After MIF, we worked on the flip. Grrr - turns out that I had been doing it incorrectly - I was bringing my free leg to the side rather than keeping it in front of me.

Still fighting with the camel.....:frus:

[LilJen]

Sunny Afternoon:

Got to skate this morning at the 7 am session. This meant getting up early, but it also meant fresh ice (I was the first one out there) and a very, very small crowd. Only about 1/2 dozen people there for the first half hour.

Hip/hip flexor still feels pretty good.

Frosty Morning:

I need to schedule a lesson. I'm getting inconsistent on stuff that was never inconsistent.

I am, on and off, totally chicken to try any jumps. For some reason my BO/FO mohawk (in prep for a waltz jump) has gotten all wobbly and weird.

My spins still suck. I think I'll ask coach her opinion on finding a blade with a smaller rocker, whether it's a good idea or not (currently on an 8.5, the Comet).

[Sonic]

LilJen - I've heard comet blades are a bit flat. I have 7 inch rockers and found them great for spinning on.

Frosty
Oh dear.

Didn't sleep very well at all last night but forced myself to get to the rink for the early morning patch before work.

The change in the weather has brought on my asthma, I was really struggling to breathe.

I have *finally* put my finger on the main thing wrong with my skating.
STAMINA. FITNESS. Lack of them

Sunny
Havind said all of the above, my novice foxtrot was better this morning (swing roll wise), and I did manage to pull of jumps and spins.

At least realising that I need to work on my general fitness has given me hope. I really think part of my problem with stuff like wimpy jumps is down to being too weak, and now I've established that.

It'll be one week on Sunday since I officially quit smoking. Good start I guess.

So, in theory, if I acctually get fit, maybe an axel in a year's time won't be out of the question....

S xx

[slusher]

Frosty Morning:

It has been frosty mornings lately. I'm really not looking forward to freezing all the time. It's enough just freezing in the rink. I had lesson today, working on freeskate program, to imagine, that there is actually stuff between jumps and spins! So of course all my footwork was bad and spins were wonderful. I left out all the jumps. For some reason, okay the reason is I had a nasty fall a few weeks ago, I'm afraid of RFI 3 turns. This is the turn we do all the time, correct? I'm mental about it, and have developed a very very bad habit of now two footing this turn. I'm ignoring the evil coach look.

Sunny Afternoon:

I can center spins. cue the happy dance. :D :D :D

The opening of my program is just so smooth, it's like butter, and when we did simulations later, I was not nervous because it was very comfortable. The rest, oh ho hum, needs work.

It's nice skating in the mornings. Sadly, I have to go to work now. It pays the skating bills ;)

[kateskate]

Sunny Afternoon
Started working on my level 6 compulsories. :-)
Field moves run through was not scary - so that is always good!
Another skater told me I did a nice choctaw exercise -made me happy :-)

Frosty Morning
Since I taught myself most compulsories from watching others and videos I have a lot of bad habits - many of which were never corrected despite me having lessons and taking tests. Something we are now trying to work on with new coach. But we won't go down that road......

So I had my first proper lesson on the 14 step - the mohawk is quite wrong. I need to control my left shoulder. Dance coach drew me a diagram of the pattern too which helped.

Once again I demonstrated supreme rubbishness at skating with a partner

Got me thinking which dances I taught myself from watching or from books (and when I say taught myself I mean learned the basic idea of the steps - ie left foot or right foot) - those would be the prelim foxtrot, rhythm blues, canasta tango, dutch waltz, prelim waltz, foxtrot, 14 step, blues, european waltz, starlight waltz, silver samba

Dances I was actually shown the steps to (I wouldn't say taught as I can't do a lot of them anywhere near well enough) - golden skaters waltz, riverside rhumba, rocker foxtrot, willow waltz, quickstep, fiesta tango, paso doble, tango, argentine tango, swing dance, 22 step

Interesting. Is it good to learn from watching? Not sure it is as I've picked up so many odd habits - but then I think it does have its benefits. And I'm trying to sort out the bad things and put them right with current dance coach....

