First of all, the news from my coach wasn't nearly as bad as we'd feared. He has broken a small bone in his foot, and there is probably some ligament damage, too, but he is able to stand, and even to walk a couple of steps without crutches, although he needs crutches for more than a few steps. He has not had it plastered - luckily the doctor understood about athletes - and hopes to start intensive physiotherapy as soon as the swelling/bruising subsides.

So we had our lesson.... mostly a warm-up for the competition - and as soon as it was over we drove to Solihull (about 2.5 hours away) for the 3rd Adult Dance Competition.

And great fun it was too. The two main classes were the Recreation Cup, which was the Golden Skaters' Waltz and Canasta Tango, open to any couple whose combined age was over 60, which meant a huge field of 21 entries, although one couple didn't turn up, so 20 entries in all. Then the G N Granvill-Davis Cup, for skaters of level 6 and under, was solo Dutch Waltz and Riverside Rhumba, and that attracted a class of 18! I don't compete against Robert in compulsories, so I entered the Anfield Cup, which was solo free dance for level 6 (I think) and under. That attracted 11 skaters. I do wish we'd had the compulsory dances first, though, to give us time to warm up, as I skated appallingly badly! I came to a stop for the Mohawk - normally I can just slow down - and again before the double-three-3-jump combination; my free leg in my spiral, far from being parallel, barely left the ice, and I stopped again before going into the spin. The spin itself did work, thankfully, better than usual, but at the end my hydroblade - which I hadn't had a chance to warm up - didn't come off, either. I finished deservedly last by 3 judges to 2! And those 2 only had me 10th! But, honestly, I deserved it!

The snag is, all the people who hadn't seen me do that dance a lot better, and that was all but two of the other skaters there, all said that I was being hard on myself, and I was much better than last year, and blah, blah, blah - well, so I am, but I can do that dance much better than that!

Then in the compulsories, I made a slight mistake in the Golden Skaters' waltz, not too bad, though, and then we skated one of the best Canasta Tangos we've ever done, and certainly one of the best we've skated any compulsory dance in competition. And, to our delight, we finished 19th out of 20!

Then in the G N Granville-Davis Cup, Robert distinguished himself by finishing 13th out of 18, which is seriously good! We were thrilled. And then he skated with another partner in the Wendy Perrigo Bowl, which was the 14-step and Willow Waltz, for skaters Level 8 and under, and, despite the fact that he and his partner could have been skating in different rinks for all the notice they took of one another (all of us need to work on our partnering skills!), they finished 9th out of 10, and were delighted to have done so.

And it was a good day. Melanie's friends from Scotland were there, and much improved from last year - they finished 3 places ahead of us in the compulsory dances, won the Free Dance, and either won, or came a very close second in the "Hot Ice" trophy. Tashakat's friends from her rink also had a fantastic day and won or took the podium frequently, too!

Great fun. And now, onwards and upwards (literally!) to the Mountain Cup.

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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!

Well, I tested ISI Gamma on Saturday morning. And, amazingly I got a pity pass!!!! So now I'm officially Delta! :p

I don't believe I would have passed the level had the skating director actually tested me, but my instuctor got a note just as we were getting on the ice which said "You will be testing your own students today." Whoopeee!!! The other woman in my class and I both danced a jig for that. She struggles with mohawks, I (obviously) struggle with the FO3s. We're both OK on the hockey stop, though I've only been on the ice four times since having my blades sharpened and I approached the stop almost not moving because I was worried that I'd turn my hips and my feet would slip out from underneath me. Anyway, we both passed!

Here's the fantastic part: I did two honest-to-goodness-in-front-of-the-instructor FO3s! One on each foot! Right first, then left. After the left one she said "That's it! I saw it and you pass!" I think she was as excited as I was. She did make me promise to continue to practice them as I've literally only done one on each foot, but she said that another eight weeks of working on just that and inside open mohawks was not really necessary and that I was ready to start working on other skills.

So, on to Delta: FI3s, forward edges, lunge or shoot-the-duck, and bunny hop. My edges are already passing and I have a world-class lunge (well, maybe not quite that good, but I hit a 180 degree position and stand up in an arabesque so it will definitely pass Delta). I have only tried the bunny hop once or twice and it's more of a bunny step, but I think I can get it soon enough. That leaves the FI3s. Let's hope that they are easier for me than the FO3s. I've tried a couple and I think they're in about the same shape as the FO3s right now. That will be my goal -- solid fowrard three turns by the time I finish Delta. I have two or three weeks before the next session begins and then the eight weeks of the session -- I think that in 10 weeks I can really get my turns pretty solid before I start freestyle. I'm going to make it a priority that all of the skills I have be in really good shape before Freestyle 1 because that class progresses so quickly I don't want to be left behind in the dust.

