Having reached the footwork section of our program, we've had both.

Twizzle: our footwork section is very ambitious from end to end. Fun, but tricky.

Fizzle: My knees!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Twizzle: Swing rolls were pretty good this morning, and spins felt great.

Fizzle: Not feeling so good, was congested all weekend, thought I felt better this morning, but lots of Monday blues to get past.

Fizzle:

• Took me a good 15-20 minutes warmup (before lesson) before I was finally able to do a sit spin low enough that primary coach was happy with it. Then it was HOLDING the position for 4 rev. (I know... I'm supposed to do 3 but well, better safe than sorry...) Yes, I know the gripe about how come we can't have 15 minute warmups before our events. I TOTALLY AGREE!!! We older people need it for our joints!!!
• I did managed to get in a decent 4 rev sit spin, but I'm doubtful that it would count under IJS since it's not low enough... BLAH!!!
• Loop, Flip and Lutz was on and off...
• Coach is NOT happy with me suggesting that I do a 3 turn after landing my flip to do a back crosso stroke to get in some speed. Yes, the intention WAS to FORCE me to do a flip, land and glide with flow... *sigh* (Looks like a job for SUPER secondary coach to fix...ta da-da DAAAAAH!!!!) But he did agree on letting do the same on the sit spin, just b/c he really wants a good sit spin in there.

Twizzle:
Loop, Flip and lutz was on and off... the fact that I was able to get SOME loops in was very good news for me... my lower back is recovering!!! (Just have to keep up with my regiment of doing the foam roller in addition to stretching before I skate.)

Primary coach suggests that I take a WARM shower to loosen up before I come to the rink to skate. (Any one of you guys with joint problems tell me if this works? I know at least ONE skater who does this.)

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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!!!

For some of us it's not a good idea to take a shower right before skating; skaters with asthma. But what about stepping into a sauna at the gym for a few minutes to stretch out our muscles before heading to the rink?

One thing that worked for me this winter was having to shovel my way to the car because we had over a foot of snow in one snow fall and I don't have boots. Had to shovel the porch, sidewalk, driveway and the street where my car was parked. By the time I was done, I was so hot even though it was really cold out. It made stretching at the rink easy and quick and my skating improved because of it.

But lately, I've been using my skipping rope in the change room to warm up. I think next time I might try doing off ice jumps in the change room too because I seem to warm up faster doing jumps than skipping.

Another time, I was washing the floor at home and that got my body hot. I stetched as soon as the foor was clean and the dirty water was disposed and then headed to the rink. Good skate that day too.

But lately I've been stuck on my computer doing music editing right before skating and well, my legs and muscles were really stiff. I had a hard time getting my leg up high enough in my spirals for them to count as spirals in CPC or what ever you want to call it. My sit has been suffering too because I haven't been getting as low as I could if I weren't so stiff. And this is with skipping in the change room before getting on the ice.

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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

Twizzle: I managed a little bitty INSIDE 3 turn on each side. Itty bitty ones, and my form was atrocious, but at least I managed the actual turn in each direction on one foot, which is a BIG improvement.

Fizzle: My waltz 8. Uncooperative little critter, that.

Twizzle: I just passed level 2 elements! That feels good.

No Fizzle today.

Congrats!!

Twizzle: Pretty good lesson yesterday. Started working on figures yesterday. Really interesting--not sure if I'll really be able to test them--I was thinking about doing the Prelimary in April but we may not have ice after March--but it was neat to work on them a little and coach got so excited! Asked her to show me a serpentine as I wasn't quite understanding what they were and she did about fifty.
Also, loop came relatively easily and did one flip that was close enough that coach thought it was completed (sadly, I had to point out the little tail on the end--toe was not pointed and I landed flat on the blade sounding, to myself, like a giant elephant in figure skates!).

Fizzle: Feeling disappointed and left out as other adult skaters at the rink are all preparing for competitions and/or tests and I am doing nothing. Coach decided not to go away this week after all so I actually had 3 consecutive lessons for the first time all year, but my program is not presentable.

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

Twizzle: The Silver MITF three-turn patterns were looking pretty good last night, as were backward power pulls.

Fizzle: My coach had me play around with brackets. I can't quite wrap my head around those back inside brackets. I feel like there are arms and legs everywhere when I try to do those.

Fizzle
This morning it was really cold (OK, not to you folks in the Dakotas, but to us here in Southern California where anything below 50 is ), I hadn't gotten enough sleep and I was hormonal. I felt sorry for my coach.

Twizzle
Considering the above, I somehow squeezed out a program run-through. I don't know how I did it because my legs turned to rubber not long after the halfway point. Miraculously, I actually completed every element in the program but one!

Fizzle
Pretty much describes the one element I didn't complete. I got up on the second axel and fully rotated it but then didn't have enough energy to actually land it. So I 2-footed and sat down instead. In retrospect, it would have taken a lot less energy just to land it instead of sitting down, getting back up and scrambling to get back on track...

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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

Twizzle

Got on the ice again today for the 2nd time since my spinal fracture diagnosis -- have decided to try for once a week for a little while just to keep it going. After last week's skate I tried to do too much and dearly paid for it so I've decided to really try to take it easy.

