Yellow Jersey or Lanterne Rouge: 8-14 July 2007

[Mrs Redboots]

The thread title is to honour the start of the Tour de France from London this weekend ("Lanterne rouge" - "red light" - is the traditional name for the poor cyclist bringing up the rear, and, of course, the winner traditionally wears a yellow jersey!).

Yellow Jersey: Ice very empty for a Sunday (our coaches couldn't come in because of the Tour), and almost all dancers, so lots of dance music was played.

Lanterne Rouge: The couples' spin we learnt yesterday has vanished today! Ah well.... And we will not discuss our Foxtrot or our 14-step.... but we had fun trying!

[Morgail]

Yellow Jersey:
-Lutz! I did so many of these today, and about 90% of them landed on my right foot and then immediately tapped in my left toepick in front. I don't need to do that! I don't know why I do. But, wow, it was sooo great to be that close to getting it today. I felt very good about it:)
-combination jumps - worked on getting some flow out of the loop as the second jump. I also did toe loop-loop-toe loop. That was fun:) Landed a loop-loop also, and that's my hardest one (aside from waltz-loop, which is oddly difficult for me, and flip-loop which I can't really do yet).
-Did a killer sit-change-sit, and a couple of other decent ones.
-Camels were good, as were camel-sits. My camel now has 3 strong revs, and an occasional 4th weak one.
-Moves were good today. I really worked on fixing my 3-turn pattern. I got all my lobes sized the same except for the LFI 3-RBO 3. I can only fit 4 patterns on that side for some reason. Worked on putting the 3s on the top of the lobe too.

Laterne Rouge:
-I don't think my spirals were really on. Maybe I should practice those earlier before I get too tired to hold my leg up:roll:
-I tried some catch-foot spirals. I can do same side ones forwards decently, but if I try to do opposite sides (ie. left hand - right leg), I feel as though I'm going to fall forward and bash my chin on the ice. So I don't think I pulled my leg up far enough on those. Backwards ones are fun but I can only do same sides on those, and I go up on my toepick after a little while. Can't do opposite sides at all going backward.
-8 step Mohawk - could've been better. I have a hard time bringing my feet close together for the mohawk, and I tend to push myself onto inside edges.

[FallDownGoBoom]

Lanterne Rouge: What muscle did I pull, why, how, and when will I stop walking sideways and get back on the ice?!

[doubletoe]

Yellow Jersey
I did my very first level 2 spin today!! I've never considered myself a great spinner, so this was a major milestone for me. It's going into my program! I also made a breakthrough on another difficult variation that will give me a second level 2 spin once I get to the point where I can really hold onto the position. :)

The toeloop takeoff was clean, clean, clean today on every one I did! Daisies--a gold judge--said so, so I believe it! That Ice House camp really did do me some good! :)

Lanterne Rouge
No outflow on double sals, just my blade stuck in the ice (backward, at least) on the landing. I also didn't get up the gumption to try any axels, which have been my nemesis for the past several months. I need to get over that. . .

[jskater49]

Yellow Jersey - I can now enter a scratch spin from back crossovers!

Today was test day in Learn to Skate but I said I didn't really care about passing - I can't do a back 3 turn and I don't care, the only reason I took this class was to learn to enter a scratch spin so could we please get to it?

Once I was fairly consistent in practice with the entrance edge from a T position I started doing a 3 turn and backward crossovers into the entry but coach hadn't seen me do that before and she was impressed with my progress. I just needed to make sure I don't get too twisted around from the crossovers and make sure my left arm is in front when I step onto the edge.


Laterne Rouge: Coach told me if I had tested my waltz jump would be borderline and I was like "How can that be when I passed it for the judges for my pre-bronze test years ago" and she got a wicked look and said this was her territory and if I wanted to pass the waltz jump I had to jump off my toe which I refuse to do.

We worked on the half flip and she said my 3 turn was getting better but it is still sooo hard for me to do it and she said that is because I've been doing it wrong for so long.

Yellow Jersey -

We went on to some Freestyle 2 stuff - like waltz 3s which I really enjoyed doing. Also outside and inside spirals on both legs and while I favor my left leg, right leg wasn't too bad. She also had me try stretch out for the inside spiral and looking behind me, which I pulled off pretty well. If only my leg were higher! Oh well, that's what I get for refusing to do off ice work!

In my freestyle program I have what I call "the pretty part" where I just ride an inside edge and hold a pretty arm position, two foot turn back mohawk into my spin which was just entered from a pivot. Now - I do my pretty left inside edge, right mohawk, back mohawk, 3 turn back crossover into the spin. Coach said I've come a long way from only two foot turns in my program.

But the best part -- I CAN ENTER A SPIN LIKE A GROWN UP!

j

[kander]

Yellow Jersey: Hurt my back and went skating anyway

Lanterne Rouge: Hurt my back and went skating anyway

P.S. Why is the Tour de France in London??

[jazzpants]

Kevin, what the heck are you doing skating with a bad back???? 8O You should be resting!?!?! :?? :twisted: (How did you hurt your back anyway?)

Yellow Jersey:

Landed my loop and my flip clean... well, some of my loops and flips anyway.
Had one decent back sit today. Most of the attempt were "back squat spins."
Some of my camel attempts were decent.
I've been playing with this FO-BI bracket exercise near the barrier for a while. This past week I've been making some headway on those not hanging onto the barrier. Today I tried it on the blue line and found that if I can get the FO bracket to to stay on the blue line on a BI edge that I CAN do a BI bracket... and all this AWAY from the wall! I hope it's not a fluke... I am hoping to get this by Christmas so I can show it to my NYC coach! :DLanterne Rouge:

Okay, I have problems with landed the flip clean until I force myself to keep my entry very straight on the blue line. Then I was landing them clean again. :D
Can't do straightline footwork at speed partly b/c I'm chicken and partly b/c I had a crowd at public session. Yes, I can give a skater an easy half rink (lengthwise) head start and can still easily catch up to them doing the footwork.Minor chuckle:
Got caught doing a jump outside the middle of the circle. One of the skate guards caught me doing it and said "I'm supposed to pretend that I'm doing my job to warn you to keep your jumps in the middle... or at least just outside the middle, but if you HAVE to do your jumps out of the middle, PLEASE don't do it right in front of the Pro Shop at least..." :lol: (Okay I was nice to him. I kept most of my jumps in the middle. But not that nice -- footwork was right along the path of the other skaters on the outside b/c the middle is FILLED with little 6-8 year old beginning FS skaters who are oblivious to what's going on around them! 8O )

[SkatingOnClouds]

Definitely a Yellow Jersey Week!
Workshops with the Russian cruise ship show skater again, and I feel I have learned so much! Some really simple little faults. Weird thing is that I can recall my coach mentioning almost every little one at some time or another, but somehow the message got through this time.

My only worry is whether I can remember all this stuff when I get back on the ice again on Wednesday night.

Having a different coach for just for two weekends has really changed how most of us skate. It's a good thing, and now I just want to keep up the momentum and really put what I learned into practise.

I suppose my Red Lantern would be that she has gone now until January. Happy with my coach though, and really enjoying my skating.

[xofivebyfive]

Laterne Rouge: Medication makes me loopy and extremely dizzy to the point where I literally can't see after a spin. Um, leg strength was fine but I was just dizzy and my head hurt.

Yellow Jersey: I have no idea how, but I had 10 revolutions on my sitspin, a personal best. :P And my jumps didn't suffer too much, except a few shaky landings.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=mauEpZnABqw

[looplover]

Yellow Jersey: GREAT GREAT lesson and practice today :D

I think I will pass moves after all. My waltz 8 had two circles and not triangles, and we figured out what was going on with that three turn pattern (um I had been moving the axis everywhere...)

prebronze freestyle stuff was good, had a good sit spin today that could have been faster but was really low, did a loop that would have been very high but I let my arms fly up.

