Floating bubbles or bursting them: 20-27 January 2008

[Mrs Redboots]

Since Isk8nyc wondered why we didn't start on a Sunday, I thought I'd start this week's thread.

Floating bubbles: Had a good lesson with coach2 and started work on a few bits of steps we could put into a free dance - mostly a barrel roll hand-in-hand. Our change-foot spin worked really well.

Bursting them: Our Kilian spin would work better if I didn't expect Husband to hit me hard in the ribs (which he has been known to do). He had a nasty fall & banged his head (luckily not hard).

[Kim to the Max]

[floating bubbles]

Moves were good today. Tried to make some of the small corrections coach made on Friday. Was actually able to do my brackets with a little bit of speed...okay, maybe a little more than a little, but I'm just happy that they aren't at a crawl any more :) Hopefully they will be good for my lesson on Tuesday with coach.

Axels were better than they were on Friday! I was pulling my legs in in they air and I was also waiting a bit more on the edge on the take off :) they actually felt pretty good. Still not fully rotated, but that will come.

I think I'll be able to get to the rink tomorrow since I don't work because of Martin Luther King, Jr. day, but a friend and I wanted to go see Cloverfield, so we'll see...It was nice today to go skating because I was refreshed after hanging out with friends both Friday night and going out with friends on Saturday night.

Did both some good scratch/back scratch spins and some good camels...

[bursting bubbles]

My lutz is messed up and I really need to fix it. Much of the issue is mental (I tend to over think that jump...always have...when I don't think about it, and just do it, it is decent), but that affects the physical. The other is that I don't keep my right shoulder checked behind me on the take off...one of those muscle memory things...

I need to work on my program and being able to do my jumps and spins with less of a set up than I do when I'm just practicing them. I'm going to have to start drilling some of those entrances...missed my lutz today in my program because of people in the way, same thing for coming out of my scratch/back scratch and into my flip loop...people were in the way...that was a common theme today...a friend working on senior moves got cut off 4 times by one of our lower level skaters...

I leave on Wednesday at 9am for a conference and will be gone until Saturday :( This could go one of two ways....the time off the ice will be really good for me and I'll be back on Sunday ready to go for my test on the 29th, or it's going to be really bad and I'm going to freak myself out because I won't get to skate Thursday or Friday (normal skating day)...we'll see!! I hope it's the former because I won't have time to even think about skating while I'm at the conference.

[Sessy]

Made an appointment for fysiotherapy (after four different phone calls just to make sure that it was, indeed, insured)!

Oh yeah and the antibiotics are helping with the "flu". :bow:

[quarkiki2]

Floating: Had a great time on Saturday. Taught three very large classes: one Snowplow Sam and two Basic 1 because regular instructors were absent. I was fortunate enough to have assistants, but I think they might think I'm a little nuts as, well, my personality can be a bit large when I'm out there with pre-schoolers and grade-school kids. Which is, I think, fine as all the kids were smiling and I didn't have any of them crying to leave the ice -- which could be possible as it was only the second lesson of the session. And they all got off the wall! Yippee!

Bursting: My own skating. I "audited" the adult beginner class and low freestyle class since my personal skating has been on hold for about a year due to Violet. Worked on forward crossovers in the beginner class -- there are only two "real" students in the class and I was helping teach, but used the time to work on my own knee bend as I was demonstrating. CCW felt pretty good -- both pushes felt equal. Underpush on CW not so much, LOL!

In the Freestyle 1 we did basic stroking, forward edges and then worked on scratch spins. I've never had the instructor who teaches this class for a lesson before, but have watched her with other students and like what I see, so I thought it would be a good match with what I'm doing with my private coach (I resume lessons with her next week). She had no comments for me during stroking or edges, which is fine as I'm not really part of the class and wasn't looking for too much feedback (there are only three other students at about the same level I am, so I know I'm not dragging the class down or getting in the way). But she let me have it when we were practicing wind-ups for spins, LOL! First she looked at me like I was nuts, then she said "Good lord, woman! Do you know how much power you have in your skating if only you'd not be so timid??? You're doing everything technically perfect -- seriously! LET GO!" I laughed and said, "Yep -- I'm my coach's biggest headcase... I have good control over my body, good balance, good timing and BAD nerves, LOL!"

I so know that fear is holding me back -- but I hear the rrrrrip in the windup for the spin and am terrified to step forward and kick through, so I two-foot the entrance. Man, oh, man... I soooo want to hear that rip and so don't, LOL!

[Rusty Blades]

Illicit session - don't tell my coach! She said I was skating plenty and not to do any more but I had this bee in my bonnet and wont settle down until it's gone - HAD to get my cowardly jumps away from the boards!

POP! The ice was CRAP! Told the maintenance guys to load the Zam and be ready to go if the head coach also condemned the ice - she did! I am working hard at becoming the wicked witch of early morning ice! :evil:

Today was all about jumps, jumps, the whole jumps and nothing but the jumps so help me gawd! 8O - getting the Waltz jump and Toe Loop away from the boards.

Pretty Bubbles: Well the Waltz DID get moved away from the boards by doing it over and over and over and moving ever farther from the boards. A lot of it's pizzazz fizzles away from the boards but I am sure that will come back with practice. Toe Loops weren't as strong and didn't get as far out to open ice but they will come.

More Pretty Bubbles: I noticed this morning that despite my "green" jumps, I am really "nailing" the landing edge and have been all along - BANG! - solid stable edge (even if the body is a bit off balance sometimes) - where did those come from???? That bodes well for the future :mrgreen:

Now, tomorrow, I have to pretend I didn't sake today :halo:

[jskater49]

Bursting bubbles

I really didn't feel like skating today but the ice is paid for so....

Everything was half hearted. Half hearted forward and backward perimeter crossovers, half hearted back edges, half hearted power 3s (is that an oxymoron?) I got a little more enthusisastic about practicing swing rolls and chasses. Another girl played swing music and I tried to do the dance but again chickened out on the mohawk - it's like all that progress I made is gone :(

I did manage a few good one foot spins with the edge entry.

Then it was time for power class. I was feeling so blah I even warned the coach I was not going to be putting 100 percent in...but that competitive drive in me kicked in and I refused to be left behind so I hauled a in order to keep up and sometimes ahead even.

We did these power pushes with a partner--dd was my partner which I thought was unfair. I had not done these before - you push or are pushed while stopping. DD starts pushing me before I know whats going on and coach yells at me to dig in my toe picks. I don't think so!!! DD said that's wrong that I'm supposed to just do a backward snowplow stop. DD is going crazy yelling at me "WE ARE NOT GOING TO LOOSE" So I pushed my heart out and yup we beat the other pair. They probably didn't realize it was a race, it's just the mother-daughter team that are crazy not to be last.

j

[RinkRat321]

floating bubbles


I finally did my 2loop in front of my coach! (i've had it for like 2 months but could on land them in practice, never in a lesson)
Improved 2flips
Improved spirals
good flying sits and I-spins
better camel and laybacks

bursting bubbles

My coach was really harsh about my moves today
I am never going to land 2toe
my knee was reeally sore which is strange because it never bothers me. but today it hurt so bad that i could barely stand up from my sit spin

[myste12]

Floating Bubbles:
-My ankle is feeling much better, although it was a little stiff this morning. I think that was more due to the cold (darn near zero degrees) than the injury though.
-Finished fine tuning the layout of my program with coach.
-Landed double sals after several days off!!!
-Did an 8+ rev flying camel in the program at coach's insistence. I wasn't even close last time I tried, but today it was no big deal. :D

Bursting Bubbles:
-Fell on my COE spiral in program. I fixed it later keeping my upper body up instead of dropping it down as I change edge. Duh!
-Fell HARD on a double sal out of a split jump. I've been landing the split and stepping onto my L foot for a FO 3turn into a power three before the jump. Coach wanted to see a mohawk into power three instead. The footwork actually felt very smooth and quick, but I let my shoulders swing too much and really smashed my left hip and right hand. Needless to say, the mohawk will not be going in the program! Coach and I compromised on a RFI 3turn into LFO 3 turn into power 3 into double sal instead.
-Didn't do any axels or double toes today since those bother my ankle.
-Couldn't do a layback to save my life. I hate that spin; it's one of my worst. I don't know why coach insists on keeping it in the program...

