Wide Awake/Asleep at the job Nov 17-23 2008

[jazzpants]

Okay, I couldn't think of anything but I could "conceivably" see myself falling asleep at my desk at my job. http://www.cosgan.de/images/midi/muede/d015.gif

Anyway...

Falling Asleep:
KIDS!!! There were these two little kids that keeps coming thru the middle of the rink. I don't know where my regular ice monitor is at that point... I had to abort TONS of jump attempts, as well as practicing my back crossovers setup at the beginning of my technical program, b/c these two little ones are CHASING each other and I don't know where they would go next. :frus:

Wide Awake:
Though I think I MUST be dreaming here -- I could have SWORNED that my PRIMARY COACH who a year ago said I'm nowhere near ready to start learning the axel JUST started me on a half axel THIS EVENING!!?!?! 8O We ended up just doing a stand and turn and he says that it's improving now. (Thanks to my personal trainer for the off ice exercise... :bow: )

We then went thru just about all the jumps I have up to and including the lutz and as long as I remember to pretend I'm kneeing someone, my flip and my (f)lutz has a nice pop up. I landed a slew of (f)lutzes today in fact!!!

I intend on getting those PLUS fix my toe loop so it's more consistently a toe loop and not a toe-waltz before I get to see my NYC coach again!!! But my focus is still on those back crossovers at much faster speed!!!

Asleep:
(Now why can't those jumps at Skate SF be as easy during the competition!?!?!?! :frus::evil: :giveup: )

[Debbie S]

LOL, Jazz! Love the thread title. I overslept a bit this morning....and then was in a rush to get out of the house so I forgot to take my thyroid med (I have an underactive thyroid), so I could see myself falling asleep at my desk to day, too - lol. (actually, I think I read that this med has a half-life of 7 days, so I should be OK...)

Asleep: Back 3-turns! Grrrr - I had a bad fall on a BI 3 a few weeks ago and ever since then they freak me out. And my normally reliable BO 3's have deserted me. I do them fine in the forward double-3 pattern when it's somewhat slow, but then in the back double-3 pattern, with the crossover, they're nonexistent. But my back brackets are coming along - you know it's weird when your brackets, that you learned 4 months ago, are better than the 3-turns you've been doing for 5 years. :roll:

And for the past few months I have had this bizarre mental body-freeze on RFI mohawks. I'm CCW, so the right is my better side - now that side freaks me out for some reason and the left side is much better. Strange.

Wide Awake: The previously mentioned brackets. And power circles are OK when I don't lean forward and actually have the room to practice them. ;) And my sit spin is getting lower - back to where it used to be before I took 5 weeks off in Sept/Oct b/c of an ankle problem.

Am currently hunting for Interp music and ideas.

[Mrs Redboots]

Asleep: Just getting into the pre-competition "Why ever did I think this was a good idea?" mode. Dances still not where I'd like them to be at this stage in the year.

Awake: Husband did one of the best run-throughs ever of his programme. And I actually managed the Mohawk exercise from the Level 2 Field Moves, which was pleasing.

[Skate@Delaware]

It's too cold to even think about sleeping! 40 degrees but down to a 20 degree windchill...one of those days when it's actually WARMER in the rink!!!

Asleep: the darn loop, can't re-create landing it right...:frus: and the pattern on my Waltz-8 was really messed up...

Wide Awake: really getting the hang of the backspin (no weight on the free-foot thing); and I didn't wonk out on my toe-loops.

I was the only one on the ice today; it's still weird but for $5 I'll take it! I only skated an hour, as I was tired by then. I went twice through my "workout" and that was good.

Here is what I did, from start to finish, twice through:
1 lap stroking, 1 lap alternating crossover, 1 lap swing rolls, 1 lap slaloms
Jumps: waltz, toe-loop, salchow, loop-do each one about 5-10 times
Spins: backspin, scratch-do each one 5-10 times
3-turns, waltz-8, edges (forward inside, forward outside, back inside, back outside)
isi dance pattern for isi level 3: a few times, repeating mohawks each side
Spirals: each leg forward, each leg backward, then in combo

I need to work on some off-ice loops......and hit the rink one more time before lessons again on Sunday. My coach asked about "what we want to do down the road" which is coach-speak for competitions.....

[phoenix]

Wide awake: I only had a 1/2 hour to skate but really enjoyed myself.

All the exercises were really pretty decent. My balance/control of the choctaw & bracket exercises has improved a lot over the last few months.

Sleepy: Used the Paso as a warmup, probably not a good idea!! Couldn't come anywhere near to keeping it on time.

