Oh I could have slept in this morning SOOOO easily! But I didn't

Sleepy-Head: Being over 50 SUCKS BIG TIME! And 3 days off the ice doesn’t help I was actually more stiff than after skating 3 days in a row. Gawd, I must be the world’s slowest learner! At least what God didn’t give me in natural talent He made up for in pure stubbornness!

Can’t say anything was working particularly well today 3-turns weren’t even close, couldn’t get spins centred, back OXs weren’t happening

Bright-Eyed: .... the only thing positive today was a 2-foot hop on to a RBO landing that actually STUCK! (Anybody watching would think I knew what I was doing). Oh, the other positive thing is it is a day off for me and I am off to see a dietician to discuss my dietary needs. And I had the ice to myself today - that’s nice to.

Hope tomorrow is more productive than today.....

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

BRIGHT EYED - I'm Back! back surgery went well, skated 4 times last week but after each skate I was so tired I had to lay down for 30 min, LOL, and all I was doing were simple moves - its all that trying to have good posture stuff that kills me - I'm a natural slouch.

Lyle - who really will be Pre-Bronze for life in FS as I'm not allowed to jump or lift up pretty girls ever ever ever again, sigh.

That's is such a right title for my this week's practice!

Yesterday my rink shift finished at midnight, I got home at 1 am and was on ice at 7 am.... same story tonight: got a late shift and morning practice again tomorrow.
I may get a bit of lay-in on Thursday, but then I'll need to do a night shift again and be at Manchester rink (1.5 hr drive) at 6:30 am....
Then 9 am LTS on Saturday & Sunday
Then 8 am skating camp on Monday....
Then..........

Welcome to "Zombies on Ice" experience!

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My other car is a Zamboni

Bright Eyes- I had a MITF lesson today and everything went pretty well. After, I did a couple of laybacks and they were really nice.

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Bright Eyes - at my club banquet yesterday, I was given the Club Sportsperson of the Year award! In no way did I ever expect that honor! Always before, it has gone to one of the skating kids, not a 50+ AOSS skater. Several people congratulated me and said that they wanted to recognize my neverending support and encouragement for everyone I skate with. Hey, that's what makes it fun!

Sleepy - can't be anything bad after yesterday! I may never stop smiling

Sleepy indeed, I do believe you mean "XO's" .

CONGRATULATIONS!

Team Arthritis - Woo Hoo! Welcome back to the ice!

Sleepy-Head:
Got myself up early today to prepare for Thursday, when I have to work from 9-11 AM. After working nights for 15 years, I am still not a morning person even though it's been 5 years since I retired! Anyway, I wanted to get to the rink and practice, but being tired and seeing the ongoing downpour outside, I decided to stay in until I have to work this evening. At least I did get up.

One foot spin is not what it used to be because my body has forgotten (in a lousy 2 weeks) to automatically tighten up in the middle. FI threes are now more stable on L than R. The L was pronating too much, but now it's the R that is doing it, leading me to suspect that the problem is not so much my foot or my boot, as my technique.

Bright-Eyed:
Nothing very significant, but in my lesson on Friday, my coach agreed that my Prelim power threes are getting a bit faster. The BXO's in them are complete, which is something that used to fall by the wayside in trying to do the BI Choctaw. BI Choctaw is now feeling natural on both sides. One foot spin is at least responding to conscious commands. On an empty public session last Thurs, an adult skater more accomplished than I complimented me on the smoothness of my B cross strokes, although they felt rather shaky to me. Told DH, and he said that I do have good flow on them.

I have a new method for practicing FO threes. I stand on a line about 5 feet from the boards, push off onto FO edge with back strongly to center of circle. Rotate slowly just before returning to line close to boards, and turn on line. Try to continue circle on BI edge as if I were skating figures. One advantage is that I can see myself in the glass at the boards, and another is that it seems to prevent my swinging into the turn.

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Bright-Eyed:
-Moves were all good, except for back power pulls. I worked extra hard on the back cross rolls and they are coming along decently.
-I did two good sit-change-sit spins at the end of the session. One even had about 2 1/2 revolutions on the back sit
-Salchow - is getting much better out of a mohawk when I remember to bend my knee
-Lutz - I can do the whole revolution now!!! Of course it's two-footed and really slow, but it's a whole rev which is better than the 1/2 lutzes I'd been doing. This was the highlight of my skating session today

Sleepy Head:
-Camel spin. I don't know where that went today (esp after they were going so well last week).
-Back power pulls....ugghhh
-Flip wasn't consistent at all. I think I try to do too many of these. Usually the first two or three are good and then they go downhill. Maybe I should just leave them alone after the first few
-my program. I couldn't get through it today. Either there were too many people in the way or I messed up the steps or chickened out on the flip or I lost my timing in the music. It wasn't pretty.