[Isk8NYC]

Floating Bubbles:
oooOOOooo!!! My BO3's are really strong all of a sudden. I'm glad because one of the students asked me to demonstrate them and I could! (Hadn't tried these since I moved my blades.)

Taught on a crowded public session, but my spins were dead on, as were my crossovers (both ways/both directions.)

Did a few waltz-toe loops with ease. Too bad I was supposed to demonstrate a waltz-side toe hop-waltz, lol. I forgot what I was doing.

Bursting Bubbles:
I've decided that being over 18 does not mean you're an adult.
The rink was really crowded because of the holiday and a special program for Natl Skating Month. Tons of clueless newbies and their friends wandering around the snowy, beat-up ice.

Midway through the second session, a grown woman (probably in her 30's or 40's) come out on the ice decided to do camel spins in that mess! It was like watching a video game as kids tried to steer around that face-slicing foot. :giveup::roll: :giveup: :roll: :giveup:

[Sessy]

Wow. I just had a mail from the club. No explanations, just this:

Our group lessons coach quit.


Huh?!

On the bright side, a coach I like much better is taking over her lessons temporarily. But I do wonder who we'll end up with next!

[Kim to the Max]

[floating bubbles]

Didn't have to work today, so went to the rink for 1.5 hours :)

Ran through moves, pretty good...although I was falling on things I should have fallen on! They were dumb mistakes!

Did my program...it was so-so...

Spins were decent, jumps were good...actually did some non-funky lutzes!

[bursting bubbles]

I fell on both my CW power 3s (I was focusing on pointing my toe and keeping it in front) and my brackets...grrrr...but, then I did some really good run throughs of the brackets and the power 3s...don't know what was up with that!

[Terri C]

Floating Bubbles:
Fairly strong beginning of program runthrough today, including the sitspin!
It was not as cold in the rink as I had expected, the high temps outside only reached the 30's.


Bursting Bubbles:
The salchow refuses to show up for my freeskating program runthrough.
The footwork that Primary Coach wants in my Bronze CM program is driving me to drink.

[vesperholly]

Floating bubbles

I got my new blades put on today. Whee! I didn't switch brands, just got the same style as before (MK Phantom). After a very small period of adjustment, they were GREAT. My jumps were all huge, I didn't have to push as hard, and my flying camel actually flies again!

Totally worth the $$$, and I didn't have to charge it all, since I used Christmas and learn to skate coaching money to pay for the majority. Plus, I gifted myself pretty new soakers and guards, which I haven't had in over 5 years. :mrgreen:

Bursting them

Other spins were not so great on the new blades. Took a nice nose-dive on a layback, and I couldn't hold on to any camels.

I was also lazy today and didn't practice my dances. I'm working on Tango and Kilian. Maybe it's not so bad, because I didn't practice dance before my lesson last week either, and my coach said my Tango looked "a lot better."

[xofivebyfive]

Floating bubbles: I had my 2nd ever competition this weekend and I am so proud of how I skated. I'm proud that I even went. I had called it off about 6 times the days before the competition. so I'm happy that I decided to go.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hO-h-ZKhq9k

I also had a great gymnastics lesson where I did my first front hip circle by myself. That's not on tape, but if you want to check it out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BLmVx7hE9So

[Mrs Redboots]

Well done!

Bursting bubbles: I have a cold again! The second so far this year, which I do think is a bit much! So does DH, however we still skated

Coach1 taught us a new step he wants us to put into our free dance this year, where you're stepping in front of each other the whole time. But I think we might be able to do it - I squealed the whole way through as it was scary, and Husband had me in a total death grip so I think he found it scary, too, even though he won't admit it!

Floating bubbles: Coach1 was complimentary about our chassés. Had a good workout after the lesson, working on edges and turns. Wish I had an Interp to play with, but am uninspired!

[Rusty Blades]

A Bit Flat: My right knee was objecting to shoot the ducks and sit spins. Worked a bunch on jumps, spins, and back edges before lesson.

In lesson we worked on the first 2/3 of the Freeskate program (sans the jumps). I think coach is feeling a little less pessimistic than she was last week :)

Pretty Bubbles: Got 2 revolutions on my sit spin :mrgreen: Only need 1 more to count!

[Kim to the Max]

[floating bubbles]

Moves with coach were actually pretty good today...she played that darned metronome CD for the power circles...grrrr....that CD is evil! But, she was impressed by the speed I have gained on my brackets, and gave some small corrections and some things to drill this week....

[bursting bubbles]

Nothing... for once! :)

However...I have a funny story to share....as we are walking out of the rink at lunch today, coach says to me, "oh, I have something about you that I think you will find funny..." I was like, oh no....

Well, it appears that a fellow coach shared with her that two students of this other coaches "don't like the adult skater at X rink"...X rink being the rink I normally skate at...coach heard this and knew they were talking about me... and apparently they don't like me because "I think I own the ice!" Coach said it's because many of the skaters are recreational skaters (not bad in and of itself), and there are not many competitive skaters here...and when I'm on the ice, I actually work and if you are not working and in my way, I'm going to ask you to move :) Plus, my background is skating on sessions where if you were standing around, you got run over by skaters doing doubles or triples...or yelled at by the coaches who were teaching those same skaters...

If I'm thinking about the right skaters, they only skate on the same ice as me on Fridays when they have their skate school practice, and they get out there and don't even attempt to practice...I soooo find this completely hilarious! :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: too bad I won't be there this Friday to "own the ice" :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen:

[doubletoe]

[floating bubbles]

Moves with coach were actually pretty good today...she played that darned metronome CD for the power circles...grrrr....that CD is evil! But, she was impressed by the speed I have gained on my brackets, and gave some small corrections and some things to drill this week....

[bursting bubbles]

Nothing... for once! :)

However...I have a funny story to share....as we are walking out of the rink at lunch today, coach says to me, "oh, I have something about you that I think you will find funny..." I was like, oh no....

Well, it appears that a fellow coach shared with her that two students of this other coaches "don't like the adult skater at X rink"...X rink being the rink I normally skate at...coach heard this and knew they were talking about me... and apparently they don't like me because "I think I own the ice!" Coach said it's because many of the skaters are recreational skaters (not bad in and of itself), and there are not many competitive skaters here...and when I'm on the ice, I actually work and if you are not working and in my way, I'm going to ask you to move :) Plus, my background is skating on sessions where if you were standing around, you got run over by skaters doing doubles or triples...or yelled at by the coaches who were teaching those same skaters...

If I'm thinking about the right skaters, they only skate on the same ice as me on Fridays when they have their skate school practice, and they get out there and don't even attempt to practice...I soooo find this completely hilarious! :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: too bad I won't be there this Friday to "own the ice" :twisted: :mrgreen: :twisted: :mrgreen:

That sounds familiar! There have been two occasions I can think of where an adult skater made the same complaint about me. Each time, it was at my home rink, where the morning sessions are very mellow and they have no idea how spoiled they are. I sure wished I could drag these two skaters along to the session I skate on Sundays at another rink, where it's survival of the quickest and the right of way goes to whoever is moving the fastest (and rightfully so)! This Sunday there were at least 20 skaters on that session, including Caroline Zhang, Mirai Nagasu, Inoue & Baldwin and two other high level pairs teams on their last practice session before leaving for Nationals. My "aggressiveness" was used for getting out of the way quickly, at least every 15-20 seconds! (Oh, and you'll appreciate this. . . Since I'm testing at that rink tomorrow, I HAD to practice my clockwise back power 3's on that session!)

[Isk8NYC]

Have tons of work to do for the College and my boss wanted to talk to me in the afternoon. I rushed through my skating today without even stretching or warming up. Cancelled my short lesson and just skated through a few things quickly, leaving early.

Floating bubbles:
Moves were better once I warmed up, but stroking, crossover, and spiral patterns were all okay.
Waltz, waltz-toe, salchow all just fine and dandy. Even felt the hold before the jump was easy on the standalone toe loop.
I was doing loop jump drills, just entrance, double back threes. When I looked at the tracing, it looked like a twizzle mark. Tried it forward and the RFI wasn't too bad - almost have the free leg across.

Bursting bubbles:
Still working on that loop jump, but the entrance is very strong now.
Forward threes on the line were better if I didn't rush, but the LFI3 is kind of wonky.

Need a drill to get more comfortable in the backspin/loop jump position; it still feels wobbly and off-balance.