[Terri C]

Asleep: Back 3-turns! Grrrr - I had a bad fall on a BI 3 a few weeks ago and ever since then they freak me out. And my normally reliable BO 3's have deserted me. I do them fine in the forward double-3 pattern when it's somewhat slow, but then in the back double-3 pattern, with the crossover, they're nonexistent. But my back brackets are coming along - you know it's weird when your brackets, that you learned 4 months ago, are better than the 3-turns you've been doing for 5 years. :roll:
Wide Awake:Debbie,
I think that your RBO3 made a trip down here to Chesapeake VA, because I did my first ones tonight during my lesson with a very happy Primary Coach! We had a diverted lesson today and worked on Silver moves in hopes that it will improve my flow and edge quality on the ice and in my programs.

Asleep at the Job (or in my case the wheel):There were two very bad accidents on the interstate I commute on to and from my rink tonight. The one on the way to the rink kept me in traffic for a hour this afternoon as opposed to the normal 20 minute commute that I ususally have. The other one delayed my arrival home by a half hour than normal. Can people please pay attention on the road and remember how to drive??? :frus:

[kander]

Wide Awake:
Though I think I MUST be dreaming here -- I could have SWORNED that my PRIMARY COACH who a year ago said I'm nowhere near ready to start learning the axel JUST started me on a half axel THIS EVENING!!?!?!


8O:o:):!::bow:

[Mrs Redboots]

Wide awake: Good practice today, and did a lot of work, which now means I ache. Again. For the second week in a row - well, perhaps that is not so good, but my coach thinks it's good!

Asleep: Something is odd on my forward clockwise progressive runs - there's a tiny catch that shouldn't be there.

[Skittl1321]

Wide Awake I had all my back three turns yesterday! Granted, after doing LBI on pattern I pretty much stop, rather than gliding back to the axis, but at least I did the turn!

I was having some trouble with backspins yesterday, but got one really good one- crossed legs, pulled in- and then I had to stop because I scared myself by spinning to fast. So I was then just standing on the ice giggling about the fact that I suck so much that I can't even be good at things I am able to do.

Asleep at the job Spirals on the left leg. They are just pathetic. My skating leg doesn't seem stable, my lifted leg won't extend or turn out. It's horrible.

Coach laughed at me b/c we are doing FI spiral, mohawk, BO spiral, and I'm skidding the mohawk. He says he's never seen anyone so scared of mohawks before. But he was wrong- I'm not scared of mohawks, I'm scared of ALL turns that go over my left shoulder, just mostly mohawks. (I'd rather do L to R outside mohawk than R to L inside mohawk. Heck, I'd rather do counters over my right shoulder than a mohawk over my left shoulder)

[jskater49]

Awake

We finished my Holiday Gala solo - I actually came up with the end...but I ended with a back inside pivot...and coach says...can you do one on the other foot? "Nope" I said. She didn't believe me and made me try. "Okay I guess I can do it on the other foot" so I'm ending with a back pivot on each foot.

Back in May I couldn't even do a mohawk in the Swing Dance show number and this program has a bunch of mohawks in them and I just do them like it was nothing - even that little mohawk crossover footwork thing all the little kids do.

j

[LilJen]

Wide awake: Some days the fact that you were healthy and actually GOT to skate is a very good thing. This was one of those days. And, despite being off ice for 2+ weeks, my skating wasn't too bad. CCW salchow is actually kind of coming along.

Asleep on the job: 5-step mohawk! Spins!! Grr!!!

[jazzpants]

8O:o:):!::bow:
Now, now!!! It's just to try! This is NOT the first lesson I've ever had on axels... just the first one with primary coach. The surprise for me is that back a few months ago when I mentioned to my primary coach that my secondary coach had started me on axels, my primary coach just gives this look :roll:. So let's just say it was QUITE a surprise for me when he told me to do a half axel. 8O

Wide Awake:
Well, not me... http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/37.gif But my jumps up to a flip were all there. Well, the toe loop was RELUCTANT but it did come out in spots.

My Schaffer push exercise is a bit better today. Secondary coach did noticed that the pushes are improving. Let's see if this makes it into the back cross strokes... ;)

Asleep at the job:
My flip! Yup! I am doing a "floop" instead!!! Not good!!! :frus: :giveup:

[Rusty Blades]

Asleep: Not been posting much lately. Life has been trying and I don't seem to have much zip for skating right now but I did make the decision to go back to Nationals in the spring so I need to find about half a truck load of zip pretty soon 8O

[sk8tegirl06]

Wide Awake: Finally landed a successful loop jump!! :D I have been a lovely competitor...as long as I have the wall to cling onto, but I switched the arm placement a little bit and voila! A loop jump. Granted the landing needs work, but it is there. I even attempted a camel spin at the end of the session!

Asleep: Alternating 3s, Back scratch and flip. I have yet to get these real solid or consistent, but they were just a general pain this morning.

[Kim to the Max]

It's been a while since I've taken the time to write one of these!

[Asleep at the Job]
Figured out yesterday that I lost my iPod at the rink on Saturday....

Synchro was good yet bad last night...it was hard because there were 2 people missing from my line and I ended up being the center...I have never done synchro before, so this was quite the challenge after skating 2 sessions earlier in the day and I was so tired...

