Fireworks or Wet Matches: July 4-10

[luna_skater]

In honour of Canada Day and US Independence Day!

Fireworks: Loop jumps! I didn't work up the courage to try them until almost the end of the session, so I only got a few in. But they were way better than last week! I'm riding the edge longer, keeping my free-leg in front, and bringing it back sooner on the landing so I don't keep turning.

Also...forward spins! Am able to keep my free-leg up, get centered right away, and am now learning to pull in and keep centered. Free leg is soclose to crossing over!

Got some really good "pop" on a bunch of waltz jumps, too. Getting the hang of jumping "out" off the circle, instead of around and on it.

Wet Matches: Backspins are the devil. :evil:

[Skate@Delaware]

In honour of Canada Day and US Independence Day!

Fireworks: Loop jumps! I didn't work up the courage to try them until almost the end of the session, so I only got a few in. But they were way better than last week! I'm riding the edge longer, keeping my free-leg in front, and bringing it back sooner on the landing so I don't keep turning.

Also...forward spins! Am able to keep my free-leg up, get centered right away, and am now learning to pull in and keep centered. Free leg is soclose to crossing over!

Got some really good "pop" on a bunch of waltz jumps, too. Getting the hang of jumping "out" off the circle, instead of around and on it.

Wet Matches: Backspins are the devil. :evil:

Yay Luna!!!!!! :bow: I have the hardest time getting my leg in front for the loop. I'm so glad you're getting it!

[luna_skater]

Thanks, me too! :D

[kiwibabe]

Fireworks: Had group skating lesson last night and figured out how to do anticlockwise back crossovers. YAY.

Wet matches: Still can't do clockwise back crossovers but I am working on it. Still can't do 3 turns but had help from someone who got 2 gold medals at Mountain cup who goes to the club, apparently she reckons that my left blade is in the wrong position which is why I can't do any outside edges on my left foot, and my coach agreed. Hopefully I can get my blade moved slightly to the right on Saturday.

[NCSkater02]

Fireworks: Near empty ice today, plus I did 90 minutes for the first time since I broke my ankle. I was exhausted (the good kind!) My waltz and half-flip are coming back, and the two-foot spin is actually getting more centered. I did a couple today that made my head spin. Still can't make myself do a one foot or scratch yet.

Wet Matches: Moves--the back edges are killing me, especially since I've had problems holding a left outside edge.


I had one of the rink managers look at my left blade today--I figured since the only edge I couldn't hold was the left outside that there might be something wrong with the blade itself. I told him that two sharpenings ago, I lost my (minimal) spins and started skidding that edge, even on CCW crossovers. (It was actually the edge I skidded off of when I broke my ankle.) Any way, Pat told me the blade wasn't even. He flattened it and re-sharpened it for me. I really hope that it was the problem and I can hold the edge again. We'll find out on Wed. morning.

[*JennaD*]

Fireworks: I got sooo much rotation on my sit spins today!! Also, my flip position was really good :D

Wet matches: My axel is still really bad...I'm never in tight enough, can't get enough rotation ,and when I do my really cheated landing, I fall forwards:(
Also, my Ten Fox got wayyyy worse somehow...I guess I won't be testing it anytime soon! :??

[techskater]

Fireworks: The double toe unlocked itself to some near consistency this weekend. It's been rather hit or miss since getting and breaking in new skates, but all of a sudden, yesterday, something coach said earlier in the week struck me and I'll be darned if i wasn't landing them all!

Wet Matches: That dang double flip! What is it about that jump that makes me unable to land on one foot? I can do the loop, it's similar mechanics, so what's the deal?

[skippyjoy_207]

Fireworks: Waltz jumps, ballet jumps, backward crossovers.

Wet Matches: All kinds of spins. :roll:

[Mrs Redboots]

Fireworks: Spent two hours on the ice, the first hour with Husband and the second with another Mountain Cup gold medallist (not the same one as Kiwibabe's friend, though).

Wet Matches: It was one of those sessions where you discover all sorts of things that are wrong with your skating! First of all, Husband and I did JenLyon60's coach's Evil Eights exercise, clockwise & anti-clockwise, in Kilian hold and Reverse Kilian hold. I have just one word for these: EVIL!!!! However, also helpful in that I discovered that I have a bad habit of turning hips and shoulders very slightly towards Husband when in Reverse Kilian hold - no wonder his hand slips from my hip to my bottom!

We then worked at one of my coach's Evil Exercises which husband rather likes but I think is Evil - you stand facing each other and join hands, then you turn your hips forward, push with your outside feet, and swing your inside legs, the idea being for your free legs to match. This is fine when it's your left leg & his right, as it's the position you're used to for Foxtrot hold, but when it's his left leg and your right - impossible! Well, not quite as impossible as it was on Sunday....