I skate at an adult session that's not too crowded. Most of the skaters are low-level. I try to give them their space and not rip around the ice, cutting close to them. One of the ladies came up to thank me for doing that. It seems that one of the other high-level skaters has been startling her by skating very close to her or cutting between the beginner and the wall. At one point, the high-level skater was practicing a double lutz in one corner repeatedly. The low-level skater moved to the other end of the ice and she said "Sure enough, that ***** decided it was time to get attention by doing that jump down this end." They all chimed in to say they find her very distracting and intimidating, but I'm not like that. I'm just here to skate and make friends.

[Rusty Blades]

Not sure which! (Canadian) Adult Championship entries came out today. Got mine all filled out waiting for coach's signature and it will go in this week. Got no choice now - HAVE to get those jumps working right! :??

[Sessy]

camel spin wasn't quite working, I know what the problem is - ever since the coach started insisting I look *UP* on my camel spin, I look up before entering the spin and then I can't get into it anymore.

figured out how to improve the biellmann-spin thingy though, it's hard to explain but it's about the way I twist to grab my leg, it's not supposed to be like leaning sideways, it's supposed to be like leaning around... But I can't really explain it.

[Kim to the Max]

I skate at an adult session that's not too crowded. Most of the skaters are low-level. I try to give them their space and not rip around the ice, cutting close to them. One of the ladies came up to thank me for doing that. It seems that one of the other high-level skaters has been startling her by skating very close to her or cutting between the beginner and the wall. At one point, the high-level skater was practicing a double lutz in one corner repeatedly. The low-level skater moved to the other end of the ice and she said "Sure enough, that ***** decided it was time to get attention by doing that jump down this end." They all chimed in to say they find her very distracting and intimidating, but I'm not like that. I'm just here to skate and make friends.

I definitely try to not get in their way and I also make sure to relocate if folks are trying to practice. My problem comes in when these skaters are chit-chatting and not practicing anything.

(Oh, and you'll appreciate this. . . Since I'm testing at that rink tomorrow, I HAD to practice my clockwise back power 3's on that session!)

Oh no!!! How did you do with that?? Good luck with your test!!!!!

[Isk8NYC]

I definitely try to not get in their way and I also make sure to relocate if folks are trying to practice. My problem comes in when these skaters are chit-chatting and not practicing anything.No, this isn't you - this skater started coming a few weeks ago and she really does cut very closely to everyone, whether she needs to or not. Doesn't matter if they're skating or stopped. She was practicing axels near the double circles and I was doing spins in the center. Everyone else was on/near the wall learning mohawks. She skated around to do another axel in the same place and she cut right through the center where I was doing a camel. Effectively, it was only the two of us and she had to go out of her way to reach the far end of the center where I was, yet tada! She came by just as I changed feet into the back camel. I almost hit her. There was no one else near the center ice, wall to wall. She's a little crazy (where's that jester smiley?) and attention-seeking, IMO.

I will say that there are some people who SAY they want to skate, but they're really just looking for company. One woman always tells me that her lack of turnout is preventing her from getting the mohawk. She admired my spreadeagle and I said the stretching after skating was the reason my spreadeagles and mohawks have gotten better. She only practices her mohawks a few times during the session and has never stretched to build turnout before or after skating, AFAIK.

I figure this session is not intended for high-level freestyle skating, it was meant for encouraging beginner/intermediate adults, so I consider myself a guest and act accordingly. If I terrify them, they'll complain and the rink will change the rules.

I've been known to "clear the center" at public sessions by intimidating the people that don't belong there with bakc crossovers and spins. At one rink last year, I kept doing it and telling the preteen figure skaters to "defend their turf" by not chit-chatting, just keep skating so the hockey players and spin moths don't come back again. lol


GOOD LUCK ON THE TEST FRIDAY, DOUBLETOE!!

[doubletoe]

I definitely try to not get in their way and I also make sure to relocate if folks are trying to practice. My problem comes in when these skaters are chit-chatting and not practicing anything.

Quote:
Originally Posted by doubletoe
(Oh, and you'll appreciate this. . . Since I'm testing at that rink tomorrow, I HAD to practice my clockwise back power 3's on that session!)

Oh no!!! How did you do with that?? Good luck with your test!!!!!

Well, the good thing about sessions with high level skaters is that they all recognize patterns and everyone is able to react quickly. So either I would pull out if someone was coming my way, or the other skaters would see the pattern I was doing and know not to skate right into it. But of course I still never got more than two lobes on any of my brackets or double 3's before having to pull out; I just had to be patient and keep picking up where I left off.
That's really my biggest complaint about the few skaters on my home club sessions who don't get out of the way when I'm doing an element that needs to be exactly where it needs to be. They don't recognize patterns or lobes and they don't seem to be making any effort to recognize anyone's patterns (effort is all I ask, KWIM?). Instead, they stay in one corner of the rink and probably assume I'm just being a bully when I finally go ahead and do a spiral or a set of back power 3's through "their" circle. I don't think they realize that people *have* to practice certain things and they have to go where they go on the test or in the program. :giveup:



GOOD LUCK ON THE TEST TOMORROW, DOUBLETOE!!

Thank you!! :D And now I JUST got an e-mail from the test chair saying they weren't able to get enough judges for tomorrow morning and it's being moved to Friday morning instead. OK, so there's two extra days to practice. . .

[Isk8NYC]

I'll edit my good luck message, then.

Being a busybody, I've occasionally gone to skaters who have parked on the Lutz corner circles and explained why they might want to move along. Younger skaters get snarky, like I'm chasing them, but the older ones appreciate being informed. When I'm doing moves patterns, I also tell them "I'm going around you, just stay inside the circle." Everyone's pretty easy-going, but again, the session's uncrowded and the people are nice.

Odd thing, though: the culprit in my example has cut me off (again, no one else nearby) when I'm doing moves patterns. Now, honestly, there's no way this woman doesn't know what pattern I'm doing, even the Fwd Perim Stroking has netted me a brush-by. lol

[doubletoe]

I'll edit my good luck message, then.

Being a busybody, I've occasionally gone to skaters who have parked on the Lutz corner circles and explained why they might want to move along. Younger skaters get snarky, like I'm chasing them, but the older ones appreciate being informed. When I'm doing moves patterns, I also tell them "I'm going around you, just stay inside the circle." Everyone's pretty easy-going, but again, the session's uncrowded and the people are nice.

Odd thing, though: the culprit in my example has cut me off (again, no one else nearby) when I'm doing moves patterns. Now, honestly, there's no way this woman doesn't know what pattern I'm doing, even the Fwd Perim Stroking has netted me a brush-by. lol

How weird. How old is she? If she's an adult, is she going to AN? If so, want us to throw tomatoes on the ice when she comes out to skate? :lol:
But seriously, what you said about warning other skaters about the pattern you're about to do (which I also sometimes do) gave me an idea. What if you were to ask this skater to let you know if she's going to be doing something right where you are so that you can stay out of her way, just like you warn other skaters? Either she will be more responsible and start telling you what she's about to do, or she will be a snot and continue doing exactly what she's doing, in which case you can feel free to NOT move for her and let HER be the one to abort her element.

[jazzpants]

That sounds familiar! There have been two occasions I can think of where an adult skater made the same complaint about me. Each time, it was at my home rink, where the morning sessions are very mellow and they have no idea how spoiled they are. I sure wished I could drag these two skaters along to the session I skate on Sundays at another rink, where it's survival of the quickest and the right of way goes to whoever is moving the fastest (and rightfully so)! This Sunday there were at least 20 skaters on that session, including Caroline Zhang, Mirai Nagasu, Inoue & Baldwin and two other high level pairs teams on their last practice session before leaving for Nationals. My "aggressiveness" was used for getting out of the way quickly, at least every 15-20 seconds! WOW!!! That is great that you get to skate with all those names!!! :bow:

I had something similar to that happened to me once when I was visiting NYC's morning FS session. (Not this recent time though but 1.5 year ago when I was thisclose to testing Bronze Moves for the 3rd and last time.) It was ummmm... interesting given that at my home rink I'm "not skating aggressively enough", yet here in this particular rink and FS session, I was "too aggressive?" :?? :giveup:

Thankfully, my NYC coach fixed that and said (in a nice way) "Screw 'em! You're in lesson with me and I WANT you to skate as aggressive as you possibly can!!!" (Love my NYC coach!!! :twisted: :lol: :bow: )

(Oh, and you'll appreciate this. . . Since I'm testing at that rink tomorrow, I HAD to practice my clockwise back power 3's on that session!)
OH!!! OH!!! GOOD LUCK on Friday!!! (I had to read further down the thread there!) Go kick some ice BOOTAAAAY out there!!! :P

[Isk8NYC]

How weird. How old is she? If she's an adult, is she going to AN? If so, want us to throw tomatoes on the ice when she comes out to skate? :lol: She probably is going. Nah, she's not worth it.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
<snip> in which case you can feel free to NOT move for her and let HER be the one to abort her element.

