This is for yesterday (I can't find my notebook so this is from memory!)

[b:77d401540b]Fantabulous:[/b:77d401540b]

[color=red:77d401540b]Finally bought new blades!!! Coronation Ace. Didn't even have to order them, as they had my size in stock. My coach is gonna mount them for me before next Saturday. (Now I can't blame bad blades for stuff though! )

Jumps! I didn't practice any of them before my lesson, but in my lesson, coach asked to see a waltz jump and it felt huge and very light! And salchow was ACE, and toe loop too! Woohoo, I love good jump days. I still need to work on height on salchow and toe loop, but it is definitely improving, and when I did a salchow in my lesson, I found the tracing and from the point of takeoff to the point of landing, I'd travelled nearly a metre in the air!! 8) Yay!

Did edge and turn stuff in group class, like crossovers (which I love! I can get quite a lot of power and speed out of them - I'm actually about twice as fast as the others in my class ). Also ok at the alternating FI3s. And back cross cuts.
[/color:77d401540b]

[b:77d401540b]Flopsydoodle:[/b:77d401540b]

[color=blue:77d401540b]I not only overslept half an hour and had to finish getting ready in the car, but some of my muscles were aching. I asked my sister (who does GCSE PE) what they are, and apparently they're called gluteals or something. It's kind of in your bum cheek, both sides. It hurts most when I go into a spiral position, so that ruled out working on them.

My mohawk at speed! Good gawd. First I was practicing it, at speed and trying to concentrate on different tips like pointing my toe, but took a hard fall! Hurt my left leg and left wrist. One man I know there came over to me after I got up and said "I heard that from over there!" (gesturing to the other side of the rink). Oh well, it was about time I had a fall, I haven't fallen for ages. The stupid thing is, my mohawks are fine normally, but try to do them in a dance (especially in the Swing Dance) and they go to pieces. I always do it too soon, to scratchily, and with my upper body too far forward. It was a little better in my lesson when I was concentrating on standing upright and trying to keep my feet more together (which is required in the Fiesta Tango). Hmm.

Alternating FO3s and FI pivots.
[/color:77d401540b]

[b:77d401540b]Fantydoodle:[/b:77d401540b] (somewhere in between)

[color=indigo:77d401540b]Loop. Hmm. We worked a lot on it in my private lesson, doing it first on ot's own then after a waltz jump, and coach concludes I can't do it because of my mind. Fear. We did it where he would hold my hand (some of the times when he was holding my hand, I could do it), then on my own, then with him, etc etc. He promises me I'll get it anyway, and I do feel I'm committing to the left side more, but I just can't get the hang of taking off and landing on the same foot. Anyone got any pearls of wisdom?

Spin. We're working on it in three ways - from standstill, straight into the forward curve, and from back crossovers. My spin from standstill was pants. The other two were ok... the hardest part for me is getting it to curve properly, with the radius decreasing enough to stop and let me spin. I managed one or two sort of there ones, but mostly I was working on getting the entry right. It's hard.
[/color:77d401540b]

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Fantabulos:
My backwards Crossovers and Forward Crossovers are being improved. I am now trying to do power stroking when you do forward crossovers and then lean on your hip and go on an inside edge.
Forward Straight Line Spiral - it is ok, i have to do it with lots of speed then put my toe-pick in the ice (for an extra push) and then extend leg. I also have to remember to keep my chin up and not drop my right shoulder, but other form that, the spiral was good!
Left Forward Outside 3-turn - I have to do them around a circle and i think that they are very good. they are coming along! yippee! but when i do them continously (like 3-turn then step forward in a circle without stopping) i get very dizzy! oh well!

Flopsydoodle:
Right Forward Outside 3-turn - Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and today it was not working. i have to remember to keep my feet parallel with each other!

Technically it was yesterday, but what the heck!

Flopsydoodle: Power Pulls when I first tried them, but a little more speed and using TashaKats "draw the wave" technique with my free foot helped a lot (Thanks, Lynne!!! ) I still need a to work with coach on what I'm doing with my SKATING foot, however--I don't have the bend at the knee and ankle quite right IMO.

