Fantastic or Flop: Lessons/practices/etc. 11-17 May

[Mrs Redboots]

First of all, the news from my coach wasn't nearly as bad as we'd feared. He has broken a small bone in his foot, and there is probably some ligament damage, too, but he is able to stand, and even to walk a couple of steps without crutches, although he needs crutches for more than a few steps. He has not had it plastered - luckily the doctor understood about athletes - and hopes to start intensive physiotherapy as soon as the swelling/bruising subsides.

So we had our lesson.... mostly a warm-up for the competition - and as soon as it was over we drove to Solihull (about 2.5 hours away) for the 3rd Adult Dance Competition.

And great fun it was too. The two main classes were the Recreation Cup, which was the Golden Skaters' Waltz and Canasta Tango, open to any couple whose combined age was over 60, which meant a huge field of 21 entries, although one couple didn't turn up, so 20 entries in all. Then the G N Granvill-Davis Cup, for skaters of level 6 and under, was solo Dutch Waltz and Riverside Rhumba, and that attracted a class of 18! I don't compete against Robert in compulsories, so I entered the Anfield Cup, which was solo free dance for level 6 (I think) and under. That attracted 11 skaters. I do wish we'd had the compulsory dances first, though, to give us time to warm up, as I skated appallingly badly! I came to a stop for the Mohawk - normally I can just slow down - and again before the double-three-3-jump combination; my free leg in my spiral, far from being parallel, barely left the ice, and I stopped again before going into the spin. The spin itself did work, thankfully, better than usual, but at the end my hydroblade - which I hadn't had a chance to warm up - didn't come off, either. I finished deservedly last by 3 judges to 2! And those 2 only had me 10th! But, honestly, I deserved it!

The snag is, all the people who hadn't seen me do that dance a lot better, and that was all but two of the other skaters there, all said that I was being hard on myself, and I was much better than last year, and blah, blah, blah - well, so I am, but I can do that dance much better than that!

Then in the compulsories, I made a slight mistake in the Golden Skaters' waltz, not too bad, though, and then we skated one of the best Canasta Tangos we've ever done, and certainly one of the best we've skated any compulsory dance in competition. And, to our delight, we finished 19th out of 20!

Then in the G N Granville-Davis Cup, Robert distinguished himself by finishing 13th out of 18, which is seriously good! We were thrilled. And then he skated with another partner in the Wendy Perrigo Bowl, which was the 14-step and Willow Waltz, for skaters Level 8 and under, and, despite the fact that he and his partner could have been skating in different rinks for all the notice they took of one another (all of us need to work on our partnering skills!), they finished 9th out of 10, and were delighted to have done so.

And it was a good day. Melanie's friends from Scotland were there, and much improved from last year - they finished 3 places ahead of us in the compulsory dances, won the Free Dance, and either won, or came a very close second in the "Hot Ice" trophy. Tashakat's friends from her rink also had a fantastic day and won or took the podium frequently, too!

Great fun. And now, onwards and upwards (literally!) to the Mountain Cup.

[quarkiki2]

Well, I tested ISI Gamma on Saturday morning. And, amazingly I got a pity pass!!!! :) So now I'm officially Delta! :) :p :)

I don't believe I would have passed the level had the skating director actually tested me, but my instuctor got a note just as we were getting on the ice which said "You will be testing your own students today." Whoopeee!!! The other woman in my class and I both danced a jig for that. She struggles with mohawks, I (obviously) struggle with the FO3s. We're both OK on the hockey stop, though I've only been on the ice four times since having my blades sharpened and I approached the stop almost not moving because I was worried that I'd turn my hips and my feet would slip out from underneath me. Anyway, we both passed!

Here's the fantastic part: I did two honest-to-goodness-in-front-of-the-instructor FO3s! One on each foot! Right first, then left. After the left one she said "That's it! I saw it and you pass!" I think she was as excited as I was. She did make me promise to continue to practice them as I've literally only done one on each foot, but she said that another eight weeks of working on just that and inside open mohawks was not really necessary and that I was ready to start working on other skills.

So, on to Delta: FI3s, forward edges, lunge or shoot-the-duck, and bunny hop. My edges are already passing and I have a world-class lunge (well, maybe not quite that good, but I hit a 180 degree position and stand up in an arabesque so it will definitely pass Delta). I have only tried the bunny hop once or twice and it's more of a bunny step, but I think I can get it soon enough. That leaves the FI3s. Let's hope that they are easier for me than the FO3s. I've tried a couple and I think they're in about the same shape as the FO3s right now. That will be my goal -- solid fowrard three turns by the time I finish Delta. I have two or three weeks before the next session begins and then the eight weeks of the session -- I think that in 10 weeks I can really get my turns pretty solid before I start freestyle. I'm going to make it a priority that all of the skills I have be in really good shape before Freestyle 1 because that class progresses so quickly I don't want to be left behind in the dust.