Lanterne Rouge: not much today except that I really have to do a flip at every practice to get over my mental block and I didn't do one. should have done one at the end of the session today because I was feeling good, didn't think of it until skates were off.

Oh. And I'm horrified at the financial expense of skating. Hm. Buy a house, skate. Buy a house...skate...I choose skate? 8O

[Terri C]

Lanterne Rouge:
Our rink freestyle is supposed to start at 7am, so why do they think the ice can be cut at 7am, resulting in the session starting late, and then they kick us off promptly at 8:50 for the precious hockey players!!:x
Both coaches vetoed my idea of my retrying Bronze free next month, so, I'll compete both Bronze compulsory and Pre bronze free next month at a competition in NC.
Still having issues on the three turn check for the salchow!
And guess what arrived in time for me to be on vacation this week (this is for the females only!):evil: :(


Yellow Jersey:
Spins are more consistent and in a good way.
Getting more height on the toeloop and loop!

[liz_on_ice]

yellow jersey - coach said my back pivot is coming along nicely, said to just keep it working on it. We worked on cross-behinds and I'm getting the hang of that too, getting past being scared of it.

lanterne rouge - backspin, worse than last week despite practice. sigh.

[Petlover]

Yellow Jersey - I skated with IceT yesterday, and she has the most gorgeous edges!!!!! Thanks to her help, my edges were much improved this morning. The change foot spin just keeps getting more and more comfortable.

Lanterne Rouge - my left outside 3 turn for the waltz-8 is still very subpar, oh well, the right one is getting much better.

[peanutskates]

yellow jersey:
started program
back 'ducks are good
loop is rotated!!!!! OMG!!!
backspin is even better than before


lanterne rouge:
ice was TERRIBLE not much different from a public session, all scratchy and bleugh
sit spins worse.. but got one promising attempt
back spiral -> back 'duck = WHAATT? how???

[RinkRat321]

Yellow Jersey
Axel and Double Sal were really good today. probably did the best double sal i've ever done before
spiral on my bad leg is getting higherr
got like 3 rotations on my back camel :) ah usually i only get like one, but i can do alot when i do flying camel
Alternating 3s were good.
worked really hard on improving MITF and got to skate for 2&1/2 hours :)


Lanterne Rouge:

new ice is terrible, it's like a centimeter thick yuckk
MITF weren't so great.
my scratch spin of all spins was travely aha
i was afraid of double loop because the ice was so thin i thought it was gonna crack aha

[dbny]

Terri C - You've got the Yellow Jersey and Lanterne Rouge reversed!

Yellow Jersey:
In spite of having a miserable cold, I went to the rink today to continue getting used to my new skates. I really can't say "break-in the boots" because they were so comfy right from the start! Ran into a couple of adult skater friends there who told me the problem with my L skate is not me, but just that the blade is so sharp. Amazingly, as we were speaking, it started to feel better (thank you, HelenC). I was able to do F cross strokes, a few B cross strokes, F and B XO's, and actually began to do very small snowplow stops, both F and B. One foot spin was amazingly balanced the first time. FO threes seem like they will be a breeze once the blades have dulled just a bit more. Still no marks on my feet after this hour of skating. BEST OF ALL - The pronation problem with my L foot is 100% fixed!

Red Lanterne:
Blades still too sharp to do a two foot spin. Scraping something awful on FO and FI threes. Second one foot spin I tried was off balance, but I think it's because I'm sick and just didn't tighten up in the middle at all.

[sk8tegirl06]

Yellow Jersey: Had a lesson today. Let me start off by saying the session was amazing!:D It consisted of me, my coach and one other skater who spent most of the time in the hockey box. (I was expecting so many more people considering it was about 97 degrees out today.) Anyway, moved onto half flip and half lutz. Kind of awkward, but there is jump in my jumps now. 8O

Red: Because of said heat, my boots did not fit very well today. Coach was a little late today but, we definitely made up for it. Any tips for waltz 8, the circle going CCW is fine, the circle going CW not so much:??

[liz_on_ice]

Yellow Jersey -

But the best part -- I CAN ENTER A SPIN LIKE A GROWN UP!

j

haha, I know the feeling exactly. I got there *just* in time for our skate school recital. I'd been entering from a forward pivot till a couple of weeks before the date.

-Liz

[jskater49]

haha, I know the feeling exactly. I got there *just* in time for our skate school recital. I'd been entering from a forward pivot till a couple of weeks before the date.

-Liz

I've been spinning from a pivot for five years! I was very motivated to learn this.

j

[xofivebyfive]

Yellow Jersey: 14 revolutions on sitspin and scratchspin! YAY. And I almost landed a double salchow. 8O My coach was saying, "oh that looks like it has enough height to be changed into a double! Why don't you try one." and I was thinking are you freaking nuts.. but I tried and holy crap I almost did it! I think I had 1/4 more of a rotation to get and needed to not fall.. but holy crap. I'm so excited!

Lanterne Rouge: First day of XC yesterday. That wasn't fun. My stomach also was so upset so I took a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day! LOL. And my camel spin's free leg just wouldn't stay straight. :frus:

[Petlover]

Yellow Jersey: Spins were great and coach was pleased. One foot spin off one foot is really getting comfortable, I just have to remember to really bend my entry knee.

Lanterne Rouge: Jumps were good, but exit rideouts were pathetic, coach was not pleased.

[peanutskates]

wow, Laura, congratulations!!! doubles... wow!

have you got a really good axel?

good luck with the sal! :D

[xofivebyfive]

wow, Laura, congratulations!!! doubles... wow!

have you got a really good axel?

good luck with the sal! :D

I don't even have my axel yet.. Which is very weird.. but yeah.

[singerskates]

Lanterne Rouge:

Got caught doing a jump outside the middle of the circle. One of the skate guards caught me doing it and said "I'm supposed to pretend that I'm doing my job to warn you to keep your jumps in the middle... or at least just outside the middle, but if you HAVE to do your jumps out of the middle, PLEASE don't do it right in front of the Pro Shop at least..." :lol: (Okay I was nice to him. I kept most of my jumps in the middle. But not that nice -- footwork was right along the path of the other skaters on the outside b/c the middle is FILLED with little 6-8 year old beginning FS skaters who are oblivious to what's going on around them! 8O )

What a pain to have to stay inside the middle hockey circle to do all of your jumps and spins! Don't you have club ice on which you can skate during the summer? Or at least figure skating ticket ice? How can you get any speed going into your jumps? How many of you figure skaters were stuck in the middle with hardly any realestate?

[singerskates]

Yellow Jersey:
Finally got my first lesson in 4 months since Adult Canadians (had been working on dance during sping skating school) with my coach. Wow, what a difference one lesson made.

Before today, I had lost the decent corkscrew spin I use to do before the work place injury back in Feb. of 2005. I'm not sure how many revs I got on my corrected corkscrew (scratch for US skaters) but I know that it was at least double 6 revs because I haven't gotten dizzy from spinning in a long, long time.

As far as my waltz, salchow and toe loop went they were 95% there. Once in a while I had to bail and one time, I managed to land a waltz jump on an inside edge. Weird! These jumps during the second session during my lesson and afterwards where landed with speed because my coach pushed me to skate faster into them and out of them.

Lanterne Rouge:
All but two loop jumps were not fully rotated. I think I totally messed up the timing of the jump. OH well, maybe next lesson my coach will fix this for me.

Camel spin: I could get in, rotate one rotation but then the poor camel died. ROTFLOL Hey, I haven't really tried to do a camel spin for a year and a half. And this was done in my lesson. The only good thing about getting out early from the camel is that, my coach now knows that I can do a camel/upright combination spin with a proper check out.

Body: Left hip is tight and sore. Right adductor muscle is still stiff. Right hamstring is still tight from off-ice with competitive kids and I've got shin splints in my left leg mostly but also in my right leg. My coach told me that taping my legs would help. He said there's this all natural stuff that you rub on is suppose to get rid of shin splits. I just don't remember the name of it. My friend who is big on the natural remedies got the name from my coach and is looking this info up for me. Hey if I find it, I'll send it to Skate Canada to give to Joannie Rochette who also gets them.

