Mansions: Sunday morning is becoming more and more a dedicated dance session; there are very few free skaters on there, and many of them have their dance lessons on Sunday anyway. Mind you, Robert decided he wanted to learn how to hydroblade in his private lesson!

Some of our lesson was good - our runs in figure 8 weren't bad, and the corrections we were getting on our chasses and swing rolls show that we have improved a lot. But the only thing he was really pleased with was our plain vanilla stroking in Kilian hold!

Slums: We must have spent 20 minutes on our chasses and swing rolls in waltz hold. It's all right when I am going backwards, since Robert is strong enough to compensate for my weaker LB edges, but when he is going backwards, I can't compensate for his, which are also weaker. Plus he has a very bad habit of not bringing his left shoulder forwards at the end of his RFO swing, so we kept coming apart on the swing rolls. Most of the corrections, though, were about our partnering skills, having Robert guide me a little more - this worked beautifully on the chasses, but we were told we must work, work, work, work on our Swing rolls.

Actually, after our lesson we were doing "tango drill" - we aren't quite ready to do the Tango yet, although we've stumbled and kicked our way through it a couple of times, so we just do the 4-beat edges with the cross-behind/cross-in-front (me) or cross-in-front/cross-behind (him).

But we did work out the change-of-hold in the Starlight Waltz, which pleased us. I can't really do the Starlight, although I love it, and Robert is very good at it solo but gets in a muddle when partnering it.

And we had fun with the baby Samba again, which is our current favourite dance.

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

Slums: I'm still sick from the flu but feeling much better. Still no skating or gym though!

Mansions: I should be back on the ice tomorrow night! At least my body picked the best time for me to be sick... just in time for US NATIONALS!!!

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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!!!

mansions-
program coming together nicely or me and my pairs partner we added a press lift that goes great with the music and we worked on our footwork its reely fast and hopefully we will get it by our first comp together

slums-grrr my coach has bee away in edmonton for nationals soo im stuck here trying to figure out why my triple lutz has suddenly fallen appart i think its because my upper body is twisting the wrong way but grr hopefully shel get back soon i cant wait til next year hopefully ill be competing at nats

Slums

First time back in 3 weeks after having chest, sinus AND throat infection! Felt like bambi!!

Camel was crappy but I 'kind of' started to get the feel of it again right at the end .....

Mansions

Nice to see 'kids' again (don't they grow up fast ). Did a WICKED backspin!!!! The secret (for me) apparently is to really concentrate on keeping the free leg to the front when I go into the spin instead of having it more out to the side. I've had what I thought were decent ones before but this FELT like a real spin AND I was on the 'sweet spot' .... it's an awesome feeling, I've never found that before on the backspin

Did a good camel entrance that really whipped ..... unfortunately I decided to do the bambi in quicksand impression with limbs flailing all over the place and messed it up

Sit back sit was, erm, ok .... and managed to come out of it into a backspin

Jumps were ok but I was a bit weak and pathetic this morning.

What I don't understand is why my spins have suddenly arrived unannounced when they were pretty crappy before I 'gave up' and I've not exactly done lots of work on them since I got back ...... like everything else in skating it's all down to Murphy's Law I guess!

Semi-Detached

Ok, not skating related but I've found one and put an offer in .... fingers crossed!!! It's VERY cheap because the couple are getting a divorce and just want rid of it (the lady is a friend of my brother's girlfriend so I know the score). I'm getting a survey to check that there aren't any unseen problems but hope to be a homeowner again soon On the skating side it's about 25 minutes from the new Sheffield Twin/Triplet Pad ice rink where Jimmy Young coaches ...... that will mean more to those in the UK!

Hugs to everyone who is suffering right now and get well soon


L x

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The best whisper is a click

This morning I was flying across the ice doing the most beautiful F & B, I & O threes all over the place effortlessly and at great speed. Then I woke up.

Tashakat - good luck with the house. It fit perfectly into this week's theme, so it must be right.

Jazzpants - glad you're on the mend!

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You're so funny. Call it mental visualization ... now do it on the ice!!!

