Practice 3/4 - 3/11
In "light" of the meandering daylight savings.

An hour ahead: had a great session with my coach and the program is really feeling good. I also picked out my next piece of music, something that must be skated to!

An hour behind: this year's costume!

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An hour ahead: another clumsy Monday but I did get a recognizeable sit change sit and by golly I do believe that I like the back sit better than the foreward sit! The centrifical force actually helps you get the legs together on the back sit!

An hour behind: chicken Loops!
Lyle

An hour ahead

My waltz jump which got scared and ran away for my competition came back to play today Coach helped me put my arms back, push my hip and chest forward more to get my leg up higher in my back spiral...if I can just remember that for my competition.

Got my leg in a nice attitude position and coach gave me better arm positions for my glide out of my waltz toe tap. If I can just remember how my leg is supposed to feel...if it's uncomfortable, it's probably right, if it feels good, I probably look like a dog peeing.

An hour behind I was actually pretty happy with my practice today

Hour ahead:
Jumps seem to be getting better, nice landings loops are getting much easier to do, salchow loop loop is going well. Spins are getting better, camel back camel is starting to not look like a frog in a blender. Axel attempts are okay, I admit -- I am slightly terrified and just wimping out on the landing, double sows are much easier and timing works for me, currently cheated but idea is there and that makes me happy.

Hour behind:Seriously, could healing take any longer? It is such a long difficult process and I'm just not a patient person. I realize I am better but...oi vey! Oh well, figures tomorrow from the 5th,6th and 7th tests to work on stability and edge quality, then some dances. Tuesday and Thursday are my favorite days.

yall have fun!

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Who me? Couldn't be....
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Hour ahead:
I think I will regard mondays as my intense day now, at least during term time, as the rink is extremely quiet, so I can get some serious practice (during school holidays a different programme is in place and the rink is busy all week). Today was brilliant, only about 6 people on the ice, at some times I had the rink ALL to myself (sigh !). No massive progress on anything in particular, but I got two and a half hours of great practice in. A young girl told me my skating was 'wicked' and another hockey lad said 'you must be a figure skater then' ... I took that as a compliment. I finished the session by seeing how many consecutive three (waltz) jumps I could manage, spotting my sight on each one to avoid getting dizzy ... I managed 28, then promptly fell over, no idea which way was up (only two people on the ice, so falling was not a problem)!!! All in all, a fabulous afternoon, I can't wait for next week.

Hour behind:
Just the busy Sunday sessions really, but busy ice is better than no ice ...

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UK Passport (figure)
Bronze : PASSED 13-Oct-07 Woohoo
Silver: PASSED 08-Dec-07 Yippee
Gold: Backspin PASSED One Foot Spin ____ Toe Loop ____ Programme ____
The impossible is just a journey away ...

(Not looking forward to dragging myself out of bed an hour earlier on, of all days, my birthday!)

Hour ahead:

-Good practice today, with 3-turn pattern and waltz 8 continuing to feel more confident and secure.
-First "real" synchro practice last night was a great deal of fun and rather hilarious at times as I stumbled through.
-Finished sewing a skirt that might be wearable for comp on the 17th.

Hour behind:
-I really think I need a sharpening!
-Waltz jumps sucked today. (see previous comment--not feeling terribly secure).
-Nervous about comp on the 17th (though truly it's basic stuff that I can do), nervous about road-testing possible costumes in front of rink crew (can you say "I feel naked and oh-so-much larger than the teenagers"?) but it must be done 'cause I'd rather have a wardrobe malfunction at home than mid-comp.
-It *really* doesn't help with my right/left confusion to be copyediting a book on radiography, in which right/left is all backwards!!

Hour ahead: Went to the orthopod today - he told me my fracture on my right foot was healing nicely and I can move out of the aircast (boot) and into a hard shoe. 3 more weeks until I can even think about skating again (I can't imagine putting my foot in a skate right now!). We talked about physio, and he said, sure, why not -- although he knows that I know how to rehab this thing myself as I've done it before...

And the best part: I can drive!!!! No auto-racing-type driving (who, me?) but I can do some housecalls, which I need to do for my business, plus I don't have to be dependent on anyone to drive me anywhere!! I can actually go to the PT by myself! I can go to the store by myself! I can do anything I want (except skate and...

