I am so glad to be able to post my first practice post!!
Crisp....My coach (my 10yo daughter! HA!) thinks my edges look good, and my crossovers have seen a genuine transformation thanks to her. I am not trying any more of what I used to do (flips, sals) until I can backtrack and work on my basics, since I havent really worked on anything for about 20 years! She showed me a half flip and a half lutz, and I was able to do both, but thay looked like CR@p, I am sure. I am scared to death of falling, and I am still trying to get used to the new boots and blades (both are smaller than I am used to). Excuses, excuses. My dd tries, without much success, to hide the "ohmygoshthatlookedlikeCRAP" look that comes across the face of ANYONE seeing me skate! Bless her little heart...!
Clammy...I HATE HATE HATE 3 turns in any direction...I don't know how I ever got as far as I did as a teen with these things... 'nuff said
I have decided that my new goal is a decent 1 foot spin...that's all I ask

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BuggieMom
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Some people are like a Slinky...not really good for anything,
but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs....

Welcome back BuggieMom! I was away for 36 years and started back in January 2006 and I STILL hate 3-Turns

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

Crisp

Had my lesson last night and made some good progress on my Back three turns - strangely enough my left foot is normally better/stronger than my right but i've always assumed its becuase you turn in your natural rotational direction. Weirdest thing of all though is that my back inside threes are much better on the right foot turning clockwise! Anyway glad they're getting better. Forward inside twizzles were ok too but left foot is sloppy.

Jumps are progressing nicely with the stretched free leg. Practised with a friend who hasn't seen me skate since the coaching change and commented that my jumps look bigger, longer and generally look nicer in the air than they did before.

Had an intensive spin lesson with coach who worked me hard and i got a rev and half on the backspin and she even had me try a forward camel change feet for a back camel...i managed a rev on the back camel...then tipped forwards and jumped around trying not to fall over! Not bad for my first attempts at back camels!

Clammy

Friend who i always used to practice with before she had a baby now has to leave the rink dead on time because of her child care and it means that unless i skive off work early i can't get to practice with her

Damned sit spin travelled all over the rink and never settle down once. It is sods law - if i do a good camel then the sit is nowhere to be seen and vice versa.

Forward outside twizzles are impossible - its the backthree sensation i can't get on it and always leave my weight too far forward so i do a travelling front spin on the left leg and break my neck toe scrape on the right leg

Ant

BuggieMom: Welcome to AOSS hell! I had a feeling you'd be back!

Congrats to CaraSkates!!!

CLAMMY ALL AROUND:
I was about to leave for the rink for my lesson and my work STOPPED me and said that I had to perform a task that took 45 minutes to complete (b/c of the waiting of the other engineer who also had to scramble. Yes, it was a last minute task that go dropped on me with NO NOTICE AT ALL!!! Needless to say, I only got a 20 minute lesson b/c of it. 2-3 minute WARMUP only!!!

Also clammy for this week... my dressmaker dropped the ball and I'm left SCRAMBLING to find a new dressmaker for one of my dresses. (The artistic number...) I ended up buying off the rack at Sharene for my FS dress!!! GRRRR!!! Obviously, I'm QUITE pissy about it b/c he's been sitting on this project for 3 MONTHS!!! No comments, no word... NADA!!! He didn't draw any designs or anything based on my wish. Not a word from him. I'm sad that he let me down like this b/c I've seen his designs and they're very good work.

Part of me had a gut feeling that he and I were not gonna work out. He didn't have as many samples of fabrics as I've seen with my previous dressmaker (who sadly is VERY terminally ill with cancer right now... ) When we were talking about dresses and designs, he and I just plain didn't connect... I should have followed my gut to go find another dressmaker at that point. Hindsight is always 20/20 and all...

Crisp:
Thank goodness I have the hindsight to check on things so that I have some time to get it together and all.

Got more stuff on the artistic program. I'm sure my secondary coach is dying to see the rest of this program...

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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!!!

First of all. . . TGIF!!!

Crisp: My double lutz came back. So did my axel. Yay!!!! I was nervous because I couldn't do a thing earlier this week. Double salchow is getting so strong that I'm over-rotating it sometimes. Double loop still has a little bite on it but it's way less than a quarter rotation. But when I do it on the back of a combo it is spot on. Still no luck with landing the double axel!! I'll get it though. Working on my Bronze moves and freestyle. Taking those tests at the end of October. I don't seem as nervous about this one as I did my Pre-Bronze.

Clammy: I can do a doggone forward sitspin to save my life. How in the heck am I going to have a double axel with a crappy sit spin?? It sounds so stupid.


BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

I switched to one that had peroxide in it (Clear Care), mostly because it cleaned better (and was recommended by Consumer Reports)! It is a pain to use because the contacts must stay in the solution for 6 hours, you must wash your hands if it touches them (and it burns if you touch your face/eyes, etc). But, it cleans better than some of the other "newer" solutions.

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

Crisp:
my camel spins!!! I'm cleared to try camel-sit now, and strangely the sit works better for me from the camel than it does from the normal entrance. WAY cool.

Also, my 1-foot spin is now officially approved! It does tend to travel, but it travels in circles, and oftentimes it doesn't really travel. So now I must practice change-foots instead of 1-foots. Yay!

Dreaded backward inside edges are improving: I now do 3 edges on the short side of the rink, which means I would do 6 on the long side. You're allowed 4-8 on the test, so that's good. I do still need more speed. Backward 3-turns are picking up speed, backward crossrolls have solid edges.

Clam:
Well, obviously not jumping any time soon.

Haven't been able to do the bielman spiral last sunday, and today it didn't really work either... I think the problem is that I've been doing so many normal spirals lately that my point of balance shifted, putting me too far on the back of the blade for the bielman.

Oh yeah nearly had a collision today with a girl doing her programme while her music was on. Ooops...

At last I have my new skates!
I'm very glad I waited for the half size up which wasn't in stock. The smaller one would crush my feet for sure. I opted for the graf edmonton in the end. I know it's gonna be hard breaking it in without being allowed to jump right now, but anyway.

I walked them in today. I think the left blade will need to be moved a bit - but I'll see about that tomorrow on ice. Walking was pretty painful, but not unbearable. Well, not until I took the skates OFF anyway.
However, I did discover a new problem: the new skates are wider. They don't fit into my favourite skating backpack!!!

My roomies said I pulled my "in love" face when I was showing them to them!

Cool! Are they heat-moldable? That can make a huge difference it fit and comfort.

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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

They are. I was stupid though, put left on first, so right gave in a little less than left did. Should've put right in first, being my problem foot and all.

It did make some difference, but they'll need to be broken in anyway. The sides of the ankles hurt, mainly. I'm very glad at least the back of my heels isn't constantly hurting like in the old skates!

I'm happy as a bunny. Bouncing off walls actually.
I added a pic above.

Yay! Have fun breaking them in

I use Clear Care too. My eye doctor recommended it. It's expensive (I think), but it cleans the contacts better. And you don't have to rub them like you do with traditional lens cleaner! I do keep some saline solution around though, in case I have to pull them out before the 6 hrs is up.

crisp: i did a pretty good I-Spin today
double flips were close-ish

clammy: butterflys are HARD

Video from practice today

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Crisp: At my lesson today, Intermediate Moves were good...getting better Coach commented that things look better than they did last time and that I seem to have my legs under me more...

Freestyle was also good...got scared when I really got some air with my jumps oops! Most of my pre-juv elements were decent...

Clammy: Lutz jump needs some work...

I am! *points to signature*

I kinda think it feels good. Bone-crushing, but good.
But I'm not over-excited yet before I've tried them on ice.

Crisp:
Actually had a good time today helping out with Learn to Skate and got a hour's worth of freestyle credit for it. Hopefully there will be more to come!!
Since the kids were away at a competition, the freestyle ice was empty for the most part.


Clammy:
Forward scratch and sit spins were a struggle today and refused to show up for program.
There is some tension at the rink between rink management and the coaches.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Oooohhh PRET-TYyyyy! You know, you can heat mold them a second time if the ankle is still too stiff.

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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

Work should never be allowed to interfere with skating!

Crisp:
Between work and ankle problems, I have had no time at all to practice in the past two weeks, so I started my lesson by telling my coach that I was regarding it as supervised practice. I then proceeded to do the absolutely best R side of Prelim power threes ever! I could feel everything happening correctly, from the equally sized lobes on the threes to the pushing to BI edge right on the axis to the push forward on the Choctaw. The first thing my coach said was that she had nothing at all to say about it, everything was right, and it was Adult Bronze passing.

Clammy:
It has to be Prelim passing!!! Also, the L side was not so hot. Likewise spins. I couldn't get all the necessary parts to cooperate at the same time . I think that sometimes a layoff can be good for things that have been worked on consistently for a long time, but rotten for the relatively new skills.

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Yeah, apparently it can get molded up to 3 times. I wonder if the limit on the moldings is really technical, or built-in at the request of skateshop owners with a fear of becoming bakeries...

Crisp: Was at the British Adult Championships yesterday, although not competing; good to watch lots of friends skating and mostly doing very well, although I'll leave it up to them to report for themselves if they wish. We didn't miss competing - we have had a month off from competition prep, although we'll have to start it again for Oxford Seniors at the beginning of November, and, of course, Dunkerque at the end of it.