:-)

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Thanks, ISK8! I actually had a good practice today, but didn't stay for the whole hour and a half because hubby wasn't skating and I got tired pretty fast.

Mansions
FO three turns are making a comback. Got up my courage and did a few FI threes close to wall, but not touching. This was hardly flying like in my dream, but at least it's progress.

Managed to work on FI Mohawks a bit, got one decent one foot spin, power pulls were OK, but not really a good day for them.

Slums
F power crossovers have been strong for over a year now, but today felt shaky. Wimped out after halfway around.

8 step Mohawk pattern was slow but OK CCW, but had to two foot the FO Mohawk on the CW for the first time in a very long time. Lack of practice and feeling a bit stiff.

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Mansions: Go me a sit/change sit. We'll be adding that into my program when its choreographed. Loop jumps so rock. My back spin is still getting 10 revs. My upright spin is much improved since my coach taught me the proper way to do it. I'm feeling much more comfortable in my skates. They are starting to break in nicely and the size difference in boot and blade is finally feeling more natural

I like my new skating club. I'm skating on a session where there are some older skaters closer to my age. I don't feel like a granny with 5 year olds. There are a couple of young ones who are on the competitive session with us and they were doing some fun stuff for their carnival. Almost ran them over a few times but luckily they know how to get out of the way. All the coaches at my club are super nice and have welcomed me with open arms

Slums: CAMEL SPIN!!!!! That's all I have to say. It is so horrible I just wanted to cry. My coach can't even figure what I'm doing wrong. I just have so many different things that are wrong. GRRRRRRR. My flip jump is still an on and off problem. Because I'm fixing the technique the timing is off. But we gotta fix it 'cause even though i can jump a double with it I'm going to kill myself one day doing it

And Yes, I was a spaz as I did my flip and ended up stabbing the back of my leg (nice bloody gash) and I fell flat on my butt. Felt so nice

MANSIONS - Today was a very good practice, especially for a Monday morning. There was only one other person on the ice with me, so I had lots of room to do things over and over. I spent the whole first half working on my back sit, in various combinations. You name it, I tried to put a back sit at the end of it! :laugh: My backspins are centering very nicely - now if only I could get the back sit to look that way.

Flying camels were on, jumps were on, and the lutz/loop is definitely getting more height and flow. My connecting moves felt much more graceful, and I ran through my program several times without the "big" elements just to get a feel of the flow and to add more artistry. I paid special attention to my "Tigger" footwork, but it was feeling a little heavy, although I've really gained a lot of speed.

I'm hoping that tomorrow my coach will spend my lesson working on both double jumps (toe and sal), especially the timing of the take-offs. I also want her to supervise my first attempts in over 32 years at a flying sit spin.

SLUMS - While I seem to have solved all of my major new skate pain problems, today I got lace bite on the left foot and ripped a chunk of skin out the size of a quarter. Then I made the mistake of putting Nu Skin on it and YEEEOOOWWWWWCCCHHH! Gosh that stuff is wicked!

Mansions:

• I'm back on the ice!!! WHOOO HOOO!!!
• And my LFO edge around the hockey circle (figure style) managed to stay with me for the most part. YIPPPEEEE!!!

Slums:

• My NICE scratch spin went south for the winter. FAT CHANCE I'll get a nice blur spin even halfway to Sasha's blurred spin!
• Loops and flip jump hitchhiked along for the ride too! (I only landed one flip and when I'm not two footing my landings, I don't even get the full rotations! YIKES!!!
• Still feeling about 85%... still kinda weak, even though I'm well enough to skate.
• And oh, my RFO doesn't like figures... it thinks it's too young for that stuff. (As my secondary coach would say... "We'll fix that...")

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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!!!

But, Lynne, if you move to Sheffield, we'll never see you. Besides which, I should be so jealous of you being able to take from Jimmy......