Fantabulous: Crossovers, especially backwards have much better speed. Backwards left are actually starting to look good. And back inside edges seem to be getting better!!! Whoo hoo!

A good day at Wintersport, I practically had the ice to myself, and was treated to seeing a beautiful young African American skater do her long program, including (I think) a triple toe-double toe. LOVELY!!

Happy skating,

Beth

Interesting, all of us who had had the week off were feeling as though we hadn't skated for months and had forgotten how. "It's like riding a bicycle," said one of the champions, but he sounded rather dubious.....

But it [i:aa7da8a57e]was[/i:aa7da8a57e] more like riding a bicycle than I had expected and after a couple of laps I remembered what I was doing. Or failing to do....

[color=darkblue:aa7da8a57e][b:aa7da8a57e]Fantabulous:[/b:aa7da8a57e] Not a very great deal, I suppose. It was nice being back on the ice, and our coach being back from holiday, and the bathroom being finished (if you [i:aa7da8a57e]really[/i:aa7da8a57e] want to see the promised photos, click here, and that the coaches had enough space to allow the ice to be made. And Robert is officially working for his Level 3 Compulsories, and his coach and I between us worked out what was wrong with his partnering skills - he is too tense. He holds one nice and tight - I do hate a man who flops about - but he needs to relax while doing it. When he can do that, it's much better. [b:aa7da8a57e]BUT...[/b:aa7da8a57e][/color:aa7da8a57e]

[color=olive:aa7da8a57e][b:aa7da8a57e]Flopsydoodle:[/b:aa7da8a57e] Wouldn't you think that after nearly 8 years' skating, we would not still be having trouble with a level 2 dance? But our Canasta is dreadful - I really don't enjoy doing it - and we have to compete it in five weeks. So we spent the entire 30-minute lesson
working on it. And at one stage Robert caught my blade and swept my feet from underneath me. He saved me from a bad fall, but I measured my length on the ice, and everybody laughed. Including me, although I did have an ice-burn on my left arm (serves me right for skating in bare arms, but it was far too hot to do otherwise). And of course I am so used to Robert holding my arm in the wrong position, and to skating with a bent left arm, that I was having trouble keeping it straight, and it almost felt as though Robert were trying to break it.... Oh well, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, and I think we will get there in the end.....[/color:aa7da8a57e]

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

Fantabulous:

Camels. For some reason I *get* this spin. I'm getting more revs now with more speed, and better centering. You really have to hook the entry to get it going, and straighten the spinning knee and tuck your abs in all at the same time. Scratch spins also keep getting better and better. I'm still looking for my 20 rev spin again, but every attempt has been at least 12-15 fast revs, with feet totally crossed and arms overhead. Heh, when I'm good at something I tend to want to get creative with it, hence I've been trying catch-foot camels for the past few sessions. If only I could catch my foot! Well, I have no doubt that I'll be able to do this in the future if I keep working at it and keep working on my flexibility.

I just want a fantabulous sit spin to go with my fantabulous camel spin now!

Jumps were just ok. Did feel some air time with the few waltz and salchows I tried last night. Boyfriend said I needed more height on the sal that I showed him; not surprised, since I didn't feel any air time, but I felt kinda embarassed the jump wasn't better.

Ina Bauer into back spiral is coming along too. I'm getting a better position with the back spiral with no irritation in my hamstring! Yay! (Just wish that was true for the forward spiral though ...oh well, guess I'll have to work the left leg for that.) Hopefully at camp next week I can learn some flexibility exercises that will help me safely gain some more range of motion with the right hamstring. Boyfriend also said the back spiral looked pretty good, so I must be getting my leg up at least head height.


Flopsydoodle:

Darned toe loop. I didn't put a heck of a lot of effort into them last night so no wonder they didn't feel good. Also wish I wasn't so wonky in my backspin position. I've crossed my feet with them before, but not lately and I don't know why. Seems now the only way I can tease one out of myself is to tuck my free leg behind my spinning leg. If I can get more knee bend in the spinning leg, I'd have an awesome move I could put in my Bronze program. Just have to keep working.