[Terri C]

Yellow Jersey:
Finally, finally finally I centered a forward scratch spin for the first time in months- also had a centered backscratch!!
Did more clean loops today on lesson!
Started on my Bronze compulsory moves program for next month.

Lanterne Rouge:
It was very, very VERY hot outside today and we had a boatload of condensation bumps on one end of the rink. Of course I was stupid enough to choose this end of the ice for Secondary Coach to choreograph above compulsory moves program simply because it was fairly empty.
Too many little ones on the ice.

[Rusty Blades]

Lanterne Rouge: My regular coach had to beg off this week for a family matter and passed me off to a very high level coach which intimidated the begeebers out of me!

Yellow Jersey: Apparently my regular coach imparted very little information to the temporary coach so I was better than he was expecting - LOL! He praised my forward edges 8O and FXO's :mrgreen: (I may not have a lot of moves but much of what I do have I do very well - if I do say so myself!)

Lanterne Rouge: As I suspected would happen, 3 of my forward 3-turns disappeared since Thursday along with my not-quite-off-the-ice Toe Loop and my rudimentary upright spin. (I have come to expect new moves to disappear after a break.)

Yellow Jersey: With the temporary coach, I started on a sit spin (low entry), which I didn't expect to be able to do but I think, with lots of work, it has potential! We also worked on my back XO's. (Temporary coach is a lot bigger than my regular coach so when he held my hands to steady me on the BXOs it actually felt secure, not like I'd pull him down if I fell.)

Lanterne Rouge: The upright spin started to come back but not as good as last week (yet) and the toe loop sequence just wouldn't click today.

Yellow Jersey: Temporary coach is more gung-ho than my regular coach - he does longer lessons and is totally focused so a 1/2 hour with him is pretty exhausting. Instead of having a practice day Wednesday, he suggested a lesson. I might as well take advantage of "another perspective" so I agreed.

Hope I can find the missing 3 turns and upright spin for next session! I wonder if I should mention starting the Flip to new coach?

[xofivebyfive]

Yellow Jersey: I think I might have landed a double loop. And if I didn't, I came pretty damn close to one. :bow: I attempted them about 10 times, all were on tape so I'll get a video up and see how close they were. BUT OMG I ALMOST HAVE A FREAKING DOUBLE LOOP! I don't have an axel yet even!!!

[Skate@Delaware]

Lantern rouge: today at show rehearsal, I was called out for NOT following the steps, BUT I WAS :x !!! Everyone else was turned around because we were set up in a different room and they "forgot" which direction we were supposed to face. Pu-leeze! I've been doing shows for over 4 years. I know how to "face" an audience. :x

Yellow jersey: She later apologized when she realized I was doing it right. Whatever. It was cooler in the room where we were. It is the room where we will perform the shows. It will get hot when the halogens heat up and we have our costumes on!!!

Anywho, I did some toe-loops on the "ice" and boy, do they feel weird!!! Didn't get time to do any scratch or back spins. Next time!!

I advised a young girl that she follow her mother's advice and move up to a different coach (who happens to be the skating director). She has reached the same level as her current coach. She likes him but I told her she needs to go beyond his level; also being taught by someone with years of competitive experience will benefit her in the long run. I suggested she try her for a year and see how she does at the competitions. She could also ask me stuff, as I have competed (I'm the only adult at my rink that does, besides the ice dancer).

Last note: my husband and I discussed my wanted to pair skate. He knows he cannot do that because of his physical problems. He cant lift me and he doesn't want to spin or jump. He said he is ok with it as long as he can sit in on the practices. Well, he is jumping the gun as I don't even have a nibble of a partner yet. Hmmmm, maybe once hockey season starts back up I can try again!!!! :halo:

[Skate@Delaware]

Yellow Jersey: I think I might have landed a double loop. And if I didn't, I came pretty damn close to one. :bow: I attempted them about 10 times, all were on tape so I'll get a video up and see how close they were. BUT OMG I ALMOST HAVE A FREAKING DOUBLE LOOP! I don't have an axel yet even!!!
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sooooooo happy for you!!!!! Are you going to put the video up so we can see????? that is soooo cool!!!!

[doubletoe]

Yellow Jersey: I think I might have landed a double loop. And if I didn't, I came pretty damn close to one. :bow: I attempted them about 10 times, all were on tape so I'll get a video up and see how close they were. BUT OMG I ALMOST HAVE A FREAKING DOUBLE LOOP! I don't have an axel yet even!!!

WOO HOO!! Give us the play-by-play as soon as you see the tape! :D
By the way, landing a double loop before the axel is not as rare as you think. I know a teenage girl who did the same thing (and how she has a triple loop!). It's simpler in a way because you can just stay in the same position as your takeoff position and pull in; no need to deal with switching the weight over to the landing hip after takeoff. ;)

[doubletoe]

Lanterne Rouge: My regular coach had to beg off this week for a family matter and passed me off to a very high level coach which intimidated the begeebers out of me!

Yellow Jersey: Apparently my regular coach imparted very little information to the temporary coach so I was better than he was expecting - LOL!

Lanterne Rouge: As I suspected would happen, 3 of my forward 3-turns disappeared since Thursday along with my not-quite-off-the-ice Toe Loop and my rudimentary upright spin. (I have come to expect new moves to disappear after a break.)

Yellow Jersey: With the temporary coach, I started on a sit spin (low entry), which I didn't expect to be able to do but I think, with lots of work, it has potential!

Lanterne Rouge: The upright spin started to come back but not as good as last week (yet) and the toe loop sequence just wouldn't click today.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and first skate of the week is usually the worst :giveup:

FX that your sitspin will be a BIG pleasant surprise and a great new trick for you to play with! Waiting with bated breath to hear about your next lesson. ;)

[tidesong]

Yellow Jersey:
Axel was ok, landed them easily but nothing amazing for height and flow
Double salchow was ok too but really good compared to last week when it died unexpected.
Double loop had alot of nice attempts but I think I pulled my knee on them and it started to hurt after doing too many, again I'm not sure but I probably landed them in a range from half under to almost full or full? Still need to get them consistent regardless.
Did a few nice I-spins in a row that I feel like I held for decent number of revolutions (aka.. 3 or more lol... miserable that I have to aim so low but I rarely get that few times in a row)

Ice wasn't too bad!

Lanterne Rouge:
Double toe didn't make much of an appearance and then my knee was wierd after double loop so I didn't dare to jump anymore.
Worked on 3 turns brackets and stuff... I keep skidding my brackets... ugh! And my double 3 turns still feel a little insecure :(
Turns out that my layback is now back to the not quite side not quite back position which explains my travelling... but... how did I get them centered once in a while then??? Oh well, now I have to remember what to focus on.

Not quite either:
My knee was giving me problems, but on the way home when changing trains it cracked 4 times and was back to normal... lol... yay I was so afraid I would have to deal with it for a few more days...

[xofivebyfive]

Lanterne Rouge: Shoot. I accidently taped over the good loops that were 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 rotated. I'm so mad. LKJIAHSIDHF;ALSJDOFIJALKIHSOIE;LJLLJ. I still have the first set, where the most rotated is maybe 1 1/3. But it's something.. So yeah. I'll hopefully have a video up in the next ten minutes. GAH I'm so angry!!!

Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=twqoaLdCxfg

[Mrs Redboots]

Yellow Jersey: Major breakthrough, I think, on the Foxtrot - the lady absolutely can't do the end pattern if her bum is stuck out! You have to have your hips forward or it's impossible. Which, I hope, will lead to our waltz hold in general being much better.

Our new couples' spin isn't quite there yet, but will be.

