Growling edges: I had a witness to one of my axels...Jazzpants! It's now official.

Scratchy Toepicks: My spins are completely AWOL. I'v gained a couple of pounds and it noticeably affects my jumps. I need to diet the next couple weeks.

Kevin

Congratulations!!

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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

Way to go, Kevin!!!

Growling: Just got my skates sharpened yesterday after practise - not sure if that's a good idea just 3 days before competition... but they were really very dull, and after slipping on the entry to the flying camel, i decided to do them!

Scratchy: I cannot believe how I thought I could skate twice a day, 4 days in a row before competition... That will probably mean the total skating time I have in this week will be more than what I have had this entire year (before this week)!

Growling: The rink here is wonderful... how lovely to be able to fit my program without crashing into the walls!
Scratchy: I just wish I have a rink like this to skate on at home

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Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
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Growling Edges:
Yes, I was a witness to kander's axel at the beginning of the session. Congrats to you, kander!!!

Scratchy Toepicks:
Unfortunately, he quit right then and there!!! And I had to razz him to make a few double sal attempts afterwards too! And I *know* he could do those consistently before too!!! CHICKEN!!!

Growling Edges:

• Well, I managed to do a few good sit spins.
• Also got a couple of loops, to which kander was an eyewitness. And HE remembers way back when I could NOT land ANY of my loops unless I two footed the landing too
• Got in some good practices on most of my Silver Moves. (Did not do back power pulls or spirals today. )

Scratchy Toepicks:

• When I got on the ice, the ice was just in HORRIBLE SHAPE!!! There was NO WAY in hell I was gonna attempt anything until the ice was resurface, which thankfully it did happen about 40 minutes into my session.
• Unfortunately, after the ice was resurfaced, there were still some HUGE gauges on the ice, particularly in the center and I almost killed myself in those guages too! And since I wasn't doing much jumping even before then, it couldn't have been from me. Hmmmm? I wonder who left those... (Luckily for me, I managed to move the center cones enough where I get more clean ice space to do my spins w/o getting into trouble with the ice monitor!!!)
• I did managed to do a couple of decent camel attempts, but I doubt it's worthy of mention b/c it's not quite in a nice spiral position...
• I also did land a couple of my royally cheated lutzes, but none that I had an eyewitness for. (I guess I'll just have to let the video on Ice Network and those who watched my FS program at GR be my eyewitness then! )
• Flip was RUBBISH!!!
• Public session on Memorial Day SUCKS!!! Too many skaters!!!
• I also gained a couple of pounds, but it's not necessarily a diet problem (though it would help) It's a "woman's problem."

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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!!!

Congrats on the official axel, kander!

Ha ha! That's one of the things I love about my coach. She knows what I'm most scared of and if I get a really good one, she'll often say we should quit on a high note. It works well for me, because once whatever it is starts to deteriorate, it pretty much doesn't come back till the next time I skate.

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[Scratchy Toepicks]
So....somehow I thought it would be a GREAT idea yesterday, since there was no ice Sunday or Monday, to go for a run yesterday morning (plus, it was BEAUTIFUL outside!!), then I got back and thought, oh, I should do some upper body work...so I did some pushups and some tricep dips....another thought, oh, I should do some lower body resistance work...so I did some squats, lunges, and step ups and a 1:30 wall sit....at NO POINT did I ever think, crapper, I'm going to hurt tomorrow....well, I HURT!! It's a good sore, but damn...

Spins were not happening today...sit spins (forward or back) were particularly painful! Of course, coach wanted to work on them...

For some reason, I could not manage a layback in my program tonight...it was so frustrating...and the layback is the first spin in the program, so it pretty much screwed up all of my run thrus

My skates are getting dropped off tomorrow (by a friend, long story) at the skate shop to get them fixed. 2 of the hooks have started to come out, so my skate guy is going to replace the hooks and he needs to coordinate with another vendor to sew the leather again after he puts the hooks in, so this trip is actually timed pretty well However, I am thinking I am going to need new skates soon anyway (yuck!! but, they have been feeling very loose lately, like I am losing support, and I have had to retie them during the sessions, which is odd for me...but, it could all be up in my head too!).

[Growling Edges]
Once I got super warmed up, things went pretty well! I actually stayed in on 2 axels for coach Which was super exciting and elicited a big hug!! We did some double sals and fixed some of my issues which was good because they had somehow gotten pretty messed up and....super scary....when given the choice between doing moves (which we are hoping to have ready for October) and starting double toes, coach chose double toes....we worked on my single for a bit and a nasty drill and then coach told me to try for the double...it in no way shape or form rotated at ALL, but it will take me a while to get the feel for the jump...and, I am someone who needs to learn something and then go back on my own and work on it...

