I'll bring mine! Although not sure he'd want to come now....I did a good imitation of a zamboni after tripping on my toepick while demonstrating how forward crossovers should flow...down I went, onto my elbows and almost hitting the boards.

Scared him more than me-I was more amazed that I didn't majorly hurt something. He then got off the ice for a coffee break.

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

No way in hell I'm bringing my husband to skate. Hubby is not very coordinated... and I'm in no mood to take him to the ER AGAIN!!!

He'll tell you that "it's her thing, I'm staying out of it!" (Very true! I like having something that's of my own. Yes, I'm greedy!!! DEAL WITH IT!!! )

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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!!!

Ripe:

• Got blade guards back from home rink on the way to weekend rink. (Home rink was majorly busy as usual!!!)
• Bronze Moves seems steady.
• Put in order at dance supply shop for my new skating dress for my new artistic number.

Mouldy:

• The ice!!! It was crap!!! I found out that no one had resurfaced it during the last normal resurface break! I took a tumble on one of the craters on the ice going into a toe loop on a runthru of my program (which I have NEVER, EVER done before...) Can't spin on it either! There was never a time where I wished the session would end earlier...

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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!!!

I agree with you Jazz - My hubby does not skate either and echoes the words "It's her thing" on a regular basis. On the flip side - you won't ever get me on a Squash or Tennis court. That's his thing.

Pain about the ice, though. Have you scheduled your test yet?

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If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

Had lesson with Coach today where she told me about things that I missed at the PSA seminar she hosted at our rink, like the judge that came will judge Adult moves on standard track( ) and quoted the judge as saying "the standard is the standard." Boo hiss! Oh and the sitspin will not count unless the skating thigh is parellel to the ice!

Otherwise, worked on power threes and technical "catch up" as I call it. Coach wants me to work on a backscratch to forward scratch spin combination (using COP as leverage) and a waltz loop combo that I want badly to put in my freeskate program!
I also worked on flip takeoffs and camel spins- yes people, Terri worked on camel spins minus a coach prodding her to do so!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Yeah, right!!! I could see that judge grabbing out a protractor to measure whether the leg position is parallel to the ice.

My understanding was "recognizable sit spin" was the rule for the Adult Bronze FS tests! What that means though depends on the judge. If that PSA judge wants "perfectly parallel or else it won't count", he'll have a hard time finding a pre-Bronze adult who has that. (Certainly NOT me...and I was told by a few adults that I have a pretty decent sit spin for a pre-Bronze skater too...)

Why not? My primary coach didn't know I was working on a lutz on my own for the last 3 months (two footing the landing) until he asked me to do a half-lutz (just to see if I could do it) and I accidentally (no quotes!!! It WAS accidental and I'm sticking to that story!!! ) did a full rotation instead. Primary coach says "I asked for a half-lutz, but since you could do a full rotation... do a lutz again!!!" Oops!!!

Same with flips. Three years ago he tried to get me to do a flip and I couldn't fully rotate to save my life! Fast forward to early this year (took a break from Bronze Moves and Skate SF) and he realizes that I had the rotation but am two footing the landing. Now he wants me to land the sucker on one foot. (And you know how often he coaches me on jumps given my Bronze Moves tests is high on the queue....) However, he also has this obsession with my backspin...

The axel is where I will ummm...let my coaches do their magic... (Boc boc boc...)

__________________
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!!!

I used to LOVE to play squash! Played for years, until I tore the muscle in my left calf and then they tore down the building. I swear, the two events were not related. Shame, though, I was never as fit as when i was playing squash.

As for me, ripe means I'm back on the ice after a 2 week break while my skates sojourned in San Francisco. As a souvenir, they returned with new tongues and insoles. Which brings me to

Mouldy Yikes, they are like brand new skates because now I can't bend! Actually it's better now as today was my third day on the ice. My coach told me some things were actually better than they were before my break, so that's good. But it all feels hard again. Getting better, but boy. Of course tonight got a mini-lecture about not bailing out of cw forward xovers for no reason and I tried to explain that if I'm feeling insecure (which I am) and trying with varying degrees of success to hit an outside edge (failing much of the time) and I think someone is going to step right in front of me and I won't be able to stop and will fall over my edge, then I'm not going to be particularly aggressive. He's right of course too, but just not tonight!

On Friday I get new blades and then I'll decide about the Halloween Classic. Might have too much adjusting to do...

