Ugh - I used to hate the fogging up when I skated with glasses. I don't remember them fogging up when I was on the ice though - just when I came inside after skating. Although I was a kid at the time, so it's possible I just don't remember it!

Congratulations!!!!

Congratulations, Cara.

Crisp: Worked on edges a lot.

Clammy: My ribcage is stiff. My bingo wings hurt. The ice had absolutely emptied when it was time to leave.... I had had enough, but even still....

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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!

CRISP!: New skates are in Columbus awaiting pickup! Now to find a few hours to drive there.

Clammy: A home water heater replacement wasn't concluded until 9:30 pm last night, and then had to get dinner afterwards. Needless to say, I didn't get up at 5 am this morning to skate. I got a workout last night helping the plumber though!

Still don't have a working refrigerator.

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Bill Schneider

Congratulations, CaraSkates!!!

This is for yesterday and today:

Crisp:
Had a nice camel spin on lesson yesterday with Secondary Coach.
Am feeling parts of my program where the speed has improved.
Started taking a beginner step/ resistance class on Mondays, where there is hardly any afternoon ice.
Starting next month, our rink will start the morning ice at 5:30 am- we're finally in tune with the rest of the skating world



Clammy:
Spins are not as there as they have been.
Calves are sore from step class.
Morning ice starting next month will be contract- I'll have to see if I can afford the one day a week that I'm off.
Now, for the Number One Way for Rink Management to Run Coaches Out of a Rink:
There is a rumor amongst the coaches that their commissions may increase. Our rink charges a pretty penny and then some for commission and this increase, if it does happen may keep several coaches from continuing to to coach there.
My off ice cross training class was cancelled today- I didn't know until I got to the gym!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Wow, I am really impressed that you can do a split falling leaf! I have a pretty good regular split jump, but have never managed to get enough "oomph" when I've tried to do it from a falling leaf takeoff. Any tips you could share on the split falling leaf?

Thin Ice, you definitely passed the "Mental Toughness" test, though! If you can do what you did under those circumstances, you are going to nail that test under normal conditions!

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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

Not Clammy, just frustrating - I really like how my artistic is coming but is seems like we only add about two seconds to it each lesson and I'm impatient to have it done!

Clammy: Coach tried to get me to do bunny hops in it and it wasn't until I said "I'd rather do a waltz jump than a bunny hop!" that she believed bunny hops were not going to work.

So I skate for an hour, then sit in the cold rink playing music for an hour, then skate again. That's probably not a great idea.

Crisp: Dance lesson after an hour of playing music- I've decided to compete the Rhythm Blues and not the Swing in November. coach is very impressed with how much I've improved. We had to adjust the pattern because I'm so much faster that I was running into the wall. She says all that is left to make it a really strong dance is to work on keeping my feet closer together. Even the timing is good!

We were going to work on back perimeter crossovers but I was kind of worn out after several dance patterns so instead we tackled my intro steps. This may seem like a throw away but it is a struggle for me. I cant' really do a 3 turn going fast so we start with the 3 turn and I was doing these little pumps in between that was adding too many steps. Discoverd my 3 turn was way too swingy and was throwing me off balance. As she was trying to make it straighter - I made the connection - oh this is like my half-flip 3 turn that freestyle coach has been trying to fix. When I thought "half flip 3 turn" I was able to control it much better and it was much easier to go right into crossovers after the turn. I love it when I make those connections!

j

I frequently skate in my glasses because I'm too lazy to put my contacts in. If they are just a little fogged on the ice, you can ignore it and it goes away. If they are so fogged up you can't see, waving them around like a raving lunatic usually works. Skating without them just leaves me off balance and running into walls.

As far as going back into the warming room, I take them back off the second I sit back down and let them "neutralize".

It is annoying. After about 2 weeks of skating with glasses, I start wearing my contacts for a time.

