Blades in the air or bum on the ice! 6/8 - 6/14 [Archive]

Skate@Delaware

06-08-2009, 08:08 PM

Ha! Ha! Ha! Today was a bum on the ice day for me! I don't usually fall but today I had a doozy! Was practicing for the flip jump and landed flat-bladed, and my skates slid out from underneath me....woosh! I hit my sacrum, shoulder blades, elbow and wrist. Attracted lots of attention but I'm ok. I'm sore now but really the part of me that really hurts the most is my bunion (go figure).

Blades in the air: got some great parting advice from my coach (it was the last lesson of the season)...and no sit spins for my final lesson. I need to spend the summer working on:
-pointing my toes
-pointing my toes
-not hunching my shoulders, and
-pointing my toes

Nothing was really spectactular or fairly good today, I think I was still off from taking a muscle relaxer yesterday...I think that affected my balance and timing.

Bum on the ice: skated from 3:30-8:15 pretty much non-stop and man, I am BEAT!!!!! Only had a 20-minute break total for a banana and potty break. The rest was practice, lesson, show stuff, more practice, and me teaching the show girls some synchro stuff. I was going to eat my sandwich during a zamboni session but that didn't work out, so I ate it on the way home (at 8:30).

Our show is Friday evening and Saturday (two shows), last ice is Sunday 2-5 or 6? something like that. Then no ice until mid-August. Should be ok, as I have tons of off-ice training to do until then.

dance2sk8

06-08-2009, 10:34 PM

Blades in the Air: Learned how to do a back sit spin today and was totally successful!!!!! 8O Didn't think I would be able to do it since I have struggled so much as of late with back spin. Also, started working towards an axel!!!! I have my off-ice training to do now and on ice to work with. Had a great lesson today, working on refining my power pulls forward and backwards and back steps. So far so good. Spins were pretty good as well, decently centered. Even my sit spin was really low even though I had some difficulty balancing (see below :P)

Bum on the ice: Inconsistent on my sit spin to bring my legs together. Also still trying to stop rocking on my blade when spinning in sit position, coach suggested some different focuses and it seemed to help.

ibreakhearts66

06-09-2009, 01:36 AM

I'd say today was purely bum on the ice.

One of the other local rinks was closed, so ours was pretty packed. I was already frustrated when I got on the ice because of things going on at home, and got even MORE frustrated in my lesson. I'd have to circle around several times to get a jump in, then fall on the jump because my frustration and desperation to GET the jump in made me rush or just forget technique.

2axels felt like they'd regressed since landing a few last week. As my coach was having me do exercises, the woman who works behind the counter at the rink came up with the phone for me. It was my mom.

I couldn't really hear her, but I heard her say "dropped" and "don't know how low" and immediately knew she was talking about my platelets (got blood drawn this morning).

I gave her a call then got back on the ice to spin for a bit. Rink employee comes with the phone again.

My mom tells me my platelets are down to 20,000 and I can't skate. At this point I started crying on the phone because I'm testing in 12 days and if I were to miss this session, I think any chance of getting my tests done for regionals would be gone. But I guess my doctor said I can do moves. I'll keep working on my FS with singles so I don't fall to keep up my stamina, and hopefully the steroids will get my platelets up quickly.

So yeah, bad skate, bad day.

And I have a horribly, horribly sore throat. I can usually deal with sore throats since the surfing accident which left me with a sore throat and damaged vocal chords for months, but this is just bad. Nice and pus-y too :roll:

Ok, in an attempt to be somewhat positive...

Blades in the air
-My spins were fast.

Skate@Delaware

06-09-2009, 10:09 AM

Ok, in an attempt to be somewhat positive...

Blades in the air
-My spins were fast.
My coach tries to even out negative comments with positive comments, but I think our last lesson ended up with a lot of negative....unless I'm reading her "things to work hard on" list as just negative because of my mood.....I hope you feel better soon and are able to skate your test!

I uploaded my very poor-excuse for a split jump how-to on you tube. If anyone is interested, its here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JeU08TEM6o

I guess I did ok for just learning it. at least the coach that night said I did. Whatever.

We have had really bad storms here this morning and when I went to the gym for yoga (which I really needed to work out the kinks from my fall yesterday) they lost power and closed down. All the traffic lights were out on my way back home so I had to do some creative detouring (i.e. not wanting to make a left turn across the highway). Luckily, we still have power on at my house.

Petlover

06-09-2009, 02:22 PM

Ibreakhearts, I'm saying prayers for you, hope your platelets get to where they are supposed to be. Skating is very therapeutic, so they need to let you keep doing it :).

Bum: I woke up yesterday with a sore muscle in my hip. The more I skate, the more the pain goes away, but then driving in a car to work and sitting all day at work makes it sore and stiff again. Not good, my rink's ISI competition is a week from Friday.

Blades: Great lesson this morning! Got through lots of programs and skated them pretty well in spite of sore hip.

Bum: I was skating my program in a lesson, and the only other adult on the ice cut right in my path just before I was about to take off for my toe loop. I had to quickly shift my path and totally lost my momentum. She saw me coming, she just never yields to anyone, so it doesn't do any good to talk to her or her coach.

Blades: Still landed my flip combination in spite of being thrown off by rude adult skater. Hey, I'm an adult too, but I try to yield and be courteous to other skaters.

Super Blades: After 10 years, my Klingbeils are finally starting to break down. So, after much research on custom boots, I worked with Klingbeil and ordered new custom boots and another set of MK Professional blades. The new boots will be exactly like my current 10 year old custom Klingbeils and I'm really excited. My blades are 2 1/2 years old, so in another 6 months I would have ordered new blades anyway. Also, this way, once my new skates arrive, I can keep my old ones as a backup, which I currently don't have. I need custom boots because my feet are very weird, a half size different, and stock boots won't work anywhere near as well for me.

LilJen

06-09-2009, 03:35 PM

ibreakhearts, hoping the platelets come up QUICK. Nupogen (sp?), anyone? (my FIL had injections of that all the time during his battle with leukemia).