Anyway, yay for me!

[icenut84]

Congrats to both of you! :mrgreen: This testing and competing malarkey sounds like a lot of fun.

I skated on Saturday morning (first time for two weeks), everything was pretty much the same. The one noticeable thing I was doing towards the end was going into spins with a lot more speed, which actually helped. I'm still not centred or perfectly balanced but I still feel like I'm getting there, albeit slowly. My FI pivots were lovely too. I started having a little trouble with my BO3s at one point though, which is unusual for me as usually they're 100% consistent. Hmm. I also had to come off the ice after about an hour for a break because I had no energy, no motivation, and actually felt quite weak. After some chips and a drink of coke (how healthy!), I got back on the ice, and after a couple of minutes I felt much better. Dunno what was wrong. Didn't try any jumps or spirals. Also booked a lesson for next week - I haven't had one for a month and a half.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by icenut84
Congrats to both of you! :mrgreen: This testing and competing malarkey sounds like a lot of fun.It is! You should have come to Solihull yesterday to watch, and see what it's like; it's not that far from you. Mind you, anybody can get bored in a huge compulsory dance class with 20 and/or 18 entries - even we did!

I had no energy, no motivation, and actually felt quite weak. After some chips and a drink of coke (how healthy!), I got back on the ice, and after a couple of minutes I felt much better. Dunno what was wrong. Didn't try any jumps or spirals. Also booked a lesson for next week - I haven't had one for a month and a half. Sounds as though you had low blood sugar and the food put you right, junk food or no.

Quarkiki, well done passing your gamma - I passed that level test the same way when I was learning basics. My 3-turns weren't really there, but I was passed anyway; the instructor said he wouldn't have passed a child, but he knew that I would go on working on them. "Adults know when they can't do a skill and go on working!" he said. How true.

[jenlyon60]

Fantastic: NOTHING

FLOP: EVERYTHING

Today was Rocker Foxtrot and as usual... it did not want to rocker or foxtrot... I think at the rate I'm going, the Rocker will be the last of my Silver dances to be tested.

[AshBugg44]

I don't know if I'll be getting lessons this week - my skates are still at the Klingbeil factory getting new foams put in them.

[sk8er1964]

Flop - I got the NO JUMPING edict from my sports medicine doc today, so my competition on Sunday is nixed. For the next 4 weeks, no jumps.

Fantastic - At least I'll get a lot of quality time with my Intermediate MIF's :lol: :lol: .

[dbny]

Congrats, Mrs. Redboots & Quarkiki2 :bow:


Fantastic
Not much really, except that I skated today in my dress for the first time. I fashioned covers for my knee pads from tights that had gotten holes in the toes, and they worked just fine. One very cute little girl told me "nice dress", which was so unexpected, that I didn't understand her at first. I did manage to get my spirals high enough, after having my coach explain proper stretching and doing it.

Flop
My coach picked everything apart to the point that I felt I had been through a meat grinder by the time we were done. Of course, she is a nit picker because we both want to have everything as close to perfect as possible. I had a lot of trouble holding the BI edges after the FO threes in the waltz-8, basically doing the worst one of the week in my lesson.

[tidesong]

Fanatastic:
I realized I can now do the waltz, salchow and back sit with no pain.
My camel is slowly coming back, along with my layback.
I am working more on my edges and its really hard.


Flop:
So i happily tried the loop. And it hurt ouch. So i didn't do anymore of those.


sk8er1964:
Oh... whats the current situation that makes it a no jumping edict?

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by tidesong
sk8er1964:
Oh... whats the current situation that makes it a no jumping edict?

It's been 6 weeks, and my improvement isn't where it should be. They are a bit worried about overuse coming into play. So we (it was a group decision - me, the doc, my coach and the physical therapist) decided that laying off the jumping might help because of the shock to the muscle jumping gives. I figure I can handle it for 4 weeks (I hope).

At this point, I want this injury to go away so I can have my skating life back! ;)

[melanieuk]

Flop

Most things, especially most of the flips I did - and all of the lutzes.
What has happened to my flip?
The lutz just won't take off, but the flip was my best. :(

Fantastic

The odd camel spin and backspin (very strange).