Today was one of those days. I was on the ice for two hours, more or less, maybe 1.45, from about 8.45 or so until the end of the session at 10.30. But I can't really say I skated! I know I did some back crossovers, as the anti-clockwise ones were so fast I nearly scared myself, and was seriously pleased about it, but the clockwise ones were clunky. I know I did some back edges, not very well. But what else did I do? I know I worked on inside 3-turns, the Swing Dance Mohawk, the Blues choctaw and the Tango Mohawk, and did masses of ordinary LFO and RFO 3s, but I seem to have spent most of the time just messing about, chatting, propping up the barrier, drinking coffee.....

Oh well, it wasn't a lesson day! And at least I was on my skates and moving a lot of the time, even if I wasn't working out.

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

Hi I'm not going yet!! If only I could afford a London flat, a 'country' residence and a house in Yorkshire my life would be complete .... oh, apart from the gorgeous husband and adorable children, the horse, the dog and the cats (I've already got the cats)

Initially my mum will live there, there are a few reasons 1) I won't be able to spend the money that's burning a hole in my bank account if I've spent it on a house 2) it will be an investment and 3) I won't be paying £330 pm storage costs.

SKATING for Tuesday .... how could I forget!

Started the layback, she says that my leg position is pretty good just need to add the 'lay' bit of it without falling over

She said "have we done flying camel yet?" ..... ha ha ha ha ha then added "never mind, we'll work up to that" ...... ha ha ha ha ha

x

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The best whisper is a click

I've used Nu Skin too and agree that it's an extremely painful experience! Try Liquid Bandage by Band Aid next time. It's more expensive but mild enough to be well worth the price.

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Dbny - Thanks for the liquid band-aid advice. I'll have to try it.

MANSION - As for today, my skating practice was one of the best I have ever had. I got an earlier start than yesterday, and even though the rink was more crowded than usual, after about 30 minutes it thinned down to me and 2 other people. I don't know what got into my coach, but she was just insatiable today and my 30 minute lesson lasted for almost 75 minutes! And I skated for another hour on top of that! Woo hoo!

Stuff was just COOKING! She pointed out all kinds of corrections and I was actually able to make them happen. It was too cool. We worked on just about everything, and she was quite pleased with my improvement over last week, even the lifting my leg over my head thing (which right now is only about lifing my leg so my toes are about even with my shoulder). I even cheat-landed both of the double jumps, which makes me believe that some day in the not so distant future I'll be able to land them solidly.

Honestly, I could gush on and on and go into great detail, but suffice it to say that I felt STRONG and LIGHT and SURE and MARVELOUS and even FLEXIBLE all at the same time. It was like flying. What a high!

I LOVE skating!

Mansions - Camel is baaaaaaaaack! I've missed you, old friend. My key was simply plastering my right arm to my side and really pushing my arms back strongly as I enter the spin. Death drop-back sit is progressing nicely.

Slums - still no axel.

This pertains to the practice I had today...

Mansions
My 1-foot spins are getting better, more confident. That's the biggest thing.

Slums
Twice today I came really close to this girl who was skating - we almost collided both times! She appeared to be better than me. She was like "sorry" and I was like "sorry." Luckily neither of us got mad. Also, one of my hoop earrings fell out onto the ice, and the rink guard had found it and gave it to me. It made me feel so stupid - that's the first time my earring has fallen out!

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Andrea

Lesson day today.

Slums: My back edges were horrible, much worse than last week. Still can't do LFI3 properly - my body knows exactly what to do, and won't do it! Grrrr...... Everything was just a little "off" compared to last week.

Mansions: However, not all dire. We worked on FO3s round the hockey goal, holding the edge, then rotating, as though for figures. Worked well on the RFO3, less well on the LFO3 as my ankle kept dropping in. Did one absolutely perfect RFO3, though, not a trace of toe-pick!!!!

After my lesson I was playing about with "Tango drill" and moaning to my coach - who was leaning on the barrier not doing very much except watching his wife choreograph another pupil, whose music I think is too hard for her, but she thinks she can do it. It's horribly unforgiving, though, and they spent almost an hour on just the first ten seconds! Anyway, I was moaning to my coach about not being able to cross behind when going backwards by myself, although my back edges were way better when doing tango drill. Anyway, just before I got off the ice, I managed it, twice! The edges were a bit off, though, and my coach said my weight was still too far forward. I reckon I just hadn't bent my knees enough.

