There was a lot of whining in Power class today and that's the one thing I won't do. I'm pretty competitive and if I can't keep up with everyone the one thing I can do is not whine. So I just worked in power...

Whining: Been in NJ for 10 days, and only today did I finally make it to the Ice House (that's just 10 min drive away). I spent a week getting over jet lag... not all my fault 'cos my baby wakes up at 2am to play!

Working: I can still skate!

Whining: Singapore Nationals is 2 1/2 weeks away, and I still have no program. I have only this week in NJ to do something about it, as apparently the rink in Singapore plans to be closed when I get back next week, for "5 to 7 days".

__________________
~~~~~
Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
~~~~~

That's great news, Chow! I mean, that you are still able to skate, and you actually have a full-sized ice surface to skate on this week! If anyone can pull this off, you can!

Working: I had a good skate at my practice competition over the weekend (only one major mistake) and another good skate this morning (also only one mistake), so I'm feeling like I may actually be ready for Adult Sectionals this coming weekend.

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

Whining: Half-term, so ice crowded with kids. No lesson as coach was ill, so didn't even get time behind the cones.

Working: Forward runs (progressives) finally starting to feel like they might be starting to work properly - it's only been two years. No longer catching the toe pick when picking up back foot going in the 'good' direction, and not doing it very often in 'bad' direction. Even managed to do some in hold with my husband. Didn't take out any of the aforementioned kids whilst doing so either, despite their best efforts to skate right into us!

Nice to hear from you chowskates!! When my son was a baby he would get up at 2am, 4am to 'party'!! That's what I used to call it.

Anyway,

Whining: dance coach put me through kind of a running on ice exercise that left me with a very interesting sensation(pain) along the top of my boot!! That's what I told him. Now my ankles are in AGONY. Young snot that he is. Only kidding.

Working: Improved on my dances and working on being 'led' through it.

Working
-Double flips! They were completely missing for a few weeks, and I was really starting to get frustrated. Today I landed the first one I tried, then the second, then the third, the fourth, and so on! I only fell on probably 3 or 4 out of 15 or so attempts! I even managed some 2flip2loop combos! The technique feels much better, so I think this time my double flip is here to stay. I hope! No more "right hook" when pulling in, but an "upper cut" instead. My coach said my tapping leg is still a little high, but much better than before.
-Flying camel into donut spin is finally getting good
-Coach says death drops are "getting there"

Whining
-Took a nasty fall on an axel-loop of all things. Well, I guess I took the fall on the axel. I came down, my right blade slid out from under me and my leg ended up flying to the left, under my left leg. So I fell really hard on my right hip with my legs kind of crossed. All I could do was sit there, stunned, and say, "What did I DO?!?!"
-Coach is thinking of some evil traveling entrances to forward spins. It started with traveling forward broken leg into forward sit, then traveling upright into camel, now I THINK she wants me to do traveling upright into layback (so basically a roller skating entrance). I told her I'd work on it

__________________
Youtube Videos

For someone who hasn't skated in QUITE a while, Chowskates... the fact that you can STILL skate is still better off than where I am today... (How the baby? She's so adorable in those pictures on FB!!! )

Enjoy the Ice House!!! I love it there. (I would have recommended you going to White Manna and have a burger for me afterwards...until I remembered that you're a vegetarian. Ooops!!! )

Whining:

• Lutz. Can't land any today...
• One foot spin is traveling to Japan today... It'll probably end up at Singapore with chowskates tomorrow...

Working:
Okay there are things that are working today...

• ALL my jumps up to and including the flip did show up today.
• The fact that I'm able to show up to skate 3 days after my job layoff and not feel like I'm falling apart is even MORE amazing... I went to a mid-morning public session and just concentrated on SKATING and taking it easy. (It really is good for a couple of hours to get away from this feeling of "not having an identity" again for a couple of hours and become "Jazzpants -- Adult Bronze level competitive figure skater")
• Sit spin went well. In fact, well enough where a kid skater came up to me and said that my sit spin is my best spin! WHOA!!! News to me. Certainly news to my coaches since I normally can't get down low enough to make the IJS judges happy (even though I AM skating 6.0... )

__________________
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!!!

(((((Jazzpants)))))

Working: Back on the ice today; in our lesson we did some choreography.

Whining: Still coughing nicely. Quite glad coaches aren't in tomorrow, so good excuse not to go in.

