Jumping: My jumps were so much more consistant this morning. I landed my axel seq. and my 2sal. Yay!

Tripping: My spins sucked. My sit spin was okay, but sit-bk sit-sit was wobbly and off-center by the last sit. My back sit is not low enough, and I'm not square on the last sit... My other combo (camel-sit-bk sit) isn't faring much better. The fact that my camel is on vacation isn't helping either.

Jumping: I get to do flying sits later today! I haven't done these in a while, but they are definately more fun then flyingn camels and I can kind of do them.

Tripping: The person I asked to pick up my skates last week got drunk and forgot... So now I have to go later today before going to practice again.

TRIPPING
. . . over blades yesterday, since I'd just gotten them sharpened, and not by my usual guy. It was a little embarrassing.
- I'm apparently still learning disabled when it comes to reverse camels. I also got very goofy on my reverse sitspin entries the more I did them, even though I had done the first one I tried just perfectly. What's up with that?

JUMPING
- After losing my double sal last year, I shelved it and I hadn't even tried one for the past two months. Yesterday I forced myself to try one and, amazingly, landed it cleanly on the first try!
- I got help on my change-edge spiral from a new skating friend (a Masters skater) and it seems to have fixed the problem I've been struggling with for the past week.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Jumping:

Camel spins!
I've been struggling with consistency with these for a while now so, I had a friend watch me attempt one. She said that my torso was getting into position, but my leg was still just kind of hanging there causing me to lose all of the momentum. So, now I think of kicking my free leg up as soon as I step in and voila!

Silver moves.
My coach is having me start back to work on Silver moves and really focusing on the things the judges didn't like when I tested them last month. The new blades are helping with the 3s in the field quite a bit, as well as some technique changes we're making on them (I was trying to be too figures-esque before, which was making it difficult for me to really get on my edges). We also worked on getting more knee and ankle bend on the power pulls. I can do it halfway decently on my right foot, but my left foot is another story altogether. I'm going to really have to work on that side to get it going!

New program!
We started choreographing my Silver test (and eventual competition) program and I LOVE it so far! I definitely have the opportunity to show some attitude and have fun!

Tripping:

Jumps.
I'm still working on getting my jumps back after 3 weeks off the ice and getting new blades. I'm having a little bit of trouble getting used to where I should be on the blade, but I'm sure I'll figure that out with time.

__________________
I've got mad salchow disease!

Jumping: SORTED OUT MY FI/FO THREES. No more brackets (though my coach was a bit surprised today to find out I can just about do a bracket on my right foot - don't ask me which direction)! I have to really think about what I'm doing, but they're coming along already and I'm really proud of what I accomplished today.

Tripping: EEEWWWW, the scraping on my BXOs is really disturbing me - and why oh why can't I do a bunny hop at something REMOTELY resembling speed....

Almost tripping: rink was FULL of ankle biters by 1500 today - how HIDEOUS. I don't mind the older kids; at least they (1) stay out of center ice and (2) go the right direction. By my thinking, it's really never too early to learn rink etiquette, but what can you do??

Tripping: I still can't get the choctaw in the Kilian!!! Which is bad...because I have a dance lesson with my partner tomorrow and he's very very picky about my choctaw...ahhh... I also don't push nearly hard enough on my skills and my coach said I need a lot more power if I want to test them any time soon...but she did tell me afterwards that she was impressed at how much my skills have improved over the summer!

And I hate my axel...

Jumping: The rest of my jumps!!! My double toe was ok...not as good as it was last week, so my coach only saw me land one, but she still saw that it got better since my last lesson And my double loop was only 1/4 cheated today! And my position in the air was reallllly nice. My double flip was also pretty good today...I wasn't falling nearly as hard because my coach made me pretend I was doing a double loop while I was actually doing a double flip...somehow that worked lol and that somehow helped!!

Also, my layback was really good today!!! I felt like I was actually leaning backwards instead of my usual awkward position in that spin

Most definitely tripping: I fell on Saturday and managed to intersect the tail of my blade with the thigh of the other leg. (But somehow the two pairs of tights are okay.) I took a picture of the bruise to e-mail to a friend and then I realized that friend usually has bruises 10x worse, so no point to it! Anyhow, it didn't hurt as I was going pretty fast and just slid on the ice.

Jumping: I just LOVE LOVE LOVE the sharpening I have on my blades. This last time they came back from the sharpener feeling really great straightaway.

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

Jumping: I went and picked up my new skates today and started breaking them in tonight. It wasn't too bad, except that (a) the toe-pick FREAKS ME OUT - pro to pattern 99!!! - (b) I have really scratchy spins (c) my sit spins got much higher and (d) my legs hurt...

Tripping: I did, however, manage to gouge a huge hole in the ice down to the sand... I tried to deny it (I thought only a chip came out...), but my coach made me fess up. I guess my picking leg is bent and I never really noticed it. Well, now I know.

