In honor of the many returing from competitions and passing tests. This week - Congrats! or rats!

Congrats! I did manage to fiish my dress. I love it. I'm looking to do a new one. We also had a great Ice Club board meeting tonight. What a nice group of people to work with.

Rats: feet still hurt, so I'll probably skip ice tomorrow night and go for Wednesday.

Congrats!! Yesterday was my 3-month anniversary skating! I baked a chocolatey-chocolate cake (chocolate cake with chocolate chips mixed in) to celebrate. I haven't learned anything new in a couple weeks, but I realized that was my own fault because I've been fairly lax. The basics have improved a bit though, at least.

Rats!! I called in sick today and went skating during the daytime session. It was nice and empty...I was the only one there most of the time, and during the most crowded time, there were 4 others on the ice. There wasn't any music - I could clearly hear the sounds my blades made on the ice. I knew I'd have more days like this to look forward to... But something was horribly wrong. My legs were all wobbly and uncertain. I stopped and stretched but this didn't help as much as usual. I tried spinning about 50 times and couldn't even pull off one good revolution. My crossovers were sloppy, 3-turns slipped, and I couldn't hold edges for long. I didn't know what was wrong...I kept trying and trying and was just miserable. I think it's because I'm worried about losing my job after this Wednesday - I hope that this passes after then, else my extra skating time will be wasted!

I thought very seriously about buying some private lessons I can't afford. I think I might ring up a recommended coach tomorrow.

I think that's the best idea you've ever had. Said coach will also tell you, you shouldn't ever try anything upwards of 50 times, especially if it isn't working. It will only deteriorate, & whatever you're doing wrong will just get more firmly ingrained in your muscle memory.

That said, everyone has off days, it's part of the deal with skating. You have to have patience and go back to basics when that happens, or just hang it up for that day & try again next time.

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For me: Congrats--Feeling very strong & continuing to do millions of exercises coach recommended--has really improved my skating. I'm dancer, & my current dance is getting close to being ready to test. I'm pretty sick of it!

Rats: Too swamped w/ work to skate yesterday, so will try to make up the time today.

rats, um i have had to most rubbished day, my god-mothers funeral and its kinda all like sad now becuase like its kinda hit that she has really gone.. and the fact that i had to cancel me private lesson today, didnt really help..

congrates, um, i managed to do the loop off ice - i have been trying for ages and i cant seem to do it off ice, but i can on.. anyway, im just odd.. so yeah, that kinda cheered me up. and least i got skating to look forward tomorrow and my private lesson was only moved till tomorrow, so least i have something good happening tomorrow...

and for like this private coach/lessons thing, its a good idea. i mean like i've improved loads since i have had private lesson with a coach. so i think its a good idea.

Hann

Sorry for your loss.

Congrats!
Had my coach check out my F and B crossovers, as I'd watched Euro's on Sunday, and gotten concerned about my techinque. She said F were very good, good power, etc, just need to remember to look up. When I did, I got the wind in my lenses, so now I know what to look for! B crossovers were also very good, but need more knee bend and hold the freeleg extended longer after the crossover for a cleaner look.

Rats!
FO threes, as usual.
Major boot problem with L foot. I am pronating so badly that I've gotten a thickening of skin over the bone below the ankle bone. I feel my L foot fall to the inside immediately and have to exert a conscious effort to stay over the blade. I've made an appointment with Klingbeils for Friday AM.

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I didn't write in last weeks lesson topic, so I'll do it now.

Congrats: My group lesson was good, I enjoyed it mostly. Still, the atmosphere is uncomfortable, I wish I was back in my old classes. At least people made an attempt to crack a smile, it's like being in a cemetary!

My private lesson was half an hour long, and it was excellent. We get on so well, it's amazingly funny. He was impressed with my back cross cuts to say I was a beginner, he said most people can't get the hang of them and he was proud of me that I could do it 3/4 the way down the rink. I just need more 'bite'...

Backwards edges are still uncontrolled. I think they are quite difficult, but I can do them, they just lack control! He fails he to see why I believe them to be so hard, as I can do them.

Rats: Spirals on an edge. Are you mad!? I did it, (just) but I found it extremely difficult.

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Congrats: I got permission from my orthopod to do non weight-bearing touchdown walking on the crutches. It's a step forward. I'm also down from my high of 6 aleve per day (yeah, I know it's too much) to 2 a day.