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

First time since May:
Did a flip - two.
Did backspin....was going faster than I expected so kept bringing my arms in and out much to the delight of fellow skater, who laughed and clapped.
camel fine - a bit wobbly at times going in.
Sit fine.
Did loops x 3.
Did run up to lutz but bottled it.
Did field moves for 20 minutes.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

BIG PALACIAL CASTLE - I had another incredible practice today. Actually it started out kind of low key because, honestly, I still was sort of pooped from yesterday. So I told myself that all I needed to do was work on the connecting moves and some spins and only skate for an hour. One of the coaches put on the music from Pirates of the Caribbean, and as lovely as it was, it just sort of went on and on and on. I found myself sort of numbed from it all. And THEN, her CD started to skip and she asked me if I'd like to play something else. I noticed that she had a Rolling Stones CD and told her to put that on. It was 40 Licks (which is AWESOME), and every single song was just incredible.

All of a sudden things just ROCKED and I started jumping and doing flying spins and it all was so ON. Wow, what a rush! I wound up skating for 1-1/2 hours and did endurance the last 10 minutes. Even though I was pumping it out big time, I barely broke a sweat on that segment, and that was great news because it means I've cranked it up another notch.

I left the ice feeling like I was actually making progress and that there's a chance I'll get all these elements in control in time to at least not embarrass myself at Mids.

Tomorrow is my skating rest day, though I'm excited because I've found some free Yoga classes and a Pilates class that I can join through my health club. I'm going to try to do something at least 1-3 times a week to work on flexibility, starting on Friday.

I got the flu one year very badly -- fainting in the kitchen and all. As soon as I felt better, I went skating at my favorite rink (about an hour's drive from my home.)

Of course, I felt great! After a quick warmup, I started practicing axels. My only success was in throwing out my back and having to drive home in pain. The ER Doctor (who had seen me for the flu the prior weekend) said "You again? Why don't you go to Church on Sundays?" She said that laying around for a week, then "jumping" back into physical exercise is a bad combination. It took me another three weeks to get back on the ice.

Take it easy the first few times back on the ice. Welcome back!

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Still just trying to get my feet back under me after 6 weeks off for a torn achilles tendon. This was my second week back so:

Mansions: All jumps up to my lutz have made an appearance. Timing is still a bit off, but the take offs we had been tweaking on my salchow and loop seem to have improved. I'm still pulling up on the take off to the lutz- I think I'm still a bit nervous about taking off- so I haven't been landing on a clean outside edge.

Slums: Has anyone seen my camel spin? Anyone? I'm sure I left it by the boards with my other spins before I got hurt..now that I think about it, all my other spins seem to have wandered off too. If you see them, will you please send them home to me ASAP? Use FED-Ex, since I need them for my lesson on Tuesday.......

I think I know where your spins are. You see, they went with mine to Nationals in Atlanta. I understand that they had a disagreement about going south, back to you, or coming north to me. Well, they just decided to vacation in California for a little while. We should see them home again in about two more weeks.

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"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Well that's just great..with my luck, they'll decide to travel from California to Florida via China and do the grand tour of Europe before coming home!

Slums: i was alittle dance retarded at the beging of my lesson, for some reason i just couldn't get into it and get the flow and such...most likely b/c i ahda break in my lessons b/c my coaches were away. my left ankle and knee were killing me it hurt to bend my knees and it was frustrating b/c my knee bend had gotten so much better and then today it was blah.

Mansion: my rocker foxtrot is getting better woopwoop i liek that dance the best. towards the end of the session we did the tango and it was alright still alittle messy but it is also still a very new dance i have only done it twice on lesson. I actually had a lessontoday...that was a great thing...i didn't think i would be able to make it but then a strange string on events happened andboom, i know was able to get to the rink! anywho it was all in all a good lesson

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Waffles & Vodka

Breakfast of Champions

I doubt it's in California... well, at least not in San Francisco. See, MY camel spins have been gone since the new year... I think it's on the SLOW BOAT to China...

__________________
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!!!