Winter wonderland or Blizzard 12/1 - 12/7

[flo]

Winter wonderland: Had fun with throws and a death spirals. Getting ready for a show in a couple of weeks. My new dress from China arrived and it's beautiful.

Blizzard: our favorite fs session has been canceled due to low attendance.

[Black Sheep]

Winter Wonderland: My ankle has healed well enough that I got through all my single jumps this morning. I even landed an axel (almost) clean! :D

Blizzard: The one in my area. Well, it's not exactly a blizzard, but it does make the sidewalks and streets kinda slippery! ;)

[jskater49]

I didn't skate today because the roads were bad and I didn't want to put myself through that again (after this weekend) until I got new tires. Besides DD was going back to school and wanted to say goodbye

But I'm very happy someone else has named the thread....my lesson is Wed am and it's supposed to snow again...hopefully my new tires will give me courage...I seem to have lost my nerve for winter driving..

[Mrs Redboots]

Winter wonderland: We had a lovely time in Dunkerque; ended up 3rd out of 3 in compulsory dances but skated well and were pleased. Husband skated his free well, and was 2nd out of 3. In both cases, it was clear that a different panel might have given a different result, but we are not arguing! It was fun, we were pleased, and we had a great time.

Blizzard: So do we return to laying about and enjoying life until Christmas? Do we heck. Back to exercises this morning, most of which were dire!

[jazzpants]

Winter wonderland:
I went skating for my lesson with primary coach, just to gauge whether I am well enough to go back to work again. (There's no way I can gauge unless I go out.) Other than that very first spin that made me dizzy (not centered) and a jump that made me feel mildly queasy, I was fine.

Blizzard and Wonderland
Okay, this is weird!!! So my flip jump had trouble b/c I wasn't extending the free leg. (Known issue.) So finally, primary coach says "Let's move on! Try the lutz!" After a few tries, he says "Okay, try the flip again!!!" Guess what? I extended that free leg this time!!! Just don't get it!!! :frus: :giveup:

Blizzard:


Christmas crowds. There's these two little kids and they keep going towards the middle. Even my favorite ice guard couldn't get them out and keep them out, which is unusual, considering that he's also very gentle and nice towards kids. Maybe they're "supposed to be" preparing for the Christmas show? :?:
Sit-back sit... what back sit?
Camels. Still in Egypt...
Dairy Queen's? :halo: (Wishful thinking, I know...) :yum:

[Skate@Delaware]

Blizzard: didn't skate today-recovering from a migraine and thought it best to rest up.

However, I'm doing off-ice!!! If anyone has suggestions for off-ice (besides the usual-conditioning, stretching, etc). I'm looking for off-ice jump tips (ahem-loop specifically) and I also need to work on KICKING THRU on my waltz (and salchow etc)

[aussieskater]

Winter wonderland: We had a lovely time in Dunkerque; ended up 3rd out of 3 in compulsory dances but skated well and were pleased. Husband skated his free well, and was 2nd out of 3. In both cases, it was clear that a different panel might have given a different result, but we are not arguing! It was fun, we were pleased, and we had a great time.

Blizzard: So do we return to laying about and enjoying life until Christmas? Do we heck. Back to exercises this morning, most of which were dire!

Glad to hear you had a good time and were pleased with your dances, Mrs R. That's the best feeling and worth any number of medals. (Despite which, props to Mr R for the silver!) I know what you mean about exercises ... it always seems like practice sessions are about "so many things need practice, so little time - what's most dire this week??" :D

[flo]

Congrats all around!

[Mrs Redboots]

Glad to hear you had a good time and were pleased with your dances, Mrs R. That's the best feeling and worth any number of medals. (Despite which, props to Mr R for the silver!) I know what you mean about exercises ... it always seems like practice sessions are about "so many things need practice, so little time - what's most dire this week??" :D
Such a pity you guys weren't still in this hemisphere - it would have been wonderful to have skated against you!

For today:

Blizzard: Husband had to work a night shift (this is very unusual but they needed to do stuff to the network after the US offices had closed for the day), so couldn't skate this morning.

Winter wonderland: had a good session. Husband and I are going to work on pairs this winter, with a view to possibly - and it's a very remote possibility, I can tell you - entering Bronze pairs at the Mountain Cup. Unlikely to happen, but we'll have fun trying to make it. So asked to be reminded how to do a cherry flip (toe loop) and salchow, and was shown how to do the thrown version of these jumps, too.

[Rusty Blades]

Still skating, just not posting much ... no time ... now taking music lessons to LOL!

Wonderland: Upright progressing fine, Sit coming okay, developing a spiral sequence with a catch-foot ... so-so, and played with a Waltz/Toe/Toe this morning - wish I was brave enough to throw that one up in the air and pray LOL!

Blizzard: Like yesterday's weather? Don't know if I can afford to go to Nationals next spring......

HEY! Anybody got any good ideas for warming up your boots on the way to the rink? Hand-warmers in the toes? ANYTHING ???? My toes are FREEZING after 30 to 45 minutes on the ice - need to start with warm boots!

[Skittl1321]

Winter Wonderland Got a private lesson during LTS groups! Very exciting- especially since my lesson is canceled this week. Next week might be private again, but the other adult might come (the kids are doing christmas show rehearsal during that time.)

we worked on Silver Moves (except 3-turns, ran out of time) and I got some good hints, and the coach was mostly complimentary about the moves (though they need a lot of work- I'm shooting for summer 2010 for these). I think he was pretty shocked I was working on moves that are on the juv test, since I'm not a very good skater :) He knew I had passed bronze this summer, so he knew I was taking silver but I think he was thinking Silver was lower than pre-juv, not pre-juv/juv. We talked a bit about not really knowing what the adult passing standard was (I can tell him the number- but for moves that aren't on the standard track with that passing average- no one really knows what that number means), and how my coach took the "it's not ready until it would pass standard" approach, and I was okay with that.

He thought my crossrolls were pretty good, and that I wasn't making the mistakes he immediatly thought I would when I told him that this was a move I was working on, and not great at. (Yay coach for getting rid of them!). So we focused a lot on leaning into the edges. Going backwards, he held my hand and then had me use my back to press against his hand to get a really really deep edge. Then he told me I'd probably be able to do a death spiral because I have a really steady edge- and although that's the one move I've always wanted to do, I've changed my mind! Just the really deep lean we did in that exercise was terrifying. I'd probably have a heart attack in a death spiral. (Maybe next year I'll ask him to teach me? I need a bit more improvement!)

Blizzard I actually got stopped on my 8-step mohawk because I was "scaring him"- essentially a bad fall waiting to happen. I apparently flex my foot before the mohawk, and he told me that's a sure fire way to stab the ice with the back of my blade, and take a really bad fall. So now I need to think about pointing the foot. Then he told me stories about falling in mohawks, including one in an overhead lift that resulted in the ER thinking he and his partner had been in a car accident. Way to make mohawks even more terrifying than they were before!

Pre-pre spirals suck on the left side. I'm now doing same arm as skating leg in front, and it does help get a better stretch, but it's so ackward I can't get up into the spiral very well... It also takes me 1/4 of the ice to get the leg to hip height, though I can then hold it for 3-4 seconds and have enough ice for the other leg. Primary coach wants me to lower my right leg, but he didn't say anything when I didn't. (Yeah- I was trying to show off that my right spirals don't suck. I actually have an alright one). I don't know if my pride is going to let me do that on the test- I don't want to have two crappy spirals.


Knees hurt really bad today- there is a reason I don't usually do cross rolls and power pulls in the same lesson!

[dbny]

HEY! Anybody got any good ideas for warming up your boots on the way to the rink? Hand-warmers in the toes? ANYTHING ???? My toes are FREEZING after 30 to 45 minutes on the ice - need to start with warm boots!

