July 2011

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2011-07-01 15:40:00
But I want one!!!
At a training at work this week we talked about an economic change over the generations. The "greatest generation" and before shopped based on needs. They were analytical, and they bought what they needed and used it until it wore out. The Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millenials (Y) use emotion as their number one reasoning for buying. And that is exactly my problem right now. I JUST got new skates and a cute pair of skating pants. Both of which I "needed". My old skates were too small, causing problems, and breaking down. My old pants were being held together by safety pins. I JUST got a new car. Well, Kevin did, but it was my money too. What I have is a skating bag. A good one- it holds everything I need. It has 5 different pockets, which keep me organized. And it just got washed (so happy about that). But it's old and not cute. I've had it since 1996. But what I want is a new skating bag. I wanted a zuca for a long time. A the "cool kids" (adults too) have one. They are handy at competitions when you need a seat. And they are so cute. But I talked myself out of it. $150 buys a lot of skating lessons, plus I kind of like to bike to skating, and a pull bag won't do. But then in my head, I got the idea that the transpack would be awesome. I like the seperate compartments to hold my skates- the mesh might also help them air out better and not get to quite the stink-level of my previous pair. But the middle section being a black hole, and not a bunch of pockets doesn't seem ideal. And it's $40. (But I have $16 in amazon credit, so really it comes out to $25ish- that's just one lesson.) So do I do the millenial style- emotional buying? Or do I stick with the bag I have. Maybe if I glue some crystals to it, it will feel cuter.
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2011-07-02 21:01:00
The adjustment continues...
I went to public skate yesterday. I never go to public skate. Thankfully, they just had a large group LEAVE and actually zambonied the ice after them, so the ice wasn't too torn up (I got there about 45 minutes after the zamboni I think). Sometimes they don't zamboni the whole 7 hour slot. Anyhow, I just didn't think it would be worth wasting money on freestyle when I can't skate. And the verdict is: still can't skate. I'm stopping a little better, but not much- which terrified me on public skate. From my speed and stroking alone (plus white skates) it's clear I'm a good skater- but I can't stop. So the public skaters are likely making the assumption that I can, based on everything else. It was a very uncrowded session and still I felt like I was constantly dodging. Yuck. My forward stroking is fine now- I am feeling perfectly comfortable. Crossovers are just about where they were. Glides and edges are fine. I'm wondering if I'm leaning too far to the left inside edge though- is that my feet or a blade issue? It's not too noticeable, but left outside is definetly harder to stay on. Backwards is another story- I can do half swizzle pumps no problem, but crossovers I'm just on my toepick the whole time. It's like there is no front of the blade- just a tail and a toepick. My back edges are horrible. My right back outside is okay, but the insides are bad, and worst of all, while I can hold it my left back outside is unstable. That's my landing edge!!! Spins- I'm too scared to even try the backspin. I take the entry edge into it, and then two foot spin. I think it will be a LONG time for that one. My scratch spin, well it's not a scratch spin, but I'm getting like 3-5 revolutions, and my leg is getting closer to crossed. It's also very scary. The balance is all off. Turns- this is the worst thing of all, because I've never had problems with turns when switching blades before. The only 3-turn I can do is my RFO. The rest are HORRIBLE. Horrible 3-turns means no toe loops. No spin entry. No footwork. I haven't tried the hard mohawks but my LFI-RBI (?) isn't too good either, it's just sloppy. I hate this stupid transition period. I will go to public skate again tomorrow (didn't make it today) and Monday. I have power class on Tuesday (should be okay, though not being able to stop is a huge problem) and then I'll try to get some more public skate in. Carson is out of town this week and next week, so I don't have lessons, but I'm worried I'll have to cancel a third one too. I did a tiny little waltz jump, but it was HORRIBLE. Definitely not something I'm paying a dollar a minute to work on! As for the boots- I still feel like on the inside where my instep meets my heel I'm standing on a rock. They feel mostly comfortable though. I can't get them tight enough on my legs though- the tongues just seem so loose. I stopped wearing the gel pads, and I'm able to get them a teeny bit tighter, but only a bit. Hopefully that won't backfire and I'll end up getting cuts again, but the tops of these are much better padded, so while it's not AS comfortable as with the gel sleeves, it's not too bad.
