Again, nobody seems to be skating this week!

As I was working this morning, I had my lesson last night, and then Robert and I stayed on to Figure Club to practice together and separately.

Diamonds: My programme is "coming along nicely"; main problem is I'm far too depressed to actually want to be funny on the ice. But that's what acting is about.

Coach found an exercise that is helping my Mohawks - continuous inside edges, then the Mohawk. It would help if I didn't usually bottle out of the first one and have to do a slowing-down one, but he says they are much better.

Dross: The end of our pairs programme (well, it's basically our free dance, but we are calling it pairs interpretive) is still disastrous; we can't get it right at all. Oh well, still 3 weeks to go.

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

I'm not entirely sure how this one qualifies but I'll say diamonds

We began working on my axel again. No actual axels attempted, just lots of axel exercises. It kinda sucked lol. Then we worked on my preliminary moves. We haven't worked on them since the day after I passed my pre-preliminary tests and my coach taught them to me, but I still remember them and they're not half bad! Plus, the one good thing that happened, is that my lutz came back! And after Skate San Fran, how nice! lol

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- Ashley

Diamonds...passed Intermediate moves and Silver free today - onto Gold and (gulp) Novice.

Dross...never have enough time to check in here anymore.

Kim

Very cool - congrats!

__________________
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Dross: Tested the Keats, American, and Rocker today, and didn't do a particularly stellar job of any of them.

Diamond: But I passed all three anyway!!!

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

Another cool!!! Congrats to you too

__________________
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Congrats to the successful testers!!!

Diamond:
had a figures group lesson and then a dance group lesson today. They were OK but the diamond came afterwards when I was practising and thought i'd try those back inside 3's again. I dont' know whether it was a result of all that concentrating on edges in the figures class but I was finally able to do a back inside 3 and hold a controlled exit edge!!! YEY!!!

This felt like a real breakthrough as suddenly I seemed to have my weight in the right place throughout and it felt, easy whereas I have struggled and struggled with this before. Have to admit that the breakthrough was on the RBI only but at least I feel there is hope now.

Dross:
Still can't hold a running exit edge on my back outside 3's (which people keep telling me are easier than back insides but I dont' find them easier)

Diamond again
In my lesson on Tuesday coach asked if I wanted to put my papers in for level 1 elements test, so he must think I would pass. I still feel my toe-loop is a bit iffy and would really like to be more confident on that but it's encouraging to know coach thinks I am ready.

Dross: that toe-loop - coach points out the tiny pin-prick my pick made in the ice when I pick back on this jump and then shows me the massive crater left by one of his other (male) pupils earlier. He wants a bit more force in the picking so I am really vaulting up and around - I just cant' seem to do it

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'skating is not just a sport - it is an obsession'

Wow! Congratulations to you both!

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diamonds: my solo's basically done, which is just in time to compete! also, the figure skating team at my school's basically official!

dross: i REALLY need to get my skates sharpened now... but i dont seem to have time to get them done

Diamonds: Word has it that the upcoming test session is filling up fast, so coach had me put in papers for the Tango two weeks ahead of the due date. He must feel good about my chances if we're not waiting until the last minute like usual. Now if only I felt as good... but I'm trying to be positive. I'm not quite ready, but I have more than three weeks. I think I'm nervous because usually when the papers go in I have about two weeks, and I keep forgetting I have longer this time.

Dross: Nothing really, didn't skate too well this afternoon b/c the ice was kind of crowded, but I did skate really well this morning. Got my skates sharpened after too long (as usual) so I'm readjusting to actually having edges. I also had to throw an extra innersole into my right boot, as my right foot's smaller and my boots are starting to stretch out a little. The right one always feels too big before the left one, but I've got them under control now. Don't think these boots will last much past April, though. Next pair I'm definitely going down a width. They shouldn't be feeling too wide after only six months.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

Sort of Diamond: Today (Wednesday) my coach had me doing triplets (3 three turns in a
row on the same foot), then cross the freefoot over and check, and
then do a twizzle in the CW direction. I was getting everything but
just had the hardest time to do the CW twizzle being that I'm a CCW
skater. This little section is suppose to go right after the backward
Alexie Yagudin type toe footwork which comes after the rocker. Does
my coach want me to win a medal or something? Do you know of any
other Canadian adult skater working on passing their prelim FS test
doing what I'm doing with the footwork? By the way, my coach said
that the twizzle thingy was from the Argintine dance. What level is
that?

Dross: Couldn't do three turns on my left foot for most of the session. Couldn't do a good toe loop or salchow. My hip is either bruised or strained. It loosened up near the end of the session but as soon as the muscles cooled down it got stiff and sore again. Couldn't do my spirals either because of it. Didn't try the sitspin this time. Did get almost two revs on my backspin though but when I heard wrong when my coach wanted to me to spin on my left footgoing CW for the CW twizzle in the footwork.


B

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Brigitte: Argentine is a Gold dance (I think Diamond in Canada?) but it's not just a plain twizzle. You do like an outside swing roll on the left foot, then quickly drop to an inside edge, do one turn (forward to backward) and step onto a right forward outside. Controlling the RFO is the hard part if the twizzle isn't controlled completely. I'm working on it now. Solo it's not too hard but I have a tough time partnering it. Says a lot about the bravery of my coach that he's even willing to try it with yet. Anyway, we have a lot of dance coaches at my rink who teach twizzles to the freestyle skaters early on. I know kids who barely out of learn-to-skate who can do single twizzles, albeit lousy ones.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

Congratulations to those who have passed tests.

Dross: Am very tired, as I slept really badly last night and also very depressed, which is always tiring, so don't think I'll be dancing this evening. So much for a competition coming up.... oh well. Like I care.....