[Wide Awake]
Yesterday, I finally completely rotated an axel :) It was amazing...and coach and one of the kids actually saw it! She came up to me and asked if that had landed on a back edge, and I wasn't sure! But, it felt wonderful...at least now I know I can do it...now I just need to start doing that consistently... :)

Spins have gotten much better...

Been working on my program...getting better, I just need to start doing it...coach wants me to really put some emotion and some performance in my program...so, really I need to DO my program more than once every 3 weeks...oops!

I was approved to coach basic skills, which makes me sooooo happy...

[Isk8NYC]

Asleep: Not been posting much lately. Life has been trying and I don't seem to have much zip for skating right now but I did make the decision to go back to Nationals in the spring so I need to find about half a truck load of zip pretty soon 8O
How's the outdoor rink coming along?

[Rusty Blades]

Didn't have a rink last year and wont this year either - no time to work on it and trying to figure out how to expand it from 50x75 feet to at least half-a-rink (88x100) without going broke!

Wide Awake: C.W. back cross-overs are back (for awhile) - hadn't seen them since September.

Asleep: C.C.W. back cross-overs still M.I.A.

Dozy: May have figured out why I couldn't find the 'sweet spot' for back spins. It seems my left blade (I spin CW) isn't square to my leg - don't know if it is the sole of the boot or the blade mount but it wants to put me on a BI edge going into the back spin which don't work worth a hoot! I shimmed up the outside of the mount with some paper (about 8 layers of the paper from the back of band-aids which is all I had in my bag :roll: ) and presto! There is now a 'sweet spot' on the left foot. Now I just need to learn to spin on it LOL!

[BatikatII]

wide awake

Had the whole patch ice to myself this morning. I dont know where everyone was but it was great as I could play all my music. I'm trying to choose a piece for a new free program. Then ran through all the baby dances so I can help my daughter practice for her upcoming test and then tried the 14 step to the music

Asleep - not something you can be when doing this dance - who made it so freakin' fast!????

It's hard to get the steps right at the right speed and I'm obviously not getting enough push as my pattern is way too small especially the second one.

wide awake
Put on some great pop music and did all the level 5 field moves - the first two are OK (back outside to inside change edge and then back inside to outside change edge followed by forward and backward slaloms on each leg) but then it's alternating double back 3 turns inside and outside (well I can do the back outside ones on the left foot but have trouble on the right foot - back inside ones are a complete nightmare). The final one is a horribly complicated sequence - 3 turn - cross in front - back outside 3 - mohawk - on alternating sides.8O I can do it sometimes but you are supposed to do the mohawk (or is it a choctaw I get confused) setting down on an outside edge which means really hanging on to the first edge after the back outside 3. Horrible horrible horrible!

Ran through jumps and did some easy loops and flips and salchow-loops (why cant' they alwasy be like that - I just know next time I'll probably be barely able to take off - maybe it was the music that helped):lol:

[Isk8NYC]

Didn't have a rink last year and wont this year either - no time to work on it and trying to figure out how to expand it from 50x75 feet to at least half-a-rink (88x100) without going broke!
Aw, sorry about that. How about a Community Garden one summer to get help clearing the land? lol


Tried my new blades this morning. I mounted the left one perfectly; the right one needs more tweaking. Same "always an inside edge" problem that RB's having, which has been my battle with these skates all along.

Crossovers are okay, but the Forward CW and Backward CCW are awkward without a strong outside edge on the right foot. Grrr.

Added a shim (thin layer of leather ;) ) and that helped a bit, but backspins are weak and scary, as are RFI threes.
It could be the slightly-shorter length, but I noticed I was catching my toepicks on back crossovers.

I definitely need a good sharpening as well. I'll drop them off tonight with a note and see if the meticulous skate guy can help my comfort level a bit.

I'll try the skates again this afternoon to see if it needs more adjustments.

[Skate@Delaware]

My right blade is mounted WAAAAY inside to the right, it looks freaky that way but it's just the way it has to be for me to get in the right spot. Once I moved it that far in, I was able to land my jumps solid without rolling to the inside. I was able to get my 3-turns on the right foot as well, and it helps with backspins.

We are built different and not 100% symmetrical. Sometimes you have to tweak your equipment just a bit more on one side.

[Isk8NYC]

My husband's decided I'm nuts for using a screw gun and drill at midnight on my skates, lol. Well, with a 6am curtain call and working late last night so I can take today off...sometimes you just gotta take the risk.

I think doubletoe said something about needing to move the blade more to the inside if you feel like all your weight is on the inside. That's definitely what I feel - the pad of my foot near the big toe carries most of my weight on the right foot. Same thing near the heel.

I only put in the slotted screws and one toe screw, so I can play with it some more. Just have to be careful to keep the blade straight. (I put a metal straightedge ruler in my skate bag today, lol.)

