Daylight or Darkness? 12/17-12/23/2007 Practice Thread

[liz_on_ice]

The longest night of the year is this week. With the Solstice, we can celebrate the return of sunshine to our lives, and dawn moving back to early morning where it belongs. Except for our far Southern companions who will see the days shorten. Are you skating in the dark, or are you already in daylight?

Daylight - Sal going quite well, who'd have thunk it after hearing me whine for all these months? Had a couple of change foot spins where I even got a couple of revs after the change.

DD was in the rink skating show last night with her learn to skate group. She was so excited to be the one who was skating, while I left mine at home. :D

Darkness - Trying to stay off the flat on the dance step, it seems impossible on the FOM. I'm just convinced I'm going to fall backwards onto my head and chicken out to a flat just before the step. I know it's just in my head, I have a good lean on BO edge rolls both ways, but the transition is scary.

Daylight - I have a hard time with off the rack dresses because I'm tall. I tried a twizzle extra large, but it was huge around. I finally took the thing out of the closet and attacked it with the serger. Now it is a stunning custom fit. I think I'll be trimming it up for my next competition dress. One more lesson before coach goes on vacation for the holidays, we'll see if she approves the color.

[jskater49]

Darkness - That's what it is when I start Power class at 6 am. Both DD and I are going backward full speed....coach yells warning but it's way to late - POW a back to back collision. I swear I run into my daughter more than anyone else.

Since it was the last class we got to do "requests" and what they love to do is skate each other's program - so you follow the person around and do their program. DD did her Novice freestyle. Yea right. Even she was too tired to finish it. I had better luck with the pre-pre program. We never got to mine.

Then my DD helped me with the Swing. She's going to start teaching Dance to the lower level dance students since our coach is leaving (yes she's a PSA member and will be taking her basic accrediation test soon) She's picked up a bad habit from our former coach. She yells "NO" when you do something wrong. Told DD "I didn't find that helpful when _____ did it and it doesn't work any better from you" But she did help me with picky stuff "Keep your feet closer on back chasses, point your toe in the swing roll" and straightened me out on the timing of chasses which was off.

Daylight My mohawks are fine now so I can work on other parts of the dance.

[Sessy]

I pulled an all-nighter last night and only slept a few hours AFTER the deadline this morning. Also I've been having this flu which makes me nauseous if I try to eat anything other than fruit for days now, and I practiced a lot of sit spins today. So after an hour, I was *completely* broken. Though I think there's a little bit of progress with the sit spin now that I'm bending my free leg like the class coach suggested.

The camel's kind of back though. It felt more secure in lessen yesterday.

I did film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru7xJyWMsYw
I also kinda did a few attempts at a layback and scratch (the not a clue about them being called is for the dutch skating forum), it would actually help if I knew what I were doing, since we're not getting that in class. The only one I was actually bending back on it, not just looking up, was 95% out of the filming area so that sucked.

Apparently I look down on my crossrolls (never knew), and all the uncentered spins do still seem to have that leg which I rush forward which doubletoe pointed out last time, but more spins have been centered since I'm aware of it, so it's working on it.

[Morgail]

Darkness:
-my Silver Moves need a lesson. Desperately. Especially the 8-step mohawk and the 3-turns. And the cross strokes.

Daylight:
-pulled off a couple decent sit spins & even a couple sit-change-sits :) They aren't back to normal, but they're getting closer!
-did a few camels that were better than Saturday's; even tried a couple of camel-sits (not pretty, but I could do them!)
-spirals
-backspins felt more secure
-power pulls have improved some

[Skittl1321]

Daylight Got 30 minutes of practice time in on Sunday- when I normally don't get to skate. I was in jeans, so it was a real light practice. Ran my bronze moves, did some spins and waltz jumps, then went grocery shopping. It was nice to be on the ice.

Darkness I'm not going to be able to test my bronze moves in February :( I passed PB Free late this summer, and had hoped to have bronze moves ready by February, but my coach hasn't really been focusing on them, and recently I found out I was practicing some things wrong. They aren't BAD, I'd say they are okay- I could take the test to see if I luck into a pass, but I want to be able to skate the test in my sleep before I go and test it. These tests make me so nervous- just reading the test thread, and reading about tests makes my heart pound. So I'll probably have to wait until the summer :( unless there are some late spring tests too. It seems like all the clubs have February sessions. I wish they would take note of other clubs sessiosn and then scatter them a bit- so you could retry at a different club.

[jskater49]

Daylight Darkness I'm not going to be able to test my bronze moves in February :( I passed PB Free late this summer, and had hoped to have bronze moves ready by February, but my coach hasn't really been focusing on them, and recently I found out I was practicing some things wrong.

Bronze moves are tricky. They fool you into thinking they are easy, and I discovered if they seemed too easy to me, I was doing them wrong. I practiced the back crossovers for months with my weight on the wrong foot!

j

[liz_on_ice]

Darkness - Waking up in the pitch black, driving to the rink in utter dark. Getting my cold sleep-deprived butt moving. Jumps were not happening, I was just grounded.

Coming to the end of my program and wondering why there is so much music left - oh yes, because I forgot the salchow. :frus:

Sunlight - Good edges and flow. Nice speed on back spiral. FO mohawk in the dance step getting edgier. Some progress on backspin.

Walking out of the rink into a stunning winter sunrise. It is so beautiful, I catch my breath.

[Rusty Blades]

In The Spotlight: Wow, what a skate! Had a REAL good work out and worked on a bit of everything. Actually had a couple of Toe Loops get UP in the air and land solidly (though the check-out needs some cleanup). A couple of Waltz/Toe combinations really clicked, as did some of the Upright Spins. In lesson with coach, some of the Sit Spins actually happened and were low enough to count.

For an over-weight 58 year old broad who has been skating not quite 2 years sometimes I amaze myself!

Blackout! By the time I got to the office OMG was I stiff and sore!

[Isk8NYC]

Daylight:
All that stretching is paying off - someone noticed the height of my spiral leg!
Managed a decent spiral sequence several times.
MITF were good; moved the crossover circle patterns to center ice instead of using the hockey circles. Much better and controlled.
Threes on the line: almost there! The LFO are still giving me a problem but that's my unpointed toe.
Nailed the Pre-Juv power crossover patterns.

Jumps were good, spins were good. Didn't do any combos - maybe next time.

Darkness:
Not pointing my toes enough on everything.
Camels (fwd/back) are on a walkabout...

[Mrs Redboots]

Daylight: Like Rusty, had a great workout in our lesson this morning. Coach worked us mostly on things that required our shoulders to face one way while our hips stayed square, like runs round the circle and stroking in Foxtrot hold.

Darkness: As a result of which, I am pretty darn stiff!

[momsk8er]

I swear I run into my daughter more than anyone else.

LOL me too, why does that happen? Seems like a magnet between us sometimes.

Daylight - practicing for pre-bronze moves, and it seems to be coming along well. Hope to be testing Jan. 14. Back spin - omg, I can start to see some progress - small, tiny progress. Baby steps. One time around before it turns into three turns. Sometimes one and a half.

