Respect: my axels have been getting steadily better.

Hard Times: my salchow has disappeared along with my scratch spin. My right shoulder is all busted up from 2 waxels in a new pair of boots in the same session about a month ago. I haven't been able to skate normally since then. Now I'm gun shy to skate in the new boots.

RESPECT: Back on the ice after having back and shoulder muscle spasms which forced me off the ice for 8 days. I was able to skate an entire hour. It was great fun to be out there and not in pain. My coach was incredibly encouraging...

HARD TIMES: ...despite really bad run-throughs of both programs. I can't believe PCAS is just two weeks away and I still have not had a single clean run-through of either program. I feel so terribly undertrained, but could not have spent any more time on the ice. It's just been a year of injuries, so I'm choosing to look at this as a chance to get back out and see where next year's baseline starts.

RESPECT: I did have a few good lutz attempts (slightly cheated) and my head never got in the way of actually working on the jump. So maybe that part of this ordeal is over. Also last year's nemisis, the camelspin, felt easy everytime I tried it EXCEPT in the programs! But overall a REALLY fun day and I'm sooooo glad to be back on the ice!

respect

Skated yesterday and tried some moves out for possible inclusion in a couples free dance which was fun.

Skated for 3 hours including two lessons - one couples dance and one freeskating - and a group dance class. Normally I'm only on the ice for about 45 mins a time!

In lesson today actually landed a flip/toe-loop/loop combination for first time ever and on first try (although I had practised all seperately before hand).

Hard Times - didn't make it rink on Monday due to 3.5 inches of snow and being a long way from a main road.

level 5 field moves(UK). THe first two are fine : back inside and outside changes of edge and forward and backward one foot slaloms.

But the next two are horrible. Back outside double 3's which are OK on one foot but terrible on the other and then the back inside double 3's which are bad on both feet. I have got into the habit of tapping my foot down in the turn and it's a struggle to stop it. Strangely I can do alternating back inside double 3's reasonably well but not when you include the back crossovers in between that are required in the FMs.

The last move is a complicated thing involving a FO3turn , cross front, back outside 3 and then putting free foot down on a back outside edge. impossible I think!

Respect: FS much better after some runthroughs on my own Monday & Wed with coach. Spins are actually happening, though not every single time. Perhaps, just perhaps, I can actually get out 6 revs on 1 foot when it counts!

Hard times: Still intimidated by being on a FS session with a couple of novice-level skaters. It's difficult to do moves patterns when they're busting out jumps all over the place!

Respect: Coach says my Bronze moves look fine and she'd feel fine putting me out to test whenever I feel ready to do so. Looks like April will be the date for that and pre-bronze dance #1 (cha cha). Whee!!

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

Respect: My new ISI footwork program is so much fun! I'm skating to Carrie Underwood's song "Last Name". Also my coach actually liked my spiral today - that's a first!

Hard Times: Grrr, my home rink is only open 2 early mornings a week, and they keep leaving the hockey nets out on the ice during the early am freestyles. I can't complain, they would just say okay we will just not open those mornings, and then I would be skating at my alternate rink every morning - a problem because I love my coach and she does not want to guest coach at the alternate rink if she can avoid it, and I don't want to change coaches.

Petlover - I can't get over these people...such a shame :-(

Respect: Had a great cheering section for a bit this morning in the form of ISk8NYC and her adorable twins! Later I apparently skated a clean program - but I didn't realize it and I could swear I screwed up a loop toe. But I'm going with what the coach said!

Hard times: Well - the program was clean because the flip is no longer in it. Grr. But that should really be under "respect" too because agonizing over it was doing me no favors. Better to not worry about it for Easterns and have more relaxed skating and other elements. I can do this jump - but not this month - and I really want to try it with boots that actually fit, because my slightly large right boot (picking foot) sure isn't helping me to feel secure when I pick in!

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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)

Been lurking a lot...but....

Respectful Hardtimes:

Testing my Novice Moves tomorrow...been working on them for a little less than a year and coach wants to be done with them....as do I...

The CW Rocker/Choctaw is giving me issues...either I am standing up too straight or my legs are way far apart...can't seem to get it all together...

