(In deference to Rusty Blades, I'll start this week's thread. The title is because it's Remembrance Sunday!)

Wish to Remember: Our Kilian and Reverse Kilian stroking is getting much better - we are learning to touch shoulders all the time. Backwards was still a bit awkward, but worked better when we stopped and got down in the knee together before pushing off. Again, we are beginning to be able to keep our shoulders together, but we didn't quite dare try with the pad in place! Swing Rolls in waltz hold were pretty dire, but we kept trying. Foxtrot Hold not great, but the lap of cross-rolls we did were okay.

Frbskate63's success has inspired Husband (who always pretends he isn't competitive - yeah, right!), and he will probably be taking his Level 1 Elements and Free on 30 November! The only thing that is really new to him is the perimeter stroking, but he won't have trouble with that.

His Level 4 Dance Moves are no more ready than my Level 3 ones, alas, but we both hope for a kind judge who knows it's our last chance..... but that won't be until later, probably put our test papers in at the last possible minute and hope for a late test date.

Hope to forget: My cross-rolls weren't so bad this morning, I am beginning to get a bit more flow on them. Cross-cuts were desperately awful again, to the point of nearly reducing me to tears, but did manage half a lap of half-way decent ones so left it at that.

I need to work on my waltz 3s in hold; I was having trouble with "Extend, feet together, turn!" and pushing into my turns properly. But we had to stop our Prelim Waltz to avoid a child, and when we started again, it worked a lot better - I was able to stay much closer to him, and our hold worked better. I think part of the trouble is that he keeps an awful lot of tension in his shoulders, and it does make partnering difficult - I expect mine are a bit tense, too.

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

Good title, lest we forget.

Well done Frbskate63
Glad hubby is going for it, trust me, he will sail through it.

Wish to Remember First day back yesterday after 5 months off, absolutely terrified for the first 15 minutes and then managed to relax a little. Had a good morning this morning doing basic dances with coach.

Hope to Forget Fell on my butt, which is not the best of place when recovering from a back problem, no harm done just hurt pride. Unbelievably rusty, feel like a total beginner again.

It has been a tough week following one week off the ice!

Wish to remember: yesterday was the first day I felt I had my mojo back. Finally was able to do all I had previously gained with confidence!

Hope to forget: Struggled all week just getting my ice feel back. The skate school is doing a Xmas recital and we were introduced to the things they want us to do. I cannot even begin to describe how silly it will be. The one other adult in my freestyle class asked just before our class...they are not going to make us all hold hands or something ...are they? Well, the answer is no...instead we must tightly grasp each other by the waist for a pinwheel...giggle. He and I are the anchors as the biggest people! He was horrified! giggle again. I found it all very amusing. He and I are partnered for a few things together which is even funnier as I am taller than he is! (Teased him as we do have to hold hands as he does a shoot the duck and I hold his hands and spiral behind him...too funny). ( Hmmm,,,,he is even shorter in this position...giggle) Glad he is in the class as I just could not stop laughing at the whole thing~!

(This happened yesterday, but I like the title of this week's thread better):

Hope to forget: falling on my head on FO mohawk in 8-step mohawk sequence. In about a year or so that I've been doing 8step mohawks, I never had any trouble with them (besides being scared in the beginning), never fell down on those, couldn't really "get" why they are so tough for many adults.

Yesterday I was skating at a seasonal rink near my home. Quite crowded, couldn't do anything besides whatever would fit in the center circle, though even there it wasn't particularly safe, with some kids staging races straight through the middle, and a clueless parent with a tiny daughter getting dangerously close to me. I was distracted. Possibly stepped on the blade of the other foot, or didn't pick up the free foot out of the way fast enough. Felt myself flying down, BOOM. Hit the head (maybe twice). Went into shock - couldn't really move for some time, then felt tingly, but was aware of where I was and what happened, and could talk. Pool of blood around my head, ambulance, ER, etc. Have a tender vertebrae, but not broken. Came out of whole thing with a sore right wrist, strong whiplash, light concussion (I guess) and 15 staples on my head (scull is ok). Still laughing, as what can I do - cry? LOL.

Hope to be back on the ice in a couple of weeks.

Wish to remember: ahem... that I need to concentrate on what my feet are doing more and not take chances skating on public sessions in a crowded rink.

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--renatele

Wow. You are a stronger person than me. I think my skates would be hanging up after that. Glad to hear you came out of it okay, and wish you a speedy, but complete, recovery.

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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 expect to be quite scared when I come back. At the same time, I don't want to give up - life would be quite boring if we always chose to do only "safe" things.