Rats: It's still broken, and I still can't skate.

Congrats: New skates feel good, blade has been moved one mm to the left and now feels great...have been landing all of my jumps in the new skates with no problems (including axel). And...my feet and ankles no longer hurt after each session. Yay!

Rats: Fell extremely hard Sunday on my right knee doing the evil novice pattern in the gold moves. Developed a very nasty-looking bruise that hurt to touch. Then, I fell on it again on Monday attempting an axel. Yeowch! Said bruise got worse. Today, I tripped over my own two feet doing...the Canasta Tango (?? yep, caught a toe pick on the cross stroke before the last swing roll). Fell on the same knee, in the exact same spot, and I honestly couldn't get up for about five minutes, it hurt so badly. I am currently icing it, but how's that for Murphy's law??

Congrats: I found flips are much easier to do when entering from a mohawk. Everything I already know I'm now doing at higher speeds. I'm working on doing a maneagable sal.

Rats: Stress. School is breaking me in half, and my instructor is miserable ( she has to teach twice as many classes in addition to going to grad school). So some sessions I don't feel like doing anything.

Minus a visible bruise only because I don't bruise, the exact same thing happened to me and my right hip. The third fall wasn't even as bad as the first two, but it felt sooooo much worse, and like you, I was stuck there on the ice unable to move for a few minutes. It's all better now though. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

And now for tonight...

CONGRATS!!!! Today was BY FAR the best skating day I've ever had. I started out by doing fast crossovers in alternating directions around people, and I felt a certain controlled feeling over every move. Everything I did was free-spirited and not jerky, yet it all fell together so perfectly. I moved around with a sense of power and control that I've never felt before, and I pushed my blades to new limits. Not even a single minor tumble - everything just flowed. I did bunny hops throughout gaining height and distance each time, backward 3-turns came as naturally as forward. Never were there more than a few seconds between my blades making a nice ripping sound as I changed directions and pushed around the rink. I don't know where it came from. The main hockey coach at the rink was teaching a student some backwards moves, and we crossed paths (no collision) and exchanged apologies, then he said to me "Oh hey, I have a comment - your skating has REALLY improved in the last month and a half or so". I smiled and said "thanks, I just started 3 months ago and..." - he interrupted, "No, I mean it's REALLY noticeable." Full of confidence after hearing such a compliment from a *coach*, not just a bystander or child, I continued on, and noticed the GOOD skaters pausing and watching for a moment. It was really magical and eerie...I finally became so dehydrated that I had to stop for a drink...I stepped into the heated bathroom and nearly died from the heat. I took a break to cool down, but was sweaty and so when I went back out I was really cold, plus tired, and whatever magic had been present before was gone, so I decided to end it on a good note and came home early. I've never done so well nor enjoyed myself so much since I began skating. I hope I have more days like this!

And if that weren't enough, I got myself a coach for private lessons! I'll be doing a half-hour a week, the first being next Thursday.

Rats: Well I'm not doing single jumps or spins yet...but I was having too much fun to even try today.

Congrats: Beat my old 1 lap record slightly. It's now at 24:56!
Forward spins, sit spins, and to a certain extent, back spins are now there!!! I got complimented yesterday for the height in my waltz jumps yesterday too! She said the jump was noticably higher!!! (Thank you, secondary coach!!!)

Rats: But the record to beat is someone that is relatively close in skills to me... I timed her and she's at 22:60!!! (Back to the ice I go to work on stroking techniques!)

Other than that, I OD'ed on my workout on Sunday, so my legs are very VERY SORE from that! (It's Tuesday night and I can barely WALK tonight!!!)

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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!!!

Rats: Back on the ice at long last, but very weak and wambly.... no way was I up for a couples' lesson, so Husband took 15 minutes of it solo as he wanted to work on something that he is working on with his own coach, but he wanted another viewpoint (our coaches are married to each other, so there is not a problem with doing that). Ice was dreadful again, and had some awful holes.

In my own lesson I was slow, but managed better than I expected, and took the full half-hour. But no speed today, and I went back to my old tricks of only managing one side before stopping (in this case to cough, rather than to catch my breath). Back outside edges were a big problem - not the plain vanilla edges, so much, they're vastly improved, but whenever I try to do anything with them, like a chassé or a swing roll, they deteriorate. Plus I still am nowhere near being able to do back cross-cuts. I can feel what I'm doing wrong, but I still can't feel how to do it right (Melzorina, come down South and show me! ). I can't keep my weight back over my blades, or, my coach showed me, keep my toes close enough together.