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

[quote:20c3b3dd6c="icenut84"]This is for yesterday (I can't find my notebook so this is from memory!)

[b:20c3b3dd6c]Fantydoodle:[/b:20c3b3dd6c] (somewhere in between)

[color=indigo:20c3b3dd6c]Loop. Hmm. We worked a lot on it in my private lesson, doing it first on ot's own then after a waltz jump, and coach concludes I can't do it because of my mind. Fear. We did it where he would hold my hand (some of the times when he was holding my hand, I could do it), then on my own, then with him, etc etc. He promises me I'll get it anyway, and I do feel I'm committing to the left side more, but I just can't get the hang of taking off and landing on the same foot. Anyone got any pearls of wisdom?

[/color:20c3b3dd6c][/quote:20c3b3dd6c]

I totally understand what you're going through with the loop. I can land one after a waltz jump or a salchow jump, but on its own, nah. Well, I can do one from a FI 3, but those are difficult to check at speed. I've has some more luck getting off the ground from a mohawk entry since I've had a deeper radius of hollow ground into my blades. Anyway...you really do have to keep your weight over your jumping leg and your hip under you in preparation for this jump, and it has to stay that way while you're in the air if the jump is to be successful. I chicken out so much and let my opposite hip pop up, which kills the loop attempt and turns it into a half-loop (but as a result I have a very nice half-loop! :wink: ). One drill I have done to get used to keeping the weight over my skating leg is to simply glide backwards on the outside edge in the takeoff position, bent jumping leg, free leg in front, arms and shoulders checked, for as long as I possibly could and let the radius of my tracing get smaller. All the while I was conscious of my edge, trying not to rise up on the toepick too soon. This got me used to the proper takeoff position and used to traveling on a deep back outside edge.

Another fun drill is a double three. Do a FI3, pull in immediately and you will do a BO3 to another FI3, and check out immediately after the last three turn. This gives a feeling for the jump mechanics safely on the ice at first, and gives you a chance to check your arm and leg positions. Be sure to keep your free leg in front the whole time, where it would be in the jump.

I have to repeatedly do these things as I am so afraid of this jump. I have all the technique I need to do it correctly. I'm just a chicken. Good luck. It'll happen when you're not thinking about it, believe me.

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Hi

For those of you who are interested I've put a copy of the promotional leaflet for the Royal Gala up on Yahoo Rinksiders and on Yahoo UKskaters in both the pics and files section IF I manage to get anything else (programme etc) from the Gala I'll put them up there too

[img:33627bfe0b]http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_6179530/International+Ice+Skating+Gala/__tn_Royal+Ice+Skating+Gala.jpg?bcowiR9AnLK4Q2XG[/img:33627bfe0b] [img:33627bfe0b]http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_6179530/International+Ice+Skating+Gala/__tn_Royal++Ice+Skating+Gala.jpg?bcowiR9A_m0ryHfH[/img:33627bfe0b]

L x

Sorry! First the pics are here then they're not ......... dunno what's happening but you can see them in full if you follow the links!

__________________

The best whisper is a click

Thanks for the loop tips, MissIndigo. Much appreciated. I'll print them off to try it on Saturday (the next time I skate!). Thanks again

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Fantabulous - just may "get" the scratch spin this year!! I don't quite have the "hook" yet but someone offered a tip (that actually my coach had shown me but I think I was just really tired and didn't remember it) where when I do the LFO I take the right foot and let it kind of skim the ice and assist me into the hook where I can then "get up" and spin for a couple of rotations. That helped but still lots of work to do.
Did a "flat" spiral half the length of the rink and at SPEED, you couldn't tell me I wasn't something after that. :-) When I first taught myself a spiral I was lucky if I could hold it and goe slowly for 5 feet so this felt really good to see some progress.

Flopsydoodle - Spiral's on an inside edge, my free leg goes all crazy.
I still have a tendency when trying to spin to lean back and that caused a few really close calls but I caught myself in time.