:roll:

[MissIndigo]

Flop:

I felt as bad as I don't know what yesterday but made myself go skating anyway. I had a stiff neck and headache (perhaps as the result of too much partying at my friend's wedding this weekend...:lol: :oops: ) but I managed to stay upright anyway. But with a stiff neck, the rest of my body felt stiff and I could not get into my knees. Jumping would have been impossible.


Fantastic:

Backspin steadily improving and is centered on a dime.
Forward scratch spins centered on a dime too!
The lone camel I tried yesterday was a good one.
We worked brackets, counters, and rockers, and I learned part of the footwork sequence from Freestyle 7. I picked it up really quickly! We also played around with a rocker entrance into a sit spin.

Haven't jumped much lately but I've made progress where I've wanted to make progress, and that's with more complex spins and footwork.

I'm also going to be a board member of my USFSA club! Yippee!!! I felt they needed an active adult skater on their board, and I was recommended at the last meeting for a position. I don't know yet what position I'll have, but I'm glad to be getting more involved with my club.:D

[garyc254]

Fantastic: Not much here!! :(

Flop: I couldn't get my knees out of walking mode and into skating mode. Even the basics felt stiff (could it be from the 180 lb hunk of steel I lifted at work before going skating). Fell trying a RFI3, but I was expecting it so didn't get hurt. I finally gave up and just stroked around the rink.

I was in the warming room prepping to go home when people started running into the rink. One of our older (she's 72) skaters was tripped by a hockey jock and cracked her head. Her son took her to the hospital.

Nothing against hockey skaters as we have quite a few at this adult session and we all play well together, but this guy was new to the session and didn't know we have our own unwritten rules to protect againt injury.

[Mrs Redboots]

Phew! I don't often come off the ice dripping with sweat, but I did today! We had two things to work on: the short version of my artistic/interpretive programme for the Mountain Cup, and the continued choreography of my Rock'n'roll OD. Had to do the first about three times to get it right; the first time, the new choreography for the longer version meant that the shorter version didn't fit properly into the rink - the highlights weren't being done where the judges could see them. So we had to think for a few minutes to work out how to place it on the ice to best advantage. I think I've got it straight now, if only I remember! Then, of course, I thought the end was wrong, and then remembered what we'd choreographed at the last minute last time I did it! So had to run through it a 3rd time to get it right. And if I skate it like that at the Mountain Cup I'll be well pleased - but oh, how things can go wrong!

Gave my Free Dance a well-deserved rest, and spent the rest of my lesson working on my OD. That was all right, but afterwards I did a little work on Field Moves, and then put my headphones on and started back with the OD. And now I've got the beginning much better, which means everything else is out of place, or not working! And the end is still not right. Deep sigh! At least I have a few more lessons to play with it before Bracknell, but I haven't actually got another solo lesson before the Mountain Cup as my coach is on holiday next week, and then we are at the camp the week after. Oh well.

They were putting up the new off-ice harness during my lesson, so after it my coach went off to try it out - not to jump, of course, not with his bad foot, but to hang on it to make sure the ceiling hooks hold. We teased him that he was going to hang himself..... maybe we should call him "The Hangman"!

[Debbie S]

Ouch, Gary - I hope the woman is feeling better soon. Same to you, sk8er1964.

As for me, as soon as I arrived at the rink, I felt acute pain in my right ankle and lower calf area. I wondered if I had my foot placed weird when I was driving. Anyway, I went out and skated and the pain seemed to go away as I skated - weird, huh? - and I decided to start jumping. I worked on the flip and loop a lot, and then afterward (especially after I got home), I felt pain again in the same place. I'm not sure if it was from skating, driving, or a combo of both. I do know that when I land my flip and loop, I tend to have problems landing too far forward - it's possible that's putting too much stress on my ankle - except the pain was in back - but maybe it's referred pain or something. I thought about going to the orthopedist that everyone in my family sees when needed, but I learned he's not in my health plan - arrgghhh! (Mikawendy, if you see this, is there anyone in our plan you recommend?) Anyway, I guess I'll wait to see what happens on Saturday when I skate again - the pain went away after not too long last night.

Fantastic: landed my first flip (a verrry small one, but hey, it was complete), landed a loop, and got 2 rotations on my camel spin - also, a much lower sit spin than usual. Back edges (done in the lobe pattern) are getting better.

Flop: pain/possible injury above, any spinning is still difficult b/c of my blasted skates (see my thread about boot fittings), and the flip and loop I landed were the only successful landings in about 20 tries of each. We've got our end-of-session test on Saturday, but it's a given that I'll be in FS5 again, b/c we really haven't even learned all the skills on the level. Hopefully summer lessons will run better than they did last year and I'll continue to make progress.