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2011-07-06 09:45:00
When ordering new blades...
...make sure to specify you want the ones that know how to do a backspin! Well things are getting better. I don't remember when I posted last, but I skated 3 times over the 4th of July weekend (just an hour on public skate) and then had LTS last night. *Things I can do: * *Forward Stroking*- it's pretty well back to normal. I've only had my boots laced up 3 hooks (so they feel almost too loose...) so I've started stroking with them laced all the way up, and then they feel like bricks on my ankles. Why is there a 3.5 hook? *RFO3*- one three turn down 7 to go! *Half-swizzle pumps*- forward and backward! These fly. Oh and they make the "rip" sound. Nothing better in figure skating. Carson commented on it again, to tell H. she should be aiming for that noise too. LOVE IT! *Forward crossovers-* they are pretty much back to normal, which isn't saying too much. I'm still a little scared to go full speed though, especially on my weak side. *Backward crossovers-* still ocassionally rock too far forward onto the toe, but these are doing better too. I don't think they are quite to where they were *Basic one foot spin, from a T-position*. I'm spinning like I was when I first hit the freestyle levels. This is getting better. I've started trying it from a wind up, and from a LFI3 to RFO entry. The LFI3 isn't very comfortable yet, so that entry isn't as good. The wind up I have a lot of trouble with the step forward, my blade rocks too far onto the toepick. But I'm feeling better. *Baby waltz jumps/half flips*- eh, jumps have been baby jumps for a long time. But I'm scared to jump with any sort of speed, something I've added recently. Boo *Power pulls*- back is going better than front, but that was the way it was before. *BO3s-* Tried a few of these, they aren't great, but not too bad. *Things I can't do:* *Backspin-* not even close. Not even half a revolution. *Toe loops-* the pivot is completely gone, but even more than that, I'm scared to toe waltz now. *Cross rolls*- I tried these and they weren't pretty. Forward I think I just need to be comfortable I'm not going to fall over my toepicks. Backwards I think I need some hand holding... And these had gotten so good. *LFI3/RFO3-* These are TERRIBLE. I am so sad at the state of my three turns. *Mohawks-* Honestly, I'm too scared to try my bad side and my outside mohawks, because my good side inside mohawk is so week *Landing edge-* seriously, WTH? Exiting my spins is a nightmare, I fall over the toepick. That's part of the reason I'm scared to jump. *Stop*- Okay, well I'm getting better with it, but I told Carson I couldn't do hockey lines last night, my stops still aren't steady enough. That's part of the reason I'm scared to go really fast on the things I do well, I have no control. Things I haven't tried yet: Sit spin Camel Salchow Loop most of the MITF patterns Programs I'm getting there... So, I need to do baby steps to work back to my backspin, but I can't remember what they are... How do you do a backspin before you use the inside edge entry? I've tried 2 foot turn and pick foot up and Pivot (and can't do either). Any other "beginner backspin" tips? I've been working on my backspin for so long I can't remember learning it, which is hysterical because even when I was "getting it" it still sucked!
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2011-07-08 13:20:00
Adult Nationals!
Are in Chicago next April. I have to have to have to go. Actually, I will be going. But I really really hope that I'll actually get to skate. I've been aiming for my Bronze test for 3 years now- and keep getting hurt. THIS is the year. Of course, at this time I have no backspin, no sit spin, no toe loop, no loop. That makes the test not sound too promising. But I am going to do it, somehow. Does anyone know when the entry deadline is? January? I wonder when I need to have the test by- and of course, that's dealing with the very limited test sessions offered around here...might have to go to out of state for that if I don't get back up to speed very soon.
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2011-07-10 20:36:00
Still working on getting those blades to work.