Anyway, yay for me!

Congrats to both of you! This testing and competing malarkey sounds like a lot of fun.

I skated on Saturday morning (first time for two weeks), everything was pretty much the same. The one noticeable thing I was doing towards the end was going into spins with a lot more speed, which actually helped. I'm still not centred or perfectly balanced but I still feel like I'm getting there, albeit slowly. My FI pivots were lovely too. I started having a little trouble with my BO3s at one point though, which is unusual for me as usually they're 100% consistent. Hmm. I also had to come off the ice after about an hour for a break because I had no energy, no motivation, and actually felt quite weak. After some chips and a drink of coke (how healthy!), I got back on the ice, and after a couple of minutes I felt much better. Dunno what was wrong. Didn't try any jumps or spirals. Also booked a lesson for next week - I haven't had one for a month and a half.

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

It is! You should have come to Solihull yesterday to watch, and see what it's like; it's not that far from you. Mind you, anybody can get bored in a huge compulsory dance class with 20 and/or 18 entries - even we did!

Sounds as though you had low blood sugar and the food put you right, junk food or no.

Quarkiki, well done passing your gamma - I passed that level test the same way when I was learning basics. My 3-turns weren't really there, but I was passed anyway; the instructor said he wouldn't have passed a child, but he knew that I would go on working on them. "Adults know when they can't do a skill and go on working!" he said. How true.

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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!

Fantastic: NOTHING

FLOP: EVERYTHING

Today was Rocker Foxtrot and as usual... it did not want to rocker or foxtrot... I think at the rate I'm going, the Rocker will be the last of my Silver dances to be tested.

I don't know if I'll be getting lessons this week - my skates are still at the Klingbeil factory getting new foams put in them.

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- Ashley

Flop - I got the NO JUMPING edict from my sports medicine doc today, so my competition on Sunday is nixed. For the next 4 weeks, no jumps.

Fantastic - At least I'll get a lot of quality time with my Intermediate MIF's .

Congrats, Mrs. Redboots & Quarkiki2


Fantastic
Not much really, except that I skated today in my dress for the first time. I fashioned covers for my knee pads from tights that had gotten holes in the toes, and they worked just fine. One very cute little girl told me "nice dress", which was so unexpected, that I didn't understand her at first. I did manage to get my spirals high enough, after having my coach explain proper stretching and doing it.

Flop
My coach picked everything apart to the point that I felt I had been through a meat grinder by the time we were done. Of course, she is a nit picker because we both want to have everything as close to perfect as possible. I had a lot of trouble holding the BI edges after the FO threes in the waltz-8, basically doing the worst one of the week in my lesson.

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Fanatastic:
I realized I can now do the waltz, salchow and back sit with no pain.
My camel is slowly coming back, along with my layback.
I am working more on my edges and its really hard.


Flop:
So i happily tried the loop. And it hurt ouch. So i didn't do anymore of those.


sk8er1964:
Oh... whats the current situation that makes it a no jumping edict?

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Tidesong

It's been 6 weeks, and my improvement isn't where it should be. They are a bit worried about overuse coming into play. So we (it was a group decision - me, the doc, my coach and the physical therapist) decided that laying off the jumping might help because of the shock to the muscle jumping gives. I figure I can handle it for 4 weeks (I hope).

At this point, I want this injury to go away so I can have my skating life back!

Flop

Most things, especially most of the flips I did - and all of the lutzes.
What has happened to my flip?
The lutz just won't take off, but the flip was my best.

Fantastic

The odd camel spin and backspin (very strange).

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Flop:

I felt as bad as I don't know what yesterday but made myself go skating anyway. I had a stiff neck and headache (perhaps as the result of too much partying at my friend's wedding this weekend... ) but I managed to stay upright anyway. But with a stiff neck, the rest of my body felt stiff and I could not get into my knees. Jumping would have been impossible.


Fantastic:

Backspin steadily improving and is centered on a dime.
Forward scratch spins centered on a dime too!
The lone camel I tried yesterday was a good one.
We worked brackets, counters, and rockers, and I learned part of the footwork sequence from Freestyle 7. I picked it up really quickly! We also played around with a rocker entrance into a sit spin.

Haven't jumped much lately but I've made progress where I've wanted to make progress, and that's with more complex spins and footwork.