[garyc254]

Originally posted by Debbie S
Anyway, I went out and skated and the pain seemed to go away as I skated - weird, huh?

Had to laugh at this. My mom (she's 71) fell out of bed last Saturday morning. She banged her knee pretty good, but an hour later she was smiling big. Seems the shock jarred her back which had been giving her pain for several weeks. The pain was gone after the fall. :lol:


Fantastic: A much better skate last night than Monday. My knees remembered how to bend ( I have no control over them ;) ). Most of my 3-turns were in pretty good shape. I even got a little lower toward actually doing a proper lunge.

Flop: LFI3 :evil: I've been concentrating on working all of my Gamma and Delta elements so hard that my muscle memory is getting confused. ;)

If a coach is available, I may try to do the Gamma test this Saturday, so I can concentrate on just Delta moves.

[tidesong]

Fantastic:

I remembered (finally) to ask my coach to do the crossovers with me and they felt better again!
I did one layback that was centered at the start. (thought layback was gone forever)
I did a lutz. couldn't help myself... i was like i miss that edge going in and jumping... :P (it did hurt...)

Flop:

Asked coach about skiddy and insecure 3 turns in particular the LBI and RBI 3 turns... when my coach is around and giving my instructions i can do them! Even at speed... and then after lessons its gone... arrgh...i don't get it why? even if i try to repeat what my coach tells me to myself it just doesn't work....

[singerskates]

Originally posted by Debbie S
Ouch, Gary - I hope the woman is feeling better soon. Same to you, sk8er1964.

As for me, as soon as I arrived at the rink, I felt acute pain in my right ankle and lower calf area. I wondered if I had my foot placed weird when I was driving. Anyway, I went out and skated and the pain seemed to go away as I skated - weird, huh? - and I decided to start jumping. I worked on the flip and loop a lot, and then afterward (especially after I got home), I felt pain again in the same place. I'm not sure if it was from skating, driving, or a combo of both. I do know that when I land my flip and loop, I tend to have problems landing too far forward - it's possible that's putting too much stress on my ankle - except the pain was in back - but maybe it's referred pain or something. I thought about going to the orthopedist that everyone in my family sees when needed, but I learned he's not in my health plan - arrgghhh! (Mikawendy, if you see this, is there anyone in our plan you recommend?) Anyway, I guess I'll wait to see what happens on Saturday when I skate again - the pain went away after not too long last night.

Fantastic: landed my first flip (a verrry small one, but hey, it was complete), landed a loop, and got 2 rotations on my camel spin - also, a much lower sit spin than usual. Back edges (done in the lobe pattern) are getting better.

Flop: pain/possible injury above, any spinning is still difficult b/c of my blasted skates (see my thread about boot fittings), and the flip and loop I landed were the only successful landings in about 20 tries of each. We've got our end-of-session test on Saturday, but it's a given that I'll be in FS5 again, b/c we really haven't even learned all the skills on the level. Hopefully summer lessons will run better than they did last year and I'll continue to make progress.

You may have Achilles tendonitis. Do go see a doc and get physio for your tendon. After this session is done, take a break off of the ice to help the healing speed up.

I know, I went too far with jumping after competing in April and yes driving back from Toronto to Windsor/across from Detroit added to it. I ended up spraining my Achilles tendon. Don't wait until you are where I got or worse tear your Achilles tendon like Surya Bonaly just recently did. Get it taken care off right away, especially if you like to jump.

B

[singerskates]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
Flop - I got the NO JUMPING edict from my sports medicine doc today, so my competition on Sunday is nixed. For the next 4 weeks, no jumps.

Fantastic - At least I'll get a lot of quality time with my Intermediate MIF's :lol: :lol: .

Marie, welcome to the no jumping because of injury club. This club sucks big time but when your physio/sports doc says no jumping, it's no jumping. It's really painful to watch the other skaters jump and your stuck doing ice dance or running through your program minus the jumps. Ice dance and no jump programs get really old if you love to jump. We love to jump. I've just two more weeks left of torture and then I'm staying off of the ice until Sept. I may watch but I'm not putting my skates on until Sept. Here's hoping your hip gets better soon Marie.

Oh, do try swimming and a therapy pool/hot tub at a gym. It's working wonders for my Achilles tendon, calf and knee.

B

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by singerskates
Marie, welcome to the no jumping because of injury club. This club sucks big time but when your physio/sports doc says no jumping, it's no jumping. It's really painful to watch the other skaters jump and your stuck doing ice dance or running through your program minus the jumps. Ice dance and no jump programs get really old if you love to jump. We love to jump.