Lanterne Rouge: Not going to be able to afford to go to skate camp in October. :cry: :cry: :cry:

[SynchroSk8r114]

Yellow Jersey: Excellent Starlight today! Coach is thrilled that I'm filling out the Olympic rink (thanks to my power and edges), and we're planning on putting it out, along with the Paso, in mid-August!

My axels were also pretty good. I landed all but one, which I popped to avoiding squishing a small kid, so the consistency's there. If only the double sal was the same...

Sit-change-sits = amazing. Lots of speed, low position, revolutions. Good times!

Lanterne Rouge: Two-footed all my double salchows because...well, I was being lazy. I definitely could've landed them, but I just kept letting my free leg's toe tap. When I finally forced myself to land on one foot, I fell. Yep, that's what I get for taking a week off...

Also, the music player was messed up severly today, so I had a limited number of Starlights and Paso's to the music. No kidding - the music was up sooo loud that it was vibrating in my chest. Unfortunately, no one could fix it until the very end because the knobs were all correct, so...only when one of the skaters noticed that two wires were crossed did the thing turn down. Go figure - my lesson was already over...

[blue111moon]

Last night's lesson was pretty grim in general, partly due to post-competition decompression lingering from Saturday. I think I'm competed out for this season. I was thinking about going to Atlanta for Peach over Labor Day but I think I'm going to pass. After three competitions in Europe (a total of six events in three weeks) and another one a month after getting home, I'm having trouble psyching myself up to face judges again. Of course, having to do two events in 20 minutes was a bit much, too. But I think I need a break.

Yellow Jersey: Coach wanted to try axels again just for fun and I actually have five decent attempts. Height is good and I'm getting a fraction more rotation than I used to. Also sit spins have returned after The Sharpening From Hell.

Lanterne Rouge: Just about everything else. Tendonitis has flared up severely - maybe due to the heat and humidity but it's at the point where walking is painful and putting the skates on is excrutiating. Even stepping through footwork hurt and my "Ow"s were audible to the other skaters. So it's off to the doctor, even though I know what he's going to say; I'm already doing all the standard Achilles Tendonitis treatments. Massive doses of Advil are hovering in my future, I know.

[Skittl1321]

Yellow Jersey Overall good feeling of yesterdays practice. Group lesson was on backwards 3-turns and double 3s. Then half lutzes (in both directions) and loops. Practice PB MITF going well. Private lesson was all on turns. Backspins are definetly getting better.

Lantern Rouge No cable :( Can't watch the tour (or any of the other races, but this one is always fun because it gets more than 1 hour on saturday coverage). Oh wait, about skating. Um, started on a camel- which is just silly at this point. Also worked on a sit spin, which I look ridiculous doing, I have no strength in my left leg (which is why my scratch spin stinks, I have no fan) so it's just awful, but it's good to get it started.

On going boot problems I finally took the sole of my boot out to see how much the width is the problem. If I didn't have a big toe they'd be perfect. The sole fits me perfectly in the lenth, a little bit too big in the heel, and then my entire big toe is off of it. No wonder my feet hurt! Another LTS instructor said she thinks she has spare boots in my size she can let me try. Otherwise- the boots are a year old. One more year and I can get some new ones!

[liz_on_ice]

Yellow Jersey Tested out the freestyle at a new rink. I hadn't been before because it is out of the way and I didn't think I'd be able to get to work on time, but I came up with a scheme, and it worked a peach. Cheaper and fewer people at 6am too. I think I may have found home. Nearly empty session let me try out backwards spirals for the first time. Fun!

Lanterne Rouge: backspin still sucks. I should have practiced it more, sigh. Forward spin wasn't so hot either. For that matter, I never spin well early in the morning on an empty stomach, and that is mostly when I skate. Maybe that is why it is taking me so long to get better.

[Petlover]

Yellow Jersey: Coach has been tougher and more demanding recently, this is actually a VERY good thing - it makes me work harder, and she has more faith in my abilities now! Progressive/chasse sequences and spins were wonderful this morning.

Lanterne: Spiral is still not up to par. Coach said I need to work at a ballet bar, and showed me the height I need using the side of the rink. Coincidentally, my washer and dryer are the same height, so since I don't have room for a ballet bar at home, I will use them - Coach just laughed and laughed, but said it's good I'm creative.

Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

[dbny]

Mrs Redboots - Great news on the Foxtrot & waltz hold!

Red Lanterne:
Hip felt to much better yesterday that I very foolishly insisted on removing my L blade guard while standing. I should have stopped at the first twinge, but noooo, kept going, and re-injured it. Hip was painful the whole time I was on the ice and heating pad didn't do as much good last night as it had previously. Not skating today, so maybe that will help. L blade is better but still scraping on two foot turns. It almost feels like the rocker is too flat on it. Brand new blades; hope I don't have to take them back. Will do the rocker outline thing later and compare L to R.

Yellow Jersey:
Have blunted blades to the point that I can now just barely do F and B snowplow stops if I'm not going very fast. Only peripherally skating related, but nose was clear all night! Cold is much, much better today. Having read that a recent study showed echinacea + C to be helpful in reducing severity and duration of colds, I reluctantly bought some and have been taking it. I might be convinced.

[jskater49]

Mrs Redboots -
Cold is much, much better today. Having read that a recent study showed echinacea + C to be helpful in reducing severity and duration of colds, I reluctantly bought some and have been taking it. I might be convinced.

I'm a very scientific minded person and do not believe much herb and wholistic stuff - but someone convinced me to try echinacea many years ago and I was convinced. I used to get everyone's cold and flu. With echnicea I rarely get colds. With the flu shot, I rarely get the flu anymore.

And if you have morning sickness - there is this papaya enzyme they sell in health food stores that works really good too. And that is the extent of my herbal cures!


j

[icedancer2]

Yellow Jersey: All of the yoga classes are starting to pay off -- I got on the ice today and my coach (who I haven't seen in a couple of weeks) said I looked like I was skating better!!! That was nice to hear. I feel like my posture is stronger and taller (something I have been battling with) and the flow is pretty good, so that was nice.

Lanterne Rouge: As I mentioned on the"hip pain" thread" I've been having some problems with the muscles around my hips lately - especially on threes. I had a treatment yesterday that really really helped (all pain gone) but then when I got back on the ice today the pain was back -- bummer!!

So I made sure that I stretched a lot after I got off the ice and then again when I got home I did some yoga stretches and the stretch the PT gave me yesterday specifically for the hurting muscle groups.

BUT I also noticed that some things were easier after yesterday's treatment and I understood where some of the restrictions in my hips might be causing some of the problems I've been having - like not being able to step forward from LB to RF - and also feeling tight when I try to do a LBO swing roll (as in the Tango after the mohawk), so I feel as though I'm heading in a good direction body-wise.

It's all a process... I just have to keep reminding myself.
:giveup:

[jazzpants]

I'm a very scientific minded person and do not believe much herb and wholistic stuff - but someone convinced me to try echinacea many years ago and I was convinced. I used to get everyone's cold and flu. With echnicea I rarely get colds. With the flu shot, I rarely get the flu anymore.
Lucky you! I've done everything remotely possible to keep myself from getting colds and flus and it NEVER fails that I get sick from the flu at least once a year... EVEN WHEN I GET FLU SHOTS, take vitamin C/echinacea, wash hands, etc... My immune system SUCKS!!! :frus: :roll:

Yellow Jacket:

Had fun working on FO-BI brackets. Secondary coach is seeing progress! :D
Well, I don't look like that particular American Idol singer that my secondary coach mentioned about the other day. She commented that the stroking posture is better now.Lanterne Rouge:

Unfortunately I still look like Lurch. (Think Addams family...) :roll: She wants my head to pulled back more.
Still working on doing the forward spin entry correct. It will take a while to finally get this correct and working, needless to say... :frus:

[Rusty Blades]

Lanterne Rouge: I don’t know if I am coming down with something or it was just the tough day at work but on the ice I was sweating and cold at the same time and everything I tried made me dizzy.

