Terri C - Hope the ortho can help with your heel pain.

Sk8pics - Way to go on healing up so well, and congrats on going up the stairs normally!

Doubletoe - Happy Birthday!

Bondo - Where are you? Happy Birthday!

Isk8NYC - "kibbutzing" would be living on a kibbutz (an Israeli commune). The word you want is "kibbitzing"

DallasSkater - Ouch! Was it a BI three? One day I just had the feeling for them, and did a few, then hit the edge and the ice hard. Haven't gone back to them in a few years. Yes, I'm a very big chicken!

Axel:
From nowhere, I was suddenly able to do FI threes away from the wall. I suspected that I was swinging through them though, which was confirmed in my lesson. With a little direction from my coach, I started getting them without the swinging. Actually got 5 or 6 revs on a few one foot spins before my lesson.

Waxel:
Spins were not cooperating in lesson and coach has me doing something new. I've always done a FI pivot by winding up my shoulders, but she now has me squared and pushing three times before coming in for the spin. That alone is something I have to practice . Hopefully it won't take long to get used to it and start spinning.

__________________

MRs RB - are your "3's around each other" like the 3's in the European? If so, are you stepping wide into the next turn (and ending up on the back toepick)? Our coach is on our backs for this - I hate stepping close to the instep as I've managed to get my blade caught near the stanchion - major ouchies!

Coach's suggestion was to keep the weight a *leetle* back to make sure that all the weight remains on the first foot so there's no scraping on the BO edge and the free foot goes down tidily close to the instep on the step to forwards. I suspect that this weight placement will be required to disappear once we finally have the blasted things down silently...

OMG- I just started on back threes yesterday- that sounds like something I want to avoid!!

Axels:
Secondary coach saw improvement on Silver moves. ("This may be a easier test for you than the Bronze test was") I'm rather amazed, since due to work commitments for the time being, I can only skate twice a week.
Granted, the power pulls, back threes, and crossstrokes are only being skated on the short axis, but hey I'm surprised at what I can do!
That's including..... I ALMOST PULLED OFF A RBO3 ON ONE FOOT!!! This is someone who only started on back threes yesterday!

Waxels:
The Road to Bronze for me is still on the detour called Painfull Right Achilles Tendon. I'm glad to be working on Silver moves, but I'd rather be working on my Bronze free test. No jumps till I see the doctor next week and know what's what.
Had really bad stomach cramps that started right before my lesson, I fought through my lesson, but couldn't do much afterwards.
Rink management pulled a fast one and ended the freestyle 50 minutes sooner for hockey. While I lost 30 minutes of ice time because of that I was feeling lousy, so it was just as good for me to pack it up and leave. Nevertheless, there were skaters that did show up expecting to skate and there were some pretty pissed skaters and coaches!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I got 2nd place in my FS and 1st in my artistic program this weekend in lake placid. Read all about my crappy weekend here.

xofivebyfive: congratulations!

dbny: Hey! Quit trying to muscle in on my specialty! (Falls!) Glad you are ok.

Waxel: It appears I now have a bunion. I didn’t even know what a bunion was and I asked the physio about the bump on my right foot and she gave me the wonderful news. I got my right boot bumped out for my new “appendage” before skating but after 2 hours on the ice, it was getting sore. So I came home and built a boot press so I don’t have to drive an hour to get my boots bumped. It works - more bunion space now - LOL! (You can take the girl out of engineering but not the engineering out of the girl )

Axel: Spent most of today’s session doing turn sequences. After 3 turns in the same direction in quick succession, I get DIZZY! But my do they ever look nice I was also hitting some nice CW 3-turns (both forward & back, inside and outside) in sequence - now if I could just get some working CCW and do them in isolation! Oh well, I did hit some LFO 3's and that’s unusual.

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

dbny: I was practicing both inside and outside back three's and on both my strong side and my not so great side. The fall is possible from all as it really does feel strange and a bit jerky. So unlike the forward 3 turns that just seem to flow easily on the edge once you master the control. My fall just so happen to occur on the BO-3 ...this time! It was on my weaker side too. Congrats for getting away from the wall! I swear when I was learning forward 3 turns.... as soon as I forced myself away from the wall...I had it.
Reflective I am sure of the fact that it was do or die...well, ok..fall!

Terri: Wow that you are already working on silver moves! Very impressive! Glad to know you are just starting the back 3 turns as well. Will be very interested in following your progress on them.

Xofivebyfive: A huge congrats to you for your placings! What a story of injury, near disaster with music and then such sweet success. Thanks for sharing it. I found myself wondering if I would have the presence and grace to continue if there was a problem with my music. Fear it would turn my ever present low grade anxiety into a rather high grade! giggle. Sounds like you really held it together! WTG!

Axels: No falls today! Was able to help the only other adult in my freestyle class learn his salchow. He was instructed in class and by our coach but since it is new.... forgot! I can relate. Did find some space to work on the back spin...maybe sense a small improvement there...and even some work on back 3 turns...about the same on these.

Waxels: The public session was nightmare. Started 30 minutes late due to hockey. The ice was then not cut and there were b-day parties and a huge crowd. Did not get much of anything done. My alternative rink had hockey all weekend so had to deal with what I had. Thinking I will not go back tonight. We have ice and it is nasty out. Still in skating attire in case I cannot stand to know it is open and I am not there!

Today was the best day of my life. Imagine taking your best dreams, magnify the good parts a few times, and then have that as your reality. No, I did not manage to land an axel today, and the cause of my joy was not something that happened while skating, but it does involve it to a large degree. Without skating, I would have never discovered it. And so, I owe everything to this crazy, wonderful sport. A world without skating would just not be the same.

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Thank you! (Although, by the looks of the guy ...)

__________________

OK, Casey. Don't just leave us hanging! The mind runs wild...

a) You bought a winning lottery ticket on your way to the rink yesterday.
b) You were spotted by a Hollywood talent scout for an upcoming skating movie.
c) A beautiful skater, a former Hollywood skating star, asked you to "do lunch".
d) You got Dick Button's autograph.
e) The rink owner put you in his will and he's very old.
f) .....

Spill the beans!

__________________
Bill Schneider

So who's the lucky lady, and have you named the day yet?

I think I do widestep a bit, but I'm scraping before I get anywhere near getting my free leg in place to step to forwards. I scrape far less (but I do still scrape) when doing it solo, so am wondering if it's partly to do with the hold.

Coach says I don't push enough into the step to forward (or next 3-turn, if we're doing waltz 3s), but if I get my weight far enough back not to scrape at all, I can barely get my free foot to the ice, never mind push on to it!

It would be so nice if I could manage my Fiesta Tango, Swing Dance AND Willow Waltz at the Mountain Cup without a single scrape.... I'm less likely to scrape on the Fiesta as I'm on an inside edge, but it does happen. Thankfully the fourth dance is the Canasta, so it doesn't apply - that has a whole set of issues all its own, though!

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

Sounds like a joint error, partner maybe turning too tightly for you to have a fighting chance.

Come on Casey, you can't just leave it there, what gives????

Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday (other than not landing any axels or doubles, LOL). Jazzpants, I must find the secret source of your adorable GIF characters. . .!

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

The key to getting a good push into the step forward is the rebend of the skating knee before the stepping foot hits the ice. The European is the "make or break" point, where you have to learn that technique before you will pass the dance. It's not that easy to do, to control your shoulders & not fall onto an inside edge too early.

I can't just yet I don't think, but I did enjoy reading your list of guesses. Time will tell.

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

I know her secret, and you can too. Just right click on one of the GIF's and select "properties".

__________________

Waxel: My oh my was the rink COLD! It was so cold the ice was grainy, slow, and felt like skating on concrete! At least the graininess seemed to help hold an edge. (After a week of -30C and -40C windchill, I was expecting it to be COLD.)

Again, turns & turn sequences - YAWN!

Axel: (Don't I WISH!) At least my turns are getting better. I think my RFO3 is almost ready to turn into a spin! (Don't need a spin but I'll take it if I get it!)

LOVE my home-made boot press - no bunion discomfort today - lots of bunion room.

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Axel: Had my lesson today and did two run-throughs of my progam (debuting tomorrow at competition). My coach was pleased and had nothing major to add. Minor details were: coming to a complete stop before assuming my final pose; watch that back arm on the waltz jump (it has a nasty habit of doing it's own thing); relax my shoulders (an ongoing battle, since I'm broad-shouldered); and keep my speed up!!!

Then she had me do some scratch spins and I actually did a spin that did not travel to Spain! I relaxed, and ARCHED my BACK!! seemed to help. Did some backspins and did the same thing (and kept my upper body as stiff as a board, too). Managed to hit them (2-3 revs). I was happy.

Waxel: not auditioning for the spring show...It was sad watching everyone skate at audition instead of joining them. BUT I will be in Europe with my daughter so that is a BIG consolation prize!!!!

Competition tomorrow at The Gardens Ice house and I'm looking forward to having some FUN!!!!!!!!!!!

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Wow Casey...sounds like a life changing something! I vote for career something related to skating.

Rusty: I really need to stop complaining about how cold it is here when I hear what you are dealing with....my coldness it nothing compared to yours!

Axel: Delighted that due to threat of ice (I saw none on roads) the public ice was reasonable today. There were 4 birthday parties but I think other then those associated very few others were on with us. Had the center circle almost to myself most of the time. Seeing tiny bits of progress on those back 3 turns in all directions. Did a million attempts on both feet both directions in hopes that it would suddenly feel as easy as it looks. Still not close to what the instructor's looks like but able to consistently keep free leg in front. Still jerking around despite trying to really pull check hard and turn. No falls. That is good. Had full crash pads and then some just in case. Now see why I caught my toe pick and hoping I can avoid future ice belly flop!

Had enough room through crowd to do most jumps. Felt good and without pressure. Even attempted a run through on the part of my program that is choreographed. Felt a bit silly as I knew it was drawing attention with my arms doing the flowing things. giggle. A woman approached during ice cut and asked if I were a professional skater. Easy to look pretty good on public ice.

Practiced edges all directions and with 3 turns and even a run through on the MIF pattern though that got interrupted often.

Spins were decent. The LTS instructor on Friday really addressed arm position in spin and entry. I think I was always doing it similar but this little lecture caused some reminders that have helped me to center faster and actually get many more revolutions.

Getting 1-3 revolutions on a back spin. My left leg is still not ready to slide down though as I do not get enough revolutions or even confidence with the center to risk it. LTS instructor said we must get it decent or he will refuse to take us further with jumps. It is good pressure. No one in my class can do it yet. It is nice that all of us appear to very close in our levels. That rarely happens in my LTS classes.

Took some time to just stroke around the rink at full speed and with cross overs around the ends just for fun and to get the heart rate up.

Waxel: Nothing too waxel for the day. It was just fun to have space and practice some of the time while messing around for nothing the rest!

Or click on this link to get to the main page! (This is not the only one I use, BTW... I got a couple more Smilies pages, but this one is my main one.)

This is for Saturday...

Waxel:
Had lower back problems, bad ice and abnormally cold temperature. Not a good combination to start with. Trust me, nothing worked today, not even the warmup. Should have left after the hour!!! I was also too nervous to up the ante and try to do a LBO edge in a spinning position to go down on my butt b/c my lower back was nagging me and I forgot to bring the butt pads out. But I did continue to practicing falling back on my butt yesterday, b/c I want at least one thing that I feel I've accomplished.

Axel:
Well, a hockey guy complimented on my purple skates and said if he was a girl he would get my skates.

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Jazzpants - One of the guards at my Sunday rink wears hockey skate covers that are bright neon green!
They're plastic, not fabric, which is odd but cool.
BTW, have you tried an exercise ball for your back? I've been using one for a couple of weeks and it's really helped with the back pain. Of course, if I exercise with my two little monkey twins around, I end up doing strength training as well. One of them climbed on my back while I was working out tonight.