I swear, it's like being an addict (which I remember from my quitting smoking days). It creeps into your mind...."Just one little jump. One little jump won't hurt......" :lol: Only 3 1/2 weeks left! Hmmm. Maybe I should practice one-foot axels.... (just kidding.)

Here's to the wish that all of us who are hurting will GET WELL SOON!

[TashaKat]

Third lesson in adult courses .....

and it's going FAIRLY well but I still feel wobbly and not as 'free' as I did! The half hour went really fast (thanks Wend, it was fun!) which I suppose means that I'm getting into it ....... One thing DID cross my mind ..... or maybe I'm just making excuses .... I've got new boots and blades which I'd hardly worn before my accident ...... could I be feeling wobblier because I've actually got a rocker on my blades? Perhaps I should get them ground to flatten them off a bit ..... any thoughts anyone?

Anyway, I then did the moves class which wasn't too bad until we got to the bit with the back three's. My head said "oh, oh" and my body said "no way". They were incredibly scratched and pathetic but I'm not (really) going to stress about that ....... yet (fyi I broke my wrist doing back three's, stupid fall, stupid accident)

Oh, oh, ONE good bit was that I tried a back three and it was wonderful :D

I'm thinking of starting patch again in June. I'll see how I feel

L x

[batikat]

Total absolute and utter Flop! - not the skating but the fact I didnt' get to do any!!! :(
I arrived at the rink OK and went to get my boots out of my locker .....only to realise I had given my daughter the key the previous evening as she had forgotten her spare one and was going home with a friend as I had a skate club committee meeting :evil:

Those meetings always seem to take forever, everyone waffles on aimlessly instead of sticking to the point and then we dont' have time to discuss some of the things we really should have discussed. Plus half the time decisions are made and then you find 6 months later the same subject comes up again because everyone else has forgotten the previous decision and don't seem to ever check the old minutes:x . Can you tell I am not really a committee person?

By the time I got home and not in the best of moods, I forgot all about the key.
:idea: Ah well - I am learning from my mistakes and tonight I will take the spare key in with me and leave it with the reception staff so i dont' get caught out again!

[sk8pics]

Originally posted by TashaKat
Third lesson in adult courses .....

and it's going FAIRLY well but I still feel wobbly and not as 'free' as I did! The half hour went really fast (thanks Wend, it was fun!) which I suppose means that I'm getting into it ....... One thing DID cross my mind ..... or maybe I'm just making excuses .... I've got new boots and blades which I'd hardly worn before my accident ...... could I be feeling wobblier because I've actually got a rocker on my blades? Perhaps I should get them ground to flatten them off a bit ..... any thoughts anyone?

Hey Lynne,
Welcome back! And I could easily believe new blades which now have a rocker could make you a little wobbly. My previous blades had really flattened out, but of course it was so gradual that I didn't realize until my sharpener measured and showed me how the radius was varying incorrectly. My new blades felt very wobbly, especially on spins, until I got used to them, but it's so wonderful to have a rocker! Don't flatten them out; you'll just shorten their life span. Good luck!
Pat

[garyc254]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
At this point, I want this injury to go away so I can have my skating life back! ;)

My girlfriend's daughter (age 17 and working on doubles) had been having hip troubles. Her ortho has decided her hip socket is too shallow for the ball, she has a tendon that needs to be manually stretched, and there are cartilage chips floating around the joint. She's going for an MRI in a couple of weeks.

So far, he hasn't told her not to jump, but we're pretty sure some type of surgery will be required so jumping may get sidetracked for a while.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by TashaKat
I've got new boots and blades which I'd hardly worn before my accident ...... They are very nice boots! I saw them last week, and am really rather envious....

Anyway, I then did the moves class which wasn't too bad until we got to the bit with the back three's. My head said "oh, oh" and my body said "no way".Well, I'm glad we didn't do them last week, because my back 3s are always scratched and pathetic - I don't get my weight far enough back on my blade, and, if the truth be known, I'm not really sure how to!

Lynne, you hang in there - you'll soon get back all you have lost, and more.