Our coach has let us drop our broken lift in our free dance and subsitute our change-foot spin instead (the rules for Oxford allow one, but no more than two spins, and the lift is optional). I have no idea why it broke - mostly my fault, I think, and entirely psychological. I was fine with it for a whole year after the crash, did it several times, but since Bracknell I haven't been able to do it at all! Go figure....

Clammy: Not a lot, for once. Beastly cold at the rink - my feet got cold!

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

CRISP

Tried my skates on ice. I think the left blade isn't straight under it, it drags a little, but otherwise - MY what a difference!!!

Edge control gets a whole different definition! With the old skates, they could just flip over from an inside to an outside edge or vice versa on a spin - these skates don't do that. The spins were just calm like cutting through butter! I might actually learn to like the spins in these.
The edges and powerpulls were also like WHOA, it was like none of the momentum was getting lost and like the edges weren't vibrating but were just way smooooooooooooooth... I didn't even know they could be like that. I can get deep enough of a kneebend to do hydroblades in them, but I'm not getting a lot of push (I think it's just because they need to be broken in).

I did get off the ice after just 40 minutes cuz I was starting to get blisters and the pain in my ankles was really beginning to get to me. But I think that after breaking in I might have myself a winning pair! Graf sure knows how to make em!

Friday Night

Crisp

-Did my solo landed: axel-double loop, double flip, double loop, and double saw-double toe
-Learned the rest of my gold skill
-My gold artistic looks amazing!!

Clammy

-Did my solo messed up my lutz, fell in my footwork and bruised my left leg really bad, was off for the rest of the program after the first two happened
-Had trouble skating after falling on my leg

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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

What a weird practice.

Crisp: I know the choreography pretty well for my new program up to what we've done so far. My scratch spin is ok and the transitions are good.

So that's all I've got for crisp...

Clammy: I somehow have suddenly become unable to do a toe loop. What the heck? Also, crazy public session in which kids (including young figure skaters) were shooting pucks out on to the ice and skating after them. One kid practically aimed right for me as I was about to do a 3 turn. Also there is no way I will have this program ready to test next month, since I can't do a backspin.

I don't have AOSS this week.

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Once a year at the beginning of the season my daughter and I's coach gets all her students togther for an hour or so meeting. She always brings snacks and has them play games. Today it was a $5 coldstone coupon for the one who put their skates on the fastest. I didn't even bother to try. I thought my daughter had a chance but she has new skates and she only had one skate on before the winner was done.

We go over the competitions coming up and which ones we want to do. She gave a little talk on nutrition and what to eat in the mornig before skating. I've been a avowed non-eater in the morning but she has convinced me to eat a handful of cashews and some dried fruit. That's all I can handle at 4 am. She talked about off ice warm up and the new thing now which is to do some off ice warm up and stretching AFTER you compete. Especially if you have more than one event.

And we found out she's having a baby in April but she is having someone her level come in and take over for her. There's really a dearth of upper level coaches around here.

Then I had my adult group lesson. Everything was pretty clammy because I didn't get my Sunday nap time because of the meeting. So I was tired and not motivated.

Started out with stroking, then crossovers and she had us do crossovers with are hands behind our backs. The backward 3 turns but only two footed and then holding just the back edge and not trying to turn. Two footed brackets. I've had to do these in power class and never can get anywhere, but I think these were better.

Forward power pulls - which I almost can do. Backward power pulls, I never got past doing them two footed and even then I couldn't seem to get the up down rhythm.

j

this was for yesterday, which was one of those sessions that makes me wonder why I still keep at it !!!!

Clammy: I'm frustrated. I need a change-foot spin for my ISI comps and I don't even have a decent backspin. On the other hand, I have a slight reprieve from loops and sitspins, I don't think I will need them until next year!!!

I might just skate spotlight this year, if my change-foot doesn't materialize. At least I have options!

I have been told (as of Wednesday)...I need to actually fall on some of my things (I rarely fall).

Really Clammy: I can't quite get the "roll your foot on the takeoff" thing for the loop my coach has taught me...I will get it tho, I did understand the concept.

My back is KILLING me again, I had an adjustment on Friday and wow, is it a doozy!!! My left sacro-iliac joint is so tight!!! Sitting more than 30 minutes hurts too much-spasms kick in.

Crisp: Did some decent scratch spins, had 2 that centered and one almost centered!!! Finally, some progress! And, this coming week, i will mount my new blades and sharpen them.

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

Today...

Clammy...skated on a public session and the ice was cruddy...all cut up from what experience tells me were hockey players....made it hard to do anything in the corners...including certain MITF patterns. Lutz jump is still MIA.

Crisp...spins are getting better, MITF is feeling better, and jumps (minus the lutz) are good