Oh, I almost forgot, the best thing of all: With much trepidation, I tried a one-foot spin, the first since the boots came back. I'd felt like my balance was a little off with my right foot because of the stiff leather, but I DID THE BEST 1 FOOT SPIN I'VE EVER DONE! Completely totally centered, tight little circle, more revolutions than ever before, completely under control. It was so cool! We need a happy dance smilie!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Me too! Before kids and skating, I used to play for an hour at lunch time, as did many of the women in my office. The squash club was right across the street. I quit for a few years and went back because of a challenge. I was winded in 10 minutes. Still won the challenge, as the other player turned out to be all hot air

Ripe:
FO threes are pretty much back to where they were before the summer. Managed three or four very nice two foot spins.

Mouldy:
I had to push myself to try anything. I still feel like I'm a hundred years old and never skated before. FI threes are very tentative. Did spiral stretches twice and felt crippled after the second set.

Ripening:
Found out yesterday that I would have a class to teach today after the freestyle session. I got the Basic 1's and had a lot of fun with them. By the time class was over, I felt like a skater again. Guess I need to warm up with marching

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Congrats! Maybe you could give me a lesson. My spins today were traveling halfway across the rink. I guess it was helpful to see how many revs I was getting (5-6 on scratch, 5 on sit - woohoo!) but still. I even had this problem with 2-foot spins. I am contemplating doing the Pre-Bronze Spin event at HC and decided to see how those spins looked. Yikes - I know I don't practice 2-foot spins very often - well, really not since my Pre-Bronze FS test - but it's supposed to be a simple spin. I felt like my legs were spinning in opposite directions!

Ripe:
Got a bonus 20 minutes of practice today b/c of the late afternoon schedule and a gap between FS session start times. Ran through Bronze moves twice, and did power 3's for a third time. I also landed a couple of good loops, meaning I actually felt like I was in the air during the jump - lol.

Modly:
Aforementioned spin issues. And based on Terri's post above, it looks like my skating thigh is definitely not low enough on my sit spin. I think my blades need a sharpening, b/c it seems like I'm getting a lot of drag, with some skidding too.

I think I'll take Franks cue and start with the mouldy...

MOULDY: apparently the official new uniform for the adults at the american academy figure skating club is crutches . ..maragaret and i have a matching set..so i guess mouldy would be surgery , crutches and the watemelon that used to be my knee..and the really bad moves test run through i did on my last day on the ice...oh yes and the fact that we are back on am sessions with the summer schedule over no more evening sessions for us.

RIPE: The kids are back in school and that means better sessions in the later mornings. Ripe also includes the week of clean run throughs I had of my new program with all my new jumps, and getting my camel spin in my opposite spinning direction last week right before surgery.

Oh and I have seen parts of the spin frank is talking about and it looks really cool when he pulls up into the scratch spin with his hands behind his back. i almost killed myself trying it that tuesday we played "show us a new move and we'll all try it " on the adult session. (glad you could drop in tim..it was fun) we'll leave that spin to frank..and no one could do his flying foward . camel either. even one of the resident celebrity skaters wouldn't try it in public.. but we all have the job of not letting franks costume be the mouldy part of the next post....

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Q:If landing an axle is 3 times your body weight, then how many times your body weight is the landing of a throw axle
A: depends on whos throwing you and how much you lied about your weight on your pairs profile


a can of stickum : $5.95
the email asking "how do you get this sticky stuff off " ...priceless

those are great ideas...now what lift were we doing again?

hey Tim...i finally figured out how to get the sticky stuff off!

Missing: east coast stunt doubles poster

Ah, but he does the perfect Skate Husband thing, coming with you to competitions and putting you on the ice!

One Skate Husband of my acquaintance even helps his wife put her skates on, and dries them off for her afterwards.....

Skating Husbands, on the other hand.... well, they do have some advantages, but they don't hold your purse for you or write down your marks....

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

My other half recently started to show some traces of interest in skating, or rather his whining during public sessions ("can we go home yet?") is becoming less frequent. The only problem is that I stay at the rink for 4-5 hours, and there's not much for him to do there all that time (there is only certain amount of time you can practice backward stroking before going nuts!). He could join me later, for an hour or so, but we only have one car, which means I would have to take the motorbike.... and it's too cold and too far, and sometimes it rains. So I have to make him to renew his CBT first, so I could take the car and he could take the bike.... too complicated.