I'm from New York. I give as good as I get. rofl

[LilJen]

Floating bubbles: I had my 2nd ever competition this weekend and I am so proud of how I skated. I'm proud that I even went. I had called it off about 6 times the days before the competition. so I'm happy that I decided to go.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hO-h-ZKhq9k

I also had a great gymnastics lesson where I did my first front hip circle by myself. That's not on tape, but if you want to check it out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BLmVx7hE9So

Nice programs, and beautiful dress!! Also very ENVIOUS that you get to do gymnastics. At 38 I suppose I must be approaching that "ohmygosh I'm getting old--what can I still do" stage and I want to see what all I can still do (did gymnastics as a kid and into my teens). I know I can still do backward & forward hip circles, can probably muscle a pullover, mebbe a kip. Nice cartwheels, check; but the back is not currently flexible enough for back walkovers (one of my favorites) and I don't know if my wrists could handle a flipflop (back handspring). I should really ask at my daughter's gym if I could just have 15 minutes on the bars, balance beam, floor. . .

Oh, and doubletoe: Now I can see why you have so many good tips and such a good handle on the technical side of skating--seeing skaters of that caliber practicing on a regular basis?????!!!
[floating bubbles]
-Two program runthroughs today, and I could actually remember what came next.
-Decent runthrough of PB moves (empty ice most of the way, woo hoo!). Coach said the other day that there will be a test session at the end of March, which would be just peachy.
-Actually pulled off a 1-footed spin, without really even trying today. Could I replicate it? Heck no, but if I can do it once, I can do it again.

[bursting bubbles]
-well, if those runthroughs weren't the wobbliest, trippiest, clunkiest things ever. At least there was almost no one else at the rink at the time. And I think I was probably over my maximum heart rate afterward, and pretty much useless for much practicing as well. Back to the gym, for sure!
-Spins got markedly worse as the session went on. I think I think too much?

[doubletoe]

Thanks, Jazzpants and Isk8NYC! In my lesson this morning I totally nailed the CW back power 3's for my coach (I think she continues to be amazed). In fact, she said my CCW ones are actually looking a little weak in comparison now.:roll:

Isk8NYC - I am so proud to know you will go "New Yorker" on that hotshot-wannabe, LOL!

Jazzpants - I hate to admit it, but I think I'm getting a little jaded. Instead of saying, "Oooh! John and Rena are here!" I'm thinking, "Oh crap, John & Rena are here." Pairs teams take up waaay too much ice, and the faster they skate, the more time you need to spend figuring out where they're headed and getting out of their way! (Nothing makes you move faster than a projectile human! 8O)

[icedancer2]

Foating bubbles: My new blades (used) that I got on ebay (MK Dance -same as before but newer.. different Rocker - slightly longer...) - I FINALLY got new sharpening on them - what a difference the correct hollow makes!!

Nice smooth clean edges - no wonky skating here!!

Plus the ice was good today at my main (hockey) rink, and they left the lights on which was good.

Had a lesson - we are still trying to work up this RFO-LBI 3 for PCAS Figures competition - the deadline is Friday for the registration, so I'm going to have another lesson on Friday and decide then whether the figure is going to be salvagable in 6 weeks or whenever that competition is. Felt better today.

Part of the problem with doing figures is that since no one does them very much, it is hard to get in your head the body positions you need to be in to execute them. They are NOT MITF!!! - so I watch my coach go through her memory banks to try to find a way to make it work for me - it is kind of hilarious!!

Bursting Them: REalizing that because the ice has been SO bad on my main rink that I've gotten into the habit of looking down when I'm working on turns and steps - and that now I can't do the turns and steps because I am always looking down. So I'm keeping my head up and trying to re-learn how to do a bunch of stuff that has gotten really bogged down by looking down all of the time!!!

[Isk8NYC]

Pairs teams take up waaay too much ice, and the faster they skate, the more time you need to spend figuring out where they're headed and getting out of their way! (Nothing makes you move faster than a projectile human! 8O)Thank you! Testify!

[Kim to the Max]

[floating bubbles]
Nice and easy skate tonight. Did freestyle and no moves...didn't want to ruin the feeling from my lesson this afternoon.

[bursting bubbles]
Spins weren't as good in the program as they have been in the recent past. There is something about doing the things in a program that just has me all flustered :( I just need to start drilling it...

Okay, I so need to go pack for my business trip tomorrow, but I just don't want to!!! I won't be on the ice again until Saturday/Sunday depending on when we get back. Then it will be test mode....

[Muskoka Skater]

Monday Night

Floating Bubbles
-My lutz are amazing, I didn't fall on one!!
-My doubles are completly consistent
-My mom let me try the Pre Novice
-My mom going keep letting me try it
-(this is sunday's skate, which was a test day) I passed my gold skill!! and my Jr Silver Free!!
-Wonderful program

Bursting Them
-(this is sunday's skate, which was a test day) Failed my Pre Novice, but I had a horrible skate and I just laughed it off!!
-Nothing from Monday night

[Mrs Redboots]

Floating bubbles: Have choreographed maybe the first five seconds of our new dance.

Bursting: But only in my head; woke up this morning with a temperature and feeling really grotty with this cold, and in spite of cold relief meds and a hot shower, knew it wouldn't be safe for me to skate. :( Did go out to the shops awhile ago as my new spectacles had arrives (my new contact lenses came today, too :)) and could barely make it! Grrrr. I hate being ill, and I've been it far too much this winter already. :( :( :(

[Thin-Ice]

There's been a lot of what I call "the creeping crud" (i.e. cold, sore throat, achey-ness, fevers, etc.) at many rinks this year.:roll: :(

I hope you feel better soon, Mrs. R!

[tidesong]

Wierdest floating bubbles:
I must be seeing things... but it appears that I've been actually doing lutzes (as opposed to flutzes) all over the place... when I remembered to look at the tracings they all looked correct o.O

Bursting them:
Woah... talk about a bad session yesterday... I think my skating is so rollercoastery at the moment that well I just don't know what to think. At least I did land a few of my harder jumps... but its definetly very confidence damaging to be skating like this...

[jskater49]

Bursting bubbles - It was sooo cold and I forgot a jacket to skate in, I ended up skating in my street winter coat which isnt' great.

Lesson today - we started with back perimeter crossovers from Bronze moves. I started out with my heel slipping under me and falling in an awkard manner. Coach said if I'd have just sat down I'd have been much better off.

Good news is that I have a lot of speed and power in my pushes. Bad news is that I may have to slow it down some so I can work on what I need to work on - which is crossing my left foot over my right, I'm not staying on the inside edge and not shifting weight enough.

On to mohawks. We broke them down and are going back to the basics - the inside edge. She just had me work on pushing my pelvis out, stretching my arms out and just being comfortable riding out that edge. Otherwise I lean forward, wobble and get twisted up. So my assignment for the week is to just do the inside edge and concentrate on pushing my pelvis forward. If I feel like changing feet and doing the mohawk I can - but only after the edge feels secure.

Then I had ice monitor duties for the next hour and the space heater wasn't working. Fortunately I keep lots of blankets in the car and I brought two of them in.

Floating bubbles - We are driving up to Minneapolis to watch the Senior dance compulsaries at Nationals today and Original Dance tomorrow!

j

[Scarlett]

Had an ice dance lesson today

Floating bubbles:
Finally managed the difference between the two types of crossovers in the dutch waltz.
Did a lap of the dutch waltz without turning it into the rhythm blues.

Bursting bubbles:
Coach brought out video camera. The sea floor is spreading at a faster rate that I skate.

[jazzpants]

Bursting
Botched attempt at a loop-loop (tried to land it and if I just keep my back straight on the landing of the 2nd loop I would have just had one runthru. Sure enough, secondary coach stopped the music and I had to start again.