We also worked on the Riverside Rhumba, and I discovered some places where Husband and I both make mistakes with our upper bodies. Then we worked on changing hold - two pushes, change sides, two more pushes, change back again - as we are not matching on the swing rolls when we do that.

We were just going to do a quick Golden Skaters' Waltz to finish with, but couldn't make the CD machine work! Sigh.... then we did, but he had to rush for his train.

Then, when I was playing with my friend (makes me sound about 6!), I discovered that I was going up on my toe-rakes when doing inside twizzles, and when I made a real effort not to do that, I couldn't get quite all the way round!

Definitely one of those mornings, but very useful, and a lot to work on in my lesson tomorrow!

[jenlyon60]

BTW, when you get the Evil 8's mastered doing forward runs (CCW and CW), the new challenge is to do them doing backwards crossovers (CCW and CW). Then they truly become EVIL... especially for the 8 quick crossovers.

[icedancer2]

BTW, when you get the Evil 8's mastered doing forward runs (CCW and CW), the new challenge is to do them doing backwards crossovers (CCW and CW). Then they truly become EVIL... especially for the 8 quick crossovers.

Jen -- Can you go over this exercise for us again please -- I would like to try it!

[jenlyon60]

Jen -- Can you go over this exercise for us again please -- I would like to try it!

Gladly...

For the forward direction... (CCW or CW)

In a big circle, Do

1 forward progressive, holding each of the 2 edges for 8 counts, followed by

2 forward progressives, holding each of the 2 edges for 4 counts, followed by

4 forward progressives, holding each of the 2 edges for 2 counts, followed by

8 forward progressives, holding each of the 1 edges for 1 count.

Repeat twice more, so that you're going immediately from the quick runs to the slow 8-count progressives.

Repeat on the CW side (preferably for 3 repeats of the sequence).

Repeat with backwards crossovers, CCW (3 repeats)

Repeat with backwards crossovers, CW (3 repeats)

I have successfully done the forwards CCW with 3 repeats and 2 repeats on one of the backwards crossovers side (probably CCW also).

Considering that I'm getting my new boots this evening, I foresee lots of Evil 8's and other equally devious training drills in my near future to help me break in my boots.

Another fun drill my coach had us do last summer involved using all 5 of the hockey circles. Basically you started out near the hockey circles at one end of the rink, and did a large figure 8 around the 2 circles at the end (similar to the Prelim forwards crossovers MIF pattern), then stroke to the center and go around the center hockey circle doing forwards progressives/crossovers. Then down to the other end of the rink and do the Prelim figure 8 pattern around those hockey circles, then back to the center and do progressives/crossovers around the center circle again in the other direction (for example, if the first time around the center was CCW, then the 2nd time should be CW), then back to the other hockey circles and repeat the sequence at least once more without stopping.

He would time us doing these and the goal was to improve the time from week to week. Idea wasn't so much to do them "pretty" but to move.

Good stamina builder ... and since you're frequently changing direction of the progressives (alternating between CCW and CW) the quads of each leg get equal treatment.

[slusher]

Wet Matches:
Loops are evil

But they were way better than last week! I'm riding the edge longer, keeping my free-leg in front, and bringing it back sooner on the landing so I don't keep turning.


I had almost the same leson today. Keep free leg in front and stay on that edge. Then I did about a million salchows, so that nicely balanced out the fatigue in my legs.

Then onto spinning....... I'm thinking I'm doing a great sit spin for once, that I'm down low and then coach popped that bubble. Aaaah, let me live in my fantasy world for once, :giveup:

Fireworks:

Rink to myself for two hours. No rink rats in sight even though school was out. That's why my legs are dead, I took advantage of the ice and did everything I could do, and lots of all the things I couldn't do.

[sk8pics]

Took some friends who were visiting to the public session and had a great time although the rink was quite crowded! It was fun to skate around mostly towing a 5 year old and holding her up. Taught the 8 year old backward swizzles. For myself, just did a few mohawks, 3-turns, crossovers and a few waltz jumps. Quite an odd feeling to skate in jeans! There were a few people trying to have lessons in the mob and I felt quite sorry for them!

My own lesson on Monday was fun and my salchow is so close to being totally on one foot that it's killing my coach! Maybe tomorrow...

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[Melzorina]

Fireworks all the way!

Sorry if this message is a bit funnyö but I'm in Turkey and the keyboard is all over the place! I also haven't found the comma and this ö is in it's place so ö is a comma!

Skating was great on saturdayö I've carried on working on my flipö but I won't be able to work on it this week because I am over here!

Must dashö I have a tan that needs work!