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Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Annabel, I hope you're feeling better soon. A little toddy might help.

Congrats to all who passed their tests.

I've skated several times over the past week. Nothing Diamond nor Dross to really report other than I took the afternoon off last Friday and went skating with my girlfriend. It was a public session, but we were the only skaters there. A whole rink all to ourselves for 1-1/2 hours.

It's becoming obvious that Christmas is approaching. So many skaters working on programs for their club Christmas show. It's so fun to watch these skaters working on new routines and I'm so jealous as they all skate better than I do.

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Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

Diamonds:i had an okay lesson today, we did the foxtrot and fourteenstep for an hour...but it was fun, i really like the fourteenstep and out of all the dances that one is the strongest, we worked on making everything deep since the rink i am testing on is narrower than the ones i skate on.my practice before my lesson was okay in total i think i skated for two and a half hours today but it seemed like i skated much longer than that...

Dross: i couldn't wake up today during my practice i kept almost tripping myself doing stupid stuff, but i got a new tee shirt the day before (it has a frog on it and it says kiss me i don't smoke on it) so it balances everything out.

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Waffles & Vodka

Breakfast of Champions

The Argentine is a Gold dance (a tango) in Canada as well.

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

Wait a minute... Jess, were you on a public session today at noon? Because if you were, I was the other ice dancer there! I thought that might have been you, but I didn't get a chance to talk to you after since I had to run back to school.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

Annabel - hope the depression lifts soon - is this to do with your job? You should make the effort to get to the rink because you cannot be depressed while skating - or at least only over skating things and it helps to take your mind off the real world!

Diamond:

Back inside 3's continue to improve and coach gave me more exercises for them. Back outside 3's I still have more trouble with.

Managed a decent toe-loop for a change

Dross: I fell again today - and doing a LFO3 too. It was my own fault - someone asked me at the beginning of the session how I got comfortable doing FO3's at speed and I was telling her how I'd always liked them, they were a favourite move, particularly the LFO3 and I'd never fallen doing one. I then added that having said that it probably meant I'd fall doing one today. So I lived up to my own prophesy
In my defence it was in a fast sequence doing a back crossover then stepping into a FO3 and I think my brain just got ahead of my feet

I bashed my knee and hurt my wrist but not too seriously. I was still able to skate and do dance moves class after but I expect to be sore tomorrow!

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'skating is not just a sport - it is an obsession'

hey yeah i saw you and i wasn't sure if it was you or not, but i was afraid to say anything incase it wasn't you and theni would have looked weird but yeah, whee we saw each other lol srry i've had two cups of coffee and now i am alittle spastic!hoep you had fun at school though

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Waffles & Vodka

Breakfast of Champions

So either my coach wants to kill me on ice or she actually believes I will be able to do these high level moves. Well, I had the change edge swingroll thingy, the triplet three turn on the left foot, crossing over with the right foot but I couldn't get the twizzle to go in the opposite direction which is CW. I could do it after I stopped but from the moves preceeding it? No. Just because this prelim skater can do a rocker or two in her footwork doesn't mean that I can actuallu do that Argentine footwork sequence. If I ever get this, my fellow competitors in prelim don't stand a chance against me. AS it is now, everyone has the upper hand on me. LOL

Brigitte

Running to choir practice now.

Bye for now.

__________________
"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Brigette,

I'll be doing AN but I don't think we'll be in the same category. I'll be in prelim 25 to whatever group. 150 bucks to enter. Yikes. Luckily I live a skytrain and bus away so I don't have to stay in a hotel.

I'm not registering until the new year as the entry money is part of the Christmas presents. I'm also having some articles written up on me because I have MS and the soceity thought it was cool that I skate. A minor celebrity

Diamonds Had two lessons on moves, since I plan on taking them next month. With first coach, worked on my sustained edge and maintaining the senior look, improved that a lot. Outside edge pulls were good. Quickstep is much improved. Worked on sustained w/ 2nd coach as well, and he found it much better as well.
Did freestyle. Axel - 2lutz all fine, 2loop2loop great. Landed a few 2lutz2toe (toe in combo is a huge struggle for me)Ran through a short, did 2lutz in combo with a 2 footed 2toe, nice axel and 2loop, did an reasonably good flying sit for once too.

Dross Inside edge pulls and spirals still need work ... Didn't get to do any double axels. Double lutz double loop wasn't working. My back hurts and the sessions were majorly crowded and I had to do moves for 2/3's of my sessions.

Diamond: Did a spiral just for fun and didn't fall over. Shared the rink with 3 other people it was nice and we did silly things.

Dross: My sometimes coach just happened to come by at that exact moment as I was doing a spiral and didn't exclaim how wonderful it was but instead said "do it again and hold your head up and your arms like this and point your toe and straighten your knee and can you lift your leg a little higher?" Then he ran onto the cement where I couldn't catch him.

Diamonds

Had a good lesson today. All my jumps and spins were on form and I tried and succeeded in landing a loop-loop combination in my programme which made me happy!

I did some work on my flying camel, worked and made progress on my change foot camel, and best of all felt I'd made a huge breakthrough with my change foot sit spin.


Dross

My coach had me do some more axel work but has changed the way I go into it, so I feel that I have gone backwards with this now. I hope she's right and in the long run the new method helps!

Nicki

All Diamonds!! - Had one of those days where it just feels like you can't put a foot wrong. I learned the Harris Tango and the Kilian, and I feel very comfortable with both already. I'm very stoked to be working on Sr. Silver already! My goal was to be working on them by spring, so I'm way ahead of schedule. Wohoo!

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~