Blades: Whee, the 6:30 am summer sessions have begun!! I hate, hate, hate getting up at 5:30, but having the ice to myself at 6:30 is GREAT! I get so much work done. Silver moves coming along but yeah, I need another lesson on them. Today some good work with coach on sal & toe loop. She is QUITE determined that I skate ISI3 and, what the heck, skate up to Bronze at some USFS comp in the fall 8O I said, yah, right, and get buried. . . Good spin lesson yesterday, and I'm finally getting aware of when I drop my shoulder into the spins.

Bum: 3-turns are scratchy into sal & toe loop. Oops.
And yeah, I drop my shoulder, lean back, fall forward, go on the pick, throw my free leg around, let my arms go wild--you name it, I've done it on a spin if it's wrong. Spins are just NOT MY THING. Nevertheless, spin coach has been very helpful in finally helping me make some progress.
Now on to 2 weeks off the ice :cry:

Debbie S

06-09-2009, 03:53 PM

The new boots will be exactly like my current 10 year old custom Klingbeils and I'm really excited. I would strongly recommend having your measurements and molds redone. Your feet may have changed in 10 years. From what I have seen, people who get their measurements redone each time when ordering customs tend to have better results.

Kat12

06-09-2009, 05:16 PM

First off: does anyone know what this company is: http://www.everything-ice.com/

I have a charge on my debit card from "Everything Ice, Inc." but I can't remember what it's from as I don't remember buying anything skating-related lately. I had thought maybe the place I ordered my soakers/skate guards from had charged and that it was finally to be delivered, but I don't think the charge is correct (it's off by a couple dollars from the amount shown on my account where I ordered) and this place doesn't seem to be affiliated with them that I know of. Anyone familiar and know if they're linked to a skating supplier as well? (I'm nervous because Bank of America called the boi the other day and told him they were sending him a new debit card as his had been compromised by a retailer, but they refused to tell him who the retailer was. And since it's highly possible that retailer might also be somewhere I've used my debit card, I've been trying to watch my account and charges I don't recognize are freaking me out right now)

Blades in the air: Went to the rink yesterday and it went really well. I finally, magically, "got" some stuff I was having trouble with...though whether I'll still "get" it when I go tomorrow, I don't know! And I finally have an app't this Saturday to go get fitted and see if I can find some used skates. Woo!

And, this past weekend I got some elbow pads, yay.

And this weekend, besides my fitting, since the boi is gone I can go skating on Saturday AND Sunday. Which I desperately need.

Bum on the ice: Literally! I did fall once yesterday, but it didn't hurt. Also, the ice was rough (they must've had a hockey game) and there were some students on the ice. I don't mind sharing the ice with people who are actually there to skate (as one girl did after her friends gave up) but I do lose patience with kids who seem more interested in standing around on the ice gabbing, or yakking at their non-skating friends, or skating for ten feet and shrieking whenever they lose their balance before going back to yak at their friends some more. I know it's their school and "their" ice and all, but sometimes I wonder why they even bother. And, I will never understand the reasoning behind "oh look, there's someone skating around on the same circle over and over, so I feel it's a good idea for me to set my trajectory so that I go right through that circle so they have to try to avoid hitting me." I mean, really, you can't skate on the REST of the rink and go PAST me on the sides of the rink to reach the other end, so I don't have to break my beautiful rhythm (or attempt to get into one) to skate around you?? It's not like it's not REALLY OBVIOUS by now where I am going...

Tomorrow is my last day to go skating at my awesome rink; since it's an after-school session, they're obviously not going to have it when there's no more school. Boo.

And, still waiting on my ^*@#&! order of skate guards and soakers. I am THIS CLOSE to just calling them and telling them to cancel my order because I could've ordered and received my stuff from somewhere else three times over now. My guess is after I told the lady to substitute another color of skate guards, she maybe forgot to switch it so they think they're still waiting for a response from me. I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask them what the trouble is. I had thought at first maybe I was waiting for them to cut my skate guards to the right length, but it just can't possibly take two weeks to do that, and if it does, I'll have them just send them along and cut them myself, geez.

Despite things sounding all bad, though, I am having a good skating week.

Kim to the Max

06-09-2009, 07:58 PM

[Bum]
So, on Sunday, I was doing the Junior Back Power Circles, everything was going well, until I turned forward in the Zamboni corner and tried to stop...well, I hit something and fell on both knees, both elbows and my stomach...needless to say, my left knee is now black :frus: it's back to the ice for me tonight!

[Blades]
Skated today and was just hoping that I wouldn't fall on my bruised knee...I didn't!!

Axels were HUGE...had a couple that coach was very excited about...however, I am still pulling out of them early :( :frus: I am working on my take off and delaying everything so that I can get up better which is working for me!!

However,

[Bum]
I can't seem to do a half-way decent axel in my program :( I need to work on my program in general as it is just not good...

[Blades]
Then.....we did 2toe...coach said that my body WANTS to rotate, but my brain is stopping me...yes, I'm a chicken :) But I had some pretty good technique...now I just need to start rotating them!

After my lesson I worked on double sals, and they are getting better...I am slowly regaining what I lost when I was on vacay...

[Bum]
We did Choctaws and they are not horrible, but definitely not is wonderful shape...thank goodness coach didn't ask me to do power circles!!

PinkLaces

06-09-2009, 11:16 PM

Blades: Worked on Power 3's and coach seemed happy with them. Also she said she didn't need to see my toe loop, because she saw me practicing them last week and they looked good.:)

Bum: Got new turquoise dress today. I've been waiting for this for dress for over 2 months. The skirt is asymetrical and shows my right butt cheek in back. 8O The front is okay so I'm not sure what's up with the back.

dbny

06-09-2009, 11:24 PM

First off: does anyone know what this company is: http://www.everything-ice.com/

I have a charge on my debit card from "Everything Ice, Inc." but I can't remember what it's from as I don't remember buying anything skating-related lately.

The name seems to ring a bell, but I'm not sure why. Anyway, there should be a phone number on your bill on the same line as the purchase transaction. Call them and ask what the debit is for.

ibreakhearts66

06-10-2009, 01:50 AM

Ibreakhearts, I'm saying prayers for you, hope your platelets get to where they are supposed to be. Skating is very therapeutic, so they need to let you keep doing it :).

ibreakhearts, hoping the platelets come up QUICK. Nupogen (sp?), anyone? (my FIL had injections of that all the time during his battle with leukemia).