Take an old pair of knee highs or trowser socks and fill them with uncooked rice. Tie them off or sew them off into segments so when you put them in your boots all the rice does not slip down to the toes. Throw them into the microwave to warm them before you leave the house, then into your boots. Warning - don't make them too warm. I suspect that can affect the inner molding of the boots. If you have a powerful microwave, then 1 to 1.5 min should do it.

[LilJen]

Winter wonderland: Ice to myself yesterday for nearly an hour! So I went through all the bronze moves a couple of times. LFO power 3s are getting smoother and less jerky; RFO power 3s are just better naturally for some reason. Getting a bit more flow on the 5-step, although it's not there consistently.

Blizzard: SPINS!!! I think my problem is partly mental--I *think* I can't do this so I can't. Honestly, though, I don't know that even a consistent 2-footed CCW spin is going to come, let alone a 1-footed scratch spin, by mid-February (next comp, in which I dearly do not want to compete at ISI 1 again). Every spin I tried traveled at least 3 feet, and sometimes more. Which isn't great when you're only doing half a dozen revs. . . . :giveup: Wondering when I should ask coach for mercy and try CW again, or whether that, too, would be a failing venture (I can at least eke out 3 revs on 1 foot CW, although ISI calls for 6 revs). . .

Any off-ice tips for improving spins much appreciated!! ALSO--how long are the post-test "blahs" supposed to last? I swear I've had a lack of motivation since August, when I took & passed pre-bronze MITF and FS. It could be autumn (which tends to bring on the 'blahs' anyway for me), but geez, when am I going to feel really excited about skating again?

Prelim dance tests tomorrow afternoon!

[jazzpants]

Winter Wonderland:

Forward stroking and forward crossovers again. So my secondary coach filmed me doing these. When I saw the video, she made watch it alone first and then forever. So I watched it and...I started hearing the commentary going on as she's filming me. :lol: Quite amusing experience. :P. Anyway, I'm far from getting it to auto-pilot and certain could go more on a deeper edge and I could cross more behind, but they weren't too bad. :).

I then had to do the alternating FO3-tap toe exercise. They were slow, but they eventually did get distance and I did managed to finally get all the way across the length of the ice w/o stopping...

Blizzard:

Unfortunately, it didn't quite help resolve the issue this exercise was supposed to fix -- my forward spin entry. :frus: I know now to turn my torso more and get more ankle bend going into it. But still not enough to fix the problem. Then again, my chereographer's alternating FO3-back Xovers exercise is also being "worked on" too so I am still on the quest for slaying the "step backward and then switch forward on a forward spin entry" dragon.

[aussieskater]

Such a pity you guys weren't still in this hemisphere - it would have been wonderful to have skated against you!

(snip)

Winter wonderland: had a good session. Husband and I are going to work on pairs this winter, with a view to possibly - and it's a very remote possibility, I can tell you - entering Bronze pairs at the Mountain Cup. Unlikely to happen, but we'll have fun trying to make it. So asked to be reminded how to do a cherry flip (toe loop) and salchow, and was shown how to do the thrown version of these jumps, too.

We're sorry we're not still in your part of the world too ... as are our DDs! The temp here hit 38C yesterday, and we and the guinea pigs just about melted. PS: re skating against us - you'd have been 3rd out of 4, the way we're skating right now...

Re the pairs: you're a braver (wo)man than I am!! Thrown jumps! :bow: :bow: Is a death spiral a Bronze element? DH and I would like to learn the FI death spiral one day, but Coach said that leaning way back into the back pivot needs to be more solid first, as the woman's weight can tend to pull the man forward.

Not sure whether this one is a blizzard or not: We've been trying an exercise where we dance the beginner compulsories solo 2 metres apart, starting side by side (not one behind the other). The idea is that we (try to) match what the other one is doing as regards patterning, timing and extension. As we go down the long sides, one ends up behind the other (so the one behind has to imitate the one in front), and at the ends, we go back to being side by side. The Canasta is starting to get it, but the Dutch? No way!

[aussieskater]

Take an old pair of knee highs or trowser socks and fill them with uncooked rice. Tie them off or sew them off into segments so when you put them in your boots all the rice does not slip down to the toes. Throw them into the microwave to warm them before you leave the house, then into your boots. Warning - don't make them too warm. I suspect that can affect the inner molding of the boots. If you have a powerful microwave, then 1 to 1.5 min should do it.

I use these and they're terrific. My micro isn't very powerful and 3 minutes does nicely. When they come out, they're *just* a little hotter than I can hold comfortably. They'll last an hour in the skates before they lose their useful warmth.

I use old thin cotton knee-his and only need one pair (one sock per shoe). If you're using regular sheer knee-his, I suggest that you use at least 2 pairs (one inside the other), otherwise the rice will work its way out and you'll end up with rice grains and rice dust in your bag - an invitation to vermin.

Also, to avoid your skates and bag smelling of half-cooked funny rice, you can apply lavender oil (or similar) with a lavish hand on a regular basis. Put a few (or more!) drops on the outside and use your hands to work it into the grains a little. Works a treat (and smells a whole lot better than half-cooked rice!! :D).

[phoenix]

Winter Wonderland: Worked on Blues today for ANs. Haven't touched it in at least 2 years, so it was very rusty at first, but got better as we went along. Thanks to all coach's killer edge exercises, I can skate a fairly decent edge into the choctaw now--hopes of it being killer by April! We'll see.

Blizzard: My drive, on the way home. Fortunately I beat the worst of the storm & am now safe & warm in my house while spaghetti sauce bubbles on the stove! (it just felt like a spaghetti night)

[dbny]

If you're using regular sheer knee-his, I suggest that you use at least 2 pairs (one inside the other), otherwise the rice will work its way out and you'll end up with rice grains and rice dust in your bag - an invitation to vermin.

Also, to avoid your skates and bag smelling of half-cooked funny rice, you can apply lavender oil (or similar) with a lavish hand on a regular basis. Put a few (or more!) drops on the outside and use your hands to work it into the grains a little. Works a treat (and smells a whole lot better than half-cooked rice!! :D).

I actually found lavender somewhere and put some in my boot warmers. We had the vermin problem and found out about it in a funny way. DD had gone off to college in Costa Rica for a semester, leaving her skates and rice warmers in their mesh backpack in her closet on the third floor, with the door to the room closed to keep Cat out. One day I went up there looking for something, and discovered a mouse nest in the closet! They had chewed a hole in the mesh backpack and eaten every last grain of rice out of the warmers. I didn't even notice that because they just looked like an ordinary pair of knee highs, and the bag was otherwise unaffected. A few days later I came home and found a knee high full of tiny holes in it in our foyer. I finally figured out that Cat had gone into DD's room, found that yummy smelling-of-mice knee high, and played with it down the stairs.

Winter Wonderland:
Finally got to the rink today for the first time since the Friday before Thanksgiving. Spins weren't so bad as I expected. I actually started spinning on the 6th try. FO and FI threes were also not affected much. I made myself do a few waltz-8's as I'm planning on teaching them tomorrow night. I had done F figure 8's first, and was actually able to keep the waltz-8's on pattern. Did a nice, fast F power XO pattern.

Blizzard:
Didn't have the nerve to work BO threes today. CW BXO's just did not feel comfy and I didn't push myself enough. I also needed to work a lot more on B progressives with cross front, but wimped out on them. Hoping to have a better practice tomorrow afternoon.

[flo]

I bought a tiny low drier at one of the large bed/bath barn stores. It's perfect for quick skate warm ups.
Hope to skate in the am with partner. I want to try and throw him - he has a great axel.

