Limber-
Coach is noticing improvement on the accursed sit spin.

Stiff-
Jumps are still not working well. I've lost a lot of weight in the last couple of months and I swear it is wrecking havoc on my jumps.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

wierd, kinda same here, but I could do the splits when young and I got my dad to help me with the cartwheel... I practised up to the one hand thing then I lost it. I now need both hands for it. Still it wasn't so much with friends, my extended family was the one happily encouraging me to do those things from time to time lol.

Stiff:
Knee... right knee its much better but get stiff ish. Still favouring it. Going to be remain as cautious as possible on it.

Limber:
Spins still exist? Well most things are pretty ok. Ice conditions are deteriorating again... mad season (want ice but don't get good ice) approaches.

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~
Tidesong

Limber Did ONE perfect scratch spin today. Man I wish I could spin like that all the time.

-Coach said sit spin was "really good 'for an adult'" Now normally, this is a backhanded compliment, but I only learned the sit spin yesterday, so not too shabby I don't think.

Stiff My left leg about 2 inches above my ankle hurts really really bad. No idea why.

My laces didn't fall off today but got REALLY lose, even though I'm lacing over the hooks instead of under.


YAY me with a crappy but "good for an adult" sit spin. My ultimate goal is bronze tests- so that sit spin is important.

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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)

Newly sharpened blades

Limber: My edges more much more secure. Mohawks are improving immensely, and backwards crossovers aren't as scratchy now. I'm still scared to death about falling on the CCW BXOs. Oh, and my group lesson turned into a private lesson since I was the only one there.

Stiff: My two-foot spin was nonexistent . My edges were very grabby. And stopping was difficult (but still possible!!) Hopefully this is just temporary until the blades dull up a bit.

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My Blog - FINALLY updated!
Living out my childhood dream

Woohoo, do I still have a chance? Please, just the double will do, I promise to be good!

