Hot to trot/Not so hot lessons & practices | Golden Skate

Hot to trot/Not so hot lessons & practices

Glacierskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
8/17-23 Hot to trot/Not so hot lessons & practices - 8/17-8/23

Cinder,
I hope that I am not stepping on your toes by starting this, but I have to express my utter joy with skating in the last week! I have been away from the board, and missed sharing with you all.


Last week I logged about 30 hours of skating in 4 days. I have started with a new coach in another rink, and he is amazing. I see light at the end of the tunnel! I now drive 2 hours one way to see this other coach, but the time flies as I am so enamored with this sport. In 30 minutes we had my flip and loop much improved. My fear of smacking my head has vanished, and I am landing loops and flips consistently now! I am so excited! Did I mention that already?

I have also started to keep a skating log (as inspired by Cinderella in Ice) and it is helping as well. I am also getting ready to prepare myself for my Bronze MIF and freeskate in November.

Also had tryouts last week for our annual Christmas show. I don't do well with impromptu anything, and did not feel good about my performance. However, with today's fabulous lesson, I am renewed in my drive and determination. I hope that everyone is experiencing this joy in the coming week. I have missed talking to everyone. Our rink is closed this week, so I will be online more. Happy skating, happy week, have loop/flip jumps! :p

Glacier
 
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Cinderella on Ice

Bless you, Fairy Godmother, I'm Having a BALL!
On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Glacier — woo woo woo woo! I could feel the joy just oozing out of your post (and your email). I'm so EXCITED for you that you're getting such inspiration from this coach. He must be fabulous! You've replaced the head-smacking with head-soaring. What a great feeling, and thanks for sharing it because it makes me want to go run out onto the ice (oops, better wait until tomorrow, when the rink is open and I'm dressed...don't think an old lady in pajamas is exactly the chic skating look of the moment!).

Oh, and no one is ever stepping on "my" toes by starting our weekly thread. I am just usually the first one on here on a Sunday morning.
 

Glacierskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I tried to edit the heading to include the date and could not. Sorry about that. I will be looking forward to hearing about your skating adventures this week.
 

rachelstarlet

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
It was the last lesson I will ever have (probably) as a duo with Tricia. Neither of us are incredibly emotional types so we were fine w/ it but I thought it was a milestone worth noting :)

Not so hot: I was SO tired during practice bcs I came straight from an overnight babysitting job... sheesh, they completely drained my energy! I was peppy for the lesson but afterwards I just went downhill. Tricia was tired too (she leaves tomorrow for college) so we called it a day after about an hour and a half. Everything went fine, I was just tiiiiired, which it seems like I have been a lot lately! (On Wednesday we were both zombies as well... I dunno.)

Hot to trot: Joy showed us a waltz-toe loop combo and I found that my "toe loop" was much better/closer to reaching the real thing. It was funny. My waltz jump is more secure than my RFI3. I also am better at the toe loop if I enter it from a LFO3 and then step with my right foot. I did my best toe loop ever (out of like, 25 that I've tried, total) while Joy was watching so that was nice. She said if I extended my arms more going into it then I'd actually get some height and help my rotation but I get scared so I kind of crunch up my arms and shoulders. Oh, and she showed us how to do backwards edges and helped me with my two-foot spin a bit. So, a good lesson. I have one more (alone) w/ Joy before I leave and then it's off to Spokane to get used to a new rink and eventually find a new coach...


Glacier: Great work! Congrats on getting over the fear factor. Someone at the rink commented that a little fear is healthy, but too much will just keep you back - looks like you found the balance! I hope you get a fun part in the Christmas show... I'm really looking forward to opportunities like that bcs I love performing :love:

EDITED TO ADD THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF TODAY'S LESSON/PRACTICE: Guess what guys! I am truly a real skater now because I had my first.........



forgot-to-take-guards-off moment!! Hah. Did you expect that? I wanted NEVER to make that mistake, but yes, I confidently stepped out onto the ice, and promptly went SPLAT, although I know what was going through my head in that split second was this: "Why does the ice feel weird why aren't my blades gripping the ice did the hockey boys mess it up over here why am I falling OW!" At least Tricia was next to me so I took them off, handed them to her in embarrassment, and skated off with a sore behind. Hah. Just had to share that little story :laugh:
 
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Glacierskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
RACHEL! I am emotional and very sentimental. I hope that you have a safe trip to Spokane and that you gain computer access rapidly. You are one of the family on this thread of skating progress, and we will miss your short absence. I hope that you find a wonderful coach, and rink. Are you going to school up there? Good luck with everything and get back to us soon. You are coming along so nicely and we NEED you at Adult Nationals :p

I also performed the 'experienced skater leaves that blade guards on' move one time. It was embarrassing, but it hurt too. You desrcibed it perfectly.

Be well, and get back to us soon.

Glacier
 

Yazmeen

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
Good luck, Rachel, please keep in touch and KEEP SKATING!!! And we've all done the "blade guards dance," so you ARE a real skater now!!!