[Mrs Redboots]

BTW, when you get the Evil 8's mastered doing forward runs (CCW and CW), the new challenge is to do them doing backwards crossovers (CCW and CW). Then they truly become EVIL... especially for the 8 quick crossovers.I can sort of do them backwards anti-clockwise, but nowhere near clockwise. And Husband and I still have trouble doing either (a) plain vanilla backwards stroking in hold and (b) the 3 back crossovers required to go into, e.g. a pivot spiral. So I don't see us doing them as a couple any time soon!

Fantastic lesson today, though.

Great, big, enormous, multi-coloured Fireworks: I did, in my lesson, with my coach watching, a WHOLE SIDE of back cross-rolls ABSOLUTELY PROPERLY, better than I've ever done them in my life before! How cool is that! The thing is, I'd been working on them with either my coach or my husband holding my hands, and had got the "feel" for what my body ought to be doing, and was more or less able to reproduce that solo today. Okay, they need a lot of work before they're testable, I'd be the first to admit that, but at least they are now looking possible!

Wet Matches: However, the same cannot be said for the companion move, back cross-cuts. I still have no real idea what my body ought to feel like when I'm doing them, and the net result is I still get very little more than 30 metres, if that, before running out of steam. Tried it with the coach holding my hands, which helped a bit, but I just can't "get" the technique right yet. It'll come, I dare say, they're a very great deal better than they were six months ago, but the cross-rolls have overtaken them again!

More fireworks: Did some runs round the circle in reverse Kilian hold with my coach, and realised it's actually the hold with Husband that's at fault, not me - I barely turned in towards my coach at all. He is able to keep my right arm in the right place so that I don't need to - the husband will pull it back too far and break my elbow..... well, not, of course, but it feels as though that's what's about to happen! So I'm pleased it's a joint thing not just me.

And at the end of my practice, I did a backspin! Only 1.5 revolutions, but a true backspin - I don't know why I even tried, and was very surprised that I succeeded! Coach looked at the tracings and told me to go on doing them! Didn't, though, as I had to get off, but all the same.

Not much wet-match-ish about anything else.... still having trouble with swing rolls in waltz hold with himself going backwards, but only on one side. I think I know what's wrong - he jerks the edge round with his hip at the last moment, and then puts his foot down as though he hadn't - but it's hard to correct, and I find him difficult to track when he does that! Oh well, this sport was never going to be easy.

And then to come home and hear we've got the 2012 Olympics - well, all we need now is to get the 2008 Worlds, and I think I'd explode with joy! I so wouldn't let myself hope about the Olympics - didn't think we'd get them - that I didn't realise quite how pleased I'd be!

[Skate@Delaware]

Took some friends who were visiting to the public session and had a great time although the rink was quite crowded! It was fun to skate around mostly towing a 5 year old and holding her up. Taught the 8 year old backward swizzles. For myself, just did a few mohawks, 3-turns, crossovers and a few waltz jumps. Quite an odd feeling to skate in jeans! There were a few people trying to have lessons in the mob and I felt quite sorry for them!

My own lesson on Monday was fun and my salchow is so close to being totally on one foot that it's killing my coach! Maybe tomorrow...

Happy skating everyone,
Pat
Was it crowded with the "Day Camp Y" kids? At least they were polite (or they were when we were there). They stayed out of the way of our jumping friend (they were more awestruck than anything).
I love swizzles!! :D
Was it the hockey lessons on the center circle? That one guy borders on dangerous! I felt sorry for the little kid, he fell so often a few weeks ago, it was good he was wearing all his padding!

[blue111moon]

Congratulations, Annabel!!!

I have nothing to report yet this week, since I don't have Ice until Thursday. :cry:

No doubt Thursday's time will be taken up preparing for the competition on Saturday. Not that I want to overtrain or anything :lol: but Coach thinks it might be nice for me to actually KNOW what I'm doing before the event for a change.

[jenlyon60]

Congratulations to Annabel for a great skate!

Fireworks: I got my new boots last night and wore them today

Wet Matches: I wore my new boots today. Since I only get new boots about every 3 to 4 years, I had forgotten about the temporary misery of breaking in new boots. I really can't complain... there's no real hot spots. They just felt different. I got another pair of Klingbeils... These are their "dance-specific" model (customs). I like the ankle cutout (their equivalent to the scallops that the other manufacturers do). I think I am going to like the heel lock padding once I get used to how it feels to have my foot held so still. I also got a higher heel, and noticed it definitely on my back crossover attempts.

So between both coaches today, lots of 2-foot slaloms, some baby power pulls, forward progressives, forward cross-rolls, swizzles/lemons concentrating on knee bend and forward outside swing rolls.

Am sure after a week or so they'll be okay and I'll be adjusted. It's just that nasty adjustment time.

[sk8pics]

Was it crowded with the "Day Camp Y" kids? At least they were polite (or they were when we were there). They stayed out of the way of our jumping friend (they were more awestruck than anything).
I love swizzles!! :D
Was it the hockey lessons on the center circle? That one guy borders on dangerous! I felt sorry for the little kid, he fell so often a few weeks ago, it was good he was wearing all his padding!