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If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

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[QUOTE=doubletoe;338286]Wow, I am really impressed that you can do a split falling leaf! I have a pretty good regular split jump, but have never managed to get enough "oomph" when I've tried to do it from a falling leaf takeoff. Any tips you could share on the split falling leaf?


the thing that helped me most was to work on them off ice in the form of jetes. it is a weird timing, at least for me. like, you push off your right leg, and really reach with your left while kicking back with your right. i also do them from a mohawk, like as if i were going to do a loop. maybe soon i'll post a video trying to explain what i mean.

that is so funny, because that is exactly what i do. my coach jokes that i'm the only person she knows who can take-off of a straight leg and still land the jump (clearly my leg isn't TOTALLY straight, but just about).

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Hmm. . . I'll have to try them on the floor. . . So do you get a better split when you do the falling leaf from a round edge or a longer/flatter edge? Also, do you feel like you're taking off from the toe or from the side of your blade?

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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

Crisp: Layback was nice and centered today. Also started really working on Juv MIF, double 3s are decent, power 3s are good on RBO and so so on LBO, forward cross strokes are nice and flowy and have "rip".
My coach made copies of my test papers so I got to re-read them today. Don't remember all the comments but the marks were -
Judge 1 - 16.8
Judge 2 - 16.4
Judge 3 - 16.6

Every move got at least 2.7 (passing average) and a lot of them got 2.8 and 2.9's...Some of the comments..."good knee action" "nice flow and power" "mantains pattern nicely"
It's always fun to read them when they all say nice things about you!! Moves are actually one of my strengths, freestyle is not.

Clammy: 8 step mohawk needs mucho work before I can even THINK about testing it. So do the back cross strokes. Camel was having an off day...I either hit my camel and it's fantastic, or it sucks and I can't do it at all. No inbetweens.

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations!

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Working on:
NOVICE! MIF
Juvenile FS
Bronze Dances

Crisp: FO3s are really progressing nicely. I just started doing them a week and a half ago. Somehow my usually troublesome R foot is understanding 3 turns better than my usually reliable L foot. BXOs are getting more power, and mohawks are consisten!! woohoo!

And my first official private lesson is next week!

Clammy: 2-foot spins are inconsistent. Perhaps I was cheating on them when my blades were dull. Now that my blades are sharp, it is more difficult to get a good spin. Also, not enough time to skate this week - work, appointments, conflicts with the current PS schedule...

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There's an eyewear store (Lens Crafters, I think) that has a lens cleaning liquid spray that they say is anti fog. I haven't tried it in a few years (I use water), but I think it did have some anti fog properties. They sell it in pretty small bottles, so it probably wouldn't cost too much to try. Or you might be able to explain your problem, ask them if you could try their product, and then try it out to see if it would work (so that you don't have to buy something that ultimately won't work).

I don't love skating in glasses but it's better than trying to do ballet class in glasses. Somehow they fall off my face more because of spotting and bending over in port de bras, etc. Spinning on the ice doesn't do that to my glasses.

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Awwww, gee whiz, thanks!

Thanks for the idea. Anti-fog sounds good! Plus I need it for the winter when the fog up going into buildings.

And I totally agree. I could never dance in glasses- I'd just do it blind (which seemed a bit safer than skating without them) but skating they've never fallen off. Contacts are just better.

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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)

Jessi, I was THINKING there was some anti-fog thing you could put on glasses but wasn't sure . . . glad someone else knew, to be able to tell you. How long will you be in glasses? I wear contacts too & occasionally have to go back into glasses and I sure HATE them . . . mostly the fact that I then have ZERO peripheral vision!!

The eye doctor is thinking that I shouldn't wear contacts anymore . When I go back in next week I am going to ask about Dailies, that way I can at least have them for tests, competitions and performances (not to mention vacations or special events where my picture might be taken!). I had a corneal ulcer at the beginning of the year- and now I have another random infection. I've worn contacts for 13 years without any problems at all, and now my eyes are just going crazy.