Thanks guys.

I did a quick google of neupogen, but it doesn't seem like they use it just for low platelets, but for low white blood cell count and low platelets.

My doc is still letting me skate, I just can't do anything where I'm likely too fell because with my platelets this low I'm at high risk for bleeding. Soooo lots of moves.

Blades in the air

Skated for an hour today. I usually skate longer but I'm sick with a nasty cold/throat infection too! Worked on my Intermediate and Novice moves. Intermediate felt good, and Novice, well, definitely some improvement.

Counters felt pretty good. The edge quality and flow were definitely improved. Still have a hard time getting good power from the the first cross stroke after the RBO rocker, but again, it's getting better.

FI BI 3-turns felt pretty good. I don't really mind those.

Rocker choctaws down the long axis were decent...I think.

Bum on the ice
Hate hate HATE quick rocker choctaws with the permiter crossovers. I just can't control them! My free hip/leg gets too far away from me when I do the rocker (especially in the CW direction). That's definitely my problem move.

Probably going to put my papers in to test these first time on July 10th. I'm assuming I'll fail, but I'm counting on good feedback. I'm hoping by putting them out in July and getting good feedback, I'll be able to pass in August in time for regionals.

Doesn't look like they can get high enough judges for my June 10th session to test my Int free. All of the other sessions in June around me are booked, so I'm probably going to have to wait until July and be stuck in skater's Int/Novice limbo for even longer. Sigh.

Kim to the Max

06-10-2009, 06:56 PM

[Blades in the Air]
Did some pretty good axels today! Nice and big :) I still need to remember to stay in, but I was focusing so much on making a delay of the take off (or at least slowing it down so that I don't rush it), that I couldn't think of anything else :)

I made some progress with double sals...I started falling!! That shows that I am starting to fight for a 1 footed landing...I even had a few that I landed one footed that were under-rotated, but still it shows that I am starting to work it all out :)

My knee has stopped hurting if touched, and is now starting to turn technicolor....yay!! It's starting to heal!!

[Bum on the Ice]
I couldn't center a spin to save my life today :( oh well, I know I can do them, today was just more of a jumping day :)

[Blades on the Ice]
So, I've been working on double toes, and they are starting to get better, however, I continue to chicken out on the rotation... :roll: I know I will figure it out, but I'm being a bit impatient!

Kat12

06-10-2009, 07:57 PM

Blades: ice was smooth again today, yay. (Well, ice there is never completely smooth; there are deep scratches that never really get filled in by the Zamboni but the smaller scratches are smoothed away) I still feel like I'm seeing improvement on my crossovers and edges.

And I realized today how far I've come from the start (and how much further I still have to go, but oh well!). I remember my first or second time skating and thinking, "am I ever going to feel as comfortable on the ice as some people look, or am I always going to be tottering around?" Today I was sweeping around the rink and realized that I am SO much more comfortable than I used to be. Amazing.

Got to see them Zamboni the ice after the session! Didn't watch it all though as I was running late.

Bum: I did fall once, again on my butt, so no owies. Elbow and leg bruises receding, but elbow still sore (though not so much). Not surprising, considering how hard I hit, but...still, ow.

Kids on the ice again...but they seemed to do a fair job of actually skating. One kid made me a bit nervous because he'd tear around the ice as fast as possible and generally fall at least once each time around, but he wasn't too hard to avoid. The only thing that really, REALLY annoyed me was the time two of the girls ended up in a pile on the ice (I don't know if they fell or were just messing around) and at first I couldn't tell if they were laughing or crying, then some of their friends skated over and helped one of them up, but the other was still sitting there (again I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying) and then the whole group was gathered around her and she still wasn't getting up. I was trying to decide if I should go over and see if she was okay or go get one of the rink people (because again I wasn't sure if she was sitting there just to mess around and was laughing, or if she was crying because she was too hurt to get up), or if they were just messing around. Finally I just ignored it and figured if she was hurt, one of her friends would go get someone.

And it was my last day at the rink for the summer...today was the last after-school skate.

Tried to call on the status of my blade guards/soakers order. Got an answering machine telling me to leave a message and they'd get back to me. Called twice, never heard back. I did reach Everything Ice though and they told me they're a supplier for this place, so that must be what the charge is. Would like to know why it's more than $2 less than my invoice said, though. Not complaining, just curious. Still nothing on my doorstep, though.

And worst of all...I got a speeding ticket on the way back to the office. *sigh*

doubletoe

06-10-2009, 10:11 PM

I'd say today was purely bum on the ice.

One of the other local rinks was closed, so ours was pretty packed. I was already frustrated when I got on the ice because of things going on at home, and got even MORE frustrated in my lesson. I'd have to circle around several times to get a jump in, then fall on the jump because my frustration and desperation to GET the jump in made me rush or just forget technique.

2axels felt like they'd regressed since landing a few last week. As my coach was having me do exercises, the woman who works behind the counter at the rink came up with the phone for me. It was my mom.

I couldn't really hear her, but I heard her say "dropped" and "don't know how low" and immediately knew she was talking about my platelets (got blood drawn this morning).

I gave her a call then got back on the ice to spin for a bit. Rink employee comes with the phone again.

My mom tells me my platelets are down to 20,000 and I can't skate. At this point I started crying on the phone because I'm testing in 12 days and if I were to miss this session, I think any chance of getting my tests done for regionals would be gone. But I guess my doctor said I can do moves. I'll keep working on my FS with singles so I don't fall to keep up my stamina, and hopefully the steroids will get my platelets up quickly.

So yeah, bad skate, bad day.

And I have a horribly, horribly sore throat. I can usually deal with sore throats since the surfing accident which left me with a sore throat and damaged vocal chords for months, but this is just bad. Nice and pus-y too :roll:

Sweetie, I am SO, SO sorry. :( Do they have any idea why this is happening? As for the skating, it's a good time to remember that you have to love it for the process. You WILL take that test and you WILL pass it. It doesn't matter when that happens, as long as you keep working at it. You have to take care of yourself, too. ((((HUG))))

kander

06-11-2009, 12:26 AM

Blades in the air: Had a lesson today and managed to do all my tricks. Even that rarety the double loop. I felt good the whole day. That's what it's all about.

