Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Monday's here, and it's time to tell us about this week's lessons and practices. We hope that they're all good (humdingers), but we still want to hear if they're not-so-good (hum drum). Don't leave out any of the juicy details!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

One week and a half off the ice... aie!

Humdinger: The salchow has finally arrived, ladies and gentlemen! I don't have problems with the turns into it, I don't have problems with two-footing or crashing as much as I used to... now to get it a full rotation..! So it took me about a month... well, it works! That and the one-foot spin.. Oh, and I finally have a decent Beillmann spiral! Woo hoo!

Hum Drum: Man, I don't know what's wrong with me, but my sit spins are all whacked out. I have such trouble getting my free leg in front of me and not keeping it next to my leg so it's like a sitting one-foot spin... any hints? I tried doing back spirals and almost fell flat on my face... but my left leg isn't as flexible as my right...

Anyone have any tips, also, on what do you when your boots hurt your feet? Like, really bad? I have tiny but wide feet and very high arches and my Jackson freestyles just...aren't helping. I've broken them in but they hurt horribly. A friend suggested arch support. Should I get them punched in or heat molded for a fourth time? They've been nothing but trouble!!

<strong>-Lanie</strong>

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<strong>Lanie</strong> - Congrats on the salchow progress. The best advice that I can give you is to think of it like a waltz jump. If you are in the correct take-off position (left inside edge, right leg back and everything checked), then when you bring your right leg from behind and through, it is really just a waltz jump action and you shouldn't have to worry about "rotation." As for your boots, I'm going to have to let someone with experience guide you there. In fact, you may want to post a separate topic thread called "need help with boots" or something like that to gain everyone's attention.

<strong>Humdinger</strong> - I don't know if it was just because I am so GLAD to be off my sickbed for a change, but yesterday morning's practice was fabulous. At first I was a little annoyed because the 7:10 practice has become very crowded now that school is out, but we all quickly got used to each other and lived quite harmoniously, with only a few near-collisions the whole time. I seemed to have extra energy. (could it be the buzz from all the pseudoephedrine??!! ) I got a HUGE compliment on my power circles from one of the coaches who told me that I was burning up the place and she felt I was stronger than anyone out there and the "kids" better start worrying about the competition. That was really nice of her to say. I worked on my program in six segments, and then started stringing a couple of them together and then finally tried to run through the whole thing twice. Overall, I was pleased, and all my elements (from the sit spin to the back spiral) seemed "on."

<strong>Ho Hum</strong> - Yowza. Took a sweeping fall ("click") on one of the power circles, and then again ("click") on one transitional footwork sequence. BAM on the left leg; BAM on the left knee. Last night I took a long hot shower and then iced the knee and did ketaprofen, and it seems ready for practice this morning. I might lay off the sit spins, though.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Lesson this morning:

Humdinger: Waltz jump gets ever longer and ever higher. I have a feeling that this will end up being my signature jump.

Hum Drum: My salchow. Seems I took a step backwards. I am not gliding on my edge after the 3 turn and as a result I don't kick my right leg through properly. This will take work.

Out-to-Lunch: Spins. Today was the first time I have actually tried the correct entry into a spin from the back crossover. It was different and rather entertaining. This will take time as well, especially with the shoulders.

Had a blast anyway...

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Sounds like everyone's having so much fun out on the ice. *tear*

Lanie, congrats on the salchow. Just goes to show that all your hard work is paying off nicely!

Cindy, how awesome about your power circles, that judge testing you on your moves isn't gonna know what hit them when you're out strutting your stuff on your test!!!

Figureskates, that waltz jump of yours sounds fabulous! Keep up the greatness. With the salchow, have you tried going into it with mohawk? That might help the entry edge situation. Anywho, keep working on it, it WILL get better!

<strong>Humdinger:</strong>I got the registration booklet today for University, so I get to go through it and select my classes. I'm so excited and I feel so "grown up" :lol: No skating news from me though, I'm still on the ice hiatus.