[liz_on_ice]

asleep - My toes, from skating outdoors in the cold. forgot my boot gloves. Spins were crap - I blame the wind blowing me off center.

wide awake - honestly not much, it wasn't a good practice. Loop is improving, and we worked on getting more distance on the sal.

[jazzpants]

Wide Awake

I finally got a lesson working on edge with with my choreographer (whose speciality is also on MITF.) And this time he remembered that I had a lesson on THURSDAY now!!! :twisted:

Asleep at the job

Anyway, this week's concentration is ANKLE BEND!!! :twisted:


Swing rolls - (Yes, you guys that are ice dancers here!!! SWING ROLL!!!) Need more ankle bend... LOTS more!!! He wants more GROOOOOWWWWL on the edge!!! I did my best but obviously not an easy thing to do... No GROWL yet. :cry:
My "barrel roll" footwork from my artistic program. MORE ANKLE BEND!!! Got lots better when I remember that. There were cases where I didn't hear any scratchies in fact. Who knew I could do THAT!!! 8O :bow:
Forward Crossovers - Need ankle bend to push under.... I got some good ones on the CCW crossovers but the CW ones were really sucky!!! (It's the "public session"-itis coming out again!!! :roll: )
BO3's... ummm... did I say more ANKLE BEND!?!?!? :P :twisted: :lol: I also have to work on the cadence/timing of the 3turn itself. When I do get it, it's QUITE NICE! Most times I don't get it though.... MORE practice to do!!! :giveup:

This is exactly what I need to work on now...and I'm happy that I'm finally attacking this issue so I would be better prepared (you're NEVER "ready") for AN (and beyond...)

[jskater49]

Wide Awake

Swing rolls - (Yes, you guys that are ice dancers here!!! SWING ROLL!!!) Need more ankle bend... LOTS more!!! He wants more GROOOOOWWWWL on the edge!!! I did my best but obviously not an easy thing to do... No GROWL yet. :cry:


As you change feet rebend BEFORE you put your foot down. And LEAN to get that edge for the growl. I actually do growl on my Swing rolls. Sometimes.

j

[dbny]

Congrats on your Axel, Kim!

Wide Awake:
Finally had a good practice today! I've been sick all week, so really did not have a chance until today. I came in early (for me) to give a lesson to a tot, and then put my lenses in and forced myself to do my "rule of 10" with everything I struggle on. FO threes are ever so much closer to being sufficiently checked. FI threes are coming back at last. One foot spins started with a real spin on #1, and by spin #7 I was doing them from a T push, but spinning that fast makes me dizzy fast also. Amazed at how uncomfortable I feel with the R side of the adult pre-bronze three turn pattern, so once again, I did the backwards part on a circle, then the whole pattern on a line. It really popped into place, with good control on both 3's and a very nice step to BI edge. Was going faster than comfy with by the time I got to the end of the line. Guess I'll have to step up to doing it down the rink instead of across. Even Prelim power threes on L side were pretty good today. Most amazing - I gained speed on RF power pulls! I finally had to leave because I ran out of tissues and started to tire. I have to go back to teach tonight and I knew I needed a rest before that.

[Skate@Delaware]

Isk8NYC-ya do what ya gotta do! Mine are really moved to the inside.

I was going to skate today...but have been battling vertigo for the past 2 days. Did not sleep well last night-every time I rolled over-SPIN CITY!!! And not the kind of spinning I wanted to be doing! I'm hoping to hit the rink on Saturday morning for Club session (yeah since there is no club on Sundays AND it should be a bit warmer by then hehehe).

[Terri C]

Wide Awake:
Secondary Coach was shocked and surprised over the RBO3 I surprised him with tonight!!! He even added to that and had me try mohawk, RBO3, mohawk RBO3 ..for back power threes!!!

Asleep:

It was too cold and crowded to do much of anything.... I jumped and spun where ever I could.

[Isk8NYC]

Isk8NYC-ya do what ya gotta do! Mine are really moved to the inside. Thanks for the vote of confidence...

http://www.sdtc.com/forum/mods/smileys/images/smiley25.gif

I can spin on both feet! I think that last adjustment made all the difference - held the backspin for about five revs. Plus, I did several waltz jumps (which wasn't smart - loosened the blade a bit) but the landings were totally solid, better than my old blades. Must be the alignment change.

I looked up an old post of Bill's to find out sizes/types and bought all new stainless steel screws as well. One more trial and then off to the sharpener. Hooray for fixed skates.

Hope your vertigo goes away ((((skate@delaware)))) - that's a terrible feeling, esp. since I hate roller-coasters. (Ear infection, maybe?)

[katz in boots]

Didn't have a rink last year and wont this year either - no time to work on it and trying to figure out how to expand it from 50x75 feet to at least half-a-rink (88x100) without going broke!