Yellow Jacket: Ok, so I am dizzy anyway, lets work on upright spins! Most of them weren’t very good but I hit the axis and the sweet spot a couple of times and had a couple of beautiful spins with enough revolutions to be worth points 8-)

Lanterne Rouge: On sit spins, I am still not finding the balance point to bring them together.

In lesson today my temporary coach said my regular coach said we were to do 3 turn, so we did 3 turns ..... well we ATTEMPTED to do 3 turns but most of them weren’t working at all. We also did a bit on back XO’s.

Yellow Jacket: I told the coach I still haven’t figured out how I can get such great “reach” on my FXO’s and can’t get my foot across on the BXO’s and demonstrated some FXO’s with huge inside reach - that seemed to impress him (snicker!) - but still no answer to the riddle.

Tomorrow at Summer School it is “All That Glitters” day so I am going to wear my practice dress with LOTS of glitter. I also made a “glitter wand” (hollow, for sprinkling glitter) and have 16 Oz of multi-coloured glitter to recharge it so tomorrow I am THE GLITTER FAIRY! Noone will escape un-glittered :twisted:

[Terri C]

Yellow Jersey:
My spins are all back! Hooray! I'm also getting the compulsory moves program down.

Lanterne Rouge:
The loop decided not to show up for program runthrough today :frus:
Also, some coaches at my rink are obivious to skaters doing programs, I had to bail out of my end of program footwork because of this.
How do people practice for compulsory moves events? Since you don't have any music for this, how do you designate that you are doing a program?

[xofivebyfive]

These are my yellow jerseys from last night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCPWtY7S_do

[Skate@Delaware]

These are my yellow jerseys from last night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCPWtY7S_do
oooooh!!!! Very nice!!!! I also see you do those little "backspin hoppy things!"!!!!! cool!!!!

[xofivebyfive]

Here is a new one from tonight. My Yellow Jerseys are throughout the video, and after it goes black at the end, you'll see my Lanterne Rouges.. haha.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=X6jF5q1mSRI

OH and I convinced my coach with what I did today that I'm ready to work on doubles and my axel seriously, so tomorrow during my lesson I get to go in the harness and try them!! YAY! I'm so excited and nervous and scared. My goal from before I started skating was to land a double. Well.. double axel.. but double is like, an amazing feat for me, and I'm SO close.

[*JennaD*]

Lantern Rouge: gaaaah I worked on my axel for about an hour and I only landed one or two...:frus: I did my best ones when I thought "geez...I hate that 10 year old working on her double axel" lol but I didn't land any where I thought "wow that was good" or anything...not much flow coming out of them, and I think I was cheating the entry too much...:frus: :frus: :frus:

Yellow Jersey: I practiced my American Waltz everytime a coach asked for the music (the music people pay a lot of attention to who asks for music...if you are a coach you have priority over skaters, so usually if I ask for my music it takes about 30 mins before I get it, soi just use it hwen hte coaches ask for it :) )...so I MUST have improved! My test is on Friday...eek I've failed this dance twice and it's also Friday the 13th but I guess I'm happy to test it again because maybe I'll pass this time:P I also landed some pretty good double salchows on the harness the other day in my lesson!

[peanutskates]

yellow jersey: sitspin is way better than last week!
I landed a loop!!! (just one though)
I remember my program now!
I got more videos (will upload later)
my legs are stronger - I can get into a really low 'duck and get up again on one leg!!!
and overall it was a really good session... 4 people on the ice at the end...

lanterne rouge: all my other loops still land twisted... I tried to keep my weight on the landing leg but it didn't seem to help.
whenever I enter the back spiral -> back 'duck, I go on a really deep inside edge by the time I get to the 'duck and I'm meant to be on a straight line...
part of my footwork seq. is barrel roll-> mohawk on a straight line and it is really hard to get that outside mohawk to go straight.
zamboni is broken... our ice is like a swiss cheese...

and... I don't skate for 7 weeks now! :( (holiday)
however, I hope to be really flexible by the time I get back, and so my skating should improve (like biellmans etc)! and then, it's my competition!!!

see y'all in September. tomorrow I leave on a French Exchange (where, lucky me, I get to speak French for 11 days!!! *gulp*). so... till september!

[Thin-Ice]

Yellow Jersey: Used the Silver Moves for a warm-up and they all feel SO much easier now that the pressure is off! That's actually a good thing, considering I'm competing in a Moves event in two weeks. Coach still had plenty of suggestions "Bend your knees more!" "Push harder!" "Hold your shoulders back!" -- hmmm, seems as though nothing has changed except my mindset! Then worked on BO Power-8s (from Juvenile Moves) -- and actually made it around both circles (which were too small but at least they were kind of oval, instead of triangular and they were the same dimensions). Also worked on forward double-3s, which I still think are easier than 3-turns in the Field.

Worked on both the Interp and FS programs most of the time... which leads me to..

Lanterne Rouge: Kept confusing the footwork from the Interp. with the footwork from the FS program... well they both start the same way! No push in the footwork for the Interp. I say it was because I was confused and that's the story I'm sticking with. Camel spin didn't happen, flip (usually my best jump) had no lift and the loop was better than the flip... and THAT never happens. I also had to bail out of every jump in the Interp because we had several dance couples skating to my program music. I guess it's good they like the music enough to want to dance to it.. but uhm, could they at least be aware who is actually skating to this music? I've had the program nearly a year now.....

Yellow Jersey part deux (thank you "Hot Shots"): I actually attempted the lutz in the FS program (two-footed it, but that's soooo much better than just chickening out!), sit-spins were lower than before and had more rotations.. and I remembered the connecting moves between the two sections of the program. That's the part my coach puts in the program so I have about 2 seconds to breath and refocus on the final two jump passes. I've been so busy focusing on the jumps I kept forgetting what my feet were supposed to do.

Cute Moment on Ice: I have been my coach's only USFS skater. The rest of her students do ISI, but I do both. Now one of her young (5 or 6 year old) students who just started skating the morning sessions wants to test USFS too. I was warming up spirals by doing the change-foot straight-line spiral on the Preliminary Moves and this little girl came up to our coach and asked "Is she doing USFS Preliminary too?". My coach was answering just as I skated back to her and I overheard "No, she passed that test already, but she's been my only USFS skater for a long time.. and now she has you for company." The little girl looked me over head-to-toe-to-head and said "Oh, it's good to have friends.. especially BIG ones".

[Scarlett]

Yellow Jersey:
Coach is willing to get me through preliminary dances. He said he has to confer with a colleague though because it is has been so long since he has done them himself.
Salchow is getting is getting a lot stronger.
Worked on getting height out of my waltz jump. I actually ended up kicking through really hard and wiping out. Coach was pleased. :roll:

Lantern Rouge:
I am coming down with a summer cold. Why are they so miserable?
Jumps were not there.
Sit spin and camel spin attempts could best be described as comical.
Loops have taken a vacation.
Apparently I cannot find my left leg (CW jumper) when attempting to land my lutz. I am straight in the air but I two foot the landing. "Find your left leg"

[jskater49]

Yellow Jersey-- I can still enter a spin from crossovers! Ever since I started doing it, every time I try it again I'm afraid I might not be able to do it again. The bad thing is that I have figured out how to get up on the toe sweet spot - even when I rise up to soon, to save the spin and I'm afraid that is going to encourage bad habit of not holding the edge long enough. Now I just need to get more speed to keep the spin going

Someone was playing waltzes and I practiced waltz 3s to the waltz music. I was pretty good at keeping on time on my right 3 turns - left not so good, still can't hold the exist quite long enough.