<strong>Hum Drum:</strong>No skating for me until July 15th at the earliest. I'm going MAD!!!!:evil:

That's it for me, Happy Skating!!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Hum Drum - Last night I had a wicked racquetball match which lasted 90 minutes and just totally wiped every last smidgen of energy out of me. So I was worried about my skating lesson this morning.

Humdinger - When I first got on the ice, I wasn't sure I had anything left to give. But the magic of skating soon kicked in and I found myself really pumping through my program. Even though I CLEARLY have tons of work to do (I fear more than the 3-1/2 weeks I have left, but that's another story), my coach was very pleased. But then -- she turned into the Masochistic Meanie. Not only do I have to run through my entire program (after which I am limp and huffing and puffing), I CANNOT STOP and have to skate maniacally around the rink as fast as I can go for TWO MORE PLAYINGS OF THE SONG. So this is like running sprints during a marathon. The purpose is to build up my endurance (or kill me, which is more of a possibility). Now I know what they mean when they say "feel the burn."

Perhaps there will some serious sitting around going on tonight!

Starshine - oh, the possibilities! You have so much cool stuff ahead of you. Be sure to enjoy the process of making your selections as much as you'll soon be enjoying the classes themselves. And be sure to tell us every detail. Heck, if you can't be on the ice, at least you can tell us how university is coming along. And don't worry - July 15 will be here before you know it.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Experts advise that if you're having trouble getting started in doing something, you should make a bargain with yourself that you'll do it for at least 10 minutes. If after this time you still don't want to do it, then you can quit without penalty.

This was DEFINITELY a morning for me to apply the 10 minute rule. I woke up a little tired and sore from my extra-endurance activities yesterday, and wanted to do nothing more than turn over and go back to bed. But the thought of testing being less than 4 weeks away drove me out of bed and to the rink, where I practiced for an hour and a half. Granted, it was not my most stellar practice and it was kind of crowded, so it was difficult to run through my program without having to abort some element or other, but I was out there moving and still made some progress.

On my MIF double three turns, I had fallen into a habit of pushing off with my toepicks rather than the flat of the blade, so I worked at bringing my feet together and then turning out the blade for the stroke. I also worked on holding the edges longer and having more control and less herky-jerky type movements so they'd be smoother. My power threes around the edges were especially strong today, even in the clockwise direction. The power circles were good, too. On the forward clockwise I'm working to hold the right foot longer, with the left leg/foot more extended. I don't know why this is so hard to do (weakness in the right leg?).

All the jumping I did today was "little" because I was focusing more on the connecting moves before and after. I can tell that my whole program is sort of rushed and has no "flair" yet. But that will come (I hope!).

Friday is the adult ice and usually there are only 6 people. I believe at least 2 cannot make it this week, so I should have ample opportunity (and no excuses) to run through the program WITH the music many times over the 2 hours. I hope to make some huge progress then.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Ho hum - In our lesson, Joy had us work on our "pre" back crossovers, just sort of half-swizzles and picking our foot up in between. I'm not good at this. Grrr. Who needs to go backwards anyway?

Humdinger - Lots of exciting stuff today! Tricia and I went to the 1:30 - 4:30 public session, which I was worried would be super crowded because school's out, but it wasn't at all. Very nice. AND I saw the skating boy again (I suppose I shouldn't call him a boy since he seems about my age) and the people he's always with. Tricia pointed out that duh, it's his family. We were practicing back crossovers and I was holding Tricia's hand and the older man (who's the father) came over and said, "Oh, are you partners now?" or something and so we started talking. So we met him and his three kids, all teenagers, all very very nice. They started throwing all this information and advice at us, most of which we couldn't do at all. "What, you mean you can't do a waltz jump yet? Or spin? Sure you can!" So anyway, I met the guy I've meen admiring from afar since February, and he said something in parting like, "If you have any questions, or there's something I can do that you like, feel free to ask." I wanted to say, "How about a double axel? Or some of that footwork" but of course I didn't.

