Being on the verge of Christmas Eve

Coal: I hadn't really planned on skating today and being an optional day at work, I hadn't even planned on going to the city but on Friday the head coach "suggested very strongly" that I should come and keep her company Monday morning. Who needs 5 days off in a row anyway

Being December 24th and being coach-less this week I thought I would just have a nice easy leisurely skate, just some gentle stroking, easy smooth edges, and just enjoy myself, which I did.

Coal: Since I am genetically unable to "take it easy", the "gentle stroking" became pushing for speed and power, the "easy smooth edges" became "extreme cross-overs", and somehow spins and jumps found their way into my "leisurely" session! SHEESH! Oh well .....

Pretty Gifts: The Upright Spins were really cooking! At least half went the required 3 revolutions and some to 4 and 4-1/2 (if my count isn't as dizzy as I was!) A couple of Sit Spins almost happened - pulled in ok and started to "wind up" - I just need the right position over my skating blade to hold them together. Some of the Waltz/Toe combinations "clicked" - when I hit the Toe Loop right I actually come out of the jump faster than I went in - SCARY!

So much for a "nice leisurely skate"! But what the heck, I enjoyed myself and that is what it's all about.

MERRY CHRISTMAS SKATERS!

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

Pretty gifts: Wow, I finally have an actual backspin. Shock of shocks! And not from a standstill pivot...but from a very slow LFI to RFI. It's on the correct edge! Consistently 5 revs! Now to work on speed and the exit.

Landed loop today in the program and though it wasn't big it was on one foot.

Am over the no-sectionals/no-nationals mental trauma...on to 2009 (any rumors of where that may be?)!

Coal: Fell over on my sit spin cuz I ended up on my toe pick, grr. I don't usually do that so of all the things not to get in the program. My entry to that is weird. Have to make the program look more artistic - I have close to zero natural dance talent. Dizzy after scratch spin so my footwork right after that looks uncomfortable and forced. Committed a faux pas and made club president mad. Hopefully can smooth that over :-/

Merry Christmas all!

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Hehe...

Pretty Gifts: I took my prelim moves and free and passed both!

Coal: The free was really sucky and I was nervous, but it all worked out okay.

Pretty Gifts: My moves were great today. Except for the one really bad spiral at one end during my test that the judge didn't see (so that doesn't count). I passed at .6 over the average (.1 over on everything except crossover-outside edge which was .2 over!!!).

Congratulations F&C!

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

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Wow... .6 over... you must have had a REALLY good moves day orrrrr, you're just about ready to take your next test, too!

cool thread title

Took DD to the public session to help pass those last pre-Christmas hours, and work off some fruitcake

Lumps of Coal - working on my toe waltz, I mean loop, I'm trying to fix the takeoff, which means of course I can't do it at all.

Pretty gifts Ballet jump has grown springs. same takeoff as the toe loop, only I do it right. Go figure.

dbny was there and gave me a tip on my FO mohawk that dressed up my 9-step dance sequence nicely. I'm off the flat and gaining speed. Very fine present!

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It's all about the dress!

Umm... no. I HATE moves! But my coach has now decided to up the ante and have me pass pre-juv before my membership expires.

Anyways, I've been working on prelim for since August. Every week... I was super happy that I passed though.

Thanks for the congrats everybody!

CONGRATULATIONS!

It also really looks balletic!

Aw, thanks! Glad it worked for you. I saw you doing that move in the center later with a very nice BO edge on the mohawk. Too bad I can't manage it myself .

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Pretty Gifts

Had wonderful skates the last 2 sessions, and some things really started to come together. Backspins, finally starting to have circles instead of twizzle tracings. And started work again on flying camels and jumping the change of foot in the camel. Yay. Jumps were all pretty good too.

Lump of Coal

No more skating for 2 whole weeks !!!
The rink is closed for 2 weeks now. I am so going to go through withdrawal, as always. Even more frustrating cos I felt I was making some progress.

Never mind, I will survive, and I tell myself that some of my joints and muscles might benefit from the rest.

Merry Christmas/ Happy Holidays All !!!

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Lump of Coal: Just a little one--both my regular lesson rinks closed yesterday, so the lesson I had anticipated for Christmas Eve didn't happen...

Pretty Gifts: ...so, also to work off too many holiday treats, I went out to the public session yesterday afternoon. I'd had a fall on Thursday resulting in a twisted knee. I skated through the lesson after, but was sore Friday and Saturday. I was pleased to be skating with no pain yesterday, and had the usual experience of having the public session skaters ask me if I was a coach becasue I skated so well. It's good to remember how far we've come once in a while.

Rob

pretty gifts
did very well with not popping jumps. it usually takes me like 5 popped axels to actually start doing them. this time, i only popped one and it was because i caught my edge.

also with axels, i was able to do them late in the session when someone asked to see one. usually after i've warmed them up and moved on, any attempts to go back to them aren't too successful. maybe i have finally destroyed that mental block!

double flips went well. my biggest problem with them now is that i'll be so surprised to be standing up that i'll put my foot down

did a really nice came from crossovers. i usually only enter from a 3-turn. i was busy talking about how terrible my spins were from xovers and how the 3-turn gave me so much more power. well my "evidence" was definitely to the contrary lol

lumps of coal
its my last week of skating for a long time
surgery is creeping up on me--december 31st

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Pretty gifts: Got a good skate/workout session in yesterday. Because it was Christmas Eve, it was a wee bit more crowded than the usual midweek/midday session, but not too badly. Worked a lot just on edges and steadiness.

Coal: Waltz 8s sucked!! Don't quite know why but I was just really off & wobbly.

Pretty gifts: Abandoned the waltz 8s for simple FI and FO 8s in the hockey circle, concentrating on steadiness and edge quality. Much better (I see from the Figures thread that these are called circle eights). Also pulled off a decent 3-turn pattern (prebronze moves). Seems like when I concentrate on riding the back edge of each 3-turn and on keeping my abs tight, it goes well.

Coal: I'm sooooo out of shape. . . didn't take long to get winded. Many breaks during the hour I was at the rink.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Pretty gifts - my dd and I were skating yesterday - the only 2 on the ice at 3:30 on Christmas eve. That was a gift in itself. Then a middle aged guy comes up to me and says "you were amazing out there! What an inspiration! How long did it take you to learn all that? I think I've found my new hobby."

That's great. LOL this is the second person I've been an inspiration to. I guess they think that if an old, fat, out-of-shape broad like me can do it, anyone can!

I had problems looking artistic and graceful...again try practicing in front of a mirror. You will feel dumb but it works!!!

I get SUPER dizzy after spinning my coach has me do a few slow crossovers or back swing rolls just to re-orient myself, and it looks nicer than just doing nothing or little pushes. Then you can re-steer yourself into the right direction.

When we hit lessons (after we have a little discussion) we will choreograph my new routine (artistic spotlight)...and try some loops. One-footed. I will be wearing my pads. yup!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

lump of coal - fell off my RBO edge and onto my butt, my back, and clocked my head. Fortunately, I'd soaked up enough impact so by the time my head hit, it was almost nothing, not even a lump now. All that spiral muscle took most of the landing pretty well, I don't feel sore anywhere. Scary though

shiny present a little girl at the rink today told me my skating was very pretty.

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It's all about the dress!

Pretty Gifts: Jumped for the first time in over a week and landed double sals and double toe. Maybe I should lay off the jumps more often, because I'm rarely as consistent as I was today. I also did my first full run through of my new freeskate with the double jumps and spins. I landed both double sals and both axels! Not too bad for the first full runthrough.

Coal: I'm still having trouble with the change of edge spiral in my program. My coach wants me to do FO edge catch foot and change to FI edge unassisted. I find it really hard to control the change of edge in the catch foot position. I usually end up on a long flat and losing all speed before hitting the FI edge spiral. I have to find time to work on this!

Lumps of coal

Being back on the ice, trying to skate after having been off since last Wednesday and eating and lying around for a week.

Pretty gift - Coach complemented by nice big edgy lobes with forward perimeter crossovers in Bronze Moves

Backward--I started with nice strong pushes, then got weaker and lost track of my axis, but once I got back to strong pushes .....I was back on the axis and everything looked good.

Coal - entry edge for a spin. Ugh...everyone seems to do that so easily and it is such a chore for me...and I keep rushing it.

Half flip...from a stand still, I do a good stretch, edge, decent jump - but in the program ...I'm still whipping it around.

But not a bad session for having been off ice for awhile.

j

Pretty Gifts:
-Camel!!! Suddenly, something clicked and it feels great. Don't know if it actually looks good though And it's been consistent for the past 3 skating sessions.
-Did a few camel-sit-backsits.
-Got my lesson time set up for the new year.
-Moves are slowly improving.
-Dances have good edges and are on pattern.
-Had so much fun skating these past few days!

Lump of Coal:
-sit spin hasn't yet returned to its former sitting position
-haven't been able to practice dances to music - first, it was too crowded, and then I discovered that my iPod was dead from lack of use
-muscles hurt - guess I'm building the skating muscles back up

Pretty Gifts:
The fact that I actually got on the ice was a gift in itself.
Backspins were very good, MITF were also good.
Waltz, Toe Loop, and combination were good. Need more height.