Bum on the ice: I resprained my wrist several days ago :cry:

ibreakhearts66

06-11-2009, 03:16 AM

Sweetie, I am SO, SO sorry. :( Do they have any idea why this is happening? As for the skating, it's a good time to remember that you have to love it for the process. You WILL take that test and you WILL pass it. It doesn't matter when that happens, as long as you keep working at it. You have to take care of yourself, too. ((((HUG))))

Nope, no known reason, really. So basically I have idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (or something like that, may have messed up the spelling a little bit). My immune system attacks my platelets, but they don't know WHY my immune system is attacking them. As annoying as it is to not know WHY my body is doing this, it's still way better than other causes.

I'm still plugging away on the tests. I'm retaking Intermediate a week from Saturday, and I'm feeling pretty confident. I'm also going to put my papers in for Novice Moves (and maybe Int FS depending on whether or not they can find a third judge high enough to judge me on the session coming up). At first I was figuring, eh, Novice Moves July 10th, hail mary, probably going to fail. But since I CAN'T jump right now and can only really do moves (and spins too, but my moves definitely need more work), I think I might actually be able to PASS in July. Or at least get close. I figure there's nothing I can do but keep trying. Hopefully my stupid, jump loving brain can remember how much I improved by spending 2 hours a day on moves and at least force myself to do 45 minutes of moves a day.

Soooo Blades in the Air
-Quick rocker choctaws CCW direction were actually borderline good today! I decide to try the whole pattern and the speed helped instead of just scaring me.
-Intermediate back power 3s (:evil:) were better too.
-Did some counters that my coach called, and I quote, "Beautiful turns." That is something I don't think I've EVER heard her say.
-Coach said my power circles were better too. Still a little step-y, but better.

Bum on the ice
-Epic fall on the rocker choctaws down the long axis. I had just finished telling a coach that I actually kind of liked that move. First rocker choctaw was ok, second was a little wobbly, then the third. I don't know if I stepped on my heel or just put my blade down wrong when I did the choctaw, but next thing I knew I was suspened in mid-air for long enough to hear a girl (mid-program run through) go OH. MY. GOD! Then I fell lol. It hurt, but the irony kept me laughing. Skate gods were listening!
-CW quick rocker choctaws are still rough. I know the book says CW direction is usually harder, but everyone I've known has preferred the CW direction in both the rocker choctaws and FI BI 3s. Not me. I prefer RBI 3s and RBI rockers, but throw the whole thing together and I much prefer the CCW direction.

Skate@Delaware

06-11-2009, 07:50 AM

this is for yesterday, i was tooo tired to do anything except eat a little bit and crawl into bed.

Blades: winding down the skating season I hit the public session before show practice. That means skating from 3:45-8:15 pm. So, my stamina is still good, I just save the exhaustion for when I get home LOL!

Worked on toe-loops and salchows (since it's near the end, and I've no more lessons AND a show I don't want to risk falling/injury so close to the show so I'm doing "safe" stuff). Reviewing my video from last time, I was not re-bending after the 3-turn. I corrected that and really got some height on my salchows. Then, I focused on my toe-loop and tried to really hit that toepick into the ice-I have to think "JAB" on that part just to make it happen, which does work for me.

Did tons of 3-turns, really focusing on the 2nd half of the turn and looking down my arm, pointing my toe and trying to achieve nice turn out and not taking too many steps before doing the next 3-turn.

Worked on back crossovers, focus was on PUSH on the crossover, PUSH on the crossunder and getting an even timing. CW is always harder for me than CCW so I did twice as many times around CW.

Bum: spins (scratch/backspin) were not happening at all, but this morning I was slightly congested, more in my ears so maybe that was why.

Saw my coach as she was leaving (she had been doing lessons and choreography for the sho)....we talked about boots (I need new ones), jumps (she told me not to over-analyze mine as they were good, and her synchro skating (she is on a team at U of Delaware).

Blades: I have been working out an off-ice fitness training plan (Sunday or Monday I'll start). I want to incorporate nutrition (I am the same weight and body fat but I want to lose about 2-3%), cardio (intervals), strength, plyo drills, flexibility, and some off-ice jumps. And my dance stuff (which really isn't that much more, mostly ab/core work).

Bum: we have dress rehearsal tonight, 5-???? so this will be interesting.

Otherwise: on a side note, knowing that I need new boots and wanting to know how the pro-flex boots are, I tried an experiment. I put on hubby's (yes they were rather large) cranked them down and had son hold my hands while I did some waltz jumps in the carpeted living room. It was very interesting, and except for something digging into my ankles, I liked the ability to really point my toes and actually land toe-first. Of course, I know if I actually got these sort of boots, I would be doing tons of "TOEPICK" flying! I mentioned this experiment to my coach as we talked and we talked about keeping my same blade (heck yeah I luv my blade) if I do get these boots.

flo

06-11-2009, 01:20 PM

Blades very much in the air. Skated pairs this morning and worked on death spirals and throws. My partner learned the perils of the male in the throw - I smacked him in the face while taking off on a throw axel.

Petlover

06-11-2009, 01:28 PM

Major Bum: I was lacing up my skates this morning and the lace hole on the right one right at the ankle completely ripped :(. ISI competition is a week from tomorrow.

Blades: I relaced the skate completely skipping the ripped hole and its corresponding lace on the other side and the right skate actually felt better laced that way - who would have guessed? All spins and jumps were great, and the feel of the boot was very good. Phew, dodged that bullet. Once I get my new skates, I will leave them with the repair guy to fix since I want to use them as backups. Unfortunately, the only repair guy I trust has to keep them for at least a week, and that's not possible right now.

Kim to the Max

06-11-2009, 10:38 PM

[Blades in the Air]

Did some wonderfully huge axels :) I felt like I had time to actually pull in and rotate! I think that I had a couple that were clean as well :) And it feels as if I am starting to land on my toe!!!

