Gold medal or also-skated: 25-31 May 2008 [Archive]

Mrs Redboots

05-25-2008, 04:04 AM

Since Oberstdorf is this week and the Mountain Cup next....

Gold Medal: Coaches are back; we had our final lesson with Coach2 today. Husband worked on his free programme, and then together we worked on our free dance. After our lesson we worked on starts and finishes.

Also-skated: Rink its usual Sunday self - ice a bit hard with condensation bumps, and by the time we left, rather a lot of ankle-biters!

Husband fell on his catch-foot spiral and missed his flip completely. Coach2 not pleased with the start of our step sequence, which is still a bit messy. Found out the hard way that I can only curtsey on one foot....

Helen88

05-25-2008, 02:51 PM

Also-Skated:
Coach gave me a really hard time today :giveup:. About everything really. Still, I suppose if she's picking up on this stuff, the stuff that used to be wrong must be fixed...8O

Gold-Medal:
Urm...the ice felt good :giveup:

InTheMiddle:)

No lesson next week - coach is heading off to Germany for an adult skating competition thing. That's all I know :)

doubletoe

05-25-2008, 07:52 PM

Ooh, Mrs. R., I like the thread title!

Gold Medal
In spite of the crowded session--and three skaters getting in my way during my program--I somehow managed to complete every element in my program today. My only goal this summer is to skate a clean program in competition, and I have one next weekend, so this is good. :)

Also Skated
I'm sure I could find some negatives if I thought about it, but I'll be nice to myself instead! ;)

P.S. Tim Goebel was hanging out during our FS session. I almost tripped over myself when I finally realized who that guy with the *mohawk* was (hair, not skating move, LOL)! 8O

Bill_S

05-25-2008, 08:04 PM

Gold Medal: I had to travel to Columbus for other reasons today, so I took my skates and enjoyed a public session at the Dispatch Ice Haus in the downtown area. Cost for 2 hours of skating - $4. The experience, priceless.

First, I LOVE the ice there. It's PERFECT. Also the crowds are typically very small. In the first half hour there were only 4 old geezers (including me) on the ice. There were never more than 12 people on it.

Second, it was actually a very surreal skate. From having two of the four guys in full-bore hockey gear and not being very skilled skaters, to one fellow in bluejeans and a baseball cap, who juggling white plastic balls the entire time he skated, I felt that this skate was some sort of existential movie scene in which I was living.

Late in the session I skated up to the man who had juggled the entire time and asked him a few questions (who wouldn't!). Jerry claimed that he did it for a little more exercise while skating. We talked a bit more about the old days when we both skated on frozen ponds, and other topics.

Gentle reader, I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I asked Jerry if I could take his picture. Here he is:

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/jerry_juggler1.jpg

I TOLD you the session was surreal!

SynchroSk8r114

05-25-2008, 08:31 PM

P.S. Tim Goebel was hanging out during our FS session. I almost tripped over myself when I finally realized who that guy with the *mohawk* was (hair, not skating move, LOL)! 8O

Yep, he's got a mohawk now. Was it still blue? I believe he dyed it about two weeks ago...still not crazy about it.

kander

05-25-2008, 10:51 PM

kander

05-25-2008, 10:57 PM

Gold Medal: Skated in Wisconsin for the first time ever today. The ice was in excellent shape. I wish they would kidnap whoever it is that takes care of the ice and send them to California. In return we could stop airing those "happy cows come from California" commercials. I managed to run through most of my tricks successfully

Also Skated: I got fried in the sun here. It's decpetively cool while the sun is cooking you. The ice felt good, but afterwards, zowie:(

doubletoe

05-26-2008, 12:34 AM

Yep, he's got a mohawk now. Was it still blue? I believe he dyed it about two weeks ago...still not crazy about it.

I was in such shock that I didn't really take note of the color, LOL! But I did notice a hint of some color in it. . . could definitely have been blue. . . faded, though.

katz in boots

05-26-2008, 03:24 AM

Post competition, now starting to get used to my new Jackson Proflex and Matrix system Freestyle blades.

It is taking a while, but am finally managing to jump and spin in them.

Gold Medal
Being able to do dips so low that my butt is definitely lower than my knees.
The feeling of freedom that these boots bring.
Slight adjustment to R blade position meant I feel like I have some control.

Also Skated
one of the skating improvements commonly associated with Proflex boots is being able to get lower sit spins. Seems that I used pressure on the front of my old boots as a measure of where I was, and the new boots leave me all at sea on forward and back sits.

Still struggling with the take off on salchows and loops, but at least they are taking off now.

Silver medal
at least I am feeling more positive, that I will be able to learn to skate on these blades, which I didn't feel one skate earlier.

looplover

05-26-2008, 08:34 AM

Gold Medal: Biellman spin!!!!!

Also skated: I had a dream that I did one. :P:P I woke up thinking, oh man, so I can't really do one? LOL, well, it was really good in the dream. Almost as good as my triple axel dream.

Terri C

05-26-2008, 08:41 AM

Gold Medal:
This is for yesterday, but I survived my first power skating class. I had tried one years ago, but thought it was too much for me. Now since I'm going to AN next year, I thought this would help me get more power on the ice and better basics. I saw where my weak points are and what I need to work on.

Also Skated:

I was pretty sore after class yesterday. When I woke up this morning with all intent to attend a morning freestyle at another rink- the thought came to me that I not only have to train hard, but train smart. Given that I had skated Saturday morning, did the power class yesterday and will skate tomorrow with a lesson with Secondary Coach, I decided to take today off.

looplover

05-26-2008, 02:45 PM

Gold Medal: Best practice in months! I worked hard, which I haven't done lately. Was determined to work both moves and FS since it was a fairly empty public session. Power pulls were better, 8 step is ok but not passable yet (too long on some beats, but it's fast), RBI 3 turn was better when I really bent my legs. Did a couple of waltz-loops (determined to get that axel), two forward change edge spins, some loop-toes. Made progress on my flip again because I have a new ritual meant to bust through mental block: do a toe loop, then a loop, then a flip. 8-)

Also skated: however STILL did not do a true flip, but at least I two-footed some. This is frustrating me to no end mainly because it's simply ridiculous since I used to have a good flip. There's just no excuse for this, and I am really mad at myself. I did one good sit spin today but it was too high, so still unable to do a low one. Realized I have to work on these two things every single time I skate. :twisted: Didn't work on spirals or camels today because of public session.

quarkiki2

05-26-2008, 04:44 PM

Learned the Dutch Waltz with Jessi on Saturday morning. Had much fun in dance lesson!