Sorry to hear you won't have a rink this year, but I have to laugh at your comment about the size of your rink. Our rink (only one in our island state) measures 15 x 30 metres, which equals approx 49x98 feet. :lol:

[ibreakhearts66]

Haven't written one of these in a while

Just gotta say though, the title is incredibly appropriate. I'm currently seeing a sleep therapist trying to work on my chronic fatigue syndrome, so wide awake is really, REALLY a good thing (and something I haven't felt without medication in a long time :roll:)

Anyways

Wide awake
-I video taped myself today and my speed/flow IS improving, slowly but surely. I'm looking much more confident going into my jumps (then taking stupid falls that knock said confidence right out of me but that's another problem).
-I got my donut spin! I never, EVER thought I'd be able to do one. Not in a million years, ever. And I'm the first person at my rink to be able to do one :P
-Death drops are at least looking like I'm ATTEMPTING death drops, which is not something I could say before.
-Spirals are improving too.

I guess, in general, I'm finally starting to feel like all my hard work is paying off.

Asleep at the job
-Double lutzes are totally weird. I don't have a wrong edge take-off, I just don't have an edge take-off period. I literally skid the last part of my take-off. My coach says I'm dropping my head to the left as I reach back to tap, but I don't feel it! :frus:
-My air positions are bugging me. I don't wrap, but I don't have a tight air position either. I think that's what's keeping me from getting the last bit of rotation on my double axel.
-Took a few nasty falls today. One was a typical catch my edge/heel on a double loop take-off, another was slamming my hip on a double axel.

But like I said, overall, I'm feeling pretty good right now. My jumps are looking bigger and stronger, and I was pretty impressed with one of the double axel attempts I got on video. It wasn't fully rotated or anything like that, but it looked big, and it looked like I got a nice kick through before pulling in. I think maybe, just maybe, I'm starting to feel more confident in my abilities as a skater.

Here's some clips from today's practice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=849tfCvYQq4

[Bunny Hop]

wide awake

Had the whole patch ice to myself this morning. I dont know where everyone was
It was the same on Monday! Did everyone take this week off and not send us the memo?

[jskater49]

Asleep on the job - Moves class this morning - some sort of 3 turn pattern and I simply could not figure it out to stay on pattern. I think the problem was I'm still doing back turns on two feet - if I knew what foot and edge the turn was I would know what direction. I can't tell you how many times she showed me the pattern and I just didn't get it.

We the slow to fast crossovers to holding the extension and I was so tired after the crossovers I couldn't hold the extension.

Awake, maybe not wide awake, but awake - She showed us how to do what she calls an inside push - like in an inside mohawk so you are actually pushing and getting power rather than simply changing feet. I did catch on to that pretty quick and did a better job on the my right mohawk which is the one I'm most uncomfortable with. I often find that to be the case - I do my "bad" side better because I'm forced to pay more attention to technique.

And I was actually almost on the outside edge when I worked on my outside mohawks in the 8 step.

j

[Mrs Redboots]

As you change feet rebend BEFORE you put your foot down. And LEAN to get that edge for the growl. I actually do growl on my Swing rolls. Sometimes.
I can't! And if I rebend in time, I get accused of bringing my free leg in too early.....

[jskater49]

I can't! And if I rebend in time, I get accused of bringing my free leg in too early.....


My dance coach gave me a stroking excersize....bend, push & extend, rise and bring you free leg in, rebend, push extend....

[Rusty Blades]

Asleep: ME! Did the best I could to avoid answering the alarm clock .... didn't feel like getting out of a nice warm bed at 3:45, so I didn't .... until 4:00 a.m. Didn't feel like going to the rink, but I did. Didn't feel like skating, but I did.

Not Asleep Any More: DAMN it was COLD in there! Had a heck of a time trying to warm up! I speculated to the maintenance man "It is -15C outside, the ice is -16C, so is that why if feels like -31 in here????" No sympathy, none at all .... so I threatened to build a fire in the end zone 8O

Had 15 minutes warm-up on ice and then took 15 minutes in the lobby (while my coach was with another skater) to sit with my skates over the heat vent! (Gotta get a bunch of hand-warmers so I can slip one in each boot before I leave the house in the morning!)

Awake: Lesson went modestly well. Worked on upright and sit spins, back XO's. and a bunch of other stuff - eh, so-so.

SURPRISE!: Coach said 'why don't you try a catch-foot spiral?' Oh yea, RIGHT! I am almost 60, I frozen to the bone, stiff as a board and you want me to ..... holy Moses! I got it! 8O Well 1 out of 4 isn't bad (or was it 2 out of 5?) I didn't know I could do that!

[Skate@Delaware]

Thanks for the vote of confidence...

http://www.sdtc.com/forum/mods/smileys/images/smiley25.gif

I can spin on both feet! I think that last adjustment made all the difference - held the backspin for about five revs. Plus, I did several waltz jumps (which wasn't smart - loosened the blade a bit) but the landings were totally solid, better than my old blades. Must be the alignment change.