I'm also going to be a board member of my USFSA club! Yippee!!! I felt they needed an active adult skater on their board, and I was recommended at the last meeting for a position. I don't know yet what position I'll have, but I'm glad to be getting more involved with my club.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Fantastic: Not much here!!

Flop: I couldn't get my knees out of walking mode and into skating mode. Even the basics felt stiff (could it be from the 180 lb hunk of steel I lifted at work before going skating). Fell trying a RFI3, but I was expecting it so didn't get hurt. I finally gave up and just stroked around the rink.

I was in the warming room prepping to go home when people started running into the rink. One of our older (she's 72) skaters was tripped by a hockey jock and cracked her head. Her son took her to the hospital.

Nothing against hockey skaters as we have quite a few at this adult session and we all play well together, but this guy was new to the session and didn't know we have our own unwritten rules to protect againt injury.

Phew! I don't often come off the ice dripping with sweat, but I did today! We had two things to work on: the short version of my artistic/interpretive programme for the Mountain Cup, and the continued choreography of my Rock'n'roll OD. Had to do the first about three times to get it right; the first time, the new choreography for the longer version meant that the shorter version didn't fit properly into the rink - the highlights weren't being done where the judges could see them. So we had to think for a few minutes to work out how to place it on the ice to best advantage. I think I've got it straight now, if only I remember! Then, of course, I thought the end was wrong, and then remembered what we'd choreographed at the last minute last time I did it! So had to run through it a 3rd time to get it right. And if I skate it like that at the Mountain Cup I'll be well pleased - but oh, how things can go wrong!

Gave my Free Dance a well-deserved rest, and spent the rest of my lesson working on my OD. That was all right, but afterwards I did a little work on Field Moves, and then put my headphones on and started back with the OD. And now I've got the beginning much better, which means everything else is out of place, or not working! And the end is still not right. Deep sigh! At least I have a few more lessons to play with it before Bracknell, but I haven't actually got another solo lesson before the Mountain Cup as my coach is on holiday next week, and then we are at the camp the week after. Oh well.

They were putting up the new off-ice harness during my lesson, so after it my coach went off to try it out - not to jump, of course, not with his bad foot, but to hang on it to make sure the ceiling hooks hold. We teased him that he was going to hang himself..... maybe we should call him "The Hangman"!

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

Ouch, Gary - I hope the woman is feeling better soon. Same to you, sk8er1964.

As for me, as soon as I arrived at the rink, I felt acute pain in my right ankle and lower calf area. I wondered if I had my foot placed weird when I was driving. Anyway, I went out and skated and the pain seemed to go away as I skated - weird, huh? - and I decided to start jumping. I worked on the flip and loop a lot, and then afterward (especially after I got home), I felt pain again in the same place. I'm not sure if it was from skating, driving, or a combo of both. I do know that when I land my flip and loop, I tend to have problems landing too far forward - it's possible that's putting too much stress on my ankle - except the pain was in back - but maybe it's referred pain or something. I thought about going to the orthopedist that everyone in my family sees when needed, but I learned he's not in my health plan - arrgghhh! (Mikawendy, if you see this, is there anyone in our plan you recommend?) Anyway, I guess I'll wait to see what happens on Saturday when I skate again - the pain went away after not too long last night.

Fantastic: landed my first flip (a verrry small one, but hey, it was complete), landed a loop, and got 2 rotations on my camel spin - also, a much lower sit spin than usual. Back edges (done in the lobe pattern) are getting better.

Flop: pain/possible injury above, any spinning is still difficult b/c of my blasted skates (see my thread about boot fittings), and the flip and loop I landed were the only successful landings in about 20 tries of each. We've got our end-of-session test on Saturday, but it's a given that I'll be in FS5 again, b/c we really haven't even learned all the skills on the level. Hopefully summer lessons will run better than they did last year and I'll continue to make progress.

Had to laugh at this. My mom (she's 71) fell out of bed last Saturday morning. She banged her knee pretty good, but an hour later she was smiling big. Seems the shock jarred her back which had been giving her pain for several weeks. The pain was gone after the fall.


Fantastic: A much better skate last night than Monday. My knees remembered how to bend ( I have no control over them ). Most of my 3-turns were in pretty good shape. I even got a little lower toward actually doing a proper lunge.

Flop: LFI3 I've been concentrating on working all of my Gamma and Delta elements so hard that my muscle memory is getting confused.

If a coach is available, I may try to do the Gamma test this Saturday, so I can concentrate on just Delta moves.

Fantastic:

I remembered (finally) to ask my coach to do the crossovers with me and they felt better again!
I did one layback that was centered at the start. (thought layback was gone forever)
I did a lutz. couldn't help myself... i was like i miss that edge going in and jumping... (it did hurt...)

