Clockwise

I am still jetlagged, one week later. It's coming along, but I keep waking up at 3:30EST when it's 8:30AM in London. Anyway... Am I the only person who notices that 99% of all clockwise skaters now do loop jumps from a left forward inside three turn? I looked up Ashley Wagner, Johnny Weir and Carolina Kostner. All three do loop jumps from inside three turns. If you don't do loop jumps from inside three turns, allow me to tell you that if you don't turn the three correctly and hit a solid back outside edge, you aren't going anywhere. It's one of those jumps you just have to trust that you won't screw up the turn and go for it. Don't wait too long because the longer you wait, the easier it seems to fall out of the three turn. Do counter-clockwise skaters do a loop from an inside three turn? Judging from my own skating experiences, you guys are riding that right back outside edge after a crossover, while we lefties are trying not to fall out of a three turn. And yes, I've tried back crossovers into the jump, as well as a C turn. It didn't work. However, when the turn is good and not too slow (a habit I have developed), the jump is fine. Damn my lack of core strength! It has come to my attention (again!) that the core is the core. It is the center of everything, from jumps and spins to turns. My weak core has prevented the "fix" of my Salchow and loop jump to remain consistent. And don't get me started on the strange problem that has popped up when stepping from backward to forward. It has created such a problem that I have reworked two jumps in my program so I don't have to step forward after being backward. You can step into a waltz jump from a left forward outside edge to a right forward outside edge. As long as we're discussing clockwise skaters, quick question: what is the fascination with the lefty Lutz corner? There's a coach at one of the rinks who plants himself and his student in one of those corners and wouldn't leave if Ulrich Salchow came back to skate. It's not just me complaining (although there is only one other lefty on the session) but anyone who tries to do their program. There he is, in his jacket and baseball cap, telling you to "go around" when you have the right of way. I actually have a jump in the corner he has made a home in, and I've almost taken him and his student down at least twice. Go figure. My body thinks it's about 11:00pm, so it must be after 6:00pm. Either way, I'm out. Keep skating!

VACATION!!!!

For those of you who wondered where I was, I went on vacation. My first vacation since 2018. No one is counting 2020 as a vacation, plus I was still working. Anyway, I was off to London and Paris with my two sisters, who are also my roommates. I am happy to report that we did NOT kill one another, although we did turn our backs and eyeroll one another, but that's a regular occurrence, so it doesn't count. The trip started off rocky. Our UBER driver drove over an obvious curb and banked turns so severely, we thought we'd get tossed out of the car. But we arrived at the airport safely. The three of us had a row to ourselves, with my eldest sister sitting in the middle. She took both armrests, elbowed my other sister and I almost nonstop for seven hours and is so left-hand dominate that she does absolutely nothing with her right hand. And I mean nothing. I know this because on the way home, she had the window seat, with her right arm free and refused to use her right arm to scroll the tv screen. More elbowing for seven hours. The first hotel was so horrible, it's almost laughable. The "suite" was a room the size of my bedroom at home, with a pullout bed. The door didn't lock so we didn't sleep. The next morning, we were out of there. A new hotel, a little shopping and the vacation was on! London was in the middle of a heatwave. 90 degrees at night. Did I have a good time? Absolutely. Am I exhausted? Absolutely. Am I jetlagged? Three days later and ABSOLUTELY!!! My body still thinks it's 6 hours in the future, or whatever the time difference is. What have I learned? 1. Hotels in London do not have air conditioning. Or at least the one we were in didn't. Eldest sister purchased two fans and gave them to the hotel as a gift. I wanted to take them home but couldn't figure out how. 2. London Fish and Chips are a little bland and disappointing. Again at least where we ate. Need spices, any spices. Salt and pepper would have helped. Keep in mind, I put hot sauce on almost everything. 3. Beans at breakfast? I don't get it. 4. Every morning, the same breakfast at London hotel. I'll discuss the Paris hotel later. 5. Look both ways before crossing the street. Seriously. In London, they drive on the other side of the road and you naturally look the way you're used to. Don't do that. 6. Beer, lots of it. Mixed drinks? Not so much. 7. London is huge. Saw a lot of things via the On and Off Bus. Buy your tickets when you get there; there is no discount buying ahead of time and the website is incredibly misleading. 8. If the rink says "Skate, Bowl and Bar", it will be a small, hot ice rink. And dark. 9. Apparently, airlines charge for wifi? 10. Cars are a luxury with many, many people on bicycles and motorcycles in London and Vespas in Paris 11. Speed limits and traffic rules are just a suggestion. So are traffic lights. 12. The air is filled with sirens: police, fire and ambulances. Sounded like NYC. 13. I was told that Paris would smell like urine. Nope. Smells like poop. They use real manure in the parks. 14. The Louvre Museum requires a separate vacation; it's huge. 15. The train from London to Paris is really cool; about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. It's also a very long train - 15 cars long. I highly recommend it. 16. Breakfast at the Paris hotel left a lot to be desired. No, it was horrible. Powdered eggs with powdered cheese that was grossly undercooked. Sausages that tasted like hotdogs and bad coffee. 100% do not recommend. 17. Was told women don't wear sneakers (or trainers). That's not true, but I now own a nice pair of walking shoes. 18. People in Paris smoke a lot. Near kids, with kids, while eating, while waiting to get into restaurants, right after leaving restaurants. And if you're eating at an outdoor cafe, right there at the table. 19. A lot of Italian food in Paris. I'm confused. 20. My sister's knowledge of Spanish saved the day when my eldest sister's French was not strong at all. Okay, she forgot all of her French and the class she was doing online did nothing for her memory. 21. You will walk a lot. All in all, I had an awesome sauce time. We went to Harrods for afternoon tea, which was amazing!!! You don't expect to feel full eating small sandwiches, but you do. Liked the tea so much, I may cut down on my coffee consumption. I cannot leave out the tour of the Royal Opera House, a theatre so magnificent, it defies description. We were unable to take any pictures inside because they were working out the kinks in the set for the opera Das Rheingold, and that would be a copyright violation. However, it is gorgeous, breathtakingly so. I am trying to plan a trip for next October. My hope is to see the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. I don't care where I'm sitting, as long as it's in that theatre. And of course, another trip to Harrods for afternoon tea. It's back to work for all three of us. I have over 300 photos to sort through, some of them just blurs thanks to the bus. But regardless of the bad pictures, the lack of knowledge of French, the smoking, the heat, the bad food, 8000+ steps per day, I had a wonderful time. Can't wait to go back.