Hour behind: Walking without the support of the boot - I am still using a crutch - my prioception (balance) is all out of whack. Wondering how long it will be until I feel more comfortable and able to walk/move, etc. without assistance. Stairs are difficult, as are uneven surfaces... gotta call my PT and set up an appointment.

I went to my rink yesterday and watched the social dance session and socialized with my skating friends. It was fun to see everyone and it made me want to get back out there - everyone looked so beautiful!!

Can't wait to get back, but for now, just happy to be a little more mobile!

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Our clocks don't go forward until the end of this month - when we're in France, and an hour ahead of ourselves anyway. Gack - getting up on the Sunday morning is going to be soooooo hard and, sods' law, our class will be at 07:00 or something... and our body clocks on 05:00!

An hour ahead: I take it this is supposed to be the positive, since we remember which way the clocks go by thinking "Spring forward, fall back!"

Good lesson on Swing Dance and Willow Waltz today. Similar issues with both; getting an edge on the first part of the slide chassé, maintaining one's own circle there where your partner is coming round you - the one place you don't push at him! Edge quality, as always. Finishing the edges.

An hour behind: My Mohawks, which are still slightly uncontrolled, certainly as compared with Husband's. They are better than they were, though, but not yet reliable. We also still have timing issues - wish I knew what tempo they dance the Swing Dance to in France! Here it's 104 bpm and in the USA it's 96, so.... could be either, or could compromise at 100!

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

Started group lessons again last night (adults). In a bad mood anyway before even stepping onto the ice due to dh going into "helpless mode" with the kids for some reason - he's an utterly competent parent any other time EXCEPT for when I have to leave to go to skating lessons on Monday nights!!

An hour behind . . .

1 - the ice. Left "as is" after hockey practice, it was NOT pretty.
2 - my blades. time for a sharpening!
3 - jumps - pretty scary as a result of #1 and #2 above . . .

An hour ahead . . .

1 - did some double 3's easily for the first time ever!
2 - one foot spin was "there" for me, causing my classmates to
3 - (stealing from 8 y.o. DS' accomplishments since mine were kind of skimpy last night!) he learned (and landed!) his LUTZ this morning!! Didn't see it myself since DH took him to practice, but DS' skating buddy confirmed it to be true!!
4 - plus, got a sweeeet pair of blades for DS from "skating buddy" who has outgrown them . . his parents gave us a great price on them and they look pretty good - lots of blade left for DS.

An Hour Ahead:
Crossovers and edges are fine, but I keep forgetting to "point my toe."
My poor students are now enduring constant reminders about this, too.
Tsk, Tsk on me for not enforcing it earlier!

An Hour Behind:
Spins were great last night; not too much dizziness. Did scratch, sit, back scratch, back sit, plus one-foot spins in both directions. OoOoOoOo
Excellent turns and mohawks. They'll be gone by my lesson tomorrow. HAHAHA

Time Warped:
I started working on different spiral positions and almost crash-landed doing the forward leg lift. Have to do these backwards for a while!! LOL

This is fun: the test chair sent me a note about my daughter's test. Small problem: it's me who's testing! Replied with a clarification, just in case it matters.

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An Hour Ahead: Great mohawk-back 3's into loops, programs coming along...

An hour behind: Groin strain, no workey on loops or camels right now, 2 weeks till competition, boot problems

Hour Ahead: My previously tiny and tentative 3-turns are growing larger, and suddenly my back edges, L and R, are there--strong and steady and trustworthy. I'm not sure who was more amazed, me or my coach! LoR back crossovers are suddenly stronger, too. And the ice itself was perfect this weekend, freshly Zambonied, not too hard and not too soft. Just right!

Hour Behind: Mohawks are still shaky, and best done with the comforting wall nearby. And I really need to start doing something to build my endurance, because it still wears me out to stroke around the rink at any real speed.

~~taijiya (feeling more like an actual skater today!)

An Hour Behind:
Was starting to lose my flip... I think my timing's off.

An Hour Ahead:

• Loop is still solid!!!
• All spins but camel was there. (I didn't try any camel b/c I was fighting for that flip to come back.)
• (Well, this is a good and a bad) Realizing that I'm really getting speed when I was doing some forward stroking and it didn't take that much to get some speed into my edges. However...

An Hour Behind Again:
How the HECK am I gonna get my loop and flip jumps to get up to speed with my stroking!?!?!? It's like pushing for my consistency for speed.

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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!!!

Go DAncer2!

My wife tried skating Mon (knee surgery end Dec) and did OK until XO's - be careful with them. I still think the pool is where you should work out next. Good luck
Lyle

An Hour Ahead:

Got back my flip and keep my loop. In fact, secondary coach now is pushing for a loop-loop! Secondary coach wasn't too upset with the loop-loop b/c she thought I could do one. B/c she's pushing for a loop-loop, her need for SPEED starting showing up. She's right in that it actually made it easier to do a loop-loop. So I'm gonna keep at it. She also pushed for faster speed on the flip and well, once I was calmer I was landing them again. (I needed to slow down my entry. I was rushing it.)

I told her that I tried for a loop-loop this past Saturday and landed it. She gives this *stern look* and said "Actually I'm not that upset about it. I know you can do a loop-loop. I would be MORE concerned though if you tried for a flip-loop."

An Hour Behind:
She started me on lutz today. And no, there's no wall exercise for it, so I was being "chicken little" going into it. She also said that I am flutzing (going on the inside edge before take-off and she wants me to hold off on the lutz until she fixes this problem.

So much for continuing the streak for surprising my coaches. I knew it had to end sometime.

Her exact instructions this week are "Don't do a flip-loop yet! And don't try for a lutz!" Of course, she knows that I'll be tempted to push myself and do it again. But given the circumstances (and the need to push for faster speed on the loop and the flip...) I think I'll have plenty to keep me out of trouble this week!

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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!!!

Aahh, but there IS a wall exercise for the lutz! It's just for the position and anti-flutz work, though. For a CW skater (picking and landing with left foot), this is it:

Stand on the ice with your right hip against the boards. Reach back with left foot as though you are picking on your lutz. If you are in the correct picking position, only these 3 body parts should be touching the wall: right hip (left for CCW), left foot (right for CCW), left hand (right for CCW). Yes, that's how far you have to be counter-rotated on the picking position! Now practice the same position on a big hockey circle and check to make sure your pick happens on the circle, not outside the circle. On an actual lutz, you'll be on a larger imaginary circle than the hockey circle so you won't have to cross the picking foot quite so far behind the skating foot, but this will give you the idea.

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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

An hour ahead:
I had a 30 minutes group class with Viktoria Volchkova ... granted we only got to do basic stroking and spins but it was really really cool hahaha

After that for my regular lesson I was pretty nice and warmed up and during lesson I ran through my program once. Then we worked on some things to improve. And then did it twice back to back after... he was going to make me go three times but I was kind of dead after the second round... but hey I did complete three programs... and in the three programs combined, I managed two axels, and two double salchows (albeit iffy I remember doing some wierd hoppy, quick leg down? landings) (I popped each once...) so its not too bad ... its alot better than my old track record haha.

We then worked on my flying sit to get (back!) more air time... after some tries I managed to do one good one and then he said that was a fluke! ARGH I know its a gimmick but next lesson that beautiful flying sit is going to be there... haa....

And then I just remembered that my backsit.... I forgot to keep my back upright in it the whole of last night! Its amazing I managed to do any... I have to go back and try that during practise..

P.S. this is with a new coach... not sure if I mentioned, but I decided for a change and its working well so far, he's said things in new ways that's helping my jumps quite a lot and I'm happy (scared lol) that someones pushing me to do back to back programs at last.


An hour behind:

Well that 30 minutes class was supposed to be 2 hours. But... because it was temporary ice and the ice wasn't ready so it got cut short. Too bad I guess, but its still pretty cool that we got 30 minutes at all.

I'm still scared of programs. I shouldn't be but I know that stamina wise, I'm iffy and thats what the back to back run throughs will help me on... but I keep going into them with such a huge sense of dread! How horrifying!

I'm still dropping my shoulders into jumps especially when I'm tired. Its either the left or the right so well yeah I have to keep them level (no matter how tired I am!!!!)

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~
Tidesong

You know that happened to me once when I was on the ice about to start skating my program in an ice show (not even a competition). Because I was slightly nervous, I almost felt like "oh, golly, here I go" instead of being excited. I didn't want to repeat that feeling, so I changed my opening pose to something that felt slightly more exciting (to me, at least), and that seems to have helped.

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http://www.marrow.org
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An Hour Ahead:
Ran through PPMITF with no problems, even managed an on-center Waltz-3.
Same old spins, although I managed three camels without fail.
Demonstrated 'ripping edge' waltz jumps for student; she bailed and slid off the edge. Practice!