Flop:

Asked coach about skiddy and insecure 3 turns in particular the LBI and RBI 3 turns... when my coach is around and giving my instructions i can do them! Even at speed... and then after lessons its gone... arrgh...i don't get it why? even if i try to repeat what my coach tells me to myself it just doesn't work....

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Tidesong

You may have Achilles tendonitis. Do go see a doc and get physio for your tendon. After this session is done, take a break off of the ice to help the healing speed up.

I know, I went too far with jumping after competing in April and yes driving back from Toronto to Windsor/across from Detroit added to it. I ended up spraining my Achilles tendon. Don't wait until you are where I got or worse tear your Achilles tendon like Surya Bonaly just recently did. Get it taken care off right away, especially if you like to jump.

B

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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.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Marie, welcome to the no jumping because of injury club. This club sucks big time but when your physio/sports doc says no jumping, it's no jumping. It's really painful to watch the other skaters jump and your stuck doing ice dance or running through your program minus the jumps. Ice dance and no jump programs get really old if you love to jump. We love to jump. I've just two more weeks left of torture and then I'm staying off of the ice until Sept. I may watch but I'm not putting my skates on until Sept. Here's hoping your hip gets better soon Marie.

Oh, do try swimming and a therapy pool/hot tub at a gym. It's working wonders for my Achilles tendon, calf and knee.

B

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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.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

I swear, it's like being an addict (which I remember from my quitting smoking days). It creeps into your mind...."Just one little jump. One little jump won't hurt......" Only 3 1/2 weeks left! Hmmm. Maybe I should practice one-foot axels.... (just kidding.)

Here's to the wish that all of us who are hurting will GET WELL SOON!

Third lesson in adult courses .....

and it's going FAIRLY well but I still feel wobbly and not as 'free' as I did! The half hour went really fast (thanks Wend, it was fun!) which I suppose means that I'm getting into it ....... One thing DID cross my mind ..... or maybe I'm just making excuses .... I've got new boots and blades which I'd hardly worn before my accident ...... could I be feeling wobblier because I've actually got a rocker on my blades? Perhaps I should get them ground to flatten them off a bit ..... any thoughts anyone?

Anyway, I then did the moves class which wasn't too bad until we got to the bit with the back three's. My head said "oh, oh" and my body said "no way". They were incredibly scratched and pathetic but I'm not (really) going to stress about that ....... yet (fyi I broke my wrist doing back three's, stupid fall, stupid accident)

Oh, oh, ONE good bit was that I tried a back three and it was wonderful

I'm thinking of starting patch again in June. I'll see how I feel

L x

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The best whisper is a click

Total absolute and utter Flop! - not the skating but the fact I didnt' get to do any!!!
I arrived at the rink OK and went to get my boots out of my locker .....only to realise I had given my daughter the key the previous evening as she had forgotten her spare one and was going home with a friend as I had a skate club committee meeting

Those meetings always seem to take forever, everyone waffles on aimlessly instead of sticking to the point and then we dont' have time to discuss some of the things we really should have discussed. Plus half the time decisions are made and then you find 6 months later the same subject comes up again because everyone else has forgotten the previous decision and don't seem to ever check the old minutes . Can you tell I am not really a committee person?

By the time I got home and not in the best of moods, I forgot all about the key.
Ah well - I am learning from my mistakes and tonight I will take the spare key in with me and leave it with the reception staff so i dont' get caught out again!

Hey Lynne,
Welcome back! And I could easily believe new blades which now have a rocker could make you a little wobbly. My previous blades had really flattened out, but of course it was so gradual that I didn't realize until my sharpener measured and showed me how the radius was varying incorrectly. My new blades felt very wobbly, especially on spins, until I got used to them, but it's so wonderful to have a rocker! Don't flatten them out; you'll just shorten their life span. Good luck!
Pat

My girlfriend's daughter (age 17 and working on doubles) had been having hip troubles. Her ortho has decided her hip socket is too shallow for the ball, she has a tendon that needs to be manually stretched, and there are cartilage chips floating around the joint. She's going for an MRI in a couple of weeks.

So far, he hasn't told her not to jump, but we're pretty sure some type of surgery will be required so jumping may get sidetracked for a while.

They are very nice boots! I saw them last week, and am really rather envious....

Well, I'm glad we didn't do them last week, because my back 3s are always scratched and pathetic - I don't get my weight far enough back on my blade, and, if the truth be known, I'm not really sure how to!

Lynne, you hang in there - you'll soon get back all you have lost, and more.

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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!