Chow, dear - you can't really expect a one-year-old (she must have her birthday round now, no?) not to realise that 2:00 am in New Jersey isn't breakfast-time if that's what it was in Singapore!

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

Working - Getting close to finishing our program. My partner is doing great and we're having a blast.

Whining - spent 4 hours on the ice on Sunday and my knees hurt. Grrrrr.

Mrs. R - thought about you the other day. I was teaching group lessons and one of the kids had red boots!

__________________
Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Working: I made it to the rink this morning and skated! WOO. It's been a while. I only did one day last week because I was very ill and out of energy. And I only did that day because I had a competition this past weekend...

Whining: I skated really bad Sunday and I had to relive it today via an explanation as to why i probably placed last so we can prepare for the next competition at the end of the month. I think it was because I forgot my footwork and got a time deduction for being under the time requirement (my music cut out part way through right before the footwork so I forgot to do it.).

Working: I landed my 2sal today both on the line and on a moving pattern! YAY!

Whining: I did a run-thru of my program w/o music and couldn't make it to the end. I stopped with two spins, a jump, and a spiral sequence to go...

Working: I am pretty much committed to skating three more days this week and four next week in an effort to get back in shape from being out all of last week. Being sick sucks.

Times like this are when we need skating to keep us sane (the rest of the time, it's skating that makes us insane, LOL!). A few years ago I was unemployed for 2 years and it really messed with my head, not to mention my finances. Financially, that was the worst time for me to have taken up skating again, but psychologically, it saved me.

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

Congratulations! So how do you do your 2sal on a line? I need to get mine back. . .

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

Thanks! I feel like I've been neglecting this jump lately in favor of my program and other stuff. It is really easy for me to lose too or to develop bad habits (such as dropping a shoulder or early takeoff) if I'm tired.

On the line, I do it from a 3turn on the line so that I can line up the take-off with the wall so I don't take off too early. It's usually a really flat 3turn so i can "spot" the end of the blue line before taking off... If it's a curvy turn, then i use the far end of the rink with the 3turn taking up about a half circle.

I also have an edge exercise on the line too:

backwards wiggles
push back left outside edge (I jump and spin ccw)
push behind left inside edge into a salchow

I usually start with jump-backspin-checkout and then progress into the full jump.

Thanks! So you do the salchow on the line so that the 3-turn itself is to the right of the line as you go into the turn, and you don't jump untilyou come back to the line? Just like doing a flip jump along a line?

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

Yup. If it's a curvy one, i try to get back to the line and use it to help with timing so I'm not as tempted to rush. If it's a straight one, it pretty much follows the line and I use it as a guide to keep me moving in the correct direction to help with spotting.

I almost never post on these things....

Working: I skated 2 pretty good programs last week. Considering that sectionals is this week, that's good. The dress fits and looks OK on the ice. Am packing to go to Vegas.

Whining: really pissed off right hamstring. Doesn't like any type of back camel spin. I need a flying camel as part of a "well-balanced program." Am praying for adrenaline to get me through the spin on Friday. Plus the dress sheds glitter. Not stones. Just glitter. It is everywhere. All over me, the table, the pets, the jacket, my car, etc......

Whining

• My primary coach!!! (I know. THAT was BAD!!! )
• My lutz - not consistent unless I go at slower speed.
• My loop is not consistent when going into it like I do during the program. And couldn't land any towards the end of the session either.
• I feel like I'm stumbling thru my runthrus.
• Footwork went to hell during the runthru. GRRRRR!!!

Working:

• I DID land the loop clean during today's runthru though
• Did land loop-loop and flip
• Did land SOME lutzes today
• Did END to the MUSIC on time!!!
• Primary coach FINALLY got rid of the dreaded back cross stroke right after the landing of the flip jump. I took too much time off and I can't get any flow. I'm just going to do a 3turn, step out (ala power 3's), wind up and do my final spin.

And speaking of whining...(an interesting "Oops!" on Primary Coach's part...)

So my primary coach goes up to me while I'm tying my boots up to skate (never looking up to watch him) His Majesty says in his snotty tone:
PC: "What are you doing here on a Tuesday afternoon? You got laid off or something??? "
Jz: "Yes, I did get laid off, (PC's real name)!!!" (in my slightly annoyed but also sad tone)
PC: "You DID!?!?! AGAIN!?!?! " (Now he's shocked at my response.)
Jz: "Last Friday morning..." (still in my defeated tone, still tying my boots up to warm up for HIS lesson...)
PC: *GASP!!!*

Now I see him walking away but with his hands over his mouth with his dropped jaw. He was like

That'll teach 'em to joke about stuff like that!!! (I know, I know! He was just joking around. He didn't mean to be insensitive. He had NO IDEA about it 'til I told him then.)