Floating
Then I did the runthru again and landed the loop-loop this time.:mrgreen:

Bursting
But barely landing the flip clean!!! And I am still ending behind the music and secondary coach is not too happy with my doing the new footwork that primary coach just gave me last Thursday. I'm not too happy with it either but I'm just learning it now and am having trouble with it. :(

And if this day doesn't get any worse.... the next few weeks, secondary coach wants to work on my SPIRALS!!! She said it's really weak (DUH!!!) and gave me this particularly painful stretching and strength exercise off ice where I'm supposed to be in a spiral position, legs straight and stretched out, free leg above hip, etc. and I'm supposed to fight my coach's hand pushing my free leg down by pushing against her hand with my free leg. Then rest for about 5 seconds and then she raises the free leg higher and does this pushing thing again.

Needless to say, by the time the exercise was done, I could barely feel my legs from the butt down... it's shaking like JELLO!!! 8O (And yes, apparently it was great entertainment for the REST of the freestyle session too, since I was certainly in great amount of discomfort while doing it!!!) :giveup:

But WAIT!!! There's MORE!!! I was supposed to then go back out on ice to do better spirals, but I said "I can't even FEEL my legs!!! It's like Jello here!!!" Another coach whack his wooden sticks (he uses it for training) and says "No WHINING!!! :twisted: " I said, "Get those sticks away from me or I'll break 'em in half!!! :twisted: " (His response: "WHOA!!! Feisty!!!" Secondary coach's response was "Yup! She's definitely in pain now!!! LOL!!! :twisted:" )

It's better spirals, but secondary coach is STILL not happy with it. :roll:

Bubbling:
I survived it for today! Time to hit the showers!!! :mrgreen:

Bursting:
MORE EVILLE spiral exercises are coming up and my personal trainer was watching what was happening...and probably thinking of ways of torturing me off ice on those spiral too! Best part for her is that she can pin secondary coach as the "bad guy" for making me do the torture. :twisted: :lol: )

[dbny]

Bursting: But only in my head; woke up this morning with a temperature and feeling really grotty with this cold, and in spite of cold relief meds and a hot shower, knew it wouldn't be safe for me to skate. :( Did go out to the shops awhile ago as my new spectacles had arrives (my new contact lenses came today, too :)) and could barely make it! Grrrr. I hate being ill, and I've been it far too much this winter already. :( :( :(

Please do be careful! On this side of the pond, we have pneumonia going around. Called a friend last night for info on getting a neti pot, and found out she has pneumonia and came down with the same time that I did (haven't seen each other since Oct). Don't wait to see a doctor if your fever lingers, my friend waited a week, and is now sicker than I had been.

Floating bubbles:
I'm back on the ice! Only teaching, until Friday, when I will have my lesson. Gave a half hour private lesson last night as a test run before starting groups, which require a lot more energy. Did fine, and even managed a very nice one foot spin demo for my student. Will teach half hour group tonight, then half hour private lesson tomorrow morning, and another group in the afternoon. Not going to try to get in any practice, as I don't want a relapse.

[Helen88]

Floating:
Got to skate today :) Rink was quite busy actually...found and corner and worked on my 3-turns for a bit. They'll always need a little more work...

WALTZ JUMPS!! From skating as opposed to stand still, correct landing, higher, I LOVE them!! They're my first real jump, and I think I can say, I landed it today :D :D :D :D :D :D

Spirals on my weak (right) foot were better today, getting my leg higher, as were my inside edges.

Bursting:
Ice was a bit dodgy...spirals kept hitting my edge and veering, but they've never done that before so I'll just blame the [lack of] Zamboni. Only skated for just over an hour today as our car hasn't been fixed yet, so I had to bus it up there.

[SynchroSk8r114]

Bursting bubbles:
Terribly sick with a cold this week, so aside from synchro, I haven't been skating freestyle or dance. I'm hoping that I get better in time for this Saturday -- my synchro team's competing at Easterns! Looks like it'll be plenty of R&R for me until then.

Floating bubbles:
No falls this week, which you would know is a great thing if you saw what a rough week I had last week. I'm going to blame my oncoming cold for those, LOL! ;)

Our last synchro practice before Easterns went fairly well, despite the fact that I felt like utter crap. Now if we can only keep working as hard in off-ice and hold it together during the competition.

[momsk8er]

I hate to admit it, but I think I'm getting a little jaded. Instead of saying, "Oooh! John and Rena are here!" I'm thinking, "Oh crap, John & Rena are here." 8O)

LOL - agree. This week it was sooo great to have everyone off at Nationals.

[Bill_S]

Bubbles not just broken, but vaporized: I haven't skated for a week because of my back pain and because of my work schedule.

I was a complete beginner today splatting all over the place doing NOTHING. I attempted one sit spin that started to go bad and I thought I'd do a flying exit into a back spin. That's always shakey because I can't backspin very well anyway.

This time, I somehow got completely sideways on the flying change, and smacked the ice while still spinning in the air sideways. That got the attention of everyone there.

Next attempt at a sit spin resulted in an awkward exit (commonly called a "fall"), and I sliced a 2" gash on my left calf with my right blade. Bloody mess.

At least Nationals are on TV this weekend and I can skate vicariously. Maybe it's time for me to hang up the skates.

[dbny]

Next attempt at a sit spin resulted in an awkward exit (commonly called a "fall"), and I sliced a 2" gash on my left calf with my right blade. Bloody mess.

At least Nationals are on TV this weekend and I can skate vicariously. Maybe it's time for me to hang up the skates.


Ouch! Don't you dare quit on us! Just take it slower.

[jazzpants]

LOL - agree. This week it was sooo great to have everyone off at Nationals.Yeah... until ADULTS Sectionals and National closes in!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Bill_S: If you quit, I'll come after 'ya with MY purple skates and you don't wanna mess with me here!!! :twisted:

Seriously, rest up... deal with your health issues (your calf and back) and then come back again and see what happens.

[Isk8NYC]

Next attempt at a sit spin resulted in an awkward exit (commonly called a "fall"), and I sliced a 2" gash on my left calf with my right blade. Bloody mess.

At least Nationals are on TV this weekend and I can skate vicariously. Maybe it's time for me to hang up the skates.
Hey, we match - I have one on my left shin from falling out of a back sit years ago! Did you need stitches? Get well soon and keep skating!

[Skate@Delaware]

Bursting bubbles: yeah i'm popping these babies....had my visit with the surgeon today and I was in a funk the rest of the day. I knew surgery was 99% probable....but hearing it out loud by HIM really hit home. AND I'm still on skating restrictions...no "torquing spins or full-revolution jumps" and that really bites!!!

Floating bubbles: so we worked on my routine, added some "fluff" to an area that needed something.....and evidently EVERYONE loved the routine (especially the chair)....

then we worked on backspins, which don't torque me around (little cheat but that's ok). I managed some decent ones so we moved on to change-foot. for some reason I get VERY dizzy doing them. weird, huh?

[doubletoe]

Bubbles not just broken, but vaporized: I haven't skated for a week because of my back pain and because of my work schedule.

I was a complete beginner today splatting all over the place doing NOTHING. I attempted one sit spin that started to go bad and I thought I'd do a flying exit into a back spin. That's always shakey because I can't backspin very well anyway.

This time, I somehow got completely sideways on the flying change, and smacked the ice while still spinning in the air sideways. That got the attention of everyone there.

Next attempt at a sit spin resulted in an awkward exit (commonly called a "fall"), and I sliced a 2" gash on my left calf with my right blade. Bloody mess.

At least Nationals are on TV this weekend and I can skate vicariously. Maybe it's time for me to hang up the skates.

Oh, come on now! To quote the Black Knight,

"It's just a flesh wound!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eMkth8FWno

We expect to see you back on the ice next week, and no later!

Bursting bubbles: yeah i'm popping these babies....had my visit with the surgeon today and I was in a funk the rest of the day. I knew surgery was 99% probable....but hearing it out loud by HIM really hit home. AND I'm still on skating restrictions...no "torquing spins or full-revolution jumps" and that really bites!!!

Floating bubbles: so we worked on my routine, added some "fluff" to an area that needed something.....and evidently EVERYONE loved the routine (especially the chair)....

then we worked on backspins, which don't torque me around (little cheat but that's ok). I managed some decent ones so we moved on to change-foot. for some reason I get VERY dizzy doing them. weird, huh?