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My other car is a Zamboni

Moldy Update: I think I need to mention to my "new" coach that I want her to help me with a routine for the Halloween Classic (in addition to working on pre-bronze moves, which I won't be testing on until spring anyway, due to lack of testing sessions in the area)....I can't seem to put one together without dear daughter laughing and saying it looks stupid...... The only really good move I have is my spiral (it's really high now) but I do want a waltz jump in it. I will be doing no-test so I'm not going gung-ho on this....sheesh, you'd think it would be easier to fill 1:30.....

Now, next year may be another story!!!

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

Hello all, My name is Ekaterina, I am 35 years old and I just started skating a week ago. I took lessons when I was 8 or something, now after some health problems, and financial ones, I am able to start skating again.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what boots and blades to purchase?

Welcome! You might have an easier time getting answers to this if you posted it as a brand-new thread (since this thread is devoted to a different topic, it might get buried here).

To quickly answer your question, that will depend on what jumps and spins you are working on, as well as the shape of your feet, etc. The best thing to do is go to a good boot fitter in your area - ask the instructors or skating director at your rink for recommendations.

Remember, 1:30 is a maximum, not a requirement. Your program can be shorter. Don't feel pressured to take every second of the allotted time, especially since it's your first program. Good luck!

FYI, UD and Wilmington have test sessions pretty frequently, although I've heard that the UD judges are very tough.

Thank you, I will do that

This is true and I very much appreciate his supportiveness (is that a word?).

I could watch him play tennis and/or squash all day. He is good at raquet sports. He tried to get me interested in tennis some years back, but I spent the whole time chasing the ball all over the place, and seldom hit it. And the squash ball is so much smaller - if I can't even hit a tennis ball, what hope do I have of hitting the squash one.


Mouldy: Spins....aaaaack. Also; I need both the freeskate and interp programs to be 30 seconds longer in order to use them for a couple of Canadian competitions that are coming up. I had gotten quite used to the 1:40 length. Huff puff

Ripe: (more like ripening - not quite there yet) The new footwork I got yesterday for my lengthened freeskate program. It's challenging but it looks SOOOOOOO cool - at least when the coach does it - and it started coming together this morning, in time to the music even.

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If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

That's good to know about both things! I will be mentioning to my coach and asking for recommendation. My music is cut to exactly 1:30-it's beautiful and I'd hate to cut it down anymore than that, but I can. I am putting in a spiral and that eats up a lot of time (or it seems to anyway). I'm pretty un-ambitious as far as the rest of it so don't expect much-it's more of an ice-breaker program for me (all I've done so far have been shows! Feathers anyone?)

We do have skaters from my humble little rink that skate at both rinks but not adults who have tested (I will be breaking new ground/ice). I'm looking more at Wilmington or Aston anyway.....didn't get a good feeling at U of De the few times I've been there (sorry!). And as far as I know, The Pond doesn't test. (Skated there over the summer).

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

Well, I hope you decide that your blades will work out so that you can go to Halloween Classic. I didn't go last year, but friends told me it was great fun and the people in the hosting club are really nice. I'm going this year.

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Well, your other option, if you don't skate the entire 1:30 is to let the music play for a teeny-tiny bit in the beginning before you start moving, if you'd rather not cut the music. (I think that's legal. I've been poring over last year's rule book to look things up about questions I have about my program, but it all starts running together in my mind.)

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

I have thought about doing that-the beginning starts very light and it is a bit hard to hear (my hearing is starting to fade out now, I'm afraid I will be very deaf in about 10-15 years ). I think I can get about 10 seconds from that. Then hold my position at the end for another 5-10 seconds.... If I go kersplat that will also gain me some seconds
I see my new coach tonight-I will talk to her and ask her about some choreography - we may end up cutting it anyway (down to a minute, which I can handle).

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

I'd like to go, so we'll see. Always good to know (at least sort of, on line, LOL) someone else who's going! My boots are feeling more normal today, and my lesson schedule seems to be shaping up, so hopefully the blades won't be too much of a shock!

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!

Terry, I had to laugh at this only because I am always telling my coach, "Okay, the idea is NOT to fall, right? Because if I fall, by the time I get up the music will be over!"

But anyway, I wanted to say your coach can always help you do some final graceful sort of movements with your arms at least so it doesn't look like you are ending 10 seconds early! Good luck with it!

Pat

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August 22, back on the ice!