Lump of Coal:
Loop and Flip jumps were weak and landings were all cheated. Takeoffs feel more secure, though.
Couldn't practice too many MITF patterns because there were too many skaters of a wide range of skills.
Kept getting in the way or getting cut off and interrupted.
Had to leave early to do some shopping and get home for guests. Kills me to spend money on freestyles and have to cut them short.

Ah well, maybe I'll get to Coffee Club tomorrow and put in a bit more time on the ice.

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Pretty Gifts:
Freshly sharpened blades- got them sharpened while I was off the ice for the holiday.
Started re-vamping my Bronze CM program for Easterns and put together my own straightline footwork sequence- now need to get the muscle and knee bend memory down and it should be fine.
Also dabbled with some artistic stuff in anticipation of getting my new artistic program music next week.

Lump of Coal:
Why is it that the Zam guys are ready to run the zam at the end of a freestyle (or even 10 minutes before) and they drag their butt when having to resuface after hockey for a freestyle?!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Lump of Coal: Still haven't landed that perfect axel, but I'm getting closer. I expect it any day now. Yerba Buena was packed on Christmas day and I couldn't do much.

Pretty Gifts: Some kid asked me for my autograph. Quite an ego booster I haven't tried loop-loop combos in a long time and did some pretty good sequences of 6 and 7 in a row. My old legs can't handle more than that

Lump of Coal:

I went all the way out to one of the rinks in Milwaukee (actually Wauwatosa) just to find that there was hockey and no freestyle...I'm bummed because I really wanted to skate! Serves me right for not calling.

I guess I'll have to go tomorrow to the Pettit Center for some practice time...or else I will have to explain to my coach why I look like I haven't skated in a week when I have my lesson on the 2nd!

Hopefully, I can borrow my mom's car tomorrow, Friday, and Sunday mornings to go to the rink...but, she always has been and always will be a nervous Nelly when it comes to me driving somewhere...even when it's my own car! (this was even before the 2 accidents I was in)...

Congrats on the autograph seeker!

Be glad that you came Christmas day. I just got email this morning that the YB rink became a PUDDLE today!!! Holy Moley!!! In fact, its still a puddle as of now!!! Just got email saying that the "North Pole Puddle" is still at YB. (I guess I should be glad that I'm vacationing in NYC, huh?)

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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!!!

A big congratulations to Fly & Crash!!

Pretty Gifts
My husband and I flew to Texas on Christmas Eve, staying for just 21 hours before flying back home Christmas Day. But it was WONDERFUL! It was the first time my entire family--mother, father, 3 brothers and I--were together for Christmas in 27 years. All 8 if my nieces & nephews were there as well. It could not have been better (well, unless we'd been able to stay for an hour longer instead of leaving before dessert, LOL!)

Today I skated two freestyle sessions with a skating friend who was visiting from out of state. We had a great time and each taught each other a useful trick. Oddly, several of the things I have the most trouble on were unusually good today: My flying camel was better than usual and I actually completed the flying camel combo spin in my program for a change. I also I miraculously landed 100% of my axel and double salchow attempts! I can't remember the last time that happened. I only attempted 4 axels and 2 double sals, but hey, 100% is 100%. I think my boots must be broken in enough now. Not bad for just 8 hours of skating in them!

I had avoided MIF and done nothing but freestyle, but in the last 5 minutes before getting off the ice, I did the dreaded Intermediate back power 3's, first CCW, then CW. Completed the pattern with control and flow in both directions. I am having good success with the new little breakthrough on the CW ones and crossing my fingers that it continues!

Lumps of Coal
Reverse upright spin entrance is still giving me trouble. I can do it from a standstill with the tiniest bit of a LFI edge before the RFI entry edge, but if I'm already moving at all when I set up for it, fuggeddabouddit.

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

pretty gifts
did some reeeaaaally nice camels. probably 10-12 revs, fast and centered. felt great.

did one good outside edge scratch. i used to be really good at them, but now, ugh. but the fact that my blades are so dull that deep outside edges skid might have something to do with it lol

lumps of coal
ughhh lots of those

tried lowering a layback into a michelle kwan position. yeah, that is one move that is not going to make it into my repertoire.got out of the spin, felt a little sizzy. all of a sudden i woke up face down on the ice with a bloody nose lol.

something is wrong with my right leg. i think i might have stress fractures in my fibula, because it hurts and is pretty swollen. idk. at first it was just a stabbing pain when i extended my leg right before the 3-turn for a double toe. who knows. but i'll be on crutches for a while as of december 31st, so no used going to a doctor. they'd prolly just put me in a boot, and i can do that myself.

took a not-so-fun fall on a double flip. i t was one of those falls where i pulled my arms too far around to my let, so when i fell i twisted and whacked my left hip.


4 days til surgery

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