I skated 3 times this weekend on public skate, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for 1 hour each. I made a checklist of basically everything I used to be able to do, very basic things to very hard things. I'm doing my best to get through as much of the checklist as possible (I have not yet attempted most of the silver moves in the field- although I'm doing power pulls.) I think I'm comfortable saying that for just stroking skills- crossovers, etc I am back to normal. My forward edges are good, my back getting better. My 3-turns are still weak, but I'm feeling better about them. My scratch spin is good, but not great. I am falling too far onto the inside edge, although today I centered a few great ones. I did sit spins yesterday, and my husband thought they were awful, but looking at video, I thought they were pretty good. Surprsingly, I bend better when I have the skates laced all the way to the top- it's almost like I have to bend from my knee and not try to lean over my ankle. (But still, it's not very "sit", but it's good for me.) Backspin- well, I got a little premie spin (not even a full grown baby one)- so that gives me hope someday I will find the right spot to spin on. I've started trying jumps. EEK. My waltz jump is okay- if I go very slow. My salchow, well most of the time I forget to jump :( My leg is very swingy. This is bad, because I can't blame the entrance- it's the 3-turn I'm comfortable with! My toe loop, well, I've progressed to toe waltzing. My ability to pivot is totally gone, but I also feel like I my pick slips all over the place, so even toe waltzing is kind of stressful, and the 3-turn entrance is not pretty. I am so mad how much I've regressed. These jumps were getting so good, and I was getting speed! In other news, my left inside ankle really started hurting while skating today. I hope that's not a thing. This is only the 2nd day I've skated with them all the way laced up, so hopefully it is just a pressure ache, and not a stress fracture waiting to happen. So I'm majorly depressed about where I'm at. I need to get this bronze test done by January, which might even mean October, because who knows when there will be a test session available... I just have to make it to Chicago. I've been skating 6 (?) years and should have passed this test 3 years ago. I'm tired of the injuries, I'm going to pass the darn test!
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2011-07-16 10:34:00
Does this happen at other rinks?
You are doing alternating crossovers down the length of the rink- the technique isn't great, but you are getting great speed. You come around the end pattern and do your first crossover, then you find yourself needing to go off pattern to avoid the French Bistro set up on the ice, going back into pattern, and then having to avoid another skater doing a camel spin. Grr! They were so good on the first pass down the rink. I'm guessing everyone has had to avoid the camel spins- but are there lots of other rinks that have to deal with props on the ice? ISI Worlds is coming up, and there is ALWAYS something on the ice. A sleeping bag, a table and two chairs with coffee, the corner of a boxing ring. Props are just everywhere! (The sleeping bag is the only one that really worries me- since when you look behind you to see your path, you can see table and chairs, but not a sleeping bag on the ice...I think Burton recognizes that though, because whenever M. runs those programs he stays very close to the sleeping bag on ice.) Today, the table and chairs set up was for the adult number Burton and two women at the rink are doing (the two I competed against in the artistic competition who were from my club.) I couldn't really see it, but it looks like a cute routine. And I LOVE "9 to 5" so it wasn't even annoying they played it for 15 minutes straight during my lesson, if anything, it was distracting, because I kept finding myself singing along, rather than thinking "arms pull down, point toe, shoulders down" etc. Today's lesson was really good. Backspin is making progress. Scratch spin was EXCELLENT! Sit spin was alright (it's fast from the 3-turn entrance, but lower from the wind up. I need to be able to do it from the 3-turn so it can switch places in my program with my scratch spin. I'm too tired at the end of the program to do a sit spin). Carson thinks that I can get my bronze test in time for nationals. I'm doing jumps from speed again, though not quite as much speed as before. It was just a really good lesson. (Also, doing loops. I hate loops. I am never going to get this stupid jump- but wait, it's on my test...) So they key for my backspin is that I have to hold my right leg straight in front of me. Don't even think about pulling in yet, but DO NOT let it get into a "stork" leg position, or behind me, because neither of those things will help me transition to a good one. And like all my other spins, hold the entry longer. The only thing I had been doing that we didn't do before was a camel. As we were starting to move to jumps Carson said "Oh! We didn't do camels" and I told him I don't think I want to yet, I'm still falling over my toe pick too much. I think he thought I needed one though, since all the bronze ladies tried them. Maybe for competition (and actually in Class I, I bet I do- Class I at Nationals is going to be MUCH better than the local bronze competition I think), but let's think about test first. I'm going to try to move my lessons to Wed and join Sat. LTS. I don't really want to, as the ice is so crowded Sat it is kind of nerve wracking, but having an extra lesson to focus on jumps/spins will really help. Especially when we need private lesson time to work on a program. Also- school is going well. Taking two classes at once isn't too overwhelming at all.