Darkness - centering spins again - pulling free foot around too fast (same issue as Sessy). Spirals are coming along - getting foot up above hips. But I still feel sensitive about them b/c I have way too much stomach and butt - doesn't look so pretty. Can only bring myself to try them when there are less than 3 people on the ice.

[blackmanskating]

For an over-weight 58 year old broad who has been skating not quite 2 years sometimes I amaze myself!

Blackout! By the time I got to the office OMG was I stiff and sore!


LOL You are just too funny. Rusty Blades I absolutely love you!!!! LOL :lol: Congrats on your progress that really is pretty amazing. My mom is 44 and I can't get her out on the ice at all.


DayLight: Worked on edge pulls like crazy today. They were better than they've ever been. I finally got the idea of getting down in the ankles. It's really helping my 3 turns and my jump entrances too. Axels were effortless today. I was actually overrotating the first 3 attempts. Held back the rotation a little and was able to land cleanly. I did at least 10 of them just to set them in my muscle memory. Then we went on to axel-loop and then axel-double loop. axel-loop was fine and I almost had the double loop on the end. I have to work on stabilizing the landing on the axel with the free foot still forward. I'm so used to going into a landing position that it feels funny to hold the free leg in front and jump again. I'm leaning too far forward for the double loop. I don't have the control to go up into a double just yet. But give me time and I'll be there.

Darkness: Flying Camel still sux. Double lutz still isn't happening for me. I have no idea why. It's probably all mental. Ohh well. Today was a good skating day.


BlackManSkating

[jazzpants]

Okay, this is REALLY the last lesson with primary coach for this year! HONEST!!! (Actually I got a phone call from primary coach that afternoon asking if I want to take a Monday night lesson since I'm gonna be there anyway. I took it!!! So I wasn't lying when I said last Thursday was my last lesson with primary coach for the year... :halo: )

Daylight:
Landed a bunch of loops and flips!!! Camel spins are getting there. Just have to STAY DOWN!!! (The torso that is...) The new footwork for the FS program is slightly smoother but still slow in parts.

Darkness:
No Loop-loops landed during the lesson. Landed one RIGHT AFTER the lesson and the guy who was watching my lesson saw it and cheered!!! This brings me to...

Murphy's Law of skating #3: You will never land one during your lesson... but you will always land one RIGHT AFTER your lesson and your coach is off with another student (and isn't watching you!!! :giveup: )

Also, back sits are funky.... and I gotta learn to do this spin faster, since I want to guaratee that I'll get in at least 3 revs. in during my program in position. Of course, doesn't help that primary coach made me do this spin at the beginning of the lesson AND the public session (i.e. NO WARMUP!!!) :evil:

[Kim to the Max]

Daylight:
I actually got to skate today!! After bad weather and bad luck (my car got hit on Thursday and is now in the shop :( ), I FINALLY got to skate today! It was wonderful :D after not being on the ice for a week.

I also contacted the person on campus who coordinates the LTS at our rink and she's going to keep me in mind for LTS in the future :) soooo excited!

Got my skates sharpened...but, that also leads into the "darkness"....

Jumps were good...minus the lutz...

Moves were really good today! I was able to get my power circles to exit on opposite ends, the power-3 pattern felt good, back double-3s were good...the outsides need a bit more control, but nothing horrible, brackets were decent...still turning too early on some of the back outsides, and the slide chasse pattern was nice and fast and controlled.

Darkness:
With the skates sharpened, I found that I was skidding a bit into my spins...don't know what that's about....but I do know that a previous sharpening had caused a "dip" right behind my toepick (darn hockey sharpener! :twisted: ) so, my current sharpener is trying to get rid of that, so every time I get my skates sharpened, I need to readjust.

My mind is playing tricks on me with my lutz. I didn't land a one tonight :( The lutz is that one jump that always gave me issues as a kid, which is quite weird because my flips are awesome (I know...not the same jump...they are on different edges, but to me they have similar qualities). I only ever landed my lutz in competition once :( So, I definitely think I have something mental going on...I KNOW I can land that jump, and I have done it, but shoot, there is just something about it!

The ice was really crowded today...was only able to try 2 lutzes without gaining points for taking someone out....but, the second session was empty...nice for doing moves :)

[vesperholly]

Daylight: I've been practicing doing my axels in a "program" atmosphere - ie, out of steps/preceeding elements. So far it's been flying camel, lutz, spiral, axel, and the axel is about 90% successful. Axel-loop still isn't very consistent as it depends on a just -right axel to get the loop off, so I may have to do just one axel in my competitive program. Also officially learned the Blues today!

Darkness: Blues will require much practice before it is ready to solo at Sectionals. I may have to work on the Damn Tango more, as I can see how the steps for the Blues really builds on things you learn in the Tango.

[liz_on_ice]

Daylight - lesson this morning, worked hard on toeloop takeoff and finer points of program. Showed her the dress I'm planning to use - I have a twizzle velvet tress in XL, which I bought for the length because I'm tall, but was just huge around. I took it in by adding princess line seams and now it fits great and has more interest with the extra lines. I'm going to add stones and feathers (coach said think bird for the program) to dress it up for competition.

Darkness - coach on vacation, no lessons till sometime in January. sob.

[Skittl1321]

Daylight Passed Freestyle 1 for the fourth time! LOL (The group lessons I take do elements up through Freestyle 4, but for whatever reason the coach only evaluates us to Freestyle 1- because most of the kids can't do the waltz 8, or chasses or whatever the "extra" in the level is. I've actually passed through Freestyle 3, although now my backspin has regressed, I couldn't pass it now).

We worked on mohawks for the first part of class. He asked for a 5 step mohawk, so I did 3 lobes of it, and then realized everyone else was going in a circle. I skated back- and asked if I did the wrong pattern, because I was confused how it wasn't changing feet. Turned out everyone else was doing a 4 step mohawk, and not well, so he told me to just switch to that. On my bad side I worked on speed in this pattern (since the 4 step is fairly easy) and was only sort of wobbly. On my good side I really could fly, got a great compliment from the instructor, then switched to outside mohawks instead- just so I wouldn't run down the kids. The outside mohawks are slowly getting better. My "good" outside mohawks might actually be better than my bad inside mohawks.

I also got a compliment on a split jump- but I don't think it was because it was good, so much as because I was the only one opening into a "center" split instead of a "side" split.

Before LTS I had to go shopping, but there were so few people on the ice I grabbed 20 minutes of solid practice time for moves instead. I really pysched myself out on the 3 turns and was putting my foot down on the left side almost everyturn, if I could even get into the turn. The 5-step is a little better, but pretty pitiful. My alt forward crossovers are going well, I just need to count how many I do, because the second side tends to have more power, and I do fewer. Can't do that! My backward alt crossovers have the same problems. My backward crossovers to back outside edge are getting better. I'm not leaning over like a tippy bird anymore! BUT my left leg was shaking like crazy when I was holding the right edge. Don't know what that is about.

