Congrats! That had to feel so awesome!

Wizard ~ got through all the prelim dances today and my coach said they should pass just fine. Coach gushed about my cross-roll in the Baby Blues.

Muggle ~ Grinding the gears in my brain trying to get out of synchro-stroking-mode and into dance-stroking-mode.

Wizard: VERY GOOD lesson yesterday. We worked on European Waltz (had no EW music, so did EW to the Willow Waltz, which is 3 bpm faster in the US)... it's much more fun now that I know I'm skating it for fun. Played around with fancy intros for Foxtrot, then coach put on Foxtrot and we did 3 patterns straight away. First time I've skated Foxtrot since early November, and all the work on MIF and everything else has paid off. It was a very strong set of patterns, even with dodging the munchkins. Then onto Rocker... it was better today. We mostly focused on the beginning through the rocker, although we started work on the middle through the mohawk. I said that I wanted to focus Monday a bit on the beginning and a lot on the middle to end.

Muggle: I don't mind dodging freestylers, but I do mind dodging low-level (we're talking barely ISI Delta) kids who are allowed to skate on a session with Novice and Junior level FS-ers and 2 Junior dance teams. My coach and I are to the point where one of us sees them in our way, and one of us will just shout at them to "watch out" or "move" or that we're "coming through." It can be difficult on the crowded FS session to get the music cued, so when we do get it on, we don't want to waste the opportunity.

--jsl

Practice, FINALLY! Since my show is done I was finally able to get some practice in! And on newly sharpened blades. What a difference!!!

I hadn't realized that my blades were so bad until last Saturday when I tried a T-stop and couldn't stop. So I left them to be sharpened and, man, that makes a huge difference! I had been feeling terribly unsteady in everything I did -- even forward crossovers -- and was blaming it on lack of practice (which is true). But everything was much improved with sharp blades! I wasn't shaky on my forward crossovers and I was actually able to do back crossovers clockwise with the slide-the-foot method. I have not been able to do this previously. Still not so good L-over-R, but when am I ever?

Honestly, I practiced for about 45 minutes and spent most of the time stroking forwards and backwards, doing forward & backward crossovers and working on forward edges. I tried a couple of FO3s and mohawks and they were a little steadier than before but pretty much the same.

And I didn't fall trying to stop on new blades. I avoided the hockey stop, but T-stops and snowplows were good on both feet.

Note to quarkiki: Don't ever let your skate go for so long without a sharpening. It causes you to have confidence issues because it makes you unsteady.

Muzzle- I have to take the week off and not skate. I sprained my ankle 4 weeks ago and after only a week off the ice pushed myself a little too hard to skate in my first competition last weekend which I got two first places! So anyway this week I am resting the foot and hoping the pain goes away soon. I miss the ice and after Tuesday I am finished with school and planned to do nothing but skate the whole month of May before classes start in June again.

wizard:
Skated almost a full half hour with a partner (borrowed) doing all the low level dances (I only know the low level ones).
My Free Dance worked with the music and everything in the right place at the right time - doubt this will ever happen again!!!
Today I started choreographing my OD with my coach. Many thanks to DBNY for helping with the music!! It's fast , it's furious and it's FUN!

Muggle:think I overdid the skating and my legs are aching!

WIZARD

Went to the adult classes and suprised myself by being better than I thought! It was SUCH a downer going back onto patch when everyone else has improved and I'm rustier than a rusty nail that's been rusty forever but being alongside adults who are just starting out made me realise that I hadn't lost as much as I thought that I had lost. I was put into the 'top' group but was actually wondering whether I would be capable of keeping up ..... it was SO nice to find that I WAS capable of keeping up My 'old' beloved Dance teacher was taking my group so that was nice What was also nice was the warm reception that I got from everyone (and the "what are you doing here? you're way above this standard?").

After the classes I was asked if I wanted to join in the Moves Class .... I was a bit worried but had a go and it was GREAT fun. I got the inevitable adult who decides that they're going to criticise but I gave them short shrift (I HAVE learned something over the years .... it used to make me feel unworthy, now I KNOW that I'm rusty and a bit unbalanced so it didn't bother me .... except to irritate me slightly ) . I was asked to stay for the dance club but declined on the basis that I'd done ok so far and didn't want to tempt fate

Have paid for a group of five lessons so that will give me the incentive to go back (won't it?) and I DID enjoy it.

Madame, in her own inimitable style, came up to me and said "so why can't you get your a*@$ into early mornings then?" LOL ..... I'm back!!

x

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The best whisper is a click

Then I will make a point of really making an effort to GET THERE next week - and DO stay on, please, so we can gossip! I will have skated in the morning and will be too tired to want to dance much, but would love to see you - and all my other friends up there - again.

As for me - I planned to go to our dance club (now held on Thursdays) last night, sat down in the armchair for ten minutes before going - and next thing I knew it was 9.30 pm!

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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!

Glad you're back, Lynne! Stick with it!

-- wannask8

Welcome back, Lynne

Muggle:
I volunteered at the local "Mommy & Me" class Wed morning so I could learn how to teach it. In addition to having to get up earlier than I like and encountering horriffic rush hour traffic, there was low attendance that day and I ended up giving an hour long private lesson to a (very cute and athletic) 4 yr old boy! I had planned to just hang out for the hour between the class and the usually empty public session, but that hour was dead ice, and I was invited to enjoy myself - alone on the ice for an hour! The muggle part: I was too tired to skate

Wizard:
I discovered a mid-day public session at a rink that I had never skated at myself, but had spent many hours at with my daughter when she was younger. There were only 6 adults on the ice, including hubby and I
There were a pair of about 8 yr old siblings who stuck to themselves and to the boards, and there was a tiny and adorable girl in a ballet tutu having a private lesson. It was bliss! Best of all: my AWOL waltz-8 returned I may be able to test pre-pre moves this month if it is still there at my lesson on Monday...OH JOY! This has been put off for almost two years after I broke my wrist right before the test session at Lake Placid.

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Wizard:

Organized my skating time to keep from over doing it and lived to tell. (I'm trying to recoup from my right calf that has a mind of it's own and an Achilles tendon that goes on the fritz too. So I made sure to pay attention to how my body felt, stretching(calf muscles) before and afterwards and stretching throughout the day, in the morning before work, at work hourly, after work, at skating and before going to bed. )

Started off with stroking after stretching in the change room. Then stretched after I was warmed up. Need higher boards at the side of the rink because I'm not getting much of a stretch with them anymore.

Spins are slowly getting to be done right. Just need to get teh freeleg higher before settling into the spin.

Waltz jumps. On my own they were not half bad. Once my coach told me that I was not bending my knee after touching down on the landing, I actually got some speed/flow and distance on the landings. My series of three waltz jumps finally made it amost all the way around the center of the rink for a change and I can actually hold that landing edge longer and check out better.

Toe loop. Took time to not do a toe waltz and to remember to bend the knee on the landing. ONce I got it to work it worked well

Loop: I reminded my coach about my calf and why I wasn't going to try a loop jump because of the double duty the calf would do and how I needed to rest my calf.

Muggle:

Salchow. coach thinks I'm cheating the take off with the open mohawk entrance because she wants me to do the open mohawk as it 's done in dances to get the freeleg back farther before swing it it forward to take off.

COE spiral RFO to RFI. Coach said that I need to get more strength in my hips. Also that I didn't have my legs up as high as I thought they were and that my right hip was in the wrong position on the outside edge. Need work on strengthening and position of the hip on the RFO edge.

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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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