I looked up an old post of Bill's to find out sizes/types and bought all new stainless steel screws as well. One more trial and then off to the sharpener. Hooray for fixed skates.

Hope your vertigo goes away ((((skate@delaware)))) - that's a terrible feeling, esp. since I hate roller-coasters. (Ear infection, maybe?)
Yay for you!!! And thanks, I'm thinking it's either fluid in the inner ear or some of the little "earstones" knocked loose either of which will resolve itself soon....but moving quickly sends me reeling.
SURPRISE!: Coach said 'why don't you try a catch-foot spiral?' Oh yea, RIGHT! I am almost 60, I frozen to the bone, stiff as a board and you want me to ..... holy Moses! I got it! 8O Well 1 out of 4 isn't bad (or was it 2 out of 5?) I didn't know I could do that!
Bet that was a good feeling!!!

[kander]

Wide Awake: I had my second good lesson in a row yesterday. I don't think that's ever happened before. I landed a really good double loop, sal, and toe loop. It's a miracle!

Asleep: STILL haven't landed that $%$#@! axel. I've done about 100 of them that were perfectly good except I keep bailing out on the landing. I actually put more energy into bailing out of the jump than if I just went with it. It's a total reflexive action. If I knew ahead of time that the jump was going to be good I wouldn't have any trouble landing it. It's all the bad ones inbetween than mess up my head.

[Mrs Redboots]

My dance coach gave me a stroking excersize....bend, push & extend, rise and bring you free leg in, rebend, push extend....
Yeah, mine too - but it's different when you have to do it in time to the music and in time to a husband, too! These, incidentally, are very often two different things.

[Skittl1321]

Asleep Me this morning. The alarm went off for the 7:00 session, and it quickly turned to "i'm going to the 8:00" since I didn't skate for long anyhow, it didn't matter. I just couldn't sleep.

Sleeping skating- everything. My blades are just sliding all over the place. I think I need to switch my radius for the winter. (The sharpener gave me 1/2" because of the "soft ice" we have in the summer. She mentioned once it gets cold and the ice harder, i won't like it anymore). They also just need to be done period. I was wobbling like crazy in all my spins, and just sliding all over the place in 3 turns.

I basically made myself skate for 30 minutes. I did scratch spins, back spins, and change foot (not going well). Skipped camel and sit. None of those went well.

I also didn't jump. I need to jump.

Sort of awake The moves I did weren't horrible. Well, actually my CCW 8-step mohawk was, by my CW one wasn't. And my cross rolls are getting pretty good, IMO. The 3s in the field weren't on pattern, but I did all the turns, even the inside ones- assuming you ignore me sliding out of half of them.

[jskater49]

Yeah, mine too - but it's different when you have to do it in time to the music and in time to a husband, too! These, incidentally, are very often two different things.

Yea that's the story of my life - I can do strong growling edges with no music or off time or I can do the steps to the music with practically no edges. Edges AND timing? That's the trick I don't quite have yet.

j

[celticprincess]

Okay NOW Im waking up and theres a sing along going in one of the conference room..aka Sweet Sixteen Party with a DJ..gotta love it. I was called in to work and was NOT happy about it. But skating went pretty well, there were some great things and some things that were more...ehh. But I guess you always need something to work on...so without further adoo...

Wide Awake: (I wish I was)
-Power threes-They're starting to have power and VERY consistant
-Spirals-They've improved so much over time..maybe not in flexiblity, but I can hold them much longer.
-My jump warm up..not 10, but 12 waltz jumps They're just really fun to do:lol:
-JUMP OF THE DAY AWARD....goes to....once again....LOOP.:bow::bow: Once again that jump is extremely fabulous in everyway and I tried it with four different variations and landed every one of them perfectly clean. So congrats Loop!!
-Axel and 2sal attempts- Soooooo much better than last week. There were times when it was so close that I could taste it. However I focused most on the take off and for the most part Im not dragging my left foot. Also for 2sal, I, for some odd reason, forget to pullin. My first attempt I jumped up and literally pulled my arms in too fast and if landed properly it could have been a triple...but I fell...so that didn't quite work
-Toe loops-behaving nicely today. I landed every one of them clean and had a really nice 'pop' to them.
-Scratch spins-They're coming back, slowly but surely
-Ughh my camel spin-Actually wasn't all that bad today. I made myself try 5 hard attempts and did three out of five really nice ones. My first attempt actually being the best. So it's starting to go in the right direction.
-SPIN...no wait...SPINS OF THE DAY AWARD...goes to....LAYBACK AAAND FLYING BROKEN LEG :bow::bow: WHOOHOO! WHOOHOO! WHOOHOO!! Both were behaving very properly and just terrific. I had to give it to both of them because my layback really has improved since last week. My flying broken leg has also. I get alot of air and hold onto the spin for a while..so hooray for both spins.
-My 'Music Box' programme is great as always. I changed up the begining and end pose adding a more 'doll like' appearance and it seemed to work out very nice. I just love that programme..dont ask me why, it's just special and just a nice programme.
-For the most part I stayed on shedule with my goals outline and used those as a guideline for what to practice.


Now for the things to work on and not so good things

Asleep:
-Back powerpull/ bracket pattern-Was alot better last week and resulted in a pretty fall in which I slid 3/4 across the ice on my bum. Lovely right? And this was at the begining of the session where most people were warming up or getting on the ice. Definately lost some dignaty points:cry:
-My Flip was half asleep. It wasn't horrid or anything and I had my handful of really good ones, but it just wasn't consistant.
-Had a pretty fall involving me doing a sit spin...or some kind of spin. I fell out of it and did a butt spin. Seriously I should look into breakdancing...it was just lovely. :roll:
-Ummm....oh yeah and I may be replacing my 'Slow Me Down' programme with something else. Its just awkward and there are alot of parts that I cant do. I mean the modernesque idea was original..but that particular programme is just....strange. So I may look into something different. I like being graceful and lyrical, so maybe something with vocals.

Umm I guess thats it...till next week;)

[Skate@Delaware]

Well, I broke down and went to club ice today...man was it crowded! with only two sessions per week we have to cram everything in to them vs. the four we used to have. No sleeping on the ice or you would get creamed!

Wide Awake: our "off-ice" coach taught me the old-fashioned way (1940-1950 era) of backspinning...it was different. It did work though. You go into it the regular way but instead of having your arms shoulder height, the one on the same side as your skating leg is low...that one comes up in a scooping motion across your body as you straighten your spinning leg. In return, I showed him a salchow from a mohawk entrance.

Scratch spins were really good, I actually had one where my ankle was crossed and my hands were touching my chest and i was able to exit normally. Not too travelly either. I was pretty tickled!

Asleep: my back was killing me this morning. Not sure why unless it was the weather. I mean it hurt BAD! It did not start feeling better until this afternoon (long after my skating session ended). Oh well.

My loops were not working today so I bailed on them, especially with my back hurting. No sense adding fuel to the fire.

[Kim to the Max]

[Wide Awake]
Got to coach this morning....it felt amazing to be back in that role....I loved it before and I love it again...maybe not so much the snowplow 3/basic 1 class I had (give me a basic 3/4/5/6/7/8 class any day of the week over a basic 1)...I had a snowplow 3/basic 1, basic 4/5, and freestyle 4 today, and I just had a lot of fun...I also had a basic 6 (these girls make my Saturday!) and a basic 1 class at another rink...

Skated for 45 minutes or so (and paid $20 for it! 8O), did moves and some spins....there was an older lady out there who commented that she was impressed by my skating...

Then, took a group of students to the campus rink tonight....I didn't do much because I actually don't like showing off, but I got board and did a spiral and then did some laybacks and a camel/back sit...when I went over to the girls who were watching they commented about how pretty they were....

Between those two different experiences, it was a reminder that while coach and I may nitpick at what I am doing...or not doing! (not enough revs, stretch more, better edge quality, etc.), to others, it's amazing that I can even do these things...:D

[kimberley801]

Wide awake: The outdoor rink downtown is open and I got to skate on some of the best ice i've ever seen at an outdoor rink! And after months of frustration, I did my first ever real scratch spin! woohoo! It felt great! Spinning is not my strong point, so to finally get a scratch spin was amazing.

Did a great forward and backward spiral that even my husband commented on - "that looked really good!"

Waltz jumps and toeloops are looking good and consistent. Salchow is almost there - somedays great, otherdays not so great.

And I landed a flip a couple of weeks ago.

Asleep at the job: Skating at the outdoor rink has left me feeling self-concious as people like to stop and watch, which makes me all nervous, and then I don't skate as well. :(

My loop jump is still AWOL.

[Mrs Redboots]

Fast asleep: The muppet who turned off the plant - at least, assuming someone did, and it didn't turn itself off. The ice was a sheet of water this morning! Husband kept soaking the coach when he stopped anywhere near us. I refused to try to skate full patterns as I knew I'd bottle, and I really didn't want to do that so near competition.

Wide Awake: However, Husband did one of his best camels, and we did some good end patterns to the Fiesta.

[Skate@Delaware]

Then, took a group of students to the campus rink tonight....I didn't do much because I actually don't like showing off, but I got board and did a spiral and then did some laybacks and a camel/back sit...when I went over to the girls who were watching they commented about how pretty they were....

Between those two different experiences, it was a reminder that while coach and I may nitpick at what I am doing...or not doing! (not enough revs, stretch more, better edge quality, etc.), to others, it's amazing that I can even do these things...:D
And to those people that can barely stand up on skates...even a waltz jump is an amazing accomplishment!

I'm sure your camels and laybacks are very pretty indeed!!!

[mikawendy]

Fast asleep: Me--I've been down with a bad cold since Monday, so I haven't skated since last Sunday! I didn't even entertain the thought of going to my usual FS sessions yesterday and today. I know I'm sick if I'm too sick to skate!