No skating nor lesson with hubby's coach today--for either of us. There was a major power outage at the rink yesterday, and they had to cancel afternoon Freestyle ice along with this morning's ice time to get everything back up and running. Just as well. I've been very stressed lately, and the last few days gave me an opportunity to get a massage, work to get my painful neck and back muscles back in order, and get some sleep. I'll get to run down my new sharpening and just practice on Thursday, and I'm taking a long weekend (Fri. to Mon.) to just relax and regroup. This time, I needed the break, even from skating.
 

Yazmeen

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
:( Well, I'm getting a longer break than I thought--no ice this Thursday AM as everybody but me is away. Unless I skate Saturday, which is iffy, I"ll be off ice for two weeks!!!! But, at least my back and neck will get a break, so there is a positive. Time for lots of rest!!!!:cry:
 

sk8er1964

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Hi all! Just got back from vacation in Canada (what a nice country :) ) on Sunday. I wrote this nice, long post last night and for some reason it wouldn't post - said something about too many icons or something (don't remember because I was so tired).

I've been back on the ice for 2 days - yesterday it felt like I had been off for a month. Amazing how quickly you can lose your training. However, by today all was fine.

Cinderella - isn't your test coming up real soon? Hope I didn't miss it.

For me, I had my last lesson on this session today. Here's how it went:

Hot to Trot - Well, the decision has been made to test my Intermediate MIF's next month (assuming I can get into the test session - they cancelled this month's due to the power outage and rescheduled everyone for next month). Coach said I will be ready, but I'm a bit nervous because the only MIF test I've ever done was the Adult Gold.

Not so Hot - I had a collision today, the first I've had since I've been back on the ice. Nobody was hurt, but it was scary. I was doing my CW power pushes into power 3's pattern (or whatever it's called - I always get the name confused) when a dance team ran into me. Then, when I was doing another MIF, somebody at the edge of the ice screamed right behind me -- I about jumped out of my boots! I am so glad that this was the last time on this particular session because it has been like this all summer.

For those of you who post on the other site, please forgive me for my repetition/copying. I'm a bit too tired again tonight to be original twice :sheesh: (this icon is a close as I can come to embarassed).
 

singerskates

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Not so Hot :
On the Ina Bauer:Well, I still am coming out too soon. I think I need to do more stretching and stuff and just plain keep on trying. I will get this thing someday, someway.

My spins were travelling badly on Tuesday. Went to the doc on MOnday to get antihistamines and he looked at my ears and found that I have fluid in my ears. I'm suppose to go back after a while to check to see if it cleared or not. If not, I'm on antibacterials again.

Both Not so Hot and Hot to Trot:
Jumps were either there or not. Toe loop when on was good. Salchow same and waltz too. Even did a waltz/toe/toe, a half flip/waltz and a salchow/toe. But once I got tired out went the jumps. Had to pull out of my one and only attempt at my back spiral/salchow combo because the traffic was too great times time. The public skaters stayed on the ice way too long. LOL

Hot to Trot:
Met some synchro skaters from Quebec who just moved here. They are 13 and 10 and have their gold skills and junior bronze freeskates but don't compete anymore.

I'm changing clubs. Out with Riverside and in with Club Tecumseh.
Bigger ice pads (NHL size), flexable times to choose from where I can choose the days, number of days and times and lower fees than Riverside. Ice goes until March 19th, 2004. They even have ticket ice in the early afternoons. Works great for me.
 

Cinderella on Ice

Bless you, Fairy Godmother, I'm Having a BALL!
On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
First, let me apologize to everyone for not posting "personal" notes to you here, but I've been stretched so thin at work lately, I barely have time to post. I'll stop being self-centered very soon.

HOT TO TROT - I had a good practice skate on Monday morning, but because I'm behind in posting for 3 days, I'll kind of skip it. Yesterday's practice and lesson were a bit of a turning point for me. All of a sudden, I'm no longer self-conscious about doing my program in front of people. And it's a good thing, too, because it is not always lovely. It's like a light snapped on--I realized that all the "kids" at the rink do their programs and (like me) they make many more mistakes on jumps and spins when they are doing the program than they do when they practice them separately. Well, duh! My separate run-throughs of the elements were good. I got very excited at one point because I was doing my camel/sit and one of the coaches I know shouted out, "You go girl, that is some awesome speed on that spin girlfriend!" Gosh, that made my day.

When my coach arrived, she worked with me on all of the connecting moves so that my arms are not flinging all over the place. What a difference in speed and balance! I did a run-through of the program for her and while I was very underwhelemed (I felt it was my weakest in a week), she hasn't seen me for 10 days and she was totally positive. She said she thought it would pass Silver FS with no trouble. Oh, and then she had me do a lutz and I did the nicest lutz of my entire life! I floated above the ice for what seemed like hours and it was so smooooth and high! We were all surprised.