Oh, were you there yesterday, too? That's funny! Yes, it seemed to be day camp kids and mostly they were polite. I only had to yell at one kid who nearly mowed down a tiny little boy because he wasn't looking.

There was a hockey lesson going on with the head of the hockey program, and two freestyle lessons going on. I only noticed a teenage-type of hockey skater in the lesson, not a little kid.

My friend's kid would do 2 or 3 backward swizzles and then fall over forward, because she was leaning forward so as to not fall backwards, it was hilarious. She was fine so it was okay to chuckle!

Will you be at the Pond on Sunday? I should be there the last two freestyle sessions.

Pat

[NickiT]

Fireworks
We actually had ice today. We lost it on Monday due to a blown fuse that resulted in the plant going down and the ice melting. Also both the patch and public session were very quiet today.

Wet Matches
I just cannot get my enthusiasm, energy levels or motivation back after competing two weeks ago. I've hardly skated since due to daughter competing, loss of ice etc and went along today in the hope of a good skate. However I just couldn't shake off this feeling of lethargy. My coach requested jumps and my legs felt like jelly so I messed up all my jumps on the first attempt but got them second time around. I also didn't skate my programme clean, missing both my camel-sit and my lutz-loop.

Fireworks again
Regained a bit of confidence after my lesson and pulled off some decent camel-sits. In fact I think I did two of my best ever where I found the right part of the blade, got into a really good spin and was therefore able to really stretch out the camel position. I just wish I could get them to go like that every time!

Wet Matches again
Having not done field moves more than just the once since having my new coach (two months), I decided to give them a go but I have completely lost all confidence. I only did the first two exercises, and while some were OK, some were so terrifying they felt awful, and I didn't dare go further than just two exercises today.

Nicki

[Skate@Delaware]

Oh, were you there yesterday, too? That's funny! Yes, it seemed to be day camp kids and mostly they were polite. I only had to yell at one kid who nearly mowed down a tiny little boy because he wasn't looking.

There was a hockey lesson going on with the head of the hockey program, and two freestyle lessons going on. I only noticed a teenage-type of hockey skater in the lesson, not a little kid.

My friend's kid would do 2 or 3 backward swizzles and then fall over forward, because she was leaning forward so as to not fall backwards, it was hilarious. She was fine so it was okay to chuckle!

Will you be at the Pond on Sunday? I should be there the last two freestyle sessions.

Pat
No, we weren't there yesterday, those kids have been there every Thursday we've been up though. Yes, we will be up on Sunday for public skate!!! I finally got my blade adjusted and it rocks! I can finally do my mediocre 3-turns! Yay!
We usually get up 15 minutes before the session starts, so I will look for you (although I won't know who to look for!)

We've been going up about every 2 weeks or so on Sunday/Thursdays, but our "schedule" got messed up due to something daughter had to do, so it's just Sunday this week.... :cry:

That's ok though, the last 2 weeks of summer, I'm going up every week Sun & Thursday; then my rink opens again (yay!)...

[sk8pics]

We usually get up 15 minutes before the session starts, so I will look for you (although I won't know who to look for!)


If you go look in one of the Oberstdorf threads, Mrs. Redboots had posted a picture that has me in it... So you will have some idea who to look for!

Pat

[samba]

Well done Annabel, Backspin?? gosh I'm so jealous that can be so hit and miss with me and I'm a free-skater.

Nicki, I know just what you mean, I skated to-day for the first time since the same competition and thought I would have regained my energy, but it took quite a while to get back into it with some lousy jumps, but as always when I have a break my camels improve because my back has had a rest.

And Annabel just in case anyone didn't notice the first time, did you say WE GOT TO HOST THE 2012 OLYMPICS :bow:

We got to see it happen at work on the dealers TV and the whole office yelled and applauded.

[NCSkater02]

Fireworks: I actually have a left outside edge now!!!! :bow: The rink manager did an excellent job fixing my blade. Now I just have to learn to use (and trust) it again.

I had a lesson with my primary coach for the first time in about a month. She was impressed with the progress I've made on my mohawks and half-flip. Of course, she then promptly added both a mohawk footwork and warm-up pattern. :roll:

Wet Matches: She says I'm toe-pushing on my stroking pattern. And still not checking enough. Guess what I get to work on now?

[Skate@Delaware]

If you go look in one of the Oberstdorf threads, Mrs. Redboots had posted a picture that has me in it... So you will have some idea who to look for!

Pat
Found it! Thanks! Beats holding up a name sign like they do at airports (which I would do if it really embarrasses my daughter...... :twisted:)

[figure_skater]

Fireworks!!!!!!!!!
-my routine was awesome (i got two coaches to clap for me just in practice) and i think im ready for worlds... (mostly).