I'm also a bit worried about my focus, especially on the back crossovers. My coach is having me do them fast with power, placement of weight is obviously important, but secondary to a strong push from both feet- and I've noticed another skater who is practicing with her coach, who is going very slowly and methodically- showing every weight transfer. I know she can skate fast- so I'm assuming she isn't doing it on purpose. Same on power 3s. My coach wants fast and strong- but another (different from the first) skater and her coach are doing the same move, but slow and methodical, with even size lobes on both sides of the axis (my crossover lobes are larger than my turn lobes). I guess i need to dig out my rulebook. I probably also need to stop paying attention to other skaters and just listen to my coach!

Darkness LTS is over until January- and then I miss the first class. I used to really dislike group lessons but this instructor is fantastic! He really does a good job of working with the group, and he's a really great coach when he works one on one. :(

Also, I have really bad tendonitis in my feet/ankles and it hadn't been bothering me for a long time, and skating hasn't really aggrevated it. Well yesterday something (non-skating) got it really flamed up, and then skating was just horrible. During the group class we did half-loops and I thought my foot was going to fall off it hurt so badly (since I was landing on the foot that had been hurting). My moves mad it hurt a bit too, but nothing like that jump! Today I can hardly walk, but I don't think that's so much to do with skating- since this has been going on for years and years.

[jskater49]

Darkness

It's so dark and cold in the morning!:cry:

Daylight

First time in weeks I've actually made it to my lesson on time.

We started with the 5 step mohawk but worked more on steps 2-4 than the mohawk. I seemd to be reluctant to really open up and look back on the back outside edge. Also worked on really bending my knees and leaning so I step forward on a true outside edge. She doesnt' even want me to do anything other than those on the line for now.

Then we did my two foot slaloms that are preparing me for power pulls. She said they looked good and I'm better at getting power from both feet...but we didn't move ahead to one foot yet.

Then we dragged out my artistic since I'm competing that in mid-January. I dont' think I've done it since I competed it in November so I was amazed that I remembered it. I thought I did it better than when I competed it but when I said that to my coach she said "You think so?" and made no more comment.

I was supposed to run through my freestyle during my practice but no one was playing music and I'm not good at "push and run" so I just ran through it without music. THis January is my daughter's last competition and then she's going to focus on testing - I think after this I too will just work on dance and moves. I never really did like freestyle. Today I don't like it anyway.

j

[Mrs Redboots]

Daylight: Last lesson with Coach1 for the year (we have two more lessons with Coach2, though). Last time we have to get up at 5:45, as I finish work tomorrow, and until I find a new job, 6:00 will have to do and it feels much more civilised!

Darkness: Still don't really understand how to finish off my edges properly. Coach1 was trying to help me do this today.

Do find it hard to keep my hips forward and to rebend properly for the push-off on forward swing rolls. I keep dropping my hips, and sticking my bum out. Sigh.

[tidesong]

Daylight
Well I'm techincally on holiday in the US and my jumps aren't gone, so I guess thats a good thing, I skated outdoors for the first time ever and even once in the rain lol... (and it was still less wet than my local rink on a bad day... go figure)

I also skated at hackensack... if anyone else saw me idling the whole day away there... please come up and say hi... kinda bored doing that because my mum can only send me there in the morning and pick me up after work... won't be there tomorrow though, friday next

Darkness
My knee kinda hurts... but I brought my tennis ball and exercise band so I can continue physio exercises incase my knee would go bonkers (and it did) so yeah...

[tidesong]

No Loop-loops landed during the lesson. Landed one RIGHT AFTER the lesson and the guy who was watching my lesson saw it and cheered!!! This brings me to...


I totally agree about that murphy's law thing!!! Always happens, I personally think that its due to the different pressure when the lesson is done. Anyways I always tell myself that it only means that if I can land it infront of coach, then its going to be so much consistent by then no?

[doubletoe]

Daylight
Well I'm techincally on holiday in the US and my jumps aren't gone, so I guess thats a good thing, I skated outdoors for the first time ever and even once in the rain lol... (and it was still less wet than my local rink on a bad day... go figure)

I also skated at hackensack... if anyone else saw me idling the whole day away there... please come up and say hi... kinda bored doing that because my mum can only send me there in the morning and pick me up after work... won't be there tomorrow though, friday next


How fun!! Where did you skate outdoors?
Sorry you're a little bored, but I must say, if I had to be stuck somewhere all day, that rink would be at the top of the list! Whom have you seen practicing there this week?

[jazzpants]

Darkness:

Screwed up my first loop on my first run thru. Secondary coach stopped the music immediately and had me start over.

Daylight:

Landed my loop on the second try at the second and full run thru and then made me go thru the beginning again right up to the loop and landed that one, just b/c I just don't wanna have to go thru another try at the beginning b/c I'm just so tired from the second full run thru.

Darkness again:

Flip is in need of a LOT of work. It's landed clean for the most part, but I need to fix quite a bit of the technique.

Waltz jump was funky until...

Daylight again:

I "walk thru it" at the wall a few times, THEN it's okay!

And in off ice training news:

My other personal trainer (not the ballet one) did another measurement, since by now I should be at my goal for her:

Weight: 122 lb. (this is with gym clothes on, which means I'm really somewhere between 120-121lb. Oops! I lost some! I'll gain it back again in NYC though. JUUUUUST wait!!! :twisted:

Body Fat %: Well, not to trust that little machine but... I'm now at 25.4%

Hip: 36"
Waist: 29 1/2" !!! (Nothing for over a month!!! God, I hate that tummy!!! :evil: :frus: )
Chest: 32 1/2" (It shrunk!!! :( Gotta go find some clothes to "add some more to the top"!!! :lol: :P )

I can't remember the arm measurements. We are now working on maintanance and it seems the goal is to tone more at the arms, upper back, shoulders... basically all upper body and abs. She said I need to "redistribute the weight around." Of course, she said "Short of surgery, I can't redistribute my abs to my chest. Sorry!!!" (DRATS!!!) :frus: :lol:

[Skate@Delaware]

darkness......did not skate tonight. Son was (is) sick with bronchitis and looks terrible! Altho he can stay home by himself I felt better staying home with him while hubby went to work....so I worked on costumes.

My coach did call and remind me that next week she would not be there for lessons (day after Christmas)...Which leaves about 2 weeks to prepare for the exhibition! YIKES!!! At least my program is only 1 minute long! And I haven't done crossovers in about a month!

Oh well....it's just an exhibition! I can HAM it up!!!!

as one of the girls at the rink says, "GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!!"

[Skate@Delaware]

Daylight - lesson this morning, worked hard on toeloop takeoff and finer points of program. Showed her the dress I'm planning to use - I have a twizzle velvet tress in XL, which I bought for the length because I'm tall, but was just huge around. I took it in by adding princess line seams and now it fits great and has more interest with the extra lines. I'm going to add stones and feathers (coach said think bird for the program) to dress it up for competition.

Darkness - coach on vacation, no lessons till sometime in January. sob.
Be careful with the feathers...they tend to shed on the ice. An old trick is to spray them with Aquanet Hairspray....try it a bit first (not on the dress!!!!) and see how that does.

Most rinks ban feathers, fyi, because of the shedding; you just can't seem to get away from it.

[singerskates]

Daylight:
Where did it go????? :roll:

Not much happened good today. I did finish off all the music cd's I had to get done for one of the coaches; all 12 of them. I also finally found, edited and remastered my Interpretive FS music; When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne because well when I'm gone to my competitions this year my hubby won't be there and I'll miss him. Same when he goes to work all day. Yup, I'm a hopeless romantic. I just about cried when I had my husband listen to my Interp music today. 8-)

Darkness:
By the time I got out of the house to head to the rink, it was almost dark. I was late not just for the Big Little Skate (I program assist/teach on this) and CanSkate(assist/teach on this too) but I only had 20 minutes on the ice for my session which was the last bit of ice for the day. Why was I late? Those 12 skating music program CDs took more time up then I expected and my computer was acting up and hiding one of the music files I ripped from the original CD the coach gave me on which to work. I thought it was going to be fast editing someone else's half baked edits. It was not. It was hide and seek all the way looking for those places where she had cut her music but was not exactly cut right. And then, I had to do major work on the sound levels and also they needed reverb and then to be normalized to get the full potential of the sound without going over board with screeching.

[Skittl1321]

Daylight Good moves lesson- including working on the silver 3 turns in the field (one of my favorites- but since he's since me do it in practice, now he wants it "right"). I'm still real anxious about the difference in how I do the patterns to some of the other skaters- so I think I'm going to take the bronze mitf test in february and consider it a "sure to fail critic" (there is no way the mohawk pattern will pass, and a good chance the power 3s won't). That way I can hear what judges have to say, and I think the more tests I do the less freaked out I will get about them.

Worked on sit spins, including some new hand positions. My favorite hand position was taken away from me :(

Darkness Worked on camels. I have no interest in doing camels right now, they scare the crap out of me and i don't feel like I'm ready for them yet. I'm not comfortable practicing them without my coach because of the crowded sessions. I just do not see the point right now.

Pitch Black Got incredibly sick all of the sudden during syncrho. I had to excuse myself from the ice and call my husband to get me because I was incredibly "sick", could barely walk, freezing and sweating at the same time, and could barely hold my head up. It went away about 4 hours after I got home and now I just feel like my leg muscles have disappeared and I have a really really bad stomach ache. I really do not have time to be sick- and I hate missing synchro. (Though with 3/4 of the team gone yesterday was the day to miss!)

[momsk8er]

Daylight - This morning was a good practice. Did moves for about 20 minutes, then practices jumps, spirals and backspin. Moves are feeling ok, getting more control in the 3 turn pattern. Hopefully passing standard. Jumps are getting more comfortable, with more height. That is waltz, sal, and toe. And the half jumps. Still not getting much play on the half loop though. Tried a flip, but wasn't getting all the way around.

Darkness - well, I was pretty happy with everything, but the backspin is still a bear. I'm practicing now from a scratch spin to a change foot spin, and I get around nicely with one rev and then the next rev switches to three turns. I can feel myself turn my foot. I guess I don't have any confidence that I will keep turning if I stay on that outside edge.

The greatest thing this morning was only one other skater on the ice!

[quarkiki2]

Hope you're feeling better this morning, Jessi!

We just played around with the new music some more and left early, so nothing missed. We sort of laid out pass-throughs after the straight line footwork, then a quick circle into a pinwheel, then maybe another pass-through and finish with pinwheels. We'll see...

I had turned in a 3.5 minute cut of just "Smooth" -- which, IMO, sounded better than the cuts from last night -- but I'm not the coach, so it's not up to me, LOL!

[Sessy]

The flu and throat infection are making me all dizzy and weak, so I just did a few rounds of back power 3's, crossovers, edgework and a few dozen very lazy 1-foot-spins and scratch spins. Surprisingly, despite the cold, dizzyness and nausea, those were centered (that's never happened before, usually with a cold I don't center a single one). Even though my balance was quite shot today. Which kind of makes me hopeful they might stay centered under testing conditions too.
After that I just did a few dozen biellmanns. I'm getting the hang of the edge change.

[Rusty Blades]

PITCH BLACK!!!! I was looking forward to another great skate this morning. I was at the rink bright and early (as usual) but it seems I left my body home in bed! 8O I was tripping over my own feet today :?? Twice I just about ended up on my backside and I simply DON'T DO THAT! :roll: After a half hour I realized I was a danger to myself and packed it in. :giveup:

Glimmer of Daylight: Went for breakfast with my coach and had a nice chat..

Not quite daylight: I REALLY miss the adults from my former club :cry: - love 'em all and lost touch with everybody. Seems I am persona non gratis for leaving

[Helen88]

Darkness

Thought I was going skating after school - got home and was told by a rather frustrated parent, that after Thames water had showed up late to fix something with our water, they botched it, and are SUPPOSED (they're not here yet) to be coming again to finished the job. So I'm sat here typing this, when I should be at the rink.

Not happy :giveup:

[*JennaD*]

Darkness:

I probably won't get to skate again until the new year....stupid exams!!!
My axel still isn't 100% back...its coming back thoguh...its jsut that before, it was so effortless and easy, and now I have to really force it to land an ok axel...

Daylight:

My double sal was ok...nothing special, but my double loop is getting much better (is it normal that my double loop is better than my axel??? lol) and since it was my last skate for a while, I decided that I would try either double toe or double flip (I've learned both in lessons but I haven't practiced either that mcuch on my own)...but since my double toe is kind of dangerous for me to do (It actually IS dangerous....I wouldn't be surprised if I fall on my head someday...lol it needs serious help from my coach :P ), so I decided to work on double flip and I landed a few!!! they were 1/2 turn cheated, but I'm really happy I landed some :)

[Isk8NYC]

I very impulsively moved my blade this morning before Coffee Club. I was tired of leaving messages for the pro shop expert and not getting any responses, so I decided to channel our own Rusty Blades and DIY. I only moved the right blade, which is on my landing foot and was set all the way to the outside of the slots. I felt like all my weight was resting under my big toe, so I moved that one to the inside 1/2 of the slot.

What an IMMEDIATE incredible difference! Suddenly BO3's are easy, my backspins were centered, controlled, plus I could do combination spins again. Most importantly, I can do toe loops again, including in combinations. The loop jump is sooooo close (both entries) I can taste the landing again.

Daylight:
Prel and Pre-Bronze MITF were excellent, even the threes-on-the-line. Pre-Juv power crossovers were good, although I still get confused on the step forward.

All my spins were good, but the scratch, back scratch, sit-change-sit and laybacks were outstanding.

Waltz, Cabriolet Waltz, Toe Loops, 1/2 jumps and Split jumps were good. Lots of height, not much control...Did a few combinations - Waltz-Toe, Toe-Toe, Waltz-Toe Tape-Waltz. Okay, nothing great.

Spreadeagles and spiral sequences were great. Tango stops were good, but I wouldn't use them in an emergency.

Darkness:
Full Flip and the Loop jump are still cheated on the landing, but much less so than usual.

I still need Lov2Sk8 to drill me on the Twizzles. Still haven't mastered them.

I asked one of the Coffee Club instructors if he would coach me through Prel MITF after the New Year. Hopefully, I'll be able to pass that test and maybe Pre-Bronze MITF as well.

[Sessy]

You're braver than me.
What's a tango stop btw?

[vesperholly]

What's a tango stop btw?
A T-stop with the foot in front.

What's a cabriolet waltz?

[doubletoe]

Pitch Black Got incredibly sick all of the sudden during syncrho. I had to excuse myself from the ice and call my husband to get me because I was incredibly "sick", could barely walk, freezing and sweating at the same time, and could barely hold my head up. It went away about 4 hours after I got home and now I just feel like my leg muscles have disappeared and I have a really really bad stomach ache. I really do not have time to be sick- and I hate missing synchro. (Though with 3/4 of the team gone yesterday was the day to miss!)

Oh, NOOOO! Sounds like you got the flu! :cry: Take care of yourself and get better soon! ((((HUG))))

Darkness
That's what was fading fast when I woke up this morning and saw that it was not 5:00am but 6:00am! 8O My alarm hadn't gone off. Crap! Forgoing my usual shower and hair maintenance, I rushed to the rink and miraculously got on the ice just 10 minutes after the start of the 6:30 session.

Daylight
And it's a good thing I made it, because my secondary coach was there and we had our first lesson in three weeks (she has to travel a lot). Right off the bat she asked to see my spiral sequence, which I was hesitant about, since I hadn't stretched or warmed up my spirals yet. To my surprise, she said both the edge quality and positions were "great"! It's always a surprise when I manage to hit the positions without stretching first, which is something that never would have happened a few months ago. She also helped me fix some awkward connecting steps in my program, and when we were done, she said my PCS had just gone up by 5 points, LOL! Our lesson has put me in a good mood for the rest of the day!
I also managed a sitspin and reverse sit in the new boots this morning. They weren't the best, but at least this means I should be able to do just about anything in them now. Not too bad for less than 3 hours of break-in time. My arches weren't even cramping anymore by the time I got off the ice.

[doubletoe]

I very impulsively moved my blade this morning before Coffee Club. I was tired of leaving messages for the pro shop expert and not getting any responses, so I decided to channel our own Rusty Blades and DIY. I only moved the right blade, which is on my landing foot and was set all the way to the outside of the slots. I felt like all my weight was resting under my big toe, so I moved that one to the inside 1/2 of the slot.

What an IMMEDIATE incredible difference! Suddenly BO3's are easy, my backspins were centered, controlled, plus I could do combination spins again. Most importantly, I can do toe loops again, including in combinations. The loop jump is sooooo close (both entries) I can taste the landing again.


That's great! It gives a whole new positive spin to the expression, "screw yourself"! :lol:

[Isk8NYC]

What's a cabriolet waltz?Waltz jump where you bring your feet together mid-air.

[Skittl1321]

Waltz jump where you bring your feet together mid-air.

Is this named for the jump in ballet "cabriole" where the calfs are beaten together while in the air?

[Isk8NYC]

Is this named for the jump in ballet "cabriole" where the calfs are beaten together while in the air?I think so; many skating terms came from ballet. (Not sure about the spelling - it might be a "salchow" "sowcow" thing, if YKWIM?)

Just takeoff from the FO edge, click the boots together mid air, then land normally on a BO edge. I learned it as an axel prep exercise many years ago.
I feel like I'm freezing in midair, so this forces me to get more comfortable in the air and also practice 'saving' a jump.

[sk8_4fun]

Is this named for the jump in ballet "cabriole" where the calfs are beaten together while in the air?


isn't that entrechat?

[NoVa Sk8r]

(What's a tango stop btw?)A T-stop with the foot in front.It's also called a "show stop."

[Skittl1321]

isn't that entrechat?

I think an entrechat crosses while beating (so you beat front to back), where a cabriole just beats together. I can't get quicktime to load on this computer but ABT has a fantastic video dictionary that could probably clear the difference up. http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/

[Skittl1321]

It's also called a "show stop."

Really? I thought a show stop was a t-stop on one foot. (Does that make sense?)

[Skittl1321]

I think so; many skating terms came from ballet. (Not sure about the spelling - it might be a "salchow" "sowcow" thing, if YKWIM?)

Just takeoff from the FO edge, click the boots together mid air, then land normally on a BO edge. I learned it as an axel prep exercise many years ago.
I feel like I'm freezing in midair, so this forces me to get more comfortable in the air and also practice 'saving' a jump.

It sounds fun- and might be a way to practice getting air time in my waltz jumps- I'll have to give it a try!

[vesperholly]

Waltz jump where you bring your feet together mid-air.
Interesting. It's called a click waltz in my area.

[FlyAndCrash]

This practice is from Monday, but I haven't really had time to post since then.

Daylight/Darkenss (undecided, ask me next week):
My coach decided to have me test prelim moves and FS. After never saying anything about the freeskate during the past two months of trying to arrange my moves test. So I spent 30 min. on Monday working out a free program with her and running through it over and over and over... And we added an extre practice and lesson for me tomorrow. Joy. Oh, and the test is next Monday.

Darkness:
My waltz-toe loop just did not want to work in my program. Even in isolation, it didn't really want to work. Where did my wonderful toe loop of the past few weeks go? My coach and I had even started to work on a double toe!!!
And my salchow was going nowhere. I hate the skid at the beginning of my jump due to my lack of control. I can do a double sal from a stand-still, but not a single at speed. My "easy" (as in the ones I hate the most because they don't agree with me) jumps just weren't working. :frus:

Daylight:
I can do my program and end on time. And I can still remember it. :lol:

Darkness:
I don't really want to do the free portion of the prelim test.

Daylight:
If I pass prelim moves, I might be able to stop doing them! I hate moves!!!

[NoVa Sk8r]

Interesting. It's called a click waltz in my area.I heard someone once call it a "Dorothy waltz," because you click your heels together (though not 3 times). :P

[doubletoe]

I heard someone once call it a "Dorothy waltz," because you click your heels together (though not 3 times). :P

. . . and say, "There's no place like upright. There's no place like upright. . ." ;)

[Isk8NYC]

. . . and say, "There's no place like upright. There's no place like upright. . ." ;)

That's great! It gives a whole new positive spin to the expression, "screw yourself"! :lol:

Badabing..CRASH! You need a snare drumroll for these funnies!

Really? I thought a show stop was a t-stop on one foot. (Does that make sense?)I thought the same thing but I didn't want to say it out loud.

What I learned as a "Tango Stop" is a t-stop with the stopping foot in front, using the outside edge of the blade. Never learned it when I skated, so I've been working on it for a while now. I can only do it on one side. (Right foot stopping.)