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--renatele

Wow Renata!

What a story! Makes me think twice about what I attempt on the crowded public sessions. So glad you are OK as it sounds like quite a spill!

WTG for your good attitude about it. Send healing vibes your way!

Ouchie, Renatale--I hope you're back on the ice soon! Maybe this break will give you a chance to see a podiatrist for that foot problem you had mentioned...

I've had some bad falls on the 8-step myself, usually when my shoulders get ahead of my hips and/or I step on my blades.

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Wish to remember: Only 2 other people on the ice for the first 20 minutes of the public session! I didn't do anything remarkable, but that was nice. I also had a good lesson, though nothing stands out in particular. You can read about it in my journal (link in signature)

Hope to Forget: Eek, backwards 3 turns, if you can call them that. I guess I did as well as these as when I first started forward 3 turns, but wow were these bad. Maybe by the time we start them in group lessons I'll have them okay and it will look like I'm a genius . And I am so frustrated by my scratch spin. I just cannot seem to do it. I want so badly to be able to spin.

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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'm guessing you have great turn out, which makes the FO Mohawk easy for anyone, even adults. That could be why you didn't "get" the difficulty.

I've seen too many skaters fall just that way, DD included, although I've never seen anyone injured as seriously as you were. If it's any consolation to you, one can do the same fall for the same reasons on a FI Mohawk too (speaking from experience ). It sounds just awful, and I would have been crying, not laughing! OUCH! Hope you feel better soon and don't have too much fear when you come back.

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Renatele,
OUCH! I hope you feel better soon and make a speedy recovery, and are back on the ice fast.

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August 22, back on the ice!

Wish wish wish to remember!

For some reason, was able to do respectable forward power pulls today. I think the warm up drill of inside edge to inside edge has been working. Can't WAIT to show moves coach tomorrow. I think he will be happy.

Hope to forget

No one foot axel attempts today. Oh well.

Thanks for starting the thread Boots! (It gets hard to come up with good titles after awhile!)

Best forgotten! I am feeling a shortage of ice time! The Halloween eve session was cancelled 'cause nobody else wanted to sake (I would have!), I missed last Tuesday with a splitting headache, and yesterday's Saturday session was cancelled for Rememberence Day.

It took longer to warm up and limber up than it should have, being off the ice for 3 days in a row. Today had been “bring a friend day” in the preceding CanSkate session and, along with some stalagmites (condensation drips!) the ice was a mess until the mid-session flood!

Back to a bit of forward stroking, primarily left foot, and playing with turn combinations but mostly did a whole LOT of backwards, going for deep backward edges and proper free-foot position. Still have to build up the stamina of the backward muscles, especially for the deep knee bend but they are coming.

Wish to remember: Actually did a couple of CW back cross-overs - WAHOO! - not two in a row mind you, but one here and another there. Funny, I don’t remember back cross-overs feeling so strange but I guess they will come back in time. I couldn’t quite get solid enough on the skating foot to reach over for the CCW cross-overs though. Back cross-overs are the last of the “mandatory moves” that I want for my competition program in the spring, so things are coming along nicely. I have enough now to "fake it" if I had to

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

Renatale-OUCH! Please get better soon!

Wish to remember: What a good scratch spin felt like! Today's were crazy! Traveling and off-balanced...must have done about 20 and only centered 2-3. Sheesh! On the other hand, we worked on backspins (mostly because I'm still sick with this cold/cough). A small amount of progress! I had been blocking with my left shoulder and we worked on removing that. I had also not had my weight on my right foot before, but now I do. So, a small amount of progress is something!

Hope to forget: The Click of Death on back crossovers!!! Not sure what happened except my blades got too close together and BAM! down I went (on the left hip, of course!) sliding across the ice. Nothing but a big bruise, got up and shook it out. Also hope to forget the raw skin on the front of my ankle from my new boots-am I supposed to be breaking the boots in or are they breaking me in?????? Owie!!! Not sure what else to do, it's been padded, bandaged, etc. Nothing on the right side, isn't that weird?

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

Ouch! Renata - guess we're not skating on Wednesday - get well soon.

Wish to Remember:
It was a good day to go for a spin!
Camels, a former distant memory! I did a bunch of them today and only blew a few!
Sit-change-sit were great - no bobbles, for some reason.
Cross-foot spin - Doubletoe's right: easier from a backspin. I'm sure I look like a constipated dog, but I did 5 or 6 of them with balance.
One-foot waltz jump - LOVE it! Fun and easy.