[b:69a25d729e]Fantabulous & Flopsydoodle [/b:69a25d729e]

The first day on the ice for 12 days. I was looking forward to it, so I had a positive attitude which must have helped!
I only did the forwards field moves (level 3) as I didn't trust myself/people not to collide.
Those field moves aren't too bad, but still a bit dodgy on the RBO3s with mohawks.
The jumps: loop, flip, loop-loop went ok.
The spins: parallel and sit were passable most of the time.

[b:69a25d729e]Lesson[/b:69a25d729e]
My 1st in about 5 weeks.
I did the jumps above, then onto the nemesis flip-cherry (it's quicker to type "cherry" rather than toe loop(!?)).
But that's in the [b:69a25d729e]Flopsydoodle[/b:69a25d729e] category. The cherry is pathetic, although Coach says I do a proper one, not a 3turn-waltz jump, so there IS hope! My picking leg does not extend and the whole thing stinks!
On to a few lutzes, all of which were "not bad", but I still had to do 4 so obviously the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weren't great! :?
Then it was sequences. I tried flip-halfloop-salchow and loop-halfloop- salchow. In both cases the half loop slowed me nearly to standstill so it had no flow whatsoever. Not pretty.
Next came the spins: I got away with one sitspin.
Then the parallels: Coach said she'd seen me doing better ones earlier on. I tried several but couldn't get them fast or they'd be wobbly or something.
[b:69a25d729e]Backspin[/b:69a25d729e]
[color=red:69a25d729e]Evil evil things. [/color:69a25d729e]
Mine has gone. Out of a possible 30 I got 3. Same old, same old problems: when I [i:69a25d729e]do[/i:69a25d729e] get it on the LBO edge, I go too far back on blade. I'm not leaning forwards enough. When I get the weight balance right, I go on my toepick and have near death experiences getting stuck.

I didn't try any change foot spins, which I'm annoyed about now, because of [b:69a25d729e]My Dream[/b:69a25d729e]...
A few nights ago, I dreamt I did a change foot parallel, and when I awoke, I was convinced I knew how to do it, I could [i:69a25d729e]feel[/i:69a25d729e] it, and that I had to try it. :wink:
I don't think I can feel it anymore, but it's one spin I'd love to do.

__________________
MEL
Absolute Skating

FANT:
For the first time in months, nothing on my body hurt!!
Passed my Alpha and Beta tests with 7's & 8's. (Told my coach they would have been 9's & 10's if I were 30 to 35 years younger.)
Working on perfecting my FO3's for gamma.

FLOP:
Nothing for a change.
I tried an Entertainment Stop/Show Stop for the first time. Thought I was going to rip my lower leg off when my edge jammed into the ice.

[b:1464113df0]Fant:[/b:1464113df0]
* Coach pronounced my "alternating back crossovers to back outside edge" to be very good and we can move them into maintenance mode. He liked my flow and ice coverage, and that I'm incorporating a bit of style into them.

* Right side of my forward power 3's. I didn't toe-tap any today. I finally figured out what works for me to do an almost presentable LBI-RFO choctaw (there's still some toe push, but no toe tap before I step forward).

[b:1464113df0]Flop:[/b:1464113df0]
* Left side of my forward power 3's (which is usually my better side). The first 3-turn didn't want to work today, especially when my coach planted himself right in front of where I do the 1st 3-turn. Then I got wobbly upper body and the set-up for a couple other of the turns didn't work well. Finally I got disgusted at myself, and did the whole sequence starting on the right side instead of the left side, and did a creative transition at the end of the ice so I could start the left side. And did the left side. It wasn't pretty but it was complete...

* 14Step. The flow was there. The edges were okay. But I managed to do almost a closed outside mohawk on 1 pattern instead of an open outside mohawk. Plus on one set of sequences I had the incredible shrinking pattern.

* European Waltz: I thought it was a total flop. My coach said there were problems but overall it wasn't half bad. I did a bad bobble after the first RFO3 on the 2nd pattern and was shaky, but coach held me up and we kept going and finished the 2nd pattern. The intro-3 was truly pathetic and rushed.

* My blades need sharpening but I won't be able to get them done until Wednesday.

Oh well... another lesson tomorrow. This time, Foxtrot torture and more forward power 3's.

