March 2010

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2010-03-11 11:05:00
A tale of three lessons.
My knee is better! Well, mostly. It's still sore. But it's not so much pain I can't sleep anymore. Turns out it was the same tendinitis as last time. That's what I get for being helpful and ripping up carpet. I'm still doing that, but I can't kneel or squat to do it (that makes the job much harder...) I'll make sure to post a link to my blog when we finally finish the home redo- but it will be awhile yet... Anyhow- I never posted about last week. Last tuesday I taught, but only skated for about 5 minutes- just doing crossovers, and I had way too much pain in my hip to continue. (The right hip, from falling on it. I posted about that, right? Falling just marking a mohawk and not actually skating). So yeah- I couldn't extend my leg behind me during the crossovers, and it was just too much pain, so I got off the ice. So last Wednesday I had a private lesson. I told her I definetly couldn't jump, but thought I'd be able to get through dance because my day at work went well. The problems from tuesday with extending backwards weren't so bad- it was bearable at least- but right swing rolls- a major problem, extending forward, even just to ankle level was excruciatingly painful. So I did full swing rolls on the left side and then just did a very small extension on the right side. Got some good work on the dutch waltz in. But after 15 minutes, I had to stop. It was a good 15 minute lesson, but it's sad to only make it 15 minutes on the ice. So then I didn't skate Saturday. Now this Tuesday- feeling much better- knees are good, full range of motion is back in the hips, though they are still achy like they've been for months now; but at least I can put my pants on without pain. (Seriously- lifting my foot enough to get it through the hole in the pants was horrible last week. I had NO range of motion). So I taught, and that went well, then I took class with Andy. I was working with snowplow kids, so I missed the first 5 minutes, but the kids were working on double-toe, and they did the entire 30 minutes with toe loops, "once arounds", and then doubles. So for me, 25 minutes of toe loops. Yeah- that's too much jumping for me. I was in a lot of pain. And my hard earned toe loop from 3 weeks ago was nowhere to be seen. I think I only did maybe 5 real toe loops the entire time. BOO. There were a few landings that killed- although I think sitting at work is a major cause of the hip pain, that landing told me that jumping is also. But mostly it was just a frustrating "why do I even bother, I need a new hobby" type experience. Not a good skating day. Then yesterday, I had a lesson with Courtney. We went over my program I learned 2 weeks ago. I had the basic ideas of it down, and her diagram, but her diagram didn't really make sense- I couldn't figure out how I got from a A to B in a few places, and if I was doing move X how I ended up in direction Y. Well it turns out it is becasue she only vaguely knows how I come out of spins and jumps. About 25% of the program was written for a CW skater, and the rest for a CCW one. Then we even had to talk about whether I came out of spins on my left foot too- or just my jumps. I laughed and told her it's always the left foot! So we got it all sorted out, and it all works now, AND I don't have to do the 8 step mohawk anymore as a connecting move. Still haven't tried it to music, but overall, the lesson was really uplifting and made me happy to be on the ice. Oh, also- I did a really awesome scratch spin where I actually sped up when I pulled my hands up at the end. Usually I defy physics and the speed doesn't change at all. It was very cool. So overall skating is a bit blah, but I guess there is hope on the horizon. I won't be testing next month because the deadline is Monday and I a) can't jump and b) haven't even tried the program to music, so it's not going to happen. I wish we were in an area with enough test sessions that you didn't have to turn the paperwork in 6-weeks ahead of time, but oh well. I also decided not to do the dances yet, because it's not like I can move on until I can do the Rhythm Blues anyway. I'm not a USFS member, so I'll just shoot for 4 tests in the fall, and save the membership fee for this year. The dances are $35 each, so if Motown Tango is in August (and I go) I might try to do them there, where they are $10 each. I want Courtney to teach me the next 3 dances so that if I go for a dance day of the weekend, I can do at least 7 dances (I'm counting the willow waltz, since I know it, and can kind of do it...) I don't know if I'm going to go though. I'm not any better than I was last year, and I think it would be tough to go and see everyone who was there last year be improved and me be stuck... I'm hoping to start pilates again soon. That should help my hips, knees, and likely my skating.
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