And Milo turned a corner -- he still protested getting into skates, but the minute I set him on the ice he was as happy as could be. At the end of class, we got off the ice, then he looked at me and said, "Just a few more minutes, please?" So we got back out and he marched across the rink to check out the hockey boxes. And marched all the way back, too.

Skittl1321

05-26-2008, 05:28 PM

Gold-medal Had a ton of fun skating this weekend. On Saturday in dance lesson I learned the Dutch Waltz. I kept messing up the end pattern, but now I've got it down. We haven't added music in yet (which is good, because man do I take my time) but I think I've got the pattern. Taking the lessons with quarkiki was probably one of our best ideas ever :)

Today I had a 45 minute moves lesson and it was fantastic. The coach I worked with was really great (though I'm not 100% sure she is entirely clear on what is required for each move, as she is a new coach, but we had the rulebook out together, and anything that seemed odd we worked through it together) but she really gave me some fantastic advice on how to get these moves up to par.

Also-skated Dutch waltz- whose idea was it to make this the first dance? Getting it perfect seems like it will be impossible! Which leads me to believe that dance is going to be pretty much impossible. I'm doing the snowplow sam kneebends on my swing rolls- the one where you bend at the waist instead of the knees, and the last few seconds of the edge I really start wobbling. Although my progressives are improving on the circle in context they don't exist.

Moves- oh my goodness- where to start. I might as well forget everything I have been doing, it seems. I think the power crossovers are going to be the first two I get down, but nothing like how I was doing them. On the forward ones I had been stepping onto a flat and just hoping it passed as an inside, now stepping onto an inside generates a lot of power and I'm scared to cross. The backward ones once we worked on them I got a compliment on edge quality- but I need to "relearn" them this way. Back crossover to backoutside edge actually was reasonably good. She told me she doesn't think it matters if I rotate my head or not- and once I took that out they were actually pretty good. (Does anyone know if that matters to a judge? Given my injury, having to turn my head, especially on the left extension, really screws my balance. My old coach said it was an absolute must- this one doesn't think it's worth sacrificing edge quality/extension for). Power 3s were good, but scratchy on CW side and powerless on CCW side. 5-step mohawk is bad, but really the critiques lead me to believe they weren't my worst.

The worst of the day- I was a horrible chicken on my bad side 3 turns. Going into my moves it took me probably 10 false starts to get into it. I'm now doing a mohawk, which I actually dislike more, but could get into better to start all the crossover moves, but unfortunately I can't start power 3s like that. I don't know what happened, but I totally chickened out. I just could not turn. I'm sure the coach thought I was nuts.

My own practice- ran the Dutch waltz and the improvement from Saturday to Monday was noticable (and I remembered the end pattern). Worked on mohawks and 3 turns. Tried to do a few spins, but the force on my knee felt like someone was ripping it apart. Knees are really killing me today. Quarkiki- do you remember if I had a fall on Saturday? I don't know where this came from- I can barely bear weight on my left side if my knee is bent.

quarkiki2

05-26-2008, 07:19 PM

I don't reall you falling. Maybe it was the full-rotation flip attempt??

Skittl1321

05-26-2008, 07:38 PM

I don't reall you falling. Maybe it was the full-rotation flip attempt??

ooh- I forgot about that. Should have added that to my post. I tried a flip for the first time Saturday :)

But no, I doubt that messed my knee up. Stupid knees.

ibreakhearts66

05-26-2008, 07:39 PM

Gold Medal
Met up with doubletoe today :) I got my sorry butt out of bed to get to the 8:30 am freestyle to meet her. She is just as nice in person as on the board

I've definitely gotten better at fighting for my jumps. I had a few that I should have landed that I sat down on, but I had more that I should have fallen on that I managed to land.

Back sits were better today. I saw one on video that had a good 90 degree bend.

Landed a double flip. I thought I had totally lost that jump, but I did some decent ones today. I tried them from a 3-turn again, and that seemed to help

My back camels are pretty :D I was always worried that they were awkward looking, but I finally saw some on camera, and I'm pretty proud.

LFO Rockers--did some decent ones with doubletoe's help. It must be so funny to watch me do them though--trying to rotate my body through to hold that BO edge is such a struggle. I'm sure you can see it on my face.

RFO Rockers were good. I think they're easier because I'm used to holding the RBO edge for so many things, but especially the LFI swing choctaw--it's a similar feeling for me.

Also-skated
I didn't skate too well in general because I was super tired. I had prom on Saturday, and I am still recovering (not in the way most teenagers would be recovering after prom, just recovering from the lack of sleep). All of my jumps were a little off, but again, I still managed to pull out some landings.

Had a beauty of a fall on a 2loop. Apparently I was leaning too far back before the take-off, as I caught my heel/slipped off my edge. It was one of those falls where you are on the ice before you even realize what happened.

I was actually the queen of random falls today. I fell checking out of a back-scratch, coming out of a camel spin, that double loop fall...I guess I was tired...

kander

05-26-2008, 08:02 PM

Had a beauty of a fall on a 2loop. Apparently I was leaning too far back before the take-off, as I caught my heel/slipped off my edge. It was one of those falls where you are on the ice before you even realize what happened.

That's one of the scariest and hardest falls you can take. You set up for a loop and suddenly, wham! You literally pile drive yourself into the ice and it's totally unexpected and happens so fast you're in shock. It happens when you lean so far on your edge you catch part of the boot. I'm suprised it doesn't happen to ice dancers more often.

doubletoe

05-26-2008, 11:46 PM

Gold Medal
Met up with doubletoe today :)

It was so much fun skating with ibreakhearts today!! (Thank you for the double toe tips. I will continue to ask for more, I'm sure!) I'm bummed that I missed your double flip, but I did see a gorgeous double loop! :bow: And I wish I'd realized you just had your prom! I want to hear all about it and of course see a picture of your dress. :)

Gold Medal
- Had a great time meeting ibreakhearts! And it was fun to take time to play a little on the ice rather than worry about getting a program run-through in.
- I actually got around to practicing some of the Novice MIF and made definite progress on them.
- I was thrilled with my back sitspins and back pancakes! I used to mess up on the back sitspin entry 80% of the time, but today I managed to get into every one of them! The best part is that I know how I'm doing it so it's repeatable. :)