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2011-07-18 08:39:00
Insane Public Session
So yesterday I skated on public ice for an hour. It was a heck of an hour. I got there at noon, usually that means I have 15 minutes before the public skaters are ready to skate. Nope- they were raring to go. And yesterday they were the worst kind of birthday party: kids who could skate well enough to zoom around the rink playing tag, but not well enough to have any control over themselves. Add into that mix 3 high freestyle skaters (let's see the guy has passes senior movse, and I believe the girls intermediate and novice) doing huge doubles and FAST spins, one constantly trying to run programs, and 3 low level adults (myself included) one of whom was in lesson, plus a tractor. And it was a zoo. (Well a zoo for the summer, there was still a lot of room to TRY to skate...not like Christmas when you don't bother) Wait? A tractor? Yes. Although they didn't have it out for long, a portion of the session involved practicing a routine that required one of the men (learning to skate specifically for ISI Worlds) sitting in a chair behind a PVC/cardboard tractor (maybe 3 feet x 4 feet x 3 feet?) while another skater pushes him (in a spiral!). It was a new meaning to "defensive skating". I was really out of sorts. I have my defense tactics for public skate, and for freestyle sessions- but when they combine, I'm at a loss. The good news is I did some backspins that can almost be classified as good (and a few that could be classified as "kid, you are lucky I didn't slash you with my blade...don't skate that close to me!) And I did some excellent scratch spins, although I don't like pulling my elbows down. Didn't jump as well as Saturday though. So someone asked how my ankle pain was- well it had gone away, and then it didn't bother me for a few sessions, but it was back on Sunday. It's the left outside, just below the top of the boot. They don't feel painful when I land, so I don't think they are too stiff, but I worry that that is what is causing it. The last thing I need is a stress fracture, especially with my knee bothering me again... I need to start my knee exercises up before I land back in PT. (It's July and I haven't been this year! Woo! 6 months more to go...)
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2011-07-20 13:21:00
Hmm...probably should have mentioned that.
H. didn't come to LTS yesterday, so I did power class on my own. Power class on your own is kind of a double edge sword. Things like wall-sits are better, because you get down and he starts counting, you don't get down and then wait for someone else to finally get their butt agains the wall. (Of course, Carson was counting from 30, and he usually counts from 20 - so wall sits still killed me.) I can also get away with going a little bit slower on hockey lines because I have no one racing me. (yeah... I'm still terrified of falling over the toepick on these, although I don't know why- I have only caught it once, weeks ago, and it wasn't even a fall.) The negative is that since no one else is distracting the teacher, there are no breaks- just a lot of skating. My half swizzle pumps are flying- almost uncomfortably because I'm worried I can't stop or yield that fast. Burton's class was on the other side of the ice, and Courtney and Andy only had 1 skater each, so it wasn't too bad, but it's always in the back of my mind that I'm going too fast to have control. My forward crossovers are getting better too. When we do slow-slow-fast-fast-fast I can finally do it on the right side, continuously, but I have to put on the brakes for the left side- otherwise I'm going too fast after the first set to even try the second set. I don't like to pick up speed. After 25 minutes on ice Carson took me off ice to do some strengthening (he also wants me to start off ice jumps "Do you own tennis shoes?" cracked me up. Need to start bringing them to lessons. Also- do they revoke your American citizenship if you don't have tennis shoes? It's like a trademark when we leave the country.) After doing like 24 tricep dips against the benches (I can only do 6 at a time before I collapse) we did some leg kick things, and in between sides I rubbed my neck. And he said "That hurts your neck?" (cause it really shouldn't have) and I just said "Oh, everything hurts my neck." And he asked me why. Oops, that's probably something the coach needs to know. I guess when I told the other coaches as I was going through LTS Carson was still a "kid" so he wouldn't have heard it. So I told him that I had broken my neck in high school, have a 3-level fusion and some spinal cord damage. I also told him if I ever have a really bad fall, don't move me, just call an ambulance. He said "hmm...that's probably something I should have known about before we did this many lessons." At least now he knows why I'm really scared of falling, and that it's not just because I'm a weeny