-i did a PERFECT flip today!!! woooooo!!! it actually wasnt cheated!!! and i did like ten of 'em! woooooo!!!

-my sit spin was ALOT faster today too...

-they just redid our ice so it was great and extra smooth!

Wet matches......-found out my coach cant be w/me and my partner for our couples routine at worlds....

-the ice was very crowded and chopped up so it was hard to do the split at the end of my routine... (which is normally easy)

-my loop jumped was VERY cheated today

SO...
-i give this week HUGE fireworks so far!

[Andie]

On Tues....

Fireworks: I did better on the hockey stop (which has been the only thing stopping me from passing Gamma). Did better on BO edges, too. Better on waltz jump.

Wet Matches: The rink was like a zoo, swarming with "camp" kids most of the session. It was so insanely loud and everything, and the teenybopper counselors weren't doing a very good job watching the kids. Plus some kid must've been playing with my guards, since they had been out of place when I went to get them after coming off the ice.

Fell on back stroking during lesson (luckily before the crowd came!), first landed on my butt/left thigh, then actually rolled onto my stomach and slid. :oops: My thigh and butt still is sore. I also later in the session hit my knee and bruised it slightly, in the same place I hit it last week. :cry: (I need kneepads) Half flip needs more work.

[Casey]

Fireworks: Finally got some of the backward shoot-the-duck/spin combinations thet I mentioned previously on video. Please let me know what you think - I haven't ever seen anybody else do these:
http://kc.sk8rland.com/video/ice_skating/2005-07-06/

Wet matches: Well it was bound to happen eventually, because it hasn't in a long time - I ran into somebody. I was doing a back shoot-the-duck, which when doing is very difficult to see where you're going. However, the end of the rink was empty, and I was doing a whole bunch of them in a row down there. Well apparently the other person wasn't watching where they were going at all (I've actually seen this person skating quite a lot, and they tend to watch the ground unless they're standing still), because in my second revolution I suddenly hear a scream, and then feel the heel of my free leg hit something. I got up off the ice, hurried over to the other skater, apologized profusely, and asked if she was alright.

She gets up, acting unhurt and saying she's fine, but starts yelling at me about how I'm too reckless and need to watch where I'm going. I tell her that I do watch where I'm going, and that's why I've never hit her before, nor anybody else in MONTHS, and I don't think anyone at that rink ever, but that I AM sorry. She continues arguing, so I ignore her and continue on.

I found that I couldn't spin after this because I was upset, so I started skating a few fast laps to get over it.

Another woman in hockey skates decided to side up with her and start yelling too every single time I pass that end of the rink, telling me I wouldn't hit people if I wasn't skating that fast and other such nonsense. I just ignored her for the first couple laps, and then the third time I exclaimed "I'm not hitting anyone!" and continued ignoring her. For christ sake, there's an awfully big difference between skating forwards, fast or not, and doing a back shoot-the-duck where vision is more limited.

I did manage to get over it pretty quickly, and after a few more lousy attempts I could jump and spin properly again. The other skater that I hit continued to skate the remainder of the session as well, so I guess she was fine. At the end of the session, the woman in hockey skates who had nothing to do with it came up and started telling me how I need to be less reckless and so on and not skate fast and I just said "look, it was an accident. Accidents happen." She responded with, "Yes, they do.". I continued with, "and the first thing I did was apologize", and she responded with "yes, you did.", but then immediately starts going on about how I need to watch where I'm going, which I tell her I do, and that I haven't run into anybody in months. Then she started saying I couldn't skate like that especially because there were kids around. Yes, there were 2 kids on the rink, along with about 4 adults total. The rink was pretty darn empty. I pointed out that I hadn't hit any of them, and again that I DO watch where I'm going. She retorts with "Well it's a good thing or you'd have parents sueing your scrawny a**" and finally leaves me alone. What a stupid b****, I feel like slamming into her at full speed one day just for fun (but wouldn't ever actually do something like that :P ).

I went back to the rink tonight and was told that there had been an official complaint filed against me. I told them that yes, I did indeed run into somebody, but apologized first thing and then she pulled an attitude, and I really couldn't do anything more than say I was sorry, so I didn't care. They said not to worry about it anyways. I don't know which one even complained, probably the kooky hockey lady who had nothing to do with it anyways.

[samba]

Poor Casey, I can remember the same thing happening to my son at your age , no-one was hurt and the woman would not stop ranting and raving in the end I stepped in and told her I think she has made her point, with that she walked off and reported him to management.

Lets face it, few regular skaters deliberately skate into another, none that I know, apart from anything else you risk getting hurt yourself, but there is always someone after their pound of flesh and saying sorry just isnt enough when they want to bully someone, and thats what these people are - Bullies with a capital B. She had already sussed that you are too much of a gentleman to get as nasty as her.