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~~~~~
Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
~~~~~

Limber: Spent the first bit of my session fixing the sound system at the rink - after numerous MEN had screwed it up It is now working fine

Stiff: Still in the physical doldrums - not much working good today except a couple of upright spins that really clicked and a few Waltz jumps that caught some good air. (Geez, maybe the old broad is actually going to be able to do REAL jumps one day!)

Worked on back edges and "off side 3-turns" (I spin and jump clockwise so counterclockwise turns are harder for me than clockwise, ergo "off side".) Pretty pathetic!

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

Still waiting on definite news about the rink re-opening . . . maybe 1st public session on Sunday or Monday?? Got the freestyle ice schedule and there have been some changes that I don't think are going to go over well . . . freestyle sessions in the past lasted 45 minutes each with (usually) 2 sessions back to back with a discount for the second if you wanted to skate both. Now they are requiring freestyle sessions of 1 1/2 hours each at a cost that is higher than it was before . . . ah well, beggars can't be choosers . . . but I am afraid that if attendance drops because of the changes, then management will cut back on the ice time . . . hopefully not. I already warned our coach that we will probably have to switch DS' lessons to public sessions and she is OK with that, thank goodness. (it's not just the cost, but also that 45 minutes of high intensity freestyle practice is about all 9-year-old DS is good for! and I would be not too happy if he was goofing off at those prices!! ).

Oh, and there *ARE* group lessons planned for the adults . . . starting in October . . . hopefully it won't be just ME . . .may have to round up a few more AOSS "victims" !

I hear ya!!!! Way to go on the PERFECT scratch spin too!

I read somewhere just yesterday (maybe somewhere on this board?) about someone needing new laces because hers were stretched out and falling off her skate hooks. So, maybe it's the laces, and you might need to get new ones?
And congrats on the perfect scratch spin!!

Limber - literally - yoga and weight training lately have me feeling 25 again! yippie! because of that my MIF are really getting better. Dang right inside 3 (yes I'm a CW skater) is really improving, almost feeling relaxed.

Also, got 3 revs on a camel spin.

Stiff - Back spin still looks like a series of 3 turns (altho now I have nice LBO3's - ha).

ROFL!!

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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

Stiff: Me, this week. Haven't been doing as much yoga, etc. and I can really feel it!

Got my blades sharpened for the first time in about 8 months - they were really dull and I was feeling really unstable - now they are so sharp there is virtually no flow (push! push!) but everything feels a LOT more stable so that is good I guess.

Limber: Skated at the mall rink which is literally 5 minutes from my house yesterday and actually had a good time - met a couple of friends there unexpectedly and had an okay practice. It helps that they are cutting the ice more often and there were only 5 or 6 of us on the ice. I may have to go there more often!

Back to my old hockey rink this morning - very quiet and the guys there had the classical station on so the four of us that were there just enjoyed the quiet calm of a nice session. So glad the kids are back in school (although I do like them!).

Hmm. I know this is meant to be a practice thread, but somehow I always end up talking about the ice, the people, etc. - just practicing the same old stuff I guess. Don't really find myself wanting to work on Silver Moves, that's for sure... maybe pre-Gold dances?

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

Stiff: It has been a BUSY 3 weeks so I decided to take the day off and do a rare Friday session – sneak in an extra practice without my coach knowing. Well, that worked until my coach showed up for another student

Worked on back edges, upright spins, sit spins, Waltz jump, and 3 turns.

Limber: Holy mackerel, the sit spins actually started coming together! They are going to be stronger and faster than my upright spins (which are constantly improving). Now all I have to do is EXIT the sit spin looking like I am in control

Stiff: Yup, that's me after skating 4 days in a row

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

Limber:
FO and FI threes are much better and more controlled. On the FO threes, I am so very, very close to checking good enough to get back to the line on the Prelim alt three pattern. As an exercise, I've been starting on the center hockey circle 1/4 of the way before the red line and doing the turn on the line, trying to hold the exit edge for another 1/4 circle so that my entire lobe is half a circle.

Stiff:
Spins! I just could not tighten up all the required muscles at the same time today! I really have to start exercising off ice if I am ever going to be good at this. I'm just too old to build enough strength by skating practice alone. As an exercise for spins, my coach had me do a LFO edge with R shoulder back, back to the circle and hold it all the way around one complete circle. It wasn't easy.

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Oh man!!! I'd be closer to getting the splits if I was able to loosen up more with the deep tissue massage! I was making such good progress then my guy closed up shop. I haven't found anyone else as good...and I tighten right back up. It's frustrating like anything!
I have never been able to do splits, but could do cartwheels, flips, and roundoffs. Once, I thought I was Nadia or Olga (remember waaaay back) and had my own balance beam in the back yard (way up high also) and used to do cartwheels on it I'm lucky I didn't kill myself!!!!

let's not talk about the trick riding I used to do or the time I broke 3 ribs and never told my parents...........

Ok, on to what I did on Wednesday:
Limber: my jumps, mostly. We worked on my arm position because I keep forgetting where they were supposed to be. Ran through the loop and it was thiiiiiiis close!!!! Coach really liked my height and rotation! I am getting there! Then, miracle of miracles, she fixed my spin! Again, we did the heel pressing down trick, and the other thing that had to be fixed was my free leg position. I was bringing it around too quickly so I kept it back longer and that seemed to work! I went from 2-3 revs (isn't that pathetic?) to about 10. My rocker is still messed up (flat) but this is doable.

Stiff: my back. A combination of too long between chiro visits, my killer classes on Monday, and moving furniture on Tuesday; my back siezed up and got tighter than anything...and very painful! So, in addition to working on the scratch spin, we worked (or tried) on sit spins. So, I'm going on 3 seasons of attempts. Fell over a few times on them. I don't know why I have a hard time doing them. I can get into the position off-ice. When I try on-ice, I have such a mental thing and I can't....it's stupid and i hate it! That was the only bad thing going on Wednesday night. It was frustrating to both of us.

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