Go, Skate@Delaware!:bow:

[tidesong]

floating bubbles:
I still have my lutz!!! as in like lutz not flutz hahaha I can't believe it, I lutzed all the way through today's lesson too! So I'm going to have two lutzes in my program now. haha!

i can run through my program quite decently... unfortunately I landed my double salchow only when the music wasn't on....well i dunno i ran through the program at least 6 times today? A few times without music, a few times with... I can barely recall what I did anymore.

back was being achy achy but the pain cleared up after warming up off ice. Its bad but its under control huh... after nationals I gotta rest it properly... i wonder if swimming is any good for the back

bursting them:
double loop was still underrotating and double toe I had no faith to try so out they go, doing lutz instead of double loop and flip instead of double toe

I lipped when i wasn't concentrating... lol but at least i can do flip ok after I realized that, so its not so bad... just gotta remember to do it....

I have to remember not to move my hands during my change of edge spiral because it gets dinged on points for asisstance blah lol

So well... generally ok. I'm very happy about the lutz. :mrgreen: I hope its here to stay!

[Laura H]

It has been a while since I posted . . . two Mondays ago, our cat was hit by a car and killed . . . our family was pretty upset about that, even my alleged "cat hating" DH liked this kitty. Anyway, we decided to adopt another one, an older kitten, and she is definitely keeping us entertained! But then last Friday, took (figure skater) DS to the dr for what we *thought* was strep throat and it turned out to be not only strep but also MONO . . . so he is out of commission for 3 weeks . . . eek!! DH, fortunately, has a very flexible schedule (and can be home with him during the days, while I'm at
work) so it's not as disastrous as it could be, but still a challenge. Not to
mention - I don't know when he can start skating again - poor guy.

But back to the topic - my skating practice!! :P Group lessons have started up again . . . and we've got a bunch of newbie adult skaters as a result of the LTS "free skates" promotion . . . yay!!! More possible AOSS victims!

Floating bubbles:

Skating director subbed as our instructor a couple of weeks back and she was overall pretty complimentary about my skating - which is amazing, she's pretty TOUGH! Made a couple of suggestions on the waltz jump which did help, reminded me to check in on the landings, liked my salchow OK.

The toe loop has really been coming along in the past few weeks! I can even land a waltz-toe loop combo on a pretty consistent basis if I check the landing correctly on the waltz jump!

Spins - still trying to get the entrance on the forward upright consistent so I don't travel so much. The entrance is getting more solid though. Neglecting the backspin recently. :oops: need to make myself work on that one again.

SPIRALS!! I actually haven't done these in a while but was playing around with them during public session and was pleasantly surprised at how stable they were. I think the stretching exercises and leg work I have been doing (still dreaming of a sit spin) is paying off.

Bursting bubbles:

With all the beginner skaters, I'm not getting much individual attention . . . but it's OK, I can bide my time . . . I figure it makes up for the "semi-private" lessons I have been getting for the last couple of group sessions!! It's still nice to have a coned off area to practice in!

[Skittl1321]

Bursting Bubbles Haven't skated since Christmas, and am on week 2 of my 6 week injury leave. My knee hurt so badly last night that I didn't even make it to synchro off ice. I was in bed by 8:00 just because it hurt too much to sit or stand.

The PT seems to think it's getting better, but I'm not sure I believe him. I can do more things in PT than before, but my day to day pain is way higher than it was a week and a half ago (way better than 2 weeks ago). I think I might have to call the doctor and see if I need the MRI- but I really don't want to do that because- expensive much!

[Thin-Ice]

It has been a while since I posted . . . two Mondays ago, our cat was hit by a car and killed . . . our family was pretty upset about that, even my alleged "cat hating" DH liked this kitty. Anyway, we decided to adopt another one, an older kitten, and she is definitely keeping us entertained!

I'm so sorry to hear about your kitty. :( I hope the new one makes you and all your family members very happy, too.

[Sessy]

Went to the physiotherapist today. He says basically the stuff is fine, he says to do what I like as long as I stay within my pain tolerance limit.

See that's the problem. Some days it hurts just to walk.

Bleh. :evil:
Find the problem already! Ugh.


Bill - I had a dagger through my leg in highschool after fooling around with a bunch of them, and after like 1,5 - 2 weeks I was running again and doing everything. Stitches loosened up, so it left a VERY ugly scar. Doc said it was my own fault.
So be careful with it!

[badaxel]

All the bubbles are burst!

Had THREE really, really bad practices in two days (Monday and Tuesday) this week. Maybe landed 10 of the bad axels the whole time, and probably fell close to 80 times total. Even fell on a SPIN! WHO DOES THAT???!!!???!
:evil: :evil: :frus: :frus: :frus: :frus:

So, any way, I was very depressed after the third practice and decided to take a few days off from skating. Hopefully that will be all it takes! :giveup: :giveup: :giveup: :giveup: :( :( :( :( :(

I think you guys JINXED my jumps! JK!

[Bill_S]

To all who responded to my post yesterday: thanks for the words of encouragement about my wounded/depressed state of being.

I plan to do the PIC inlines tonight with the old folks at the roller rink, so I can take it very easy. Leg cut still stings a little, but that's really nothing. It will heal.

What really got to me yesterday is that skills appear to be leaving faster than I am learning them. I'm regressing, and the cuts+bruises don't do anything to help my attitude.

It's become SO much harder to learn/retain skills as I approach my 58th birthday. Wish I were a young 50-ish person again!

Reality check- I started doing this 8 years ago as a way to exercise, and that's still very much possible. I just have to scale down my expectations and learn to be satisfied with modest achievements.

[coskater64]

Well I had a nice day...

I took my adult pre bronze and bronze fm tests. I passed both the bronze fm test by 1.2 pts over the standard score. Managed 13.7 and the passing score was 12.5, so that was good, 5 step mohawk was by far worst move. The tests are posted on my blog, but are large so they take a while to load.

Of course, it should be noted prior to hip surgeries 1 & 2 --I was on my Jr moves. I do think the hinged boots help with getting deep edges.

Off to start on the silver and gold moves test for March or April, maybe even the bronze figure. Slow but steady....:twisted:

[Isk8NYC]

Well I had a nice day...I took my adult pre bronze and bronze fm tests. I passed both

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Floating Bubbles:
No freeskate today, just as well, the ice was incredibly hard.
Moves, Moves, Moves - all okey-dokey, and I'm actually making progress on the threes on the line.

Bursting Bubbles:
Sliced a bit of leather off the toe of my right skate. :(

[Skate@Delaware]

Even fell on a SPIN! WHO DOES THAT???!!!???! !
Hey, I fall on spins-do I get extra points??????
To all who responded to my post yesterday: thanks for the words of encouragement about my wounded/depressed state of being.

I plan to do the PIC inlines tonight with the old folks at the roller rink, so I can take it very easy. Leg cut still stings a little, but that's really nothing. It will heal.

What really got to me yesterday is that skills appear to be leaving faster than I am learning them. I'm regressing, and the cuts+bruises don't do anything to help my attitude.

It's become SO much harder to learn/retain skills as I approach my 58th birthday. Wish I were a young 50-ish person again!

Reality check- I started doing this 8 years ago as a way to exercise, and that's still very much possible. I just have to scale down my expectations and learn to be satisfied with modest achievements.
I can sort-of understand what you are going through; but the important thing is for you to keep going out there-DON'T GIVE UP!!! my husband is 58 and has decided to not skate anymore (after breaking his foot but not before spending the $600+ on new boots/blades)

anyway, allow yourself a pity-party then pick yourself up and get back on the ice before we hunt you down and drag you back out there!!!! (I promise it won't be pretty but who cares???):twisted:

Everytime I skate lately I ask myself why am I doing this???? I'm not allowed to do anything! but I tell myself, I am doing this as long as i can. And I may sneak back on the ice even if I'm not allowed!

so there!

[Rusty Blades]

Bill: OUCH! Get well soon!

My skate:
What @$#%$ bubbles??!! What a rotten =%&§ skate! Didn't start out too bad but went down hill quickly :( I think I left my body at home in bed! Did not sleep well last night but no idea it was THIS bad! Right knee was weak - couldn't get up from a shoot the duck or sit spin and had to bail on a couple spirals because the knee wouldn’t hold.

Lesson was a waste of coach's time - skating was a waste of my time! After lesson I sat at the bench changing out of my skates and fought back tears of frustration! (Thankfully I had a trade show all day today instead of being in the office – at least I was able to cut out early and go home for a nap!)