[garyc254]

Just heard from a coach that will do my Gamma testing on Saturday. The only free time she has is at 8:00 am!! My muscles refuse to function until at least noon on a Saturday. 8O

Oh well, you take what you can get. Maybe she'll still be half asleep and won't be able to see my mistakes. :lol:

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by garyc254
Just heard from a coach that will do my Gamma testing on Saturday. The only free time she has is at 8:00 am!! My muscles refuse to function until at least noon on a Saturday. 8O

Oh well, you take what you can get. Maybe she'll still be half asleep and won't be able to see my mistakes. :lol:

Good luck, Gary!!! Get plenty of sleep the night before and you'll be fine - the adrenaline will keep you awake too :)

[dbny]

Originally posted by garyc254
Just heard from a coach that will do my Gamma testing on Saturday. The only free time she has is at 8:00 am!! My muscles refuse to function until at least noon on a Saturday. 8O

Oh well, you take what you can get. Maybe she'll still be half asleep and won't be able to see my mistakes. :lol:

I know the feeling well. Try to warm up at home first. Good luck!

[garyc254]

Originally posted by dbny
I know the feeling well. Try to warm up at home first. Good luck!

Warm up? You mean like crawl from bed into the shower. Get clothes on that are semi color coordinated. Try to eat an Egg McMuffin and Diet Coke without getting it all over my clothes. Stay in my lane driving to the rink. Put my skates on the proper feet. Stuff like that??? :roll: :lol:

[Debbie S]

Good luck, Gary!

Don't eat an Egg McMuffin - too high in cholesterol and refined carbs - go for fruit and some juice - you'll have more energy and the sugar will keep you going. Plus, if the fruit's really cold, that should wake you up. :)

[dbny]

Try a hard boiled egg instead of the Egg Mc Muffin, and tea or even coffee instead of the diet coke. Make sure it's a very hot shower, and spend as much time as you can in there. They should give you at least 10 minutes of warm up at the rink (I know, I need half an hour in the AM). Go for it, Gary. We're all rooting for you.

[jazzpants]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
Good luck, Gary!!! Get plenty of sleep the night before and you'll be fine - the adrenaline will keep you awake too :) And if you can't sleep b/c you're too nervous, you could also try my old method... take Nyquil in middle of night so you could at least get a couple of hours of sleep, then go into rink, say "where's my coach?" to a friend (when he's right in front of you!!!), take test, pass, go home, SLEEP!!! :P :lol: (Hey, I passed my pre-Bronze FS test that way! My coach is STILL amazed that I passed half asleep and buzzed!!!) :P

I would recommend going into the rink a bit earlier if possible to jog in place or something to limber the muscles up. (If there's a FS session before the test session, I would recommend going to that on test day!)

GO KICK SOME ICE BUTTS, Gary!!! And good luck!!!
http://www.smilies.okipages.com/s/kao/otn/blob_box.gif

[Mrs Redboots]

Banana and coffee before you skate - and a celebration breakfast afterwards! Good luck - and we are all going to be waiting anxiously to hear about it!

Anyway, today's practice:

Robert and I did a little work together - exercises, ran through the Swing Dance, ran through the end pattern of the Fiesta Tango. I think I know what's wrong - he's doing the old steps when it was a back run after the Mohawk, and I'm not.... whether we can correct that remains to be seen.

Then he went, and I was mostly chatting, but also ran through my artistic, and did a bit of work on my OD. Rink a bit packed out with adults, as it was Friday, but mostly friends. Stayed on to watch the show number practice - it's getting well good!

Robert and I have put our boots into be sharpened; we'll skate in the morning and pick them up. And maybe not skate on Sunday, just because - coach is on holiday, so lessons and practices are as we please, next week.

And this time next week, I'll be on holiday. HOORAY!!!!!

[quarkiki2]

Welcome back ,Tashakat!

Annabel, enjoy your holiday!

Gary, drink plenty o' water the night before and get up early enough to do some cardio at the rink, then stretch. And eat something hearty -- like oatmea and juice. Or coffee. But I couldn't drink coffee before I skate or I'd be a nervous wreck!

Saturday is my last lesson for a couple of weeks. I think our surface is going to be down next week while they remake it and then there's a three week break before next session starts. I'm making a promise to myself to get down there and practice at least twice a week until lessons start again -- don't want to lose my wimpy FO3s! I think I'll practice Delta stuff, too, so that I can get a leg up on next session. Yay!

[garyc254]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
Get plenty of sleep the night before and you'll be fine - the adrenaline will keep you awake too :)

I usually only sleep from midnight to 6 am anyway, so this should be a treat. :roll:


Originally posted by Debbie S
Don't eat an Egg McMuffin - too high in cholesterol and refined carbs - go for fruit and some juice - you'll have more energy and the sugar will keep you going.

Originally posted by dbny
Try a hard boiled egg instead of the Egg Mc Muffin, and tea or even coffee instead of the diet coke.