And the other nemesis is the bracket-3-bracket....I can only manage it clean a few times...usually my issue is having to do the turns on a flat and not on an edge...and then my hips and everything do not line up....

But....my inside-3 pattern, counters, the Rocker/Choctaw pattern where you hold the edges, and the spirals are really good....so we will see....I'm not freaking out yet, so I can't decide if that's good or bad....

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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

Good luck with your test! Let us know how it goes. Remember to relax and just show the judges what you can do well. Don't advertise the stuff you think is not quite as good. Be confident. Oh, and remember to BREATH!!! Novice is a LONG test.

Respect: I learned a loop last night! I got it on the second try (in my jump and spin class) and then did a bunch more. The coach was so excited she was jumping up and down. She said no one gets it the first day. I don't know if that's really true, but she makes me feel good, so I'm not arguing. She told me to practice my half flip this week and next week she'll teach me a flip. I'm loving this jump and spin class. 5 weeks ago I could only do a small waltz jump and walk through a toe loop. Now I'm doing much bigger waltzes, sals, toes, sal-toe (all actually jumping) and now I have an itty-bitty loop to work on.

Hard Times: My scratch spin is soooooo bad. It goes back and forth between like 2 revs and not spinning at all. Yesterday was a "better" day, but still... it's frustrating. My back spin is better than my scratch spin (and my backspin is not good!)

It is a long test!! I'm at work until noon and then heading off to the rink...I'm trying not to freak out yet....

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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

Best wishes!!! And when you take the ice for the actual test, remember this is your chance to show them how a Novice MIF test should look!

Good luck Kim! Let us know how it goes.

Respect: Did a lot of exercises this morning with Husband - a short practice, but an intense one.

Hard Times: After which, I think I was tired, as I stopped being able to do twizzles properly. Or 3-turns. So I said soddit and went home.

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

Hard Times:
Cancelled lesson. Off to the chiro this morning...

Respect:
Thankfully probably not spinal... chiro thinks I just need to go in for a massage. That said, he did crack my back again and the back feels better!

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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!!!

Wow, very cool! I remember the loop being a breakthrough jump for me because it was the first jump where I really had to feel like I was taking off backwards and staying backwards. If you like the loop, you'll love the flip!

You can do it, Kim!!

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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

Hard Times Still don't have my forward outside 8 without train tracks on the left. I showed an ice dancer, Ed--the only adult skater at the rink older than me--my 8. He asked me to show him my edges. Frustratingly, my edges on the serpentine are LOVELY. No train tracks, perfect body position, even sizes, round, smooth transitions. He said that I do a K on my 8's but not on my serpentine (coach says this too). Apparently, it's all in my head, I have the skills.

Respect Well, worked on my alternating 3 turns with the mohawk in between. After thinking about 3's I decided to leave the arm on the free leg side neutral, and 'push' the 3 with the shoulder of the the active leg side, until it's necessary to check with the shoulder of the free leg. This works much better. I get a crisp deep 3, with no scraping.

I actually got online last night to see if I could find some wireless accelerometers to attach to my coach, myself, and various other skaters. if we have a template of the skating of an experience skater or skaters, and then compare the results with an inexperienced skater we can identify the problems much easier. Unfortunately wireless accelerometers even the low end 2g ones are frigging expensive. The wired ones are like 90 bucks, but who wants to skate around on the ice with wires and a computer.

Lesson tomorrow. I'll see what coach says about my experiments.

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

Hard times: Yesterday it was -5 when I got up. Today it's -3. I'm afraid my toes are just going to fall right off! Since I got diagnosed with Reynaud's syndrome last week I've been trying to find ways to keep my toes warm but it's just about impossible.
Just realized I'll only be able to have 3 more lessons before our ice ends.
Also, I still HATE SILVER MOVES.
Respect: Loop jump is still teeny weeny and not completely consistent but I actually had at least one decent one every day this week, even on days I only tried two or three! Mysteriously, it went a lot better once I gave up on it.
Coach is starting to mumble about when I might test silver moves because the ones I'm willing to show her have improved. (She hasn't seen what my left inside back 3 pattern looks like, including the look of sheer terror on my face...)

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

Respect-it's amazing how improved my skating is when I actually get to the rink for practise a few days and week, and I go to the gym. Wow. All of a sudden I'm getting a camel spin, and maybe you could get a magazine (maybe even the fall edition of Vogue) instead of a tissue under my jumps. At least some of them. The loop is still on the tissue side.

My coach says I do this too....getting better at checking and getting my free leg BEHIND ME instead of out to the side but it's still a struggle.

This is for yesterday:
Respect: Ran through elements of my program with the arms (did them a bit off-ice) and they are good. It was a tad crowded with the home-schooled bunch but they were a great group!

Hard Times: been really tired lately and my spins are off AGAIN! Got home and had the oh-so-familiar ringing in my ears and congestion starting up (usually the tinnitus means migraine but thankfully not this time).

Woke up THIS morning with a raw sore throat and feeling crappy. I was going to skate and run-through my program again but meh, not now. I am in "conservation" mode. So, I will do my "arms" at home and some more off-ice. It's not that I'm always complacent but I am this time. I usually don't have any one to compete against so I skate mostly for the ENTERTAINMENT component! My routine is cool!!!! I'm hoping to entertain people and have them really enjoy it! Plus, my dress is uber-sparkly-cool!!!!

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

respect: axels are getting higher, 2lutzes more consistent.
hard times: it's been too crowded EVERY TIME i go practice to work on my moves
and my coach is making me test wether im ready or not, and i really think im going to fail


i filmed a couple things from practice http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_hHgBnFeeM

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Hard Times:
We had our Adult Critique today... I did my artistic program tonight instead of my technical, given the situation with my lower back. I did go to my chiro on Friday morning and did a lot of foam roller around the area of the butt where the sciatica nerve starts. That and rest was critical in my being able to skate at this critique w/o feeling like I'm gonna trip over my legs...

Obviously I didn't expect my spiral to be good. But I can't blame that on my crappy back. I really need to go back and work on that spiral...

I had a minor brain fart at the beginning b/c last Thursday choreographer and I did a last minute change to my program there. I remember the change to the program but had a brain fart as to what comes after.

Respect:
Luckily, the choreographer said "Nice save from that brain fart at the beginning."

And... the rest of the program went at smooth as can be... Footwork that I screwed up on Thursday did find its way in this runthru and I did land my loop jump tonight!!! YAAAAAY!!! I do need to work on speed for that program, so I guess I have two months to get that program to go faster!!!

For what happened with me on Thursday, I'm VERY that I managed a relatively "sane" program. And I did get some good comments and suggestions to work on. The dinner afterwards at Chevy's wasn't too bad either...

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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!!!

Respect: Started choreographing our new free dance today, which is going to be fun.

Hard Times: Wouldn't you think that something as simple as back cross-rolls hand in hand would be easy? Wrong!

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

I love this description!!

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

Respect: Forward consecutive edges, inside and outside--I has them. RFO is still the weakest, but it's coming.

Hard times: Pivots, even verrrry slow ones like mine, make me dizzy. Which led to me doing that blade-clicky-together thing on a back crossover and nearly going splat. I saved myself the fall, but wrenched my shoulder a bit in the process. Ow.

Respect: Had my first official pre-bronze MIF lesson/practice yesterday...I am glad now to have decided to take the test, because I was really more mindful of every stroke, edge and push when doing all the stuff (stroking, forward and backward edges, waltz 8) ...before I was going through the motions or rushing through them---like i knew I needed to go over them at least, so I would, but i wasn't paying much attention to detail. Now I find myself overanalyzing everything, hehehe.

Hard Times: My coach was pleased with my salchow and toe loops last week so she was like, "i guess you're ready for the loop!" so we just went over the entrance over and over last week, but I was too chicken to try to actually jump. Yesterday I was still being a chicken and just couldn't bring myself up to go for it

Funny, I also have Reynaud's Syndrome but it's mostly when I'm not moving enough that my feet and hands are cold even in the summer, unless of course I'm sick. Then it doesn't matter how much moving I do. I can't get my feet or hands warm.

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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

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