[doubletoe]

Blizzard I actually got stopped on my 8-step mohawk because I was "scaring him"- essentially a bad fall waiting to happen. I apparently flex my foot before the mohawk, and he told me that's a sure fire way to stab the ice with the back of my blade, and take a really bad fall. So now I need to think about pointing the foot.

Give your coach an EXTRA nice Christmas present for that one, please! I had that fall twice and your coach is a SAINT for saving you from it! While practicing my 8-step mohawk a few years ago, I didn't point the toes of the foot I was placing down on the back half of my mohawk and that's exactly what happened: The heel of my blade planted itself firmly in the ice and the rest of me kept going. The first thing to hit the ice was my right hip. I got such a bad bruise that it literally got hard and lumpy. Then, because I am SO SMART, I did the exact same thing just a week later and fell on the same badly bruised hip. So please re-file that moment where your coach stopped you under "Winter Wonderland"!

[CoachPA]

Winter Wonderland: I had four of my students testing yesterday. Two put out their Preliminary field moves and two tested their Canasta Tangos. One of the Preliminary MIF tests failed, but my other three skaters all passed!

[Skittl1321]

Give your coach an EXTRA nice Christmas present for that one, please! So please re-file that moment where your coach stopped you under "Winter Wonderland"!

I already did- don't worry I take good care of my coaches :) That was the last week of lessons, since this is my group coach.

OUCH! That does sound like a bad fall, and exactly what I was warned against. I'll put the correction in Winter Wonderland- but the mohawk stays in Blizzard!

[jenlyon60]

I am posting about my skating for the first time in a LONG time.

Ever since trying to return to skating after my knee surgery, I have had no end of problems. First, really bad knee pain (because I tried to start back too soon), and more important, I had had really bad foot pain when I wore my boots that had actually been going on before the surgery and become a major show stopper over the last few months.

This summer, my ex-coach and another friend of mine who coaches at the same rink convinced me to talk to Phil from Harlick about new boots. So I did so, while I was at Lake Placid, and ended up getting measured and ordering new boots.

Two weeks ago was the first time I skated in them. I had happy feet then (no pain) even with new boots and blades (the new blades were more of a shock to the body than the new boots). I wore them again this past Monday for 30 minutes straight with no pain, again just doing casual "round the rink" stuff.

Today I wore them for a full hour, no relacing or anything. NO PAIN. This is the first time in I don't know how long that I went a full 60 minutes in boots without stopping to take the boots off, massage out the pain, relace, etc.

Now I feel like I WANT to skate again.

And the boots are burnt orange suede with brown trim.

[Mrs Redboots]

Take an old pair of knee highs or trowser socks and fill them with uncooked rice. Tie them off or sew them off into segments so when you put them in your boots all the rice does not slip down to the toes. Throw them into the microwave to warm them before you leave the house, then into your boots. Warning - don't make them too warm. I suspect that can affect the inner molding of the boots. If you have a powerful microwave, then 1 to 1.5 min should do it.

This is, of course, a home-made version of the commercial "wheat bags" that are sold all over for a massive great profit (I make my own) and are marvellously soothing and comforting in the winter. I use one instead of a hot-water-bottle, and had it over my ear (I had earache) on Tuesday.


Is a death spiral a Bronze element? No, in fact it's forbidden. You have to have a pivot spiral, though, and that's the one pairs element we are actually comfortable with

Not sure whether this one is a blizzard or not: We've been trying an exercise where we dance the beginner compulsories solo 2 metres apart, starting side by side (not one behind the other). The idea is that we (try to) match what the other one is doing as regards patterning, timing and extension. As we go down the long sides, one ends up behind the other (so the one behind has to imitate the one in front), and at the ends, we go back to being side by side. The Canasta is starting to get it, but the Dutch? No way!
Now, that is what I call really brave - I know quite well Husband and I would just look as though we were randomly skating on the same piece of ice if we tried that. Which we ought to. Oh dear, I wish you hadn't said that, I think I know what we will be doing tomorrow.....

@jenlyon60 - pictures, pictures, we want pictures!

[Thin-Ice]

Winter Wonderland (snip) we worked on Silver Moves (except 3-turns, ran out of time) and I got some good hints, and the coach was mostly complimentary about the moves (though they need a lot of work- I'm shooting for summer 2010 for these). I think he was pretty shocked I was working on moves that are on the juv test, since I'm not a very good skater :) He knew I had passed bronze this summer, so he knew I was taking silver but I think he was thinking Silver was lower than pre-juv, not pre-juv/juv. We talked a bit about not really knowing what the adult passing standard was (I can tell him the number- but for moves that aren't on the standard track with that passing average- no one really knows what that number means), and how my coach took the "it's not ready until it would pass standard" approach, and I was okay with that.

For the Juvenile level moves on the Silver test, watch a kid who has recently passed Pre-Juve working on these moves. That should give you a pretty good idea of what is close to passing... since Juvenile''s passing level is a 3.0 and Pre-Juve's is 2.7. And even if you have those moves at what would pass a Juvenile level test, don't expect to get a 3.0 and make up for really weak other moves. Most judges stick pretty close to the passing numbers for tests.. it doesn't make sense, it just happens that way.

Pre-pre spirals suck on the left side. I'm now doing same arm as skating leg in front, and it does help get a better stretch, but it's so ackward I can't get up into the spiral very well... It also takes me 1/4 of the ice to get the leg to hip height, though I can then hold it for 3-4 seconds and have enough ice for the other leg. Primary coach wants me to lower my right leg, but he didn't say anything when I didn't. (Yeah- I was trying to show off that my right spirals don't suck. I actually have an alright one). I don't know if my pride is going to let me do that on the test- I don't want to have two crappy spirals.

Just put your not-so-good side first.. then finish with a flourish on the strong side. Just make sure the "more challenged side" is close to being level... so the contrast is not huge.

[Thin-Ice]

ALSO--how long are the post-test "blahs" supposed to last? I swear I've had a lack of motivation since August, when I took & passed pre-bronze MITF and FS. It could be autumn (which tends to bring on the 'blahs' anyway for me), but geez, when am I going to feel really excited about skating again? Prelim dance tests tomorrow afternoon!

After you test, tell yourself you're not allowed to go anywhere near the ice. Don't watch any skating, don't think about skating, don't talk about skating, don't get near your boots. It's kind of like telling yourself you're not going to eat sweets when going on a diet. Pretty soon you start obsessing.. and it's all you want.... at least that's how my brain works. And it helped get me excited about skating when I hit a low point a couple years ago.

And good luck on your dance tests!

[Isk8NYC]

This is for yesterday...

Winter Wonderland:

Sharp blades with rockers are very nice. Mohawks are almost effortless and spreadeagles are easier.

Definitely skating differently - I can feel that I carry my weight when stroking on the ball of my foot rather than the heel. (Probably the shorter blades as well. Imagine that a 1/4" could make that much difference!)

Jumps were easy as pie - even the crappy flip attempts I made (with thoughtful 3-turn entries) felt RIGHT! Ice was really choppy (zam was down all day) so I didn't get too fancy, but waltz jumps really flowed and flew and fled! lol

Blizzard:
I have to "think" about three turns and brackets, focusing on rolling up to the rocker without going all the way to the toepicks. Twizzles seem much easier now. Back 3-turns, etc. will take some getting used to, but they weren't my strong suit anyway. Decided to stop risking my neck on the uncut ice.

Spins on both feet are traveling and scratchy. Can't do a back scratch spin, but I can hold a one-foot backspin position as I head for parts unknown, lol.


This morning, I just couldn't stand to put my skates on - they had been in the car all night; I didn't sleep well, and my neck/shoulders hurt. Instead, I put the kids on the ice for their freestyle and lessons and I worked the treadmill for a half-hour. It was really nice - the machine room overlooks the rink, so the kids were waving at me from time to time and they stayed on the ice without me.