Today felt much better than last week, much less weak, legs were less sore and I was able to do a little more actual skating and not just stroking around. I still don't have the courage to try many turns beyond forward 3s but overall the flow felt really good. I played around with making up a "Creative Figure" for the upcoming figures competition we are having in July.

It's always fun to work with the other skaters and today I helped a friend and her coach go through the Hickory Hoedown - not a favorite of mine but it was fun to work on the technical stuff withi her.

Fizzle

I got tired after about a half-hour and had to take a break. Skated for another 15-minutes and then we were standing around talking and my left calf (well, close to the inside of the knee) started to cramp up - of course I immediately thought I was having a DVT (deep-vascular thrombosis) and got off the ice. After 5 minutes of stretching I was fine - guess it wasn't a DVT...

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Twizzle I did a real loop! From pushes- not just a stand still 3-turn. EEEEEEEE!!! And I did some real toe loops. I think my life time toe loop count might be all the way to 5! (I hate those suckers. Why can't a toe waltz be a jump?)

I also learned the willow waltz for the show, and except for the mohawk I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be placed in the higher group (the lower group is mostly LTS skaters doing the dutch). And a partner should be able to help pull me through the mohawk. (Most of the skaters in the higher group are coaches, so I feel okay relying on whomever partners me for that. If we were 'equal' level, it probably wouldn't be okay). And I'm thrilled that the 3-turn is in "my direction".

Fizzle All the jumping really killed me. My back, right hip, left ankle, and both knees are all in serious pain.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Twizzle:
-I'm feeling very confident about Gold Moves (which is good, since I'm testing them in a few weeks!!).
-Axel - I keep getting close, but not quite. I'm making a resolution to practice off-ice axels every night.
-I walked-through a double loop in my lesson
-I think I *finally* get the stag jump. I can do one really, really slowly now.
-I can do one of those back tuck sit spins...not sure if it actually looks any good, but I can do it!
-It's been warm lately, so my skating in general has improved. I skate better when it's not freezing in the rink

Fizzle:
-My RBI bracket has gone flat on the exit edge. I never had this problem before. Don't know where it came from...

Fizzle:
- I hate Intermediate moves

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- Ashley

Twizzle: Flip feels like it's getting closer. First loop today was fine and the rest were messed up but I can at least tell what's wrong with them now (left leg suddenly developing a mind of its own in midair).

Fizzle: CURSE YOU SILVER MOVES!

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

Good Luck!!!

I feel you with the axels. I need about .000001 more seconds pulled in and I just can't do it!

I concur! But it feels sooooo good when you pass!!

[twizzle]
worked on freestyle all last night, which was nice. I haven't jumped in about 2 weeks because of preparing for my moves test.

[fizzle]
I need to work out what the heck is going wrong with my camel/back sit...
Axels...need I say more?
I feel very out of shape...I haven't done a run through of my program in a few months and I could feel it last night. Coach is going to torture me with that.
I felt a little lost without moves to work on. Call me nuts, but I kinda hope coach teaches me the new set soon...

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Twizzle: Had a nice high salchow and landed that darn flip - last jump of my lesson and the ice session. Ended the night on a high note.

Fizzle: Having a hard time holding the camel for more than 2 revs.

Congratulations, Hanca!

Fizzle: No skating all week for me as I have a nasty virus and am only just out of bed. Hope to skate on Sunday.

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

I've got weird stuff today.

Twizzle: Skated clean program and my sit spins are pretty good. Relieved the flip is off in Siberia somewhere because we have a love/hate relationship. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Fizzle: Whenever I do a program run-through and screw something up I make a face and do this class clown thing that I know is totally annoying, yet I keep doing it. I have to stop doing that! It is driving my coach up the wall and makes me look amateurish. There's plenty of time AFTER the program to make fun of myself!

Also, I'm having major ankle problems that I attribute to the heel lock system on my boots, maybe pulling them too tight. My boots don't entirely fit anymore. It almost feels like I've separated some connection between my foot and lower leg, and every so often I toss it out of whack, like today when I did a waltz into a half flip. Quite painful, yeesh! After easterns I'm getting ankles and knees checked out. It's a very strange feeling, hopefully I haven't done permanent damage...this has been going on for a while but today was the worst. Have lost weight since getting these boots...may need to come up with the cash for new boots, which will be Klingbeil (ouch, money)

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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)

Twizzle Had my second lesson on the willow waltz. For me never dancing other than maybe 2 lessons on the dutch waltz, I think I'm doing a pretty darn good job with the bronze dance. My coach was pleasantly surprised at how good my drop 3 is. (yay me!) I need to really work on the "juicy" lobes, but do a much better job of them partnered- the thing is I CAN hold them just fine, I just don't because I'm a weeny on my own. But even still doing it solo, I can do everything in the dance except the mohawk at the end- there is just no way I can hit that, at the lobe depth and at the speed necessary to the dance. We didn't work on the timing of it, because for the purpose I was learning it, it wouldn't have been done to waltz music, so it was a bit moot. Although we did work on holding lobes and not cutting them short and rushing the dance.