Also Skated
Worked on double toes on the harness with my coach and only landed one of them. I completely spazzed out on all the others! :(

ibreakhearts66

05-27-2008, 12:21 AM

And I wish I'd realized you just had your prom! I want to hear all about it and of course see a picture of your dress. :)

(

I guess that means we'll just have to skate together again.

isakswings

05-27-2008, 12:36 AM

Gold Medal: I managed to do some decent 3-turns! First attempt at them today, so I was pleased as punch! I'm also improving on my backward stroking and front crossovers. I still need to watch myself when it comes to pushing off with my toe, but they are improving. I know these moves are nothing compared to what many of you are doing, but baby steps, right? :-)

as for the other...well back crossovers need improvement and I need to work on proper body alignment!

jazzpants

05-27-2008, 12:47 AM

That's one of the scariest and hardest falls you can take. You set up for a loop and suddenly, wham! You literally pile drive yourself into the ice and it's totally unexpected and happens so fast you're in shock. It happens when you lean so far on your edge you catch part of the boot. I'm suprised it doesn't happen to ice dancers more often.I had that type of all back in Sept 2005 when I first started getting the loop. I had a pretty bruised up hip and totally lost the loop b/c I was too afraid to lean back on that BO edge to try for the take off again. A year and a few months after that I finally got my loop back for KEEPS!!! :)

I skated this morning at YB knowing that my primary coach won't be there tonight on the Monday night skate. I opted to keep this session pretty relax and just to do "goof off" skating. (Meaning I did some crossovers work but not a lot...)

Also, there is an "incentive" for me to go in and skate this morning... keep reading...

Gold Medal:

I signed up for the email newsletter for my home rink... a week before I got an email saying that if I print out and show this coupon between 10-11am on Monday's public session, I can get in the rink for FREE!!! It's only like $5.50 per session if I pay for it, but hey, $5.50 saved is $5.50 saved!!! :mrgreen: (BTW: very FEW people actually knew of the deal and went in on it. Too bad!!!)
Well, the mentioned loop was pretty steady...
I am starting to get some pretty low sit spins now...
I am starting to get some FO brackets now. They're wimpy, but they're legit ones and yes, there are eyewitness of this happy event too!!! :mrgreen:
Also Skated:

Loop-loop wasn't happening...
Pretty much the flip and lutz had its quota. After about the first two, both left to go partying...
Now that I got this nice low sit spin comes an interesting problem: HOW DO I GET UP FROM THIS THING!?!?!?! :P :lol: It's proven to be quite difficult to do so on one leg. I mean I barely get up enough where I can bend my free leg to push myself back up again!!! 8O
Camel non-existent...

Mrs Redboots

05-27-2008, 05:37 AM

Also Skated: Husband's free programme wasn't the best run-through ever. In our free dance, we messed up the spin, and the coach didn't like the steps after it (which he choregraphed), but we're not changing them at this stage! There was time to do some exercises in waltz hold, which did not go well.

Gold medal: Everything else went relatively well, we ran through all our dances. After Husband had gone I actually did a bit of work for a change, and just before I got off, I did a solo British Waltz and actually got some flow into it. It wasn't nearly fast enough, but it moved, and it wasn't just on the spot, and I was able to do it a lot faster than I thought I could! With a partner, I don't have a problem - but maybe, just maybe, after all these years, I'm finally beginning to be able to turn solo while moving!

Whereupon I decided to let well enough alone, and got off!

Kim to the Max

05-27-2008, 05:48 AM

Gold Medal
- I actually got around to practicing some of the Novice MIF and made definite progress on them.

Did I miss something (which is completely possible!!)? Did you pass your Intermediate??????

Rusty Blades

05-27-2008, 08:56 AM

Also skated: My last post for awhile.....

Edges, deep edges, and nothing but the edges, so help me gawd! Well, ok, a few spins, some footwork, and a couple of Waltz jumps thrown in with some alternating FOXs but mainly edges and mostly backward.

It has been a tough four months! With repeated sinus infections, disappearing energy (high blood sugar from repeated illness) I lost so MUCH of what I had in mid-January and Adult Nationals was pretty much the low point (physically). Most of the last four months have been a constant struggle to get it all back, which I haven't - Sit Spin and Toe Loop are still missing :( The only improvement is back edges which are leaps and bounds better than last winter. Not much to show for all the effort and 4 a.m. mornings.....

After the long struggle my "zip" has zapped, my "drive" has driven, and my get-up-and-go done got up and went so it is time to take some time away from the ice. Being the busy time of year at work (construction season) and with June ice-times seeming uncertain, it is time to take some time off and try to find the rest of my life (which I left behind 2 years ago). Hopefully, by summer school in July, I can regain my direction and find the lost zip, drive, and go. I HAVE to have something better to take to Nationals next year!

SynchroSk8r114

05-27-2008, 09:09 AM

Gold medal: Partnering of the Viennese was decent, which is great because I'm testing it tomorrow! Solo of it was amazing! :mrgreen:

Also-skated: Well, I was supposed to be taking the Quickstep at tomorrow's test session as well, but my dance coach decided to scratch it last minute this morning. I'm actually OK with that because I'd only been working on it for three weeks and it just wasn't ready. My partner and I were having a heck of a time getting through the three patterns (mainly tracking/separation issues where one of us pulls away), so I think we're just going to shoot for taking it in July...or August. Both should have Gold panel judges available.

Thin-Ice

05-27-2008, 09:12 AM

Gold Medal: I was able to skate yesterday -- along with about 30 other people who decided to do the last morning session before an 18-hour hockey marathon. That meant people who usually skate on public, the afternoon skaters who are testing on Friday, the elite morning skaters who didn't have to go to school and slept late, the usual 6-8 skaters on the session.. and for some reason another half dozen people who usually skate at another rink all were on the ice at the same time, along with 7 coaches. It was a zoo.. but it felt good to be out there. We mostly worked on the footwork in both programs...

Also Skated:... and they were both dreadful... but it was the first time I was allowed to actually do stuff on my toepicks or even little hops (I'm still not supposed to do any jumps for at least another three weeks :cry:). I am allowed to spin again except sit spins... most of it was ok, but the camel was just dreadful... I'm attributing it to thinking too much about how to really straighten my knee without pulling it hard enough to make it hurt, rather than actually losing this spin.

In the stands: I did leave the ice early when my knee started to hurt and the early-arriving hockey guys decided to get on the freestyle ice a few minutes early. VERY scary. Of course, there were also two of the younger skaters who think the ice is theirs... who were doing back spirals, back Charlottes, fan kicks and attempting axels kind of in mid-ice that was also dangerous.. no one was hurt, but there was plenty of potential for it. Which was another reason I convinced my coach we should leave the ice about 15 minutes early.