Double toes were at 1.5 rotations :) I'm chickening out and not finishing the rotation, but shoot, who would have thought that I would be doing 2toes in the first place! But, that is better than yesterday when I was only getting 1!!

My knee is turning yellow!! Which is much better than the purple it was a few days ago...

[Bum on the Ice]
Double sals were not as good as they were last night, but, hey, I'll take it.

Didn't do my program tonight (oops :roll:)...I REALLY need to start doing that...

Spins were not good again....I don't know what it is, I either have a spin day or a jump day and can't seem to have both!

I need to start really working on my Junior moves...I started today by reinstating my 1 session mandate of moves...In particular, I need to figure out what is going wrong with my pattern on the power circles (I'm doing an extra circle around), perfect that awkward transition on the outside rockers, work on the power pulls in general (I can make it through 1/2 to 3/4 of the pattern before I lose steam), and of course making the corrections to the choctaws...that's doable by september/october, right? :)

It was laundry night....not directly skating related, but that's always a downer!

dbny

06-11-2009, 11:04 PM

-Epic fall on the rocker choctaws down the long axis. I had just finished telling a coach that I actually kind of liked that move. First rocker choctaw was ok, second was a little wobbly, then the third. I don't know if I stepped on my heel or just put my blade down wrong when I did the choctaw, but next thing I knew I was suspened in mid-air for long enough to hear a girl (mid-program run through) go OH. MY. GOD! Then I fell lol.

(((((ibreakhearts66))))) If your doctor knew what kinds of hard falls you can take on MIF, you wouldn't be skating at all! Hooray for ignorance! Hope you didn't bruise too much and that they get your condition under control. Good luck on your next tests.

Blades in the Air:
Finally, all my house guests are gone and I can get back to eating normally and skating! Started my ice dance lesson today with deep, deep FO edges in waltz position, then BO edges in waltz. Coach seemed pleasantly surprised and just had me make a few adjustments such as hips more forward, and lean back more. Then we did very deep FI edges in kilian, followed by foxtrot position. Once again, I surprised him and got several "goods!" I LOVE edges. We ran thru the prelim dances once each, which is what I suspect we will be doing until I can get into a test session. Finished up with some FXO's in reverse kilian, which were declared good. All in all, another terrific lesson!

Bum on the Ice:
All my houseguests are gone and I miss them!!!

londonicechamp

06-12-2009, 06:43 AM

Here is of my lesson yesterday

Blades in the air: Coach was happy with my mohawk sequence, even got me to do after that, a waltz (3) jump. She seems happy with them. She also works me on a toe loop. Well, my posture before was wrong. Now I got it right, just need to turn 180 degrees, look at the opposite direction, and make sure that I look before I jump. Coach happy with my scratch spin. Can finally do it with my legs holding high up, for 3 to 4 revolutions, before I cross them.
When I was doing my scratch spin after my lesson, i.e. after the ice resurface, some teenage girl and her boyfriend mistakenly thought that I was the coach, and asked me about charges!!!! :roll:

Bum on the ice: Did a scratch spin, got the landing wrong, so fell on the ice. 8-) Nearly fell when doing a toe loop during the lesson with the coach, and the scratch spin. Luckily managed to have the balance, and did not fall in the end. :twisted:

londonicechamp

Skate@Delaware

06-12-2009, 09:42 AM

This is for yesterday's ice show practice:

Bum on the ice: saw the ultimate in snottie-brattiness last night. One of the young ladies had a hussi-fit because she didn't want to take her skates off to remove harem pants so SHE CUT THEM OFF!!! 8O So, she skated in the number with just dance panties and a hip scarf on. They had fit fine and had she asked one of the seamstresses (either myself or the other one) could have put velcro or snaps on them). These were not cheaply made as I recall they cost each skater $75!!!!

My leotard kept shedding glitter, so I won't wear that one under my stuff; my harem outfit I didn't care for so I will wear my other one (being a real belly dancer had advantages, I have lots of extras to choose from). My makeup was good, but I decided to straighten my hair-woke up this morning to rainy humid weather....yeah so it will mean tons of styling stuff to keep it straight!

Blades in the air: rehearsal went well, much better than some of the practices, altho some of the "cues" were lacking. One of the ladies kept asking me the routine (if you had paid attention you would know-LOL).

Some of the guest skaters & coaches skating in the show are absolutely awesome to watch!!!!

On another (totally off-topic subject) note: I saw my gastro doc and now I'm scheduled for that lovely 'scope appointment. Took some fancy work to squeeze it around everything I'm doing this summer (the prep takes time to do so I can't be doing anything else KWIM?).

SkatEn

06-12-2009, 11:50 AM

Skate@Delaware

06-12-2009, 12:29 PM

I forgot my butt pad but that's the least of my issues.

Just changed skates, so I went from a 8 3/4" Legacy which was on the short side on my Klingbeils, to an end-to-end 9" Gold Star on my Risports.

When I stepped on the ice, I couldn't stroke.

No, wait, I couldn't move. I had to march.

It's taking a lot getting used to, and my spins are almost all gone. Kept tripping on the huge toe pick.

Bum on the ice: I can do 9/10 upright scratch/one foot that travels to Jupiter and trips itself. Backspins were not as bad, but still quite bad.

Blades in the air: Sit spin felt pretty good considering how my upright spins are! They were low with many rev, and travelled a lot but still much much much better than the scratch! Camel went back to 2 rev. And I STILL have my backsit. 8O I think my right blades need less adjustment time.

Bum on the ice: My toepick is so far forward now that jumps are freaky. I would have the muscle memory to take off but no, the toe pick is not there!

I think I may be getting bunions. ouchie.

You have probably heard this before, but: bend your knees a lot! And if you think you are getting a bunion, don't let it get out of hand (I'm fighting that battle right now, mine seems to be growing). I currently use a large toe-spacer between my big toe and the 2nd one....I had my boots bumped out but it was in the wrong spot (inexperienced boy didn't know where the bone was hitting).

check your other shoes...now is NOT the time to wear tight dress shoes as they will make a bunion GROW!