Smart a@@!

Congrats Petlover - WAY TO GO!

Good to hear you are back at it Lyle. What's with this "lay down for 30 minutes"? I feel like that after EVERY session - what's the big deal Hey, if you're not allowed to "lift up pretty girls", I'll volunteer If that doesn't work, I'll lift YOU **giggle**

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

Team Arthritis, welcome back!!
Petlover, congratulations! You must really be an inspiration to everyone around you to receive an award like that!

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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

Bright Eyed:

I really had a work out today - two half hour lessons and two hours of skating!

First lesson with moves/dance coach - we worked on mohawks AGAIN. I'm making some progress - she says they are looking more even - my bad side is almost as good as my so-called good side (which isn't all that good) but I'm getting better at holding the edge before changing feet.

Then we went over the Swing dance...to do something different and it has the mohawk on the foot I don't like...usually I start that dance with a 3 turn but I said, let's go ahead and start with the mohawk, since it's the same as the end pattern. It's no where near a dance ...but just more experience doing a mohawk at some sort of speed.

Freestyle lesson - coach was very pleased with my free style program...it works out really well - I end with a two foot spin and she has me wait before raising my arms above my head and says that makes a nice ending so I bring them up for the last few revolutions and then bring them down to the end of the music.


Sleepy eyed - she says my hands look funny - I need to try to keep my fingers close together for a "softer" look...hey I figure if everything else looks good enough that she's griping about my hands, this is a good thing.

This time I jumped for my toe loop after my waltz, but not the waltz! Still working on getting that swinging motion, I tend to bring my leg back then just kind of stop instead of kicking through.

Also worked on turning my toe out more for both back spiral and back swing rolls in my spin program.

I was so tired by the time we worked on my jumps program I took a fall doing a toe loop. I rush the 3 turn and need to work on stretching all the way out before turning.

Bright eyed- we had a bout 2 minutes left of my lesson and we worked on holding my leg in different attitude positions and arm positions, was kind of fun.

j

Sleepy headed:Breaking in new lightweight, custom Harlicks. Love, love, love them...but yes, took a bit to get used to them on the ice. I literally couldn't balance at first thanks to a new blade, but within 20 minutes I was fine. Ran through all my singles, only attempted scratch and back spin, hahaha! Not pushing my luck today. Maybe Wednesday I'll do some sit-change-sits, flying camels, combo. spins, etc. Only complaint is that I need to get two spots near my pinky toe punched out next time I go up, but I'll survive until then!

Bright-eyed: Despite breaking in these new boots, I landed several axels. Not quite brave enough to tackle my doubles yet, but Wednesday for sure! Hey, I'm still adjusting here... Coaches are out of town this week, so it's the perfect time to start breaking them in!

You totally deserve it!!!!! You couldn't be more supportive and encouraging of everyone

Bright eyes: sit spin is back, it's back! Please, sit spin, do not leave me again. I will stalk you.

Sleepy: Back spin is consistent! Consistently bad!
Have not flipped in weeks. Gotta do that next time, I have a mental flip thing.

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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)

Bright Eyes: Coach fixed the transition problem in my Artistic program from the falling leaf to the lunge. Hey, I can actually do a lunge, which has not been the case for most of my skating years!

Sleepy: I tripped over the same small piece bad ice 3 times this morning! Coach almost passed out laughing, and I was laughing right along with her - much better then crying.

ROTFLOL - DOn't drop me!!!
Lyle

Sleepy Head!: Something I ate disagreed with me I went to bed after supper last night with an awful tummy ache (at 7:30!), slept through my ‘skating alarm’ (4:00 a.m.), and didn’t wake up until 5:15, still with a belly ache. I SERIOUSLY considered canceling my skating session and staying in bed but I had a business meeting afterward that took weeks to set up so, even though I should probably NOT have been driving (can you say “space cadet”! ), off I went.

I was 30 minutes late but on the ice at my regular time (7 a.m.). Being foggy-headed, I expected the session to be a waste and part of it was - spins were hopeless, back cross-overs weren’t happening, neither were deep BO edges, and I didn’t dare try any of the “pre-jump exercises” (too disoriented)

Bright Eyed???? - not hardly but a few things worked not too badly - RFO3s were closer than yesterday, I was getting the twist for LFO3s (at the boards), RBI3s were on the horizon, but I didn’t have the balance to try LBI3s.