Power class- I definately work harder than my daughter and the other teenager in the class! We have to do these cross unders and the first time we did I just couldn't even begin to do them - then I could do them one direction - now I can do them both directions - I still need to pick my foot up and place it back beside my foot rather than slide it back, but I can push my foot under..progress


lanterne rouge: We had to do grapevines (on our toes!) and side toe hops down the length of the rink for power class. Yea that was a joke. The two girls came back and I still wasn't a fourth of the way when coach said "just do your mohawk pattern"

j

[Rusty Blades]

I decided to forego lesson today with substitute coach and work on my back outside edges (which I figure are the reason I am not getting my back cross-overs), upright spins, and sit spins.

Lantern Rouge: I still can’t do back cross-overs, upright spins, or sit spins but hopefully the practice will mean they are a little closer.

Yellow Jersey: I did hit a couple of upright spins with really nice form which lasted all of 2 revolutions before I started to fall over like a pencil stood on end. I have absolutely no idea how to hold them together when they start to lean!

The Glitter Fairy struck repeatedly today! Coaches and skaters alike, even the music boy were beset by the rain of glitter from the Glitter Fairy’s magic wand. One poor little girl who was missed even asked her coach “Can I get glittered to?” and her coach brought her tot he Glitter Fairy to be appropriately anointed. (Who was that crazy old woman in the purple glittery dress?)

[*JennaD*]

Yellow jersey: I landed a bunch of slightly cheated axels today :) And my dance coach called my dance "solid" and said "good stuff" to me which is a major accomplishemnt because normally, he is on the verge of basically saying "wow that really sucked...maybe you shouldnt test this week!" haha

Lanterne rouge:even though my dance was "solid" today, my test is tomorrow and my coach might have apendicitis SOOO I may be dancing with a new partner...that I've never danced with before...hm...and this test means a lot to me because I have failed American Waltz twice and I really want to pass this time!!!

[Terri C]

Yellow Jersey
Both compulsory moves program and freeskate program are coming along. Actually, coach says freeskate program is much better than the last time she saw it.
Loop is consistently on, as are the other jumps and the forward and back scratch spins.

Lanterne Rouge
My sitspin has taken a vacation.
My right ankle is starting to complain about all the skating this week- I'm back in the Ace brace as a result.
Too many little ones on the ice today.

[xofivebyfive]

Yellow Jersey: Apparently I landed my axel today. I was on a session before the session that my lesson was during, and I was fooling around and trying jumping the axel, and after the session was over, my coach comes running over and is like, "You landed an axel!!" and I was like.. okayy.. haha.

And also we started prep for all of the doubles, flip-backspin, salchow-backspin and the others. Next lesson she's going to put me in the harness and we're going to try doing the actual doubles!!! YAY!

[Morgail]

Apparently I cannot find my left leg (CW jumper) when attempting to land my lutz. I am straight in the air but I two foot the landing. "Find your left leg"

I do that too (though I'm looking for the right leg). Can't figure out why I do this...silly left leg won't stay up long enough for me to find the right leg:frus:

[dbny]

I did hit a couple of upright spins with really nice form which lasted all of 2 revolutions before I started to fall over like a pencil stood on end. I have absolutely no idea how to hold them together when they start to lean!


I've been struggling with this for a long time, and think I've finally figured it out. I either drop my R hip or shoulder, or my shoulders get out of sync with my hips, so that the leading (L on CCW spin) shoulder lags. In the first case, sucking my belly button in helps, and in the second, I push my left shoulder back and that fixes it. The root of the problem, though, is that until I had most of the spin on auto, I had too many things to think about, and the tilting is what always got left out.

[peanutskates]

another video of moi (preparing for my... uhh... french exchange 8O i leave in 2 hours)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgB5OiJ6Fy4

my sitspins are better, I think. there is hope for my comp (end of september)

anyway, comment please... and wish me bonne chance for france... 8O

[Mrs Redboots]

Yellow Jersey: Worked hard on posture exercises with husband - mostly cross-rolls, forwards and backwards, in a variety of holds.

Managed to not scratch when stepping to forwards in the Willow Waltz.

Managed to skate an extra five minutes today before my foot started hurting too much.

Lanterne Rouge: Side-by-side back cross-rolls, even holding hands, are NOT POSSIBLE!

Still slightly grinding to a halt on the exit edge of a I-O change of edge.

[blue111moon]

Nothing much to report, I'm afraid. Achilles tendons are too sore to allow much jumping. Spins were okay but the only one that doesn't hurt a lot, surprisingly, is the sit, I think because the position relieves the pressure of the boot against the back of my heel and the stretch is less abrupt than on jump landings.

So I did a lot of stroking, edges and threes - slowly and carefully. I'm thinking of having my coach go over the basic dances - Dutch waltz, canasta, and maybe the swing - for the next couple weeks until we see if massive doses of anti-inflammatory drugs and podiatrist appointments have any effect.

[looplover]

Lanterne Rouge: Didn't eat breakfast before practice this a.m....bad, bad, bad...not totally awake when showed up to rink, instead of signing in the time as "7:00" I signed it in as "L:00" which was a sign of my practice to come. Back inside edges - eek. :twisted: Waltz 8 - not test-ready today by any means, but it was last Saturday, so I blame it on lack of nutrition.:halo:

Yellow Jersey: Alternating 3 turn pattern actually was test ready today even though that first LFI 3 turn after rounding the corner makes me nervous. Prebronze freestyle stuff was good, or at least good enough.

Test on Sunday - hope on Monday I am preparing for the Bronze tests...8O

[jskater49]

Lanterne Rouge

Was doing my back crossovers from Bronze moves and it was hard avoiding people - got around one kid and ran smack into my daughter who was coming out of a rocker. Fell backwards, hit my head. People watching say they saw air under me - that I actually flew. Didn't really feel so bad at the time. Got up, shook it off. I had my hair in a pony tail and thought that might have broken my fall.

Then, I never got my blades pernamently mounted. Yea, I didn't realize you needed to do that - my daughter until last year always had used skates and then when we had to mess with hers I thought maybe I should do that...so now my two screws are loose and the hole is too big. Tried a couple of 3 turns on my left foot that felt very shaky and realized my blade was moving around so I gave my dance lesson to my daughter and got off the ice. Of course everyone thought I was hurt because they saw my dramatic fall. Sent the skates home with coach whose husband mounts blades and sharpens.

Head starts to hurt on the drive home. Get out of the car, feeling nauseous...head hurts a lot now. Probably have a concussion. I'm waiting for the nurse to call back to see if I should go in - but I remember there's not much they can do. I really want to go to sleep, but I know that's not a good idea until I hear from the nurse and probably will want my dd to wake me up in an hour or so if I do take a nap.

Was going to give blood today. Probably not a good idea now.

j

[SynchroSk8r114]

Yellow Jersey: A coach and best pal of my ex-coach whom I left last year because I wasn't getting anywhere with her and my self-esteem was seriously bad made a comment to another skater at my rink that went something like this:
Coach: Who has Jessy been taking lessons from?
Friend: Why?
Coach: Because she is skating now! And good!

Yay for me! I can't wait to tell my current coach that because I know it'll make her feel good. I just hope that gets back to my ex-coach...:twisted:

I also landed a bunch of axels to my music and even hit a clean double salchow in my program!

Lanterne Rouge: Unfortuantely, my coach didn't show up for my lesson today, which was odd. I talked to her yesterday and we were all set for this morning. Hmm...oh well, I'm kind of glad I didn't have a lesson because the front of my left leg (that tendon that runs between the foot and ankle) is killing me from being in my new skates so much, which yes - I am still breaking in. Thank God for a week in Myrtle! God knows I need it! 8-)

[Skittl1321]

Lanterne Rouge

Head starts to hurt on the drive home. Get out of the car, feeling nauseous...head hurts a lot now. Probably have a concussion. I'm waiting for the nurse to call back to see if I should go in - but I remember there's not much they can do. I really want to go to sleep, but I know that's not a good idea until I hear from the nurse and probably will want my dd to wake me up in an hour or so if I do take a nap.