Jumping: Besides from that unfortunate accident, all my toe jumps were HUGE AND AMAZING!!! My flip was so big that my coach applauded me! . And my luzt felt much more secure. My toe-loop even worked!!! Yay! I even landed a few 2sals in my new boots. (Fell on one axel attempt and 2footed the other really badly though...)

Jumping:
ME!!! ME!!! ME!!!! My loops are quite stable tonight. My flip was pretty decent (nice pop and knee lift and a tiny bit more speed.) THEN I tried the lutz... then another... then another. By the time I landed FIVE LUTZES CLEAN, I was ESTATIC!!!

I finally managed to get a decent enough back power 3's entry into a loop!!! YAY ME!!!

Oh, and my sit spins was pretty low (I had eyewitnesses to this!!!)

It's still not perfect but I'm finally conquering that dreaded camel spin!!! I got a few good ones that I think primary coach would be happy with. Secondary coach, OTOH, will be much tougher to please!

Tripping:
Almost did... and over something stupid like GLIDING!!! I think I must have been tired from all that good skating tonight!!!

The new jump combo that I am practicing (waltz-half loop-salchow) was okay. Didn't have enough flow yet.

__________________
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!!!

Flying: Two clean progran run throughs, axels landed both times. We tweaked a few things here and there and I like the results.

Crashing: Double salchows are RIGHT there...this two footing business is really annoying!

__________________
"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

Jumping: We now have a free dance once more, and we now have a Variation Rhythm Blues!

Tripping: Had to get petrol on the way home, and forgot that I'd no change of clothes with me, so had to walk right through the convenience store at the petrol station (the tills, naturally, are right at the back) in my lightest practice-skirt....

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

Been having a fun time working on the free dance, coach made the hydroblade much easier for me by being very exact on where he wants me during this move, made it much easier and I come out of it in a better position. This is actually an assisted death spiral, Aaron just bends to the hydroblade I lock my body straight, if I bend anywhere its over.

Free skating and moves are coming along, choctaws are good but currently we are working on the quickness of the step after the deep outer edge. Getting better overall.

Skated my free skate program clean with all spins and jumps done, including my walley. Of course I have no doubles or even an axel but still making it through a 3:10 program that is very quick is not as easy as I thought it would be...I really like my music , "Appalichan Spring" and I like the way the program flows. Coach was very happy, and it is nice to be able to skate again.

__________________
Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r

Tripping: No patch (freestyle) ice this morning due to hockey camp. Then public session was half ice due to a 'corporate event' - a corporate event that didn't start until an hour and a half into the session. Had we had full ice the session wouldn't have been too bad for school holidays, but instead everyone was confined in a smaller space, including the usual small children not looking where they were going (including the one who decided to do a spin right in the path of me practicing runs on a circle), skating straight across the middle of the rink and just going in completely the opposite direction to everyone else totally oblivious to the people dodging out of their way. I hate summer holidays.

And needless to say, they don't charge you half price for half ice.

Jumping: Decided to be brave and have my lesson anyway. Didn't cover very much due to the conditions (and the ice surface was rubbish by then as well), and can't claim to have done anything well, but there was a time when I would have refused to have a lesson under those circumstances. So that's an improvement...I think.

Tripping: my double sal was soooo weird today! I just couldn't seem to rotate at all...and my axel wasn't so great...

Jumping:My double loop and double flip were nice!!! And a friend of mine wanted to come watch me skate and she video taped me, so I've actually got some videos of me skating!!! lol sadly she only caught one of my double loops though....AND I had a dance lesson with my partner today, and he finally started skating the Kilian with me! Except he skates with SOOOO much power and his edges are crazy deep, and so it's so scary and like intimidating to skate a fast dance with him!!! lol

Tripping
-Nasty fall on a double flip. I landed, but either my ankle or knee caved and my knee got all twisted. I'm worried about my MCL and meniscus as I've already torn both of those...That same fall also sent my blade into my upper outer thigh area. I hadn't even noticed that I sat on my blade until I was almost off the ice. I said "ow, I think I sat on my blade" and my coach goes "Yeah....I was trying not to laugh..."
-My knee bend is frustrating. Since my boots are too stiff, I have a hard time getting the ankle bend necessary to get good KNEE bend. Since I have rather long legs, it makes my skating look even stiffer.

Skipping
-I'm really, really working on said knee bend on my jumps and crossovers, and I think I'm making progress when it comes to my axel. They felt absolutely huge this afternoon, but I can't be sure without video...
-My moves FEEL good. Im still terrified about testing tomorrow, but they're definitely better than last time.
-My second program run through was much better than my first. I'm really trying to focus on the flow and knee bend, and the other skaters said it showed.
-We did some fun stuff in camp today. We did inside counters/rockers in a cool pattern. It was RFI rocker (or counter), step to a R over L crossover, then step forward to LFI rocker (or counter), L over R crossover and so on. At the top of the rink we did the novice FI BI 3s when we did rockers and the novice rocker/choctaw steps for the counters.

__________________
Youtube Videos

GOOD LUCK!!