MUST get my shyte together tomorrow and skate a better program before my coach gives up on me!

[Sessy]

what's with everybody having a rotten time?

[jazzpants]

Even fell on a SPIN! WHO DOES THAT???!!!???! Ummm.... Me??? :roll: :P (Okay, once I was injured already going in on the ice and I ended up reinjuring my lower back/hip. The other times were attempts to get lower sit spins. Now to get it super low... :P )


I think you guys JINXED my jumps! JK!:lol: Okay, you get a couple of days off... but I expect you back doing more BAAAAAAD axels and LANDING THEM!!! :twisted:

what's with everybody having a rotten time?
Well, okay, coskater64 already broke the cycle (Congrats to you on your tests, BTW!!! :bow: ) but I'll also try to break the cycle too...

Bursting Bubbles:
It was CROWDED with kids from elementary school. (4th and 5th graders!!!) Obviously I can't do a runthru with THAT crowd!!! :evil:

Floating Bubbles:

Landed another LUTZ today. Of course, this was after missing at least 3 of them. But I'm getting there!!!
Landed a slew of loop-loops and a couple of sal-loops too!
My primary coach got EVILLE on me and made me do a FLIP-LOOP now! Surprisingly I DID land one out of 3 tries!!!
Worked on backsit-attitude spin. Came out okay...
Worked on my straightline footwork. It's slightly better now!!! :mrgreen:The funny dialog:
So last week my primary coach wanted me to have the chicken backup of doing loop-toe loop as the first jump and salchow-loop as the second jump in my FS program right? Of course, secondary coach objected to that and said "You are doing loop-loop!!! PERIOD!!! :evil: "

Needless to say, I came back to my primary coach and did loop-loops this. Then...

Primary Coach: "Okay, we've decided that you're doing loop-loop instead of loop-toeloop, right?"
Me: "No, secondary coach decided that I need to do a loop-loop!!!"
Primary coach: "That's what I said! We've decided that you need to do a loop-loop!" :twisted:
Me: "Yeah, you and secondary coach!!! NOT you, secondary coach and ME!!! :evil:
Needless to say... No sense arguing with them... and I needed it, so... :giveup:

Other funny note:

Primary coach: "Okay, go do that footwork!"

(This is after I did a set of those footwork... but he asked for it, so I did another set.)

Primary coach then yells out: "No, no! I want you to do THAT footwork!!!" Then he goes over towards one of our ice dance coach's "playing around" with her beautiful footwork sequences of brackets, rockers, quick turns, mohawks, etc. and mimics HER footwork sequence. Said ice dance coach chuckles. Then I said "Yeah, right!!! I WISH!!!" :roll:

[myste12]

Bursting Bubbles:
It's been another week with very little skating. I've been trying to go easy on the recently injured ankle, and now I'm sick with the nasty head cold/sore throat/sinus thing. I'm hoping to make it to my lesson tomorrow. Since I don't have school on Fridays, I can go home an take a nap afterward!

[dbny]

What really got to me yesterday is that skills appear to be leaving faster than I am learning them. I'm regressing, and the cuts+bruises don't do anything to help my attitude.

It's become SO much harder to learn/retain skills as I approach my 58th birthday. Wish I were a young 50-ish person again!

Reality check- I started doing this 8 years ago as a way to exercise, and that's still very much possible. I just have to scale down my expectations and learn to be satisfied with modest achievements.

Bill, I'm approaching 61, and I concur that gaining new skills get harder with age, and they are more easily lost also, but I have also been through times when I seemed to regress, yet came out of that and continued to progress later on. Hang in there, you have done great for only 8 years on the ice, especially considering your age when you started.



I took my adult pre bronze and bronze fm tests. I passed both the bronze fm test by 1.2 pts over the standard score.

CONGRATULATIONS!


See that's the problem. Some days it hurts just to walk.


I've had days when my knee killed me walking, but got on the ice and it was fine! Sometimes these things are just flaky!

Everytime I skate lately I ask myself why am I doing this???? I'm not allowed to do anything! but I tell myself, I am doing this as long as i can. And I may sneak back on the ice even if I'm not allowed!

Whenever you are on the ice, you are doing something positive for your skating, even if all you do is stand around. Just balancing on the ice is good for your skating. I found that out the first season I coached. I had little time to practice, but my overall skating improved in terms of confidence, and it showed.

What @$#%$ bubbles??!! What a rotten =%&§ skate! Didn't start out too bad but went down hill quickly :( I think I left my body at home in bed! Did not sleep well last night but no idea it was THIS bad!

Don't be so hard on yourself! Loss of sleep is harder on us as we age. When I was in my 20's and 30's, I could get called in to work at 2 AM, work all night, and have no problems the next day. Now, I feel it, just staying up a few hours later than usual.

Floating Bubbles:
Still no real skating, but gave two private lessons today and one group, and then skated around with a pal afterwards, just feeling wonderful to be back on the ice. I was afraid my time off would put me off balance or something, but I actually feel at least as confident as before I was sick.

[Skate@Delaware]

Whenever you are on the ice, you are doing something positive for your skating, even if all you do is stand around. Just balancing on the ice is good for your skating. I found that out the first season I coached. I had little time to practice, but my overall skating improved in terms of confidence, and it showed.
dbny, you are right! and it isn't just positive for my skating....it's positive for my mental well-being! My friends remind me I NEED to skate, because of the way it makes me feel. Even tho I'm not able to do as much as before, I do feel better when I skate. Even if I have to adapt some of my moves (I'm compensating for leg weakness), there is so much that I can still do. (yeah, I'm finding loopholes on that "full-revolution" jump restriction :twisted: !!!!)

[doubletoe]

Floating bubbles
Had a good final practice before my MIF test tomorrow.

Bursting bubbles
And now I find out the test session has been postponed until February 1. :frus:

[mikawendy]

Floating bubbles
Had a good final practice before my MIF test tomorrow.

Bursting bubbles
And now I find out the test session has been postponed until February 1. :frus:

Good golly! Talk about keeping people in suspense! The club must not have to book its ice too far in advance.

[phoenix]

Bubbles: Had a reasonably good practice on an unreasonably crowded session--scratch that, not so much crowded as about 12 low level girls who had no concept of keeping moving, or watching for someone coming down the ice (or practicing spins in the center!!). Anyway....worked hard on Killian, and *finally* right in the last 5 minutes figured out & fixed a shoulder issue that was pulling my choctaw off balance. Final pattern was textbook!

Bursting: I'm testing this dang dance in 2 weeks--I feel like I should be past the phase of still making major fixes. Makes it seem like the test could totally go either way, depending on if I've got myself pulled together or not on that particular day.

[tidesong]

Yikes at the postponed test session! That would drive me nuts....

Today's lesson was ok, pretty decent nothing ground breaking nothing horrible either.

[Sessy]

More time to practice though!

[Mrs Redboots]

what's with everybody having a rotten time?

Mostly it seems to be the older ones, like me and Bill and DB and Rusty - but we are all in our 50s or older, and seems like the combination of winter and age isn't a great one.

Husband, at 57, is reasonably okay except for his loop elbow! And he complains because padding makes it too hot, but his coaches and I are agreed that if he wants to skate freestyle, he pads it!

I'm feeling better today, but have decided to be very old-fashioned and have a couple of quiet days before I go back on the ice. This is seriously frustrating, as the rink would have been very quiet this morning and we could have got on with some choreography, but I think I would rather take my time and make sure I'm well. Definitely skating on Sunday, though.

Plus I want to stay up late tonight to watch the free dance at the Europeans, so need to rest today! I just hope I make it...

[Kim to the Max]

Bursting bubbles
And now I find out the test session has been postponed until February 1. :frus:

I'm sorry that it was postponed!! Good luck!! I will think about you when I'm also testing :(

Keep practicing hard and try not to think about it too much!! (as I try to take my own advice :roll: )

[Rusty Blades]

Sad little bubbles: Still didn't sleep as well as I would like and the right knee still wasn't up to snuff

Pretty bubbles: I did get my Waltz jump away from the boards, which I think came as a great relief to my coach who was beginning to have doubts! It isn't huge and bold (like when I am close to the boards) but it is there. Sit spins weren't too bad either.

In lesson we worked on refining the choreography and figuring out where to put the Toe Loop and Waltz jump. I think I need to find the confidence to launch them at speed but coach seems to think I should do them with a slow entry. Oh well, we have 3 weeks to work this out :yum:

(My new motto is FLY or die! LOL!)

