I must admit I was a little nervous for my Adult Silver moves test, the 8 step is not my favorite, and spirals are still a bit on the difficult side but I managed to pass my silver fm test. Got scores 16.5, 16.8 and 17.1 with a passing score of 16.2 so I am pleased. I have gained back most of the weight I lost, if only I could get my fat to distribute itself in more opportune areas.

Sigh, don't we all want that. Trying to figure out when to take the gold, just realized I am doing Jr/Sr moves next week, not week after. EEkkk!

Video of moves is on youtube

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Who me? Couldn't be....
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Wow, great job! Outside mohawks and spirals on recently revamped hips are quite an achievement!

On The Beach
This morning--in spite of our crappy hard ice--I skated my program and completed every element, including a solid axel and double salchow!

In The Snow
I didn't quite hold onto the final position in my ending spin. I need to really get it into muscle memory in the coming week so it will be there for me no matter what.

__________________
"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

On the beach:
Dance lesson yesterday and finally managed two sequences of my variation canasta tango for testing without going wrong and getting a consistent pattern filling whole rink. As it went so well coach decided we should leave it and do something else for the rest of lesson so I got her to go over the backspin with me. This is the coach who worked wonders on my field moves and really helped get me through level 4 so thought it worth asking - turns out she loves teaching the backspin! I can sort of do it but it's not consistent and hoped that a different perspective might help which it did. She got me to keep left arm well in front and hook the spin and keep leg out to start which got it to centre much better. I think I may have this in time to test after all.

Wasn't at my best yesterday though as was flustered having been unable to find my handbag and fearing I'd left it somewhere.

still on the beach: found bag so was in a really good mood. Also wore my new welsh dragon t shirt which I love and the ice was nice.

Did a great runthrough of my level 2 test programme landing a really good loop and finishing on time

coach commented on improved backspin in the elements too.

No snow today!

coskater- congrats on passing!

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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)

Way to go coskater!!

I was on the beach when I skated the first half of my freeskate program without the music very strongly for Primary Coach. Had a good toe loop/toeloop combo and a good sit.

Did CM program for coach as well and she timed it at 45 seconds. So we added more to the straightline footwork sequence.

The salchow went back to the snowpile. I went back after lesson and did some of the on ice exercises that Secondary Coach taught me last week. After last week's butt busting straight to my neck fall, I am NOT going to do this jump from a standstill, but I will walk through it.
It was also bitterly cold on the ice and ice was hard today, but given that the word on the street, or on the boards rather that the Easterns rink is cold with hard ice- this may be a good thing for me.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Congrats coskater64!!!

Wednesday's Lesson

In The Snow
My nice flip is in the snowpile again. I'm trying to get a nice straight 3turn flip entry and I can't seemed to do it. I also can't seemed to get myself to have STRAIGHT LEGS on the entry either. GRRRR!!!! So for now, my flip is ROYALLY cheated. I feel bad for secondary coach, who is still trying to figure out a while to not get me to cheat on the entry and still keep the entry straight.

Thursday's Lesson:

In The Snow:
Primary coach acknowledge that my flip entry needs work and did mention those things that secondary coach had mentioned about too, but he said that he's gonna leave that alone 'til AFTER AN.

Also in the snow my loop-loop. It has not been consistent as of late and I'm a bit concerned about it since I am EXPECTED to land this jump at AN. I have landed some of those today but I missed just as many of those as well too...

Kinda in a fog (no snow or sun...hey, I AM in San Francisco!!!):
My straightline footwork. I'm doing this slide chasse to a thingie that is supposed to be a twizzle but I can't really call it a twizzle since it's probably all on the incorrect edge.

Sunny:
Nothing really... maybe the fact that I'm actually landing my loop consistently now is a blessing. Maybe the camel, (particularly the last one, free leg looks almost (like around 10 degrees off) parallel to the ice now from what I see in the glass reflection.)

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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!!!

On the beach:
Continued work on the MITF, learnt the waltz eight, forward power 3-turns, revised the alt forward 3-turns which my old coach taught me although it wasn't in the ISI syllabus, and then learnt the 5 step mohawk sequence... which is quite delightful except that my patterns always seem to decrease in size on the 3rd lobe, and my rink is so tiny I can only do three before having to stop and turn around.... so I wouldn't now how it would fare if i had to continue on a 4th and 5th....

Landed one double salchow out of back three turn -mohawk steps. (although I was on a self imposed shouldn't be doing too many jumps... hehehehehe)

In the snow:
Took a really hard fall on double three turns (wanted to go into flip jump) but i fell on the three turn just practically flew over the toe pick and hit the ice right below the knee cap and just above the elbow. My elbow hit a vein and it swelled dramatically immediately whereas the knee looked calm. But I knew that things would be bad in the oppoiste way. And today the knee has swollen and the elbow is just a normal no-swelling bruise....

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~
Tidesong

Yesterday and today

[On the Beach]
Yesterday was more of a goof off day on the ice with a friend/student here on campus. It was fun to watch her attempt to do double axels on broke down boots, blades that are done, and not doing them in 6 months

Today, my camel spins were on, my lutz is back, scratch/back scratch is more consistent...all in all a pretty good day

Did a pretty good program run through tonight...