Gold Medal (part 2): My knee did NOT hurt when I woke up to go to work.. so I can do it all again on Wednesday.:D

jazzpants

05-27-2008, 12:04 PM

Gold Medal: I was able to skate yesterday -- along with about 30 other people who decided to do the last morning session before an 18-hour hockey marathon. That meant people who usually skate on public, the afternoon skaters who are testing on Friday, the elite morning skaters who didn't have to go to school and slept late, the usual 6-8 skaters on the session.. and for some reason another half dozen people who usually skate at another rink all were on the ice at the same time, along with 7 coaches. It was a zoo.. but it felt good to be out there. We mostly worked on the footwork in both programs... WOW!!! What a ZOO!!! I'm thankful that I didn't run into that during my freebie public session. I had at most about 15 people when I got on the ice. Of course, the cones were out so I can't go and start pumping out those crossovers at top speed w/o running over some poor kid (or get a stern warning from the ice guards about going in the same flow and direction as everyone else... :P ) It was kinda quiet actually. In fact it was a bit too quiet at the beginning. They had on this soft quiet jazz -- great for relaxing, but NOT for skating!!! :twisted: Thank goodness towards the end they put on more popular music again. (I get what I pay for, I guess!!! :P )

Gold Medal (part 2): My knee did NOT hurt when I woke up to go to work.. so I can do it all again on Wednesday.:D
YAAAAAY!!! On the road to recovery!!! :bow: Unfortunately, my right knee is starting to twinge a bit from my sit spins adventures yesterday. Still twinging, in fact!!! Legs are definitely not strong enough yet to do the type of sit spins that my coaches wanted me to do. (i.e. parallel to the ground/"shoot the duck" low...) :cry:

Gina10179202

05-27-2008, 12:22 PM

Gold Medal: My arm which I thought I had nearly broken on a fall felt okay today, and I did lovely axels with some new technique.

Also Skated: I didn't get to try any double sals or double loops. Or double toes.
Also entering this competition is so complicated and frustrating.

doubletoe

05-27-2008, 02:45 PM

Did I miss something (which is completely possible!!)? Did you pass your Intermediate??????

No, I gave the Intermediate test the finger, LOL! I decided since I don't need any of these tests in order to qualify for anything anyway, I should just move on to the Novice MIF to improve my skating and expand my repertoire of connecting steps/footwork elements. I'm still practicing the back power 3's from the Intermediate test as a warmup, though, just in case I decide to sneak up on that test sometime in the future when I don't care about it anymore (and of course my CW back power 3's are absolutely behaving themselves now). It's almost fun mind working on the Novice MIF because I don't have any pressure to pass the test!

doubletoe

05-27-2008, 02:55 PM

I guess that means we'll just have to skate together again.

Deal! ;)
Meanwhile, I'll PM you my e-mail address in case you have a prom picture you can send digitally!

Kim to the Max

05-27-2008, 02:56 PM

No, I gave the Intermediate test the finger, LOL! I decided since I don't need any of these tests in order to qualify for anything anyway, I should just move on to the Novice MIF to improve my skating and expand my repertoire of connecting steps/footwork elements. I'm still practicing the back power 3's from the Intermediate test as a warmup, though, just in case I decide to sneak up on that test sometime in the future when I don't care about it anymore (and of course my CW back power 3's are absolutely behaving themselves now). It's almost fun mind working on the Novice MIF because I don't have any pressure to pass the test!

Wonderful!

dbny

05-27-2008, 05:15 PM

Gold Medal:
Actually got to the rink in time to practice for two hours today, and had the stamina to do it! Did FO fig 8's first and also Pre-pre edge patterns to warm up for threes. FI threes are getting easier and easier. Started with no fear, and after watching a coach demo them for another student, began doing them almost effortlessly. FO threes still not fully checked, but much, much closer. Watching a figures presentation at the PSA conference, I realized my entry and exit edges are fine and the place where I have trouble is the cusp, where I need to rock forward. Makes sense in view of my roller background, and it really helped today to keep that in mind. Prelim power threes weren't too bad; am maintaing speed on them, though still not fast enough to test. Went back to the Waltz-8, and nailed it very nicely :D, which I haven't been able to do very often since passing Pre-pre MIF too many years ago.

Also Skated:
Spins :(:x. Two foot felt pretty good. Did one halfway decent one foot from T push, and then fell apart completely. Maybe I was just too tired - it was towards the end of my practice.

Terri C

05-27-2008, 05:36 PM

Gold Medal:
All of the one hour I skated today.
Had a lesson with Secondary Coach where the spins were good (even the camel is improving!) the jumps were high and I landed my first ever flip!
Need I say more?!

doubletoe

05-27-2008, 05:40 PM

jskater49

05-27-2008, 07:22 PM

ALso skated... I haven't been on the ice for two weeks so there was just a lot of catching up...

I worked on my Bronze moves and I felt like I was really hustling...lots of speed and power-even my mohawks...they are so sloppy but I was moving.

Then my lesson and coach wants to see my grapevine twizzles. I knew my legs were way too stiff before she even said anything...I tend to lean way forward and find it hard to sit back so we did lots of excersizes to get me down and back....that is an issue with my back crossovers, I do not want to rest my weight on the back leg EVER.

Gold Medal - coach said my progressives are actually better than I think - they were a little noisy because I wasn't on a good enough outside edge but once I leaned into it, they got real quiet. Then she made me do a progressive and a 3 turn "But that's not in any dances I'm working on" "I don't care, do it anyway" so we did that for awhile.

Then worked on my damned spin....if I can remember everything...lean into the edge, knee over toes, free toes open, pinch my buttocks, bend my knees and STAY there....I can actually spin -- but only once did I actually remember to do all that

j

dbny

05-27-2008, 08:11 PM

Then worked on my damned spin....if I can remember everything...lean into the edge, knee over toes, free toes open, pinch my buttocks, bend my knees and STAY there....I can actually spin -- but only once did I actually remember to do all that

j

Yup. That's my problem too. We just have to get to the point where enough of it becomes automatic so we can actually think about the rest until it is also on autopilot.

Kim to the Max

05-27-2008, 09:21 PM

[Gold Medal]
Maybe I'm a little paranoid (although, I swear there are the startings of creases about 2 holes down from where there should be) but there are also larger crease startings right where they should be on my landing boot.