MORE HOT TO TROT - Today's practice was even better. I did a nice run-through of the program and while I was breathing hard afterward, I am no longer out of breath. I worked hard on smoothing out the transitions between the jumps and spins, something that will continue to need work but is looking better. I worked on my twizzle and am pleased to say that I felt like I'm making progress on the whole thing. Of course, I wish that testing were not THIS FRIDAY, but it's got to happen sometime!

NOT SO HOT - My test was supposed to be in the morning (it's about an hour from my house) and then at 3:30 I was going to get my cast off. Last night they told me the only time I could test was some time around 3:00-4:00, but they couldn't guarantee the time. My ortho doc closes at 5 p.m. and doesn't open again till Monday. On Monday a.m. I leave for Atlanta. And there is no way I want to have the cast cut off before I skate my test (I'd be a nervous wreck.) What to do, what to do? To make a long story short, my husband came up with a great idea. I'm having the cast cut off, x-rays taken, get my brace, etc. etc. tomorrow morning (the only time the doc could take me). Then, we are going to PUT THE CAST BACK ON and tape it in place until after I am done skating on Friday. Then I'll take it off that night and switch to the brace. Problem solved.
 

aly*cutie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
hot to trot- I had perfect spins today and I learned the broken leg spin! And my sit spin was so low and my back was perfect and my leg was straight :)

not so hot- My jumps weren't as good. I couldn't land them right. And I almost landed on another coach doing a messed up axel! lol!
 

sk8er1964

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
starshinexavier said:
Thank you, and whereabouts did you visit?

We went to the Pinery Provincial Park on Lake Huron, west of Grand Bend. This is the second year that we've been there, and it is sooo nice. Our campsite backed up to the dunes, was pretty private, and had a resident chipmunk that my son fed at least 1/4 pound of peanuts to (so he's set for winter).
 

rachelstarlet

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Everyone: Thanks for the encouragement about my upcoming move to college... I still have a week left here, but there is a lot of change ahead, so I need all the encouragement I can get! :)

Cinderella: You post so many "personal" notes that you deserve a break!!! Don't worry :)

The past week and a half or so has felt very looong and draining so I told myself I wouldn't push myself too hard during practice today. I decided to take a "quality, not quantity" approach so I worked a lot on stroking, crossovers, edges, and turns. Did a few waltz jumps, didn't even get to half flips or toe loops but I didn't mind at all. Didn't spin either.

Not so hot: More crowded than usual today, and I got there an hour into the (3hr long) session and the ice was already kinda torn up. At one point I counted 18 skaters on hockey skates, added to the handful of figure skaters... I know I've been spoiled by sessions with very few people, but still. When the hockey boys started chasing each other and throwing their gloves, I decided it was time for a good long break... lol

Hot to trot: Worked on edges (lobes?) and they were be-yoo-tiful today, nice and smooth, and my arms and free leg cooperated and my posture was good and everything. I wonder if they would've passed if I were being tested on basic forward edges... I'm not that fast but my edge quality today was deep and smooth. Backward edges, which I was introduced to on Monday, were another story. I couldn't get the push off quite right and then I just kept gliding backwards instead of really holding onto an edge. It was kinda funny. But I'm not too worried about them, because the first time I tried to do forward edges on the line (only like a month ago) I wasn't in control at all. So it'll come. Also I stretched and then worked on spread eagles and Ina Bauers which aren't really correct yet because I can't manage a very good turn out... but they still feel great to do because my body feels very stretched and relaxed afterwards. Today I played around with a lot of pretty arm positions and I could see myself in the reflection from the hockey glass and it didn't look half bad. I am not very naturally flexible (but I'm working hard on it!) but I think I can be fairly graceful so these kinds of elements are things I'd like to work hard on.
 

Lanie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I have no hot to trot/not so hot comments...all we did was work on edging and control and positions and smooth movements. By the end of the session I felt so much more in control of myself, so much more graceful. The transformation into a skater is starting to work! Heheh. :)
 

Cinderella on Ice

Bless you, Fairy Godmother, I'm Having a BALL!
On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Lanie - I'd consider your edge and control work "hot to trot" even if it seemed mundane at the time. The transition into a skater is ALWAYS exciting! Good job!
 

icedream

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Not so hot- I can't do a loop the way normal people do it! I have to do it from a RFI three turn (and i can only do it from that sometimes). I can't do the preparation for it. ugh! it's so frustrating!!!

Hot to Trot- I did a sitspin without falling :D it took an hour, but i did it! Also, I'm getting my flip much better. All I have to do now is cross my left leg over my right leg. And I landed my axel on the floor, yay.
 

aly*cutie

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
ice dream- I used to have the same exact problem with my loop! But I practiced it a lot, and my coach told me to elevate, then rotate on it. It worked :) But you will get your loop! I am still a lot better at RFI three turn way though :)
 

Cinderella on Ice

Bless you, Fairy Godmother, I'm Having a BALL!
On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Icedream - and the good news is that when your coach wants you to put the loop in your program, preceded by two consecutive forward inside 3s (like mine does), you'll be all set!
 
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