Was going to give blood today. Probably not a good idea now.

j

OH MY! That doesn't sound good at all! Concussions get called as injuries so often in sports that people forget they are serious- do go in if the nurse suggests it, even though there isn't much they can do, they can diagnose the extent of the damage, which is hopefully very small. Hopefully you'll have a speady recovery and a good return to the ice.

Is your daughter okay? She isn't trying to fault herself for your accident is she?

[jskater49]

Is your daughter okay? She isn't trying to fault herself for your accident is she?

DD didn't even go down. She's concerned but not overly guilty. We seem to run into each other a lot.

Nurse still hasn't called back. Head hurts A LOT but I think the nausea was due to hunger because I had some toast and feel better. I don't eat before I skate because that makes me nauseous. I really just want to go to bed!

Actually I am still nauseous...

Felt good enough to update the club memberships on the USFS site - I'm the membership chair. Can't be that bad...

j

[LilJen]

Yellow jersey: PT said on Tuesday that my ankle flexibility is "within normal range." Still not as flexible as the right (uninjured) ankle, but this is serious progress!! Did a LOT of walking while on vacation, sometimes with a cane and sometimes without, and the pain is usually manageable. I'll go to synchro practice on Sunday to watch, and *if* it's not feeling too wonky, might try a bit of stroking.

Also, hearing good things about the new rink manager, who has taken over since I've been away from the rink: frequent public sessions, adult-only sessions, generally much more friendly to the public. Whee!!

Lanterne Rouge: Started some left/right (power pulls!!) and front/back total-weight-bearing strengthening exercises at PT this week. WOW! I really lost some muscle strength. It's kind of hilarious to see the difference between the right and left sides, but I also realize it will probably be a while before I feel comfortable on the left foot alone, especially on thin steel blades.

[jskater49]

Yea. So I spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Doctor's office insisted I go and scared me to death saying things like "we have no idea if you are bleeding internally unless you get a cat scan!" So I did and I'm not bleeding - just a simple concussion. And the headache stopped after they gave me Tylenol. Was this really necesary?

j

[doubletoe]

Yellow Jersey: Apparently I landed my axel today. I was on a session before the session that my lesson was during, and I was fooling around and trying jumping the axel, and after the session was over, my coach comes running over and is like, "You landed an axel!!" and I was like.. okayy.. haha.

And also we started prep for all of the doubles, flip-backspin, salchow-backspin and the others. Next lesson she's going to put me in the harness and we're going to try doing the actual doubles!!! YAY!

You mean you didn't stop and think, after landing backwards, "Wait. . . I landed backwards. . . and I took off forwards. . . and I know it wasn't a waltz jump, so. . . OMG, I just landed an AXEL?!" That was exactly how it dawned on me, LOL! Congratulations! :lol:

Yea. So I spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Doctor's office insisted I go and scared me to death saying things like "we have no idea if you are bleeding internally unless you get a cat scan!" So I did and I'm not bleeding - just a simple concussion. And the headache stopped after they gave me Tylenol. Was this really necesary?

J, although it does sound a bit excessive, I suppose you would be kicking yourself if you were to later find that you did have internal bleeding. . . I guess this is what insurance is for, right? Hope you are 100% better by tomorrow!

[jazzpants]

Was this really necesary?YES!!! If nothing else to rule out that you don't have any internal bleeding!!! :twisted:

looplover - Good luck on your Pre-Bronze tests! :D

SynchroSk8r114 - WTG!!! Show that ex-coach why she's an EX-COACH!!! :twisted:

Lanterne Rouge:
Oh, dear... my program is still a mess and we're forced to cut out stuff. We also have to reverse my spin combo and my flip jump somewhere. (I'm beginning to wonder whether having my third and final scratch spin is possible now... :?? Primary coach hasn't given up on that yet though, so that's hopeful.)

Yellow Jersey:
Lucky for me -- the "I'm a little teapot" gesture after my straightline footwork was the first to go. Hated it anyway...besides that it took too much time out of my program! :P :twisted:

[dbny]

Yea. So I spent the afternoon in the emergency room. Doctor's office insisted I go and scared me to death saying things like "we have no idea if you are bleeding internally unless you get a cat scan!" So I did and I'm not bleeding - just a simple concussion. And the headache stopped after they gave me Tylenol. Was this really necesary?

j

OK, for the third time, YES! Intracranial bleeding can be life threatening. Best not to take a chance. So glad you are OK.

[jskater49]

OK, for the third time, YES! Intracranial bleeding can be life threatening. Best not to take a chance. So glad you are OK.

Yea but isn't there some other way besides an expensive Catscan? Are the symptoms really no different than a simple concussion? I just can't help thinking this was more for the lawyers sake than mine. But yea, I'd rather do all that and be okay than the alternative. Just seems this is what adds to healthcare costs and there must be another way.

Second time this summer I've hit my head - pretty soon I'm gonna have to wear a helmet! 8O

j

[dbny]

Yea but isn't there some other way besides an expensive Catscan? Are the symptoms really no different than a simple concussion? I just can't help thinking this was more for the lawyers sake than mine. But yea, I'd rather do all that and be okay than the alternative. Just seems this is what adds to healthcare costs and there must be another way.
j

I suppose you could wait it out. If you don't pass out or start convulsing or garbling your speech or going weak on one side, then you could assume you were OK. I would not want to wait and risk developing serious symptoms in the middle of the night and maybe just never wake up.

[jazzpants]

I suppose you could wait it out. If you don't pass out or start convulsing or garbling your speech or going weak on one side, then you could assume you were OK. I would not want to wait and risk developing serious symptoms in the middle of the night and maybe just never wake up.Well, all I will say (to jskater49) is... which do you value more? Your money or your life? ;)

[Jeanne D]

Yea but isn't there some other way besides an expensive Catscan? Are the symptoms really no different than a simple concussion? I just can't help thinking this was more for the lawyers sake than mine. But yea, I'd rather do all that and be okay than the alternative. Just seems this is what adds to healthcare costs and there must be another way.

Second time this summer I've hit my head - pretty soon I'm gonna have to wear a helmet! 8O

j

Wear a helmut. Talk to your doctor about consecutive concussions because from what I've been hearing lately it can lead to very serious problems.

If it were me that suffered a concussion, I would not be back on the ice until it was fully healed. And I'm not a wimp. Allright...maybe I am!

[Jeanne D]

"Lanterne rouge" - "red light" I wondered what that was. Hoping to watch some of the Tour d'France. I hope not to see any collisions!

Yellow Jersey:
Skated barefoot and it was great.
Afternoon session was warm and finally this summer I could skate in a t-shirt towards the end of the session.
My camel spin is improving. I've been working this position off ice.


Lanterne Rouge:
Went flying on forward perimeter stroking. I figured out what caused it. Hadn't been skating for 3 weeks, timing was off. My upper body was too far forward and when I placed my right foot down for the inside glide, I hit the toe pick. Flew onto my right thigh, right forearm, nasty bruises both places. Did it right in front of two instructors and their students. One instructor told me I took the fall very well. Ouch! Another student said "big noise" when I fell. :lol:

[jskater49]

Wear a helmut. Talk to your doctor about consecutive concussions because from what I've been hearing lately it can lead to very serious problems.

If it were me that suffered a concussion, I would not be back on the ice until it was fully healed. And I'm not a wimp. Allright...maybe I am!

I'm not wearing a helmet. :roll: And I'm getting my skates permanently mounted so there's no chance going back on the ice before Monday and the docter said I could skate today as long as I didn't do anything strenuous.

Regarding my money or my life - obviously I chose to get the proceedure but I'm kind of getting tired of being blamed (as the general public) for raising the cost of health care by getting unnecesary proceedures on the one hand and being scolded for valuing money over my life if I question the necessity of expensive proceedures. It's kind of a no-win proposistion.

j

[Jeanne D]

I'm not wearing a helmet. :roll: And I'm getting my skates permanently mounted so there's no chance going back on the ice before Monday and the docter said I could skate today as long as I didn't do anything strenuous.

j

I wouldn't wear a helmut either, I'd rather not skate if I had to do that. Didn't mean to sound bossy (can't help it, I'm the oldest of 6 children)! I wonder what your doctor would have said though, if you had mentioned a concussion on top of another concussion and the ramifications of that.

It's possible in skating to give yourself a concussion without doing anything strenuous.

[jskater49]

I wouldn't wear a helmut either, I'd rather not skate if I had to do that. Didn't mean to sound bossy (can't help it, I'm the oldest of 6 children)! I wonder what your doctor would have said though, if you had mentioned a concussion on top of another concussion and the ramifications of that.

It's possible in skating to give yourself a concussion without doing anything strenuous.

I didn't have a concussion on top of a concussion - a few weeks ago I hit my head skating but my elbow broke the fall and I did not have a concussion. I haven't had a concussion for 5 years (skating) The reason I questioned the cat scan is I went to the doctor then too and nobody said anything about a catscan.

j

[Jeanne D]

I didn't have a concussion on top of a concussion - a few weeks ago I hit my head skating but my elbow broke the fall and I did not have a concussion. I haven't had a concussion for 5 years (skating) The reason I questioned the cat scan is I went to the doctor then too and nobody said anything about a catscan.

j

Sorry ... I worded that wrong. You now have a concussion, what if you were to go skating and received another one. That's where I'd be very cautious. As I've said, a concussion on top of a concussion that hasn't fully healed can be serious. And your doctor said not too strenous....you can fall down barely moving in skating and give yourself a concussion.

[jskater49]

Sorry ... I worded that wrong. You now have a concussion, what if you were to go skating and received another one. That's where I'd be very cautious. As I've said, a concussion on top of a concussion that hasn't fully healed can be serious. And your doctor said not too strenous....you can fall down barely moving in skating and give yourself a concussion.

I think we've beat this dead horse enough ;) I think if I have to trust my doctor to get a cscan, I can trust the doctor to tell me when I can skate :D

I was actually fine by last night.

j

[jskater49]

And to beat my own dead horese, I could get out of bed and fall against the the dresser and get a concussion. Life is risky.

j

[Mrs Redboots]

Joelle, I'm so glad it wasn't serious. Friend of mine had a concussion a year or so ago and was off work for three months, never mind off skating!

Yellow Jersey: We didn't skate today, but we did go to the fitter, and the Husband is now the proud owner of a pair of Gam 95s (or are they 950s - that model, anyway, one up from his old pair) with MK Pro blades. And orthotics, as he pronates a bit, and Fitter said it would make it easier for him to get his back outside edges. MK Pros rather than Aces as Fitter said they were a good all-purpose blade if you danced as much as, if not more than, you free skated.

I had my left boot punched out, which should be a whole lot more comfortable, and got new laces.

[jazzpants]

I think we've beat this dead horse enough ;)

Okay, let's beat FrankR's dead horse then!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://gymgossip.com/Smileys/Kustom/beatdeadhorse5.gif

(Beating FrankR to the punch before he reads this and posts that smiley...) :twisted: :lol:

Glad so far all is well, Joelle...

[jskater49]

Okay, let's beat FrankR's dead horse then!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://gymgossip.com/Smileys/Kustom/beatdeadhorse5.gif

(Beating FrankR to the punch before he reads this and posts that smiley...) :twisted: :lol:

Glad so far all is well, Joelle...


LOL! Where do you get these pictures!?

[Skate@Delaware]

Joelle, I'm so glad it wasn't serious. Friend of mine had a concussion a year or so ago and was off work for three months, never mind off skating!

Yellow Jersey: We didn't skate today, but we did go to the fitter, and the Husband is now the proud owner of a pair of Gam 95s (or are they 950s - that model, anyway, one up from his old pair) with MK Pro blades. And orthotics, as he pronates a bit, and Fitter said it would make it easier for him to get his back outside edges. MK Pros rather than Aces as Fitter said they were a good all-purpose blade if you danced as much as, if not more than, you free skated.

I had my left boot punched out, which should be a whole lot more comfortable, and got new laces.
Great!!! My husband got dance blades, though we freestyle more than dance. Are the tails/heels of the Pros shorter than the Aces?

I am thinking of getting my left boot punched out a bit-my bunion KILLS me when I get done skating! Of course, I'm skating in 80+ degree room...maybe I'll wait and see how it works out when I'm back on real ice!

jskater49: I'm glad you are ok and feeling perky again! I had a concussion last year and developed vertigo from it (altho I think I've always had dizziness, it just comes out more often now-must have knocked something loose!!!). I don't wear a helmet either, but if I get the notion to try hockey skates again, I will wear FULL GEAR including HELMET and MOUTHGUARD (which keeps your jaw from banging which is what happened to me; my teeth hurt for a week).

[Jeanne D]

Okay, let's beat FrankR's dead horse then!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://gymgossip.com/Smileys/Kustom/beatdeadhorse5.gif

(Beating FrankR to the punch before he reads this and posts that smiley...) :twisted: :lol:

Glad so far all is well, Joelle...

OMG....that looks like Chocolate, a horse I had when I was a teen!

I'm glad you're OK Joelle. No more talk about concussions, alternating, consecutive or otherwise!;)

[jazzpants]

LOL! Where do you get these pictures!?Well, that one I got from another post that FrankR posted the last time someone mentions something about "beating a dead horse."

But I usually get my smiles from these board:

http://www.cosgan.de/smilies.php
http://mysmilies.com

I also rip off smileys from other boards too ... just get the URL for the smiley, click on the Insert Image button, paste the URL on the dialog box, click OK and it's there! :D

[Morgail]

Yellow Jersey:
-Attempted some layback spins. I've got the leg position down, and I can lean back a little, but as soon as I see those lights spinning above me I stand up again. But they were lots of fun, and I felt as though I really had some speed in them.
-I did a flip-loop!! And landed the loop! Whee!
-My 12 yr old skating buddy randomly landed two flips today. I did a flip, and then she decided to try one, and landed it. Very happy for her:)
-Jumps were all good; lutz is still annoyingly close, but I keep putting my foot down.

Lanterne Rouge:
-Moves. Okay, they weren't all bad. I think I'm just starting to get nervous about them since I'm testing them at the end of August. It's the 8-step mohawk (which isn't bad when I remember everything I need to do) and the 3-turn patterns that are bugging me. The second edge on all my back 3s wobbles a bit (yet another weight-shifting problem). And my lobes aren't the same size - I keep forgetting to look to the end of the rink to mark my position.
-Said 12 yr old skating buddy fell backwards and hit her head. I hope she's okay.

[RinkRat321]

Yellow Jersey
landed double loop twice (but not untill after my lesson)
spiral pattern was good
double flip was close
my coach wants me to do more competitions in the fall which excites mee - i lovee love love to compete :mrgreen:

Lanterne Rouge
i couldnt do double loop in my lesson, it was weird i just wouldnt go for it.
the rest of my MITF were terribleeeee.
i was getting really frustrated in my lesson
Axel is landed, but i'm having trouble getting more height
cant get the hang of double toe :frus:
my coach doesnt think im ready to test at the next sessionn :(

bah rough practice.

[Mrs Redboots]

Great!!! My husband got dance blades, though we freestyle more than dance. Are the tails/heels of the Pros shorter than the Aces?I don't know, we haven't any Aces left in the house to compare! But Coach2 said this morning, "Well, that is interesting. He told [one of her skaters] that the Pros would give her more grip and a better pick in than the Aces. What do you reckon he's just run out of Aces?"

I am thinking of getting my left boot punched out a bit-my bunion KILLS me when I get done skating! Of course, I'm skating in 80+ degree room...maybe I'll wait and see how it works out when I'm back on real ice!Get it done. Now. Don't wait. Made the most incredible difference, I could scarcely believe it!