Summer

I have decided not to do the Hershey competition after last year's... experience. Just thinking about last year's competition makes me think of bad water and spinning rooms. Nope, not this year. That being said, what have I been up to? Well, elements come and go. A good Swing Dance on Monday results in a bad Swing Dance on Tuesday. I have begun to ride my toepick on the left back outside edge before stepping into a jump, a habit I have not done since I first learned to jump. Not sure where or why that popped up again. Personally, I think it sucks. My waltz jump is tiny, super tiny, like an ant jumps higher. I'm not a big fan of loop jumps from an inside three turn, mostly because, as you know, if the three turn is bad, the jump is not forthcoming. I do loop jumps from an inside three turn, make your own decision on that. And don't get me started on my Salchow, which will visit for several days, only to suddenly go away. My flip jump is so grounded that I usually wonder if I've left the ice. And it's not fully rotated. What? It was always fully rotated, just not always landed cleanly. Every day small steps towards improvement. If you recall my one time skating the 6:00am session, well I've decided to revisit that. I really need to get to bed much, much earlier. Lately, I've been watching the Instagram stories of other adult skaters. Most are in their twenties, which... ummmm.... I am not. They seem to improve so quickly. Elements are learned today and successfully executed the next day. There appears to be no struggle at all; of course there probably is, it's just not posted online. However, it can be frustrating, especially when someone IS my age, began skating yesterday and is already popping off double jumps. Yes, that is an exaggeration, but that's how it feels. And don't get me started on people who can't hold a back outside edge after landing a jump, but are working on double loops. All I see with that is an accident waiting to happen. As long as it doesn't happen on a session I'm on, go right ahead. I sometimes feel as though I've held back. Some of this is my own fault. Let's not discuss weight and injuries right now. I was never actually taught a backspin until much, much later in the process, like I had already learned a camel-sit-scratch and suddenly someone said, "let's see your backspin". My reaction was "what's that?" Now I am struggling to catch up. I had a backspin, went to a summer adult week and returned without it. It hasn't returned. To be honest, I don't practice it as much as I should. Can anyone tell me how to obtain more than one revolution on one of those spinner things? If I get around once, I consider that an accomplishment. Watching people spin like tops on those things always make me scratch my head. Maybe it's core strength. I had a coach that told me everything was core strength and then she told me I didn't have any. Thanks. No need to point out the obvious. With that being said, I am trying. I work hard on every session, usually end up sweaty and then have to go to work. I asked one of the male coaches how much would I have to weigh to be put into the harness for jumps. Bless his heart, he said he could lift me now. The heaviest person he ever lifted was 250 pounds and thank heavens, I am nowhere near that. I still plan on losing some weight before I ask again. I've always wanted to try the harness. First I was told I was too tall, then too fat, then too tall and fat. I can't do anything about my height, but my weight I can control. Recently, one of my rinks closed for a week. No real reason; they do it every year. They're back up this week, only to cancel my sessions the week after for hockey. If I ever have enough money, I will purchase a rink and then cancel hockey for figure skating. And have all adult sessions, but with different levels. One rink had this wonderful summer adult camp-like program that was every Saturday. You had 45 minutes of ballet/stretch/yoga, followed by off-ice exercises for jumps and spins. On ice, we had a group session where we did ice theatre moves. Afterwards we were divided into two groups: axel and above, or no axel. We then had (sit down for this) 100 minutes of freestyle. It was wonderful. Then some of the lower level skaters joined the camp and complained that it was too hard. They didn't like the ice theatre moves. They didn't like working on different types of spins. They didn't like being divided into two levels. They complained, demanded their money back and destroyed the program for the rest of us. The program still exists, but it's become more of a Bridge program. No jumps higher than a loop. No change foot spins or combination spins. Ballet/stretching/yoga has been eliminated. No ice theatre. No division of levels. Also, the freestyle session is gone, but the cost has increased 35%. I am a proud snob. If a program isn't for you, find one that is but don't ruin it for everyone else. The two years I participated in this program, there were approximately 30 skaters. The last time I inquired about it, there were approximately 12 signed up. It's too bad; it was really good, felt like camp and was a lot of fun. There's a rink that I haven't skated since I moved almost five years ago. I discovered that they have an early morning session that I will skate on Fridays. I'll have to take a cab to get there, but that's okay. If it's a good session, not too crowded, one person not hogging the music and no parents screaming instructions at their kids from the stands, then it's worth it. I'll tell you all about it next time. Meanwhile, off to do kickboxing. I have a harness to fit into.

