June 2011

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2011-06-01 08:41:00
Power with new kids.
So today a few of the coaches were missing (one is traveling back from the PSA conference, one is packing up her parent's house in preperation for flooding :( I hope everything is okay out there) so we combined classes. The PSA conference coach has a HUGE mixed level freestyle class, so Carson took the older kids and Taylor took the younger ones and did two power classes. (The other coach's kids went with the skate director, who also kind of did the adult class...poor adults, I think they really get the short end of the stick, not to mention, if I was still wall hugging I'd be terrified to be out there with 30ish freestyle kids flying around.) Andy had his class as normal. So anyhow- with these other "older" (some are as young as 3rd grade...some middle school) kids man, did I suck. We started with forward half swizzles on the circle, and I just could not get my feet under me. I felt like I was going to topple over at any minute. Then 3 half swizzles, slide to crossover- well that did not go well. First off, we used the middle circle. I've gotten very used to these exercise on the smaller circles- the angle was different enough that I was a disaster. Going as fast as I can go from swizzles I didn't have the confidence to cross... Then we did just crossovers- I was slow, everyone passed me, but okay those were alright. Then 2 slow, 3 quick crossovers. I got complimented on my slow crossovers, my quick ones a disaster. I don't know what is wrong with these. Then, we switched to backward. Okay- if I ever have to race, I'm racing backwards. I was fine here, and regularly overtook the kids, on the swizzles, and on the crossovers. I drag my toe picks still, but I am so much more confident going backwards. Here's a question for you- when skating on a circle like this, do you pass on the inside or the outside? It seems to me you should pass on the outside (because passing on the inside is like cheating, you are cutting distance) and for forward crossovers the outside is really where the line of site is, but for backward it's difficult to see someone coming up on the outside... Well either way, I think there should be a side- because it freaks me out when someone is suddenly passing on the inside, and even more so if someone is passing on the outside at the same time. So my vote is pass on the outside. Once again we alternated between directions/legs and while I got the shin splint/ tendinitis feelings, they never stayed long enough, so while my quads are still burning today (from what is described below...) I can walk. Okay, well after crossover time we went to do hockey lines, elbows-to-knees slaloms and wall sits. This is where I think Carson really killed them all. The new kids to our class were tired at this point, but after doing 3 or 4 sets of this routine I think they were pretty well never going to take a class from Carson again! (I want a fun coach, but I also want one who gets me into skating shape- Power kills me, but it's only 30 minutes and goodness knows I need it.) As always I modified by doing one lap to the blue line instead of the center red line, and then did one lap of slaloms as swizzles, because I need to work the inner quads more, but otherwise I kept up okay. T. wasn't here this week so wall sits weren't torture, because you didn't have to hold them for an extra 30 seconds waiting for her to finally start- the kids complained, but they complained while wall sitting!!! I'm now a bit on damage prevention- trying not to get hurt before the 12th, but I think I'm doing okay in this class... Poor kids though- we had one go down hard during slaloms, one go down during hockey lines, and then one fall down while wall sitting... We don't usually have many falls in this class...toe pick!
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2011-06-03 18:43:00
Dress- All stoned!
Here is my artistic program dress. It has way fewer stones on it than I planned, but I can't think of anywhere else to put them! (Maybe the skirt?) I LOVE it though- super pretty! I also bought a flower to wear in my hair for my program. Now here's hoping I won't be half-asleep for it!
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2011-06-09 14:44:00
Good week, hoping for a good weekend!