--jsl

Fant
I practised on Sunday at a very crowded public session, but still managed to work on my forward crossovers (both sides) and backward stroking and backward pumps (as a preparation for back cross-overs). I'd been off the ice for over a week (vacation), so I was just glad that I didn't lose too much ground. Can do T-Stops on both sides if I'm not moving too fast.

No FLOPs. Although, I did teeter a bit trying to glide backwards on one foot. I am also finding that it's really darn easy to over-rotate going backwards and turn myself around to forwards. But I make nifty bracket-looking tracings when I do that, LOL!

Saw a beautiful young woman working on a 2 lutz-2 toe-2 loop combo. Pretty nifty! I've never seen anyone else jump like that at my rink before -- mostly singles and doubles, hardly any combos and nothing like that! She was pretty close to landing it the first time she tried, but each successive attempt was more underrotated than the last. Still, it was exciting to see!!!

I think I'll be signing up for the summer camp our rink is doing. The third session is adults only. M-F for 1.5 hours a night in two weeks. Then the fall session starts two weeks after camp ends. Hubby and I are both Beta right now, but he's not taking camp due to work conflicts. I think that's OK, though, as he won't want to do 7.5 hours of back crossovers in a week, LOL!

[b:fc360f0dab]Fantabulous[/b:fc360f0dab]:[list:fc360f0dab][*:fc360f0dab]I can spin! I can spin! Yay! Perhaps the ballet class I've been taking the past couple of weeks has been paying off cause I could stay vertical during the scratch spin! My entrance is still iffy, but I'd straighten myself out and pull the freeleg in (the passe position is engrained in my muscle memory now, LOL... ) and everything would be hunky dory! And the last one I did was so centered, I couldn't believe it! It's finally coming along! Woohoo! I'm so excited!
[*:fc360f0dab]Backspin! Well, they still have a ways to go, but I found the sweet spot more times in this session than in the past month. It's all in the entrance - if it's good, it lasts forever, but if I miss that magic moment, it's as good as gone.
[*:fc360f0dab]Sitspin! Well, my first ones weren't too hot (and I was doing something funny to my hamstring..) but once I made myself turn out the leg as I was bringing it around, it was fine! I got some good ones in there!
[*:fc360f0dab]Loop is okay, I guess....I cross my feet a lot on the entrance, but I take off only from one foot. Is that okay? It's practically the only way I can have my legs crossed in midair, sooo.....and I'm actually checking out of it more!
[*:fc360f0dab]Lutz. Tried it twice, and got all the way around the first time. I'm so scared of it, LOL....I pick in and then I [i:fc360f0dab]wait [/i:fc360f0dab]until I'm good and ready to jump. I gotta learn how to pop that thing..
[*:fc360f0dab]I saw my skating instructor at Target. I thought it was funny, cause I guess you don't expect coaches to exist outside of the rink....
[*:fc360f0dab]Looking at the first photos of myself skating! I was quite pleased at the fact that I actually bend my knees, LOL - most people say that when you think you're bending your knees, you aren't, but I'm happy that I really am! [/list:u:fc360f0dab]

[b:fc360f0dab]Flopsydoodle[/b:fc360f0dab][list:fc360f0dab][*:fc360f0dab]I hate salchows. I think I've said that before....
[*:fc360f0dab]I used to really like the toe loop too, but that was before I started to doubt my entrance. Still fiddling with it. Sigh....
[*:fc360f0dab]Flip. Or rather, the LFO3 before the flip. [/list:u:fc360f0dab]

Well, it's obvious today was not a jumping day, LOL..

Anita

Boy, I'm really having a Flopsydoodle day...

My coach and I worked on three of the Bronze Moves elements. He wants me to do the alternating crossovers (both backwards and forwards) along with the hockey skaters. This time he had a valid point...there were at most about 14 skaters in the entire rink... about as much or even less than a couple of the freestyle sessions I've been in. Too bad most of them had to hover around the ends of the rink...just where I had to practice my crappy toe-scratchy back crossovers! Evil! EVIL things!!