I worked 2 sals after my lesson and was so close to landing a few of them, unfortunately, my toe dropped but, as with my axel, I need to work on my feet and getting them crossed...

I leave for a 6 day vacation tomorrow!!!! I'm driving from here to Grand Rapids, MI (really Holland, MI) to visit a friend, and stopping in Cleveland, OH on the way to have lunch with another friend!! I'm super excited Unfortunately, I'm up way past when I should have been asleep in order to get up at 5 to leave by 6am like I want to...

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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

Grrrrrrrrrowwwwl: I asked my coach to teach me the lutz today, she walked me through the setup a couple of times holding my hand, then I tried it. Next thing I knew, I was riding out the landing edge with a look of utter shock on my face I have a Lutz!

coach noted the improvement in my 9step since last week (still not great, but much better) and the speed and flow I showed in my program runthrough. I worked hard in practice last week and it really showed.

scratchy toepicks - I still have to fight to keep from letting my torso bend forward on absolutely everything - jumps, spins, footwork. As soon as I start thinking about anything else, it gets away from me again.

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It's all about the dress!

Growling edges: We have arrived safely at Oberstdorf, been to the rink, and seen one or two folk (not everybody, yet, by any manner of means). Going down to the Draw any minute.

Scratchy toe-picks: We, of course, are not skating this week, unless we can get a lesson. And after three days in the car, I need exercise!

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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!

Not cutting through Canada? That's usually a lot quicker going from upstate NY to MI. Granted...I mean...who wouldn't want to come through the beautiful, bustling metropolis of Cleveland!?

I was supposed to get up and skate today but slept in...was up too late last night after I got home from the gym/yoga watching the Indians and Cavs games (speaking of Cleveland) and general procrastination. But I have roller derby practice tonight so at least I'm not being totally lazy today.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

That's how my skates feel when they start breaking down....loose, I have to really crank them down to feel like I have support....first, try changing your laces and see if that helps (cause laces get old and stretch out) then if that doesn't help, you know you might need new boots (i am getting new ones this sumemr).

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

It's all scratchy this week: I've been sick as the proverbial dog since Sunday and now it seems to have settled in my ears. I have a call in to my doctor, but he's not in the office today and all the Urgent Care slots are full. I always have ear problems when I fly so the thought of getting on a plane on Friday is dreadful. (Insert several bad words here!)

I've just cancelled my lesson for this afternoon. There's no way I can skate like this.

(((((blue111moon)))))

Do you have a neti pot? That might help your ears clear.

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No passport or passcard...I need to get me one, but....I wanted to visit a friend who lives in the Cleveland area (another skater) and...I actually prefer going through Ohio...it may take longer, but there are actually people on the road!!


Yea, tried new laces...hasn't worked...I'm going to talk with my skate person when I pick up my skates on Tuesday to see if we should order a new pair...timing with this will be critical though because coach wants me to test Juv free this summer and I want to get my Junior moves tested in October...but.....she will be out starting in August with her baby, so....that may buy me some time

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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

Scratchy toepicks: Went to the rink today on my lunch hour again; the folks that work there are getting to know me, lol. There were more kids on the ice this time, inc. one later one who wasn't big on watching where he was going. Oh well. And I just felt like I was poopy. Took me forever to get into it, kept losing my balance, no improvement over last time, etc.

Growling edges: There was one perfect minute where I was just skating in a circle doing CC crossovers and I HAD it. It was awesome and beautiful. Then I lost my balance and stumbled and couldn't get it back, nor could I get it together at all on clockwise crossovers the whole time. And my T-stops at getting better!

Scratchy toepicks: rink was really warm tonight and crowded! Little girls not paying attention to where they were going, several nearly collided into me (some that should have known better-tsk! tsk! tsk!). I finally had a little talk with the small group of them telling them to please look behind them when they skate backwards (ending up looking and sounding much like a grouchy old lady, I'm sure-whatever!)

Growling edges: did some toe-loops for my coach and man, she said they were great! Had height and the swoop of the foot! I know they were high cause they scared the breathe out of me! so next we headed right into loops, which were ok, so she had me do the hoppy "land on your toe-pick" exercise...and I did some that were better. Overall, they are much better. Scratch spins were next and not much to complain about except I need to hold the exit l-o-n-g-e-r.

I LEARNED THE FLIP TONIGHT!!! (ok, re-learned cause she was teaching me the flip 2 years ago). We started with some exercises first, to help lead up to it and I'm to progress through them first, then do the jump. So, I'm back to where I was a few years ago (pre-injury) and that's a very happy place!

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

Growling Edges: I actually got some of those today, love that sound! Had a lesson & we're still playing so we worked on Rhumba. I learned it a couple years ago, and play with it occasionally, and it has definitely improved. Coach even put music on today (HA!)--and I could actually stay with it through the first choctaw--then I get stuck & can't get the second one without a good long time to sit & wait for the edge to come around. (Of course, my eville coach is making me do this SOLO, even though it was never meant to be skated without a partner...)