Finished with the baby inside Mohawk exercise, which I still find impossible - yet I can almost do the level 4 Outside Mohawk Move! Coach said that I had a mental block on the inside one; he could be right. I don't know why I can do a level 4 Move better than I can do one that a pre-Level 1 skater learns... sigh....

Congrats: After my lesson I went and drank tea in the pros' room, and then went out for a last five minutes - and all of a sudden, I could do back cross-rolls properly! They are very slow, very clunky, feel awkward - but I know I've got the push correct, and the cross.... they just need work now.

Feel a lot better than I expected to, although my back aches terribly. All the same, I think the virus is now officially Over, and I can be back practising properly tomorrow. Maddening thing is I can't do dance club in North London tonight, nor our own dance club tomorrow, as I have other obligations both evenings! Rats.....

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

Looks like "rats" for the week.

I had to skip Sunday's practice because of a theatre trip and if the weather forecasts are correct, we're due for a blizzard tomorrow which will cancel ice then. If I'm lucky, I may be dug out in time for Friday's session but who knows? If it's as bad as predicted, I may be too exhausted from shovelling to skate.

NCSkater, I'm sorry to hear that you broke your ankle! I broke my ankle at the Cary Ice House almost 3 yrs. ago, and I still don't have a normal range of motion w/my ankle. After surgery, I was off the ice for 4 months and got back to my previous level after about 1.5 years. Do you need surgery on it, or will it be healed in a few months? Get well soon!

mostly Rats today: took a BAD fall yesterday, feet over arse, & started out today in my lesson mighty stiff & unbalanced. It got better, but coach kept my lesson pretty low key & non-pressured, even though I was willing to keep trying. I think he sensed it just wasn't gonna happen today.

Slight Congrats: He partnered my dance with me for the first time, & it actually was pretty good. By the end of the lesson we had it up to full speed & it felt quite easy. Soooooo much easier to dance with a partner!!

Er - no. What you mean is "soooooo much easier to dance with a professional partner!" Just try dancing with someone at the same, or lower, level than you are..... that is hard, until you get used to it. They say it takes about three years for a dance partnership to really gel.

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

Rats: I think I'm coming down with a cold or something. Had the achy scratchy throat this morning and had (and still have) that scratchy itchy bug-eyed feeling from miscooperating sinuses.

But I went ahead and skated anyways. Felt part of the time like I was either running a low grade fever or something.

Anyways, said to coach that it would be best for him to have me do solo work today to minimize the chance of germ transmission. So we ripped my cross back chasses (forwards and backwards) in the Tango apart and I worked on getting more ankle bend, then he had me work on improving and quickening my cross-roll RFO3 that's just after the long 4-beat LFO in the corner.

Things felt better... but then I managed to avoid my nemesis intro-3's...

(although I did use a 3-turn instead of mohawks occasionally to get into my drills...)

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Thanks!

I broke mine at the Garner Ice House. I'm blaming it on my coach. Had she been in town, I would have skated Tues/Wed instead of Mon/Wed. Monday was 2 weeks out.

No surgery required...at this point. As long as I am compliant with Dr. M's instructions, I should be starting rehab at the 6-8 week range. I started straight leg raises this week, and am allowed to start ankle flexion and extension later this week. I expect to be off ice close to three, if not four months, although I am aiming for my birthday--that would be 11 weeks.

The worst part is that I can't compete this year. I'm planning on watching, though.

Rats:
Still recovering from my funk. Am still not at 100% but am quickly getting there. I was at least able to make it into work today after being out since Thursday. My singles program is still being worked out, and it doesn't have that familiar feeling anymore. I've got more work to do.

Congrats:
Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions, comments, and advice on my programs and skating in general. I really appreciate it.

So Loops and I went to a freestyle this evening and underwent a judge's critique. We know we have a lot of work to do, and we are striving to look and skate more and more like a pair team. In the following public session, we were able to fix 3 out of the 4 things the judge did not like. Loops is still stuck with me, so I guess we can't fix that 4th suggestion.
And that's the power of constructive criticism AND then brainstorming. Amazing how much we can accomplish when we're not fighting; kudos, Loops!
For our program, we revamped our spiral sequence, altered a jump pass, and changed our side-by-side spins. And later, we invented a great new spiral sequence. Um, I'm not too sure about doing a rocker in that sequence, but it's still cool!