[Isk8NYC]

Interesting. It's called a click waltz in my area.

I heard someone once call it a "Dorothy waltz," because you click your heels together (though not 3 times). :P
Never heard either of those terms. Must be a regional difference thing.

[LilJen]

Hee!! I took ballet and knew what "cabriole" meant but for some reason I thought of a VW Rabbit Cabriolet. . . Fahrvergnuegen, everyone!!

Daylight: First real skate out since the hardware removal surgery 11/6. YAY!!! 10 days ago I did make it to synchro practice and wasn't terribly comfortable (although it didn't matter much because (1) several people were gone so we just marked the program while trying to figure out where the missing people would go and (2) we pretty much skate forward only). Today felt a lot better, after I got over the initial "dang my feet hurt because I haven't worn these boots in ages" feeling. Just your basic stroking, edges, a few stupid attempts at my pathetic 2-foot spins. . .

Darkness: 3-turns, mohawks, pretty much anything that requires me to torque the leg is just scary. I mean, I can do them but I'm afraid of them. Also, dd's last day of school for 2 weeks is tomorrow, so I can't ensure I'll actually get a lesson (or any practicing) in until mid-January. I am feeling like I have so much catching up to do--trying to tell myself it's okay, I'll get there, but am feeling like I might never get there.

[Kim to the Max]

Daylight:

Skated at lunch today...and had a moves lesson with coach. Things were really good. Still working on getting the back double-3s a bit faster and I need to wait a bit between the turns, but they were pretty good. Brackets need to get a little bit more consistent, and finally my power circles need to consistently exit on opposite sides of the rink...other than that, things are going well! And those are quite small things to fix. Coach thinks that I might be ready to test in January rather than February! Woo hoo!! :D I get bored quickly and easily, so if I pass, that means a welcome change in the skills I get to work on :)

The ice was EMPTY, and when I got on at noon, the ice was clean! I got to do some jumps and a couple of spins...not too many, but I did land some lutzes :) at least I didn't psych myself out today...

Gave coach her Christmas gift, which was a hit :)

I'm heading to my mom's house in Milwaukee, WI on Sunday...I should be able to get some ice time in while I'm there, and will be able to surprise some people I haven't seen in about 8-9 years :) But I also hope I will be able to get in some good practice time while I'm there...although, I'll be there that week between Christmas and New Years, so, kids will be out of school and the cheap ice will be super crowded...plus, I won't have a car unless I borrow my mom's, which, given my current bad luck when it comes to accidents, may not be a good idea...

Darkness:

I looked at the calendar wrong for the rink on campus...thought there was ice tonight when there wasn't :( Which means that since I returned my rental car (to save some $$$), I didn't get to go tonight..oh well, I'll go tomorrow! There is ice until 7pm tomorrow, and I can take the bus out to the rink...

Because students are gone for the semester, the heat has been turned off in the building...however...energy management seems to forget that people still live here! Had to argue with them today to turn on the auxiliary heat...I'm the only staff member who has to deal with that :(

[Sk8ingQueen]

Daylight:
I had a forty minute lesson with my coach today on empty ice. And I landed two clean loop jumps!

Darkness:
I'm still struggling to put the "power" into my power 3 pattern, and holding on to the back inside edges on my consecutive outside 3-turn pattern (Preliminary MIF).

[Sessy]

Is this named for the jump in ballet "cabriole" where the calfs are beaten together while in the air?

Wow I suddenly get the Dutch expression "capriolen uithalen", (to make caprioles, which means to do stunts/crazy things)

[Mrs Redboots]

That's great! It gives a whole new positive spin to the expression, "screw yourself"! :lol:

. . . and say, "There's no place like upright. There's no place like upright. . ." ;)

Been indulging in the Christmas spirit, have we???? :halo:

As for me:

Daylight: Good practice today - we don't often make it on a Friday, due to Husband's habit of saying "Do you really want to skate this morning?" while I am still warmly wrapped in duvet and sleep.... but we made it this morning.

Biggest success was runs round the circle in waltz hold with him going backwards. You really do have to do proper runs (progressives) rather than crossovers!!! Good training....

Darkness: Still struggling with anti-clockwise in Reverse Kilian hold. Agreed to get Coach2 to look at this on Sunday - clockwise is fine, but no matter what I do, I couldn't face into the circle and it felt as though Husband was pulling me back, even when he wasn't....

[vesperholly]

Daylight: Reeeeally didn't want to skate today but forced myself to go, since I won't have any ice at all next week. Skated pretty well, strong axels and axel-loops - always a barometer - and did a fantastic camel-layback that had a zillion revs (felt like) and was centered on a spot the size of a dinner plate. 8O Should've taken a photo.

I got bored so I did Blues choctaw exercises and then some figure loops. Figures are so intriguing that I may have to drag my butt to skating tomorrow instead of doing laundry. The early afternoon session is usually really dead, so I'm hoping to bring my scribe and do some figures.

Darkness: Why is my double sal so ... bad?! :frus: My layback is STILL travelling like crazy. I've really got to get my spins under control if I want to move up to Championship Gold next year without a double.

[Sessy]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2107/2126844508_60003ed3d1.jpg
It's beginning to look like there may be some nature ice skating this year after all.

[Rusty Blades]

Gloomy: As it turned out yesterday's lousy skate was probably the result of coming down with a cold - I didn't even make it through the day at work.

Daylight: Got lots of sleep and was back at the rink this morning. Tried out my pretty new Freeskate dress on the ice - got lots of Oohs and Ahs and a few pictures. It moves fine though I will have to watch the fuller skirt :roll:

Darkness: Then changed to my practice clothes and found out things were working only slightly better than yesterday :cry: Suggested a change of music for the Interpretive program - listened to it on the rink sounds system with coach - she approves but warns that it will make the program more demanding! 8O

Neither: I thought I was going to be off the ice now until December 27 but Head Coach is hinting very strongly that she expects to see me Monday :lol:

[Scarlett]

Daylight-
Back on the ice after being out sick with a nasty cold.

Darkness-
I cannot seem to grasp the sit spin. What is it with this spin? I cannot spin with my free leg turned out no matter what I do. :frus:

Daylight or darkness (not quite sure)-
Figured out why my jumps have been so wonky - from coach: "Are you trying to land them?" Apparently I land with my arms already reaching for the ice preparing to break the fall. Stopped doing it and my loop and lutz reappeared. Still looking for the flip.

[badaxel]

Daylight- found the GOOD axel this week- the one that's high and easy and actually looks like an axel.
-combo spin has been very strong, and I've been able to hold the positions for a long time
-spiral is much better
-flip/ toe is really high and strong
-INT MIF are feeling really strong
Darkness- I lost my Flying Camel! And, I can't center my laybacks any more! What's going on?
-I've been sick, so getting through the program has been tough
-Oink, Oink, too many cookies!!!!!