Axels felt higher...coach saw some and said they look better....(I still hate that g*dang jump though)...another coach said that she is waiting for that cake...I replied, so am I!! (I think we are going to have a party when I finally land that freaking axel!)

Moves felt good...I needed to abort the spiral pattern because another one of coach's students was doing the pattern too and I was going to way outshine her on that...oops! :oops: I can do the rocker/choctaw sequence but not the quick rocker/choctaw end pattern (it's getting there, but still a bit rough)...it's something with being able to hold that edge afterwards that I enjoy doing....

[Also-skated]
Spins are not happening yet with the new blades (but then again, maybe it would help if I worked on them :oops:).

I forgot one of my bunga sleeves today so my take off ankle (the lesser of the two evils) is all cut up with a huge chunk of skin missing...yummy...and I stabbed some nice gouges into the sole of my landing boot....oh well, that was going to happen eventually from trying axels...I just hoped they would last at least a couple of weeks! :)

Ice was oddly busy tonight for the middle session...lots of people and lots of little kids who weren't watching where they were going and were not aware of what others were doing either...

I still hate, HaTe, HATE the g*darn axel...

Mrs Redboots

05-28-2008, 07:00 AM

Also skated: We did. Today. Rather leaden about the legs. Ran through 3 dances, all well, no real problems, no real highlights.

Next time we skate, it will be in France at the Mountain Cup camp. I can't wait....

samba

05-28-2008, 07:07 AM

BatikatII

05-28-2008, 07:26 AM

Gold medal;

had a really enjoyable skate today despite it being half term so lots of kids on the ice and pretty poor ice too by the time I got on at 8.30am. All jumps were working fine so decided on a spin day and worked to get my sit spin down really low. Daughter decided to be my coach and gave me some good tips and kept me working so I really did improve. Just need to work on strengthening the muscles in my thigh that are needed to achieve turn out and lift in the free leg so I can get even lower without hitting my heel on the ice. It's not the getting right down, or the getting up again that's the problem but the keeping of the free leg up when I am down ;) - maybe I should try it with leg wrapped around but I so want to have a straight leg sit spin.

Also did a good backspin and worked on camel and did at least one Ok one with a couple of revs in good position. May have to bribe daughter to come and give me more lessons tomorrow.

Also ran: the one time I had someone video me in my programme there were people in the way all the time so I didn't do my jumps - am about to go look at the vid and see just how bad I look.

Lutz - this has replaced the loop as the jump I just don't get.:twisted::(

Gina10179202

05-28-2008, 11:27 AM

Gold Medal: I landed three double loops today! I am so pleased with myself.

also Skated: Ballet was so very painful in the highest group.

SynchroSk8r114

05-28-2008, 02:11 PM

Gold-medal: Tested the first of my Gold dances: the Viennese. It was skated fairly decent, but I think that deep down I could have skated it a bit stronger than I did today. It just wasn't at the standard that I normally skate, but still, not awful. Felt much better than yesterday!

Also-skated: Yeah, I failed the Viennese. But honestly, I'm not that upset. Knowing that I could have done it better will make it all that more sweet when I do pass it, which we're shooting for testing again in July/August, whichever test session has a Gold panel. I'll post more about it (judges remarks included on my test papers as well) on my blog maybe tonight when I'm feeling less exhausted. I've also got a video of it that I'll post later, which you can see by going to the link in my signature.

Clare

05-28-2008, 04:32 PM

Gold Medal:
-I had such a great lesson this morning that when I got back to the rink this evening, I had to hug my wonderful coach and tell him that I had been happy all day because of it.
-So, said great lesson...back crossovers, back outside edges, back chasses- all good and back outside edges could well turn out to be my favourite thing!
-Inside to Outside change of edge felt heaps better this morning than it has in a good while.
-I am still in love with the Dutch Waltz, especially since it's starting to feel much better lately, more flow and speed and the timing is finally right!
-I don't know whose nice closed chasses I stole for the Rhythm Blues this morning but I am not giving them back :)

Also Skated:
-Canasta Tango? Disastrous Tangle :frus:
-Coach brought out the stick and yes, it proved that my shoulders have a life of their own...

Yikes look at that- more things on the good list than the bad. Go me :D

doubletoe

05-28-2008, 05:06 PM

Gold Medal: I landed three double loops today! I am so pleased with myself.

You should be! Wow, you are progressing so fast! I saw some of your doubles and axels on YouTube and you look like you are really good at getting into that rotational position over your right hip. (BTW, you just subscribed to my videos, which makes me feel like I'd better add one one of these days, LOL!)

I still hate, HaTe, HATE the g*darn axel...

Ugh! I have SO been there! What part of it do you seem to be having trouble on? What does your coach say?

jazzpants

05-28-2008, 05:31 PM

Good Luck, Annabel and the rest of 'ya guys taking part in Mountain Cup and D'dorf!!!

Also Skated: Well, NOT!!! My secondary coach is sick with bronchitis again, poor woman. :cry: Lesson rescheduled for Friday.

Gold Medal: But glad for the break...right knee is healing well and I no longer feel the "twinge." Thank goodness I took it easy yesterday. :mrgreen: (Guess I better do some knee stretches before I go and do sit spins, huh?) :roll:

FlyAndCrash

05-28-2008, 06:29 PM

Gold-Medal: My coach was sick this morning, so we rescheduled for this afternoon.

Also-Skated: Afternoon sessions are a little busier. And I didn't run through my program.

Gold-Medal: I landed all my singles, including a few axels.

Also Skated: My axel has no kick. I lift and tuck my kicking leg. Ugh! It's a bad habit that comes and goes. I blame it on not working on my axel enough lately.

Gold-Medal: We worked on my double salchow again. It's slow going, but it's getting better. It really isn't good to stop practicing a jump that isn't anywhere near consistant. At the middle of April, I could land a decent 2sal at least 40/60 (as in 40%... not 60%). Now, it's nowhere near that close.

Kim to the Max

05-28-2008, 08:36 PM

Ugh! I have SO been there! What part of it do you seem to be having trouble on? What does your coach say?

It's the landing...I'm not pointing my toe/not landing on my toe...coach thinks that they are looking better...she saw one on Tuesday but I was leaning in the air...I have a lesson tomorrow and then probably another 1/2 hour some other time this week...we are so having a major party when I land this jump....

doubletoe

05-28-2008, 09:04 PM

It's the landing...I'm not pointing my toe/not landing on my toe...coach thinks that they are looking better...she saw one on Tuesday but I was leaning in the air...I have a lesson tomorrow and then probably another 1/2 hour some other time this week...we are so having a major party when I land this jump....