That may have been me-- my laces just kept popping off at random times. Right now, I have one boot with a new lace and one boot with the old, and I can definitely say that it's a big difference-- the new ones are secure and stay under the hooks when I move while the old ones still threaten to unhook (I need to replace the lace in the other boot now that the "test lacing" has been proven out).

Limber: PB moves are starting to feel more solid, as is the freestyle portion. Since I can spin in both directions, I'm going to test my one foot and two foot spins in both directions "for the heck of it", and my toe loop has been... not so bad.

Stiff: My CCW spin has been yuck these past two days... it's been hit or miss on centering. But tommorrow, it can be my CW spin that goes wonky. I hate being inconsistent.

That #$@%$@$% waltz 8 How the H-e-double hockey sticks am I supposed to practice this? Seriously-- every time I start the pattern, regardless of how empty the ice is, someone or their coach skates right towards me and I'm forced to yield. I've had more luck practicing this on public session. IMHO, if they want people to test patterns like this, rinks should be required to have patch sessions of a sort, because no one on freestyle yields!
And on the same vein... I get freestyle rules. I yield to coaches and students (to the best of my ability) and I try to yield to skaters on program. But I pay the same price for the ice-- so why is it so hard for coaches not to direct their students right into me when I'm working on moves? It's not like I'm doing something unpredictable. Most coaches are okay (I even had one apologize for his student cutting me off, even though it wasn't his fault), but others have done it to the point of being obnoxious. If I go clear across the rink to avoid you and your student, please don't follow me, especially if the ice is empty!

/end rant

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When asked what his "secret" to success was, Wayne Gretsky said: "Skate to where the puck is going and not to where it has been."
Is the figure skating version of this: Skate as if you're doing an axel and not just learning how to hop?

you know, this seems to happen everywhere! Although at my rink (luckily) only 2-3 coaches are repeat offenders and only with 1-2 students (their more advanced ones). I have a problem with the KIDS following me and getting in my way.

I buck down and tell them "I'm going to the other side to practice. Please don't interrupt me while I'm working on my moves" and that seems to be working so far.

But I almost got knocked by two kids practicing their routine-I suggested they look where they were going. They said they didn't have to-they were in a program! No coach....so we had a quick review of the rules.... Don't worry, I was nice. For now!!!

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

Limber: I had my first lesson in 9 years today!! It went well...I kept forgetting that while I have skated, I haven't really skated seriously or with a coach for so long. While I hurt now, I am sooooo happy!! Coach commented that my form and posture were really good Did moves in the field which went okay

Stiff: Well, it was hard to remember that it's okay to not do everything perfectly. But I wasn't feeling the perimeter stroking with the back power 3s, or the back double 3s from moves, and then just jumping was not going very well...

Here's what I tell my students when they say "I can't" - "You can't yet!"


Some coaches just seem oblivious to what is going on except for the lesson they are giving. I was on the ice with another coach (a coworker) who was teaching a "group" of one. There was one other skater on the ice, and when she came towards us, clearly doing an Intermediate move that needed to go exactly where we were standing, he didn't notice, and the poor kid had to detour. This coach is otherwise a very nice person. It was all I could do not to interrupt and say "let's move for her".

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Well, I guess it's neither... but I am now working on my artistic program. (It's a "Limber" for secondary coach, who is anxious to see how this program comes out of the wash when it's done.)

Stiff:
Problem with the program is that I'm a tad shy and this program requires me to be "flashy, flamboyant and a bit flirty!" It's to the point where everyone else is shakin' their booty for me rather than me shakin' my own...

Limber:
The beginning of the program is started to set just a tad.

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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!!!

You know, jazz, these programs are a good way for us to "act up or act out"!!!! Put on your acting hat and pretend you are someone else if that works.

I had to wear a rubber ducky swim ring and shake my booty for our summer ice show.....how's that for acting (and i'm 45 years old!!!!)

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

Stiff: Oh, yes, that left ankle is indeed!

Limber: But hey, the more I skate on it (yesterday was skate #3; a short, no-effort skate on Sunday at synchro practice was #2) the more limber & strong it will get.

Stiff: DEFINITELY no jumping for a while (L foot lander/CW jumper). Can't hold an outside edge on the left foot to save my life. So unless I switch back to CCW--which isn't totally out of the question, as I either have no preference or no talent (!!) CW vs CCW--no jumping.

Limber: Could mostly get through my PB moves, although I don't feel confident yet to do to 3-turn pattern.

Stiff: Nasty little double "on the flat" lines on LBO and LFO "edges." Grrr!!! Gonna take a while to get my ankle strong enough to really tilt onto that edge.

Limber: Very, very wonderful changes at rink, with new management now in place: (1) TONS of public skating, 7 days a week & twice--wait, no, thrice!--on Fridays; yesterday it was just me and dance buddy (and he was probably alone as I left after an hour) (2) Satellite radio!! They were playing some blues station, with no commercials thank you very much, instead of the schlocky pop they used to play; (3) nice ice; may have just been a coincidence, but I hope it means the Zamboni drivers are taking more care lately. Oh, and (4) FIFTEEN people on our adult synchro team this season! I hope everyone can stick with it.

Limber:
-found out that my most recent axel issues are due to OVER rotation! I had been trying harder when my axel broke down, but it turns out I need to try less hard!
-really started to understand the concept of the double salchow- it's only a bell jump now, but...
-September is "back camel" month, and mine is really starting to get stronger! I can do the change camel and flying camel pretty strongly now, and can do a catch spin for both.

Stiff:
-still really having a tough time getting that axel consistent
-my back sit spin and combination spins are really weak- I think they each need a month!
-when can I take my Intermediate moves??? I need a good test session that won't make me take off from work or interfere with my closing/ moving into my new house!

Really Limber:
Yankees, 9, Red Sox 8 WOOHOO!

Muscle ache from yesterday's MIF practice here! Surreal!!!

Limber:
Dance coach says my dutch waltz and canasta tango are ready to test. Now to just find a partner.

Stiff:
Timing on rhythm and blues stinks.
Walked on the ice with my blade guards on. Got two strong pushes in before I totally wiped out.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal