Suntanned/Sunburned Lessons & Practices, 11/17 - 11/23

Sunburned: My sinuses. I had a lovely vacation in the sun and my sinuses decided to crash the last day, on the way home. Major congestion, ick.

Suntanned: Me, baby!!! A week in Grand Cayman to sun, rest, shop, take an hour for lunch and party hearty. And guess what? Synchro fits into the good category!!! Seems while we were gone, the coach simplified the routine (with some help and insistence from the other skaters) and today hubby and I were pretty much able to keep up, and it looks fairly good already. I have to work on the one mohawk move--another shorter skater like me and I have to connect with the front line, consisting of hubby and two higher level skaters, all of whom are over 5'8". They just move a little too fast for me to catch up, so the group of us will be at the State Park rink I assist at this weekend as its opening weekend for skating, so we plan to run it over and over until we get it right. I stumbled once and fell, but no harm done. I think this is going to OK.

So, how is YOUR skating week starting?

Looking good, Yazmeen. Yuk about the sinuses, but yay about the great vacation.

Suntanned - Tuesday’s lesson and practice were awesome. First, I had tons less pain because we heat molded the skates last night. I’m totally surprised, but it actually seemed to help! I’m down to two main pressure points - the inside left ankle, and the right baby toe (that one is the worst). We ordered one of those shoe punch-out/stretchie things where you put the little corn gizmo where you need it, and then crank the shoe thingie to stretch the boot there. It should arrive next week.

Coach and I worked on all the basic elements, and things are shaping up. She was totally impressed with my progress from last week (my first lesson int he skates). Where I'M most pleased is that I no longer have any FEAR when I take off for my axels. I know think of them as just another jump. Yippee!

Wednesday I plan to work on footwork and connecting steps. These are so far the hardest things to do in the new, stiff boots. I still have a couple of pressure points, and last night I bought out the Dr. Scholl's section of the drugstore so that I can protect all the chafing and smashing, etc. I also ordered $50 worth of bunga pads which include ankle sleeves and disks. Let’s hope this will help.

Hope everyone is geared up for a great week of skating. Look out for me -- the stiff boots and new blades still make my stopping a little uncertain! I wouldn't want to crash into ya, cuz you'd need those Bunga gel shorts so ya wouldn't get hurt!

BTW, has anyone used those? They looked like a good idea for learning doubles. But they are mucho expensive -- around $80.

Cinder: I use skatingsafe pads on hips, tailbone, knees and now even the glove pads for my wrists since we're starting backspin and loop will be on its way. I have a strong family history of osteoporosis, so I simply can't be stupid and risk injury. Pads run about $35 apiece, last forever, and the nice thing is, you place where they go (I wear them against the body under single or double layer of tights.) They have saved me from many bruises or worse, and I haven't had to replace any of them yet.

www.skatingsafe.com I started with the impact asbsorbers and now use the UltraCrash pads. I even tested a couple of the prototypes for the owner (by the way I have no financial relationship with the company, just so you know!!! He used to work in medical grade gel pads for Cath and OR tables and we became phone buddies over our mutual medical experience, so he sent prototypes for me to try out and opinionate on).

As for me, no skating yesterday. I was supposed to have a 6:00 PM lesson during groups as I had to cancel my early morning lesson due to a drive to a conference I was presenting at. Unfortunately, on the way home the coolant system on my car went kablooey--luckily it did it only a couple of miles from the house. The dealer came to tow the car but didn't have a loaner, and while hubby waited for the tow truck I had to fly over to the local rental place to reserve a car before they closed at 6:00. Grrr....

Suntanned....Worked on entry into spins plus forward and back crossovers. Finally getting a decent lean into the circle and the edges are so much quieter.

Sunburned....A lot of the skaters at Lake Placid had the stomach bug and working the registration table, I was in the line of fire as far as exposure was concern and yup, came down with it last night, tossing my cookies. Felt a little better today but I don't think I will work on my spins!!

Suntanned: My back edge pulls were quite good. My coach was stunned that I could do them in both feet with speed and flow. Actually, I must give credit to my coach. She was holding my hands last week to show me how to rotate my hands/arms while doing back edge pulls. It makes all the difference in the world. Knee bend helps too!

1 foot spin was getting better and better. My coach said my spin entrance was very good now. She said I was actually spinning like a skater. The tracing looked absolutely perfect. I wished I had a camera with me last night so I could take a picture of it. They were perfectly centered 6-inch diameter circles, one on top of the others, no travelling. My coach was absolutely thrilled with that. Now I'll have to start sit spin. But that won't happen til next year. WHY? See Sunburned.

Sunburned:

I'm taking 2 weeks off starting this Sunday and won't be skating. Then it'll be X'mas time before I get back and the rink (which is in the mall) is usually packed with people around X'mas time. Parking is a nightmare in the mall. Don't know how often I'll go skating in December. On top of that, my coach is taking December off. Therefore, I won't see my coach until after New Year. Oh well, I'm in no hurry.

Oh and my flip. I think I get the idea but I just need more time to practice it. I'm still two-footing and cheating on my flip. I can cross my legs and get into the backspin position once I took off, but I lean forward instead of lifting "up". Coach prescribed several exercises for me to do. I'll work on them when I have time (aka next year). At least the rotation in the air is much faster with the crossed legs. I'm still quite afraid of that quick rotation sensation in the air though.

Happy skating and I'll check in again when I get back in town.

Yazmeen-thanks for letting us know about, skatingsafe.com. I really need some of those knee and hip pads.

dlk: No problem. They are great products. All you'll ever have to do is go down on your knees, hard, one time wearing those and you'll be in love with them forever. I bunny hopped myself once slammin' nasty onto my knees. I probably would have had at least a serious soft tissue injury if it weren't for those pads.

Sunburned: Sleepy and sinus-y me this morning. Yawn and sniffle, yawn and sniffle.

Suntanned: Worked on connecting moves again. Forward and backward perimeter stroking, power 3's, back crossover's with back extension and a neat move where I do right back crosses and set up like I'm going to spin, but instead I do a two foot glide and a back extension or spiral on the opposite leg, changing my direction. Very, very cool.

At least the car problem was nothing worse than a ruptured coolant expansion tank that got replaced in short order. They also did my regular service so she's up an purring like a kitty again.

luen: Sorry about the lack of skating and coaching time--good luck on the public sessions. For me, its no skating at the State Park this weekend--a pipe blew, plus the 60 degree plus temperatures predicted would have killed it anyway.

Sunburned - I haven't been very conscientious about posting my practices this week. My only excuse is that this is getting to be a very hectic time of year, both at work and at home, and I think I'm stretched a little too thin.

Suntanned - Wednesday's mostly footwork practice went very well. Hubby and I had heat molded the new skates the night before and it really made a difference. I was able to be mostly pain free for the whole practice, which is especially important as footwork seems to bring out the pain the most. I'm getting much lighter on my new toepicks. Instead of smashing out whole craters, I now seem to be digging out polite sinkholes. I did my main two footwork pieces over and over and over, trying to get some flow and bounce back into them. I was not displeased.

More Tanning - Yesterday's practice was a great one. I'm always so much more energetic and alert on Friday afternoons. I ran through all of the elements and made a major breakthrough on my sit spin. I've always had a pretty good sit, but I discovered that I've been hunching forward and it makes the spin scratchy. I learned to keep my back straighter and all of a sudden I'm rotating like Lucinda Ruh (yeah, in my dreams!!!), and the back sit is better too. Wowie!

Landed lots of axels-that-I-am-no-longer-afraid-of and also noticed that my toepicks on the flip, toe loop, and even the footwork, are almost back to normal. YAY! for all of us, because I was afraid I was turning the ice into a hazard.

Sunburned - I only had two disappointments. One is that my line footwork still isn't smooth and I look like someone who has just gotten off a horse she has ridden for 7 days straight. The other disappointment is in Dr. Scholl. The good Dr. makes some lovely cushiony blister gel pads, but all they did was work themselves up my legs and wind up in places having nothing to do with skating. Luckily, my Bunga Skate Kit arrived yesterday afternoon and we'll see how the ankle sleeves and disks work today. But the best news is that I basically skated pain free yesterday. It was only AFTER I took my skates off that I started hobbling around.

Sunburned-when I arrived at the rink yesterday the ice hadn't been cleaned. Unfortunately the Zamboni was broken so I had to skate on very rough ice Everythng pretty much stunk especially my spins. I am having a hard time getting on my left outside edge to start my spin.

Suntanned-I had some good Salchow jumps and I am attemping the loop which is about 3/4 of the way around.