Later in the public session (which I swore I was not going to skate in its entirety--um, yeah, right! ), Steve got his groove back. Earlier, Loops helped fix my camel/sit (which was just short of abysmal), and I was able to do many excellent ones. I even got my flying camel back. Then (oh, Loops you missed it... maybe that's a good thing), I did an interp number to "Purple Rain." Sandhu, eat your heart out! I'm so energized; I haven't skated like this in a while. I even hunkered down and did ... silver moves (I wasn't that energized to do gold moves). And then I did a spiral sequence with 4 different edges (LBI, RBO/3-turn into RFI, then LFO). Wow, I'm so excited. Hope this feeling lasts for a while. Or at least till the pair lesson on Fri. morning.

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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.

Rats!!!!!
Add another injury...sprained thumb! Very freak accident involving hydroblading, another skater in the way, and the boards...and a hat. This completely stinks because I can no longer hold my hat, which is my interp program prop, and I am supposed to compete the number next Saturday at DBNAI (Wyandotte). Now I am facing: drop the event, or re-choreograph.

Y'know, within the past week, I wrote a fairly long post on another thread and mentioned that I'd been lucky to be relatively injury-free for the past few years. So then what happens? In the same week, I manage to sprain my thumb and bruise the holy cr*p out of my knee (I was making the bed this morning, and it hurt like the dickens to put my knee down on the mattress!)

Let this be a warning to you all: the skate gods are reading these posts!!

I hope the skate gods will help everyone get thru their injuries as quickly as possible (and please leave ME alone!!!)

Rats: Flips!!! First two loops were okay... then went downhill from there!!! I'm wide stepping on the 5 step mohawk... and those intro 3's are still way too slow...

Congrats: 24:21 seconds!!! (NEW RECORD and on the very VERY last attempt too!!! Nothing like the fear of the Zamboni running you over to get you to move faster though... well, I should say at least the ice guards who are kicking people off the ice because the public session is over and the Zamboni is coming out.)

And the best part... I have at least a backup job offer and I have the next two weeks to see if I could find something better. If not, this will be the company I'm likely to join! But the reason this is important is that now I can go back to taking lessons with at least my primary coach. (In fact, I start tomorrow afternoon!!! I sure hope that I can also get back my secondary coach... but she will be harder -- b/c she's always in demand!!! And I really REALLY need her to help me get thru the Bronze moves...

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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!!!

Jazzp',
Great to hear about your backup job.
Good luck on those bronze moves. I want to see you at Peach (you simply MUST be there for the unveiling of skaternum and my evil project ) and then at nationals in 2006!!!!

__________________
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.

Friend of mine, who fights constant, permanent pain (some of you probably know who this is, but let's protect her privacy), sent an e-mail to Barbara Standke saying she did plan to compete in the Mountain Cup this year - and experienced a really bad flare-up of pain, to the point where she's not quite sure....

Congrats: I do think I'm managing to get the technique right on back cross-rolls, but, of course, when I do, I don't move! If I do them all wrong, I move.... Back outside edges were better & faster than ever, but didn't try to do back chassés or swing rolls. Got a fair bit of speed back today, but still not quite up to scratch.

Have had my hair cut really, really short! It looks fantastic.

Rats: Have a really, really bad backache, for some reason. And the most appalling bloating - my tummy sticks out the length of the rink at the moment... I think it's only the after-effects of this virus, but still!

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

Hi Penny - how about the hat on an elastic around your wrist?

Hi Nova, glad you are better. I've had a great choreographer/coach for pairs. There are some moves we did that you two could copy. Let me know if you two would like to get together and add some pair moves, or I can send you a tape, and you can probably figure them out yourself.

Congrats! Finally got to skate last night. I'm in my old boots with my new blades. They feel like slippers, very comfy, but with no support. I think I'll be use to them in a couple more sessions. At least I can keep practicing.

Flo, I think I can speak for both of us, and I'd love to get together sometime to play with new pair elements ! Probably not for a couple of weeks though, as Nova needs to concentrate on his next competition and I'm going away for a few days... maybe sometime late Feb - early March?

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