Wide awake: Had some good practices last week and got to see a skating friend I haven't seen in a while.

[Skate@Delaware]

Asleep: went to my Sunday rink, and since my lesson is an hour into skating time, I was feeling worn a bit when it was my turn.

We agreed that jumps should be first. There were girls running through their Christmas program....so several aborts occurred...no sleeping there!!!

Wide Awake: went to do my loop and the first few attempts were really pathetic replays of how it's been done for the past few years. Then i don't know what happened but I managed to bring my left leg UP and land on my right leg, not once but at least 6-7 times!!!!

WOOOO-HOOOOO!!!

Of course, my coach, being a COACH felt cheated with my lack of rotation (only made it 3/4 of the way around).

I was just jazzed to finally be able to repeat it!

Asleep: scratch spin was dorky; my free leg was dropping and not cooperating. Homework: enter the spin, keep leg up as high as I can for as long as I can.....without bringing it in. When it's centered CONSISTENTLY, then i can bring it in....sheesh! Same for the backspin-she wants more height on the free leg.

I was fairly happy about the session. And did not get lost driving home this time. That is another milestone for me (I'm always getting lost).

[jazzpants]

Asleep:
Schaffer pushes. Have a HARD time pushing harder. Also doesn't help that I constantly had to watch behind me to make sure no one is right behind me.
Speaking of which, I went and knocked a small little public session kid off his skates by just TURNING AROUND!!! (Didn't even MOVE... just turn around 180!!!)

Wide Awake:
Yes, too bad said kid decide to go RACING THRU the middle and thought he could just push me aside... and at least ONE coach had already WARNED him NOT to go thru the middle b/c it's dangerous!!! :twisted:

My forward crossovers are better. I've also had the change to practice the edge exercises my choreographer had me do towards the end of the session too.

Asleep:
Didn't do much jumping or spinning other than waltz jumps. Too D*** crowded!

Wide Awake:
Waltz jumps are okay... did tried to do couple of a half axels just for grins (since a couple of our skating kids were there doing full axels for fun and all. Hey! Can't let them have all the fun, right?) :twisted:

[RachelSk8er]

This is for all last week...in attempting to use up the rest of my PTO for the year before I lose it and in procrastinating when I should be using that time off work and my weekends to study for my final exams next month or finish my final paper due today, I skated a lot instead (1.5 hrs Tuesday of just dadnce, my usual 1.5 on Friday and 2 on Saturday, and I picked up a dance session at another rink on Sunday for an hour).

So....dances are coming along. Tuesday I only did dance--my knees were bugging me so I didn't want to jump. Coach's knees were bugging him so we didn't partner, just worked on my solos of the blues and paso. They're coming along quite nicely, just need to smooth out the choctaw on the blues and get more of the lilt and knee bend action going down the sides of the rink. Paso--timing of the mohawk is my biggest issue there but I'm working that out. Friday we did get to spend a few minutes partnering the blues and it's getting better, not too much longer until I can test this one. It's funny that *usually* for me, partnering the dances is the easy part (after a zillion years of synchro and freaking out when it comes to skating alone), it's the solos that need the most work because I actually have to think about where my shoulders, hips, etc are going. However, with the pre-golds, it's totally the other way around. I think freestyle is helping me get more confident in dance.

Dance session Sunday was awesome! I think I'll add this one to my weekly skating schedule as often as I can, even though it's 45 min away. There were a few juv/intermediate dance teams, my friends (ad gold dance team), and a few others. I hadn't been on a strictly dance session in a long time, since all the sessions at my rink are open/general. Olympic sized rink meant I could actually push out dances where I'm normally in the wall. I worked on the blues and paso again, did 2 really good patterns of the Starlight (probably the best I've ever done!) right at the end of the session. There was someone working on the silvers so I also skated through those whenever the music came on just for fun. OH!! And I learned the silver samba!!!!! Walt and Victoria were working on it since it's a compulsory for gold this year and I followed them a few times. Steps are pretty easy and it's really fun.

Did freestyle on Friday and Saturday. Axel has just a slight touch down of the L foot on the landing still, which is pretty consistent, but I'm able to still get the foot back and get an (uncleanly landed) axel with a toe loop tacked on to the end. I took a really nasty fall Friday that I think freaked me out a little. The rest of my jumps are good, getting more height in general on my flip, lutz, and loops in combination as the 2nd jump. Loop on its own not so much (for some reason that just kills my R knee, it's really the only thing that bothers it, so I don't do more than a few per session). My coach and I worked on spins, mainly entry to my back scratch, back camel, back sit (wasn't holding the edge long enough). Back camel is getting MUCH better. Also fixed my flying camel--he taught it to me but in my own practice I had it totally screwed up and was jumping to the wrong place.

So overall a good week. Next week I need to start getting my program back together for the Columbus competition.