Oh yeah, and my actual skating was good too. My crossovers have greatly improved on both sides, I can do "moving two foot three turns" or whatever it is I do - turning on both feet while gliding, AND the girl from the skating family taught us how to do a basic upright spin, sort of. Or at least got us started. So now Tricia can do an impressive five or six revolutions and I can do a couple but it's really fun. AND the older son (the cute one) tried to teach us a waltz jump which of course we couldn't do but it's fun to do it holding onto the boards. It was nice how they thought we could do so much more than we could! Anyway, it was very exciting to meet our first "friends" at the ice rink, and that experience overshadowed the lesson a bit. They practically gave us a free lesson.

starshine - I'm choosing my college (first year) classes right now too! So exciting...

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Humdinger: Today was all a humdinger! My coach made me do a Chinese spiral and a twisted one where I almost fell but didn't, complimented me on my spirals a lot (she said, "That's so pretty! Do it again!"), and we worked on jumps. We also worked on crossovers, which are going very nicely; I'm not having as much trouble as I was anymore and I'm faster. I have problems with extension sometimes, but it'll come in due time I'm sure. So for the really exciting part of my day..

I showed her that I could do a flip and toe (half revolutions anyway) and she was happy with that, and then *dun dun dun* we met the loop. Now, I thought I could do it, but I wasn't doing it from a correct entrance. Took me awhile to get it... Now that she taught me the entrance, I tried and I fell. Then I did it again and again. It got easier each time. Then when my coach went to work with another kid, I went and kept practicing... and I LANDED MY FIRST SINGLE!!! When I started doing toes and flips ages ago I thought I landed a single, but I hadn't. So that was annoying. BUT THIS WAS A REAL SINGLE! I had a witness! My dad was there and he was like, "Lanie, that's a full revolution!" "What?!" It was soo cool. And now I find it's easier to do single everything off-ice! I did a single flip and toe in the living room (almost ran into the coffee table though).

Hum Drum: Nothing! Well, except my naughty skates, which we're getting stretched and then buying some orthopaedics for it since they hurt in certain places like I've mentioned earlier.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Rachel - I love the story about the "skating family" and they all sound incredibly nice and helpful. You and your friend are making great progress and soon you will be hooked and wanting to do more and more and more and more. And who knows, maybe "Sk8r Boi" will continue to be in your future!

Lanechka - AWESOME JOB ON THE LOOP JUMP! Totally cool! You're right, now that you have the "feeling," all the other singles will come tumbling in. Good for you! Keep up the great work.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Cindy, your program sounds awesome! As does your MIF progress. Those judges aren't gonna know what hit them! And don't worry, the "flair" will come!

Rachel, that's awesome about the crosscuts, and the sk8er boy! It sounds like you have so much fun at skating! Oh, what college are you going to? What are you majoring in?

Lanie, CONGRATS ON YOUR 1st SINGLE!!! You've taken a huge step up your "skating ladder." The rest of your singles will come very quickly now that you can rotate enough(except for maybe the axel, since it's a stubborn jump). Keep up the great work!!!

Well, I picked my courses for University. Mondays and Wednesdays I have class from 8:30am-2:20pm, Tuesdays I have labs from 2:30pm-10:00pm, with an hour and a half break at 5:20pm, Thursdays I have labs from 8:30am-11:20am, and Fridays I have class from 8:30am-4:20pm with 3 hour breaks throughout the day. I'll be taking biology, chemistry, calculus, history and physics. FUN! Now I just need to wait for the dreaded bill to come in the mail, along with my residence details.

I realized yesterday that my ice hiatus will be 4 days shorter than I expected. The coaching course I'm doing has an on-ice component, so I'll get to be back on the ice for July 11th instead of the 15th. I can't wait!!!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<strong>Starshine</strong> - Ugh, I wouldn't want to be you on Wednesday mornings, but otherwise your schedule sounds terrific! Well, actually, it sounds kinda tough, but I know that you are up for it. I loved biology and calc, though I can't say I've ever been very good at history. When does school start? Does it seem weird to be thinking about that already? Great news on your on-ice training. I can't wait to hear all about your coaching seminar.

<strong>Humdinger</strong> - I had an AMAZING practice this afternoon! First, I ran through all of my Gold MIF in order and without any stopping or resting, as if I were testing them. I felt good about how they looked and felt, and I wasn't very winded or disoriented. Then I warmed up all the elements for my program and then I did the whole thing once through. I think it would have passed! After that I worked on the various segments of it to fine-tune holding my edges better and getting more speed and knee bends. I just about worked myself into a puddle. Then I put it all together again without music. Then with music. Then I ran through it with the music and did the endurance training (power skating) for two more songs' worth and I have to tell you, the sweat was literally just dripping off me! Yuk! Then I spent the next 20 minutes working on all the footwork pieces. So I skated about 2 hours and 10 minutes. I was just wiped out! But happy.

My program doesn't even begin to look like I want it to be, but at least I can see that I'm making progress. Now, I'm going to have a little sit-down and read my People magazine (my Friday indulgence).

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Cindy, your practices sound so amazing! I almost wish I could head down to your neck of the woods and watch you skate! That is of course if I had a car, knew how to get there and didn't work 4-5 days a week. You're ready for that moves test now! Keep up the greatness!

I move in to my dorm on August 31, and start classes on September 8. I don't think it's weird for me to be talking about school. I'm so excited to go, and I found out that a girl I used to skate with is in year 3 there, so hopefully we'll run into each other, and will be able to catch up.

I also got my old club's registration booklet for the 2003-2004 season. It got me feeling a little nostalgic, but it's so time for me to move on somewhere else. I can't wait to tell the executive members that I'm skating elsewhere next season, and will be skating provincials as well! Sweet revenge! :evil:

I updated my photo album, so feel free to take a peek! This is for you Cindy! <a href="http://ca.photos.yahoo.com/sarahleighjohnson" target="top">My Photo Album</a>

That's it for me, Happy Skating!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<strong>Sarah</strong> - awesome pictures! Gosh, not sure what to comment on first. OK, let's start with how GLAMOROUS you looked for your graduation. You are stunning in the blue dress, and I just love your hair. In fact, I kept commenting on it, wondering how it looked close up, until all of a sudden, last picture, there it is! Wonderful braiding and you looked so elegant with it up. Now I noticed that you weren't wearing glasses in any of those pictures. Was that for the pics or do you also wear contact lenses? And is the graduation dinner something you just attend solo, or was Stafford (or one of the other cuties) your "date"?

Then, of course, being the nosybody that I am, I looked at all the other pics I may not have seen before. I notice you have a cat named after me (Cinder) and both he/she and Silver are just gorgeous. Then there's the family. Little brother looks like trouble (aren't they all), but everyone looks very loving. I bet they are all so proud of you for your scholastic acheivement, as well as your skating. Looks like you will leave a hole when you go off to the dorm! Does anyone have dibs on your room when you leave? That would be great if you get to run into the skating girl from time to time. Have you seen your "new" rink and how does it compare to the one you're used to? How far away is school from your home (travel time-wise)?

Poor you -- you answer all my questions and then I just ask more. What an exciting time for you right now. You deserve to enjoy! And your next skating session is merely days away, as July is almost here.

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Cindy, to answer your questions.............

About grad, I had contacts at the time, like a trial pair. Since then, my younger brother has stolen them, even though our perscriptions are different. I went to grad with a group of my friends. At the time, Stafford had a girlfriend, and went with her. We're just good friends.

I'm so glad you like my kitties (they're both girls). Cinder's a big goof. She just had her 7th birthday, and is very vocal about her dislike for getting older. Sil's a little bum. and doesn't realize that she's 4 and only 6 lbs. She thinks she's younger and bigger. She's such a little suck, and loves being around me or my dad. Most afternoons she sleeps on my bed, with the sun shining down on her. Speaking of my room, it's still gonna be mine when I'm gone. My mom'll probably sleep in it every so often, to get away from my dad's snoring. About the skating and school achievements, my parents are proud, my brothers could care less. I guess that's normal though.

I've not seen the rink from the club I'd train at, but I have seen the rink on campus, and it's really nice! I'll be living about an hour North-West of my current city. Not too far away, but far enough.

One more thing, there are new pics in the Skating pics folder in the Carnival 2003 folder, so you'll be able to see me and my coach (Jen) and a large portion of my skating buds. I'm glad you liked the pics!!!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<strong>Starshine</strong> - oh gosh, I completely missed the skating pics! When I looked at the thumbnails, I thought I'd already seen everything, but didn't look beyond the first several.

BLUE is so YOU! You just look awesome in that skating dress. It's gorgeous. Did you buy that or make that? It was fun to see all your friends; clearly you are well liked and have a great group of kids you hang around with, both in school and at the rink. And your legs!!! Yowza, I bet you just look so elegant out there on the ice. Tell me more about the number you performed in the blue outfit--what music, what elements, etc. Was it a solo?

You're right, school is just the perfect distance from home. Far enough to be "away," but close enough to keep touch with everyone and come home when you want to. I have two brothers too, and while we all pretty much got along while we were growing up (meaning we mostly ignored each other when we weren't bothering the heck out of each other!), now that we're grown up, we've grown very close. We don't talk all the time (after all, they're guys!!!), but when we do get together, it's a real love fest. I'm proud of both of them and know they're proud of me. So hang tight and one day those brothers will come in handy!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Cindy, THANK YOU! The dress is really purple, but it does look blue. I bought the dress, and added the rhinestones. It's a used dress, but you certainly can't tell that by looking at it. The dress is for my solo. The music is the Love Story Theme. The program is currently geared towards Jr.Silver Freeskate test. It has 2 axels, 2 double sals, 2 double loops, a flip, a lutz and a few more jumps to complete combinations and sequences, a layback, a sit, a camel/sit/layback/back sit combo spin, circular footwork, ina bauer, spread eagle, and I think that's about it. I need to make it 30 seconds longer, so that it will be long enough for the level I'm competing at in the upcoming season.

I have such a great group of friends, and I'm very sad that I'll be leaving them behind. If it wasn't for instant messaging, I'd be totally lost away from home. All is good though, since I'll be home to see them, and skate with them at Christmastime. I'll also be able to pop in during a weekend, since I'm about 50km's from home. My relationship with my bros is the same right now, as it was with yours. Right now, with being the oldest, I'm the one that's supposed to look out for them, but with my one brother going through a hard time with my parents, and being the one who started most of it, it's kinda hard. It'll be nice to get away from them, since I'll probably appreciate them more once I'm home. It's nice to know that we'll grow up and even like each other in the future.

That's it for me, Happy Skating! I'm glad you liked the pics!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<strong>Starshine</strong> - Yikes, and I'm "complaining" about my endurance during my pimpy little program! I can't even imagine completing all those jumps and elements and still being able to take a breath to add another 30 seconds. Do you think the judges would look kindly on someone just standing in center ice breathing in and out in time with the music?

Seriously, I know you will space your program out accordingly. I think when I change mine from Bronze to Silver (it too adds 30 more seconds), that I will cut in some verrrrry slow music in the middle and perhaps just take a nap during it! :lol:

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

Cindy, how long is your music now? Over the years I've had a lot of music at different lengths, and I only started having endurance troubles after my solo was 2 mins and 30 seconds and up. It's 3 minutes and 10 seconds now, and I sometimes have troubles getting through now, so just imagine what it'll be like when it's 3 mins 40 seconds long. YIKES!<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/ohwell.gif ALT=":\">

I don't think the judges would like it if you stood at middle ice and breathed in time to the music. I think as long as you have slow music where you're doing easy jumps and edge moves, you're ok. That's why I stick all the hard stuff that I HAVE to land at the beginning!

Re: Humdinger/Hum Drum Lessons & Practices June 23-29

<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/embarassed.gif ALT=""> Starshine, would you believe my program is only a measly 1 min and 40 secs? It's not so much that it makes me tired, but it makes me dizzy and a little nauseated to do all the elements jammed together in that short amount of time. I don't seem to have enough time to clear my head and get my bearings before twirling off into the next move. I think I just have to work on getting used to it. Maybe I should try Dramamine!!