August 2009

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2009-08-12 08:50:00
Well my hip was finally feeling better so I went to the rink resolved to skate full out, to stay after my lesson and practice and to be BRAVE. It did not turn out that way. First off- I got there early with the idea in mind that I would eat some ice cream and knit some lace (if you read my other blog you know I am knitting a lace blanket right now). Well I got my ice cream, and then the plans changed- can I teach basic 1? Andy sprained his ankle. So I finish eating my ice cream and throw my skates on (it's tough to lace skates with an ice cream cone in your hand) and go out and teach basic 1. It was just two kids and they mostly entertained themselves so no big deal. Then I give Sandy Andy's Basic 8 class and get set to take her parent/tot class. There is only 1 parent/child in this class and they are both super nice, but I don't like to teach it (i've done it twice before) because the adult is there for lessons, not for kid support. I think the rink advertises the class poorly, because it is not adult lessons- it's for kids who can't seperate from their parents. Now, he has enough skill that he can help the kid, but he really wants to learn skating, essentially what we teach in the adult class. As a result the kid stays in the "tot circle" since he isn't too mobile and the adult goes around the rink and checks back in for feedback. It is very difficult to pay attention to both people, because they are on opposite ends of the rink, and it makes me very nervous. I really prefer my classes to stay together- even so much so that I like them all to be in my eyesight, and not some behind me. I'm a very nervous instructor (Burton, for example terrifies me- as he lets his kids make snow angels, and plays "train" and lots of things that get the kids blades way too close to each other.) So Sue had skates on and I asked her if she wanted to take the class, and she did. So I go into the coaches room and am lace knitting. After a little bit of time I start hearing the walkie talkies and it becomes apparent something happened. The adult skater had a bad fall (Carson says he thinks he fell forward skating backward, Burton thinks maybe his glasses cut into his forhead when he hit the ice?) and is bleeding A LOT. Burton and Sergei help him off the ice, paramedics are called. The puddle of blood on the ice is HUGE. I'm hoping this is because foreheads just tend to gush blood and not because he is seriously hurt. I think they suspected a concussion though because he left on a stretcher in a C-collar. (Which I'm also hoping doesn't mean anything. I think they collar almost everybody just as a precaution.) The paramedics lecture the coaches about not moving someone who can't move on their own. So now I'm a bit freaked out. Our rink's emergency response is NOT good. Even when I was half unconcious, totally in shock after I broke my neck and people were trying to roll me over I yelled at them not to move me. (They responded that they were operating room nurses and new what they were doing and were going to get my face out of the dirt.) And yet, the first thing people did was move someone who was hurt to the extent he couldn't move himself. We have ZERO emergency training. What do you do with someone hurt on the ice? The body can go into shock laying there cold for so long. The rink employees who had the walkie talkie wasn't at the desk and it took them awhile to find him. The emergency response is horrible. I really hope this skater is okay. The coaches did everything they could to make help him- but if you don't really know what to do, how much help can you be? They also quickly shifted classes around so that kids were not near where this guy fell, and that everyone was covered. I feel bad that I was in the coaches room, since I could have covered a class then. So anyway- the reason this bumped into my lesson. Usually this man's wife comes along- this time, she didn't. And the rink couldn't get a hold of her. Meaning their 3 year old was left at the rink alone. I offered to skip my class and keep him busy (hopefully so he wouldn't notice his Dad was gone). Since camp is going on we went in there and played off ice games. Finally Sue shows up and says his Dad's friends will take them. This is another HUGE kicker- she didn't know these guys. They were in the room with him, and helping wipe blood off the guy and it was very clear they knew each other, but she didn't know their names, or anything about them. And she released a kid to them. Is she INSANE? Even if you're going to do that, write down their information or something. Then I went back on the ice and took the 10 minutes left of my lesson. I did some toe loops that Carson tells me are "looking better" and I got this advise during my spin entry "hold the entry until you hear your blade rip, then do the 3-turn", um... I'm going to be holding my entry for a LONG time. I've never heard my blade rip on a spin entry! I think Courtney might have to do some spins for dummies with me again tonight. This morning my hip isn't in pain, but I did stumble once when I tried to stand up. I think I'm going to be on a jumping hiatus for awhile. I need to get these spins back and I can focus on silver moves. it's not a huge loss, I don't like to jump- but it does mean I won't be doing my bronze test anytime soon.