adult (no offense to the weeny adults- really the only reason I'm scared is fear, I'm not any more fragile according to my doctor's - I just have personal experience of what can happen, and so the fear is pretty real.) On the bummer broken neck thought- I feel guilty about being so well off after my accident. I heard through facebook a guy I knew in middle school broke his neck, and is now paralyzed. He's going to a fancy rehab, but it sounds like it is totally unlikely he will walk again. I don't know how much movement he has at all. I think he broke the same bone I did, and I was told I'm lucky not to be a quad. So this guy has the same injury (well obviously not the same, his is way more severe) and his life is completly changed. Here I am complaining about not being able to do a backspin. I pretty much never forget how lucky I am to be skating at all. But I still want that stupid backspin. I feel like this makes me a bad person to not just be happy with what I do have.
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2011-07-21 08:57:00
Wednesday Lesson
So it turns out I can't skate on Wednesdays. Yesterday was a disaster. My scratch spin was AWFUL. My sit spin was AWFULER. Your're probably expecting me to say my backspin was awfulest, but as bad as the other two spins were, my backspin was actually the best one of the bunch. I am still not crossing my foot, and I'm having trouble holding the foot out (the knee is out, so there is not reason the foot shouldn't be out, but I draw it back to my ankle) but I almost crossed once, and I was spinning well- 4+ rotations. I nearly face planted twice on scratch spin entries, once from a 3-turn entry, once just doing a push around the red dots. (I hate the freaking red dots! I hate doing an edge and not 3-turning until I get to the other side of the dot. I mostly hate it because I can't do it, but regardless- I hate it.) Yesterday for the first time I tried sit spins around the dots, and that was HORRIBLE. Even worse than scratch spin. I can't even explain why it was so bad, but I was three turning way too early, and felt like I was going to fall any second the entire time. My jumps were probably better than my spins (when does that ever happen). I'm back to entering the waltz jump from the middle line, although i slow it down a bit from the back edges. I need to snap my hips and open the position more in the air. I know what he is talking about because I see him and Andy warming up huge waltz jumps like that before they start doing double axels, but I just can't do it... My salchow is still a problem- I'm not jumping fast enough, so my 3-turn takes too long. I still blame the blades. My toe loop is getting better, best when I do toe-loop toe-loop, as the second jump has a better entry (though it is slow as molasses, of course our rink is so hot and melty right now, maybe molasses would be faster than me.) We didn't do loop, but worked a lot of half flip. I think he really wants to see height on it before we move to flip. I'm not sure that will ever happen. The last 5 minutes we went off ice, and I switched to tennis shoes. Carson commented how fast I can take my skates off and put shoes on, and how his other kids take forever, sometimes 10 minutes. I laughed and told him the difference was the kids have no idea how expensive these lessons are! (I'd shoot a kid if he took 10 minutes to get skates off at a dollar a minute!) So then we did some off ice -first just skipping with knees high. Apparently this is how my knees should be working in jumps. Then just standing in place and jumping halfway around on two feet. Then standing in place and jumping half way around to landing position Then standing in place and jumping all the way around on two feet. This is where I learned that I rotate from my shoulders and I need to rotate from my hips. I also suck at jumping and cheat my landing just a teeny bit. My toes land forward, but my heels aren't in line with them. This does not bode well for on-ice. I didn't do full rotation jumps to landing position yet as I'm not rotating correctly, and he wants me to be rotating from the hips and not breaking forward on the landing first. Then he taught me how to do the off ice entry for all my jumps, including a full flip. Most of them are what I had tried before, but some are a little different. (For salchow, he wants me to hop all the way through a 3-turn and then jump, for flip, "pick" very close to the leg for full flip, and fairly close for half-flip, since there is no draw back) I'm joining LTS on Saturday, so only going to skate 30 minutes on freestyle, so I'm not too tired by classtime. Carson told me to get there at the normal time and try to do at least 15 minutes off ice first. I came home from 15 minutes of practice and then a 30 minute lesson completely drenched in sweat. He's clearly trying to kill me. Does he know he loses his payday if I die? Coaches must walk a very fine line with that...