OMG It is finally here. This weekend is the competition- actually TOMORROW is. Tonight I need to pack up my competition bag because tomorrow I have to get home from work, do hair and make up and then get going! Tomorrow is just artistic, Saturday is freeskate, and I'll have one more lesson. This week was pretty good. I did yoga last weekend, and that killed my knees a bit- they are doing better now, but Tuesday was touch and go, I skated pretty lax in power class. It's just me and H. now, T. moved. I'm a horrible person for saying this, but this makes things so much better. I hope we get another skater into the class, but one who actually wants to be there. (Don't think any of the other freestyle group kids will be joining us- they HATED their substitute lesson while their coach was out of town...power is hard, jumps and spins are fun!) At the end of the lesson H. and I raced hockey lines. I'm 18 years older than her, so I got a bit of a "head-start". From the goal line we usually go to blue line (and back), then red line, red line, blue line. H. did all red lines, I did normal (now, normally I cheat and do one of the red's as a blue, but for the race, I did the one I was supposed to.) We tied- exactly. I really thought she was going to beat me, because I was TIRED at the end. This was after the entire rest of the class, all the crossovers, 3 other hockey line sets, and 3 sets of wall sits. I was very very proud of myself. Last Saturday Carson told me he thinks I'm skating with more speed so clearly all of this is helping. Then yesterday I did my final practice before the competition (I'm not doing practice ice there. I've skated there once before, so I know kind of what to expect, and will just get a feel at the warm-up. It's too low stakes to pay the big bucks for practice ice.) It was a CROWDED session at first, everyone and their cousin seemed to be there, but by the end it seemed almost no one was on the ice. I bet most of the kids had been there all day and were just at the point where they were playing, so it was a more productive session than I imagined it would be. Did lots of jumps, not so many spins. I did do a backspin, because last Saturday I couldn't do them at all, but I've decided it was an effect of the overly sharp blade, because they are back. The good news is the program run throughs went pretty well. My email skater friend, M, tells me one of the great things about competitions is just getting the ice to yourself. After missing my jump pass for a skater, and then missing my back cross rolls for another, I think I'm going to agree with that. Just getting to do the whole program all the way through will be a huge thing! I hope it has enough "personality" to be considered an artistic program... The bad news: my sit spin sucks. I'll do one during practice ice, but I might just take it out and do a second scratch spin. Otherwise, I'm confident in the program. My way too sharp-can't stop blades from last Saturday are nicely worn down to being perfect blades. I think I'm ready.
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2011-06-12 10:06:00
Competition Weekend
Comment #1: Man do I spin well on warm-up! Quad Cities has awesome (to me, some people were complaining, they should try our rink...) ice. It is fast ice. And my spins were fast and centered on warm up. WOW. First up: Artistic, Friday Night (Can you see that? I think I have the privacy settings open. Here is the link if the embed does not work: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10100928471347854&comments) Comment #2: I'm scared to see the still pictures. I make so many weird faces during this. Comment #3: When I first saw the video, I made my husband check his camera timing. I thought it was sped up. It's not. I usually watch videos and think "seriously, that's what I look like?" This video my first thought was "wow. I'm skating fast." I placed 3 out of 5 for the artistic program. My ordinals were 4, 3, 4. I'm not sure if it was because the judges don't like prop-less programs, or if it's because I had quite a few bobbles (um, all the jumps and spins...) I didn't do the end of the program as choreographed because I bumbled on the waltz jump sequence and wasn't really in a good place on the ice, so I kind of made the end up. So I have a lot to fix, and that's good. It means I have room to move up. And if I do it for a year without placing higher, maybe I'll start skating it holding a mirror or something :) (The two ladies who placed above me had very cute programs- I think they deserved their placements for sure.) This was the first outing of this program at all, and I'm not surprised it was the end that messed up, I've never successfully done the whole thing because someone is always in the way when I try to practice it. M. was right- the best thing about the competition is you have the ice to yourself. We got home way too late at night (maybe 10:30) so I wasn't asleep until midnight. And then I had an 8:00 session. I was so tired I barely skated at all until my lesson- just really tried to drill toe loops, as I can't do "real" ones fast enough. (I did end up toe-waltzing in the competition. I'm okay with it. I'm very proud I can finally do a real toe loop, but not going that fast yet.) Then I had my lesson, and it went really well except sit spins. Those were disasters. Up next: Freeskate, Saturday Night I was very very nervous for this one. Not the competition aspect, because I was skating against a friend who is a no-test skater, she's really just a different level (and she did an awesome program for her level, I thought.) I figured if I really really screwed up, I might not win (if Midori Ito isn't guaranteed a win, why should I be?) but most likely, the medals were a non-issue. No, the nerves were because my coach was actually coming. So now I have the pressure of having to actually do elements well, because someone who cares is going to see them. (Prior to knowing my coach was coming my main goal was for my dress to be gorgeous and sparkly- goal met, by the way, but I have no good pictures that you can see that in...in the artistic video you can really see the sparkle off the dress, this dress has twice as many crystals) So here is the freeskate. I apologize for the video because it is taken on my camera phone (apparently going kayaking is more exciting than going to a skating competition, as my husband did not want to go out there for more than one day) and for the talking in the background. The man holding the camera is the coach of the next skater (so it was really nice for him to do it at all!) so he warned me they'd be talking about her warm-up. The video was good enough for me to get an idea of how I did on everything (I get program amnesia- after I finish, I have no recollection of what I did) hopefully you can see some of the skating. This is the second outing of this program, as I did it at that exhibition awhile back. Here is the link, if the embed won't work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6fybhRDlVg Comment #4: I have no podium pictures to share. I only brought my phone and completely underestimated others ability to hold their arms still while taking pictures. I forgot it took me awhile to figure the phone out... And then, taking pictures of someone else I proved I was an "adult" as I couldn't figure out how to use their iphone! So all in all, it was a pretty successful competition. Man are these things crazy expensive, but I had a lot of fun. I see more of them in my future for sure! (Because where else will I wear these gorgeous dresses?) Talked a lot with Carson about what comes next. He watched all (2) the bronze ladies and said he wants me to skate up next competition...so we talked about starting working on loop (I haven't done one since I worked with Courtney) and possibly flip. I need one of the two for my test. He says they are basically the same jump, but I feel like I have more of a chance with the flip- my loop is a disaster and has been for years. Then he said we should probably start working on a camel.
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2011-06-13 10:27:00
Decision made, sort of
Set an email to my sharpener to order boots. I did have my feet measured at the competition and the fitter recommended Jackson's. (He said Reidells would NOT work on my fat feet, and that while SP Teri's would, there is no reason to spend the money. He told me I have no chance of getting my foot into a Graf, but also way more expensive than I need to buy.) Since he recommended Jackson I decided to buy them locally from my regular sharpener. He recommended I just stick with the Competitor, and switch the blade out (it only comes in a set now). It's a few dollars more than the Premier boot (because it comes with a blade), but just barely. He said the Premier would be fine though, and that a lot of adults like it. He didn't think dance cut boots were a good idea for someone who doesn't dance, so I set that idea aside. I decided that even though I don't really need the extra stiffness, I like the comfort features in the Premier, and went with that. The fitter said my right foot is exactly a size 4, and my left foot almost a size 4.5, and that I'm kind of in between widths, so he recomended I get 4.5Ds. Getting a half size too big for my right foot sounded like a bad idea, and if I'm already getting my feet into 3s, then it seems like the 4 will be good enough for the left foot, so I went with size 4. (My sharpener agreed.) That leaves me the question of width. She didn't think I needed the wide, he thought I did. So I asked her if she wanted me to come up one more time before ordering, or if she wants to order the C width and punch out the front a bit if necessary. Since my heel slips in my current boots a bit, I think that 4C is probably the best idea, punching the front out. I told her if my current blades would work, I'd rather keep them, otherwise I am getting Ultima Matrix Legacy (in lilac this time, or silver if purple is unavailable). I'm a little nervous about the crosscut toepick, as I remember that being less steady than the straightcut, but they seem to be really highly recommended to go with crosscut... I decided to go with the Legacy to try the cross cut, and because while I felt like the Paramounts spun really well when I got them, they don't seem to anymore. Additionally, it sounds like the legacy has the carbon-steel that is supposed to last a long time without sharpening, and the low level paramounts do not. I hate such expensive decisions when there doesn't seem to be a clear choice!
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2011-06-13 18:51:00
So how much does a competition cost?
Don't let my husband see this post! Here is the break down for the competition...now, if I reuse the dresses, programs, etc the cost per unit will of course be lower per competition, but everything was specifically for this competition. (I will reuse it though!). Entry fees: $80 first event, $25 second event Freeskate choreography: n/a, I would have taken those lessons anyway Artistic choreography: $60 (1.5 hours of lessons with choreographer) Dresses: $68 freeskate, $77 artistic, $75 for stones Flower for Hair: $5.50 Glitter for Hair: $5 Club fee: $85 (although I also skated an exhibition, so we can call this 42.50, unless we call that exhibition a warm up, in which case, add $30 fee!) Photo CD: $30 for first event, $10 for second Gas: $26ish (240 miles at approx 35 mpg with gas at $3.80) Food at event: $3 Coach Fee: ??? (Yeah, we should have talked about this ahead of time...) So the total to compete? Almost $440 Holy Crap! Don't ever add it all up. It's better to not know. Was it worth it? Um, not when I look at it this way, but it sure was fun! Will I do it again? Probably- I mean, I have those gorgeous dresses...and I want to wear them again. I don't think the new "casual friday" at work will include skatewear.
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2011-06-16 09:41:00
This week in skating
Yesterday I went to freestyle ice, and was just so exhausted I could barely skate. I did all my jumps, none were that great. I did my spins, none were that great. (The backspin is spinning really well, but my foot still isn't getting crossed. I end in a pivot half the time. At least I'm on the right edge?) My scratch spin feels slow and lethargic- what happened to it? It used to be awesome. I did some moves- I can make it down half the rink now on backward power pulls on either foot. Yay left side! It's catching up... My forward ones are still ridiculously slow. I don't like to skate forward. My cross rolls are eh, there is no power to them. The big surprise of the day: where the heck did my 3-turns go? My back outside 3-turns were better than my forward inside ones on the silver move pattern, on both sides. Usually the first RFI is bad, and then I'm able to turn okay. I was putting my foot down constantly. FO wasn't great either, and BI didn't happen on either leg. It's been awhile, and they are clearly gone. I don't know if Wednesday is so bad because I'm tired and hungry after work or if it's because I just need a little break. No rest for the weary though- I was warned on Tuesday to bring pads to my lesson on Wednesday. It is apparently time to start on loops, flips, and camels. So then, Tuesday LTS. I was the only one who was there (T. moved, H. was on vacation, no one new until next session, if even then). Carson told me we didn't have to do power if I didn't want to, since it was just me. I said "Do you think I need it" and he said yes, so we went ahead on with the normal class. It was a killer- not having kids to whine and slow the class down means a lot more skating. My calves were cramping horribly (I really hope the new skates fix that...my fitter things I'm clenching my toes in the too small boots- they don't feel clenched to me though). Carson was really impressed with my speed on back crossovers, on both sides. "We just need to get you to jump out of that". HAHAHAHAHAHA! He tells me it will be a goal, maybe 2 or 3 months. Um- 2 or 3 years? 2 or 3 decades? But months- I'm going to need to laugh again. I can't even turn to face forward when skating that fast! Jumping is out of the question. Forward crossovers were not so good. I don't know why I hate skating forward so much. I'm just so tenative. I am back to sliding my foot across the ice though. I've been stepping crossovers since I got back from my break last year. I don't know what happened, so I'm glad to see the good ones are back. Oddly, I think I slide the foot better on the left than the right (the right is scratch) but the left over right crossovers are really weak- I mean, I'm moving like a snail. Part of the problem is that I don't bend my knees. I bend them much better going backwards (though I still drag my toe picks when I really pick up the speed). Is there something about the body position that makes you feel more likely to pitch over if you are going forward? Or is it just the fear of catching a toe pick? As always, after crossovers we did hockey lines and wall sits. Since there was no one to "race" (she always wins, but I try my best to keep up) Carson timed me and I had to race myself. The first set I did 45 seconds, then 43, then 42. I'm pretty impressed with myself, but holy crap is that exhausting. My toe pick grabbed into the ice on the last set but I managed to not fall. Thank goodness- that would have hurt. We did 25, 30, and 35 second wall sits- it's so weird, no matter what we started with my legs don't start shaking like crazy until he counts down to 5- then I feel like I'm about to fall down it is so difficult to hold myself up. In other news- new boots are officially ordered. She said it takes about 1 week for them to come in, and then of course, I have to have them fitted, heated, blades mounted, etc, so it might be awhile before I know how I like them. I'm very nervous about them, because other than the horrible calf pain, the occasional severe ankle pain, and the caluses on my big toes my current boots seem to be doing okay. What if these ones are too stiff? Too big? What if the new blades don't work for me? It's just so much money to spend (more than a competition- haha). A coworker pointed out that a really good baseball bat can cost $200-$400, so it seems ALL sporting equipment is ridiculously expensive, not just skates. How often do you think you need a new $300 bat?
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2011-06-18 20:12:00
Loop and Camel time
I still hate having an 8:30 lesson. I don't practice well before my lesson, I'm too worried about tiring myself out. So anyhow, I got to the rink 10 until 8:00 and got my skates on. There had been a girl scout slumber party at the children's museum, so the mall was buzzing, and there were TONS of people watching. Only the mall walkers are ever there this early, so it was nerve wracking, and loud. I got on the ice, and was super glad I wore my contacts- you could see the fog rolling out of the door. I did some good toe loops, some decent backspins, but my scratch spin was slow and uncentered- what happened? Those used to be so good. Warmed up waltz jump, salchow, waltz jump toe tap waltz jump, waltz jump toe tap salchow (hate it!), and then waltz-toe, salchow-toe (hate it!) and toe-toe (those suck, but I don't hate them). Then I did some 3-turns since I noticed last Wednesday that apparently they have disappeared completely. So Carson comes out for the lesson, and we start with spins (because I know he's going to make me do loops, so I'm saving those for the end so I don't need to wear pads the whole lesson. I hate skating in crash pads, my butt is fat enough, but apparently my hips need more padding...) And what do you know- super fast, well centered scratch spins. Go me! Carson even mentioned they were faster than usual. I got some corrections with my arms (keep the left one back? uh....) and did a few more- all very good. Moved onto backspin- not too bad, I'm still having trouble with the free leg crossing (I need to stop turning it out. I like it turned out!). He had me do a few without arms- scary, but I see the idea, got to snap the hips. Then we did sit spins, and they felt better but I'm just not sitting... Finally, we started camels. I don't know if he knew I had worked on camels with Andy, Courtney, and Burton (though I think it's at least a year since I've done one) so he was impressed with them for a start. Didn't do any real camels, just exercises for them, but I expect that to come soon. Then we moved onto jumps. I'm no longer starting my jump patterns at the red line, but now from the far blue line. So speed is the name of the game. Not a fan, personally. I actually find it really ackward, because I feel like I'm doing crossovers on a straightline, possibly because I'm doing more slower ones rather than really strong crossovers, where I'd only need a couple to cover the whole length. So ran through all the jumps, waltz, salchow, toe-loop, lots of combos as above. Didn't get too many corrections- keep my weight on the left side, strong landing position with a good check, shoulders down. The usual. I was pretty happy with it, and at least one of my salchows Carson said "that one had good height". That makes me pretty happy. The toe loop combos need a lot of work- the second one is so hard. Apparently the trick is to slow down. Slowing down is really hard to do when you skate as slow as I do! I need to pull the pivot more since I'm not going fast enough for it to pull itself. Carson does not accept toe-waltzes. Not an option. So finally, I put my pads on, and we went to the center of the rink and did "half a loop" exercises- from crossovers. Apparently, it's too easy to cheat loops from 3-turns. So we did them for awhile, and it just seemed weird, but I got the hang of the idea. Then we realized I was going the wrong way. hahaha. So going the other way, the rotation was more natural, but it was harder to do the jump- landing was easier though, as it's the same idea as half-flip (not doing half-loops, just half of a loop). I don't know if I'll ever be able to jum all the way around from crossovers though, I just feel so stuck. Then we did a few from the 3-turn, and I actually jumped but THUNK down onto the center of my blade. I need to take off and land from the toe pick, and it's always THUNK. I don't take off from the toe pick either. I wonder if new boots will help this, because while I don't feel it, according to the fitters my toes are curled over, maybe that's why I have trouble articulating them. Then, because I had pads on, I had to do toe loops from a fast entry- all the way across the rink. I did two, and they were okay. The pivot happened (I got complimented on "slowing down the movements to go with the speed") but the landings - wow. I can see what he means about me not having control of my landings. I didn't fall (I don't fall... it is RARE) but holding onto it was HARD. I two footed the second one. In other news, I got the preview of my competition prints. A few are really cute, a few I look like a whale on ice (what happened to my arms? My legs look great...), I'm debating whether or not i'm off the ice in the half-flip picture (can't wait to see the high resolution and see if I can resolve this), but in almost everyone, even if my chin is up, my eyes are down. Does that still count as "look up"?
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2011-06-21 19:55:00
Not a good night...
So tonight I had a bit of a nervous breakdown. During power class, I actually had to excuse myself and leave because I just couldn't handle it. I walked off the ice, into the bathroom and tried not to cry, the whole time thinking to myself "Jessica, you are almost 30 years old, why in the world would crying even be an option?" I didn't cry- but from my face you could tell it would just be a matter of seconds before I might start- I go red easily... So what happened. Well fear. Here's the thing. I am the luckiest person on earth. I know that. For the severity of the injury I had, the fact that I ice skate, heck the fact that I am walking, the fact that I can use my arms fully is lucky. But that injury instilled a fear in me that relates to EVERYTHING I do. I know what it is like to lay paralyzed in a hospital bed. I know what it's like to be taught how to walk again, how to hold a pencil, how to tie shoes. I've had a fork tied to a band and strapped on my wrist to allow me to feed myself. And I am terrified that somehow it could happen again. For that reason, I fear a collision and a bad fall in skating. I've talked with my doctor and she doesn't think it poses enough of a risk that I shouldn't skate. Chances are I would handle a bad fall like any other person, my neck won't make a difference. But logic can't counteract fear. And fear I have. So what happened? Today for power class because after we finished our 3 lap the ice was empty Carson decided we should skate on the large center circle. Usually we skate on a corner hockey circle and dodge Sandy's Basic 7-8 class. This was a chance to get a little bit of a bigger circle, and thus, more speed. We did at least 2 maybe even 3 skills before another coach sent his class out into the ice. Not to the empty spot on the side of the ice, but straight to the center circle. Which they then skated on doing waltz jumps, while we were doing speed drills. Now, I'm getting better at handling freestyle sessions- but this wasn't that, this was a herd of skaters surrounding me, (and at this point, skating in the opposite direction from me). Some of these skaters are strong skaters, but others are not. I would not trust the majority of this class to avoid a collision, it would be on me. (As opposed to when Y. or D. from axel plus skate through- one, it's not a herd, two, they are just as responsible for maneuvering as I am because they are strong skaters.) After a few times around the circle (we were skating fast) I told Carson I just couldn't handle it. I left the ice. By the time I left the bathroom the large freestyle class had moved to the side, the coach was demonstrating something, so I joined my class again. I was glad, because if I wasn't comfortable enough to go back out there, man was I going to complain. I don't get free lessons anymore. If your group classes have a skater leaving the ice due to FEAR because of how a coach is conducting their class, that is a BIG problem. That's not the fear I have when Carson asks me to do a jump from a new set up, this is fear because two instructors are essentially feuding over space. And that's not okay! So then, I don't know if Carson also said something while I was off ice, but when I got back, and that class started moving again, they didn't take the center circle, they moved to the left side of the ice. After just a few minutes, and some dirty looks from Andy, would you know it - Axel plus moved to the other side of the rink. The whole night was one big power play. It's ridiculous. (Y. and D. did come wooshing by a few times, because they are doing big enough jumps they need a full ice set up, but that was totally okay.) So other than that, everything went okay. Some major pain in the right ankle when sustaining forward swizzle pumps, and by the time we got to the backward ones my calfs were killing me. I really hope knew boots help this. I don't have creases in my old boots, but I noticed they are starting to form, so I think the extra bend is what is causing my ankle pain, I hope the calf pain is relieve when my toes aren't so scrunched... The hockey line drills killed me, I was just exhausted. I also messed my knees up a bit, hopefully it's just soreness and it will be gone by tomorrow, but we did lunges across the rink (and then also lunge pull up to an extension- man did I feel like I'd face plant there...) Also signed up for another session of torture. These classes kill me, but they are great exercise and I really do think it's helping my speed.
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2011-06-22 07:51:00
Club? Or not?
So I'm trying to figure out if I join the club next year, or go with Individual Membership. I'm currently enrolled in college, so I can get the collegiate rate. For individual members, that is $177.50 for 4 years. My club has decided to add additional fees to the $70 USFSA charges (makes sense, they gotta run somehow), so it is $110 for the first year, $40 any additional year you are in college, and then $60 (associate member fee) if you are no longer in college. That kind of makes me mad, because USFSA says it's a consecutive membership you can take advantage of any year you are in college, this kind of assumes you have to do it your first year. And really- this kind of membership, as USFSA has laid it out seems like it would be a perfect gift for a college SENIOR, who will then not have to pay club fees as they get started on their own (most college skaters seem to be bankrolled by their parents- it's true. Heck, most middle/upper middle class college students are bankrolled by their parents, though possibly they have student loans for the actual fees). For me, that would work out to $110 this year, $40 next, and then $60 for the next two years: $270 total. Regular club membership it is $90 per year, or $360 for 4 years. So that's definetly a savings. But is individual membership more worth it? I have to take my Bronze test, so that will have one out of club fee $15 if I do it at Hawkeye. But even if I join HSC, and test somewhere else I'm paying an out of club fee. They do only 1 test session a year, so that is pretty likely that I'd be paying it anyway. I likely won't have any tests after that unless they change silver moves, I've reached a ceiling. What else does the club offer? Well, there are usually two exhibitions a year. The out of club fee to do that is $10. So if I do one exhibition a year, as an individual member that costs me $40 extra, if I do both, $80. So that brings the individual membership up to $177.50 + (possible) $15 + $80 (high estimate) = $272. Making it more expensive than HSC, but only in the "worst case" scenario (because I likely wouldn't do all the shows, and I bet I test out of club). HSC also gets us ice discounts, but right now I'm not paying for ice because I'm enrolled in LTS. Let's say I do pay for ice: that's $2 per session, once a week, 50 weeks a year: so $100 savings. That would seem worthwhile. But that's also assuming the $60 associate member rate doesn't go up. So it seems money wise, it makes sense to go individual. But is it enough of a savings? Because if it's only a few bucks, it doesn't seem worth it to piss off the people at my rink... But since Hawkeye isn't letting us have a 4-year membership, what happens if I move? Can I join another club as an associate member, but still have it be my "home club"? Or would I essentially be tied to joining Hawkeye as my home club (because that's what USFSA thinks I am for 4-years) and then joining another club as an associate member?
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2011-06-22 20:11:00
Competition Pictures are here!
Here is the opening pose of my freeskate. Also, my half-flip, which is visibly off the ice- we'll ignore the fact that no one jumps with arms out like that. Yay me. Oh, and a picture from the part of my artistic program where I wake up from a nap (no idea what's going on there. Probably one of my big open mouth smiles caught with weird arms)and then my ending position.
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2011-06-26 21:54:00
See if the attachment works...
New skates! They seem to fit, though they feel a little snug at the big toe, after a few sessions, i'll probably need to get them punched out. Glad I went with lilac blades, they are almost the same shade as my old pink ones, barely purple at all...and much prettier than the pink ultima blades a girl at the rink has. I'm terrified to try skating. They feel so different, and the rock on the blade is insane...I didn't realize how flat mine got. And I got pretty new tie dye soakers...free. woo, bonus. Am thinking about a zuca. Such pretty skates deserve a nicer bag...but I'm out of money!




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2011-06-27 19:00:00
I hate getting new skates
I am sitting here doing homework (taking 2 classes...I have TONS of it!) wearing my boots, just to get them to conform to my feet a bit more. My feet are going numb like crazy. I can wiggle my toes around, but I think they are too narrow. This is exactly how that first pair of boots felt...and those were a disaster. Of course, my heel already feels a little loose (though the major padding holds the ankle in place) so wides would have it slipping all over the place. I still can get them punched out, but I wish I had had the chance to try them on before she mounted the blades. The length seems better, but the width I don't think so. The insole, my toe is slightly off the side of it (but it's like that on the wide insoles too for my other skates.) Hopefully punching them will help, but who knows when I can get up there with my busy schedule. I am just so sad. I know I need to skate in them and give them a chance, but if my feet go numb doing nothing, I just don't have high hopes. I hate new boots so much. But I hate my old boots too...
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2011-06-28 20:56:00
New skates
Holy crap these things feel huge! I am going to have to lace TIGHT as they get more worn in... I'm very nervous about the movement of the heel up and down in the boot. There is a lot of padding, so my ankles hold in place, but the heel slips a little already. My toes have so much room (although on the insole, my pinky toe is off of it)- they just feel gigantic. I think my calf problem was definitely caused by me not realizing I was clenching my toes for too small boots. I found myself curling them a lot tonight, but then realizing I can UNcurl them. Now that I think about it, I remember getting yelled at in dance for clenching my toes...uh oh. I do have a pressure point on the boot, basically where the instep meets the heel, on the inside of my right foot. It didn't blister, but it feels like someone is pressing a dowel or something into it (not sharp pain, but pain). We'll see if that goes away. I got to LTS early and did some laps, but H. wasn't there so Carson just did a "break in skates" lesson. The only really bad part is when kids would cut through I cannot stop! So what is normally me getting out of their way, because they have no control (the low level kids) turned into an awful game of chicken- I can't get out of the way! I think that most of the problems I have now are actually blade problems, not boot ones. I haven't tried forward crossovers yet, but my backward ones are getting better as the session went on. half-swizzles I could get up to speed (scary when you can't stop) and had a LOVELY rip on every push. I love that noise. Carson was impressed too...I bet it doesn't stick around for long... I did a lot of slaloms. We did 3-turns and those were not good, but my 3-turns have been really bad lately, so I can only sort of blame it on the blades. Did some bunny hops and my "wrong side" (which should be my good side) bunny hop is miserable- I can't even figure out how the legs are supposed to funciton, much less take off from the toe pick. Edges were okay except back inside- I couldn't hold them at all, so we ended up doing just a power pull sort of edge, step to the other foot and do that one. My left back outside was also week, I was tripping onto the toepick- that's my landing edge, so that's not a good thing. We also did spins. The scratch spin after about 10 tries is looking like it might come back soon. I tried one with my leg crossed and immediatly fell off balance (I fall onto the toepick) but for the most part they were getting faster and tighter each time. I look like I'm in Basic 8 again. Backspin is completely gone. Bummer- it was just coming back. So the toe pick- I compared it to the old blades- exactly the same size. It feels 10 times bigger. I'm dragging it on back crossovers and spinning on it like crazy. I guess it's just the new rocker, though these have the same one as my old blades (though it's worn down). Last time I switched blades I remember a tough transition. Carson is out of town for the next two weekends, so no lessons- that is good timing! The boots I'm going to have to figure out how to lace them. They felt too loose, but if I tightened them anymore, I couldn't bend at all. But mostly, I feel like the boots are fine. The adjustment is more to the blades than the break in to the boots. My toes went a little numb while we were standing and talking, but they did okay skating. Thank goodness!
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2011-06-28 22:02:00
In other news...
I washed my skate bag (backpack). Purex laundry crystals smell SO much better than feet.
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2011-06-29 09:13:00
ARGH!
Do you read the Xan-boni blog? (If you don't you need to: xan-boni.blogspot.com excellent skating blog!) She recently posted about why it is wrong to ask coaches for discounts. I don't really agree with her, coaches are adults and can just say no if they don't want to discount for you. But it was a good post. The comment sections turned into a debate about low-income children and how skating just leaves them out, and how we need better sponsorship programs for skaters. The problem with that is to sponsor a skater they really need to show talent for skating- to get to the point where you can show talent, you really already need the money to at least afford skating at the level I do (over $1,000 a year in lessons) and very low income kids can't even do that. So some "Anonymous" poster is esstially calling the many of us who don't think low-income children need skating (as I pointed out: children NEED food, clothing and shelter. I'm even willing for my taxes to support community centers where they can play basketball and hang out in a safe space. Some people won't even support that and a basketball court is a heck of a lot cheaper to maintain than an ice rink) horrible people with a "not in my backyard" attitude. UM- WTF? Give you name "Anonymous" and then let's see all the skaters you are sponsoring! I am a very charitable person, but the country and the world have much greater needs than ice skating! I understand the coach's perspective of "I can't afford the lessons"* and then the skater shows up in a Lexus with Chloe Noel pants and a Zuca bag (oh man are poor Chloe Noel's being dragged through the mud as all that is wrong with skating...if we all gave up our chloe noel's think of the poor kids who could skate instead!). But it's my money and I work hard for it. If I want to spend money on skating and not give it to someone else to spend on skating, that does not make me a horrible person. Similarly, if I choose for my charitable givings to go to Girl Scouts, Doctor's Without Border's, St. Jude's Hospital and similar programs, rather than some kid's ice skating fund, that does not make me a horrible person. But the thread is just making me effing mad. If you are going to call out people for having a "NIMBY" attitutude, use your name. What's in YOUR backyard? My backyard actually has a HUD development...so I don't live in a little McMansion castle in a whitewashed neighborhood filled with little girls in Chloe Noel's. She said "it's easy for someone on the outside to determine what low-income kids need"...um sweetie, I haven't lived my whole life only on the outside. It's not a situation I've ever lived in but all the schools I taught in were 95+% free lunch. These kids wouldn't EAT if we didn't serve them breakfast and lunch. They didn't have mattresses to sleep on at their houses (they did have big screen TVs though...) These kids don't NEED ice skating. They'd probaby have fun doing it, and my volunteer-girl scout troop might have even taken a trip (much of it on my dime...the council paid about 3/4- the kids paid nothing) if our area had a rink, but elite skating, sad as it is is for the rich...way the heck richer than I am. We aren't a country where the state pays for athletes, and it's a sad truth. Kids who need this sort of sponsorship would do better with team sports that might lead to college scholarships, not a once in four years chance of glory and sponsorship. Even our national champions have trouble findng big time sponsors- potatoes, Rachel Flatt? I'm annoyed! I need to just stay away from that thread. *This is actually why I didn't ask Carson for any sort of discount. I'm better off than I was when I skated under Burton, and he's a college kid. I HATE how much lessons cost, and don't schedule any extra lessons because I think it's just too much, but we are getting a brand new car, I spent the money on pretty colored blades and I'm buying a pair of GASP! Chloe Noel pants... It would be unfair to say I "need" a discount, because really, I just WANT one.
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