On Time: Generally good practice yesterday. A lot of going over and over and over sections of my program, as I'm realizing it's only 3 weeks until Buckeye Backspin getting better, and I actually got close to a couple of real, bona fide scratch spins (correct leg positioning and all)!!!

Flight Delayed: Of course my runthrough for coach with music was crappy. Hit most of the elements, but I was "lurching" the whole time--her term for trying to lead with my torso and not keeping my feet together and under me. Hate it when I forget about basic stuff like that. Grrrrrr. Also, change-foot spin not happening.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

On Time Arrival: Everything clicking along OK. Still not 100% confident in that push to the backspin in the change foot spin, but it's almost there. Jumps were fine, pivot at the end seemed OK too. I got to try on my new dress (and kept it on for practice) - it needed one more adjustment in the back, so coach took it back with her, but it turned out great!

Flight Delayed: I really don't like practicing on Freestyle - our club members just don't get the whole "yield" thing. Most of the girls won't actually WEAR the orange vest but tying it around their waist, hand (??), whatever, in some inconspicuous place . . . then get miffed when others get in their way. Then when *I* actually WEAR the darn thing (and believe me, I am VISIBLE!) I still had to bail out (abort abort abort!) right in the middle of my program - I don't mind "coming through" but this girl had her back to me and was totally oblivious. By the time she turned around I would have already plowed her down!

On the plus side, I am participating in an exhibition this weekend . . . pretty sure there won't be anyone in my way then!!

Other Flight Plans: DS is landing axels with consistency . . . again. He's so inconsistent with practice that he keeps getting it and losing it. But 1 1/2 weeks before the competition . . . is a very good time for it to make an appearance!! It was nice to see him enjoying himself and not being totally frustrated with himself.

On Time Arrival:
I passed the Dutch Waltz and Rhythm Blues.

Flight Delayed:
On the sage advice of a friend who has been in the figure skating world much longer than I have, I have decided that I have nothing to say about judging and judges.

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Bravo on the passes dbny!

(and boo to the judge for being so mean. A retry is one thing- tearing down a skater on an encouragement test is another!)

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I sure am!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Had my second "new" class on Tuesday...and YAY! I learned backward 3-turns. They're still not that great (esp. inside), but I get the idea, woot!

Unfortunately, I can't find my gloves around here, so I think I must've left them at the rink. Called the rink and the guy just told me, "lost and found is in the skate rental area." Don't, y'know, offer to go look or to transfer me over there (assuming they have a phone) or anything. So I emailed my coach to ask her if she happens to remember having seen them sitting there (though I doubt it or she would've said something when she emailed us all about something else). And I'll check the lost and found when I'm there next (no point in driving all the way over there just for that. If they're in lost and found, they'll stay there another week. If they didn't make it to lost and found, then they're long-gone anyway).

I hope I find them. A. they're nifty gloves (unfortunately probably nifty enough to steal, and the session after ours was hockey. I would trust figure skaters to take them to lost and found or give them to one of the coaches because they'd probably assume they know the owner, but I hate to say I don't trust that hockey players or their spectators might not just make off with them) and B. technically they're not mine--they're borrowed from my mom and she had expressed a wish to have them back soon! And I'm not sure I could find similar ones to replace them for her if need be.

I doubt the hockey players would boost the gloves. I'll cross my fingers that you find them - I had two pair of perfect gloves that were 99¢ specials at the A&P. They fit me perfectly and were just the right weight and wrist length. Lost all but one glove. The A&P didn't have them this year, only the "magic gloves" that rip easily and make my hands cold.

On Time: still working on the *(^^&*()_ blades. Hopefully, this adjustment will be the magic feather.
Balance feels better off-ice.

Flight Delayed: Couldn't get to the rink today. Maybe tomorrow.

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Congrats! Please don't discouraged by the judge from Hell. She apparently has some issues of her own and she takes it out on other people. I've found most of the people in skating are encouraging and appreciate how hard it is.

Kevin

On time

Jumps have rematerialised. While it did take me more than a few attempts to squeak out some crappy loops, once they came they stayed, same story with the flip. I can feel that with more practice the flip will become much better than the loop which i think will always be the %£$*ing loop for the rest of my life! Even did some Flip/toe/loop combos with the best loops of the day on that combo.

Did some great (for me!) camels spins too. I thought i did some great sit spins too but coach didn't think they were low enough. BUt i when i go lower i tend to drop too far to the inside ...i can't seem to go lower and stay upright on the boot.


Delayed

Still struggling with the RBI three turn and back inside three turns generally. on a particularly good day i decided that doing them fast was easier to bend the knee bend action, but on a bad day i can't even consider doing them faster.

The less said about the back spin the better!

