Oh, well, if we include those, then technically I am on 4 meds!

I should be ready to go on Saturday. Even if I'm in pain, I'm still skating. We might have to adjust a few lifts, but hey, that's life. (Loops, might be best if you bring your crash pads to the comp! )

I know I'll be in good hands concerning the Other Woman.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

No crash pads for competition! They'll ruin the line of my dress.

__________________
Where are those knives when I need them?
----------------------------------
I need a detachable left foot!

Well, I'll be competing with a ThermaCare strapped to my back; I hope that's not distracting. Oh, wait, no one watches the guy in pairs, right?

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Should be interesting grabbing onto a partner's thermacare!
I'm just hoping we all heal before Saturday!

The mind boggles....

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

Here are some healing vibes for Steven and flo for this Saturday!!! (((healing vibe)))

Performance: Broke my record again!!! My new record is now 24.70 sec!!! (1 lap, NHL sized rink.) As for headstart: I'm practically starting from a standstill because at most I get maybe one stroke headstart to the blue box. (I'm starting from one corner and go towards the blue box. Time starts when I get to the blue box and ends when I go around the rink and back at the same blue box again... passing the blue lines at either end of the rink, of course!) It seems to help that they are as many people on the ice too. It was easier for me to keep my mind focus on the job at hand -- going as fast as possible!!!

I also managed to get thru the forward power 3's better today on both sides, though I still hoped for an even faster time. (The record to beat for that is 56 seconds! But I haven't had a chance to time that since the rink is usually so crowded that I could not do the entire forward power 3's pattern w/o having to stop in the middle so I won't crash into anyone...)

Plop:
Secondary coach is watching me closely... Scary.... I hate to find out what she's thinking when I get a job and start taking lessons with her again!

My loops are gone again!!! My flips went along with the loops too!!!

I've built a callous on the ball of my spinning foot. It hurts like hell now!!!

__________________
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!!!

Performance: Managed to hold and stand up out of shoot-the-ducks on either foot - I just have to focus on holding my body weight farther forward as my boots are not as flexible as my old used ones were.

Figured out how to stop on one foot!!! I can do a spiral with my right foot on the ground and centered under me and forward a bit, then turn it suddenly sideways, and come to a standstill before bringing the other foot down. I fail miserably when I try when my left foot, but I can do it reliably and well with the right one, which I'm happy about. Snowplow stops with the left foot are hard for me too, I figure once I get them worked out the one-foot stop will follow.

Plop: I'm having the darndest time with T-Stops...I've been strict about only doing them the right way, on the outside edge, but the stopping foot will move back and forward as I slow instead of staying steady, and sometimes will go too far back and the inside edge will catch. Oh well, they're getting better.

My right foot is starting to slip in 3-turns and spin attempts and other things - I think I need to get the blades sharpened.

Plop My stupid salchow on pathetic ice. My coach says I'll be fine, and I suppose it doesn't much matter in the grand scheme of things whether I actually jump and land the salchow in the New Year's competition, but still it's frustrating. If the ice had been cut it certainly would have been easier, but somehow they seem to think we don't need a cut. Even though there are 20+ skaters on the ice the session before. I'm through with that session after this week, I told my coach. Hopefully tonight will be better, but I probably won't get to do any program run throughs since my main coach won't be there and it's just too crowded to do the program without someone blocking. We'll see.

Gee, what a great way to prepare for a competition!

Pat

Your two comments above seem at odds with each other.

If your blades are getting dull, then sliding the blades sideways for T-stops should be easier. Put more weight on the stopping blade and less on the gliding blade. Practice that now before you get them sharpened, otherwise it will be only more difficult.

I was getting a kick out of sliding the blades great distances yesterday. I started with looooonnnnnng, highspeed T-stops, then got both blades sliding at the same time. I think I was skidding from the red line to the blue line (or so it seemed.) It makes a nice sound.

What did you end up doing for your grind radius? My boot-fitter/skate sharpener/also an instructor Jonathan English (skated for Disney on Ice) says you should go with the biggest radius that will work for you. Given that., I'm still on 5/8" radius (160 pounds, 6'tall). That probably makes the blades a little easier to skid.

Lighter skaters probably want a deeper grind, but until I feel like I need more bite (like when I'm proficient enough to be learning doubles) I'm sticking with 5/8. My instructor (different guy, but also was a Disney on Ice performer) uses 1/2" grind, and he's got all his triples (along with most everything else, it seems to me). That seems to add credence to "less is more". Being able to slide the blades a bit when you want to is a good thing.

plop: skates still hurt to the point I don't want to skate at all. Customs should not be like this. Grr. I may look into Graf boots. Perhaps it's time for a change.

Thanks for the vibes, but send more! Expanding on my "whine list": I also have bronchitis.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Jazz - thank you! I'm trying to decide if I should withdraw or not. Last night's practice was a bust. In my 15 years of competing I've only withdrawn once - had bad asthma. Grrr.

Anyone with Graf boot experience? I'm thinking perhaps a lighter boot may help.

Nova, have some hot tea and a nap.

Flo, is there any way you can use your old skates? Or are they too broken-down?

What kind of boots are the new ones, if you don't mind my asking?

__________________
Where are those knives when I need them?
----------------------------------
I need a detachable left foot!

Hi Loops,
The old ones would be ok, but the placement of the blades from old to new is very different, so I don't know if I could get use to that in time, though perhaps I'll give it a try. Thanks.

I have custom Harlicks. This is my fourth pair, and I've not had and problems breaking them in, as I have with this pair. I've had them since this summer, and they've been adjusted 4 times since. I also had problems with the blade placement,as it was so different. Now it's acceptable, but still not set great for left bo edges.

I was doing doubles in the old ones, and in these a lutz is wierd.
I've always had the very stiff boots, as with pairs they did take a beating. But now, I wonder if a lighter one would be better.
What are you in?

I've heard about a lot of people having trouble with customs lately, from multiple manufacturers too. Some of the kids at my rink have Grafs and like them a lot, but when they break down it happens all of a sudden... like within a week the boots go from fine to unskateable.

I'm in SP Teri customs, my second pair, and this time I got Ultima blades instead of the Pattern 99s I had before.

__________________
Where are those knives when I need them?
----------------------------------
I need a detachable left foot!

Okay, okay, I'll stop being so hard on you! Maybe some green tea (no caffeine, so don't worry) from starbucks would help!!!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Nah, my drink of choice is a chai latte; I've already had three. Caffeine is a good thing.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Of course, he is a man, and men have bronchitis when they cough just once.... at least, my husband does, except that he wants to skate tonight so he is minimising his cold (makes a change - it's usually flu, if not pneumonia). I'm tired, so not going myself - I really do find I need one day in the week to be a total rest-day.

Stephen, take loads of fluids - it doesn't really matter what, just so's it's liquid (Okay, too many beers might be a bad idea), and can flush your germs through you so you don't spread them around this weekend!

Good luck & safe journey to all.

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

AWWWW!!! Alright! (((NoVa's bronchitis healing vibe)))

Other than that, if I were you, I would get thee to a doctor to see if there's something he could do about that bronchitis too! I'd also stay away from the Chai Latte or anything with milk. (The milk in the drink will cause congestion.) Stick with clear fluids (green tea, broth, hot water, you know the drill...) in the mean time.

__________________
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!!!

If it makes you feel any better, my practices lately have been a bust. I hope you feel better soon - whether you skate Saturday or not!

My coach is now in Jacksons (the highest-level ones, I think the model number is 3500?) after being in SP-Teris and custom Klingbeils. She says they are the best skates she's had and raves about the heel support (she skates at Gold). And the heat molding has made it easier to make adjustments - they just get punched out and re-molded. I may look into Jacksons when I am ready for new boots - I'll probably get the 2700s - I think for me, the lighter the boot, the better. I'm currently in SP-Teri Super Teris, which I think are a bit too stiff and heavy for me (they're only just now breaking in and I've had them for a year and a half). I'm also not happy about the way my heel slips in them.

NoVA, I hope you feel better soon!

I'm in Klingbeils. I bought a pair of low-intermediate Jacksons a couple years ago when I was thinking about trying to do some FS again (before I messed up my right knee...). Wore them about 6 times and they never got past the pain in the arch stage. Wasn't the stiffness of breaking in new boots. It was where their arch was compared to my arch.

They're sitting in my closet with Coronation Ace blades, if anyone wants to try them, I can dig them out and provide the details via PM.... they fit roughly a size 5 1/2 to 6 US ladies foot. Think they have 9 1/4-inch blades on them.

I'll stick to my tried and true Klingbeils (3rd pair and I think they're just about ready to be replaced...)

Plop:
Pre competition nerves hit me like a ton of bricks today! I could not spin to save my life. Coach told me to calm down and then at the end of my lesson, asked if it was a certain time of the month- I just finished. Also, walked out of the rink tonight to find snow on the ground and on my car- they were not calling for snow here!

Performance:
While I couldn't do my spins alone on lesson, when it was time to do the program, they suddenly showed up!
Something to be said for muscle memory and being in the zone!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Last time I checked, NoVa was a vodka drinker!!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Well, that was many months and many states ago!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Hi Debbie - I tried the Jacksons. The were very comfy, but the new design was shorter in the leather on the sides, so didn't fit. I think I'll let my feet heal and check out the grafs. I was thinking of going to the event in Germany, so I want to have things resolved soon!
Thanks