OT: What a difference a sharpening makes!
My new skates are pretty much broken in, although it takes about 30 minutes of skating to get them warmed up.
I think the old skates are giving me lace bite/ankle problems. Still, I don't want to waste my new blades on outdoor ice.

Axel:
Not yet, but great waltz jumps, toe loops and salchows! (It's bizarre for me to make that statement about salchows.)
Spins were great, centered and sustained. Squeaked out a camel-sit-change-sit. Ugly, but I went through the motions.
Sit spins, camels, back camels - wonderful! Layback was a recognizable start, but that's about all I can say that's good.
MITF were controlled and fast, just need to focus more on the correct patterns.
Tried the back three turns, but that's not happening yet.

Waxel:
Still cheating my other singles, but it was tough to practice with the crowd.
Need more crossover work: Forward/Backward LoR - boot's holding me up a bit too much.
Trying to nail a back spin position I saw in one of Sylvia Fontana's routines. So far, I'm not having much luck but I rarely spin with my head turned. I think once I get used to that, the rest of the spin should be easier.

Schmaxel:
Threes on the line are my worst enemy, so I spent a good amount of time on these with some success.
My coach has me doing a drill where I do the continuous threes across the rink, focusing (literally) on a spot at the end of the line.
After each turn, you square your shoulders, stretch the foot, step forward, and start the next turn.
I added a twist by putting both arms behind my back. It's a great exercise to stop all the arm-flailing I usually demonstrate!
It also forces you to STAND UP on the back edge after the turn, which makes stepping forward onto the other foot's forward edge so much easier.

Last note: I always stretch before skating, but someone suggested stretching afterwards while the muscles are still warm. It's really helped with flexibility and hip turnout. I can almost do a spreadeagle again.

__________________

On bulletin 26 on the NISA website, it still states that you have until 1st April to do your Dance moves. It is 28th February for field moves.

However, it doesn't help if you get a retry/fail as you cannot reenter.

(Sort of skating related! )

Waxel: It was -38C here last night (that's -36.4F) and the furnace couldn't keep up. I am not even THINKING about clearing the snow off the backyard rink!

But, with a few hours off yesterday morning I slapped together a boot press from steel scraps in my junk box and punched out my boot. After testing it, I gave it a coat of paint. The best part, after the fact that it works - total cost $0 - just a few hours of my time.

Axel:

__________________
Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Wow! Is that ambitious or what!?

Pitter patter - where were you when I was in engineering school with nothing but other guys sitting around me? (except for lovely Elaine, but she was already taken)

Very nice job with the boot press, Dianne! What are the hammer and anvil parts from originally, or did you turn them on your lathe?

__________________
Bill Schneider

Rusty Blades:
Kick BUTT, S@D!!!

Interesting. Yeah, I was surprised that the guy approached me about my purple skates and was like raving about it. He was back chasing other little hockey boys afterwards... things that makes you go "Hmmmmm....?" (then )

I do back extensions on the exercise ball, usually along with my ab exercises. I also do them on my exercise ball at home when my back is not quite "normal" (Yes, I did them this morning! The lower back feels stretched and it's at least closer to "normal" than before.

But I really need warmer temperatures. Until then, I'll have to rely on my ThermaCare 8 hr heating pads. I'm now looking around for a seat warmer that I can take with me on the car as well as having it at the office...

They sure do!!!

I do stretch afterwards, but it's more to stretch and get my "lower back" back in its place. The spread eagles I admit I'm not very good about doing... but mainly b/c I have only about 5 minutes to stretch most times. My "turn out exercise" I do practice my spirals at the gym with a mirror though and concentrate on height, lowering torso and hip/leg turnout so at least my foot is not turning down. They are NOT fun exercises to do... and it's still tough to get my foot to the point where the free foot not pointing down!!! But it does force me to stretch out my legs, butt and lower back and force me to turn out with gravity working against me so I guess it also works turning my hip flexors and foot out too. (Less sucky... but still sucky on spirals. Dunno if it'll translate onto ice...)

That sounds like one of my stretches after skating at home, along with the back extension on the ball when my back doesn't feel "normal."

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!