Nice

Passed level 7 (Skate UK)
Three-turns were *slightly* better (I passed them, anyway)
Didn't crash into anyone this week, and back crossover are getting better each session.

Naughty

Had that fluey thing that's been going around - off school Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday - probably shouldn't have gone on Friday, doubt I'll get there tomorrow. So I didn't get down to practice on Thursday, and only managed a half hour lesson and about forty five minutes practise. So most things were a little shaky. But I passed .

EDIT: Just realised I posted under the wrong date *rolls eyes*.

Nice:
I went skating!!!
I only went for about an hour, and took a few breaks to rest the ankle. I didn't do much - wouldn't let myself try anything too difficult. No spins or jumps. And I was very cautious and slow.
-Stroking was good after I got over my initial hesitation.
-Crossovers and most forward 3-turns weren't too shabby.
-Power pulls were there (although slow).
-Ankle didn't hurt at all, though now it's a bit achy.
-I was SO happy to be back on the ice, even though I couldn't go all out. It felt like coming home

Naughty:
-Anything involving the LI edge was not secure (specifically RFI mohawks and left foot 3s).
-Cross strokes were sad.

Congratulations! I'm glad you got back on the ice -- it seems like only yesterday you were injured - when was it anyway???

it sounds like you did a lot for the first time back. (I have been known to hold onto the wall for those "first 3-turns after an injury" - so it sounds like you are doing great!

Happy skating!

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Well mine's quite the opposite of Morgail. Goes straight into the heartless category by all means.

I'm off the ice - heaven only knows for how long. They didn't quite wipe the ice after the sunday afternoon freeskate session, I got stuck in a hockey cut in the ice, fell with my right ankle (yeah, that's the been-broken one) underneath me out of a change-foot spin (which were doing really well up until then by the way, I had the controlled foot-change-straight-to-back-outside-edge down on that spin)...

Yeah real fun.

It feels swollen, achy. Coach-parttime-physiotherapist says I'll be fine by the sole grace of my rock hard edmonton skates in terms of bones and all, but it's looking like a sprain to me. We iced it of course, I still had to go home by bike, but I iced it more afterwards.

So, anybody wanna bet on how many more bad luck I'm gonna have with the ankle?

Sorry to sound all bitter and cynical, but right now, that's about everything I can be.
I just sat on the ice and cried and then I cried some more in the changing room and then when I got home I was soaking wet from the rain and I didn't give a darn. I don't seem to give a darn about anything at all anymore right now.

Here's how rock hard bottom feels.


Darn it, I did a toeloop on friday and it didn't hurt on saturday. Why, just, why?
I've cancelled all appointments so I can stay home all week, I called a friend with a car to bring me groceries, I'm not going on the department field trip on thursday, I'm not going skating until it's better. I'll have to go to the exam on friday but I'll take the bike. I'm gonna be all sensible now, let it recover and whatever, I've learned that by now. It's not about the time off the ice, I've known all along this season would be pretty much shot. It's not about that.

It just hurts you know? Not physically, it hurts deep inside, way more than it physically ever could. And I've not a clue why.


I've gone through something like this before, I thought I wouldn't feel it anymore another time around. But, there's the cruelty of the way that sorta things go down. Making sure you feel just enough and just in time to make sure it really, really hurts.
I don't think I'd be this shattered about it if it wasn't for that toeloop on friday.


Well, at least I'll have *great* grades for my upcoming exams in the next few weeks I guess, with all the spare time now and all. Isn't that a peach.

I was in my second (ever!) skating competition tonight.

Heartless: I finished LAST, again

Generous: At least this time, "last" was 3rd and I got my first piece of hardware to hang on the kitchen wall.

(It was a local competition so I was competing against one lady who is a coach and another who has been skating 10 years so 3rd place is ok with my not-quite 2 years on the ice.)

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

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CONGRATULATIONS!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You really had a great return skate!

I'm so sorry to hear you've hurt your ankle again!

You can put me on the injured list too, and I wasn't even practicing! I was teaching today on a public session, skating slowly backwards, when I suddenly noticed something wasn't right, then I realized I was falling straight down. I hit hard on my L hip, the part you sit on, of course. I had caught the tail of my blade in a big divot. The rink had ice, but no plastic bags, and I had to finish the lesson anyway. Now I'm sitting on a big ice pack at home, but as soon as the cold wears off, I'm in pain. This happened to me last spring, but this one hurts worse and I know it's going to take at least a month to heal. Gotta work tomorrow anyway. Older DD, who is coaching also, sprained her ankle Fri night, and I'm the one who has to find a sub for her, which feels like insult added to injury. I may as well cancel my Friday lesson right now .

CONGRATULATIONS!

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BTW my ankle's "okay" today. It's not hurting, feels swollen and "locked" but it only looks swollen where I didn't ice it (2 small spots off the main area on the outside of the ankle). Everything absolutely typical of every other ankle sprain I've had. I'm hoping it'll heal like one too.


A divot?

Sorry to hear about your hip. That just sucks about no bags. I hope you heal soon(er than expected).

generous - I dragged myself out of bed to the 6am freestyle this morning. It was soooo worth it. Practiced everything in peace, and even program run-throughs went well. Now I'm at work with a goofy "skated my cares away" grin.

heartless - it won't make it to lunch

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It's all about the dress!

I'm so sorry to hear about your ankle Sessy, I know you must be going nuts

dbny and DD too, wow the body count this weekend was high!

Big congrats to Helen88 and RustyBlades!

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It's all about the dress!

Generous -

IT's ALL GOOD today

Power class - I haven't been on the ice since last Wed and that was only for my half hour lesson because I've been sick so it was a challenge to keep going...but

I DID ONE REAL HONEST TO GOODNESS POWER PULL! I could hear the rip.

On to my Dance lesson...I CAN NOW DO MOHAWKS! I can now hold the mohawk edge--I was rotating on the inside edge so much I had no choice but to rush the mohawk - used to have similar problem with 3 turns, so we got my hips squared and my shoulders steady so I can control it. I even did the Swing to music, on time, mohawk and everything. Only one pattern though because I was just too tired.

But I was quite pleased.

j

Generous: Congrats to all!

Heartless: My club decided they will not have a holiday show this winter. The party line is that the board and the pro's decided not to have it. One pro said that would provide more time to "teach" the "invaluable" group lessons. It's pretty lame. The kids loved having a Christmas show and so did the parents who got to see their kids skate. I had always organized the show, which was primarily solo and two skater programs with a couple group programs for the kids. Our primary show was in the spring. Now no one wants to put the time into it (I left the VP spot last year). The kids I spoke to and another coach are pretty dissapointed. I do believe it's possible to learn AND have a show.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Well that really sucks! We do an informal holiday exhibition as well as a big spring show. And kids are getting ready for a competition in January but they still manage to cope. :-/ We are doing a fun adult number to Richard Simmons "It's the most fattening time of the year"

j

"Well that really sucks! We do an informal holiday exhibition as well as a big spring show. And kids are getting ready for a competition in January but they still manage to cope. :-/ We are doing a fun adult number to Richard Simmons "It's the most fattening time of the year" "

Great idea!!!!
I think it has more to do with no one wanting to put forth the effort than taking time away from group lessons. There have been a lot of changes in the club recently, and there's a perception that everything has to be a major event or not at all. They're really missing out on the basic need for the members to enjoy skating and include everone. Even if we just had the little tots march out to "trim up the tree" they enjoyed it!

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Oh, Sessy, I am SO SO sorry!!! I know I would feel the exact same way. I am very relieved, though, to hear that you did not break it again. Thank goodness for your new boots!!

(((((HUG)))))


DBNY, I hope your hip gets better soon, and more get-well wishes for your daughter's sprained ankle.

Helen88, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Here's my Heartless or Generous for yesterday:

Heartless
Barely made it through my program yesterday. I only skated it once in the past week and did fine then, but I hadn't skated it for 3 weeks before that, so now I know my limit. I can only go 3 weeks without losing stamina, and then I need to skate it at least 2-3 times a week.

Found out I wasn't using correct technique when going from backspin to forward spin. My coach is a stickler, and I got sick to my stomach from practicing this transition over and over. It's still very hit & miss. I don't have it down at all.

Reverse sitspin back on hiatus again, except for an occasional apearance.

Generous
Landed 3 axels from the setup I'm using in my program. Could the axel hangup be gone, or was yesterday an exception?
Landed 2 clean double sals and several that were very close. I hadn't even tried one in at least a month, and before that, I couldn't land one to save my life. Yay!
Back power 3's are getting much more consistent. I sure hope they stay that way when I step in front of the judges again on 12/14.

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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

Thanks! It was Sept. 2, and I had the surgery on Sept. 6. It seems like forever ago to me And I did my first 3-turns yesterday holding onto the wall

I'm glad it's not hurting you too much! That's so frustrating. I had visions of myself doing something like that yesterday. I hope it gets better very quickly!

Congrats!!

Congratulations!

Ouch! There's nothing like those falls that catch you completely unaware Hope it feels better soon.

Yay! I love hearing the rip sound And yay for the mohawks too!

Had group lesson tonight . . . not quite sure what to expect since I had some problems last week with fatigue (turned out it was from anemia . . .whoops) but have since been taking iron supplements (well, and sleeping a lot over the 4 day weekend!) and just starting to get some energy again . . . but didn't want to miss my group lesson it went fine though.

Heartless: bleagh . . . not really doing a great job on "collecting all my body parts" (as I put it) in jumps . . . I keep forgetting to pull in my arms and you would think I would have learned something from hearing coach get on DS about that CONSTANTLY during his lessons. . . maybe it's just in our genes! Or, my favorite, when my free leg goes wild and I end up doing the spread eagle thingie . . . but anyhow . . .

Generous: I did manage to get it together for some decent jumps, we worked on the waltz, salchow, toe loop and then the instructor had me try a salchow-toe loop combo (that's a first for me, I don't know WHAT brought that on that request from her??) but after a couple of humorous aborted attempts I actually DID get through the combo of the two - yahoo!! So then she asked what I did with our sub instructor last week and I said that we had done a little of the flip prep exercises (setup and toe in and jump/land with no rotation) . . . so she wanted to see the prep setup and then next thing I know she is headed for the harness . . . yipes!!! So I got to do some flips in the harness . . . and boy was I glad I was in the harness because I certainly would have had some good bruises without the help on the landings . . . but very cool to be able to work on the flip . . . if I can just get my arms coordinated and helping out to get me higher, I think I might be able to do this!

Public session wasn't too bad except that there were lots of younger figure skaters playing around with group routines for the Christmas shows . . . once I figured out their basic pattern I was able to divert around without too much trouble. I think DS is going to skate to the Grinch music ("You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch") which should be lots of fun for him . . . I had it on my MP3 player tonight just to see how it would be to skate to, and it is lots of fun!

I'm glad your ankle is better today. How long did your other sprains take to heal? DD is hoping to be back on the ice by Sunday, which is also her birthday. I'm hoping she'll be back by Friday so I don't have to cover for her. Neither one seems realistic, I'm afraid.

"divot" is borrowed from golf: the cavity left when a piece of turf is cut from the ground by the club head in making a stroke. From the looks of it, the one that caught me was not from a toe jump, but most likely from some miscreant on the public session kicking the tail of his blade into the ice for fun .

I woke up feeling so much better than I had expected! As long as I don't sit directly on the L hip, I'm OK. It doesn't even hurt to skate or do other ordinary movements. I am, however, scared to skate backwards in the area where I fell. I was teaching tonight, and about to demo B cross strokes, when I realized it would put me right through that area. I had to stop and skate elsewhere, with an apology to my student . I found out who to see about supplies for the skate rental (where they have the plastic bags and latex gloves), and they have already been replenished.

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generous
no sexual predators on the bus today

did a decent double loop double loop combo. and i'm getting so comfortable with my double loop that i'm even pulling off the iffy-takeoff ones.

got a lot of height and distance on all of my doubles tody. triples will be fun, i'm already overrotating my doubles like a 1/4 of a time.

heartless
ahh the injury gods are angry

first, i came down forwards on a double (triple?) sal. it was a half-turn over-rotated, and as i came down, i fell realllly hard. cracked my arm on the ice right below the elbow, right where my arm was most likely broken from about 5 weeks ago

my ankle/leg is a mess i had surgery on the ankle like 8 months ago, and i still have a lot of pain. i'm finally going to go to the doctor tomorrow, cuz its not good. just walking and standing really hurts. and i also have really bad pain on the outside of my lower leg. pushing off my toes sends horrible pain up my leg, so loops, double loops, even back spins hurt.

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Youtube Videos

Well my previous ankle sprains took usually 2 weeks before I could participate in school gym, of course, at the time I wasn't skating. Besides I'm not entirely clear on how one can sprain an ankle in stiff skating boots but apparently anything is possible cuz it really was the outside swollen yesterday - the swelling is down today, but it still feels "locked". So I've no clue how long it'll take.
I'm taking at least 2 weeks off ice entirely I think, and I'm obviously not going to try jumping again in december - after that, I'll see how the healing goes.

DBNY, good to hear it's not as bad as originally thought. Still sucks obviously.
Ibreakhearts, sorry to hear about your arm & leg. Sounds like a mess.

Sorry to hear about all the injuries! Get well soon....

As for us:

Heartless: Why we were skating today? Actually, of the seven skaters from our rink who competed this weekend, four of us were back on the ice this morning. Husband and I thought we were a bit stupid, really, and should have cancelled out and taken a week's rest. He must certainly not jump for at least a week, as his knees know that he's overdone the jumping lately. But his coach wants him to work on moves anyway, this winter, so he can rest the jumps for a bit.

Generous: Working on partnering, as always in the winter - each winter, we learn more and more about what isn't happening, but whether it will actually ever start happening is another story! I hope so.... meanwhile, we are to work on the British and European waltzes, which is great!

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

Sessy: so sorry you've hurt your ankle again. it is so hard tokeep off the ice and not jump when you are injured but it really is the only way to heal. Hope it's quick and you can be back jumping but dont' rush it this time!

Healing vibes to everyone else with injuries too.

Heartless: my coach making me do level 5 field moves. I couldn't even follow what he was doing on some of them let alone do it. Did have a bit more of a clue by the end but am not convinced he is teaching what they actually are as opposed to what he thinks they are. They've all changed recently and he is notorious for interpreting them differently to everyone else!

Generous: did a bit of jumping at the end and loops felt easy. Did loop then loop-loop then loop-loop-loop and got as far as 4 in a row - wayhay!

Even flip worked first time but ran out of time to practice lutz.

heartless: Am not enjoying practising our group number for christmas show. We've been given very little time and have had just two rehearsals mixed in with other groups. Coach has put in some complicated on the spot dance stuff at the very end which we do not have time to make look good and none of us can even remember, so I'm not going to do it. I dont' mind practising skating but this is ridiculous. Then the higher level skater in group does not want to compromise what she does to accomodate the lower level skaters and being in the middle I'm having to adapt what I do to try and accomodate both. Then just when I think something's been decided the person in front of me reverts to something I thought we'd changed and I have no idea which version to do. I dont' mind which we do, I'd just like to know! Ah well. It'll probably all change anyway as we have to interact with one of the principals and we've not even been on the same ice as him yet.

Heartless:
My right foot. There's definitely something wrong with it - outside edges are better, but still PITA's.

Back crossovers near the wall - hate them!

Three turns on my left foot. Every one was a miserable piece of trash.

Almost went down on a 'click of death' but managed to keep my sorry butt off the ice.

Mediocre:
Threes-on-the-line. LoR back crossovers - again with the right foot. (RoL are outstanding and fast, though!)
Camel spins were pretty weak and couldn't do any combinations with them.
Back spins - better, not great. Sit spins were wimpy - knees were tired.
Tango stops - managed 3-4 good ones.
Twizzles - well, RFI only. Good if I keep my arms up; managed to keep the free foot in front once or twice today.

Generous:
Jumps - another 1/4 turn and I'll be landing a loop and a flip. Waltz jumps were good.
Made the world's biggest divot today practicing the lutz. I patched it before someone else tripped.
Layback - I think I actually laid back this time instead of doing a fancy attitude spin. Managed a sideways-leaning spin, too!
Right foot three turns were all excellent and controlled.
Managed several decent spreadeagles and started working on an Ina Bauer!
(Stretching is really helping.)

Have to work on bringing the free foot back before stepping from BI to FO edges.

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Heartless: There were a ton of people on the ice tonight because there is a competition this weekend. I normally don't skate on Tuesdays because of a work commitment, however, I canceled that meeting for tonight (the perk of being the boss ), and when I got to the rink and remembered the competition, I wondered why I went! I could hardly get anything done because I thought I was going to take out one of the younger kids. The competition also means no lesson on Friday, which is a big bummer because I look forward to my lessons and spending time with my coach.

Generous: Because it was so crazy, I didn't have a chance to work on moves, so I focused on freestyle. Did some good forward/back scratch combos...let's see if I 'll be able to replicate that on Thursday when maybe the ice will be less crowded.

I am getting to a "don't get mad, get even" point with my axels. The majority of them feel good on take off, I get the full rotation, I think my legs are even in the right spot, and then...sorry, no go....I two foot the landing...not even horribly two footed...just a little toe touch....it's frustrating But...I will not get mad, I will get even, and I will land this freaking jump!

I also did some really big flip jumps which make me happy...I do enjoy flips...lutzes on the other hand, were just mediocre today. Oh well...