I cant believe no-one has done this yet!!! I certainly hope that means you are all practising so hard you have no time to be reporting


So, for my first ever training report post, I have chosen the following:

Like a Diamond Necklace/Ring or whatever piece of jewellery you want
OR
Like a Pebble in your Shoe??

For me?

Pebble in my Shoe:

• I haven't been skating for a whole THREE DAYS!! Im DYING here!!!!!! I probably won't be be skating until Friday either...
• Hubby has been told to stay off the ice for a week, by our chiropractor... so he cant skate for a few more days.. and of course, that means he wants to go skating NOW, just cos he cant

Diamond Necklace (cos Ive already got a diamond ring )

• Nothing so far.. but my bruises are getting better!
• And I got to do my first report thread!

Ok.. everyone else.. I want updates from the past few days as well to catch up!

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--------------
-Erinna-
aka cassarilda

My Progress Report!
"Did I mention there is only ONE rink in Melbourne?!"
"If you're not flying, you're obviously not trying!!!" - courtsey of the guy who helped me up off the ice after my last spectacular and sore fall

Diamond Necklace
Had my first lesson in a little while today as my coach is back from her holidays. All my jumps were good and my coach videoed my camel-sit with her mobile phone so that I could see for myself that I CAN do a decent camel-sit. Needless to say the first one I did which she didn't video was better in that I held the camel for longer, but I still managed a good one for the video so now I know that I am getting my body down and my leg up on that camel.

I ran through my programme today and am glad I did a few run-throughs last week in my coach's absence because I pulled off a clean programme and even got the timing spot on.

Pebble in Shoe
I showed my coach my new found skill of camel-back sit and of course messed up, but did manage a few. Not as good as they were last week when I was working over and over on them though.

Nicki

Pebble in shoe: Some kind of virus. No skating for me this week! However, I have reached the stage of feeling relatively okay so long as I don't try to do anything, so maybe by Friday I'll be back on the ice. I certainly hope so - I'm going stir-crazy!

Diamond necklace: Husband had our lesson yesterday as a solo; he decided not to work on his programme (he normally has private lessons with Coach2), but to go back to his Dance Moves instead. He came home really pleased about them, as Coach1 said that they would probably be testable before the deadline! I gather even his Level 5 Moves were quite good, but he won't test those - we want to get a full level 4, both of us, before moving up any higher (above level 4 you have to go into the Intermediate category at competition - roughly Bronze-Silver in US terms - and we aren't ready to do that yet).

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

Hope you're feeling better soon Annabel.

Nicki

Pebble in Shoe- Not getting to skate again till Saturday!

Diamond Necklace- At last session my jumps were ok but more importantly I got my layback nice and centred with a good arm and leg position together!! Normally its one or other!! Plus flying camel I get good jump and spin at end, again its normally one or other!!

Plus I have one other - Diamond Ring- cause since the last time I posted, my boyfriend popped the question and proposed when we were in New York so I know have my diamond ring!!!

Christy

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Keep Smiling!

How wonderful, Christy! My best wishes to both you and your fiancee'!!
(Everytime I use that word, I think of Seinfeld.)

Pebble in Shoe:
My spins are definitely not centering since I had my blades sharpened.
Have to get to the rink for a good freestyle session to figure out what's wrong.

Diamond Ring:
I did a Mazurka, just to demonstrate for a student.
Now I remember how much I hated them 'back in the day.' Same hate, different year.
At least I didn't fall.

Cut music and did runthroughs for two students' show programs.

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Thank you Isk8NYC!! It seems weird calling him that but I am sure I will get used to it!!

Christy

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Keep Smiling!

How lovely for you! I hope you will be very happy.

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

Congrats on your engagement, Belle!

Pebble in the shoe:
Took Bronze moves for the first time today and got a retry.

Diamond necklace:
Despite not passing, my coached told me I skated better than they thought I'd do!
Will start back on new freeskate program next week!

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Aw, sorry to hear that Terri. Did you gain any particular insights from the judges' comments? Anything else you'd like to share?

Isn't always kind of a backhanded compliment when the coaches say you skated better than they thought you would? My spin coach told me last week, "I never thought I'd see you spinning like that!" and I was kind of, well, gee, thanks, I guess! He didn't mean anything bad by it, it's just funny.

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August 22, back on the ice!

And by the time you get used to calling him your fiance, he'll be your husband then!!! (Guess how I know this??? ) BIG Congratulations!!!

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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!!!

Yeah, I never even thought of that!!

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Keep Smiling!

AWWWW, man!!! I'm so sorry, Terri! Yes, do share your test notes!!! We all want to learn from this...

Meanwhile...

Pebble in your Shoe:
Forward Power 3's: Had to try and fix choctaw to RFO edge now! But I'm not complaining, b/c that's my spin entry and THAT needs fixing too!!! Definitely needs work again though. GRRRR!!! (I thought I fixed it too!!! ) I had a problem with a raised free hip and I'm supposed to practicing dropping the hip so the hips are level and then it should make it easier for me to turn out on that choctaw. So far so good... Have to keep practicing it though, make sure it stays fixed.