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2009-08-20 08:30:00
Happy skating
This week is the first time in a long time that I've enjoyed skating. (Long time being since my spin entry was "fixed". GRR) On Tuesday it was just me and H. for the freestyle group lesson. H. is a fun little girl, and she is getting a lot better, but she still gets a lot of basics confused. Andy decided to work with us on edges and then turns- excellent plan in my opinion, since I'm still not jumping, although my hip isn't bothering me nearly as much. We started with the circle 8s that will be added to the MITF next year. The forward ones (I think those are Preliminary and Adult-Bronze) I love. As long as you don't make me trace them a second time :) I feel like I have a nice, even circle, and really good control. The backward ones, well outside is better than inside, but wow, those are awful. First off, I can rarely make it around the circle without having to touch down for a teeny push, second, they aren't a nice round shape with strong body control, they are teeny egg shapes where my body contorts into all kinds of position just to stay on the edge. Why are my back edges so bad? I mean, in theory, one of the circles is a landing position, and I should be able to just hold that forever. But getting an even lobe is impossible. So then we moved onto 3-turns, just in a pattern around the circle. FI to BO. These went pretty well for me, although somehow my BO3 has become my weakest 3-turn. The exciting thing though is I didn't realize I was doing my "bad side" first until I turned around, expecting it to be more difficult, and it was easier. I think the paralyzing fright of turning CCW must have something to do with the depth of the lobe on the MITF pattern. It's always just the first one, though they are definetly weaker on one side than the other the whole way down. Anyhow, H. was having a lot of difficulty with them, she kept trying to step mohawk somehow, and Andy told me a bit about checking to hold the turn, and I tried really hard to work on it and get them real good, but by the time we moved onto FO to BI I had gotten pretty bored. My BI 3-turns were awesome (yay me!) so Andy (who was having the same issues with H. of trying to get her to stop doing a random mohawk!) asked me if I was feeling adventerous and told me to do the FO3 turn and immediatly step down with my foot crossed and go straight into a BI3. This was extremely difficult, and when I did manage to turn (and not step on top of my foot when trying to cross down!) My 3-turn would generally stall and not continue out. But we did them for awhile and I got the hang of it, and picked up a teeny bit of speed. Then, after a few almost falls (caused by stepping on my foot when I was trying to cross down or by ackward BI3s) I got bored of doing that and started working on brackets. Andy complimented my right FI bracket, and then showed me how my foot is supposed to scissor, which made my outside ones a bit better (those are scary). He also told me that my free leg movement is part of what makes the { shape even, because on my LBI and both of my outside I get a huge curve on the entry side, and much less of one on the exit, and they need to be even. So now I'm working on those a bit more too. So Wednesday- I showed Courtney the forward figure 8s and she said I had good control :) and then I showed her the "neat 3-turns Andy taught me" and she asks me if I know if they are, and it turns out that those are one of the novice moves, except, I do them in slow-mo. So that's something I want to keep working on, just because it's fun to think I can do something on that test, even though I know I'm doing it nothing like what it's like on that test. Anyhow, because I'm not jumping and I'm mad at spinning (though in practice on Wed. I did 2 almost centered scratch spins) Courtney has moved me back to dance. I think once I get done with the first 3 dances, dance will be really fun for me. (Those are just so boring!) I think other than spinning (when I used to be able to do it, at least) MITF is my absolute favorite thing about skating. And dance is a lot like moves, just more precise. So anyhow, we started with the Dutch Waltz, and after a few yells of "push" she decided that I was doing a pretty good job of it, and at a reasonable speed. I'm scared of the progressive on the end pattern- I just can't seem to pick up my foot. But I know that if it is partnered that I can, since I've done this before. So I think I'm reasonably happy with this one. Then I learned the canasta tango. I really need to review the steps. But I think this one is doable too.
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2009-08-26 20:58:00

Super crowded ice tonight- Cedar Rapids lost their session to hockey so lots of visitors. Skated well, had a great lesson on "dance knees", the dutch waltz, and the canasta tango. Had a good practice with some centered scratch spins and some getting there backspins (actual CIRCLES on the ice- 5 revolutions, just very tenative). Yesterday did lots of work on the 2 pushes in a crossover, killed my quad. Worked on attitude spins (I either point my foot down, or hold my leg out like I'm a dog peeing, can't fix both...) and backspins where I had my breakthrough! Helped teach a parent/tot where one of the parents had never been on the ice before (NOT the point of parent/tot). This was one of the adults who you're just waiting until they hurt themselves, very very scary to work with. And after a string of accidents VERY scary, thankfully we got through the session trauma free and he seemed happy with it.
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