[blackmanskating]

Daylight: My program and my MITF were really on point today. And I am proud to say that I have a very consistent and clean axel. No over rotation today.8-) I finally have it locked in my mind and I can do clean combinations with it now. Axel-loop combination is getting more controlled and is cleaner than it's ever been. The double sal was working for me today too. I really don't like salchows so I'm glad to see my double sal return after being gone for so long. Now if only I could get my double lutz to show up again.

Darkness: Had a nasty fall today. I fell on one of my knees. I was too close to the boards to fall on my side. This happened while I was warming up. I think my left blade is a little loose and it caused me to fall. It's probably from all of those double lutz attempts. I didn't feel any pain while I was skating but man my knee hurts now. It's just a soreness though. No sharp pain or anything. Still no luck with the double toe or double lutz. My double loop was underrotated and my camel spin is taking a Christmas break too. They were slow and I was barely getting 4 revs. I couldn't find my center. Even my back sit was off. :frus: Ohh well. There's always Monday after I see my blade sharpener. :roll:


BlackManSkating

[sk8tegirl06]

[QUOTE=Sk8ingQueen;347990]Daylight:
I had a forty minute lesson with my coach today on empty ice. And I landed two clean loop jumps.

Daylight: I went skating 3x this week, 2x with empty ice!! It is amazing what happens to MIF when you can concentrate and not be forced to avoid obstacles. It was a-mazing! :D I just started some of the preliminary MIF yesterday and today might be my only practice time till my next lesson. It was definitely rough but right now most of the moves are brand new to me.

Darkness: On the spiral pattern, I am very afriad of crashing into the walls. Towards the end of the session, I got a little too daring with catch foot spirals and took a face plant. I'll be a little bruised tomorrow, but what can you do. It was one of those falls that I knew I was going down, but there was nothing that was going to stop it from occuring.

[tidesong]

How fun!! Where did you skate outdoors?
Sorry you're a little bored, but I must say, if I had to be stuck somewhere all day, that rink would be at the top of the list! Whom have you seen practicing there this week?

Er.... actually I think I may have possibly recognized one US senior lady... thats all.... either I don't recognize people or they were all in the other rink at the other end from where the tables are.

[Kim to the Max]

Daylight:
Got to skate tonight for about an hour...did my program 3 times! No one was on the ice :)

Darkness:
There are some awkward places in my program...I need to figure those out....I also need to work on the twizzles...

Daylight:
Did some good scratch/back scratch spins.

Daylight:
Moves were good today :) Still working on the brackets and making sure I'm on an edge and not on a flat...I'm going to have to do some major work on them...

Darkness:
No lesson next week because I will be gone for the holidays :( but, I will be skating in Milwaukee and I'll see some folks I haven't seen in 8-9 years...maybe one of the coaches there will take a look at either my moves or my program...

[Isk8NYC]

Took my niece and twins skating, just for fun. My Darling Niece (DN) is two years younger than my twins, so I always pass on the better pair of skates when they've outgrown them. She did really well for a beginner, but told me "I've gone around two times. I'm ready to stop now." So, we did some spins and jumps to keep her entertained for a little longer. The ice was pretty chopped up - they cut it right after we took our skates off.

Daylight:
Did several centered back- and forward-scratch spins on this rutty ice.
Power 3's were good, all things considered.
Jumping on my newly-adjusted blades is a pleasure again! Yay!

Darkness:
Kept catching my blade in ruts when doing alternating threes, oh well.

[chowskates]

Er.... actually I think I may have possibly recognized one US senior lady... thats all.... either I don't recognize people or they were all in the other rink at the other end from where the tables are.

When I was at Ice House last October, I skated on some sessions with John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina who were practising their routine for a Christmas show. It was really fun to watch them (though I really should be skating myself huh!?).

[Sessy]

Wow, yesterday's skating went bad. Halfway the lesson I went home. I thought I was going to faint.

[Skate@Delaware]

I passed on skating Wednesday night because of son's bronchitis (which is MUCH better, thanks to rest, antibiotics, and forced liquids).

Had dress rehearsal last night for the show....TONS of waiting around, 2 lap warmup....we (my group-Maids in the opening party scene) had a problem with our bit-we are squished and had a problem with the spiral. It is on my bad leg (lifting that leg HURTS) AND if everyone spirals (partner spirals mind you) we are at risk for taking out some very little kids. So, I made the call to have the first person in line NOT spiral, just steer. Worked out MUCH better.

Managed a nice spin, stopping on time and a decent toe loop, although not where we were supposed to be (my partner and I). The little kids keep changing where they end up for the "party" so we keep moving....at this rate we will be jumping and spinning in the audience by Sunday night!!! Oh well.

My next number is at the end and it turned out fairly nice, but we have to report earlier today for a reskate and pictures. Our dresses are BEAUTIFUL!!!! I will put up pictures as soon as I get them-it is a great show and the costumes are splendid this year.

[Isk8NYC]

Daylight:
I still have my nice strong backspin, so I guess the blade was the problem!
Toe loops, even in combination, were easy.
(I'm very proud of both my girls: today one of them did a waltz-toe combination and the other managed her first Half-Lutz!)

Darkness:
Forward spins were weak, and I just felt blah. Didn't get enough sleep, I guess, plus I stayed up a bit late.

[doubletoe]

When I was at Ice House last October, I skated on some sessions with John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina who were practising their routine for a Christmas show. It was really fun to watch them (though I really should be skating myself huh!?).

Can't blame you! They are really nice people, too! I went upstairs to the balcony, where you can look down at all 3 rinks at the same time. Watching Miki Ando's and Daisuke Takahashi's lessons was an amazing experience! (Daisuke was just learning his latest mind-blowing footwork sequence.)

[Skate@Delaware]

For such a nice dress rehearsal, first performance was fair...actually the show was fantastic. I forgot my spin (I will note that there is ALWAYS an element that I tend to forget in the first show) and I fell on my toe-loop. 8O

Not sure what happened there....I jump ccw and fell on my right hip....right on the bone so whether I slipped, was pitched sideways, blinded by the spotlight and lost my reference to the ice, not square, etc. not sure. After the show I did some and they were good.

We do get practice ice this morning, you bet some toe-loops and spins are gonna be on my list!!!

Our synchro number was great!!! Lots of applause on our weave (which had been literally "hit or miss" before because if the timing isn't right you either miss the other groups or there is a collision).

Last show today (yay) and my family is coming, especially daughter who is home on leave from the Navy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (haven't seen her yet, except to peek in on her while she was sleeping as they arrived sometime in the night and they had orders to let me sleep).

[Mrs Redboots]

Daylight: Spent a long time working round a hockey circle with Husband, just doing runs in various holds, both clockwise and anti-clockwise. And we tried to do back crossovers holding hands in our lesson, which is never a very good idea, but we tried!

Darkness: Our last lesson for a week! Although Husband is not taking any extra time off over Christmas, so we may well skate before the weekend.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!

[Helen88]

Daylight
Done with Skate UK! Other than a step sequence, which couldn't be done in the last three minutes of a lesson.
Drags were good - and SPIRALS!! I spen most of the public session going round in circles, alternating spirals and drags because they felt to good. I'd never done a spiral before today...I was quite proud of myself :roll:.
Started on waltz jumps...they were alright. Could easliy have been much worse :lol:.