[jskater49]

Yesterday - I managed to leave for my lesson before the snow started coming down too hard and I was done skating by the time it was finished. Good timing.

So for my lesson - we worked on my extensions for my 3 turns - I tend to bend my knee in an ugly fashion. Funny thing when I straigten my leg, tighten my buttuck and flex my foot - I have more control in the turn!

Winerwonderland - worked on arm placements in my gala program - and I was able to cross my arms - right arm on left shoulder, left hand on right hip during my spin that looks kind of interesting.

blizzard - she tried to start on falling leaves and we only got as far as holding the back edge. same problem with my shoulders - I just don't stretch them out enough....so we ended with me holding on to a hoola hoop while holding the back outside edge.

[Rusty Blades]

Wonderland: I LOVE unsolicited praise from my coach, like her comment on my upright spin ("Wow, those are coming nice!") and the Sit spin ("Wow, that's FAST!") Really? :oops:

Blizzard: ?? Not today :)

[jazzpants]

Winter Wonderland:
CCW forward crossovers nice.

Blizzard:
CW forward crossovers.... NOT so nice!!! Gotta get over that "public session"-itis. (I should Google "public session"-itis and see what I come up with. :twisted: ) Need to coordinate the ankle bend (never mind a deeper one) to come before the push. :P :lol:

Winter Wonderland:
Got to do SWING ROLLS today!!! Yes, me with the primary coach that doesn't want me going into ice dancing b/c I have too much on my plate!!! :twisted: (Sorry! Choreography coach overruled you and says I need to work on my edges to look "less awkward" on the ice overall. That means SWING ROLLS too!!!)

Blizzard:
Too bad I can't coordinate the arm change with the knee bend/edge push very well!!! Drove choreographer coach BATTY...LOL!!! :twisted: :lol:

[dbny]

Blizzard:
It started last night when I set my alarm for the time I have to leave the house instead of the time I have to wake up - and left my phone (alarm) on vibrate only! The only thing that saved me was that I have an alarm set on the calendar event for an hour in advance. I slept through the first 15 minutes of vibrating on my night table, virtually right next to my face. Luckily, my student was later than I was. I had intended to practice after giving the lesson, and it started OK with (Winter Wonderland) FO figure eights and a few FO and FI threes. After that it was all blizzard. I was too tired and started to feel a bit queasy. Only got a few real one foot spins in, and nothing else really worked. Everything felt super klutzy, so I packed it in and headed home. I have to go back to give a lesson tonight, and I just hope I can hold it together till I'm done with that. Worried about my own lesson tomorrow - must get a better night's sleep tonight!

[aussieskater]

Now, that is what I call really brave - I know quite well Husband and I would just look as though we were randomly skating on the same piece of ice if we tried that.

That's exactly what we look like! :D

[singerskates]

HEY! Anybody got any good ideas for warming up your boots on the way to the rink? Hand-warmers in the toes? ANYTHING ???? My toes are FREEZING after 30 to 45 minutes on the ice - need to start with warm boots!

Bring a hair dryer in your skate bag. When you get to the rink, set the hair dryer on high and put the nozel into the boot for 30 seconds to 1 minute for each boot just before putting your boots on. Nice toasty feet for an hour.

Had to do this when I left one rink and then went shopping for 4 hours before going to the other last week. Worked like a dream.

Brigitte

[jenlyon60]

@jenlyon60 - pictures, pictures, we want pictures!

This was taken before I got the blades mounted. I got Ultima Dance blades.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9210915@N05/3083521112/

[flo]

Jazz, swing rolls are also great for warm ups. My partner and I warm up with them and cross rolls up and down the ice.

Winter wonderland - Had a chance to skate today. We played with me throwing him - it took a bit to get each other's part, but I got him off the ground. Pair spins are getting better and we're going to try a new death spiral.

Blizzard - getting a cold or something.

[singerskates]

Blizzard: Woke up with another bloody (not swearing it actually was filled with blood) nose and sinus which gave me a huge headache and nausia. Took all the meds I could and it started to go away but...

When I was at the rink today coach asked me to do my spins and by the time I got to the 5th rotation on both the upright and the sit spin, I was ready to throw up. Let's say we left the spins out of the lesson today.

Winter Wonderland:

Waltz jump was good and high with a nice landing even though I'm just using the Waltz jump now as my warm up jump. It's not in my freeskate program.

Toe Loop was had a nice enterance and landing with good flow.

Loop was all the way around and on one foot but I had trouble keeping my freeleg crossed in the air until I landed making for a messy look on the exit.

Flip was all the way around and had my free foot pretending that I was doing football as it passed by on the landing. Touch Down.

Lutz first was done with my picking leg not extending all the way back but once I was corrected I got the free leg stretched out straight behind me and rotated the Lutz all the way around and played football again with the free leg on the landing.

It's coming.

Then did the beginning of my program with the change I did to start it. No more posing for an eternity before I start skating. I started with a pivot with one arm up and then went to a BLI edge to do a BLI3 into a FO Loop to a RFI twizzle into Xs RFI Mo to Salchow/Toe to RFI Mo to RBO3 (repeat) to Spiral Squence and so on.

Got to leave. I'm late for choir practice. Yikes!

[jazzpants]

Jazz, swing rolls are also great for warm ups. My partner and I warm up with them and cross rolls up and down the ice.
Funny you say that, so did the choreographer. In fact, he says "When you're not stumbling in late to a lesson (which is the other "blizzard" I had), I would like you to warm up with these!!! :twisted: " SUUUURE, along with the million and one other warm-up exercises that you've given me the last 3 weeks... AND secondary coach's... :lol: (Primary coach is infamously BAD about warm-ups... :twisted:)

Hope you'll feel better...

[LilJen]

After you test, tell yourself you're not allowed to go anywhere near the ice. Don't watch any skating, don't think about skating, don't talk about skating, don't get near your boots. It's kind of like telling yourself you're not going to eat sweets when going on a diet. Pretty soon you start obsessing.. and it's all you want.... at least that's how my brain works. And it helped get me excited about skating when I hit a low point a couple years ago.

And good luck on your dance tests!

If only, if only. . . Well, I'd be shot if I just up and quit synchro!! I should probably take a few weeks off, and I probably won't take my skates with me when I go away for Christmas. . . but there's just always something more to learn. . . I have all the ISI FS2 elements EXCEPT the spin! Gotta get that spin before mid-February (the big comp in Oxford), so time is starting to run out. . . .

Dance tests went fine; passed all three prelim (Dutch waltz, canasta tango, rhythm blues) but I wasn't expecting to have a problem with them.

[jskater49]

Winter Wonderland:
CCW forward crossovers nice.

Blizzard:
CW forward crossovers.... NOT so nice!!! Gotta get over that "public session"-itis. (I should Google "public session"-itis and see what I come up with. :twisted: ) Need to coordinate the ankle bend (never mind a deeper one) to come before the push. :P :lol:

Winter Wonderland:
Got to do SWING ROLLS today!!! Yes, me with the primary coach that doesn't want me going into ice dancing b/c I have too much on my plate!!! :twisted: (Sorry! Choreography coach overruled you and says I need to work on my edges to look "less awkward" on the ice overall. That means SWING ROLLS too!!!)

Blizzard:
Too bad I can't coordinate the arm change with the knee bend/edge push very well!!! Drove choreographer coach BATTY...LOL!!! :twisted: :lol:


? Your arms don't change with swing rolls. Upper body stays still.

Joelle

[flo]

We had an exercise where we brought our arms/hands together for the cross and then open wide with a flourish for the swing. Of course now they are attached to the partner.
Thanks Jazz - having some hot tea and brandy by the fire and a pup in my lap

[mikawendy]

This was taken before I got the blades mounted. I got Ultima Dance blades.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9210915@N05/3083521112/

Oh, those look so cool!!!!