I'm not sure my body would know what to do with real food in the mornings. 8O


Originally posted by jazzpants
(If there's a FS session before the test session, I would recommend going to that on test day!)

Yes, there is a freestyle session, but it's at "6:30 AM". 8O 8O 8O
I would probably hurt myself if I tried to wake my muscles up that early.


Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
...and a celebration breakfast afterwards!

Now, we're talking!!!! ;)


Originally posted by quarkiki2
Gary, drink plenty o' water the night before

I'd probably be up all night running to the bathroom. How about Rum 'n Caffeine-free Diet Coke instead? At least it will make me sleep. ;) :lol:


Thanks all for the encouraging words. I'm really not nervous about taking the test, but I am nervous about taking the test at 8:00 in the morning. It will be interesting.

[dbny]

We went to an empty public session today, and I was so relaxed, I had a great time and was able to skate pretty much fearlessly. Forward cross strokes were just plain easy and fun. FO alt threes came very close to line without putting free leg down, and the threes were good. Back cross strokes were good too, but didn't do too many because the ice wasn't too good and there was one crazy hockey guy flying around. Did my second best one foot spin ever, from wind up! It just clicked so well, I could hardly believe it. Now that I'm past the pre-pre moves hurdle, I want to spend more time on spins. I've also decided that I want to follow the standard moves track rather than the adult track. I'm never going to compete because of my lack of jumps, and my real goal (other than enjoying myself) is coaching, so I want to meet the higher standards required. Onward to true spiral torture :roll:

[blondeangl]

I had a great practice today!! im so happy my spins are getting so much better because from a stand still i am SOOO bad .... lol ... so my coach had my start doing them from back crossovers and it worked so much better ... its still not great (i get like 4 revolutions then pull in real tight then scrw up ... lol) my salchow was soooooo much better today!! i got it many many times im so excited!! my loop jump still needs work but i was getting half revolution in the air with a spin on the end lol :lol: everything was just better today so im happy!

[jenlyon60]

Fantastic Nothing... well not really. The 2 patterns of AW near the end of my lesson weren't too bad. The RFO3s were a bit whippy, though.

Flop Rocker Foxtrot.

This dance has become a mind game obsession. Today I kept seizing up on trying to do the rocker. Not good. Finally coach broke it down so I was doing just the rocker. Then added the progressive in front of it, then added the cross-behind. Etc.

I don't know why I have so much mental angst about this dance.

[singerskates]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
I swear, it's like being an addict (which I remember from my quitting smoking days). It creeps into your mind...."Just one little jump. One little jump won't hurt......" :

You've got to fight your instincts to jump. Focus and will power. Just remember how much it hurts to land.

For me, just the landings hurts except the flip and loop. Also, I also have the threat of tearing the Achilles tendon should I do anymore jumping before it's healed.

The 11th commandment for injured freeskaters only goes like this; Thou shalt not jump before being healed completely or your sports doc will crown you.

Ok, I didn't jump but was just about crowned away by my sports doc today just because I was in more pain than usual and he could see my flush face full of pain.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Fantastic? My program for my competition tomorrow (Thank you GOD!) My coach wanted my freeleg on the spiral to be three inches higher, which of course I said was impossible. Somehow (between moving my back position and my head position) it actually happened. Dances went well, also

Flop? My flip. Heaven forbid my body would listen to me. Nope, just won't happen. My loop wasn't as clean as it should have been, either. My head was definitely more on the elements of my program than anything else. Oh well, after tomorrow's competition, I get a much needed week off!

[jazzpants]

Fantastic:
Bronze Moves, including the dreaded forward power 3's, are finally coming along. Coach agrees that it's definitely coming along as well too. Even said that the RFO3 half of the forward power 3's are definitely "good enough." (The "Flop" part of it is that coach has NOT hint at a test date for me, which means he's not that confident with the moves yet.)Flop: Backspin: What backspin? Actually today's a better backspin today but it still doesn't wanna stay on the BO edge!!! GRRRR!!!! :x
Loop: Well, not too bad either... two out of 5 or 6. Not bad!!!
Flip: Two footed all the landings on that one. 3 turn entry is definitely not straight enough!!! Am getting a bit more height on it when I pick a bit harder. (Coach told me to pick harder actually. I can't seemed to pick that hard!) Air position totally all over the place too!!! EEEEK!!!! 8O

[sk8pics]

Fantastic
I had a great great practice yesterday on a fairly empty session. Two of my friends who are testing tomorrow were also there and they looked great, so it was nice all around. But I did a lot of stroking forward and backward, lots of alternating crossovers forward and backward. My CCW back crossovers were so good my coach would have been proud. I also did sections of my free program (which normally I am too chicken to do when my coach is not there or it's crowded) and did my jumps where they belonged in the program instead of by the boards. :D

More Fantastic
My coach's coach complimented me on my skating. He said he'd never seen me skating like that before and was like, go Pat! 8-) I told him to be sure to tell my coach. 8-)

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[Mrs Redboots]

Come on, Gary - how did you get on? Enquiring minds want to know!