Don't worry, all you needed was to be a little more comfortable with those moves, and now you are. So just stay in the moment and take one move at a time and you will be absolutely fine this time. It's good that you were doing all those rockers and counters today because it will make you realize how easy your test moves have become for you.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

A little more confidence and a long sleeve dress lol. I bet I'm still going to freeze...For my FS, do you think it would be OK to wear a basic dress? It's very nice, but not stoned or anything. It's the dress I plan to test my moves in. My competition dress is spaghetti strap, and this is a 7.30 AM session, so it's gonna be COLD!

And I MUCH prefer all those rockers and counters to the stupid preliminary moves! I hate em I hate em I hate em *throws minor temper tantrum* The higher level moves are at least more FUN too.

__________________
Youtube Videos

Jumping: Attending a skating camp this week. Tons of fun. We did a synchro routine and I really really really wish there were an adult synchro team in this area. It was SOOOO much fun!!! As a side note, I'm the ONLY adult in the skating camp...by a long shot. but that's ok. I'm short, so height wise I fit in. I just look really fat next to skinny little kids and tweens.

My salchow today was springy after it took a week's vacation. I even did some decent ones from a 3-turn (I typically enter salchows from a mohawk).
Did some nice toe-loops, and played around with arm positions on my waltz jump.

Tripping: Tripping. literally. I wasn't even doing anything. I was standing on the ice, which was just zambonied, and fell backwards. I foolishly braced myself with my wrist and nearly sprained it. I also popped my shoulder and got a nice bruise on my behind. and I kept skating.

Spins suck terribly, but the ice was really hard. I spun better during the camp that had soft, smooth ice. I blame the ice today.

__________________
My Blog - FINALLY updated!
Living out my childhood dream

Jumping: Ran through our free dance to the music for the first time since we changed it. Still a bit rough, but it's coming!

I do love these warm summer mornings when one can skate in just a T-shirt!

Tripping: Spent almost my entire solo lesson on stepping to forward, as in British Waltz (or just about anywhere else, for that matter). I canNOT get my weight in the right place so as not to go up on my toe and still do everything else! If my weight is right, I can't push into the next step, and my shoulders don't move round as they should to enable my partner to do whatever he needs to. If my my shoulders go round, my foot is in the wrong place and I go up on my toe. More kneebend helps, but that's not always easy to achieve "in anger"! Sigh....

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

They don't judge your costume, just your program! As long as you look presentable, wear what makes you feel comfortable. I've seen girls do FS tests in their program dresses (because they use the same music) and others do them in just a plain velvet dress.



Jumping Good lesson yesterday. I wrote a lot in my journal, so I won't write it all here. I had a good go at loops (not jump loops, the figure-like kind) which was really fun. My new blades are practically silent on the ice. So weird! I can get all 8 edges just fine, and have all my 3 turns (at least to the extent I had them) and have the mohawks better than yesterday, but not back all the way yet.

Tripping Still can't spin at all- really need to figure out how to get on and stay on that sweet spot. I'm a bit scared to jump because the landing is different. Forward and backward crossovers are still ackward.

Flat on my face This might be cart before the horse, but my coach has season football tickets. For the 4 weeks before my test- 3 of those are games at 11:00. I know she doesn't plan to teach on those days, but I'm going to be begging for 8:00 lessons (rather than 8:30) on game days. I can't miss all those!!! She's also going to miss my test- but DH will fill in. He can say "bend your knees, look up, breathe" as well as anyone else.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Neither: I haven't been posting much to the practice threads 'cause all I am doing is dull and boring. The objective, for summer school was 'to improve my basic skating' so it has been all about edges (mostly back edges) and turns. A body can sure spend a LOT of time on basics!

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

Tripping:

Scratch spin today!!! We were working on making sure my shoulder and torso is over the spinning foot (It wasn't.)

We also have to work on an embarassing problem here -- my booty is sticking out in the spin. I had the most difficult time until my secondary coach says "That's IT!!!" and out comes the video camera phone. (Of course, later on, she admit hers was running out of juice, so I offered her mine.) She took one video of me doing my scratch spin from a standstill and push my hip out so my butt doesn't stick out BUT still sit straight down on my knee after the spin entry.

She then had me look at the video. Oh, dear!!! Sure enough, booty is sticking out! She tend had me do two or 3 more and they gradually improved. She then said "Did you know that after that video, your booty stop sticking out?" I said "It did?" She said "Yeah... and I'll bet it's b/c you saw that video and thought 'Oh, dear! Get rid of that... YESTERDAY!!!' wasn't it? "

Guilty as charged...

Jumping:
No jumps today. But she did make the point that even though that the position is quite ugly that out of all of those spin entry from a standstill, almost all of them were DEAD CENTERED!!!

__________________
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!!!

So your test was on the 7:30am session. . . I'm on the edge of my seat wondering how it went. . . !

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Inquiring minds wanna know here too!!!

__________________
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!!!

While they may seem more fun, they can be as or more frustrating than the lower level moves...and, the judges are much pickier at the higher levels...however, it is always fun learning new things

Good luck with your test....how did it go??????

__________________
Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike