Strong or Jelly-like (4/14 - 4/20)

chowskates · #1 04-14-2008, 07:15 AM

Today I was back on the ice for the 3rd time postpartum. The first time, my legs felt like jelly. Today they felt stronger... so here goes:

Strong:
Jumps are coming back... the single ones at least.

Layback felt good, even grabbed the blade and tried to go for a haircutter (but got too dizzy).

Tried the sit spin, started great and low, but...
Jelly-like: could not get back up!!!

Double sals are way under-rotated, and those that I didn't splat on I was leaning too far to the right on the landing - but hey, what am I expecting just 2 months after a baby??

Cheers,
Chow

FlyAndCrash · #2 04-14-2008, 11:01 PM

Strong: I went to practice ice today even though it was three hours before show practice. And I worked for pretty much the whole hour instead of slacking off like I want to when my coach isn't on the ice. I went through all my moves and they all work at what I think was passing except the stupid power pulls... My coach and I have decided that I'm going to put out a strong 5-step to counteract my below passing powerpulls.

Jelly: My layback is gone. Not that it was ever here, but I need a refresher lesson. I HATE laybacks, and there is one in the group number. My camel decided to come back from the dead though.

Strong: I did a run-thru of my program and all my elements fit and i ended fairly on time (it fades out so you can't tell if I'm a little off).

Jelly: My choreography does not fit now that my coach added a new beginning... I think I might just skip it so that the movements fit the words.

Mrs Redboots · #3 04-15-2008, 07:34 AM

Strong: Coach1 had no major criticisms this morning, just said things were still "a little ragged".

Jelly: I, however, had major, major criticisms about our speed in the Rhythm Blues and the Swing Dance - and I think Coach1 realised afterwards that we hadn't been going as fast as we usually do now; I don't think he'd quite hauled in that we have speeded up a wee bit these past few months!

Have a slight chest cold, caught from Coach1 and Husband both! Not good, as it means I don't have much wind or stamina right now.

Rusty Blades · #4 04-15-2008, 08:51 AM

Strong It is NICE to be back to regular practice after Nationals

I just LOVE getting up in the wee hours and being on the road way before sunrise!

Had a GOOD skate this morning, the strongest since my Interpretive at Nationals 15 days ago! (Sure could have used that energy level for my Freeskate 14 days ago!!!!)

Upright spins are coming back in a big way

sit spin .... not quite. Forward edges and XOs were smokin'!

Did a few Waltz jumps - they were ok - but the Toe Loops still stink - LOL! And spent a LOT of time on backwards.

I had heard the expression "Skate DOWN in the ice not on top of it" and never knew what it meant until today. Working on back edges, I kept thinking "Keep down in the knees, soft knees!", which I was doing, and then realized THIS is "skating down in the ice"! It is ever so smooth, powerful, and graceful!!! A couple more sessions like that on back edges and I will finally have my back cross-overs

sk8_4fun · #5 04-15-2008, 11:24 AM

strong: skated my freedance almost clean,and without hitting traffic; had a lesson on jumps and was told they have improved, did some awesome(for me) spins that made my coach say wow! and The ice was great today and I had freshly sharpned blades.

Jelly: Only my legs after I got off the ice lol! Nothing else to add as it would contradict my new 'positive mental attitude' mantra.

flo · #6 04-15-2008, 12:08 PM

Strong: The morning coffee at the office.
Jelly: My knee. Went back to PT, and we're slowly re-building the tendon strength. The goal before was to be able to compete at nats, and now that that's done, time to recover!

Mrs. Redboots - get that swing dance so I can follow you! As I remember from following folks in class, it's the first one where you get to go backwards. I liked that.

Mrs Redboots · #7 04-15-2008, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flo

Mrs. Redboots - get that swing dance so I can follow you! As I remember from following folks in class, it's the first one where you get to go backwards. I liked that.

Didn't we do it the year you were over? I can't remember now. Anyway, you'd overtake me before the end of the first chassé.....

flo · #8 04-15-2008, 01:01 PM

Mrs R. and fellow dancers:
HA! I can't remember - I have no head for remembering the patterns. I like to learn the skills, then I can follow those who know the dance.

jazzpants · #9 04-15-2008, 02:54 PM

Strong:
Nice calm easy session for me post Nationals. Yup! I'm crazy to be back on ice right after Nationals.

Jelly-like:
My legs!!! I'm TIRED!!! First half of the session I was thinking "Bad move to come back to skate so soon after Nationals."

Strong:
GRRRR!!! On the second half of the session, my jumps are back and so are the spins... and I mean my GOOD ONES too, including my good flip (instead of the "wimpy skin to my teeth ones I did at Nationals) and my good lower sit spins! (Where were you at Nationals!!! GRRRRR!!!

)

(Note to self: Must go back to figure skating personal trainer to figure out a way to warm up my sit spins off ice so that at competition I can get them in QUITE LOW on the ice.)

Jelly-Like:
Still jet lagged and EXHAUSTED!!!

ETA: One more... the coach's BILL for AN!!!

jskater49 · #10 04-16-2008, 10:16 AM

Jelly- I was just very tired this morning and after every Move I was winded.

My power 3s seem to have deteriorated. My turns had been very good and I just needed to work on getting on a better inside edge for the rollover, but today I couldn't seem to hold my exit and pattern got off...

Strong - did my Swing, with mohawks and all...also dd has added arm movements for the show number, so I'm doing arm movements with progressives, a little tricky but I seem to have got that down - of course it's so easy on a practice session, get me with all those girls on an official practice and it will all go to the hot place.

j

Skittl1321 · #11 04-16-2008, 04:30 PM

Strong I finally did a backspin! A real one with my leg crossed and everything! I am thrilled! I still can't exit though. Coach said program is ready for competition, which is good because it's next weekend.

Like Jelly Knees aren't doing so well. I've also lost all my jumps now that instructors have changed the technique to make it more like a "real" jump and less like a beginner one.

Bill_S · #12 04-16-2008, 06:52 PM

Well, not quite about my skating practice, but related. Our rink closes after the ice show in early April (sigh), and I'm the one who volunteers to make photos of the show skaters in both posed and action situations.

Here's a tight crop of one photo that says it all about the show...

If anyone is interested in seeing more photos of our annual ice show, go to http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/wschneider/skate08

and click on the appropriate galleries. Lots of fun skating pictures showing skaters of all sizes.

This is my way of passing time when there's no ice.

jskater49 · #13 04-16-2008, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill_S

Well, not quite about my skating practice, but related. Our rink closes after the ice show in early April (sigh), and I'm the one who volunteers to make photos of the show skaters in both posed and action situations.

Here's a tight crop of one photo that says it all about the show...

If anyone is interested in seeing more photos of our annual ice show, go to http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/wschneider/skate08

and click on the appropriate galleries. Lots of fun skating pictures showing skaters of all sizes.

This is my way of passing time when there's no ice.

Wow. I wish we had someone to take action shots for our show!

Rusty Blades · #14 04-17-2008, 04:54 AM

Absolutely AMAZING shot Bill!!!!!!

Jelly: (More like jelly that has been forgotten in the back of the fridge for six months!) Watched the videos of my performance at (Canadian) Nationals - YUK!

(Should NEVER watch your own videos whole sober!

)

Skittl1321 · #15 04-17-2008, 07:33 AM

Bill- the photos all look great.

Last night synchro practice was weird. We have a small team (11) and 3 of the members aren't going to our local competition, so we spent the time trying to fix formations for the 8 of us. Thankfully, there aren't too many changes, so it shouldn't be confusing- but wow it's weird skating with only 8.

I now have to do a 2 foot spin the "wrong" way. If I get a good entry, I can get 4-5 revolutions, but if I get a bad entry (I'm on the wrong spot of my blade) I can't self correct like I can in my natural direction and just skitter to a halt. Cross my fingers I get a good one.

I'm about to add another day to my skating. I'm so excited- I'll be up to 4 days a week, with a possible 5th.

quarkiki2 · #16 04-17-2008, 08:26 AM

Bill, your photos are awesome!

And, yes, skating with 8 instead of 11 was strange. Although nothing I'm doing changes, LOL, except the circles are smaller. I think it might have been easier if I did change because I remember that stuff and others struggle to remember choreography, but at least we're skating on our own ice and shouldn't have issues with confusion about the rink or ice itself.

I did wear a knee pad and did not bang my kee, yay! Hopefully, the bruises will heal soon...

Rusty Blades · #17 04-17-2008, 09:47 AM

Despite the shattering of any delusions about my skating ability and a less than ideal night's sleep, I dragged my sorry a..... backside off to the rink as usual this morning. It's hard to get enthusiastic after seeing your own video but it left me a long list of things to work on (like danged near everything!)

Strong: I noticed in the video that I really drag out the entrance to the upright spin which makes it look feeble. Ok, so lets try "snapping" into that spin ..... HOLY! They're FAST that way! Despite the speed, they seem to be easier to hold - some were hanging together 5 or 6 revolutions!

Jelly: My skating in general - LOTS to work on!

jazzpants · #18 04-17-2008, 10:52 AM

Jelly Like: Still my legs from the trip. Still not quite over the jet lag. Still tired!!!

I definitely need a vacation, but my JOB says I already had one and gave me 3 weeks worth of work to catch up on. (Note: I've only been gone ONE week!!!

)

My secondary coach suggests that this year's goals be to work on spins and my "in-between" skating. I brought up the concern that I still won't be able to place well w/o a lutz at Bronze and my flip is still wonky. She said "Don't worry! We will work on that too, but your main focus this year is to work on your in-between skating and your spins"

Starts me off on the sit spin, which wasn't bad but I had to turn my foot out... had a slight Charley Horse (sp?) doing that. Secondary coach consults my figure skating personal trainer, who suggests that I really need to get in my potassium and roll out that muscle before and after the session. I tried it later on again and it was better. I did shoot the ducks on my own though and it didn't hurt.

Strong: My figure skating personal trainer told my secondary coach that I did very well at AN. HUGE compliment coming from her!!!

Should be interesting what my primary coach says about my AN debut this morning. I know him... he can be ummm... quite brutal with the truth!!!

momsk8er · #19 04-17-2008, 11:31 AM

Bill - that is an awesome photo. You should be quite proud of it.

Jelly - I haven't posted much lately as I haven't skated much due to a series of family and job commitments. When I have skated I've been working out a blade placement issue (and learning something about "if it ain't broke...).

Strong - This morning's practice felt like progress even if the blade issue is still in play. Some significant steps on the horizon. Back spin is really coming (at one point last week when my blade placement was really wrong, the backspin was better than my forward spin - imagine that!). I can get 3-4 revs pretty consistently now. So that is really making me happy. This is the first completely new skill that I have learned as an adult (seems like backspins were taught as a more advanced skill when I was learning as a child), so it is exciting.

Also, I have made some progress on my loop jump. I managed one tiny teeny wimpy little jump where I didn't put my free foot down first!! You don't want to know how long I've been working on that jump. Huh, maybe the backspin progress is helping the loop jump.

Anyway, happy camper here today.

LilJen · #20 04-17-2008, 06:26 PM

One week plus two days to our spring show (I'd post the URL for more info, but our club's blasted website is woefully out of date). I got put into a number with three other adults--two women in their 40s and one man who's 75--and we are doing DISCO. . . . to Earth, Wind, and Fire. It's been eeeeenteresting. I think it'll come off okay; poor 75-year-old kind of missed the disco era so the moves are very foreign to him. We gals are doing our best to catch him up.

Jelly: Bad ankle's been bothering me with pinched nerve-like twinges--well, more like shooting pains--at random moments

NOT GOOD. I think that it may be coming time to get some boots that accomodate my bonier ankle bones--current boots are kind of squishing them, and while Bunga pads have been super helpful, clearly they're not a long-term solution.

jazzpants · #21 04-17-2008, 07:27 PM

Have a feeling that my coaches are either on the same brain wave, or I really need to work on this...

Jelly-Like:
Working on "flow" today. I have good speed and flow... just not good enough to go against a Silver level skater in Interp at AN!

We worked on some basic drills and ummm... it wasn't fun but it's getting there.

I had a short chat with primary coach re: my Interp program at AN. He confirmed that if I was going to do well in interp at AN, I better get my edges and flow and stuff caught up to the Silver level skaters. Yes, we will be working on the "in between" skating part of my programs this year. (Sounds like both my coaches are on the same page... well minus the spins part.) Hopefully in the next few months I will be more "polished"... well enough that Thin-Ice will notice the next time she sees me skate again! LOL!!!

I will keep my Interp program, but there will be a "costume change." (Yes, I may finally wear JAZZPANTS to a comp!!!)

Strong:
I did reaffirm though that I have BO3 on both legs though... and I did okay for a beginner in back power 3's. Now to get the BI3... and I *might* start thinking of practicing for the Silver Moves test in the future then... (Meaning right now when someone asks when I'm taking the Silver Moves test, I would say "HA!!! Silver Moves??? Yeah, RIIIIGHT!!! Maybe FAAAAAR into the future, if ever...")

I did some sit spins after my lesson and did about 3-4 very good (as in skating leg almost parallel to the ground) sit spin.

I did loops and loop-loops too!!! In fact, I also managed to do a couple of good flips and a couple of lutzes -- one very good. One very cheated though on the entry.

Lucky for me, the one that I had an eyewitness watching me on was the good one!!!

(Eyewitness asked if that jump is in my program. I unfortunately told him "No, it's not in the program! I just learned it.")

Jelly-Like:
Needless to say, that's all I could muster out since I was EXTREMELY tired after the skating session. I tried doing a couple more sit spin, only to go SPLAT of all of them. "Yup! Time to go home and hit the shower!!!"

jskater49 · #22 04-18-2008, 06:55 AM

Jelly like

Last night was Picture Night for our Show. I'm in like 4 numbers ...now I know why the little kids get cranky and whiney, about the second time I had to change costumes I'd had enough!

J

looplover · #23 04-18-2008, 10:01 AM

Strong: early in practice today I did a sit spin that I think was parallel, because it felt much lower than the others - the ones I'd thought were parallel but weren't. Really worked on extending the free leg, turning out the toe and stretching arms out more. The spin felt much stronger. Unfortunately nobody actually witnessed this, lol.

I still can't do a sit-change-sit but I can now transfer weight to my right foot. (baby steps)

My new obsession is to get a good camel/sit/back sit. I am totally obsessed with this because they just look so cool.

Was MISERABLE last evening because of work and woke up that way this a.m., and was able to block it out before I got on the ice, and skating totally diffused my anger over work. Hence, I was able to go to work and remain employed. Yay!

Jelly-like: yeesh that camel is hard to learn, so many little things to focus on at once. Had a good lesson on it but wasn't really able to do one. Couple of really scary near-falls off the toe pick. Wasn't able to flip today, mental block is in full swing.

Bill_S · #24 04-18-2008, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jskater49

Jelly like

Last night was Picture Night for our Show. I'm in like 4 numbers ...now I know why the little kids get cranky and whiney, about the second time I had to change costumes I'd had enough!

J

I know what you mean. They DO get cranky and don't want to be posed. The phrase "herding kittens" comes to mind.

Last weekend, the kids got even with the photographer (me) - one of the lil' darlings gave me strep throat. The doc has prescribed antibiotics and some rest this weekend.

If someone had strep and had to skate, they'd be forgiven for being REALLY cranky.

Mrs Redboots · #25 04-18-2008, 11:36 AM

Strong: Good skate this morning; husband and I did some useful work on the starts of our compulsory dances.

Jelly: Blasted MP3 player decided to die on me, and I haven't been able to find a cheap one anywhere.

Strong: However, a very kind friend has just upgraded hers and has offered me an old one, so I am feeling very pleased!

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