The forward crossovers were better...but even here, my forward crossovers need work. He was particulary pick today with the extension of the inside edge glide and the crossovers around the ends of the rink. (Of course half the time I was dodging other people, never mind, the cones to block off the center of the ice, which I ended up running over. Oui vei!!!)

I think now my coach is beating me up on the Bronze Moves... I think he figured that he better start beating me up on Adult Bronze Moves NOW if I were to have any chance of passing it by the end of this year. (Not that I play on testing Adult Bronze FS *ANYWAY* but...) Of course, the other reason is that he thinks I'm at the point "skill-wise" where I need to be pushed harder... and trust me!!! He was in drill sargeant mode today!!!

And on top of that... I still have a major deadline at work!!! I'll be showering and then doing a bit of work for another hour!!! I'm lucky to get a break tonight to skate!!! (My boss says "At the end of the month... I hope...") And my HAMSTRING has been giving me trouble again... Life is definitely NOT FAIR!!!

Cheers,
jazzpants

[b:a42857f5ef]Fant:[/b:a42857f5ef]
* Happy Happy Happy I did 2 1/2 patterns consecutive of Foxtrot, first w/o music, then later w/ music, twice. They were small patterns, but they were on time AND I did my cross-roll LFO3.

* EW was much better today. A bit scratch but with dull blades... I had head up the whole time (2 patterns to music), and coach & I had good partnering. I was more relaxed skating it today.

* Alternating back crossovers to back outside edge. Nice and big. I need to start practicing this on the smaller rink because I would have run out of rink, had today's pattern been overlaid on the smaller (85') rink.

* Power 3's: Better than yesterday.

[b:a42857f5ef]Flop[/b:a42857f5ef]:
* Power 3's: Could be better but only 1 toe tap. I need to make sure I'm not "launching" into the choctaws. Keep head and back up.

* Intro 3 in EW. Way rushed and scrapey.

No extra ice time tonight so I'll have to get up early to skate tomorrow morning. But the ice should be almost empty since the competitive dance teams are off to Lake Placid.

Fant - I actually ROTATED almost totally around in the air!!! We were learning flips (well most of the class can already do it on one foot, but I am still at the 2 foot phase, but this was my first time working on flips) and I got the LFO 3 turn and check fine, picked in the pulled back and UP and around 3/4 of the way!! Woo hoo. One of my coaches said that I actually rotated enough to complete the jump when I eventually try it on one foot. Cool. WOrked on 1/2 lutzes and I don't really mind them, still the most "feared" jump is the waltz jump, I do it and it's actually a jump but my stomach is in a knot, for some reason I don't like the forward edge take off.

FLOP - My boots are from he**. Finally am giving up and trying to trade these babies back into the shop. My ankles have been covered in bruises for weeks now and 2 of my veins on my right ankle bone are freakishly and scarily swollen now after I skate. I've been noticing things have been getting progressively worse since I have been jumping and trying to spin on one foot. So my coaches suggested I get the boots that have split widths. ANYONE ELSE HAVE SPLIT WITH BOOTS? Just Curious.

OH and a skating "FLOP" my back cross overs need attention, they haven't been really "crossing" so that's what I am working on Wednesday night, that and getting my cross overs to be "power" cross overs.

FANT: Good lesson. My girlfriend was able to come down to the session, so we shared the lesson time.

Worked on front and back edges in continuous semi-circle patterns. After some minor shoulder/arm adjustments from my coach, the FO's & FI's were flowing.

I finally figured out the explosive launching stroke for BO's. Coach had been teaching me to do it to the right and I couldn't get it. I tried it to the left and it was there.

My girlfriend had never tried continuous BI edges. I started laughing when Coach started showing her. I kept telling her that "these defy the laws of physics. Equal and opposite reaction does not apply to BI edges." (She has a Masters in Industrial Engineering, so she knew what I was talking about). She fuddled, muddled, flopped, and flapped, then finally agreed with me. They are against the laws of physics.

FLOP: Nothing really. Everything we worked on needed work, but was progressing. That alone smells like victory.

Gary: That is the BEST darn explanation I've ever heard for back inside edges. They DO defy the laws of physics.

Of course, my husband the ENGINEER does them better than any of his other edges...go figure...