Also have been doing consistent Paso run-throughs in my own practices; well, one pattern at least. I usually lose it somewhere in the middle of the second pattern.

Nothing scratchy really, I'm a pretty happy camper at the moment.

That's exactly why I stop. Going out on a high note makes me feel good until the next session.

Scratchy Toepicks: Some kid in rental skates did about 10 face plants.

Growling Edges: Did one my best axels ever. It felt huge. I jumped around 7 feet across the ice. Woo hoo!

Growling Edges: I had four of my skaters test at yesterday's test session. They put out seven tests total, six of which passed, including two Rhythm Blues, a Ten Fox, a Willow Waltz, a Swing Dance, and a Preliminary MIF. I am so proud of my skaters!

Scratchy Toepicks: I had one of these testers fail her Novice MIF. Her marks were all over the board with one judge passing her .2 over, another failing her .2 under, and one had her at 23.9. The passing total is 24.5, so we had everything from a 24.7 to a 23.9. On the positive, we did get a lot of feedback to work with in preparation for the next test session. Besides, she only began working on these moves in December/early-January and this was the first time we put 'em out, so a bit more practice won't hurt.

More about the test session, including judges' comments on the Novice MIF and Preliminary MIF, posted in my blog for those who may be interested.

Totally OT for CoachPA: Jimmy Santee had a running joke last week at the PSA conference. It started during his opening statements. He remarked that several high-profile skaters were returning to competition in time for the Olympics. Throughout the conference, he added tidbits on about needing a coach and a choreographer, teasing Brian Boitano about having beat him in Intermediate Men's. He has SUCH a great sense of humor and can really roll with the punches, lol.

Had Don Klingbeil check my skates because I've had more than a few trip-and-falls. I decided that my life was worth a new pair of skates. He talked me out of the boots and had me order new blades instead. Ordered new Gold Seals for $400 at the PSA Conference and they're on their way. Now to find someone to mount them properly....

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Growling edges:

Went PIC skating again this afternoon. I'm getting MUCH better spinning on these things, although it's still a long way from what I can do on ice. The nifty part is that I can see the "tracing" where the toe-stop rubs the rink floor. The tracing is showing a nicely centered spin, about 4 revs, and the diameter of the tracing is an ideal (for wheels) 10". I've also confirmed (trial and much error) that the RFI three-turn entrance into a spin works best for me on wheels.

I also like the sound that the PIC skates make on deep edges. Instead of a growl (like ice), it's more of a "squeesch" as the rubber slides a bit on the floor.

It's all good exercise, but I still miss ice.

Three months to go.

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Bill Schneider

You need a countdown counter, lol.

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Countdown timer, nah.

I have a song that sticks in my mind instead - Shelley Fabares' "See You in September".

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Bill Schneider

Ok, I'm back to serious training - really want to pass the Bronze moves in July. It has been a year since I failed them the first time (by .2 - grrr). So today I worked on them - they are a little growling and a little scratchy. I have trouble feeling graceful on the back crossovers to outside edges. I can do it, but I feel like I look really stupid doing it. My power 3s are getting better since I'm really concentrating on standing up and not bending at the waist. 5 step is ok, but probably too slow still. The backward and forward crossover pattern are probably passing.

I have been off the ice mostly for a couple of months, so that's not too bad. My biggest problem is lack of conditioning right now. So I need to work on that too - if I only had time.

Scratchy Toepicks:
My whole day except for my ice dance lesson! I had 4 lessons booked for today. One cancelled because she had something that she had to do (very dedicated student, gave plenty of notice), one had an injury, one woke up sick (a tot), and one assumed I knew she wasn't coming because tonight is the beginning of a religious holiday (she knows I'm not observant). So the tot's mom woke me up early, and then when I got to the rink, I found the observant adult wasn't coming . Traffic was holy h*ll all day.

Growling Edges:
Fortunately, I was able to move my ice dance lesson up so I didn't have to be there forever first. It was a pretty good lesson, with my coach pushing me to test the first three dances before August. Probably won't be able to get into a test session in time though. Unfortunately - Scratchy Toepicks again - although we were the only ones on the ice, another coach asked for an ice cut right in the middle of my lesson, and got it! Never again! The guy who most often cuts the ice always asks me when it would be convenient so he doesn't interrupt the lessons I'm giving. This one just said "xxx" told me now. I should have said, so - he's not in charge, it can wait 15 min till we're done. Of course, when "xxx" came in and saw us sitting there, he apologized.

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Congratulations to your skaters (and their coach!). I take it the Pre MIF tester really stepped up after having a few off days? (Just guessing after reading your blog.)