Darkness
Last lesson till the 11th January :cry:

[stacyf419]

Daylight: Started my bronze moves, and they seem a bit easier than the 3-turn pattern of pre-bronze - yay.

Darkness: I feel very sloppy doing them - bleh. I can't wait until a few weeks of practice from now when I don't feel like I just started skating 3 hours ago.

[jazzpants]

Darkness: Gawd!!! I am in need of desperate ice here! Due to the holidays and also b/c of family stuff we need to do on our end, I didn't get in any ice time in the 3 days I've been here! :frus: (Yeah, yeah! No pity for me... but I'm royally suffering b/c I know there's ice rinks here but I can't get to it! Why? Read below...)

I will fix this soon!!! :evil: I WILL find a rink to skate within a short drive that won't drive my in-laws (and DH) insane. (Long story... but ummm... the official reason for coming to NYC is to visit my family, NOT to go ice skating... So much for my DH being supportive of my skating... :roll: )

[Sessy]

Daylight:
My 8-shaped 3 turn pattern now for the first time has edges of exactly 3 counts all around. The magic fix was that on the third and sixth edge you're supposed to keep the free leg in front apparently, not in the back.

Dusk:
Did 2 small salchows today and a bunch of big waltz jumps. Let's see how the ankle holds up tomorrow. I kind of get the feeling that big waltz jumps are harder on the ankle than small salchows are, strange enough. Also, on the big waltz jumps I was having difficulties keeping the ankle stable - I doubt this is a technical problem, so I'm guessing it's related to the injury. Why I didn't have that problem on the salchows I don't know. Maybe because they weren't as high.

Darkness:
My spins. Nothing like a little ear infection to make them disappear all together.

[Stormy]

Daylight: Changed axel entrance and it's already worked wonders. I landed one completely rotated AND CROSSED (which has always been the tricky part for me), but then fell. I had one of the coaches yell across the rink to me "you turkey!!!" after I fell. It was such a good axel! :)

No real darkness to speak of. :)

[icedancer2]

Daylight: FINALLY - skated this morning on good ice at my favorite old hockey rink! I usually have a dance lesson at the mall rink on Sunday morning but my coach called to say he wasn't coming, so I took the opportunity to skate a public at my old hockey rink - I knew there wouldn't be anyone there because it is usually hockey at that time...

So it was me, another adult figure skater and the guy who does the ice on the weekends - he makes the most fabulous ice!! Plus he's a ice dancer (although he is currently wearing hockey skates, LOL) - and so I got to do a half-hour of figures (darn those BI3s!!) and then he and I went through some dances - Pre-Bronze through Pre-Gold - it was GREAT!! Two families with really little kids came in and spent most of their time just on one end of the rink, which was great!!

Best skate I've had in a while! Yea! I also worked with the other adult skater who is getting ready to take her first set of tests - I showed her what I would be looking for if I were the judge and so we had fun with it - I hope she appreciated it, too...

Darkness: Skating really tweaks my mid-back - yikes! Especially dance with all of those partner holds and stuff. Oooh, I will be sore. Can't wait until yoga class tomorrow morning, which should help... heating pad, here I come!!

Other darkness is finindg ice over the holidays. I will be doing a yoga school for 5 days over next weekend through New Years and then of course there will be all of those kiddies out of school.

Oh well. I will find ice and I had a great time today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks you skating gods! I needed this!!!!!!!!:D

[tidesong]

Can't blame you! They are really nice people, too! I went upstairs to the balcony, where you can look down at all 3 rinks at the same time. Watching Miki Ando's and Daisuke Takahashi's lessons was an amazing experience! (Daisuke was just learning his latest mind-blowing footwork sequence.)

Maybe I should try that next (and last) time.... although I also find it easier and easier to just fall asleep after I eat my lunch after my skating lesson and wake up just before my mum comes to get me :P

Last lesson was cool too we generally went through all the 6 main jump types now... this coach really really wants me to relax my upper body, like he really wants that to happen. Despite my natural tendencies to tense up during lessons, I think this is the oddest forced relaxed skating lessons I've ever had. Its interesting... I like it though, I do move more freely when it happens.

[kander]

Darkness: I seem to have almost completely lost the mental fortitude it takes to do good jumps regularly. It takes me 10 minutes to get the "feel" for each jump, if I get it at all. My loop has completely abandoned me.

Daylight: My retooled axel seems to be getting closer to where I want it to be. My goal is to be able to do it at high speed with no cheat on the take off. I'm also retooling my toe loop and it seems to be coming along nicely.

[lov2sk8]

I still need Lov2Sk8 to drill me on the Twizzles. Still haven't mastered them.

I'd loved to anytime, It was fun. By the way, I haven't mastered them yet either. :)

[jazzpants]

Can't blame you! They are really nice people, too! I went upstairs to the balcony, where you can look down at all 3 rinks at the same time. Watching Miki Ando's and Daisuke Takahashi's lessons was an amazing experience! (Daisuke was just learning his latest mind-blowing footwork sequence.)
AUGH!!! Now I have to try and make a trip up to Ice House in the next week and a half. I really want to go there and say hello to Moves Guru, even though I don't have a lesson with him this year b/c I'm not even working on moves. I'm currently just doing it "for fun." (And of course, get some White Manna burgers too!) :yum:

[Skate@Delaware]

Daylight: Our last show (yesterday) was pretty good...I didn't fall (yay).

Darkness: no club ice until Saturday (just reckless public skate) :cry: but I will drag daughter to the rink so she can skate!!! She leaves on the 3rd and will either check her skates with her luggage or I will ship then UPS. Any advice on how she should take them? She said a new rink just opened in Pensacola (Florida) and she can't wait to skate there-although I'm sure she will be busy with her Navy school.

Deep Darkness: I realized my back injury/leg weakness has made me very tentative and afraid---I've been holding back and my skating is showing it. i'm afraid of falling and hurting myself (mostly of the excruciating pain). I need to talk with my coach about this; take power skating to push myself BEYOND the fear and build up my confidence. Just like learning to waltz jump away from the wall...I need to trust myself again. It just sucks.

[Kim to the Max]

Daylight: She leaves on the 3rd and will either check her skates with her luggage or I will ship then UPS. Any advice on how she should take them?

I just brought my skates with me to Milwaukee, and put them in my checked bags...with my hard guards on them...they got here with me safe and sound :)

[Skate@Delaware]

I just brought my skates with me to Milwaukee, and put them in my checked bags...with my hard guards on them...they got here with me safe and sound :)
that is good to know! I will tell her.

[liz_on_ice]

Can't blame you! They are really nice people, too! I went upstairs to the balcony, where you can look down at all 3 rinks at the same time. Watching Miki Ando's and Daisuke Takahashi's lessons was an amazing experience! (Daisuke was just learning his latest mind-blowing footwork sequence.)

8O It's a pain for me to get there, but one of these days I'm just going to have to drag myself over.