Well, I have made every possible error on this jump, so I don't know if it will help, but I can try telling you what fixed it when I was landing on a flat. It turned out my weight was too far back on my takeoff edge, so to keep my weight over the ball of the foot instead of the heel on takeoff, I focused on arching my back as I stepped down onto the takeoff edge. That kept my chest over my takeoff knee and kept my weight on the ball of my takeoff foot. Holding that takeoff edge for just one beat longer also helped get the weight onto the ball of the blade before takeoff. One other thing I found was that if I focused on my right shin as soon as I left the ice, that helped me put tension in the right part of my landing leg, which helped me get my landing gear down and land toe first. Don't ask me why, but it worked! :)

Kim to the Max

05-28-2008, 10:10 PM

Well, I have made every possible error on this jump, so I don't know if it will help, but I can try telling you what fixed it when I was landing on a flat. It turned out my weight was too far back on my takeoff edge, so to keep my weight over the ball of the foot instead of the heel on takeoff, I focused on arching my back as I stepped down onto the takeoff edge. That kept my chest over my takeoff knee and kept my weight on the ball of my takeoff foot. Holding that takeoff edge for just one beat longer also helped get the weight onto the ball of the blade before takeoff. One other thing I found was that if I focused on my right shin as soon as I left the ice, that helped me put tension in the right part of my landing leg, which helped me get my landing gear down and land toe first. Don't ask me why, but it worked! :)

hmmm...I'll have to try that...I have noticed that with the new boots/blades my take offs are much better :) so, if I concentrate on where my weight is and on really pointing my toe, hopefully I will get my cake soon :) Thanks as always :)

dbny

05-29-2008, 12:54 AM

Gold Medal:
I had another good practice today. I once again warmed up with the Pre-prelim edge patterns, then added the FO figure 8 (no scribe). At first the fig 8 was quite difficult, but by about the 5th go round, it started to just flow and have its own rhythm - really fun. Looking at my tracings later, I could see that they became more consistent. My FO threes benefitted greatly, as did my F cross strokes. Although they are pretty good anyway, I was really feeling the edges and it seemed almost effortless to do complete circles every once in a while.

Also Skated:
Spins are still garbage. Got only one halfway decent one foot spin from T push, and it traveled a few feet :frus:.

Thin-Ice

05-29-2008, 02:48 AM

Gold Medal: Back on the ice and again no pain! We also spent a lot of time going over the first half of the new Interp. program. I like these kinds of lessons, since this is probably the hardest part for me.. remembering where my arms is, where I'm supposed to be looking and smiling all while remembering what to do with my feet and actually skating with good technique. If we keep working on this, by the time I actually perform this program it may look like a real program, rather than just in-progress!

Also skated: Because it was another more-crowded-than-usual session (but not crazy like Monday) I felt like I was playing dodgeball. The very start of the program was giving me fits .. and everytime I would try to run it, someone would step in my way or a moves or dance pattern would need that particular corner at that very moment. I'll be glad when Friday's test session is over and a lot of these skaters can stop stressing out over the tests. Needless to say I was rather frustrated for a while... but my coach reminded me the program is only a week old, so I don't have to be able to do any of it perfectly yet anyway. THAT is one reason she's my coach.. reminding me to keep things in perspective. I also reallllly miss jumping... but I can wait a couple more weeks to get the doctor's ok to start again.

Oh and good luck to everyone heading to Mountain Cup. Remember to have a GREAT time!

doubletoe

05-29-2008, 01:04 PM

hmmm...I'll have to try that...I have noticed that with the new boots/blades my take offs are much better :) so, if I concentrate on where my weight is and on really pointing my toe, hopefully I will get my cake soon :) Thanks as always :)

That is going to be the best cake ever! :D BTW, my current axel cue words are "arch, straight, up, shin, land" (with "arch" being my cue word as I step out onto the takeoff edge). This set of cue words has been working like a charm!

Gina10179202

05-29-2008, 01:59 PM

Gold Medal: Today I landed FOUR double toe loops. I have never landed one before and combined with my landing 3 double loops yesterday, I am mega pleased!

Kim to the Max

05-29-2008, 02:10 PM

That is going to be the best cake ever! :D BTW, my current axel cue words are "arch, straight, up, shin, land" (with "arch" being my cue word as I step out onto the takeoff edge). This set of cue words has been working like a charm!

I've been using, "straight, kick, snap, out"

I think the coaches at the rink are looking forward to it as much as I am :yum: :)

jazzpants

05-29-2008, 03:28 PM

Gold Medal:
Managed to do a semi decent Y-spiral and a catch foot spiral for Primary coach
Did halfway decent back crossovers in the middle of the lesson too.Also Skated:
Tried to catch my foot on the cross arm catch foot spiral. No such luck!!! :frus: (Hmmmmm? Me thinks either secondary coach or my figure skating trainer tipped him off on what they are going over with me. Primary coach unusually doesn't ask me specifically to do a cross arm catch foot spiral. :twisted: )
Tried to do fast back crossovers right onto a BO3. No such luck... I really have to force the BO3 to happen and I'm NOT supposed to do that!!! :frus:
Was peeved at primary coach when I asked "So tell me how to look behind me while I'm this "back spiral?" He just keeps saying "There's no one behind you!!! Just do it!!!" :twisted: (Ummm... sorry, there IS a way to look behind me at where I'm going and whether I'm gonna crash into someone.) Still, managed to do a couple of good ones...but it was NOT comfortable not know whether I'm gonna hit (as of today) our ex-Ice Capade show skater today.

doubletoe

05-29-2008, 05:20 PM

I've been using, "straight, kick, snap, out"

I think the coaches at the rink are looking forward to it as much as I am :yum: :)

Funny how similar our cue words are, LOL! The reason I think "Up!" after "straight" is because that gets me to spring up off the toe of my takeoff foot, which keeps my weight off the back of the blade and keeps me straighter in the air. Gives me a little more height, too. :)

sk8pics

05-29-2008, 07:54 PM

Well, it's not an axel but today in my lesson, for the first time since I broke my ankle, I held a LBO edge very comfortably, let it come around, stepped forward and did a waltz jump, landed and held the position.8-) I was thrilled and my coach was pretty darn happy, too. I just had to trust that my body remembered how to do it --I'd been stopping myself and putting my free foot down before stepping forward to jump-- and it did remember! Also did some salchows that, while not all on one foot, had nice pop up off the toe on the back inside edge. So in spite of the mad crowds it was all good.:D

And today is my birthday 8-) and it was a nice day too besides the skating. Tomorrow a loootttt of people are coming to my house. My little Leo is going to be all 8O and hide under the bed, while Callie is going to be ecstatic. My cats are total opposites of one another, LOL!