[quote:99317a4fb9="Yazmeen"]

Of course, my husband the ENGINEER does them better than any of his other edges...go figure...[/quote:99317a4fb9]


Maybe he's pidgeon-toed. That's supposed to help.

My coach finally got my girlfriend to kind of do them by telling her to "go pidgeon-toed".

[b:17cb4daf2a]Fantabulous[/b:17cb4daf2a]:

TerriC and I are at camp this week in Hillsborough and it's a great time! Both of us are getting compliments from coaches who don't know us, so we must be doing something right! The power class isn't even that bad. We are concentrating more on how to generate power than just go, go, go, and we are reviewing moves in the field. Excellent.

Hehe--even pulled the old "leave guards on while stepping onto the ice" trick yesterday. My body is paying for it today. I took quite the flop and managed to cut myself. Was down for a few minutes but not out.


[b:17cb4daf2a][color=red:17cb4daf2a]Worse than Flopsydoodle:[/color:17cb4daf2a][/b:17cb4daf2a]

Actually, it's serious.

Had a follow-up yesterday with my sports med doc concerning a repetitive motion injury I sustained in lab. Since my improvement is moving along at an inchworm's pace, he decided to cast my right hand for at least a week, maybe two. This [i:17cb4daf2a]needs[/i:17cb4daf2a] to be done however; hopefully now my research advisor will get the point. We will assess next week what to do. I am hoping that I will not have to have surgery since that will put me out of the school game and the skating game for a few months. I need my skating to stay sane!

On the brighter side, I can still skate since I am not in any pain. Had a good lesson with my coach last night and I fully intend to participate in camp for the rest of the week. I will just take care to not overdo.

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

[quote:d261e388c3="MissIndigo"]
Hehe--even pulled the old "leave guards on while stepping onto the ice" trick yesterday. [/quote:d261e388c3]

I haven't done this yet, but I know the time will come. OUCH!!!

[quote:d261e388c3="MissIndigo"]
Had a follow-up yesterday with my sports med doc concerning a repetitive motion injury I sustained in lab. ...................... I am hoping that I will not have to have surgery since that will put me out of the school game and the skating game for a few months. [/quote:d261e388c3]

This does sound serious. I've skated with a cast, so I know that's not much of a problem, but off of the ice for several months? That's not good. Let's hope the immobilization and some PT will fix it.

We went to Slough's dance club yesterday, which was nice, and then stayed on until after the first dance interval.

[color=Blue:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]Fant:[/b:b9bf212f16] We are really working now on our partnering; Robert concentrates on keeping his arms and upper body relaxed, and his hands level, and I try to keep mine level and my whichever arm goes in front of him straight. It does make a huge difference; I feel confident enough to bend my knees more than ever, and at least one dance we were really motoring!

We did a Fiesta Tango for the first time for ages, and as usual, the back steps were dire, but I didn't bottle out of them! In fact, I think we were faster than sometimes, and at least once I managed not to widestep when stepping to forwards.

We also did a Swing Dance that felt reasonable. During the free practice time, we worked and worked on chasses in kilian hold - not easy as Slough is a hockey-sized rink and the end of it was coned off for a lesson, so you only got about two in before you had to come round, and if there were people in your way.... It took us forever to work out how we did them solo (both acceptably!) and to get them working together, but I think it is coming now. We also did a lot of stroking round in kilian, reverse kilian and waltz hold - I am not looking forward to working on our chasses in waltz hold, but it has to be done!

In my private practice, my changes of edge felt good.[/color:b9bf212f16]

[color=olive:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]Flop:[/b:b9bf212f16] We were the only couple doing a Canadian Cha-cha, which doesn't seem to be much danced at Slough, and made a horrendous mess of it, so embarrassing!

Robert tried to dance the Foxtrot with his other partner, and they didn't even manage to get round once!