I hope you are well over it now and carry on the good work I saw your video and you looked great, wish I could do that!!

Cheers
Grace

[NickiT]

I'm sorry to hear of your nasty experience, Casey. Of course you didn't run into her on purpose. Like you say, accidents happen and none of us are crazy enough to choose to run into someone deliberately. It sounds like you treated the whole thing well and did everything you could have in apologising etc. I think it's just one of those unfortunate things that you just have to put behind you.

Nicki

[Mrs Redboots]

Fireworks: We went to Alexandra Palace last night, which is always fun. I didn't do the class, as I was very tired, but danced for the first half of the social dance session. Good to see friends. Was too tired to try the 14step or Foxtrot, but everything else went well.

Wet Matches: Well, I'm as glad it was last night, not today - we wouldn't have been able to get there today, as the route we take goes straight through the area affected by these dreadful terrorist attacks. Too awful.....

[Skate@Delaware]

Fireworks: Husband has decided that the adult group lessons are on for him in the fall when the rink re-opens! He decided that he'd give them a "try" only after I told him that a friend from my rink wanted to skate with me in an upcoming exhibition......hmmm.... Now husband wants to skate with me in the exhibition (the tango no less!)...click of death anyone???

Wet matches: Due to our tight budget and some re-modeling we need to get done on our house, husband has decided that daughter can't do everything this fall. So, her skate lessons are out. But, she has a habit of wanting to do everything! She was upset, but we told her school is first, then her voice lessons, then work, then skating.....of course she can stilll practice and pick up an occasional lesson.

[flying~camel]

Fireworks: Bronze FS test program run through was perfect and I feel confident that I'll test (& pass) at the end of this month.

I also felt very relaxed during my lesson & practice, thus everything felt smooth and strong :)

Wet matches: None for this week! :)

[flo]

Wet matches: didn't get to the rink last night - there was a parade downtown for three hours, and also:

Fireworks:I got a new foster dog! I've been fostering for a local rescu group, and got a call last night that one was ready for pick - up. She's a cutie, and I wanted to stay home with her and the other kids (I have a pup, and another foster) to make sure all was ok.

Looking for a dog anyone?????

[AnnM]

Fireworks: I lasted through two run throughs of my program without falling over. I was also perfectly on time with my music for both, which was a first. My coach added some arm movements to the last section, which really pulled everything together.

Wet Matches: I made mistakes in both run throughs, most noticeably on a back outside pivot and the attitude spin. BUT, I just kept going on with the rest of the program, so I'm proud of that.

[Debbie S]

Wet matches: didn't get to the rink last night - there was a parade downtown for three hours

That's right, I forgot about that...we missed you, flo! (Sounds like your house is getting crowded!)

Fireworks: I feel my jumps are starting to come back. I felt less twisted around on the salchow and seemed to be getting more height on it, and my waltz-toe felt better. I also landed a bunch of loops. Flips were kind of a bust, though.

Wet matches: Backspins, sit spins, and LFI mohawks (why can't I get my right foot in front instead of behind - I think on the MIF test, this constitutes changing lobes (or something else bad), right?). I took yet another fall on my left knee practicing the 5-step on the CW (my bad) side.

[luna_skater]

Fireworks: Holy Spins Batman! Finally got the backspin going properly, with the feet crossed and everything. Learned forward spin with step into a backspin. Also learned camel and sit! I can get a few rotations on the sit, but the camel is pretty ugly so far. :D

Flips got really good out of nowhere. Learned a lutz-falling leaf-flip series.

Wet Matches: And then, the flips disappeared. :evil: At the beginning of my session, they were great, and by the end, I could not have rotated a flip if you offered me a million dollars. I FINALLY landed 3 half-decent ones at the end of practice, almost making myself late for work in the process because I refused to get off the ice until I landed at least one fully-rotated flip on one foot!

[blue111moon]

Fireworks: Last night was a spin day for me, too, even though my back was achy and didn't want to bend or stretch much. Change sit was decent and I hit one pretty good camel-sit. Layback wasn't laying, though.

And I did a mess of run-throughs of the Interp program, working mostly on expression and extention. The mantra for the competition on Saturday is "BIG!". as in big arms, big swings, big grin.

Wet matches: One of the other rinks is closed this week so we had several walk-on skaters show up which made the ice more crowded than normal. It's good income for the club, but it meant that I couldn't really let loose with my Interp props for fear of hitting someone who didn't know how much space they expand to.

And it's rainy and chilly and my aging joints aren't happy at all.