SkatEn

06-12-2009, 12:49 PM

You have probably heard this before, but: bend your knees a lot! And if you think you are getting a bunion, don't let it get out of hand (I'm fighting that battle right now, mine seems to be growing). I currently use a large toe-spacer between my big toe and the 2nd one....I had my boots bumped out but it was in the wrong spot (inexperienced boy didn't know where the bone was hitting).

check your other shoes...now is NOT the time to wear tight dress shoes as they will make a bunion GROW!

I'm actually getting a lot of knee bend without trying! This pair is so much more comfortable than the super stiff ones.

Now, the pain seems to come from the padding, which is totally ironic. I'm hoping it'll go away as I break it in. What's the toe spacer for? Is there anything else to do for bunions?

I realise bunions are like a skater's occupational hazard - that should stop!!!

Petlover

06-12-2009, 02:22 PM

Skate@Delaware, good luck with the gastro, hope the results are good. I've had that done before, and it's no fun. My hubby, who reacts weirdly to everything that has anything to do with drugs and medicine, had it done a few years ago and when he was in the recovery room, they let me sit with him because he was kind of delirious and kept insisting he wanted to go home and ride his motorcycle :).

Bums: Made some really stupid mistakes in my lesson this morning. My change foot spin and salchow decided to go on vacation.

Blades: Luckily, the mistakes were right in front of coach, and she fixed them.

More Blades: Coach laid out the patterns for a friend and I who are teaming up for a jump and spin event at the ISI competition next week. This friend is 20 years younger, much stronger, and has better extension than me, but I am sooooooo excited she agreed to do the event with me, she is just a blast to skate and hang out with. Friend is doing the jump (toe loop) and I am doing the spin. I usually do the jump in this event, but gave friend first choice. So, I've been working hard on my one foot spin to make it as good as her huge graceful toe loop, and coach was pleased with both of us this morning. Friend and I will have so much fun doing this! I used to do this event with another friend who just had a baby which gave me the opportunity to try with someone else. The friends are as different as night and day to skate with!

First friend's baby - 2 months old - is absolutely adorable!

RachelSk8er

06-12-2009, 07:08 PM

This is for Wednesday and today....was able to get lessons both days

Blades in the air: Laybacks. My coach is making me do them and put one in my program this year. It got taken out last year because it was bad and we just didn't have time to work on it. Steadily getting better, the last one I did today was the best one he's ever seen me do. He had me change my arms up a little (L arm down to help me keep the L shoulder back) and that combined with actually getting the free leg where he wants it seems to be helping.

Axel...almost there. Minor timing issues we're still working out (bringing the hands through too soon). My coach now has me adding the loop to the end in an attempt to get me at least landing it on one foot, but it's not quite happening just yet. Last few attempts were so freakin close.

Junior moves were ok today. Rockers were pretty good except for forward insides. Quick power pull-rocker pattern is getting better, still getting stuck on the turns a little because I pop my free hip up. Choctaws...still ugh. But getting better.

Back camels and flying camels are getting better, too. Still not consistent but when I hit them, I hit them pretty good.

Bum on the ice: The rest of my jumps. I'm back to my bad habit of not using my arms properly.

dbny

06-12-2009, 08:29 PM

Blades in the Air:
Began my lesson today with F stroking, XO's around the ends. My coach had no nits to pick and told me I had nice flow! Another skater told me the same thing later. We then did XO's on the circle and she had me hold the under push and bend skating knee deeply. We did this both F and B. I could not have done that long hold with the deep knees before I started ice dance! We finally got to working on three turns, which brings me to

Bum on the Ice:
I now have an adult student who is doing better FO and FI threes than I am :oops:. (She knows, and appreciates my teaching skill, but still :frus:) So today I guess I made another infinitesimal bit of progress, but I want to own these things already!!!

Kat12

06-12-2009, 09:00 PM

My skate guards and soakers finally arrived yesterday! Unfortunately the soakers are NOT the pattern I ordered, which was plaid--and the plaid was the whole reason I ordered from that site AND didn't cancel my order--and I'm disappointed, but they're okay and I can always add plaid fabric to them later without much fuss if I want to. The skate guards were a bit short too, but I don't know if I measured the blade wrong or it's their mistake, so I am not complaining. I hadn't a clue how I was going to cut them myself--scissors weren't going to cut it, no pun intended, and I don't have a dremel or even big pruning shears, lol, so I'm glad they offered the option of having them cut them for free. And besides, whenever I get new skates they should be shorter, so no big deal. Tomorrow I'm going to get fitted! Doubtful I'll actually find skates tomorrow, but I'm crossing my fingers and knowing what size I'm looking for will help tremendously in my search at any rate. The blade guards are pretty nifty--all glittery, woo. :) I have a feeling I am WAY too old to be so excited about glittery blade guards

kander

06-13-2009, 02:56 AM

This is for yesterday's ice show practice:

My leotard kept shedding glitter, so I won't wear that one under my stuff; my harem outfit I didn't care for so I will wear my other one (being a real belly dancer had advantages, I have lots of extras to choose from).

Harem outfit? GIF, GIF!

katz in boots

06-13-2009, 03:26 AM

Blades
had a fun skate on public ice this morning. Bit crowded with kamikaze teenagers, but I managed. Jumps were okay, though nothing special.
Today was my last 'tween coaches day, start with the new coach tomorrow, which I am looking forward to.

Bum
Spins were all pretty bad today. I did manage an okay back sit and a change sit, but camels were MIA.

Blades
new coach asked what I want to work on, I told her let's start at the beginning and work from there, cos if I haven't got the basics right, I'm not going to progress very far. This means that Bum, I will be back to basics tomorrow. I know I need it! :roll:

Kat12

06-13-2009, 02:41 PM

Blades: Went for my fitting this morning. Apparently I have good Riedell feet. Also quite flat (which I already knew) but I *didn't* know the right one is worse. It makes sense to me, though. So, I'm a Riedell size 6. She did talk me into new instead of used, for fit purposes. For my level and budget, she recommended the 114, and said it should take me through Basic 8s. As I don't expect I'll progress very fast, that means I'll likely have these a while. She didn't have them in stock, though, so I'll have to go back when they're in. Darn--didn't want to make that drive again, but oh well.

Just got back from public skate. Didn't go too badly, though that's a cold rink and I"m going to need to wear a full hat in future if I'm not going to get a headache from the cold.

Bum: not much today. Didn't get to do as much work CW around the rink, though, as they didn't switch the direction halfway through. Also, lot of little tiny kids out there with those "ice walker" things. Which would be fine if i didn't feel like in some cases those things can be dangerous...I came around the end of the rink to see one just sitting there--not good for a white walker thingy at about knee height on white ice. Unfortunately it seems this this kid got a kick out of shoving it so it went sliding 10-15 feet away, and the parents apparently didn't see the problem with this.

So, for your entertainment, here are some of the characters on the ice today...

--The girl who could barely keep her ankles off the ice, and her boyfriend on hockey skates who liked to show off his hockey stops too much (these folks are what I call "hockey hotshots"--some folks are obviously hockey skaters and are good skaters and don't feel the need to shoot around and spray snow all over the place...then there are the folks who just need to show off). There were a couple times when I admit I wanted to smack the guy and say to her, "come on, I'm going to teach you to skate." He seemed to spend a lot of time skating as fast as she could while she tried to keep up (without even knowing how to stroke properly which would've made her life a bunch easier, and shame on him for not helping her out, at least, if he was going to make her try to go like a bat outta hell), or trying to show her a hockey stop (dude, show her HOW TO SKATE first, geez). One time he skated past her as fast as possible, stopped at the end of the rink, then came back and skated at her fast and stopped on a dime right in front of her. Meanwhile she's stumbling trying not to collide with him--you know how it feels your first time on the ice when you are just trying to stay upright and then you think you're going to collide with someone and you know you can't stop it and the panic that sets in? That's what she looked like, and I thought that was pretty mean of him. I really did want to backhand him and tell him if he's coming skating WITH her, then he should skate WITH her, not just spend all his time trying to show off.

--A couple kids having hockey skating lessons...I didn't even know hockey skaters did that sort of thing but it makes sense. They were sort of fun to watch; hockey players sure do have some funny-looking moves. I never watch hockey so I had no idea. One of them stayed until the end (the group kinda thinned out until at the very end it was him and me and that was it) and his coach--who I think was also his dad--did a lot of yelling. I sorta felt bad for him; you could tell he was getting exasperated, lol.

--A couple of younger figure skater girls; one was maybe between 7 and 10 (I'm awful and guessing kids' age) and beginner-ish but you could tell she'd had classes; the other was maybe young high school age and had some pretty spins and jumps. They were fun to watch too.

--There was one girl who actually was TALKING ON HER CELL PHONE WHILE SKATING. I came up behind her (she was going more slowly than I was) and was trying to decide which side I should pass her on, and finally decided and then she swerved that way. It was then I noticed she had her hand up to her ear. She took at least one other call while she was out there too (that time she just kinda stopped where she was!). Amazing. Apparently people shouldn't be allowed to talk on the phone while skating either because they apparently stop paying attention to where they're going!

--There was a guy who I assume was trying to learn some hockey moves on his own. I liked him, probably in part because when I first noticed him, it looked like he was trying to learn a hockey stop (which I can't manage either), and in part because he reminded me a bit of one of my partner's brothers. I could pretty much see what he was doing wrong, and almost wanted to tell him so (I always seem to get that urge with a lot of things, and not just skating: if I see someone doing something and I can tell what's wrong, I want to stop them and tell them so they can fix it...probably because I'd want someone to d that for me) but I didn't want him to think I was trying to hit on him or something.

--Then of course the parents with cameras. Cracks me up.

At least public sessions are a people-watching opportunity.

Isk8NYC

06-13-2009, 04:25 PM

Blades - how ironic. Tried out my new blades today. Mixed results.

Edges are better, most turns are better.

Bum - not a single trip or fall, even when my skate came untied and I skated over the dangling lace. Now, THAT was worth $400!

My spins were crap. I'm up on the toepick, digging trenches that I then get caught in, lol. The rocker on my backspin foot seems to be too far forward from the ball of my foot.

Stuck in Mid-Air - Several people came up to me later and remarked about how well I skate and spin! I think it was really funny since I was tearing myself apart for over an hour about my crappy spins. If only they had seen me on a good day!

Ah well, what's one bad skate? I'll give it another try on Monday.

katz in boots

06-14-2009, 03:40 AM

Blades
1st lesson with new coach. She worked me hard, and as I suspected, I've an awful lot to fix. And that was on basic foward & backward semi-circle edges, and mohawks. Worked a little on scratch & back scratch spins too, not on jumps.

Bum
Problems requiring off-ice homework this week: abdominal strength, being able to hold my core steady for everything. :roll: Being able to hold my left leg straight behind me, with toe turned, out at a 45 degree angle to the ice. I didn't realise I'd gotten that sloppy with my free leg position.

I'm going to like working with her - which definitely makes me a masochist. :lol: Especially as next lesson is at 7am on a dark winter weekday. 8O I don't do pre-dawn!

Skate@Delaware

06-14-2009, 09:15 AM

Bum: not much today. Didn't get to do as much work CW around the rink, though, as they didn't switch the direction halfway through. Also, lot of little tiny kids out there with those "ice walker" things. Which would be fine if i didn't feel like in some cases those things can be dangerous...I came around the end of the rink to see one just sitting there--not good for a white walker thingy at about knee height on white ice. Unfortunately it seems this this kid got a kick out of shoving it so it went sliding 10-15 feet away, and the parents apparently didn't see the problem with this.
The walkers were removed from my rink after an "incident" and a parent threatened a lawsuit. However, before that, my favorite thing to do with the unattended walkers was to grab them (after looking for any kid it might have belonged to) and put it into the hockey office or just over the wall. At least it gets them off the ice. Ours were red, so at least they were visible.

You might want to suggest that they wrap red tape around them-so a skater doesn't trip over them and sue.......because they would still be liable.

This is for yesterday, I was to exhausted after getting home from the ice show:
Blades: Our first show of the day (11:30) went exceptionally well! Which was really well, since that was the one videotaped. I think one of the girls fell on her axel but since we were not permitted to watch from backstage (new director new rules) I could not be sure. I threw in a scratch spin and changed my toe-loop into a salchow and I liked it better. My spiral around the center circle was good (it's really hard to spiral after one push and stay on such a deep edge like that, at least for me).

Bum: Spiraling around the circle is really hard when you are following a slower skater!!! I was too fast and almost got my face in her skate! LOL!

Parking for the morning was a nightmare, as some sort of children's festival was happening on the grounds at the same time! We were told to arrive by 9 to get a spot, but half of them were taken already by the workers for the festival (who weren't supposed to park there). Anyway, once we were in it was good. Our numbers were way down, evidently, people attending a FREE kids festival don't want to pay $10 to see an ice show :cry:, even if it has National level skaters!

Our 2nd show of the day was not as good (in my opinion) as we were all tired by then. But it still turned out well. I'm glad it's done.

Blades: Meeting some of the National & International level skaters from U of De was really nice, the girls shared our dressing room and we had a lot of fun! There was a young pair couple (about 9 years old) and they did great! Our coaches from U of De skated in the show as well and did fantastic! (Jerry, Laura, Shaun & Evan).

I was asked to do the summer synthetic ice show but I said no for several reasons:
-I'm really busy this summer, as it's a busy time for my dance performing
-my existing boots are breaking down and I don't want to use new boots on the plastic (I do believe it speeds up boot breakdown) and I need time to go get fitted for new ones (the show practically consumes all summer so my time would be sucked up with practices & shows)
-I'd be the only grown up performing, altho Jerry did say he was going to skate, but as the skating director he is an awesome skater, I just can't compare (i am not worthy, i am not worthy.....)
altho I was tempted as it was great for building up my legs for ice skating.

Kat12

06-14-2009, 04:20 PM

^Ooh, ice shows! Those must be fun to do.

Blades: Almost all blades again today. Woo. Did not fall. Tried out the rink within walking distance of where I live and it's not a bad rink. Was less crowded than the other, further one as well. Older rink I believe, but who cares: it's got ice! I find crossovers are easier to do fast. Woo I'm flying! :)

Was watching, out of the corner of my eye, a skater and her coach. She was a nice skater. It was funny too, because her coach was taking pictures or a movie or something, so every time folks would go past her they'd duck. :)

I talked to her afterward and she said she takes classes out at Detroit Skate Club. That's a bit of a hike for me (and for her, as she lives in my town) but she said they have nice adult group lessons, so it might be worth the drive. We will see. It looks like a nice class, so I might call them and see how much it costs.

And she said I look graceful. Ha! I have never had a graceful bone in my body, but people keep applying this term to my dancing and now, apparently, my skating. I'll have to get the boi to take a movie with my digital camera some time and have a look.

Bum: All the people around made it hard to work on CW crossovers, obviously. But I did find a spot a couple times to do a few circles, so yay.

dbny

06-14-2009, 04:38 PM

Bum on the Ice:
Literally :oops::evil:! While giving a lesson, caught an edge and fell very hard onto one side while doing next to nothing :frus:. My student said it was actually a rather graceful fall, but it sure didn't feel that way. Was at the rink for another hour and a half, and just spent the first hour home with a gel ice pack tucked into my pants.

Kat12

06-14-2009, 06:00 PM

^Ow! The consolation prize of falls is when you can make it look interesting on the way down. Perhaps there should be competitive falling! :) (I remember back in college when I went sledding with a bunch of friends...we had a time seeing who could fall off their sled in the most interesting way. :) For example: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v706/Kat144/Kat%20and%20friends/friends/bacd345b.jpg)

dbny

06-14-2009, 09:25 PM

Good one :lol:! Snow is so much more forgiving than ice! My "drop and roll" reflexes are pretty good lately (also fell on the sidewalk on Wed :frus:), but when you land on one small spot anyway, ouch!

Kat12

06-15-2009, 06:28 AM

Snow is also MUCH easier when falling off a sled because pretty much you just roll! There's no distance to really "fall."

Skate@Delaware

06-15-2009, 08:01 AM

I'm actually getting a lot of knee bend without trying! This pair is so much more comfortable than the super stiff ones.

Now, the pain seems to come from the padding, which is totally ironic. I'm hoping it'll go away as I break it in. What's the toe spacer for? Is there anything else to do for bunions?

I realise bunions are like a skater's occupational hazard - that should stop!!!
Wow, painful padding? That is strange. I use a spacer (it's jelly-like) that keeps the big toe out straighter instead of tilted towards the other toes...it helps
http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/edlpmed-store_2054_12139242 (http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/edlpmed-store_2049_3618161)
Skate@Delaware, good luck with the gastro, hope the results are good. I've had that done before, and it's no fun. My hubby, who reacts weirdly to everything that has anything to do with drugs and medicine, had it done a few years ago and when he was in the recovery room, they let me sit with him because he was kind of delirious and kept insisting he wanted to go home and ride his motorcycle :).

They usually give me propothol, which is great, you wake up fully alert with no hangover or grogginess. I sometimes have strange reactions to meds (haha or none at all which really freaks out the docs, like the time I was given 500mg of flexeril which is 2x the doseage for a person my size...it did nothing for me). My gastro said if I go thru the next few colonoscopies with no abnormalities, I can skip one. But, really, I don't think I want to chance it. What's 2 days of discomfort vs. the lengthy discomfort of treatment for colon cancer?
Harem outfit? GIF, GIF!

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs094.snc1/4956_110712141064_702251064_2399621_2911482_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1883989&id=702251064)
Blades
new coach asked what I want to work on, I told her let's start at the beginning and work from there, cos if I haven't got the basics right, I'm not going to progress very far. This means that Bum, I will be back to basics tomorrow. I know I need it! :roll:
I do this as well (sometimes my coach makes me) and we still work on edges, crossovers etc. which I still need, as I am still weak on one side.
^Ooh, ice shows! Those must be fun to do.

I LOVE doing ice shows, they are so much fun! Even more so, now that we have higher level skaters! But I love skating with the LTS kids in the shows as well!