[jazzpants]

Oh, those look so cool!!!!
And they would go SO WELL with those construction orange color belts that we use in FS session at our rink to indicate we're doing a program runthru. :twisted: :P :lol:

(You just topped me in unusually KEWL boots!!!) :bow:

[katz in boots]

the boots are burnt orange suede with brown trim.

I just looked at your photos, and OMG !!!8O

Can you choose any colour combination you want? I had thought of getting beige suede like a Russian who coaches here sometimes, but you just opened up a whole other world of individuality.

What will you do if you perform/compete? How many pairs of OTB tights will you need to wear to cover that colour? :lol:

Wednesday night was an absolute Blizzard of kids practising their routines for the upcoming ice show (Nutcracker, and if I ever hear that music again I will have difficulty restraining myself from screaming). Practise ice dance? Not easy.

Last session with the Senior ice dancer who has been helping me (she returns to her state next week), so we worked hard on Fiesta Tango and Swing Dance (yes, Swing Dance on a 1/4 size rink). She said I've improved heaps, but I suspect that is not saying much:oops: .

Other than dance, really didn't get much done this week. Some okay sit spins, Camel, well, :frus: says it all. Jumps were okay, though still not getting waltz/loop reliably.

Ah well, tomorrow morning I get to skate again.

[Thin-Ice]

If only, if only. . . Well, I'd be shot if I just up and quit synchro!! I should probably take a few weeks off, and I probably won't take my skates with me when I go away for Christmas. . . but there's just always something more to learn. . . I have all the ISI FS2 elements EXCEPT the spin! Gotta get that spin before mid-February (the big comp in Oxford), so time is starting to run out. . . .

Dance tests went fine; passed all three prelim (Dutch waltz, canasta tango, rhythm blues) but I wasn't expecting to have a problem with them.

Good point! I had forgotten you skate synchro. Yes, don't stop that type of skating. But maybe withdrawing from the other things while you're on Christmas holiday will make you more enthusiastic about the rest of it... and then your rekindled energy and love of skating will make it easier to get the rest of it. And I know JUST what you mean about "always something new to learn".

Speaking of which, how was your dance test? Will you be working on new dances when you are enthusiastic about skating again?

[jenlyon60]

I just looked at your photos, and OMG !!!8O

Can you choose any colour combination you want? I had thought of getting beige suede like a Russian who coaches here sometimes, but you just opened up a whole other world of individuality.

What will you do if you perform/compete? How many pairs of OTB tights will you need to wear to cover that colour? :lol:



I'm a long way from being able to compete or test again. But if I do, I'll either wear OTB tights or leave them uncovered. Most of my dresses except for the raspberry fuschia dress will actually go with the boots pretty well :lol:

They're custom boots (not only because of the color but because my feet are 1/2 size different, plus I had orthotics built in to the boots. Harlick offers numerous choices of leather color, especially in the suede. I need to treat the suede with waterproofing spray, so in the meantime, I've been pulling my leg warmers down as much over the boots as possible to protect the suede.

I had actually thought about skating this afternoon after work (I can't skate before work because I have a 90 minute workout session with my gym trainer), but the session times don't work out well, since I need to be somewhere this evening and have to allow for rush hour traffic.

[Mrs Redboots]

? Your arms don't change with swing rolls. Upper body stays still.

Joelle

It depends - you can do them either counter-body or with-body. With-body is much harder, especially on outside swing rolls - guess what we're made to do!!!!

I just looked at your photos, and OMG !!!8O

Can you choose any colour combination you want? I had thought of getting beige suede like a Russian who coaches here sometimes, but you just opened up a whole other world of individuality.You'll certainly see her coming on a dark night! They are rather gorgeous, though.

Weirdest I've seen - although not on anybody's feet, only on the display stand - were leopardskin-print! Chav city..... and also silver ones. I wouldn't want silver - who settles for second-best?

[jenlyon60]

I know someone with leopard print boots. They look really neat.

I also know someone with pink and black zebra striped boots.

My former coach got dark hunter green with his initials in yellow on the outside above the heel. I've seen pictures of the boots, they're really neat looking. I thought the initials would look distracting and tacky, but it's not.

[Thin-Ice]

It depends - you can do them either counter-body or with-body. With-body is much harder, especially on outside swing rolls - guess what we're made to do!!!!

You'll certainly see her coming on a dark night! They are rather gorgeous, though.

Weirdest I've seen - although not on anybody's feet, only on the display stand - were leopardskin-print! Chav city..... and also silver ones. I wouldn't want silver - who settles for second-best?

My coach (who is married to George Spiteri (aka SP-Teri)) has a pair of blue suede with gold trim, a gold pair with silver trim -- which she wears mostly for holiday shows, a zebra pair, a red, white and blue suede pair, a mauve and plum suede pair, a pistachio and pale pink suede pair and a gold pair with black patent trim. She wanted just black patent.. but the patent creases too easily and looks "icky" -- her word, not mine. I guess you can tell George makes his demo model skates in her size, when he wants to try new ideas for boots!

One of the other coaches at the rink has a pair of light grey suede... with a wine glass in dark purple on one heel and a bunch of grapes on the other heel.

[LilJen]

Good point! I had forgotten you skate synchro. Yes, don't stop that type of skating. But maybe withdrawing from the other things while you're on Christmas holiday will make you more enthusiastic about the rest of it... and then your rekindled energy and love of skating will make it easier to get the rest of it. And I know JUST what you mean about "always something new to learn".

Speaking of which, how was your dance test? Will you be working on new dances when you are enthusiastic about skating again?

Dance tests were fine and pretty casual. At this level, I didn't expect to see much in the way of comments or criticisms--from waht I can remember from the judge's sheets, it was "nice waltz feel" "nice tango expression" and the like. Through the summer I had worked very hard on (1) feet TOGETHER after everything (2) pointing the toes (3) good strong arms in the holds and (4) posture, posture, posture!!! as well as getting the patterns better so I knew the dances were in good shape.

I'll definitely start right in on the pre-bronze dances. At one point I knew the cha-cha, and dance buddy showed me fiesta tango once (ew! drop mohawk!!??). We're really fortunate to have dance buddy around--he just wants everyone to love ice dance and teaches everyone who shows the least amount of interest (FOR FREE!!)!! He got me nearly up to passing standard with all three prelim dances, and my coach needed to just tweak some things. My coach is very big on dance, and dance is certainly less terrifying (usually) than freestyle for me and tends to be all nitpicky (like me) so it's a good fit and feels more doable at times than freestyle. And "they" all say working on dance will only help your freestyle!

Hoping also to test bronze moves in February--they're getting very close to good.

[CoachPA]

? Your arms don't change with swing rolls. Upper body stays still.

Joelle

It depends - you can do them either counter-body or with-body. With-body is much harder, especially on outside swing rolls - guess what we're made to do!!!!

I've always taught my dancers that their arms/shoulders remain facing the same direction down the long axis while their hips and lower body do the work or create the actual swing roll. You'll only look as though you're moving the upper body, so what you end up with then is a more natural position of the upper body without any jerking, swinging, switching, etc. of the arms.

[jskater49]

It depends - you can do them either counter-body or with-body. With-body is much harder, especially on outside swing rolls - guess what we're made to do!!!!



Here you are expected to keep your upper body still and arms neutral.

j

[jskater49]

I've always taught my dancers that their arms/shoulders remain facing the same direction down the long axis while their hips and lower body do the work or create the actual swing roll. You'll only look as though you're moving the upper body, so what you end up with then is a more natural position of the upper body without any jerking, swinging, switching, etc. of the arms.