Diamond Necklace:
Forward Power 3's: Looks like the fixes on LFO edge is holding!!! (Whew!!!), so definitely time to move on.

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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!!!

Yeah, just tell your fiance that you're gonna train yourself to call him your husband now so there's no adjustment period after you two get married!!!

__________________
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!!!

Pebbles: The last of the winter sessions wrapped up last Sunday and the spring session doesn't start until Monday - I AM GOING INTO WITHDRAWL!

Diamonds: (<--- Note: More than ONE! I wish!!!....) I found a personal trainer in my rural area who is used to dealing with "older adults" (like me), and people in sports. Who'd'a thunk . . . .

I NEED ICE!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

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

1. Congrats Belle!
2. Hope you feel better Annabel!
3. Hope everyone is doing well at Nationals!
4. Sorry about your Bronze moves Terri - at least you skated your best! Kick their butts next time!
5. My story:

First lesson with the new skates!

I made sure I got to the rink super early to get used to them. Surprisingly, they didn't feel as strange as I thought they would. I remember with my Jacksons it took a bit of time before actually stepping on the ice felt natural. I warmed up with a bit of everything, but I noticed that everything I did was sub-par. I decided to just do a mish-mash of stuff to warm up - jumps, spins, stroking, footwork etc. I noticed a little discomfort in my arch again so I'm going to have to get some sort of arch support. No biggie.

Coach showed up and I was actually taking a siesta, trying to locate a bandaid to place on the top of my boot for a mild rubbing problem. She inquired about the skates and I said that they were fine, but I needed the arch support. I told her I heat molded them two nights ago and also showed her the rhinestones I added to the back of the skates. They're barely noticable but I feel better knowing they're back there lol. She thought they were cute too. I'll have to post a picture

She went to put on her skates and I worked on 3 turns in isolation - I didn't feel comfortable doing the whole pre-bronze pattern. The 3 turns were so jumpy and scratchy that I figured there was no sense in working on them in the pattern when I couldn't do them by themselves.Coach came over and told me that I'm leaning too far forward after the turn and we worked on correcting the upper body to avoid the scratchiness on the exit. By the end of it I had definitely gotten the feeling for the 3 turns again (they're not where they were though). I will say that the <em>quality</em> of the turns is better. The edges are much nicer and they don't feel as forced - don't know if its the blade, the good sharpening or the support of the boot or maybe it's just me being extra careful of edge quality. Regardless Beth says that despite them not being "good", she can see where they'll be better than they were in the old skates once I get used to the new boot and blade.

From there we moved onto forward perimeter stroking and my CW crossovers are just AWFUL. I couldn't settle over the right outside edge to save my life. CCW is not so bad. The stroking itself was slow, hesitant, scratchy...I just didn't feel good doing it and coach commented that it looked extremely tentative. I told her it looked tentative because I was being tentative and she really encouraged me to use better extension and try to feel more confident. I did, and it worked to some extent but it's just not quite there.

After the perimeter stroking disaster Beth asked how I felt about doing some jumps. I told her I was fine jumping and she said that she'd rather work on jumps than work on moves in the field where we're just going to spend time correcting things related to the boot/blade break in. So, she had me do some waltz jumps, salchows, toe loops and loops. Before we moved on to loops she asked if I wanted to do loops or learn footwork and I said why can't we do both? So after loops she showed me a pattern from the Novice moves in the field test. I can't remember what it's called, but it's the one with the Backwards Perimeter Crossover Stroking with a LBI3/RFI3 crossfront pattern thing (and the opposite way). I was actually pretty decent at it, which is surprising because I didn't really ever work on BI3's, just BO3's. I will say that I had NO kind of flow or speed doing it, but the pattern did not seem that far out of the realm of possibility so maybe one day I'll be able to do the Novice moves test lol.

We chatted for a while at the end of the lesson and she said "You know, you're doing REALLY well for skating in brand new boots and blades. I thought we'd spend the entire time just stroking around the rink so this is definitely a pleasant surprise!" That made me feel pretty good about myself, although I commented that it stinks that I've had a temporary regression in my pre-bronze moves. Then she commented that I really am very close to being able to take the test and by summer I'll be over-ready. I mentioned that I didn't want to just pass, I wanted to be able to do the moves well - maybe I'm expecting a lot out of myself since I know that no one is perfect but I'd like to have my moves to as close to perfect as possible. She said not to worry because the test is pass/fail and I should concentrate on my Bronze moves where it REALLY matters to do well....but I mean, if I can't do the basic stuff in pre-bronze, how on Earth will I be able to do the Bronze moves? I read that so many good adult skaters get stuck on the Bronze moves for years. I've looked at the Bronze moves patterns and they're not challenging to get in terms of basic concepts, but to do the moves well enough to pass...I can only imagine that the better off you are at doing the pre-bronze elements you are the better chance you have at passing the bronze test when it comes around. So while I'm really shooting to take the test in the summer I don't want to ever be so cocky as to say "well I can pass now so why wait?" if I'm not really ready to pass with flying colors. Am I being too obsessive and crazy over a pass/fail test?

diamond necklace: my nicely centered and long scratch spin since getting my spinner. Started to land my double toe.

pebble in my shoe: stupid back inside and outside 3's are still scratchy. Having trouble landing my axel again. I thought i had it down, so avoided practicing it much because I hate it. big mistake...now its gone and i faled about 15 attempts at it yesterday...not good.