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2011-07-23 10:03:00
Tractor on ice.
I made sure to get a picture without faces, because today I'm not complaining, I just wanted you all to see. The program is cute, and they are my friends...but with ISI worlds fast approaching and everyone has 15 programs, it can get a teen bit frustrating. I think the skate director said something because they (all the isi skaters) were very good about limiting abandoned props/large props today. This number they actually did in the 15 min break where freestyle is technically over but they no longer zamboni before LTS.


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2011-07-23 13:18:00
I am a Skater...needs your help!
Another skating blogger is putting together a collage of skaters- why not submit your picture to help her out! http://rinkside-blog.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-am-skaterand-i-need-your-help.html
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2011-07-25 14:55:00
Backspin Breakthrough
I meant to post about my skating on Saturday, but I posted a few other things so I decided to wait to post again. I skated the Saturday freestyle session, and then joined the Freestyle 4 LTS class. The freestyle session wasn't great. I woke up at about 5, so I was tired by the time I got to the ice at 8. I did try to do some off ice jumps before starting, but it turns out I need to be warmed up to do them, I can't do them as a warm up. I skated about 30 minutes but was just exhausted, so I got off the ice and jumped for 15 minutes. It was uneventful ice time. I centered one really nice scratch spin (the rest were insane) and was pleased with my backspin spinning (doing it with a few pushes before the entry, not just a standstill), but my foot was still tucking to the wrong side of the ankle. I also taped an attitude spin, and my foot looks like I am trying to kick myself, it is not laying on it's side at all. I used to have nice attitude spins (in dance) but this hurts my hip. It might not be a spin I get. So the freestyle class starts at 9:15- I had hung out for about 20 minutes waiting, and was ready to go! This is exactly the class I need. We did sit spins, loops, and backspins. Wanna know the things I really need to work on to pass my bronze free? See previous sentence! Carson wants me doing sit spins from the inside 3 turn. I think this causes me to snap better, so rotate faster, and it also opens a lot more options choreographically. I don't get quite as low this way though (and I don't get very low anyway) so I really need to focus bending from the knee. Then backspins- I had my AHA moment. Something Alissa Czisny told me years back, but I always forget. Pull the arms in over your heart. Except Carson pointed out it's not just pulling the arms in over there, but the entire set up keeping them to the left (for CW). I usually set up with my arms center, so my leg is, at best, center, as I loose strength to hold the leg out, the free foot drifts in and sets itself next to my ankle. If I set up with my arms far left, then my leg is at worst center. As the foot drifts in, or I pull it in, it comes into the crossed position. I did some spectacular backspins (for me). Now my problem is that I'm scared of spinning so fast, so I don't want to pull in tight.... nice problem to have, I guess. The final thing we did is loops. Let me sum up my loop in one word: CLUNK! How in the world do I jump off of and land on my toepicks? It does not compute. Carson says I'm getting about 1/2 a rotation, that's fine with me. As long as it looks like I'm trying a loop, I'm good with trying the test. That's from the 3-turn entrance, crossovers I just do NOT understand. My knees hurt when I got home, but not on Sunday. With 3 lessons a week, I'm going to have to watch them. I might stop doing Sat. freestyle and just do Friday public instead. I'm too tired in the morning and it's tough to practice the same day as a lesson. (Might as well try to practice Wed though since I have to pay for the ice for that lesson!)
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