[Mrs Redboots]

Fireworks: Friday is definitely "playtime" for me, when we're not in full-on training mode, which we aren't at the minute. Husband and I were mucking about with Mohawks at the start of our session, and just for fun, decided to try the Rocker Foxtrot mohawk in hold. You know what? It's actually possible! To the point that I'm seriously wondering whether we can't put it into the step sequence of our free dance, although that may be a bit ambitious.

We also remembered to skate round in Reverse Kilian hold when we were just chatting, rather than standing still (and getting cold). And we ran through bits of our free dance trying to get some ideas for rechoreographing the end of the step sequence - we are in waltz hold far too long, which is not a good idea!

After he'd gone, I surprised myself by suddenly discovering how much more knee-bend I can do!

Oh, and silly comment overheard:

Coach A, thoroughly teed off with all her skaters: "Why has everybody got the hump this morning?"

Coach B, sitting and waiting for his next lesson: "Because they've all been smoking Camels!"

Wet Matches: None, really. A good skate day, although I still can't do cross-strokes....

[NickiT]

Fireworks
I felt a whole lot better today. My head was together and I didn't have the lack of confidence that I had on Wednesday so I was able to give it my all and ended up having a pretty good skate. After landing a lutz on my backside, I managed to pick myself up and then successfully landed two lutz-loops that felt lovely and that my coach said looked great. I must just remember to relax when I do this. It really does make a difference. Programme went well too and after my lesson I spent a bit of time doing the first exercise of the bronze field moves. I figure that if I do a bit at a time it'll be less torturous, so I'll only progress onto further exercises once I gain confidence in the current one.

Wet Matches
None really, though I did have a couple of falls, one on my lutz-loop and one on my change-foot camel.

Nicki

[NoVa Sk8r]

Fireworks: Learned a lutz-falling leaf-flip series.
Wow--awesome sequence! Will we be seeing it in a competition soon? 8-)

[luna_skater]

Wow--awesome sequence! Will we be seeing it in a competition soon? 8-)

Well, never say never, but definitely not soon! I compete synchro, but just started working on free skate. :)

[sk8pics]

Fireworks: On Thursday in my lesson with my regular coach I did the best 1-foot spin of my life in my program run through, with no warmup at all! Completely centered and pretty fast, more than 2 revolutions. 8-) Shocked the heck out of both me and my primary coach. Then in my spin lesson Friday, my spin coach told me my primary coach had told him about it that day! So we were all pretty psyched. The spins weren't as good yesterday, but still better than, say a few weeks ago, so we were both still happy. He showed me the size of the circle on the ice getting smaller and smaller, so I guess I am making progress, finally!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[NCSkater02]

Fireworks: I did a perfectly centered 2-foot spin....even had witnesses! :bow: Couldn't do it again to save my life, but I did one! Getting off the toe pick for waltz landings more often now. Love those silent landings (so will my coach)

Wet Matches: Ever KNOW you're going down and can't do anything to save yourself? 8O I was working on back crossovers stepping to an inside edge and some how during the step I started leaning forward and couldn't stop. My knee is sore and will have a beauty of a bruise, but, I didn't break anything.

[Skate@Delaware]

Fireworks: On Thursday in my lesson with my regular coach I did the best 1-foot spin of my life in my program run through, with no warmup at all! Completely centered and pretty fast, more than 2 revolutions. 8-) Shocked the heck out of both me and my primary coach. Then in my spin lesson Friday, my spin coach told me my primary coach had told him about it that day! So we were all pretty psyched. The spins weren't as good yesterday, but still better than, say a few weeks ago, so we were both still happy. He showed me the size of the circle on the ice getting smaller and smaller, so I guess I am making progress, finally!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat
Congrats Pat! Isn't that a wonderful feeling?
Terry

[Mrs Redboots]

Wet Matches: Quite thought today was going to be a non-event; first thing that happened was had Words with Husband, as our Reverse Kilian hold still wasn't working.... and so I stormed off, and, for the first time ever managed to knock my coffee on to the ice.... And I hadn't had much. Luckily the coffee-shop by the station was open (it opens later on Sundays) so I could get some, and was back on the ice in time for our lesson. Much of which, needless to say, was devoted to Reverse Kilian hold!

Fireworks: Lesson was devoted to working on basics until a few minutes before the end, when we worked on turning as a couple in Kilian hold. We can do a Fiesta turn - a Mohawk in Reverse Kilian hold which ends up back in Kilian hold going backwards - but we already have two of those in our free dance, and it's time we pushed our boundaries a little. Whereupon in our practice afterwards we worked on incorporating it into our step sequence....

Next week's going to be good, I think - there'll be hardly anyone around!

[dbny]

Thoroughly Drenched:
Came down with another miserable cold last Thursday. After not being sick for three years, this is my second cold in three months! So, no skating Friday. If I want to skate before Friday this week I will have to make a trip to some rink on LI that I've never been to before. Haven't chosen it yet, and may not feel well enough to make the trek anyway. It will be at least an hour and probably more, whichever rink I choose.