Lesson tomorrow...but unfortunately, they changed our ice time, so it's quite late....8:30-9:15 and then 9:15-10pm....and I have a feeling I am going to be getting the late session for my lesson....boo...although, I am very excited for my lesson

[In the Snow]
I need new boots so, that lovely tax return that I put into my savings account so that I HAVE some savings, is probably going to disappear...luckily, the government is going to give many of us $600 and I have an additional $750 in pay that will be coming in the next few weeks for additional service that I am providing at work (it comes out to something like $63 an hour...how could you pass that up!?!). So, over spring break I will head to the skate shop and see how much money this is going to cost me...I am probably going to keep my old skates so that when I am breaking in the new ones I will still be able to skate and not rush the break in process...plus then I could probably send them off to Harlick to be rebuilt, and then I will have 2 pairs ...I will probably stay with the same combination of Harlick Finalists and Coronation Comets. I'm just not looking forward to forking out the dough...

Moves were "eh" today...my back outside brackets are lost and I cannot find them...I continuously go into them on such a flat....part of my problem is trying to maintain the edge, when I am turning opposite of the way I am trying to go...I can do a darned good back outside edge when I am doing them the traditional way... I wonder if there is a way to start facing the outside of the circle and then changing arms and rotation for the actual turn...hmmmm...

I totally agree!

Congrats on your strong pass, and thanks for posting the vid of your test. Great edge rip on the power pulls, and nice BO three turns Your work on figures shows there in the quality of the turns. When you took your jacket off between edits on the vid, at first I thought, "Hey, she had time to change clothes?!"

The background music was nice--was that music playing on another ice surface or in the test arena?

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Snow: My spins are still wildly inconsistent. I can never skate as well in the morning as I do in the evening. I'm losing the "feeling" I look for on the axels and I'm not landing too many salchows these days. I was too tired to work on loops.

On the beach: I landed a really good toeloop during my lesson this morning. That doesn't happen very often. Even though my skating wasn't that good, I'm still happy just to be there. The skater that has the same thursday morning session made it past the qualifying round in the Four Continents competition. Even though I'm not landing them, coach says my axel finally looks like a real axel (as opposed to what I used to do).

I had the same problem until I realised blood sugar levels (I never stomached an early breakfast) and the way I tied my skates were the problem. In the evening, my feet need more room than in the morning for some reason, and my blood needs at least a full bottle of high sugar sportsdrink in the morning.

Congrats coskater64!

I had a great time yesterday in my lesson. First time I have felt really comfortable on my back outside edges and didn't feel like I totally had to clutch my coach's hand to keep from falling over. Also did some (just a few) clockwise back xovers without holding onto him. At the very end of the session we also did one length of the rink of the bronze move with the alternating back crossovers with the back outside edge in between. It was very cool! And also felt completely comfortable! My coach was helping me and was laughing because I was "talking" us through it: Okay now I'm going to do the edge, now I'm going to do a crossover, now I'm going to do the edge. I don't know why I felt compelled to say it out loud because obviously he knew what I was going to do. So it was pretty funny.

Also got to see a skating friend I had not seen since before I broke my ankle. It was so good to see her and she was happy to see how well I am doing. So, a good day all around.

Happy skating everyone!

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August 22, back on the ice!

I absolutely know that feeling There will always be someone (or in my case, everyone!) who is a faster learner than you and, as disheartening as it is, there isn't a thing you can do!


In the snow:
-Last lesson for more than 7 weeks today. I managed not to blub when saying goodbye to my coach but only just. I will miss my rink routine ridiculously and my coach even more.

On the beach:
-From next Wednesday, I will be in Australia, land of beaches
-Back crossover miracle this morning when I somehow managed to slow everything down and stay low in the knees, which made so much difference and meant I got in a whole circle of smooth, consecutive crossovers. Finally!
-My timing may not be as awful as I had suspected. Did a Golden Skaters Waltz, Rhythm Blues, Dutch Waltz and a Canasta Tango all to time, with the exception of the RB. However, as I only started the RB last week and am still rushing the closed chasses, I'm going to be too self-critical about that one.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that in the snow ought to be good, and on the beach bad... However...

On the beach: My coach thinks my Willow is close enough that she's probably going to be willing to sign the test form next lesson. That does mean two weeks of lessons working on that prety much exclusively. We did, at least, look at the bronze moves trouble spot last night, and I was told that I can demonstrate the idea and just need more practice, so I hope that it won't hurt to go off and practice that for a while without a look at it on a lesson.

In the snow: Need to work on check after the mohawk (man's) on the end pattern of the ten fox. Started ok in the lesson, but then started analyzing it and everything fell to pieces. If I lose check there, there's no telling what position I might end up in, and that can get a little scary (not to mention frustrating.) Solo drills while Willowing, I suppose...

Rob

Congratulations coskater! Nice test!

Great news about your practice, sk8pics! I always liked the alt BO edge glide move. Certainly compared to oh, the 8-step, back 3's and cross strokes, and just about every move on the Silver test - lol.

If I don't pass Silver soon, I may go crazy practicing these moves. Last night, my big puzzle was why, on the cross strokes, I can step down and transition properly on the left foot, but not the right. No matter what I do, I still hear toe noise - grrr.

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Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

Congratulations! Not that I am surprised, mind you..... but all the same!

I do so agree!

For us, it was all good, I think, with the possible exception of a rather out-of-practice Willow Waltz. We even got to marry skating with a lie-in this morning, as Husband took the morning off! Which did, sadly, mean that we missed Clare, who had left before we arrived, and we had hoped to wish her "bon voyage"....

We have nearly finished our free dance; it just wants some input from the coaches at the end. It's still very rough and needs a lot of work, but it's more-or-less there. It will, I expect, have to be tweaked. But even now, the step sequence would fill a short rink like Oxford or Lee Valley; it just doesn't quite fill ours, though.

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

In the Snow:
-I've been sick, and missed 3 practices last week.
-My coach is in the hospital and will be until after Mids. (She'll be fine, just has to be off of her feet for a few weeks.)
-I still haven't crystalled my dress for Mids because my coach was supposed to bring me the crystals. Since she's indisposed at the moment, I just ordered some, and will have the rush shipped. I'm going to be up all night during the week gluing...

On the Beach:
-I practiced for the first time in almost a week today, and it went pretty well.
-I did a 5min warm-up and program run through, and managed a respectable program with only one fall on the very last jump.
-My coach made arrangements from the hospital for another coach to work with me this week so that I "stay on track". (I'm pretty sure that means to make sure I don't take anymore hard stuff out of my program...)

In the Snow:
-My camel spin was atrocious in the program today. It's usually one of my best spins. I don't know why I keep messing it up in the program. Hopefully my interm coach will be able to fix it before Mids!

Congratulations Coskater!

On the beach:

Did some really nice backspins today.
Made some progress with the loop-loop. Didn't land it but made progress.
Got a nice comment about my spiral sequence from another coach who was on the ice.

In the snow:
Landed a lutz with my face. After a trip to the ER for stitches am the proud owner of a skater's chin.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

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.

Visit my skating journal

So glad you are ok Scarlett. I missed the face lutz, but did see some of your nice spirals today.
BTW - when you rushed off to the sewing bee you left your jacket on the boards. Look for it in the pro room.

Congratulations on your new skater's chin! It will match mine! What happened on the lutz that made you fall on your chin? That's a rather unusual way to have that fall. Anyway, I'm glad your teeth didn't get involved in any way (shudder!). Whew!

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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

CONGRATULATIONS! ...and thanks for the video!

Same here!!! I do not like the beach much at all, and love the snow.

I second that!

Ouch! How many stitches? At least you got it on a lutz. Older DD got a skater's chin on a waltz jump .

In keeping with my preference for snow:
In the Snow:
Did some nice one foot spins from T push in lesson today. Straightened out problem with L side of Prelim Power Threes (for the umpteenth time) - not holding long enough before pushing to FO edge. Tried a new approach to backspin in the lesson: push off onto BO edge, bring free foot into crossed position, bring arms in with hands at belly button, keep R shoulder back (CCW spin) until edge deepens, and then rotate shoulders slightly to initiate spin. I didn't actually get any spins out of this, but I did get better posture, and when I do get the spin - it will be on the correct edge. Best of all, after the lesson, I suddenly felt much more confidence on FI threes, and was actually able to do them with some speed, enough for the Adult Pre-Bronze pattern. They felt so good that I was practicing the Pre-Juv threes in the field with FI/BO threes (two footing the BO's). Although I'm still having trouble checking the alt FO threes on the line, they also are shaping up nicely when just skating and in patterns like the Prelim power threes.

Older DD came with me, and her waltz-loop combo is big enough for an axel. She was doing it near my lesson at one point, and my coach told her to just go for it, which she did. She freaked in the middle and popped out, but would have had a huge axel if she hadn't. This kid could easily have big axels and doubles if she wanted to spend the time on them. Unfortunately, she only skates for herself a few times a week and doesn't take lessons. She's decided after today, though, to have a lesson with my coach next week. She'll be working full time soon, and then will probably have to stop skating altogether.

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The skaters badge of honor

I think my problem is my body doesn't loosen up until sometime in the afternoon. The sports drink before skating is worth a try.

Friday Night

On the beach:

• my program

• double flip

• loop, double loop, double toe combo

• death drop

• double lutz, holy moly I was landing them like mad... no wonder it's my favourite jump

In the snow:

• can't think of anything

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2014 and 2018 Olympics here I come!

Skating, skating all day long, skating, skating all night long! May seem tiring to some people but not me, it's my life!!

Goals: Triple Loop, Novice Competitive, Sr.Silver Dances, Gold Artistic, and top 3 at Sectionals

Congrats on the skater's chin, how many stitches?

I got mine over rotating a double toe (back when I could jump)
it is the badge of courage, the proud!!

A young man I knew got one from a flying camel, just flew...(((()))))
11 stitches.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r