FlyAndCrash

05-29-2008, 08:07 PM

And today is my birthday 8-) and it was a nice day too besides the skating.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Kim to the Max

05-29-2008, 08:15 PM

Funny how similar our cue words are, LOL! The reason I think "Up!" after "straight" is because that gets me to spring up off the toe of my takeoff foot, which keeps my weight off the back of the blade and keeps me straighter in the air. Gives me a little more height, too. :)

I think straight because I tend to hook my entrance edge...I need to go straighter... :)

[Gold medal]
Another board member covered my desk duty today so that I could skate :)

First lesson with coach in 2 weeks due to her being on her honeymoon and me being in Michigan...

The spiral pattern in the Novice moves is coming along the best :)

[Also-Skated]
Ugh...moves did not go well today...I was screwing them up all over the place and just couldn't make the corrections coach was trying to give me :( I was leaning all over the place in the wrong direction...

Axels were okay...not landed, of course, but they are feeling better every time I skate.

Didn't get to jumps today with coach...just did some spins...she tortured me with back camels...spins still aren't back with the new blades. She said that she would just take a peek at my jumps on Tuesday...

jazzpants

05-29-2008, 08:21 PM

And today is my birthday 8-) and it was a nice day too besides the skating. Tomorrow a loootttt of people are coming to my house. My little Leo is going to be all 8O and hide under the bed, while Callie is going to be ecstatic. My cats are total opposites of one another, LOL!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SK8PICS!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a045.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a020.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a050.gif

Have a great time partying!!! WHEEEE!!!! :mrgreen:

doubletoe

05-29-2008, 09:04 PM

I think straight because I tend to hook my entrance edge...I need to go straighter... :).

Yep, that's what my "straight" means, too! :lol:

Congratulations, Gina!!!

Happy Birthday, Sk8pics!!!

mikawendy

05-29-2008, 10:41 PM

And today is my birthday 8-) and it was a nice day too besides the skating. Tomorrow a loootttt of people are coming to my house. My little Leo is going to be all 8O and hide under the bed, while Callie is going to be ecstatic. My cats are total opposites of one another, LOL!

Happy birthday! (It's my mom's b-day, too.) Also neat that your cat's name is Leo and your first day back on the ice after your broken ankle was August 22 (the last day of the Leo zodiac sign). :D

Isk8NYC

05-30-2008, 12:14 AM

And today is my birthday 8-) and it was a nice day too besides the skating.
Happy Birthday sk8pics!

kander

05-30-2008, 01:03 AM

Today was a mixed bag in my lesson this morning.

Gold medal: Landed a nice axel and double toe in front of coach

Also skated: Rest of jumps were either average or below average. I never have any consistency, but if you give me enough tries I'll hit one sooner or later. To bad competing didn't work that way :mrgreen:

kander

05-30-2008, 01:04 AM

Gold Medal: Today I landed FOUR double toe loops. I have never landed one before and combined with my landing 3 double loops yesterday, I am mega pleased!

Congrats Gina!

Gina10179202

05-30-2008, 06:25 AM

Congratulations, Gina!!!

Congrats Gina!

Aw thanks guys!

Happy birthday sk8pics!

sk8pics

05-30-2008, 08:40 AM

Thanks, guys, for the birthday wishes! That's funny about Leo's name, Mika. Very cute smilies, Jazzpants!

And congrats to Gina!

FlyAndCrash

05-30-2008, 09:31 AM

Yeah, my powerpulls suck. They sucked horribly before my prejuv test, and now they are even worse. I made the mistake of doing them during my warmup (they are actually part of my warmup, but I never do them because my coach usually starts me on something before I get to them). My coach saw and decided that we would work on back powerpulls. It was FO 3turn, pull pull BO 3turn... all the way down the side... I made about three lobes before wanting to fall over. Powerpulls are evil.

Most of my lesson today was pretty much also-skated.

1) My contact kept on falling out. By the middle of my lesson, I had lost it completely. Not super bad because I use dailies, but it did throw off my perception and depth perception.

2) Once again my landing position got negative comments. I'm working on it, but it's been far too long since I really tried to do anything with it.

3) I kept on two-footing my double sal!!!! :evil: :x :evil: :x :evil: We both were very frustrated. It's perfectly fine if I tack a loop on the end, but on its own, I can't land it clean!!! grrrrr

4) My coach doesn't know how long she can stay at my grad party tomorrow. She has lessons most of the time. :( :( Oh well, she promised she would at least make an appearance.

Gold Medal: I ran a clean program!!! Well, my spins all sucked and I missed the beginning choreo, but I finished on time and did everything.

Terri C

05-30-2008, 09:58 AM

Sk8pics...
I'll bet yesterday was one sweet birthday!!

Also Skated:
For me yesterday and today, my jumps have just been plain off. I have been given the "homework" assignment by Primary Coach to add toe loops to all my jumps for jump combinations. Salchow and loop have proven to be difficult on this. Strangely, when I managed to land a flip, I managed to tack a toe loop on the end.
Today, the salchow and loop were tough alone and the flip simply refused to show up.