__________________
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!!!

Working
-Had a lesson with my jump coach for the first time in a few weeks. He said I've improved quite a bit. Since my last lesson with him, I've been working on going into my jumps with more speed, and he noticed! He said that I was skating into my jumps the fastest he's even seen (from me). But then he said it was kind of scary lol. He pushed me to go even faster into a double toe and he said that I "looked like a real skater." That's good, right?
-Speaking of whining, my coach commented today on how I'll fall and fall and just keep getting up without complaining. I guess i'd rather not fall and fall, but I'm glad I have a good attitude!
-I can now DO my spiral sequence.

Whining
-Definitely need to work on the speed in the spiral sequence. Also, the positions can always be better.
-Double flips weren't nearly as good as yesterday. But they still weren't as bad as they've been!
-I can't get a change of edge forward camel. I just get stuck on the flat. I try and try and try but I can't do it! I can do forward outside sit and upright, but not this darn camel!
-Double lutzes were no good today. I was trying to turn and not going up and it was just not pretty.

__________________
Youtube Videos

I've done these (...accidentally) by locking my knee and leaning back onto my heel. Would that help?

Sorry to hear about your job layoff. This economy just stinks.

Whining: Same old same old...Toes are acting like they may actually fall off...Weird muscle spasms in back and shoulder...Body determined to fall apart...Flip still has a tail longer than a boa constrictor...lesson canceled this week and no available freestyle ice for lesson next week...yadda yadda yadda...

Working:

• Camel seems to be solid in the program.
• Got 5 revolutions of the attitude spin in the program yesterday. It's a real spin!!
• Got 12 revolutions, reasonably centered, on the sit yesterday--not sure I've done that many before!
• Am now doing all Silver Moves except for LBI 3 turn pattern. May actually be able to test them someday in the distant future!!

Loop and half-loop are both now in my program and am actually able to complete them DURING the program.

Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my old dad says!

__________________
You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

LOL, I have a full-size ice, lots of time to skate, but no stamina Honestly, I'm not even sure I can last a 2min30sec program!

__________________
~~~~~
Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
~~~~~

Jazzpants, sorry to hear your news. Hope you are able to find something new soon.

My baby is doing well, having her first birthday on Friday. She's having fun in the cold here. There was some flurries this morning!

__________________
~~~~~
Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
~~~~~

chowskates: I probably have a similar problem this week. LOTS of ice space but no stamina!

Working:
After doing more stroking in the CW direction (and WOW!!! What a difference getting enough sleep makes! I'm not "sleep skating" for once! ) we went and did BO3's on both direction. The good part is that my BO3's at least is relatively stable.

Whining:
The bad news... my FI3's are NOT stable! Have trouble checking my LFI3's... and my RFI3's are better than my LFI3's -- can check better on that side!!! WEIRD... since I'm a CW jumper and skater... (My secondary coach still thinks that I should have been a CCW skater... )

__________________
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!!!

.

Lesson today -

Whine: we started with forward cross strokes and my inablity to generate any power - which is because I do not leave my foot behind long enough to push because of course I HATE TO HAVE MY FEET CROSSED BEHIND...

So coach is helping me with that and I said "why don't you show me how to do that undercut excercize we do in Power" and she nearly cried with excitement because no one has actually ever asked to work on that in a lesson.

This is where you cross over, but you leave the foot behind on the ice to do ALL THE pushing - it's all undercuts.

Then on the my eight step which is really improving much better than anything else I've been working on. I just needed to think about leaning a little more into my circle and suddenly I had edges!

Spirals for the silver moves - I really have a lot of power and speed. The question is how picky judges will be about how high and how straight the free leg is - I tend to bend it in order to get it up higher. Also I make it harder on myself because I have a hard time lowering my back. I don't do any off ice stuff but I told coach if that were the only thing keeping me from passing the test, I'd do off ice stretching. Another shock for her.

But there's till other things keeping me from passing the test so I'm in no danger of having to keep that promise...

And we ended with back crossovers and I'm still having trouble keeping my weight back and not forward.

j