I managed 45 minutes on the ice before calling it quits and heading for my meeting in another town. Fortunately the meeting went well and I was feeling a little better after a bite to eat. Back home to catch some more sleep and hopefully the effects of the food poisoning will be gone in about 24 hours.

(Don't worry Lyle, I haven't dropped anybody yet! Of course I haven't lifted anybody either )

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

Are you having trouble with the ice being softer than on what you're use to skating too? It's a surreal feeling skating on soft ice after being on hard hockey ice the rest of the year. It takes a while to get use to it.

singerskates

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

Sleepy Head No skating for me. In a who knows how I did it injury I think I've pinched a nerve. I woke up in the middle of the night, moved, and now I can't turn my head without shooting pain in my back. So tonight's lesson is canceled. I didn't give the coach 24 hours, so he sounded annoyed when I called. Um- still getting paid because of the late notice- sorry I didn't injure myself on a more convienent time schedule.

This is like my 10th injury that has kept me off the ice this year. I am not amused.

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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)

Sleepy Head - This morning was MIF day, and it seemed as though I had to attempt every pattern 10 times before I could get all the way through it once! It's so frustrating when you keep having to abort a pattern to avoid a collision with some kid who hasn't figured out that you're on a pattern. Sigh. It didn't make for a terribly productive morning.
I was also stiff as a board when I tried to stretch after skating. I wasn't able to skate at all over the weekend, which means I didn't stretch either. It's just amazing how this tight 40+ body "snaps back" so quickly. . . to being tight and inflexible!
Bright-eyed (desperately searching for something positive here) - Got kudos from my coach for finally cleaning, re-waterproofing and removing the tape from my soon-to-be-retired skates. "I wouldn't have recognized them," he explained to one of the skating moms, "Last week they looked like they'd just come back from Iraq!" BTW, I only cleaned them up because I figured I'd use them until I come home from the Ice House camp, where I might want to get them autographed by someone without embarrassing myself.

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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

Bright Eyed:

• Let's see.. saw someone from one of the other skating boards that I haven't seen in quite a while. (He skates at my rink but not at the times that I usually skate.)
• I think I'm starting to squat lower on the back squat spin. There's hope yet to turn this into a back sit!!!

Sleepy Eyed:

• Flips and loops are barely there... and only at sloooow speeds. Can't do them at all at faster speeds.
• WAAAAAY too crowded to do straightline footwork or any jumps at speed (given that I jump the opposite direction, it can be QUITE scary for me to do any jumps w/o possibly getting busted by the ice guard, even though in today's ice guard's case... he's a buddy and knows of my skating situation and tries to be nice about it by occasionally do a "10 minute CW skating direction" skate so I can get my jump practices in with the flow of traffic. )
• Camel not there last night.

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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!!!

Unfortunately, I mistook the 'Off' button for the 'Snooze' one so went nowhere near the rink this morning

So, my Bright-Eyed will have to be tomorrow morning...

Clare

These past few weeks my skating has been neither bright eyed nor sleepy-headed. I'd say I've been narcoleptic, in general. For just about any element, I'm either hitting it cold or I have a spectacular miss. Many of those spectacular misses involve a bone-jarring crash. On the plus side, when I get things right they feel really good. So go figure.

Hey! At least you're not "sleep-skating" like I am when I take a lesson with my secondary coach!!!

Now I'm getting nervous about tomorrow morning's lesson for me... I TEND to do the same with MY alarm clock too!

ETA: This is me on the mornings of my lesson with secondary coach: ==>

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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!!!

Bright Eyed:
Spins are starting to see some improvement. I can feel where my right leg is holding back on the sitspin and when I get it just right, the spin feels so nice and easy, with a nicely streched out free leg compared to before when I thought I'd have to have my rosary at the boards. According to coach my angle is now at 120 degrees, just need to get 30 degrees lower to get to the "legal sitspin."
We also worked on cleaning up my salchow today.

Sleepy Head:
No time for flip on lesson today!! WAAA!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Bright eyed: rink has opened up more days for skating because hockey is FINALLY taking their summer break

Axel and double salchow seem to be ok as usual...
Landed a few double loop suspects... hahaha

Worked on crossovers in a nearly empty rinK!!! :O:O:O I don't know where everyone went but the rink cleared up (for once) so I asked my coach to help with that teeheehee

Sleepy head:
Double toe loop ... not even a single suspect
Spins... uh need more practise... more more more

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~
Tidesong

Oh cool, you managed to catch an empty time?!!

I haven't skated since Sunday, will go tonight to jostle with the crowd... argh!!

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Blog: http://chowskates.blogspot.com

Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/chowskates
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