Ant

Flight Delayed: I normally skate before work Friday mornings, but I woke up with a headache and since my coach is away at regionals, I skipped, slept an extra hour and a half, and dragged my butt to work. Not a full-blown migraine, but a nagging annoying headache that has been on and off all day. Luckily I got to skate Monday since it was a holiday and classes were cancelled, I normally skate Saturdays (and with a lot of skaters and almost all the coaches at Regionals it will be empty), and I can pick up an extra hour or two of ice Sunday since roller derby is cancelled. So no loss! I guess I technically could drag myself to the rink that has a Friday evening session after work if I get out of work on time and can go home and grab my stuff, but I'm tired and a nap sounds like more fun.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Congrats on the passes! Sorry about the wicked mean judge. Someone forgot to tell her Halloween isn't for two weeks, yet.

Congratulations on your passes!

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

[Flight Delayed]
Axel has gone to crap again. My take off is too skiddy and I am not jumping out, only up. So, I am back to being frustrated.

My double sal was not working tonight.

My normal 3 person Friday night session was taken over by little kids.

[On Time]
Double toes are getting better, I am trying to get the timing down with pulling in, which is the only thing that is preventing me from landing on one foot...

Thursday, Coach ask the hypothetical question of when can we start double loops...

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

DBNY: CONGRATULATIONS on PASSING YOUR DANCES!!!!!!
(and BOOOO!!! to the mean judge! bad karma will get her!)

I also had a headache today, which got progressively worse as the day wore on....I'm calling it a migraine (different levels, from nagging to OMG! KILL ME and this one is starting to hurt).

On time arrival: today I only skated freestyle & LTS (group) lesson, followed by show practice. That was enough. Worked on pre-bronze pattern and did ok (headache notwithstanding). Getting better on the BI edges. Worked ok on them without looking behind (had a friend spot for me).

Flight delayed: spins were crap (worked on them in LTS). Which was my rotten luck we worked on them with my headache. I lost my new bracelet....I changed my clothes and it must have fallen off when I changed my clothes---had to dash off to a meeting at the rink, where I realized it was missing. Afterwards, I went back to the bathroom and also shook down my skate bag-no luck. Checked lost & found-no luck. It didn't cost much but it was sentimental, I bought it to celebrate another year in remission. I could buy another one (it was sparkly & pretty) but I'm not sure if the gift shop has another one). Oh well, my tough luck I guess.

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

Delayed: My coach emailed me back to say she hadn't seen my gloves, and had asked around and asked at the desk and no one had seen them.

I almost bought these pants at REI tonight: http://www.rei.com/product/787164 (Yes, I can fit into the kids' size pants --the girls' medium [the boys' pants were cut slightly different at the ankle--a bit looser--and seemed to have a knee reinforcement the girls' didn't have]. I wouldn't have wanted them any shorter, but there are some advantages to having short legs! [note: this is the only one. Or perhaps not so far to fall skating?]) They're a skosh loose--that is, they're not leggings, though heaven knows they could easily be altered to be more snug--but they're not super-loose either. And for 20 bucks, what more could you ask for fleece pants (sure I could get the Jerry's fleece leggings for like 70 bucks, but...)? I love that the kids' sizes cost less, even though some of them are bigger than some of the adult women's sizes.

I skated my first freestyle session in over 5 years this afternoon. I worked a long week and cut out of work early (friday). It inspires my skating (ie I work a little harder) to be around better skaters. It was nice not being the worst skater out there (although I was in the bottom half). The difference between me and the better skaters wasn't a quantum leap. Let's see them do half of what I do when they get to my age! There weren't too many kids there. Most of them are in Utah this weekend.

Thanks for the congrats.

On Time Arrival:
I had a great lesson with my regular coach today, starting with her telling me she has heard about that judge . Knowing I needed real encouragement, and needed to rebuild my confidence, she started me with F stroking, then on to F and B XO's, focussing on presentation via stretching through the arms and lifting the chest. Then we did just a little work on two footing three turns, because I've realized that while I have some advantages from my roller dance background, re three turns, I'm an over-aged adult beginner , and I really should just buckle down and two foot them until I really, really feel that rock up to the toe (doesn't exist on roller skates). We ended with something I've forgotten the name of: simply going toe pick to toe pick with a half turn each time. I was able to just get off the wall with it, and it's going to take some work to gain confidence, but I really like it, and know my students will too, so I gotta get it!

Flight Delayed:
No skating for me all of next week. I'm flying out to Boulder on Mon morning and driving back a car I bought from friends there. My friend and I are planning to make it to Chicago in one 15 hr day, and then I'll have Wed-Fri to drive the rest of the way on my own. Even if I'm back Thurs night, I'm sure I won't be ready to skate on Friday.

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On Time:
I enjoyed my skate in a public session this morning. Not too crowded, though still challenging. Still recovering from flu and still struggling with a piriformis injury causing major sciatic pain - no camels or sit spins for a while (though i did try back camel today - which was actually pretty good for me!)

In my lesson on thursday, coach took me to task for using my shoulders to initiate 3 turns, cos that's how I was taught years ago for figure turns. Something has finally clicked for me. I can tell this will make a big difference. Now if only I can apply it to my back 3 turns I will really be making progress.

I love it when I make a breakthrough! It gives me renewed enthusiasm and confidence and determination to keep working through the times.

Every jump was working, though none as good as I want them to be. I even did some reasonable flips, some flip/loops and a salchow/loop and a couple of flutzes. ( The tracing shows I'm trying to hang onto that outside edge, but it always ends up switching to inside Sigh.)

Spins weren't bad either, did one change foot scratch that was beautifully centred on each foot, the transition tracing looked good and it felt great. Yay! Backspins are on their way back.

What's best is the endorphins kicked in late in the session and I came away feeling Happy. Life is good sometimes.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Side toe hops?

Can you make a complaint about that judge to someone?



I didn't want to start a whole new thread for this (though I will if mods want me to), but: how warm are Target's Champion C9 tops? I saw there was one that was supposed to be made out of some sort of "warmer" fabric (tried to find it on the website to link to, but can't tell which it is as their descriptions aren't that great). I know some of you like the C9 line and have heard it compared to UA Coldgear before but I wasn't sure if that meant it was as warm as Coldgear or not. I'm still refining my "keeping warm on ice" clothing, lol (being one of those people who seem like they're always cold anyway, I cannot for the life of me figure out why I took up an ice sport. Maybe I should switch to PIC or roller skating, lol!).

Still pining after UA Frosty tights (is there a reason it's the Frosty tights everyone swears by, or will any UA Coldgear tights do?) but don't want to spend a bundle on tops because it's easier to warm up on top--I can just wear a fleece jacket until I warm up and then strip down (which also made me think that on bottom I don't need ten pairs of really warm pants, I just need a pair of heavy warm-up pants of the sort that zip all the way down the side so I can also remove those to warm up. Anyone got any recs?).

Right now I wear a turtleneck sweater, which is warm and snuggly but doesn't really allow for the option of un-layering if it gets to be too much (esp. since the neck's sorta snug and it's a challenge to get it off over a big ol' bun AND glasses). But a regular long-sleeved t-shirt just isn't usually warm enough for me. And I don't feel like dropping the $$ on a UA top if I don't have to (scouring eBay's a pain and discount stores like TJMaxx are touch and go and still pretty pricey on these).

Nope. There's no turn in side toe hops, and you want to get some distance and some height on them. This move is just stepping from toe to toe as you turn; no hop or jump to it at all. It's just toe,toe,toe, toe. You start it backwards with a XF, reach back with the under toe, pull even, rotate to forward onto other toe, then rotate back to other toe, etc. If you get low on the XF, then rise up for the toe (should be straight up) it's very pretty. Then you can string them together by doing the XF on the other foot and turing in the opposite direction. You get down, up, up, up, down, up, up, up that way.

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Ah! My instructor actually did have me doing side toe hops with a turn in between (I assume to get practice on both sides without going one way and then turning around and coming back, and I've seen other skaters doing it as well) so I didn't realize it wasn't standard.

Congrats!!! I wish I had the time to do dances... just to see if I could do it. Maybe someday...

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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!!!

I have the UA cold gear tights...and I still freeze, so I wear fleece over them....if you can sew, you can do well to make your own tights/leggings from stretch polar fleece for cheap (www.rockywoods.com) otherwise, get something to go over the heavy tights/leggings...layers are really best. You should have layers that trap heat but let moisture out so you don't have wet near your skin-otherwise you will feel colder. If you are really cold, put some of those handwarmers in your pockets-they help, even if you only use one. And have a hot drink with you to keep your insides warm.

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

^Alas, I can't sew...but I envy your mad fleece-sewing skills!

Did you ever make your fleece zip pants? Were they easier than making leggings? (I never even got to see the pic of the leggings because Facebook wouldn't let me )

I have 3 or 4 of the warm, C9 mock turtleneck tops. I live in them during the colder months. I usually start the session with one of those and a North Face 1/4 zip fleece pull over or another one I have from LL Bean. I'm still a little cold as I start to warm up (although my body temp runs low, usually mid 95s or low 96), but by the middle of the session I've usually taken my jacket off. I don't think they're quite as warm as UA, but they're still a great top for the colder days. I was able to get one of two of them on clearance for around 4 dollars, but I think they are worth the full price, too.

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