Move

Once again, Sectionals have come and gone; and I was home. Another major competiton happened and there I was, at home, far from the competing crowd. Ugh! It's my own fault. I don't work hard enough. I don't try and fail and try again. I kinda try and fail and kinda give up. I'm tired of that. I have struggled with several things: my weight, money, depression, feelings of inadequacies, chronic pain and various health issues. Maybe I'm stubborn, but I won't really give up. But also, I haven't totally committed to anything. I want to be at next year's Sectionals and Nationals. I want to become a Sign Language Interpreter. I want to lose weight and no longer have these health issues. I want to be published. I need to get going. It'll be spring before you know it. Then summer, then fall and winter. Suddenly a year has gone by and you don't even realize it. Some things are getting better; I do acknowledge that. Some things are the same; I'm not happy with that. I'm trying to figure out how to get everything done in time I have when I'm not working. And there's school. I need to work harder and smarter. A lot of both. On another note, I recently found out another adult skater has banned me on Instagram. When you consider all I ever do on that platform is say "great job!" Or "awesome". And occasionally ask a question of clarification, I am shocked that I was banned. I have met this adult skater once and I loved her jumping technique. She always went all out and didn't hold back. That was terrific. But now, I can no longer see her videos and I have no idea what I've done. Maybe it's for the best. Two dance tests, one Silver MIF test and one Silver freestyle test, all before the end of the year. It's March; there's time. But I have to get moving.

Headaches

The weather in NYC is so ridicioulsy warm that I've had several headaches due to the barometric system. Add to that the constant construction, using jackhammers outside my window and you understand my headache situation. Have you ever watched people's videos in which they tell you that they do A,B,C,D,E,F,and G in a given day and you ask yourself "Don't they work??" I'm doing that right now. Actually, I'm at work and every so often, I look something up on the internet. You workout for three hours then make a nutritious breakfast, clean your closet and write in your journal for an hour? When do you work?? You skate for three hours every day in the middle of the afternoon, then go to the gym for two hours? When do you work?? I'm struggling to get in 4.3 hours per week, and I keep telling myself that I'm going to get up twice a week for the 6:00am session. I've only done it once and it was hell!!!! Seriously, when do these people work?? Read some of my older posts. I've been putzing around with my skating for years. Taking two steps forward and nine steps back. I'm sick of it. I'm tired of watching people who began SIX MONTHS AGO pass me by in a puff of smoke.I'm sick of the Silver MIF and regularly have dreams where I've passed the stupid test (virtually, I'm not doing this one live). I just want to get to Nationals next year and skate with confidence. So I've returned to off-ice workouts, regular workouts and a better eating plan. I have competitions that I want to do in the future (like in April and June) so I have those to strive for. And of course, there is the question about those mid-afternoon skaters. If you know how they do it, please tell me. I've been trying to figure that out for at least three years. Jackhammers have finished. The weather is a bit cooler, but humid. Who knows what the future will bring.

2023

Back in October, I received my US Figure Skating magazine and was very disappointed. Look, I understand that the adult skating community is not as "important" as the kiddos, but I thought we counted for something. The magazine devoted 1 3/4 of a page to adult skating. Not even 2 pages. There were more pages devoted to advertisements than adult skating. Normally, it wouldn't be such a big deal, but at the time, the competition in Ottawa had completed and everyone is getting into the swing of things for Easterns and Nationals. 1 3/4 pages? You have to do better. Many skating clubs have a healthy number of adults now and we deserve to be noticed. As mentioned previously, the videos from Adult Nationals were never received or posted. For almost a year, they were "lost media". Although I didn't attend Nationals, I was annoyed that the footage was seemingly lost and the powers that be could not care less. After several emails back and forth, the footage was found. However, it came with a caveat: you couldn't post it. It's your property, but you can't post it anywhere for others to see. Something's wrong there. I'm trying to figure out what's happening with this, but it sounds like the USFS is afraid of being sued by a musician and would rather avoid litegation. For the record, when Nathan Chan skated to Elton John, Elton send Nathan a congratulary note. Smaller, lesser known bands like "Boo-Boo and the Ants" threaten legal action. Go figure. This would explain the inability to see rebroadcasts of competitions or the silence of a recorded competition. Seriously, when did we become so law suit crazy? Since the start of holidays, which for my family is October, I have been having difficulty jumping. Apparently, I think too much. I also have an annoying habit of riding my toepicks on the back outside edge, setting up for the jump. I hear it and I immediately stop myself. It's a mind and confidence thing and I'm working on it. It's the beginning of January. A fresh start. So many opportunities. Don't let any of them slip away. Happy New Year everyone!