Fireworks:
Hey, at least I wasn't sick for three whole years, a record for me!

[Skate@Delaware]

Wet Matches: No skating today :cry: Woke up with a huge stomachache so I stayed home and worked on a skirt I've been meaning to finish... I could have skated if the drive wasn't such a bear (1.5 hrs each way)...

Fireworks (of a sort): last night I had a grease fire in my kitchen-little enough not to have to call the fire department, HOWEVER, there was smoke rolling along the ceilings and not one of my smoke alarms went off! My husband had moved the fire extinguisher and did not put it back.....so out came the bucket brigade (at least that was where it should have been). 2 buckets of water later the fire was out. No damage done except to the trash can where everything had caught on fire :oops: Lesson learned: don't put hot bacon grease and paper toweling into a trash can and walk away (unless you want a new kitchen).

Another reason I should not cook!

[Mrs Redboots]

Wet Matches: No skating today :cry: Woke up with a huge stomachache so I stayed home and worked on a skirt I've been meaning to finish... I could have skated if the drive wasn't such a bear (1.5 hrs each way)...I hope you're feeling better now!

Fireworks (of a sort): last night I had a grease fire in my kitchen-little enough not to have to call the fire department, HOWEVER, there was smoke rolling along the ceilings and not one of my smoke alarms went off! My husband had moved the fire extinguisher and did not put it back.....so out came the bucket brigade (at least that was where it should have been). 2 buckets of water later the fire was out. No damage done except to the trash can where everything had caught on fire :oops: Lesson learned: don't put hot bacon grease and paper toweling into a trash can and walk away (unless you want a new kitchen).Here, the government has a campaign on to remind people to check their smoke alarms periodically. Ours beeps mournfully whenever its battery is low - and goes off if you burn the toast.....

We had a bin fire in the gents' loo at the rink once; we wondered why the fire alarm kept going off, and the managers kept resetting it.... for some reason, nobody wanted to go to the loo for at least 30 minutes! Then a small boy went in, and came out rather faster!

[sk8pics]

Fireworks, Fireworks, Fireworks: Today I did my very first completely correct salchows, all on one foot!!! :D :D :D 8-) 8-) I had been sooo close for a while now, with just a light tap of my free foot to help me get over my skating side on the back edge, and today in my lesson I did a few that way, and my coach said, "Just try it on one foot." The last time I'd tried, I wasn't able to do it, but that had been a couple of weeks ago. So, I went through my whole little routine (the choreography before the jump in my program), stepped forward did the 3-turn, held onto it and --jumped! Then I did a few more! Words cannot express how happy I was and am! Actually, I started beaming midway through the first jump, which made my coach laugh, but he was just as excited! And it was funny that he had no idea I was actually going to get it today, he'd just figured, what the heck!

So I'm happy but very tired since we spent almost the whole lesson jumping. First salchows, then toe loops, then waltz-toe loop-toe loops. Oh, more Fireworks: my alternating back crossovers with the back outside edge in between are also coming along really well. So it was all good.

Days like this are why I skate. ;)

Skate@Delaware--glad you're okay!

Happy skating!
Pat

[Casey]

Wet match: I fell backwards and sat on my hands yesterday - the fall wasn't bad at all, but it put a weird strain on my right wrist, which I injured before from falling on it, and now it hurts again just like it did 4 months ago. *sigh* I guess I should probably get it X-rayed this time around - I'm pretty sure I re-injured whatever was injured before because the pain is in exactly the same spot and is aggravated by the same conditions, which is a shame because I thought it was completely healed. Oh well...

Anyone have advice for getting a basic diagnostic X-ray for cheap/free in the USA? I have very limited money and no insurance...

[icedancer2]

Wet match: I fell backwards and sat on my hands yesterday - the fall wasn't bad at all, but it put a weird strain on my right wrist, which I injured before from falling on it, and now it hurts again just like it did 4 months ago. *sigh* I guess I should probably get it X-rayed this time around - I'm pretty sure I re-injured whatever was injured before because the pain is in exactly the same spot and is aggravated by the same conditions, which is a shame because I thought it was completely healed. Oh well...

Anyone have advice for getting a basic diagnostic X-ray for cheap/free in the USA? I have very limited money and no insurance...

Oh, too bad. We call this a wrist-jammer.

Does Seattle have any services for people with no insurance? Like Free Clinic type of situation?

[Raye]

Fireworks, Fireworks, Fireworks: Today I did my very first completely correct salchows, all on one foot!!! :D :D :D 8-) 8-) Days like this are why I skate. ;)



Sincere congratulations on the salchows...There's nothing like finally breaking through!
Good for you. :bow: :bow: :bow: