Back on the ice after a week or so break.

Sunny: Although I don't normally dance, coach found out I took a dance class last session at another rink. Since I had covered the Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango during the class, coach started me on the Swing Dance. She's a terrific skater/coach/partner and I almost felt like the Swing Dance was the easiest I'd learned so far. That was until I didn't have her to support me anymore.

Okay, so the mohawk part of the dance is a bit scary when you're not with a partner that's been skating for 35 years.

Rainy: I had done a lot of heavy yard work over the past weekend and my upper leg muscles were so tight that I wasn't sure if I'd ever get any knee bend. Fortunately, I had a half hour to work them out before coach grabbed me for the lesson.

Hi Gary, Welcome back to the ice!

As for me, Sunny: Lots of progress in the last 5 days or so. My coach has been working very hard on teaching me to hold a back outside edge and step forward. I can do it after a good jump, sort of, but not really to his satisfaction. So last Thursday he started teaching me the waltz 8 moves pattern, and on Sunday and yesterday in practice, I could do the part of the 8 that starts with my RFO edge! I'm not quite on pattern, but I can do every step by myself now, and he will be truly shocked to see that this afternoon. Also yesterday for the first time ever, I skated backwards, stepped to a back outside edge and held it, then stepped forward without stopping and did my 3-turn and salchow. That was a big deal for me because I always have had to stop and put my foot down before stepping. He will be shocked again today; I love shocking my coach!

Not really Rainy but sort of, I hated so much in the videotape from my competition, but it's really inspired me to make progress. My forward crossovers are now much less steppy and much smoother, more like the progressive style of crossovers. They feel awkward still, but my coach was shocked last week at the improvement, and I've had 3 more days of practice, so... we'll see what he says.

I hope I'll make it to my lesson... my poor cat stopped eating yesterday, I think because of a tooth problem, and I'm taking her to the vet first... Poor little thing.

Happy skating everyone.
Pat

Totally rainy: Planned to go to practice tonight, but there was a power cut (very unusual here), and I didn't like to leave the house until I knew whether or not my computer was all right (I'd been in the middle of using it when the power went down). Thankfully, it was, but no skating for me!

However, it's so hot that even the health freaks in the newspapers are saying "Don't even think about taking exercise" - they've forgotten that ice-rinks are blissfully cool......

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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!

Foggy: The ice rink. We have ben having terrible humidity for the last week and the dehumidifiers at the rink can't handle it, so the eraly morning sessions have a heavy fog. You can't see the other end of the rink. Also the water is condensing on the ceiling and falling to the ice and developing stalagmites, another great thing to trip over. there could have been an oil tanker in there for all I know with the low visibility.

In spite of it all, the lesson was very sunny!! We worked on figure 8 crossovers, back and forward, alternating 3-turns, inside and outside edge spirals, power 3's and finished off with spins. Not bad for a half hour. Coached was pleased!! Next week we are going for an hour lesson since it will be my last before going to Lake Placid. She will develop a long lists of things that she wants me to practice up there during adult skate week. As she says, you will have plenty of practice ice and have plenty of things to fill your time with.

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

Sunny: jumps were okay, moved up to the senior session so there's lots of space to skate..

rainy : skills :S

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beks~
"winning isn't everything... wanting to is."

" the only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary"

"It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at pracitce that counts; it's what you put into the practice."

Sunny: Back in the rink from August 20th!


Rainy: Waiting...


Anybody else only able to skate in the autumn/winter/spring?

I can find ice time in the summer, but it's much more limited. For the next couple of weeks, I'll be stuck with one session a week. How am I ever going to learn a quad if I don't get more practice time?

WOO HOO!!!! Starting September 8th, Fall sessions begin. More ice time.

Sunny - my edges are better and I'm starting to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Can finally do double 3s with enough flow on teh back 3 to glide into the next one, woo hoo. Had a good fun lesson working on edges, no jumping or spinning - see Rainy.

Rainy - my left leg continues to hurt this time from a fall I had, I somehow caused a muscle "bunch" or "knot" on the spot where you bottom meets your leg, painful, I've had pain radiating down my leg for a while now so I guess a nerve was being pinched, it feels a little better.

MRS. REDBOOTS - I made your fish pie [that I got from the fish thread in the non skating part of the board] it was great!! I think I'll add capers next time.

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Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

Sunny: for the first half hour, I was the only one on the ice, and it had also just been freshly resurfaced! It was so nice to skate on. My stroking and crossovers were all very good, I also practiced all the turns and pivots etc. Spirals were good. I tried LFO a couple of times, and think my leg was as high as when on a flat, so that was great. The edge felt secure too.

Rainy: went downhill later on. 2 kids and their coach came on, which was ok, but later on I noticed a bunch of elite skaters in the bar above, eating and watching the session, and I know it's stupid but I felt like I was completely rubbish. I don't like trying to work on hard elements in front of skaters who are so much better than me. Am I being stupid? I just didn't have any motivation or confidence at all, and I kept thinking that I wished they weren't watching. My spins are travelling all over the place - the entries are not good, but I don't know how to fix it. I didn't try one jump. Towards the end, I started to practice past step sequences that I've written down, but I ended up getting off the ice a bit early. I've only had one lesson in over four months and I feel like my progress is going backwards, and I feel like I should be a lot better than I am, particularly at elements. The only thing that seems to be still improving is my stroking technique, and also sometimes pivots and some turns. I guess I'm just feeling a bit downhearted about my skating. I checked the timetable too, and because of a bunch of skating camps that are going on, there's only one practice session next week (1hr long) and there aren't ANY the week after!

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

Rainy: I am also without a rink for the summer. But that makes skating in the fall so much more fun!

Virtually everyone I skate with on freestyle sessions is better to much better than me and to be honest they have always been really kind, share the ice and offer tips sometimes. I'm talking people working ATLEAST on their axel and one guy last night was doing triples and triple/doubles. It's normal to feel a little self-conscious when being watched but you're all there because you love skating and next time just try to tell your self that, I've found most other skaters are not critical but helpful and encouraging. It took me atleast 3 free style session with the much better skaters before I realized nobody really cared what I was doing and then I could finally practice my jumps and spins so I know where you're coming from.

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Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

icenut84--

I've had a similar experience to JDC1--I'm usually the most beginner skater on a freestyle session and everyone is flying past me. I've also *never* had an experience where an older or more advanced skater has ever said anything negative or given me funny looks. I can understand how you feel, though, because when I did ballet a lot, I went through a period where I was very self-conscious (and didn't even want my mom watching) during classes. But think of it like this--when you watch someone less advanced than you, you probably aren't thinking a flood of negative, terrible thoughts about that skater--and so the elite skaters watching probably likewise aren't thinking terrible things about you. (They may not even be paying attention to you--have you ever had a conversation with someone at the rink and you're both looking at the skaters but absorbed in conversation that has nothing to do with what's going on on the ice?)

And like JDC1 said, anyone else who's actually on the ice may not be paying much attention to what you're doing--they're so busy working on their own stuff. When I'm in group lesson, I have NO CLUE what my friends in other level groups have worked on, even though we're on the same ice--I'm so busy trying to stay vertical and get the hang of what I'm working on!

Rainy
Finally back from camping and I can only fit in skating one day a week because we have so much to do to get the house ready to sell.

Sunny
The ice felt really strange after my three weeks off, and back crossovers took a while to come around, but they did finally. Spins were sooo good. I did the best ever one foot spin from a wind up. It was really controlled and at least four revs. Don't think I made much progress in anything else, but did find that my F and B cross strokes have not deserted me.

Sunniest
My daughter is returning to the ice! She landed her axel on the first try after not having skated at all in at least six months. She's a bit compulsive, so she kept doing them and didn't fall until about the fourteenthe or fifteenth one. She dabbled a bit with her Intermediate moves, enough for me to see that she hasn't lost any ground there either. Ahhh, youth!

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Icenut, I've been on the ice with US national level skaters doing huge triples. At first I felt uncomfortable, but then I realized that they are doing their thing the same as I am (although I tried my best to stay out of their way LOL). The elite kids have never snubbed me or been rude or obnoxious. Never have they laughed at me -- they probably couldn't fathom their mom's skating (recently I fell at the feet of a teenager who was flabbergasted - especially since I got up, smiled at her, and did the jump again!) so they probably think any adult that does it is ok. They may laugh in private, but who cares about that????

On the flip side, last year on an adult only skate I was told that I scared some of the other skaters because I was too fast and jumped too high. I didn't understand this at all, because I know I can avoid a much slower skater. Then I skated with the triple jumping elite kids and I kind of understood. I only go to that one session if I want to socialize -- never for serious practice.

As for the leson/practices:

Sunny - the 2Toe is THIS close. I finally got the idea embedded into my brain to shift my weight over the right side and cross my freeleg. Until now, my 2Toe hasn't felt like it could double -- now it does. Did a fully rotated, crossed foot double in the harness in my lesson today. There is hope!!!

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Sunny: After a two week hiatus, it felt great to skate again...I was so tired driving to the rink, but once I was on I felt strong and happy Scratch spins went particularly well, along with some moves in the field. Finished up with a very comfy 8-step mohawk sequence...ahhh....

Rainy: Fell on a salchow but not a bad fall. I'm doing some weird things out there when it comes to jumps.....

Sunny: The European! I FINALLY feel good about my three turns, and the whole dance in general! It's definitely more shaky on my own than when I'm being partnered; but I feel confident about it, and I feel a big sigh of relief for test day on Friday. I know it will be ready. The 14-step and Tenfox were also good. I've got the steps down, and am just working on speed. Whew!

Rainy: There were some people on the ice tonight who would NOT move, even if I was in a lesson or doing a pattern to my music, and they were just kind of standing there picking their butt.

Rachel - the elite kids are almost always helpful and courteous, as long as you don't get in their way too often! As for your spin entries, you're probably rushing them, and pulling in too soon....

Anyway, today:

Sunny: Robert and I went down to the rink early, and we played our music, and it sounds great on the rink's sound system! It is a bit noisy, though, and I can't get it better, no matter what I do (I expect the sound card in this machine isn't that good, I don't know), so I've asked my coach to clean it up for us. He likes doing that sort of thing! So Robert and I skated for an hour together, working on choreography for it. Various friends were on the ice who aren't usually there on a Wednesday, which was nice. One of the young women I normally skate with has gone to the South of France to skate in a show on plastic ice, and, the youngest in the company and her very first show, has been made a principal and an assistant coach! My lesson went really well; I actually managed to find some edges when going backwards, and my Swing Dance Mohawk developed a bit of speed.

Rainy: My best friend had a really nasty fall and bruised her knee and hands quite badly. I fed her Rescue Remedy and stuff, and we went and had some iced tea in the café by the station after the session, which was very nice.

Himself (husband, not coach!) was being very annoying about the choreography; he kept saying I wasn't doing it the same way twice. Well, of course I wasn't, I was trying to work out what was going to work! Plus the recording isn't (yet) good enough for me to make a tape of it and have the tape in my Walkman, so I was trying to hum the music and work out what went where at the same time. But we have got some lovely sequences, if only we can get them fast enough. But himself kept saying "But we're only pushing here; we aren't doing anything", not realising that that was the default until we knew what we were going to do! Men......

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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!

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I'm not technically an adult skater (I'm 19), and I'd guess a similar age to the elite skaters I was talking about. I know it's probably daft to compare myself to other skaters but I couldn't help it The lack of progress and lesson-time was just getting to me, and I was really annoyed about the spin entries because I've spent so long trying to *get* them, then I finally did, now they're gone again. I'll keep skating though...

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

Uh.... What is Rescue Remedy?

Gary, I would make that 3 fingers of Scotch!!!

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

Mmmmmmm..... Glenfiddich !!!!!!

Around here you find that stuff in health food stores or Fresh fields. I think it's different combination of herbs in a liquid form that supposed to do all sorts of things.

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Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

Sunny: I am so ready for test day!! I feel even more confident about these dances than I did about my Jr. Bronze, now that I'm comfortable with all the three turns. All my dances felt great today...had good speed and flow. One more lesson tomorrow, and then test day, here I come!

Rainy: I left the session a bit early, because I was so fed up with having to dodge freeskaters. It was pretty much impossible to do a whole circuit unless I was with my coach. So I worked on lots of three-turns and edge work in isolation. Tomorrow night I'll be back on a skills/dance session, so I'm sure that will be much better.

Sunny: Started on my new interpretive program. My coach really liked my idea, and we're looking forward to presenting the program. My doubles also went well, and it was a good chance to get to the larger rink and have room to skate!

Rainy: Still having problems with pulled groin. More pt today.

Sunny: Got to skate Tuesday (Yesterday Aug. 5th). Even though I wasn't on club ice, Tecumseh Arena just let me do whatever I felt like doing jumps, spins and all. Waltz jumps, still have them. Salchow, got it back after 3 tries. Toe loop somehow is back even though I was having problems with it this past spring. Forward spin, I didn't count the rotations today but I was blurring them again. There were a few songs that were neat to jam with on the radio during the 2 hour session. One time during Tuesday's public session, I did a LFO spiral and then a RFI op mo to do a LBI spiral into a salchow. Pretty neat feeling. Going to use this in my program this year.

Rainy: Skated on public ice and had to weave through beginner/rec skaters and hockey boys chasing each other not looking where they were going. This cause me to use thoughs extra eyes in the back of my head we moms have and had to stop many times in my tracks. Didn't have the space for combination jumps. Loop jump doesn't seem to be working as I somehow mess up and land on my left foot instead of my right foot. Flip isn't cranking all the way around and dies. Sitspin starts but I don't stay down long enough to count. They could have picked a better radio station.

Brigitte

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

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