[DallasSkater]

Sunny Afternoon: I had my private lesson as well as LTS classes today. I love Fridays. Offers plenty of ice time with those and practice sessions.

Today I learned the toe loop and actually completed one on my second attempt. Seems to be easier for me than the dreaded Salchow. (Why is it called a Salchow..was there a Mr or Mrs Salchow?....are they dead now?..giggle). Certainly there was not a Mr or Mrs Toe loop that lived sometime back...

Also tried the scratch spin with my coach...not even close...I can't seem to spin on my right foot ...never mind trying to cross my left over. This skill is going to take some time!

Power stroking class was a blast as usual. Very interesting to learn better technique that maximizes the use of the blade. Felt like I caught on to that pretty well.

Freestyle class worked on spins, waltz jumps, 1/2 flips, edges and spirals tonight. I already feel pretty good about these and the progress on them. Felt my waltz had a tiny bit more kick through.

My coach discussed the possibility of entering into the local skate club's annual event called Skate Dallas held in April. Considering this but a bit anxious as it maybe too premature. Would be nice to have the experience and I am DallasSkater now...so it kind of makes sense..no? lol. I really like the idea of putting skills in a very organized way to music...but not thrilled at the idea of then performing them for others...especially judges! eeek. (hold me...I'm scared!)

Frosty morning: I had to limit my jump attempts to protect my leg....Salchow attempts never really came together in what I did attempt. Do notice a tiny strain remains in the ankle but at least the leg feels pretty good.

My coach would like me to upgrade my blades to MK professional. I have searched threads and know you guys generally like them. Wish I would have known which blade to get when I bought my boots. She thinks I would one foot spin without so much toe picky-ness as mine is slight most of the time. She thinks I am centered but slightly hitting the pick. Her tracings show a tiny bit too. Mine is more but not sure if it is my blades or me. She also thinks it would assist my toe landings on jumps as I tend to land too flat footed. Will decide soon.

[Sk8pdx]

Frosty Morning:
Bronze moves were a bit of a struggle today. Even with forward perimeter power stroking and also alternating back crossovers to back outside edges, somehow, I get my patterns disoriented and end up too close to each end of the rink. Not a wonder I have such a difficult time doing crossovers in a straight line. :frus: I try to use the blue and red hockey lines as reference points but still something is not jiving. :??

Sunny Afternoon:
A very light Club Session today. Did a couple of 5 revolution camel spins today and keeping good form as well. Usually I fall out of it after the 3rd revolution. (too much of an inside edge or a break at the waist but not today!) I had a fun practice today!

[doubletoe]

Today I learned the toe loop and actually completed one on my second attempt. Seems to be easier for me than the dreaded Salchow. (Why is it called a Salchow..was there a Mr or Mrs Salchow?....are they dead now?..giggle).

My coach would like me to upgrade my blades to MK professional. I have searched threads and know you guys generally like them. Wish I would have known which blade to get when I bought my boots. She thinks I would one foot spin without so much toe picky-ness as mine is slight most of the time.

Yes, the jump was named after Ulrich Salchow, and if it makes you feel any better, he is now dead, LOL!
Professionals are good blades and you should be happy with them, but even the best blades will start toe scraping if they aren't sharpened by someone who knows how to keep from flattening the rocker. Make sure you get your new blades sharpened by someone who comes highly recommended by some high level skaters at your rink. :)

[Skate@Delaware]

This is for yesterday's session, which I would have put up yesterday but I had no internet.....
Frosty: spins.....what's up with them? They totally suck! I even fell on one! Man!

Sunny: son came along to break in his hockey skates. He was sort of #####ing and moaning so I loaned him my mp3 player...he skated almost the whole session (he became the fast-skating hockey kid that others complained about, but no one did because the session was very light).

Ran through my program, and my jumps and drunken sailors (and my spirals) were good.

Another skater and I agreed to bring hockey skates to the adult session on Sunday... for some hockey skating! She has been skating on hers and will help me (I will use my son's). Hope I don't break anything!!!8O

Dallas: Congrats on your toe-loop!!! That was (is) my most hated jump for more than a year (I've made my peace with it lately).

[sk8pics]

Frosty I was sick most of the week! Still a bit stuffed up, but I actually missed 2 days of work and missed 2 days of skating and 1 Pilates lesson. sigh.

On the other hand,

sunny On Monday I had a great spinning lesson, and give my spin coach major props for running over to the correct rink after he tried to meet me at the wrong rink, LOL. It was totally worth it and I had to hug him at the end. Yesterday, went to practice and have a lesson and actually skated well. I can finally see a possibility of being able to do my new free program. I'm sure I won't do it exactly as my coach has originally planned, but it will evolve. My coach also said my jumps had a nice light quality to them and a good pop, so that was pretty cool.

Happy skating everyone.

[Rusty Blades]

Frosty Morning: Only had about 2 hours sleep last night but I dragged my sleepy buns out skating anyway. (It was the first "winter session" at my home club.) Still can't turn the forward Mohawk :?? but getting closer.

Sunny Afternoon: Yup, we got that, and a warm one to! Backward stroking and edges are coming nicely, everything else is progressing slowly but my "core strength" seems to be improving by leaps and bounds - coach commented on marked improvement in "control" and execution :mrgreen:

I also switched from a T-shirt and shorts to my fancy (purple) practice dress, something I promissed myself I would do when the regular winter season started at my home club. (My coach narrowly escaped a smack for comments about "Barney"! Seemed appropriate though, being big, old, and purple! LOL!) Ok, so nobody else had any smart-a$$ remarks and even quite a few compliments. Surprising that a dress feels so much different than a T-shirt and shorts! It definitely makes me more conscious of "overall presentation" ;)

[Skate@Delaware]

Sonic: congrats on being smoke-free for one week!!!! It does get easier as time goes by. You will also find your "wind" gets better also as your lungs heal!

Pat: Sorry to hear you have been sick-Get better soon!!! Wow for your spins!!!

Dianne-ya gotta quit that late night partying and get some rest! ;) Glad to hear that you finally broke out the dress! Isn't it funny how it does make you "present" yourself better posture-wise???

Sk8pdx: Nice to hear your camel is coming together nicely!!!

Debbie S: I'm pretty happy about the parts; maybe after my skating has improved and I pass up a test I will be worthy of a snowflake or something. Actually, Iced Delights have more ice-time so that part is cool (we just share it with the candy canes and gingerbread and gumdrops; but as adults we really stick out as they are all kids!!!!) I'm psyched to be an understudy for Drosselmeyer!!! That part is tres cool!!

[DallasSkater]

sk8pdx: Congrats on the 5 revolutions of the camel. You didn't have that when you were here but the beginnings were being seen! WTG!

doubletoe: thanks for the info on the blades. I think I will get them as soon as I am back from vacation. Thinking I might have them mounted after this LTS semester is over as I fear trying a new blade out in the middle. It would give me a couple of weeks to get used to them before the next semester starts.

Skate@Delaware: Oh no! No jumping ship to Hockey! I have abandonment issues! giggle

Sk8pics: Sorry you are not feeling well..sending wellness vibes!

Rusty: Bahahaha to the Barney reference. I bet you looked adorable. It would only be problematic if little kids start to gather around you for a song!..lol Hope you got some rest today in all of that practice!

Sunny Afternoon: I went to freestyle session this morning. Because they indicated it would start 30 minutes late they charged us 1/2 price! But then it only started 10 minutes late! (I love a bargain!) To my utter amazement Mr Salchow was visiting from the dead! No idea where it came from but was able to land several fully rotated though still not high and rather flat footed...Not quite the thump as usual though! Did 2 toe loops in this session as well that felt pretty decent! All of a sudden I have a little kick through on the waltz too! I left that session on a major high! *pinch*

Went shopping this afternoon and bought more skating clothes...why are those so easy to find and work clothes elude me?!