Gold Medal:
Spins were simply hot this morning. Went to attempt a camel that turned itself into a attitude spin. When I came out and looked at the tracing, I saw that the attitude spin was perfectly centered.

momsk8er

05-30-2008, 10:42 AM

I was off the ice for a week, as we went to the beach for Memorial Day. Skated last night, forgot to put on my gel pads (see what the beach does to your brain?) and got a good blister on my ankle. I think my moves are ready to test, as I can do them well after a week off. Jumps were weak and uncoordinated; I lose the conditioning so fast. Not that I wasn't exercizing at the beach, but not the specifically right muscles apparently. Anyway, it felt good to be back on the ice.

jazzpants

05-30-2008, 02:14 PM

Also Skated:
Toe loops - I'm toe waltzing. I did managed to get them corrected but I could only do them entering from a much slower speed. Hey, it's progress! Before, this was the major :frus: for secondary coach during our lesson. Still is... but not as bad today.
Flip - Still don't have the picking leg straight going in.
ETA: Lutz - having fits... secondary coach asked me to remind her to fix it in our next lesson. And darn it, I want to land this SUCKAH!!!! :evil: (Also doesn't help that I did at least 10 flips and all the other jumps right before that and it was towards the end of the lesson. My lower back was KILLING ME!!! :cry: )Gold Medal:
Flip - fixed the 3turn entry and for some reason, it made landing this jump clean a LOT easier. Hell, I even had a funky jump where, as secondary coach said, "Man, you definitely did NOT want to land that last jump and you STILL managed to save it and land it clean!!! I'm amazed!!! 8O "
Loop - As I told the coach "I think I've finally made peace with it!" She said "Yeah, it looked nice, smooth and effortless!!!" (Just wait 'til she tries to get me to do a loop-loop though... :oops: )
Waltz jump, salchow and spirals/back spiral (though she only asked for a spiral...) - She's happy with those today too. In fact, she was wondering why I'm skating with so much flow today. There IS a good reason...
Secondary coach and I are picking music for my new choreographer to put together. We narrowed it down from 5 to 3 pieces of music. (She was also torn between 3 pieces as well.) She asked me at the beginning to stroke around and just get the feel of the music and do stuff and let's have that determine which piece of music works the best for you. Apparently one of the choices was playing on the loud speakers when I was doing the waltz jump, the salchow and the spiral/back spiral. And that piece is the one that I'm going to do for my new interp. :mrgreen:Funny note:
As I mentioned before, we played 3 pieces of music on the loud speaker. When we played the third of the bunch, one of the male coaches commented that "Oh, I wanted to go sliding around on the pole with that piece of music." :D (Yes, as in stripper poles.) I told secondary coach "Oh, GOD!!! We are NOT doing that one!!! We are knocking that piece out of contention!!!" Of course, he said "Ah, c'mon!!! Make her do that one! I want her to think of me EVERY TIME she practices her program." :P I said "Trust me, that image already did enough mental damage for me..." :x (Too bad too. It was otherwise a nice light piece that I certainly can do.)

doubletoe

05-30-2008, 06:03 PM

Gold Medal
Today was my last program run-through before my competition this Sunday. After a surprisingly bad run-through yesterday, today I may have skated my program the best I have so far! I completed my opening combination spin, both axels were great, the flying camel behaved, combination jumps were solid, the lutz was fine, and my final spin behaved. . .until. . .

Also Skated
In the last 8 seconds of my program, I messed up! After skating a perfectly clean program for 2:30! :frus: It was probably the thought that I was almost done skating my best run-through ever that made me rush the change of foot on my final combination spin and lose control of the final position before completing the required revolutions. Note to self: Don't do that on Sunday!

ibreakhearts66

05-30-2008, 09:53 PM

First of all, I GOT A CAR!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. I got a 2006 silver Nissan Altima. It's gorgeous :D :D :D :D :D

Anyways

Gold Medal
My coach complimented me on my double loop. I did one, and heard "Wow Sarah, that was huge." It must have been nice if she took the time to comment, because she was surrounded by other students who are competing this weekend.

It took like ten minutes of messing up on em, but I landed a bunch of double flips in a row. I was starting to get really, really frustrated bc the timing was so off, but then I nailed one right after the other.

Double toes felt really nice and big.

Also-skated
The fact that it took like ten minutes for the double flip to work.

Change-edge camels. Oy. On the forward, I tend to get stuck on the flat. On the back, I hit the inside edge then fly too far forward.

Had a few nasty falls. I had one that like crushed my left wrist, and another that sent shock waves up my spine and knocked the wind out of me. Both on double flips. It was the kind of fall where you have the full rotation on a jump, but just fall backwards. Hard.

jazzpants

05-31-2008, 12:01 AM

Gold Medal
Today was my last program run-through before my competition this Sunday.Good luck with your competition on Sunday!!! You're gonna do GREAT!!! :mrgreen: :bow:

doubletoe

05-31-2008, 10:26 AM

ibreakhearts66

05-31-2008, 01:02 PM

Wow, how exciting! Now you can come rink-hopping on weekends! If you can afford the gas, that is. :roll:

Take care on those flips, though. Yikes.

Except I still need my license lol. I feel so spoiled for getting a car ewhen I don't have my lisence, but its only bc my dad is moving back to new york. He's the designated car-buyer I the family, so we needed to takwe car of it this week.

Icant wait to go rink hopping. I made sure to get a car with good feul efficiency--23 city and 31 highway I think? Its not as good as a hybrid, but there is no way we could afford one of those

dbny

05-31-2008, 06:38 PM

Gold Medal:
Had my first lesson with regular coach since I missed the previous two weeks, and told her I wanted to start figures. I had been doing the FO 8's, and found that I wasn't rotating in the right place, got it fixed and really enjoyed working to strengthen the L side. Then she sprang the BO on me, and I found that I could do the push pretty well. Just need to do it enough to build some confidence - but it's the same as roller 8-). FO and FI threes were surprisingly good. I may have to start working on spirals soon. I've been leaving them until I feel hopeful on the threes. It's going to take me at least 6 months on the spirals, but they are nowhere near as frustrating as threes for me. Just a matter of stretching and building strength.

Also Skated:
Didn't go near spins, alas.

Casey

06-01-2008, 01:46 AM

Gentle reader, I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I asked Jerry if I could take his picture. Here he is...

Priceless! How awesome. I wish I could juggle. I did learn to skateboard this last winter (that's my primary form of transportation now actually), but I can't do that while skating. ;)

After the long struggle my "zip" has zapped, my "drive" has driven, and my get-up-and-go done got up and went so it is time to take some time away from the ice.

Aww Rusty, the ice will be lonely without you. I'm sure you'll make it back when the time is right though. :) Just don't get too down about not accomplishing "things" - all that matters is that you stay motivated and have fun. I just started skating seriously again very recently, and I'm spending almost all my time working on simple stuff I used to hate working on. But the difference is now I choose to enjoy the learning process, rather than the end goal, so it's not frustrating and I'm generally happier while skating.

Make sure you let us know when you start skating again!

Gold Medal

Pretty much everything...
Got my new boots pretty well broken in at this point
Have a wonderful coach.
Skating regularly again!

Also Skated

Can't spin very well at all on the new blades yet.
Still a lot of crap to work out to get beyond the point I was at before neglecting skating.

SynchroSk8r114

06-04-2008, 09:16 AM