Also finally went to a synchro practice. I felt so bad because there have been so many people missing the past two weeks that when I've been super tired, had a really bad headache, or whatever I've just not gone- knowing that we can't do much without the others missing too. But I know me missing makes it even harder for the team, so I feel guilty about it, but couldn't get myself to practice even though I wasn't really "sick". So synchro practice last night had only one person missing and it went okay. One program went mostly great, the other not so good at all. Competition is coming up, and I'm sure we'll be ready by then.

Fizzle For reasons I don't want to get into on a public forum I'm not doing the club ice show any more. The time I spent doing the willow waltz wasn't wasted (because, well I learned a new dance, and some new skills) but it was all for nothing. I'm so horribly upset. I've lost sleep multiple nights, been in tears way too many times, and am just done with the drama. So I've pulled myself from the show. I really need a hug.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I'm sorry to hear that the rink/show drama got the best of you, but at least you were able to recognize that you didn't lose anything by learning the Willow.

((((skittl))))

Twizzle:
-FS and footwork coming together and should be at least adequate for Miami this weekend. Someone's tip of looking at your hands during a spin has helped immensely.
-Coach also says bronze moves are looking good.
-Synchro dance number may not be half bad, at least in parts.

Fizzle:
-Dropped probably 1/4 of my FW program during the runthrough,oops--just blanked out. Toepick-forward splat on my last jump running through the FS program. . . ho hum, business as usual.
-Coach says all bronze moves are all technically correct but they need "more power." Isn't it just my luck to have switched my lesson from a session on which the highest level skater is juv (and most are much lower than that) to a session that regularly features a senior, a few novices, and numerous int & juvies. . . of COURSE my skating is going to look less powerful in comparison!

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

Congrats, Hanca!

(((((Skittl1321))))) The last show I thought I would skate in led to so much drama that it ended with my firing my coach, so I know how bad it can get. Try to let it go (easy for me to say) and focus on the pleasure of the new skills you learned with the willow waltz. Did you get a costume for the show? I was able to enjoy that when all was said and done.

Twizzle:
Really enjoyed my dance lesson today. We skated several patterns of the Dutch waltz, focussing on getting better pushes on the swing rolls and refining the end pattern. I realized that after I rise up on the second half of a swing roll, I release the pressure on the back of the blade and that is contributing to my sliding out (in addition to dull blades). My coach said "use me", and I did and it helped me fix things. We also worked on FXO's in kilian hold, in which I had to modify my L leg going CW, so as not to kick him . We had fun with F cross rolls, which will probably never be up to Paso Doble speed, but still fun. Finally, coach helped me with the blues choctaw, which he insanely thought I could do last week, after I foolishly said how much I had loved the blues as a roller dancer. I realized that I can get onto the BO edge by thinking B cross roll, and that I can hold that edge.

Fizzle:
Unfortunately, the stress on my L hip as I make the turn was painful. I have almost no turnout. Will have to keep working at it and hoping that better technique will clear it up. The cough that is now in week 3 is starting to feel like bronchitis. After skating two patterns of the Dutch waltz, I had to catch my breath, which is not unusual, except that I could not seem to get enough air into my lungs. Haven't felt that up till now, so I'm going to the doctor at the first opportunity (probably Sat).

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Twizzle: Had my last visit to the ortho surgeon on Wednesday and she officially cleared me to skate (darned good because I have been sort of skating for the last two months). So at least I can put the boots on without feeling guilty.

Fizzle: The right skate HURTS. Dr. says the new lumpy shape of my ankle is probably permanent and I should get the boots punched out to accommodate it - or get new skates. I'll also have to have the blade remounted because my new orthotic arch support makes getting to an outside edge more difficult with the current mounting. The issue is when to find time to haul myself and my skates to the shop.

Twizzle: Part 2 I made it through both the Dutch and the Canasta to the music (well, only about half-a-beat behind the music) twice last night before the pain drove me off. And I only screwed up the steps to the Canasta once, which for me is nearly a miracle.

Fizzle: Part 2 Given the lateness of the season, I won't have time to put together new music and a new program so the Mountain Cup folks will have to suffer through another rendition of last year's solo free dance music again this year. I consider myself fortunate to even be thinking about doing a program this year and I like the music anyway. It's just going to be tough reworking the choreography unless I relearn how to go backwards.

soggy fizzle - my awful awful cold. haven't skated since, oh gee, week ago tuesday?

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It's all about the dress!

Fizzle- I'm dropping out of the Moves Class. A bunch of high level skaters have joined it and while the coach is very good at giving me alternative things to do...they all skate faster than me and I get scared that I'm going to get in the way...I'm only half way down the rink trying to my baby version of what they are doing and they are done or coming back toward me and it was just frustrating and not fun. Last week I didn't even go. I tried it again today and I was nearly in tears.

Right now I'm just working on so much stuff that is new and hard for me I think my time is better spent working on that than getting frustrated with even more new stuff besides being terrified of being mowed down.

j