That's how I was taught as well. Same with chasses. It took quite a bit of work but now that is the one thing I get good comments on. Forward that is, I'm still working on that going backwards.

j

[jazzpants]

It depends - you can do them either counter-body or with-body. With-body is much harder, especially on outside swing rolls - guess what we're made to do!!!! Which one is this? LFO but right arm forward, left arm back to start but switch to left arm forward, right arm back after the roll? :?? (Sorry! I'm NOT an ice dancer... so I probably wouldn't know what is supposed to be right or wrong. I just go with what my coaches tell me to do. :lol: )

We did a pass under switch on the arm. That's all I remembered. (I wish I had a video to show what I was doing... I'm probably not making sense here.)

The focus was on ankle bend and getting the GROWL off the edge on the swing roll. Can't say I'm getting them yet, since I'm too busy trying to get the arms in the right spot. :lol:

[Isk8NYC]

This is for yesterday:

Wonderland: Two weak little back scratch spins; centered but totally dug-in.

Edges took some getting used to, esp. the back edges. Managed a decent patterns.

Did several good FO brackets. A bit flat after the turn, but not too bad.

Blizzard:
Threes-on-the-line took some thought, but were recognizable.

Waltz-Toe Loop was mediocre.

Forward spins were awful. Couldn't get into the sit spin gracefully or hold it for long.

[liz_on_ice]

Winter Wonderland - I found a new security on my takeoff edge for waltz and salchow. They take off now with a snap and a lift I never had before. Wheeeeee - it's like flying. I've been working on toe loops in series, three or four at a go, and it's helped me get a good rhythm for them.

Blizzard. Spins, as always. Actually, they are getting better, but it is soooooo slooowwwww.

[singerskates]

This is for yesterday:

Wonderland: Two weak little back scratch spins; centered but totally dug-in.

Edges took some getting used to, esp. the back edges. Managed a decent patterns.

Did several good FO brackets. A bit flat after the turn, but not too bad.

Blizzard:
Threes-on-the-line took some thought, but were recognizable.

Waltz-Toe Loop was mediocre.

Forward spins were awful. Couldn't get into the sit spin gracefully or hold it for long.

Curious? How can you do Brackets when you say you're struggling with 3s on a line? Man, if I could do brackets, I'd ditch the 3s and put brackets in my programs because they'd boost my PCS score. You're so lucky.

[singerskates]

Blizzard: Still have that sinuse headache with the bloody nose. It's still making me feel nauseated.
So I phoned my coach and told him that I was not feeling well and skipped skating today even though yesterday it was the first time that I had rotated and landed a lutz since 2005 even with the slight touch down. Funny that I am just starting to get back what I had before my 2005 work injuries, but now my sinuses are really bad. There's got to be a way to stop my sinuses from drying out, bleeding and then getting infected? Anyone know? Help?!?!

[jazzpants]

I just looked at your photos, and OMG !!!8O

Can you choose any colour combination you want? I had thought of getting beige suede like a Russian who coaches here sometimes, but you just opened up a whole other world of individuality.

What will you do if you perform/compete? How many pairs of OTB tights will you need to wear to cover that colour? :lol:FWIW: I have Grape Kool-Aid PURPLE colored Harlick boots the last 3-4 years, inspired by TashaKat's beautiful purple Harlick boots. :twisted: I wear OTB tights when I test or compete. Just a single pair would do. It really doesn't show much (except for the heels, this is when I usually break my tights... having to stretch them to fit under the boots!!! :roll:)

If you live anywhere near a boot manufacturer (like I do with Harlick... and SP Teris too for that matter! :D ) do NOT go into the tannery room!!! That was my downfall into getting custom weird color boots!!! :twisted: And yes, they can order the color type that you want if they don't have them on hand... but it will take time (2-3 months!) to make them!

[looplover]

I haven't been posting at all lately! For no real reason except I haven't been practicing enough (bad skater! Bad!)

Winter wonderland: For Thursday a.m. anyway, the flip was back! :D It was as slow as it can get but it was a flip, which hasn't happened in forever. I did 6 or 7 and was thrilled. So, forget speed for now, I need the muscle memory back. Maybe now I won't forgo easterns after all...(I'd decided not to bother if I didn't even have a flip, I was too mad at myself!)

Blizzard: Camel has gone to the desert. No lutz. I don't practice enough - expenses related to new dog have eaten up some skating money. Buying powerball ticket. :roll:

[liz_on_ice]

Blizzard: Still have that sinuse headache with the bloody nose. It's still making me feel nauseated.
So I phoned my coach and told him that I was not feeling well and skipped skating today even though yesterday it was the first time that I had rotated and landed a lutz since 2005 even with the slight touch down. Funny that I am just starting to get back what I had before my 2005 work injuries, but now my sinuses are really bad. There's got to be a way to stop my sinuses from drying out, bleeding and then getting infected? Anyone know? Help?!?!

I have an ultrasonic humidifier, it cranks out the mist and makes almost no noise. I now sleep in a tropical rainforest climate all winter, and it does wonders.

[jskater49]

Which one is this? LFO but right arm forward, left arm back to start but switch to left arm forward, right arm back after the roll? :?? (Sorry! I'm NOT an ice dancer... so I probably wouldn't know what is supposed to be right or wrong. I just go with what my coaches tell me to do. :lol: )

We did a pass under switch on the arm. That's all I remembered. (I wish I had a video to show what I was doing... I'm probably not making sense here.)

The focus was on ankle bend and getting the GROWL off the edge on the swing roll. Can't say I'm getting them yet, since I'm too busy trying to get the arms in the right spot. :lol:

Are your coaches dancers? Because my freestyle coach was having us do Swing Rolls in our Moves class and she wanted me to switch arms like that - which is what you do for edges on moves or even figures...but not in dance and she just didn't know that. But since you are doing them in a freestyle program...you can do whatever you want (or they want) with your arms. If it was dance, you would not switch your arms. Because think about it - if you were with a partner holding arms, you wouldn't be switching arms!

j

[dbny]

Blizzard: Still have that sinuse headache with the bloody nose. It's still making me feel nauseated.
So I phoned my coach and told him that I was not feeling well and skipped skating today even though yesterday it was the first time that I had rotated and landed a lutz since 2005 even with the slight touch down. Funny that I am just starting to get back what I had before my 2005 work injuries, but now my sinuses are really bad. There's got to be a way to stop my sinuses from drying out, bleeding and then getting infected? Anyone know? Help?!?!

I second the humidifier idea for the dryness, but for the infections, and the nausea, try a neti pot. The nausea comes from a post nasal drip fueled by the full sinuses, and the neti pot treatment helps clear the sinuses.

[jazzpants]

Are your coaches dancers? Because my freestyle coach was having us do Swing Rolls in our Moves class and she wanted me to switch arms like that - which is what you do for edges on moves or even figures...but not in dance and she just didn't know that. But since you are doing them in a freestyle program...you can do whatever you want (or they want) with your arms. If it was dance, you would not switch your arms. Because think about it - if you were with a partner holding arms, you wouldn't be switching arms!In the case of this coach, he's a FS MITF guy. That said, he has done ice dancing before. But I doubt that he's training me with the intent of having me becoming an ice dancer... more with the intent that I would get "better edges" (or in my case, actually skate ON A EDGE!!! :giveup: )

[ibreakhearts66]

Winter Wonderland
-Started working on Intermediate moves today! I haven't passed Juv yet, but they're just about test-ready, and I have another month until I actually test them (I was supposed to test tomorrow, but the session got canceled), so we started Intermediate. Everything went quite smoothly. Before the power circles, my coach said that those would probably be a problem move for me, then I did them, and she said they were actually quite good. But I didn't do my bad side because the underpush hurt my ankle too badly. The power 3s went better than I expected. Double 3s are actually kind of fun! Brackets started out rough, but she made a few corrections and they were immediately better.
-My moves coach gave me what I consider a great compliment when we were doing the brackets. She told me that she thinks I would have been really good at figures.
-Double lutzes were pretty solid today. I think I landed about 90% of them, and they were on a GOOD outside edge--no flutzing.
-At the end of the session, I decided to mess around with Russian splits and was pretty happy with what I could see in the glass.
-I think my spiral has gotten a good six inches higher in the past two weeks or so :) I've been working really hard on it, so it's nice to see improvement. My inside edge spiral has much better extension than my outside--isn't outside easier for most people? :??