An Hour Behind:
Had to do lesson/test paperwork and make lesson arrangements, so I lost out on free ice!
Hockey was cancelled this week, so the rink staff let our freestyle run an extra 20 minutes.

Next week, I have two new private students that I absolutely adore - they're in my group lessons and they're soooo talented and nice. *Very excited*
Have my lesson tomorrow morning, but I can't sleep. Not good.

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An Hour Ahead: My back crossovers have returned- phew! They're no better than they were before they took their unscheduled break but they're back and I will make them better!

Moving LFO3s are actually getting faster than the speed of a lame snail...coach actually exclaimed, "that one was fast!" this morning so I'll take that as a sign of improvement

Finally feeling some progress in my mission to rid myself of my left toe-pickyness in my basic forward stroking- helped by my coach skating behind me shouting "there's nothing wrong with that!".


An Hour Behind: FI3s still skiddy. I'm sure I must look like I'm attempting some kind of bizarre hockey stop rather than anything resembling a turn!

Clare

Another hour ahead for Clare: My husband commented on how good her posture was! It's certainly a lot better than his, but that wouldn't be difficult.

An hour ahead: Lovely crunchy "rip" noise from my blades this morning, first time ever! We were warming up and coming round the end of the rink. And forget 4 pushes - we covered the ice in 3 without even trying!

Good lesson - worked on my step to forwards in the Willow & Swing Dance. Need to keep my weight over the edge longer, and not lurch into the STF.

Showed Clare the steps of the Novice Foxtrot. Let's hope she can walk through it with her coach next time.

An hour behind: Having to do both the Canasta and Fiesta Tangos for this year's dances. This morning we were working on the Canasta to the music and, naturally, kept getting muddled. If I didn't go wrong, he did, and if he didn't go wrong, I did! Sigh..... And another coach - not ours - pointed out to me afterwards that if Husband doesn't keep his hand in the right place, we will be marked down. He needs to straighten his arm more. My coach said I have to remember to keep his hand in the right place, but agreed there's often so many other things to think about!

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

An Hour Behind

DD has a lesson a half hour before I get on the ice....she's crying because she hates her show program ("I Could have Danced all Night"), it looks like a little kid program, the footwork is too hard. Mind you she has only about 10 seconds of it choreographed. Sometimes I think the girl looks for things to be unhappy about.

Okay, what the $A%$&^ happend to my half flip--it used to be my best, my favorite jump. It would be my warm up jump because I wasn't afraid to do it, today I was chickening out of it, walking it. Hmmm, probably because when it was my best jump, I would just muscle through the 3 turn without thinking about it, jam my toe pick in and hope for the best. Now that I'm thinking it through, taking my time with it like the half lutz, it's scaring me.

Cha cha- I get this dance. I got it. I got the timing, even the little half beat on the chasse, I get it except that %&#% (yea the preacher is cussing this morning!) cross step behind.

Dutch Waltz - I think my edges were better, but the pattern was all over the place. I am going to break the record and fail it for the 4th time.

An Hour Ahead - Canasta feels good, I had the timing down, edges were as good as they get for me.

Ran through my freestyle a couple of times, did the waltz jumps, had some decent half flips, leg is hip level both forward and backward spirals, both spins working, practiced curtseying - all systems go.

j

Thanks this is great - same for the Flip??
Lyle

Oh Joelle, I covet that black dress of yours!!!!

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

Ahead (I think): Another 6 minute warm-up, 2 minute wait, then program. After 3 days off the ice and a 6 minute warm-up, it wasn't my best program - my legs were really complaining by the half way point - but I hung on and got all the way through without anything falling apart.

Ahead (fer sure): Coach likes my FXOs, says they have improved .... ok, if she says so. She also commented on the improvement in presentation in the first half of my program (before I started struggling to hold the speed).

Tidesong: Just remember, like I told my coach "Only the first one counts in test or competition"! I sometimes bail on my second run-through if I think it's going to be more harm than good.

I feel your pain Annabelle! I have been skating early mornings since 1 December (up at 3:45 and skate 7 to 9 a.m.). The competition schedule came out recently and my event is around 3 p.m. I need to shift my "peak time" SEVEN hours in the next 2 weeks!

Friday will be a dress rehearsal with video - whoopee (I think).

15 days to competition .......

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