Frosty morning: Went back tonight. Should have left sleeping salchows lie! Had a few that kind of resembled one but again with the fraction off the landing fully rotated. Did have one good toe loop out of about 10 attempts. Decided I better not risk more. Spins were out to dinner with Skate@Delaware's spins or something...Hey, was that the power of suggestion? I read that before I left for the session! Could not get centered properly and extremely toe picky! What happened? Ugh! Worked on edges and some basics as I thought it was a lost cause tonight.

Tomorrow is a new day.... a new opportunity!

[Rusty Blades]

Dianne-ya gotta quit that late night partying and get some rest!

My fur baby (a Bloodhound girl) had minor surgery yesterday to remove a lump from her eye lid and has to wear a HUGE Elizabethian collar and has trouble manuvering with it on. Because I was afraid for her to go up and down the stairs, I slept on the living room floor last night. I don't remember floors being that HARD when I was young? Maybe I just stick out in more places now - LOL!!!

Glad to hear that you finally broke out the dress! Isn't it funny how it does make you "present" yourself better posture-wise???

Yes! I haven't felt that nakid in public sine . . . . well, we wont go there 8O

[jazzpants]

Sunny Afternoon:
I was at my weekend enjoying skating on an almost totally empty rink!!! :mrgreen: (Sadly, I didn't get a chance to go to Centrals regional b/c I was stuck at my pilates class and well, my schedule is making hard for me to make up the pilates class that I already paid for.)

To add to that, I'm skating with a very old skating friend who just came back to skating again after a 3 year sabbitical to heal his lower back and get himself back in shape to go skating again! So happy to see him back on the ice!!! (He's a really good skater... just out of practice and aging.) The guy has a running bet with his personal trainer that if he lands a double this year that the trainer gets $100! The trainer wants to make good on his bet!!! :twisted:

I was proud to finally show him that I'm working on loops AND flips (and almost landing them) as well as my backspin! (The last time he saw me skate, I barely can eek out 2 revs...)

Frosty morning:
As Loops needs a detachable left foot, I need a detachable RIGHT foot!!! :frus: My skating buddy says that he thinks I have a "mental thing" about having to toe tap on that right foot and "get that right foot up!!! :evil: " (Yeah, yeah! Tell me something I don't know, dude!!!) :roll:

Right now I'm in the landing on left foot but toe taping the landing stage. (Yes, doubletoe, I'm gonna bring the notes that you gave me this morning to try them out! :P )

S@D: The part of "Iced Delights" ain't nothin' to sneeze about!!! (Ooooh... she's going to the :twisted: DARK SIDE to hockey!!! <<<Darth Vader music inserted here>>> )

Sk8pdx: Good to hear about the camel. What you probably need now as far as the Bronze moves wall thing is concerned is to plan out the entire pattern so you know where you're aiming for as far the ice is concern. This is where those hockey lines and circles will come in handy!!! (And while I'm at it, same with all the other Bronze Moves pattern!!!) :twisted:

Sk8pics: Get well soon!

Rusty Blades: "I love you... you love me..." (Running and ducking...) :twisted: :lol: :P

Hey! Your purple dress will go GREAT with my purple boots!!! LOL!!! (Glad you broke out the dress! I still hate skating dresses on myself though, so I wear it as little as possible...) :twisted:

[Skate@Delaware]

Ya know, this is pretty much all sunny:
Ok, no "going to the dark side" yet for hockey....that comes later today. I figure if a skater who has most of her double jumps and spins to die for can skate on her hockey skates, then I can at least try...and she did offer to help me out.

We got our routine for our maids part for Nutcracker...not hard at all-I was expecting 8O moves but there weren't any there (ok maybe the side-toe-hops were a little daunting but I can conquer them). One of the girls wasn't there so I got to work with the other girl....she had no clue on how to do a "synchro spiral" where you are all hooked together? I was in front (I will actually be in the middle) but she didn't understand the alignment or where her weight should be (or anything...so that was a 8O moment several times over). That's ok, we have plenty of time to work out the kinks!

Had my lesson...we touched on the 3-turn pattern. After correcting my multiple errors, it was actually ok. Now if I can just stop getting my directions mixed up and also get on that inside edge I'll be ok.

Ran through my program...the first 1/2 sucked (except for my decent spin) but the rest was really good. Got to yell "EXCUSE ME" several times and EVERYONE heard me...and skedaddled...it was funny cause I didn't stop!!! Not even doing my back spiral :twisted: And, she thought my drunken sailors were improving!!! Yay! Gotta still work on them (don't look down, she says).

Then, my husband hit the ice and I helped him work on his backward skating (he is insecure). Then we worked on spins. He was TIRED by the time his hour was up! I need to give him off-ice exercises also.

On another note, since I was going to be on the ice for a gajillion hours, I tried out the toe-warmers that hunters used....Toasty Toes was the brand I used today. They worked. No numb toes. I was on the ice from 9:00-12:30 and my toes did not get numb. The only caution was from the rink director...if you stand in one spot long enough, you will "stick" to the ice because the heat could heat up your blades!!! Not a problem! Anyway, I paid about $2.00 at Walmart and you get 2 sets (they heat up to 6 hours). I stuck them to my insoles. Can't vouch for how sticky they are afterwards...also, they are thin, but if you don't have much clearance at all in your skates, they might not work.

I'm going to get more for the show rehearsal and actual show. Nothing is worse than having a short warm-up and then standing backstage on the ice...waiting! The cold just creeps up your legs! These really helped.

[Rusty Blades]

"I love you... you love me..." (Running and ducking...)

WHACK!

I still hate skating dresses on myself though, so I wear as little as possible...

You must attract one hell of a crowd at the rink! :oops: :mrgreen:

[kateskate]

Sunny Afternoon

I had a decent spinning day - even on rubbishy snowy ice - I managed 3 decent flying camels. They felt nice and light. I had a little too much knee bend and knee sink on landing in the back camel but it was ok. Any more attempts and I would have had someone's head off - it was a little busy.

Had an ok run through of field moves. It was very crowded so it was difficult to get a clear run at any exercise but I started to pick up speed on the right back outside 3s :o and the inside ones were not dreadful.

Did the Argentine Tango in the dance interval with dance coach - and even though I felt for a bit of the dance I was hanging on to him everyone said it looked very good, we matched and it didn't look like he was pulling me round it. Yay! Really sweet old man at our rink told me that it was wonderful and it made it worth him coming to the rink to see that!:P :o :P :oops:
It felt quite fun! I felt it was fast and I was glad (for once) there was someone to hold on to but I didn't feel I was being totally dragged through it and held up! I do a lot of the steps slightly cheated though

Stroking class was good - crowded but good - felt like I was into the ice and over my skates correctly

Overall a pretty good morning!


Frosty Morning

Double mohawk step is becoming the worst exercise of the field moves now - mainly because of the back inside 3 but also because I just don't feel l have any power or anywhere to push! :frus:

It was too busy to jump - couldn't do more that 2 or 3 crossovers before hitting someone. So I did inside axels and axels on the stop. Neither were great. Really really trying to cross my feet and inside axels help but I also look down and jumping with my head up is scary. But I have to learn to do it. I told my dance coach the other week I liked looking down to check my feet were still there :halo: and he said they were still there and I would know if they weren't as that would hurt! Ah well.

And I swing my leg too far back and not anywhere near enough through in axels. :frus: :frus: :frus: I WILL get this jump to look decent. I can rotate it so i WILL make it look better. I will. I've got the hard part! The rotation.

[Skate@Delaware]

Dianne: sorry to hear about your doggy...hope all heals well with her!!! I'm sure it's inconvenient having to haul her around...just like having a new baby isn't it???

Frosty: Ok, everyone, the hockey skating career will be put on hold for a while until I work on the "skills" needed...What a difference! Never thought I'd actually MISS HAVING A TOEPICK!!!! I actually felt like I was leaning backwards, and if I leaned too far forward to compensate, then I pitched forward. I only fell two times but one of those I smacked my chin and saw stars!!! My head hurt for about 15 minutes after that. Should have a nice bruise tomorrow!!! I only skated on them for about 15 minutes.

Now, for your watching pleasure (sorry about the quality of the video)...me skating in hockey skates:
http://tkahline.sk8rland.com/video/terryhockey.3g2
(I showed this to my family...they wanted to see a video of me falling :evil: don't ya love 'em???)

Sunny: We just messed around. After changing back to my lovely figure skates, I did some spins. Did them S-L-O-W-L-Y and relaxed. They actually worked much better! Did the ole' "hug the barrel" with my arms, kept my hip closed and leg more forward. Actually did several that were centered or more centered than my other disasters!

Mohawks: why were these evil things invented? They rank right up there with bunny hops. Did the exercise my coach gave me for outside mohawks: ccw on the circle on the lfo edge, right foot at heel, lean body into circle, really open arms then when I'm ready to switch feet, look right. Actually, they are getting better. Still doing the insides in both directions (more to the left which is my worst direction).

Off-Ice Dance: Walk-through the Swing Dance. I like it!!! They are also doing this in the show, but I'm not in that number (too bad, otherwise I'd get to dance with a real ice dance GUY!!!). We dance it on ice tomorrow night.

[DallasSkater]

Rusty: What a mom for sleeping on the floor. I bet she was comforted by your efforts. It is hard when a fur kid has something as they can't tell you when they hurt. Quick healing for her!

Jazz: Very cool that you were able to show your progress to your friend!

Skating@Delaware: interesting tip on the toe heat. Will consider that this winter! Ouch to the breaking your fall by the chin! eeek. Impressed that you attempted backwards in Hockey skates!

Kate: That dance sounds like fun!

All Frosty: Lasted all of 25 minutes on ice today due to wearing too restrictive clothes. Wore a track suit that had no give in the material. (But I looked cute!).. Egads, what a difference that made. Was unable to do anything! Then was so distracted by my clothes to do even the simplist of things. Purple barney suit sounding better all the time! lol.

[Sk8pdx]

Sk8pdx: Good to hear about the camel. What you probably need now as far as the Bronze moves wall thing is concerned is to plan out the entire pattern so you know where you're aiming for as far the ice is concern. This is where those hockey lines and circles will come in handy!!! (And while I'm at it, same with all the other Bronze Moves pattern!!!)

I look at it on paper, but I am having a difficult time transferring it to actually skating it on ice. I think a lot of my problems too are stepping on diagonals on the axis instead of straight forward on all the perpendicular stuff. Oy. I sort of took a break from moves lessons to start preparing for our Holiday show in December. I am planning on setting up an extra lesson or 2 so that I can work on those details with my primary coach. My test is at the end of December.

sk8pdx: Congrats on the 5 revolutions of the camel. You didn't have that when you were here but the beginnings were being seen! WTG!

Sk8pdx: Nice to hear your camel is coming together nicely!!!

Sunny Afternoon:
I dunno what happened... after I came back from vacation, Camel spin seemed to *click*. I am getting at least a minimum of 3 revolutions consistently. yippee!!

Today I had such a fun session! I am making further progress on scratch spin. I am able to bring the free foot around to the front and then cross at the knee. Now I am just stuck at sliding the free foot down and crossing at the ankle without feeling like I am going to trip over myself. Worked on backspin too. Only 1 rev there but feeling less wobbly. Even sit spin is beginning to take shape. Today was just a happy spin day!

Frosty Morning:
nothing to post here except seeing S@D in hockey skates8O , what-R you doooing?:P . I am still enjoying spin nirvana. 8-)

[Sk8pdx]

...the hockey skating career will be put on hold for a while until I work on the "skills" needed...What a difference! Never thought I'd actually MISS HAVING A TOEPICK!!!! .....I only fell two times but one of those I smacked my chin and saw stars!!! My head hurt for about 15 minutes after that. Should have a nice bruise tomorrow!!! I only skated on them for about 15 minutes.


Mohawks: why were these evil things invented?

OUCH! It is as if I could hear the thud all the way over here S@D:halo: :P . I hope you have a quick recovery from your fall.:oops:

Mohawks aren't so bad, they are fun! Butterfly stretches will help. ;)

[jazzpants]

You must attract one hell of a crowd at the rink! :oops: :mrgreen:OOOPS!!! Boy do I need to proof-read my post before I post it! LMAO!!! :lol: :oops:

(Narrowly escaped Dianne from whacking me...)

[Skate@Delaware]

Sunny Afternoon:
I dunno what happened... after I came back from vacation, Camel spin seemed to *click*. I am getting at least a minimum of 3 revolutions consistently. yippee!!

Today I had such a fun session! I am making further progress on scratch spin. I am able to bring the free foot around to the front and then cross at the knee. Now I am just stuck at sliding the free foot down and crossing at the ankle without feeling like I am going to trip over myself. Worked on backspin too. Only 1 rev there but feeling less wobbly. Even sit spin is beginning to take shape. Today was just a happy spin day!

Frosty Morning:
nothing to post here except seeing S@D in hockey skates8O , what-R you doooing?:P . I am still enjoying spin nirvana. 8-)
I also tend to "fall out of it" when sliding my leg down. It's ok when my free leg is at the knee, it happens when I slide it down...yesterday was much better. My backspin varies between 0-2 revs.....(disappointing from last April when it was as high as 6 :( )

The hockey thing is something I have always wanted to try. It was fun! The fall was SCARY but not too bad. I was down before I knew what had happened!

[Casey]

Mmmm...a lovely frosty morning with a hot mocha latte!

Hey what, I can do camels? YES I CAN! (http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/2006-10-08/casey-camel_spin-2.3gp) Okay so there's still work to do but I'm pretty darn happy about the 5 revolutions I can hold fairly consistantly. Not bad for no coach, if I do say so myself.
I did my usual barrel roll entry into a waltz jump which I've done plenty of other times in front of my skating friend, but this time his eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Apparently I'm getting lots of air time again, which is a good sign because it means...
My new skates are quite nicely broken in now. I have good knee bendability and am no longer having stupid falls as a result of unfamiliarity with the feel of the new skates and/or lack of knee bendability. They've gotten quite comfy and today I even tried skating barefoot for an hour or so.
Replaced the 50/50 cotton/nylon blend laces with my preferred 100% cotton ones. Oh my, does that make a nice difference. More than anything, I only have to tie my skates once now and things stay tight and consistant for the entire duration of my skating.
The loop jump, which was the hardest for me to learn, has become my favorite jump. I even like it more than the flip now, and it's gotten a lot bigger. Sometimes I accidentally even overrotate it. Now, if I could only take advantage of that and bust out a double...


Darn sun in my eye...where are the clouds?

Sit spin (http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/2006-10-08/casey-sit_spin.3gp) isn't low enough.
Backspin (http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/2006-10-08/casey-backspin.3gp) not right...sometimes I can hold it for a while, but it's wildly inconsistant and sometimes it feels awful right from the entry. Sometimes, this happens (http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/falls/casey-backspin_fall.3gp) :frus:
I want money for coaching. Waaaaah! ;)

[Hannahclear]

Frosty:

Why do I have to be so clunky whenever I do footwork in my program? Argh. I suppose it was an improvement over yesterday, when I clunked so much that I wound up on my butt. But still. It's better without the music and that's not a good sign.