Blizzard
-Group practice for the Christmas show was pretty iffy. There are so many people in it that I'm afraid someone's going to end up getting kicked during the split jumps or the camel spins. I also lost my temper a bit with one of the other skaters. She was being rude and bossy, and it was very much unappreciated. The other skaters were getting mad, but I snapped because she was being particularly rude towards me. She's a bit of a...diva.
-My ending spin for my solo program is not totally consistent. It's supposed to be layback lowered into broken leg, but I can't always get down into the broken leg without losing my center.
-My skates are still killing me. I'm hoping that my new boots will be in this weekend, but I guess I'll still have to skate in my current boots next week, because I don't think I can break them in in time for the Christmas show. Although, my current ones are so stiff and cause me so much pain, it might be worth it to just switch now. I wish I had two pairs of blades!

[Skate@Delaware]

Blizzard: Still have that sinuse headache with the bloody nose. It's still making me feel nauseated.
So I phoned my coach and told him that I was not feeling well and skipped skating today even though yesterday it was the first time that I had rotated and landed a lutz since 2005 even with the slight touch down. Funny that I am just starting to get back what I had before my 2005 work injuries, but now my sinuses are really bad. There's got to be a way to stop my sinuses from drying out, bleeding and then getting infected? Anyone know? Help?!?!

I second the humidifier idea for the dryness, but for the infections, and the nausea, try a neti pot. The nausea comes from a post nasal drip fueled by the full sinuses, and the neti pot treatment helps clear the sinuses.
Either a neti pot or one of those sinus rinse kits...it contains a squeeze bottle (one-way flow) and solution mix that you mix with warm sterile water (i buy it from the drug store). So far, it has worked for me on reducing my allergies and I haven't gotten a bad cold this season (knock wood). I also run an ultrasonic humidifier in my house to put moisture back into the air.

This is for thursday:
Winter Wonderland: had the whole session to myself!!!! It was great because i needed to work on moves: waltz-8 and 3-turn pattern. Being able to actually see where I'm messing up is a good tool. For some reason I'm overrotating my salchow by 1/4 :roll:-not sure what is up with that.

Worked on actually kicking-thru on my waltz jump and actually managed to do so on half of them :lol:

Blizzard: Could not backspin worth anything, and my loop was inconsistent-either tapping down with the other foot (oh no!!!) or only rotating 1/2 way around. Sheesh! Toe-loop is problematic as I'm not toeing in correctly. Spins were so-so.

[Mrs Redboots]

I've always taught my dancers that their arms/shoulders remain facing the same direction down the long axis while their hips and lower body do the work or create the actual swing roll. You'll only look as though you're moving the upper body, so what you end up with then is a more natural position of the upper body without any jerking, swinging, switching, etc. of the arms.
Indeed, but for exercises working on keeping our shoulders together, our coach likes us to do it the "Moves" way, where you start out with your skating hip and shoulder in front, and then finish with the free hip and shoulder in front. This is quite hard to do beautifully as a couple, and makes gluing your shoulders to the far end of the rink and keeping them there dead easy! But it does help our "lean" and our edges.

My coach is not alone - one coach I know (at various camps I've been to) requires you to do laps of forward outside swing rolls alternating with-body and counter-body as warm-up; also circles of forward crossovers or progressive runs alternating your hips and shoulders. She also requires you to drop your arms when changing your shoulders "otherwise you will flap like so many birds". I think she saw Husband coming......

[Skate@Delaware]

blizzard.....skated at club today and it was bleh. I fell on a LFO 3-turn (sort of un-did the massage I had last night)...then I fell on a toe-loop...had to dodge countless people working on the holiday show...nerve-racking!

left after 45 minutes because i got the shakes...not sure if it was improper breakfast or what. Decided to go home rather than take a chance that another fall would result in a 911 call. Plus, I was cold.

:giveup:

[AgnesNitt]

Wonderland: None
Blizzard Back on the ice for the first time since surgery. In two weeks my feet and shoulders had forgotten mohawk timing. My FO3 were scary at the beginning, but workmanlike by the end of the session. I popped right into back crossovers, so at least two hours of general anesthesia hadn't killed them.
Coach had me work on forward edges--I'm still respectable--and introduced me to something I'd never done before. FO3, then there's a sort of mohawk thingy, then you're on the other foot doing a FO3. Is this the 3's on a line mentioned earlier? Anyway, my brain got all confused--boot dyslexia I suppose. Also Chassee's.
I was exhausted after 45 min, went home, nap.

[RachelSk8er]

This is yesterday (Fri) and today (Sat)

Blizzard:

Stupid $(#(@(I@*@!*!*#@)(#$ axels. They have become the new bane of my existence. I hadn't worked on them in 2 weeks d/t not skating last Friday (#@!(*#$&@& hockey taking our ice), Sat I was on the ice alone, and Sun is just a dance session. So they were a major step back today from where they were a few weeks ago, then I took a nasty fall and that was the end of axels for today. So far my R arm is really sore, we'll see what other body parts hurt when I wake up tomorrow morning.

Winter Wonderland:

I'm spinning REALLY well. The past 2 days I've been centering almost every spin so well that you get to the point were it feels funny under your blade and you almost *need* to travel a tiny bit to get off of what you've already chewed up. We worked on my flying camel and sit-change-sit on my lesson yesterday, and flying camel is getting MUCH stronger with more height on the fly and faster/better rotation on the spin. Sit-change-sit was horrible ever since Buckeye basically but those magically came back yesterday. My coach and I worked on the snap into the back sit position and getting a lower back sit, playing with some arm/upper body positions a bit. Did a really nice camel-sit-change sit today, and some good flying camel-forward sit-pancakes. Laybacks were ick but my back has been sore all week so I only did 2 and left it alone. I took a step back last week and spent a lot of time just on spin entry and forward/back scratch spins and I think that really helped.

Lutz-loop, flip-half loop-sal, loop, sal, and toe loop all really good today now that I'm concentrating more on bending my knees more.

Did a decent run-thru of my jr moves test, power circles and rockers really good, power pull-quick rockers good but still need more speed and choctaws today were just awful.

Dances good the past few days, too. We worked on the Tango and 14-step since I'll be competing those at ANs, they just need minor tweaking--a better toe point here, more extension there before I start adding arm movements. I also worked on the Blues, Paso, and did the Quickstep and Silver Samba for fun today, along with some other dances I already passed that people were putting on (American, Rocker, I even did a pattern of the Hickory). I *think* I fixed the inconsistency on my Paso pattern (first pattern placed well, 2nd pattern I was drifting out too much on the end pattern after the mohawk so it didn't match up placement-wise with the first pattern, and if I did a 3rd that was all sorts of off because of that).

[katz in boots]

Blizzard again of small children, this time in today's public session. Managed to practise most things though.

Wonderland
Did a camel spin which was at least 4 revs (requirement for test), and felt good. Don't know if I'm getting my leg high enough, but at least it felt okay.
Did what felt like a good change sit, and one decent change camel.

My back spin is finally starting to come together. After 3 years of working on the darn thing, finally I am getting on the right part of my blade.

Jumps were rocking today, did some good loops, toe-loop/loops and flip/loops. Waltz/loops (test requirement) are also coming, though not good enough yet. I have a few months before the next test session, so I have time to get everything up to standard.

All in all I've had a pretty good weeked of morning public sessions. Although crowded and hectic, I've worked very hard and feel I've achieved some progress in a few things.

And now I am exhausted.

[Mrs Redboots]

Blizzard: Husband's salchow-loop decided to go AWOL. Then his salchow went. So did mine, but that doesn't matter as I'm not competing tonight and he is! So then he was rude about my weight and said I'd have to lose weight again before we could do throw jumps.

Wonderland: We haven't forgotten how to do either a pairs spin or a pivot spiral. We played with side-by-side spirals, too, and side-by-side spins and jumps.

[flo]

Mrs R. Tell hubby that a throw is an assisted jump. The guy follows your timing of the jump, and If he's lifting you at all then he's not doing it correctly. I've seen pairs where the guy basically picks up the girl and deposits her on the other side, and it's not a throw. Your weight is not an issue! I can throw my partner now and he's much heavier than I am. We actually did this the other day, and it was lots of fun. I want to throw him into an axel.

[CoachPA]

Winter Wonderland: My rink had its annual Christmas skating show today. The beginner level synchronized skating team I assist coach did wonderfully with their program considering it was their first time out in front of a crowd!

[jazzpants]

Winter Wonderland:

WOW!!! There is actually ROOM on my home rink for me to do spins!!!

Even MORE AMAZING... I actually started getting camels again. (Now WHY OH WHY can't I get this in front of my coaches. I mean, I got it in front of a bunch of coaches -- just not MY COACHES :frus: )

And HEY! Even my flips & lutzes are back too! :bow:

Blizzard:

Still... Not enough room for me to do my back Xover exercise. (Still too many little kids going into the middle despite the ice monitors' best efforts.)

Wonderland again:

I settled for doing the Scaffer push exercise my secondary coach gave me. I even managed to practice forward Xover in the CW direction even so I can undo public session-itis (despite the fact that this is a public session.) :halo:

Blizzard again:

I TRIED to do the swing roll exercise my choreographer gave me too, but I keep running into another skater...or 5... :oops:

[Skate@Delaware]

Winter Wonderland: My rink had its annual Christmas skating show today. The beginner level synchronized skating team I assist coach did wonderfully with their program considering it was their first time out in front of a crowd!
That's wonderful that their nerves did not get the best (or worst) of them!

Winter Wonderland: man it was cold so I bundled up for my Sunday rink and I'm glad I did. By the time I hit the ice I was warm enough to take off my sweater. 3-turns were not so deadly and I was not shaky-I had a carb/protein snack. My warm up was good enough to keep some of the stiffness away. We worked on spins, since she wants me to keep my free leg UP-man is that hard! Of course, they were so-so until after lesson then I did two that centered.

Blizzard: &)#$&$^(#($!!!!!! BACK 3's!!!!! I fell on one and hit my elbows!!!! DANG IT!!!! She who never falls is going for some sort of new record I guess! At least I didn't hit anything major. I think I rocked sideways and scraped the side of my blade funny. I hit them again "got back on the horse" as my coach said.

Thank goodness for arnica gel, aspercreme, biofreeze, and gel ice packs and i threw them ALL on!!!! Whatever!

ps-we talked about starting work on a competition routine-probably artistic

[Kim to the Max]

Long time, no post....just been plugging along!!

For tonight though...

[Winter Wonderland]
* Quick Rocker/Choctaw pattern is getting better...CCW is much quicker and CW is getting there. I still need to push a little more and not rely on my speed going in...
* Bracket-3-Bracket was pretty good...not as slow
* Still messing up the CCW (supposedly the easy side) of the inside 3 turn pattern...I don't know what's going on....
* Spins are feeling very good...although, my camel/back sit needs some work, Laybacks however, are awesome :)
* Axels as getting better...I am trying to hold the take off edge a split second longer, and it seems to be helping...now I just need to stay in (yes, I am still pulling out too early! grrr...) However, of course, I cannot do any of this in front of coach...one of the 11 year olds at the rink has seen multiple axels that have been fully rotated, but I think coach has only seen one :( I feel bad....she always gets the crappy ones...
* Get this, decided to do double sals tonight...shocker, and lo and behold, they were fully rotated, and landed on one foot, minus a slight toe touch....AND....I FELL on one of them :D Which is a good thing....

[Blizzard]
The weather! I swear, my next car is going to be an SUV....I hate trying to drive my little Saturn Ion in the snow...I NEED 4WD if I am going to stay in Central NY!

[dbny]

Winter Wonderland:
I managed to have a good lesson in spite of two weeks of overeating and little practice. I can now do the alternating FO threes on the line with just a little cheat on the check. I did one really well checked one only to have a kid slam into me, but didn't fall. Did a RFI three and just had the best feeling on the BO edge and simply flipped it forward to make a lovely, smooth as silk RBO three that coach saw and said "wow" for. Now, if I could only feel so relaxed and confident all the time, I would own BO threes. One foot spins took a lot of work in my lesson, but did improve steadily till by the end they were fairly consistent again.

Blizzard:
Still not at all consistent on the alt FI threes on the line. Found out that a former student of mine took a lesson elsewhere and fell backwards cutting her head, and had to be taken off in an ambulance. So glad it didn't happen in a lesson with me, and so sorry it happened at all. In the same week, at the same session as my lesson, saw a friend slip off the back of the blade on a BO three and hit hard. She landed on her bum, but her upper body whipped back and she also hit her head, shattering her favorite hair clip. Called her later, and she said she was OK. This does not help me relax on those BO threes!

[Stormy]

Winter Wonderland: Despite having a very sore upper back, I had a decent practice yesterday! I did great pancake spins from sit spins on both feet. I've been working on back camel-back sit-back pancake to forward sit-forward pancake with good success. Since my jump technique needs help I've been doing a lot of spin work since I'd like to get some level 2 spins this season. Camels, back camels and flyign camels are all improving. I am starting with my new chorographer tonight and I'm very excited, but nervous. She's such a great skater (won Champ Masters twice) and I haven't worked with anyone new in like 8 years.

Blizzard: Axels are still getting no distance and my feet aren't totally crossed. My axels go straight up and down and get zero distance on them. Not sure what to do with them to get distance. Ugh. Did several technically correct double sals with great height but as usual all were two footed. :giveup: I don't know what to do with them either at this point.

[Mrs Redboots]

Mrs R. Tell hubby that a throw is an assisted jump. The guy follows your timing of the jump, and If he's lifting you at all then he's not doing it correctly. I've seen pairs where the guy basically picks up the girl and deposits her on the other side, and it's not a throw. Your weight is not an issue! I can throw my partner now and he's much heavier than I am. We actually did this the other day, and it was lots of fun. I want to throw him into an axel.
I think he probably knows that - but he's feeling guilty because he stopped doing daily press-ups once we took the lift out of our last free dance, and it shows....

[flo]

Ha!.......

[RachelSk8er]

Blizzard: Axels are still getting no distance and my feet aren't totally crossed. My axels go straight up and down and get zero distance on them. Not sure what to do with them to get distance. Ugh. Did several technically correct double sals with great height but as usual all were two footed. :giveup: I don't know what to do with them either at this point.

And I get a crapload of distance but not quite enough height. So if we put our axels together....we should have a decent one.

I was gonna tape one for ya Saturday...but it was SUCH a bad axel day I got frustrated with them and went on to other things. I figure an axel won't get me far in silver if I neglect my spins and other jumps, and it'll come eventually. Chris is having me come in for off-ice on Thurs since I took the day off, that usually helps.