In skating news- I had a fantastic practice/lesson last night. My foot is finally getting crossed on almost all my scratch spins. And they center about half the time. I also started working on a attitude spin and got to practice with a hula hoop- the other people on the ice must have thought my coach was nuts. And I got complimented on my waltz jump, which is leaving the ice, and traveling over the ice

Synchro also went well, and I get to add to my list of things to learn/get better at- right now it's 1) right to left mohawk, 2) "wrong side" half-flip, 3)back lunge, 4) moon walk. We spent about 10 minutes working on moon walking. A few of the ladies can do it really really well. I'm not one of them! But we've almost finished the program, so it should be really good by christmas show time.

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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)

definitely a rounder edge. and it actually does feel like i'm taking off of the edge more than the toe

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Skated yesterday at a mostly empty rink (crisp!!)

I can get through my pb moves (crisp!) but portions of the moves are really quite crappy (clammy!) and my left foot/ankle/calf likes to cramp up (really clammy!). I'm also having this odd problem where I get a lot of scraping, even just with stroking. So either my legs and/or feet have realigned themselves, I"m doing something truly wackily wrong, or my boots & blades got warped while I was off the ice for 4 months. **must schedule lesson so coach can spot what the heck is going on**

I can still do a 2-footed spin in either direction, about 4-5 revs (crisp!), but I am back to being sort of nauseated after I do so (clammy!). One of these days I'll actually get centered and onto the edge & off the toepick for a 1-footed spin. . .

Thanks!

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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

Clammy: Worked a bit on everything (except jumps) for 45 minutes before lesson. In lesson, coach & I started working on the choreography for my Freeskate - gonna need Sit Spin and Toe Loop - neither are much good right now!


Snapping Crisp! After MONTHS of fighting with the @$#%#$@ back cross-overs and not being able to do BXO's to save my life, I FINALLY figured out what I was doing just slightly different from the forward cross-overs (my FXO's are supreme!)

So how come I get great FXOs and no BXOs? On studying my own FXOs, as I reach across with the free foot, I let the skating foot lag behind as it pushes to the outside of the circle on a really deep edge. On BXOs, I wasn't dropping the skating foot back (or is it ahead??) and therefore couldn't get the free foot well inside the arc (damned skaters thighs!). When I realized the difference, I had BXOs in 5 minutes!

FINALLY!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Skittl--I wonder if your contact lens solution could be contributing to the problem? I heard a story on NPR that certain brands of contact solution were recalled because they were leading to a fungal infection of the eye. One story is here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=5339028 but the NPR site, Google, or a different news site may have more info.

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CLAMMY: Went today for a brief practice and b/c today was a bad emotional day it just seemed to carry through to the rest. I fell 2-3 times on the same knee doing backspins - which i never fall on my knee nor never fall doing those! and doing my lutz sequence, i fell on the lutz on my hip really hard! And to think - this weekend is the competiton! I have to get these painful memories out of my mind!

CRISP: Ran through Silver Ladies Program cleanly this week some, which was good for me!

Thanks for the info- but nope, these have been bacteria, not fungal.

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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 just love stories like that! Yay!!

If it's any consolation, my coach always says, "Everyone sucks the week leading up to the big competition!" He told me that the week before my first Adult Nationals, when I was skating Silver and found myself unable to do so much as a sitspin, which was my best spin. Turns out old smarty pants was right; everything came back just in time and I ended up winning!

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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

Crisp:
Primary coach is very happy with the forward/ back crosstroke pattern.
Got skates sharpened and usually I cannot spin when I first get on the ice after a sharpening. But today- wow!
Coach also started me on forward to backscratch spins in preparation for sit change sit combo. I did show her that I've been playing with camel/ backscratch, but while the backscratch position is good, the camel position is awful.
Will need to be in the market for new blades soon and Coach has after all these years, suggested a blade that from what I hear is a upgrade from what I now have (Coronation Ace).
Also will be helping with learn to skate on Saturday morning and will get some ice time credit for that.

Clammy:
Ice was awful and session crowded. Thought I'd attempt running my program but after seeing the line for the music box, decided to forget it.

P.S. Good luck Sunday miraclegro. Wish I was competing, but a family wedding next month (well all the preliminary stuff) ran interference!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"