Sunny:

Overall, the program was much better than on Sunday. I need to get more confident when skating my program, and skating in general on crowded sessions. I back off way too easily. If it's my program, I have the right of way. So move. Thanks. Anyway, Mondays at 6am aren't busy at all, so it was a much less stressful run through and I completed more elements successfully. Landed both lutzes, but didn't try the combo. Missed the flip, AGAIN. Hit the back camel, which was nice. Flubbed sit/change sit. Loop and salchow are very consistent, so no worries there. Really it's the flip that I tend to miss. It's supposed to be a flip combo too. Sigh......ok more frost sneaking back in there.

Very sunny. I can do 3 out of 5 Silver Moves with some skill. Maybe not passing standard yet, but I can do them and they aren't totally wrong. Feels fab for just over three months work. Maybe a year is realistic and I can test next summer. Next week, we're tackling the power pulls and 8 step mohawks, which I can't really do at all yet.

[jazzpants]

This is for yesterday but...

Sunny Afternoon

It was really a Sunny Afternon. We finally recovered from our first season's rain storm to a nice pleasant weather.
Did all the Bronze moves for warmup fine
All the spins minus camel are fine... then...Frosty Morning:

The birthday kids came... and the regular kids were playing tag (note: they are NOT supposed to do that during public session. I saw management coming down hard last time from same said group of kids. The dad ENCOURAGES IT too!!! *sigh*)
Landed one flip clean but it was at a standstill. :roll:
Loops: :roll: :( Well, I wasn't really expecting to land, though I had quite a few clean lands to a standstill. I was playing around with the arms today (yes, doubletoe I tried the tip...) Well, I tried to arm toward the left hip but ended up way up just under my chest... however, that's okay!!! That's where I really should be!!! I still get a bit more lift on the jump. Also, I experimented with bending the knee deeper just before the takeoff and tried to spring up... the new foot position that my secondary coach wants me to do is making it really hard to do it. HOWEVER, experimenting with deeper edge back crossovers to set up does seem to help. I'll stick with working the arms for now though...one change at a time! If nothing else I'll get rid of my "machine guns arms!" (*doing machine gun arms and shoot at random now*) MUHAHAHAHAHA!!! :twisted:

[doubletoe]

Well, I tried to arm toward the left hip but ended up way up just under my chest... however, that's okay!!! That's where I really should be!!!

That's great! Yes, the left fist should "punch" the palm of your right hand right between your left hipbone and your left breast. (opposite for CCW skaters)

[jazzpants]

That's great! Yes, the left fist should "punch" the palm of your right hand right between your left hipbone and your left breast. (opposite for CCW skaters)It definitely gives me more stability and at least I'm stretching the torso up (which should keep Jay happy...) I'll trying getting these consistent first though... since I still occasionally have a tendency to go "target practice" with those "machine guns" arms!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/boese/s080.gifLOL!!! :lol:

The other Frosty Morning note is... I made the mistake after skating to go to the gym to do cardio (elliptical). Bad idea!!! I barely was able to walk off the elliptical trainer when I was done! My lower back was SCREAMING!!! Thankfully, a LOT of stretching on the mat afterwards plus a nice warm shower did the trick for me!!!

[doubletoe]

It definitely gives me more stability and at least I'm stretching the torso up (which should keep Jay happy...) I'll trying getting these consistent first though... since I still occasionally have a tendency to go "target practice" with those "machine guns" arms!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/boese/s080.gifLOL!!! :lol:

The other Frosty Morning note is... I made the mistake after skating to go to the gym to do cardio (elliptical). Bad idea!!! I barely was able to walk off the elliptical trainer when I was done! My lower back was SCREAMING!!! Thankfully, a LOT of stretching on the mat afterwards plus a nice warm shower did the trick for me!!!

Well, I am relieved that you didn't do it the other way around and have your legs give out on you while you were trying to jump! Whew!