As a coach in my area (flo's and mikawendy's coach, actually) put it, a pass is a pass. Most coaches do recommend that you be over 100% prepared, b/c nerves (esp if it's your first time testing) can knock you down a notch. So I would say that you're right about wanting to be so prepared that you can do the moves correctly w/o hesitation.

That being said, though, don't get so hung up on how much you want to pass by - and w/ Pre-Bronze, all you'll get is a circle around either "Pass" or "Retry". No point values are given so it's impossible to discern how much you passed by. The judges will probably write both positive and negative (well, more like constructive criticism) comments on your papers - don't get too hung up on those - the point is to remember their suggestions as you work on the next level of moves and strive to improve your skating. Truthfully, at the Pre-Bronze level, even the best test will have constructive criticism on it b/c at that level, everyone has room for improvement. So don't obsess about "flying colors" - if your coach thinks you're ready, go for it.

Terri, you can feel good about skating your best during your test. Now you will have feedback to build on, plus experience for next time. Very proud of you for putting yourself out there and having a decent skate, whether you got a "retry" or not! That's quite a compliment from your coach as well!

Sorry to hear about the retry, Terri! I hope the judges' comments are useful. And have fun with your new freeskate program. What's your music? (Or is it a secret?)

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

pebble in your shoe:
Bruised my knee falling on an attempt at inside edge back camel
confidence for double toe loop just still not there
fell on attempt at back spiral with split position
constant falls on attempts at new sit spin positions (some were pretty fun though hehehehe)
Cant go up on my double loop attempts!
Too tired to fight the crowd to work on a proper lutz... the opposite direction from other people thing is just...
Double salchow still inconsistent

diamond necklace:
landing (f)lutz-loop-loop and flip-loop-loop from footwork
Axel is still there, thankfully

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~
Tidesong

i skated today...
after a month...
(ie:read- how long off the ice thread if u didnt know)
anyway

the good-
-sit, scratch, and camel spin were amazingly better. makes me want a break more often. (maybe not)
-learned rest of my routine

the bad-
-i still cant jump yet
-i skated today even after the doctor said 1 1/2 weeks longer. o well.

the ugly-
-my speed. it died.
-everyone else i know at the rink took this month as a pass me up some levels.
-im so used to favoring one side of my foot now that when i got back on the ice my foot was like wayyyyyyyyy on an inside edge. yah. took me like a 1/2 hour to skate normally on it. ugh.

but i skated again!!!!!! yay!!!!!!!!!!

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~Dreams Can Come True~

Congrats on getting back on the ice, Figure Skater. I daresay it's often the case that after an enforced period off the ice due to injury, we fret about how things will be when we get back, and invariably our skills are still there and often stronger than ever.

As for being back on the ice before the doctor says, I think as long as you feel ready then that's fine. When I broke my ankle I was told it would be 6 months off the ice but I did very well with my physio and was back on after just three months. Same with my broken wrist. Was told to stay off for a month after the cast came off but I stayed off just a week and I never did tell the doctor I'd actually skated three times in the cast! I think we know our bodies and capabilities better than any doctor.

Keep up the good work!

Nicki

Pebbles: = enough to turn a garden bed into a rockery.

Skated so badly last night, nothing seemed to be working right.
Today I'm off work with a horrible cold, so I guess that explains last night.
Coach couldn't come last night, probably the same cold.
My boots hurt too. After a day at work I think my feet must swell, because they're fine on weekends.
So I'm feeling miserable and discouraged.

Diamonds: I did a pretty fast scratch spin, (or cross-foot as we seem to call them here). For the first time I stopped being a wimp, didn't worry too much about whether it was centred, and allowed myself to go as fast as possible. Got some real speed and got my arms up above my head. And even better, someone actually saw it and cheered me!

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Man, I had this typed up before but accidentally closed the window and lost it......

This is for last night's session:

Pebble: sit spins still suck! I'm not balanced correctly and either go back on my heel or sideways. I need to re-cut my music and add 10 seconds because I'm allowed 1:40 and I need it to finish..... I'm tired today because we ran through the footwork sequence a lot (LFO spiral-drunken sailor/windmill-RFO spiral-3 turn-2 back crossovers-RBO spiral into my next jump sequence). It runs diagonally across the rink from one corner to the other (it's a serpentine). My laces kept coming loose, even after I double-knotted them

Diamond: Worked on FO mohawks-much improvement! Learned 3 things I was doing incorrectly: not opening up my shoulder, not placing the new skating foot at the heel of the other foot, and not extending the free foot behind. Once these were accomplished, I could mohawk! AND with speed! Scratch spins were really good-did one that was 13 revs!! I was so dizzy I had to lean against the boards. Coach emphasized holding the exit position to lesson disorientation (the spin is just before the footwork).

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the routine, coach is also...just need to get on track so I don't run out of music!

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