Hope to Forget:
Layback spin was strangely absent, but I did see the ceiling.
Flips and loops were lousy.
My feet hurt.

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Hope to forget:
Busy crowded session today. not much room to do anything except practice spins. but it isn't such a bad thing. towards the end of the session, my scratch spin is actually taking on the appearance of a real scratch spin. ...now about getting it centered the zam broke again so the ice was terrible!

Wish to remember:
a friend of mine showed me a little new footwork. I don't know what it's called. ..kinda like a backward and forward outside mohawk steppy thing traveling down the ice. It was fun though. I am making very small tiny pieces of progress on loop jump.

DallasSkater: welcome back from vacation. Was it a cruise to some place tropical?

Renatale: Hope you get well soon!

Skate@Del: ooo new skates. Hope your ankle is ok.

Ooooohhh, that's a BAD one!! When I hit my head on the ice, I got that nice dramatic pool of blood (reminiscent of those great hara-kiri on freshly fallen snow scenes in the samurai movies), but no concussion, no ambulance, and only two stitches. I think we should start giving out Purple Hearts of Skating awards, and the first one should go to you!

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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

Here, here!!! (OMG!!! That is SCARY, renatele!!! I hope that you are recovering well...)

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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!!!

Wish to remember: Practiced stroking and edge drills as a warm up for my lesson. Forward and back crossovers are feeling much smoother. Worked forward swing rolls and cross rolls. Left side feels good, I'm klutzy on the right.

Lesson: 90% of my one foot spins were entered on one foot, yay-hoo! Although, somehow my centering was off -- not normal at all for me. I think it might be the insane head congestion... Also tried entering spin from RFI3 and stepping right into it. Seemed to work as well as from back crossovers, so now I'll practice both. Reviewed the new Synchro footwork, fine there. Worked back threes and brackets.

Hope to forget: Back threes still two footed, grr! Brackets wobbly because I'm too chicken to do them with speed. The only jumps that showed up were 1/2 flip, 1/2 lutz, 1/2 loop.

Talked with my coach about testing -- the only thing really holding me back is the stinking three turns in the waltz 8 and the new pattern. And the only thing preventing me from doing these is my brain, d'oh!! Coach checked my rythm and placement on waltz 8, just fine. Two footed three turn, as always.

Renatele: Do take care of yourself!!! And get back out there as soon as you feel up to it.

During on-ice practice for my first Synchro competition, I clicked blades with another skater as we were going backwards through a pass-through. I let go of my partner and hit the ice, back of the head first. Minor concussion, no blood or staples, thankfully. I argued with the doc that I wanted to skate the next day, he said no -- and I understand -- if I'd had a dizzy spell whil connected to the team it would have been bad. As it turns out, I couldn't have skated had I wanted to -- I felt like I'd been in a car accident -- whiplash, bruised hip, shoulder and head, sore muscles everywhere.

I was back on the ice four days later for practice -- including the pass through. I refused to let myself be dragged through (the partner of the woman with whom I clicked bades was terrified and stopped pushing entirely). I was scared, but forced myself to do it and all was well.

If only that would work for three turns... Maybe I need to try them with more speed???

It sucks doing synchro if everyone isn't pulling their weight. We used to have the same issue with our group...there was always someone that figured they could "coast" along. Glad you came through that ok.
I used to have really crappy 3-turns and very slow at that. Now that they are working better, what my coach has me do is start slow, then speed up as I go, each set is at a faster speed, but still technically good (i.e. not sloppy). I either do them on the line or on the circle. It really does help!!! Eventually, you get used to doing them faster and not freaking out. Just go a bit faster and faster. When they get sloppy and bad, stay at that speed and work through it until they are good. Then move on. Hope this helps!

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

Do broken bones count or does there have to be blood involved? I did have quite a crowd of people around me.

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August 22, back on the ice!

That's a good question. I guess we'll have to come up with minimum requirements for both breaks and stitches/staples, but I think an emergency room visit is a prerequisite for sure, LOL!

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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

doubletoe, I nominate Pat for the Purple Hearts of Skating award too, since surgery and screws were involved! LOL!!!

__________________
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!!!

Don't forget that an absolutely terryfing-looking, spectacular fall must be a must

On a serious note: I was VERY scared when I fell, though might have looked relatively calm to those around me, as I talked to them immediately. I calmed down when could finally move my arms/toes, and knew that I probably didn't sustain any really serious brain damage as I was awake and fully aware of the situation, etc. Not a fall I'd want to repeat...

__________________
--renatele

Recovering time off ice b/c of said accident must be at least 4 weeks.

__________________
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!!!