[Scarlett]

Stayed up to watch Ladies Short program last night... Ashley Wagner and Mirai Nagasu were wonderful!

Floating Bubbles- Managed to land a couple decent salchow-loops.

Bursting them-
Free leg position in loop (not in combination) is horrendous.
Cannot do a plain vanilla mohawk to save my life.

[coskater64]

While I am only in my 40's aging is just awful...I have a friend who is in her 50's both parents died within 2 years of each other and she has struggled so hard the last 4 years. She has changed her focus from FS to Dance she enjoys dance and has a coach who is very fun.

I guess as we age we just have to adjust.

I skated for the third day in a row, which is the first time on the hip. Yesterday was difficult because I went from the tests straight to ballet and pointe work. My feet and legs are very tired.

I started working on the gold and silver moves the back double 3's are difficult for me just because the back inside 3 was so bad from the first surgery I still have a painful mental block. I did manage all of the brackets in the field, and got my RFO/RBI rocker going slowly on the line.

Happily, I used my scribe and managed not to trip anyone...laid out figure just FI-FO and BI-BO 8's. Also got FO loops going even on R leg, not beautiful, and in fact slightly scary but centered, LO loop was good but is about 2" to early. I will do the adult bronze figures hopefully soon and keep working on the figure for MC.

Slowly but surely, step-by-step...:D

[liz_on_ice]

what's with everybody having a rotten time?

no idea, but add me to the list; my skating has been sucky too :giveup: Pttthhhhhhh........

[Terri C]

Floating Bubbles:

The freestyle program for Easterns has been fairly consistent all week in a good way. Yesterday I skated the cleanest run through I've had since December!

Went to the other rink today and finally was able to get through my entire artistic program this morning. The freestyles in the morning there are quiet and I'm actually able to think and focus on the choreography.


Bursting Bubbles:
Coaches are not backing down on what they want from me in my artistic or CM programs.

I too, also have a bit of a cold and it's FREEZING here, so I decided to skip the gym today and stay at home and watch Nationals on icenetwork.

[dbny]

coskater64 - I think your progress is amazing! Coach tested the waters with me today, asking if I could do a waltz jump, so I had to read her the riot act about how I want to put off the time when hip or knee surgery is necessary for as long as possible. Jumping is just not worth it to me.

Huge Iridescent Floating Bubbles:
Everything! I got on the ice today after being sick for two weeks and having absolutely no practice, and had one of my best skates ever. We got there late, so I only had about 10 minutes on ice before my lesson. In that 10 minutes, I discovered that my FI and FO threes are better than two weeks ago, and nailed a 6 rev one foot spin immediately. In the lesson, we started with the threes on the line, and coach was impressed with my improvement (though still not quite ready to test). Then we did spins, where I did four or five more one foot spins, one of which was 6 or 7 revs, and missed none. Tried backspin, which was a bit better, but not there yet. I wanted coach to look at my power pulls, and she said my F were technically correct, though I'm not getting the power I need because of dull blades and hard ice. B power pulls also very nice. Finally, I went for the Prelim power threes. R side was best ever, and coach was very complimentary about the BI edges and the power. I could feel it - totally in control, even of the threes. L side started weak, but was much stronger by the last two in the pattern, also in control. I have never skated that pattern so well. We had another minute or two, and went back to FO threes on the line, where I did two really well checked ones!!!

My coach thinks this is the result of having all the pressure off me from my job (which is no more - hooray, hooray!!!), and finally being really well. I don't care what it's from. It's been a long time since I've felt like a skater. I think I actually will pass those Prelim moves someday. Time to start working on the spirals :D.

[jazzpants]

Bursting bubbles
And now I find out the test session has been postponed until February 1. :frus:That *REALLY* SUCKS!!! :evil:

Okay, we have to look at the bright side... more time to get it to "extra good" and ensure a PASS this time around!!! ;)

[doubletoe]

That *REALLY* SUCKS!!! :evil:

Okay, we have to look at the bright side... more time to get it to "extra good" and ensure a PASS this time around!!! ;)

Well, it wouldn't be an issue except that our Sectionals program critique is next weekend and I also have a competition just a week after that. I am down to the wire for switching gears to focus on freestyle, which I have been neglecting because of this MIF test. :frus:

[LilJen]

I took my adult pre bronze and bronze fm tests. I passed both the bronze fm test by 1.2 pts over the standard score. Managed 13.7 and the passing score was 12.5, so that was good, 5 step mohawk was by far worst move. The tests are posted on my blog, but are large so they take a while to load.

Congratulations!

[BURST!]
Yesterday's lesson was a laugh. . . I'd had a lesson with the choreographer to work on the new program that I'm supposed to compete in 3 weeks already; so coache said, 'Okay, let's see it!" So I did a runthrough. Her comment: "Okay, that's fine, but it never got past the red line." I had been under the impression that FS1 programs were only half ice. ooooooppppps. I guess I was wrong. (Choreographer also had thought last week it was weird when I told her we were doing this for half-ice only but she figured "whatever" and went along with it.) Well, that was a bit of a shocker.

Oh well. What with my usual insomnia keeping me up anyway, I think I may have gotten the thing re-done in my brain at least. I stomped and raved a bit during the lesson once I found out, but I know we can get this thing done. It's rather inconvenient being a CW skater, though--knowing I'll be going against the traffic of tiny skaters during freestyle sessions makes me a bit nervous.

[jazzpants]

Well, it wouldn't be an issue except that our Sectionals program critique is next weekend and I also have a competition just a week after that. I am down to the wire for switching gears to focus on freestyle, which I have been neglecting because of this MIF test. :frus:Uh oh.... Ummm... talk to your coach!!! This one is a toughie... and as it is, I think it's weird (as in "bad weird") that your skating club would change the test session at the very LAST minute!

That REALLY SUCKS!!! :evil: I'm sorry to hear about it. (((doubletoe)))

[patatty]

Floating bubbles - not much at all this week. We finally choreographed new footwork for my FS program, and it's a lot more interesting than my previous one, which was just the dance step sequence from ISI FS4.

Burst: Everything. My blades got wrecked by standing around in dirty skate guards at the competition last weekend, and I couldn't hold an edge to do anything. Moves and spins were especially horrible. I took a wicked fall onto my hip yesterday, which ruined any attempts at jump landings on that leg for the rest of the day. I'm still limping around a little bit. I also heard from my coach that another coach was making fun of adult skaters, including me, which doesn't put me in the greatest mood either.

Floating again - I had my blades fixed, so hopefully next week will be better.

[techskater]

Uh oh.... Ummm... talk to your coach!!! This one is a toughie... and as it is, I think it's weird (as in "bad weird") that your skating club would change the test session at the very LAST minute!

That REALLY SUCKS!!! :evil: I'm sorry to hear about it. (((doubletoe)))

I agree with Jazz. Can you put off the MIF test until May? They could hold your entry.

[tidesong]

floating bubbles:
i reached the rink just in time for my ice time coz i overslept my afternoon nap...

bursting them:
i was so nauseated from the cab ride (yeah coz i told him I had to be there by 10... so he went a bit fast....)
so I was feeling a bit off while skating, but I got through my program mostly... but I lost the change of edge points coz I couldn't change without swinging my leg coz i was just not in it !!! gah... oh well and I also fell on the double salchow after almost having it...

floating bubbles again:
so well at least I landed alot more axels and double salchows there in that short 30 minutes than last week at the competition rink... so thats something good... meaning i can still skate on that ice lol... maybe the last time there were too many people around and it made me distracted... who knows... in any case competition ice is empty :twisted:

[Sessy]

floating bubbles:
Skated today at the ice rink where I learned to skate first! Memories! Also, they have figure skating ice, which is niiiice. Though I had to abort many spins (saturday public session), and I couldn't do my normal set-ups for any of them, my spins were purrrrrfect! Even the biellman went really well. I think the trick is either the ice (doh) or the fact that I was holding my skating guards in my right hand, I suspect the latter.

Met a very nice figure skating boy too! :mrgreen: Unfortunately he's a speed skater and only does the figure skating thing once in a blue moon, but he can do a 1-foot spin (did one a lot better after I explained about holding the entry edge, too).

bursting them:
I fell on a 3-turn. :oops:
And on a rocker.