On the Usenet group, a judge described two errors in one's edges: they should be semi-circles, neither hairpins, nor lemon sections. Now, Robert's are always hairpins and mine are lemon sections - wouldn't you have thought they would cancel each other out?[/color:b9bf212f16]

[color=darkred:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]GRRRRRRR[/b:b9bf212f16]: Worked on my FI Mohawks, with rather lack of success, although in the Swing Dance I did manage to do a proper, if rushed, Mohawk, rather than my usual fudge. But it then occurred to me to work them at the barrier. Not touching the barrier, just facing it. And they were perfect! It's as though being lined up with the barrier keeps my body in the right place; when I turned round so my back was to the barrier, they didn't happen. Oh, frustration!!!!! :? [/color:b9bf212f16]

MissIndigo, I second Gary's good wishes; you can skate in a cast with no problems, though. People do.....

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

We went to Slough's dance club yesterday, which was nice, and then stayed on until after the first dance interval.

[color=Blue:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]Fant:[/b:9b4ae4324a] We are really working now on our partnering; Robert concentrates on keeping his arms and upper body relaxed, and his hands level, and I try to keep mine level and my whichever arm goes in front of him straight. It does make a huge difference; I feel confident enough to bend my knees more than ever, and at least one dance we were really motoring!

We did a Fiesta Tango for the first time for ages, and as usual, the back steps were dire, but I didn't bottle out of them! In fact, I think we were faster than sometimes, and at least once I managed not to widestep when stepping to forwards.

We also did a Swing Dance that felt reasonable. During the free practice time, we worked and worked on chasses in kilian hold - not easy as Slough is a hockey-sized rink and the end of it was coned off for a lesson, so you only got about two in before you had to come round, and if there were people in your way.... It took us forever to work out how we did them solo (both acceptably!) and to get them working together, but I think it is coming now. We also did a lot of stroking round in kilian, reverse kilian and waltz hold - I am not looking forward to working on our chasses in waltz hold, but it has to be done!

In my private practice, my changes of edge felt good.[/color:9b4ae4324a]

[color=olive:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]Flop:[/b:9b4ae4324a] We were the only couple doing a Canadian Cha-cha, which doesn't seem to be much danced at Slough, and made a horrendous mess of it, so embarrassing!

Robert tried to dance the Foxtrot with his other partner, and they didn't even manage to get round once!

On the Usenet group, a judge described two errors in one's edges: they should be semi-circles, neither hairpins, nor lemon sections. Now, Robert's are always hairpins and mine are lemon sections - wouldn't you have thought they would cancel each other out?[/color:9b4ae4324a]

[color=darkred:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]GRRRRRRR[/b:9b4ae4324a]: Worked on my FI Mohawks, with rather lack of success, although in the Swing Dance I did manage to do a proper, if rushed, Mohawk, rather than my usual fudge. But it then occurred to me to work them at the barrier. Not touching the barrier, just facing it. And they were perfect! It's as though being lined up with the barrier keeps my body in the right place; when I turned round so my back was to the barrier, they didn't happen. Oh, frustration!!!!! :? [/color:9b4ae4324a]

MissIndigo, I second Gary's good wishes; you can skate in a cast with no problems, though. People do.....

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

First time on the ice since the fever decided to subside last Wednesday..

Definitely a little weak and about 7 pounds lighter, but hopefully that will remedy itself now that my appetite is coming back with a vengence. The only bad news is that the Lyme Disease has realy given my arthritis a good kick, but that should also subside as I continue on the antibiotics for another two weeks...enough of the medical poop.

Started out on all the edge drills plus the cross-overs. Good news is that my muscle memory is still there, though I obviously don't have the power I had two weeks ago. Then we worked on the Sal, toeloop and waltz jumps. The waltz is still okay except for the weakness thing and the Sal and toeloop I was definitely getting messed up on the timing. No problem with either 3 turn entry, after that the timing was just messed up in getting my free leg around and my shoulder. I must of fried that circuit during the fever....

Obviously I am going to need to practice a lot at Lake Placid next month. I think once I get some of the wonkiness out of my legs I will feel I have a little more control. I was going to start inline skating today but it is 93 with the humidity to boot and I don't think it would be a good idea.....so I opted for a nap instead...how's that for a training routine??

The real reward...It felt so good to get out on the ice again!!!!

__________________
Keeping School Figures Alive!!