[MissIndigo]

Hey Gary--also let us know what you had for breakfast! :lol:

[blondeangl]

Gary how did you do?? If i had to test at 8:00 in the morning I would collapse :roll: hmm i hope you passed cant wait to find out!

[jazzpants]

Yeah, GARY!!! We ALL wanna know what happened with your test and what you ate for breakfast!!! LOL!!! :lol:

I'm not looking forward to testing on a Saturday at 8am either (actually in my case, it's probably more like 7am!!! YIKES!!! 8O) ... but *sigh* :roll: I think I'll be too asleep to stroke! :P

[Sk8Bunny]

Fanastic: I landed my first double lutz today! and ended landing 3 by the time the session ended. my coach doesnt know i can do it yet, since i have only been practicing them for the past 4 weeks, and only on saturday mornings, not a day i have a lesson.

Flop: i still cant land my double salchow, lol. did it once months ago, and cant do it again. so techinically, this double lutz is my first double i have landed. am i messed up or what? lol.

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by Debbie S
As for me, as soon as I arrived at the rink, I felt acute pain in my right ankle and lower calf area....

...I do know that when I land my flip and loop, I tend to have problems landing too far forward - it's possible that's putting too much stress on my ankle - except the pain was in back - but maybe it's referred pain or something. I thought about going to the orthopedist that everyone in my family sees when needed, but I learned he's not in my health plan - arrgghhh! (Mikawendy, if you see this, is there anyone in our plan you recommend?)

I don't have my rolodex with me but I'll PM you with a few ideas and a great PT that I know. I think flo also knows a good PT.

In the mean time--I don't know exactly what's wrong, but it sounds like it could be tendinitis or some tightness/overuse in your achilles and calf muscle. After you skate, be sure to stretch your calves (if you don't have pain doing it). Make sure your foot is facing exactly forward, not rotated in or out while you stretch. Hold the stretch for at least 15-30 seconds, and don't bounce. Do it with a straight knee (gets the achilles and the gastrocnemius muscle, I think) and then gently with a bent knee and your whole foot flat on the floor (gets the soleus muscle, which is the other calf muscle).

Then, if you have had pain during your skate, after you stretch and cool down, ice immediately (10 minute ice massage OR 15 minute bag of ice). My PT said not to wait til after you get home because then any swelling/irritation will have had a chance to get worse.

If you are landing too far forward, it could be that your free leg is too high in the landing position. The leg can only be raised a certain amount before the pelvis tips to accommodate it (I forget, but I think it's something like 12 degrees to the back). So, an instructor told me that when landing from a jump, the leg has to go out first (sort of similar position to free leg in stroking), then it can be raised later. If the free leg hikes way up in back AS you land, it can jerk your hips forward, which can jerk your torso forward, and then you're looking at ice.

Good luck! I hope it's feeling better already and not bothering you.

[mikawendy]

Fantastic--
Passed Basic 8 today--but truth be told, it was a bit of a pity pass. I need to work quite a bit on my moving FI3s, but everything else was fine. (I even did my best attempt at a scratch spin during the "advanced one foot spin" on the test, after a whole round of really cruddy spins during my 1/2 hour practice before the test.) My instructor didn't want to hold me back, and as Annabel said, my instructor knows I'll keep on working on the FI3s.

Alternating forward 3s are also improving--I've been working on them and power 3s lately to help improve my basic technique on the 3 turns, to get the shoulders and the check right.

Flop--
Went to a freestyle session on Wednesday at a small rink to practice before my test. It was fairly crowded, and I didn't feel safe in the middle practicing my spins and 3 turns and step sequences (which is where one would usually do such things). People were tearing around in all sorts of directions doing lutzes through the middle. So I squished in at the end of a rink between two private lessons, and did all kinds of strange things to keep out of their way. I was amazed at all of the other skaters who kept skating through these poor girls' lessons AS THEY WERE IN THE MIDST of doing things. I was a little surprised that the instructors didn't say something to the other skaters. I always thought that people on lesson had a bit of right of way in a freestyle session...