GarrAargHrumph
I can kill you with my brain
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Ah, thanks for reminding me to get my skates sharpened. I have another competition in just over a week, and this would be the latest I'd want my skates sharpened before that.
Practice Thread
- Thread starter antmanb
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treesprite
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Good luck!
D
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Yesterday I was going to show my wife how someone I watched online did forward powerpulls and overdid it so I fell backwards and landed on my arm, seems like I sprained my wrist. Annoying.
gkelly
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Ouch 
treesprite
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I hope it feels better soon.
antmanb
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My practices have been going so-so. I've adjusted to the new boots and the sharpened blades but I just keep having very patchy practices that are a lot of hard work to correct minor things and get something in the ballpark of ok.
One bonus is that I am skating with better speed and I am managing to control that speed in some basic areas. He says desperate to find the silver lining
One bonus is that I am skating with better speed and I am managing to control that speed in some basic areas. He says desperate to find the silver lining
misskarne
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Only a sprain I hope? Might be worth an x-ray.
Well, after all these months, I finally had a session yesterday that involved jumps and spins and no agony today. Just a couple of wonky toe loops and a wobbly upright spin or two, but unlike last time I attempted that my back has pulled up pretty well. We'll see how the rest of this week goes, but I might be able to start building up to real practice instead of just tooling around in circles like I have been for the last month.
Theoreticalgirl
your faves are problematic
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Welp, a whole summer has basically flown by and I've skated a total of... 12 times? The ice schedules at all my local rinks were just slightly off; now my main rink is closed for the month of August as they do a full ice melt.
In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time off the ice trying to address a host of injuries stemming from last summer's ankle sprain (and subsequent re-sprains). In short, the left side of my body is a hot mess; ankle pain, longstanding knee stability, SI joint issues, and oddly enough a rotator cuff strain. And then, just because it wasn't enough, I strained my right knee in a grand plié at ballet class a couple weeks ago. Y'all might find this hard to believe, but I am not this injury-prone. I think this is the by-product of turning 40? Just roll me up in some sweat-wicking bubblewrap, if it exists, and I'll be good to go.
On top of spending all of my free time in physical therapy, I went on vacation and got new blades. As luck would have it, the skate tech I have been using unexpectedly quit the skating biz entirely, so I had someone new do the mounting. I am probably very lucky that I've always had good experiences with mounting, but this time around it required a lot of tweaking. They're still not where I like them to be, but I can live with it in the short-term.
[If anyone can recommend someone in the PA/NJ/NYC/DE/MD area that is exceptional at this, let me know.]
On the bright side, I did get the skate the Paul Wylie clinic at my rink and somehow survived, crap blade mount and all. It was lovely, skating with Paul is always a blast. He loves working with adults. Looking forward to the upcoming Adult Camp at Patriot Ice Center (FKA the Pond) with a bunch of really great coaches, plus Dartfish analysis(!).
In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time off the ice trying to address a host of injuries stemming from last summer's ankle sprain (and subsequent re-sprains). In short, the left side of my body is a hot mess; ankle pain, longstanding knee stability, SI joint issues, and oddly enough a rotator cuff strain. And then, just because it wasn't enough, I strained my right knee in a grand plié at ballet class a couple weeks ago. Y'all might find this hard to believe, but I am not this injury-prone. I think this is the by-product of turning 40? Just roll me up in some sweat-wicking bubblewrap, if it exists, and I'll be good to go.
On top of spending all of my free time in physical therapy, I went on vacation and got new blades. As luck would have it, the skate tech I have been using unexpectedly quit the skating biz entirely, so I had someone new do the mounting. I am probably very lucky that I've always had good experiences with mounting, but this time around it required a lot of tweaking. They're still not where I like them to be, but I can live with it in the short-term.
[If anyone can recommend someone in the PA/NJ/NYC/DE/MD area that is exceptional at this, let me know.]
On the bright side, I did get the skate the Paul Wylie clinic at my rink and somehow survived, crap blade mount and all. It was lovely, skating with Paul is always a blast. He loves working with adults. Looking forward to the upcoming Adult Camp at Patriot Ice Center (FKA the Pond) with a bunch of really great coaches, plus Dartfish analysis(!).
D
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Thanks everyone for the concern, the wrist was awfully hurting the night after the fall and the next day until the evening, when the pain started to fade away pretty quickly. Now there's not much pain left, and I'm back on ice! 
antmanb
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I landed a loop again 
it had been about 4 weeks since I least squeaked out a loop and I hadn't managed to do it again until last night
Focussed on jumps with my coach and after a few weeks of doing jumps that barely left the ice, I finally managed to get a good lift/pop into the jumps. The loop took a little while to get there and after a few attempts that got the height, and I managed to get my arms under control and eventually started two footing some really good attempts. Eventually I got a small one landed on one foot and then did one more that was bigger and better over all.
We moved onto flip and after a few scary attempts (my arms were flailing badly last night), I managed to get about 5 or 6 really nice high jumps that were fully rotated and nicely landed...on two feet. I couldn't get over the mental block. The final one I really pulled the knee right up, rotated in that position, actually had to stretch down with the free foot to get it to touch!!! It would have been easier to just land on one foot but somehow I didn't.
Anyway it was much better than the last few week's practise so i'm happy.
it had been about 4 weeks since I least squeaked out a loop and I hadn't managed to do it again until last night Focussed on jumps with my coach and after a few weeks of doing jumps that barely left the ice, I finally managed to get a good lift/pop into the jumps. The loop took a little while to get there and after a few attempts that got the height, and I managed to get my arms under control and eventually started two footing some really good attempts. Eventually I got a small one landed on one foot and then did one more that was bigger and better over all.
We moved onto flip and after a few scary attempts (my arms were flailing badly last night), I managed to get about 5 or 6 really nice high jumps that were fully rotated and nicely landed...on two feet. I couldn't get over the mental block. The final one I really pulled the knee right up, rotated in that position, actually had to stretch down with the free foot to get it to touch!!! It would have been easier to just land on one foot but somehow I didn't.
Anyway it was much better than the last few week's practise so i'm happy.
antmanb
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Practice the last couple of weeks has been back to hit and miss.
We did a lot of field moves last night and realised that I've basically not really practised back turns on the new boots very much so we tried. I don't know what was wrong but I just wasn't feeling it last night. My usually OK back outside three turns were totally missing and I couldn't do one for love nor money.
After some frustrating attempts at moves we moved on to jumps. Toe and Salchow are back to being solid, but I couldn't land a loop on one foot at all. The jump itself took a long time to get going. I have a habit of dropping my left shoulder and trying to rotate around the left axis and not the right. After several attempts I managed to get the thing jumping higher and rotating around the right side but I couldn't land it on one foot.
We moved on to flip and back lower back started to feel a bit tired so I only tried two but the jumps were good, just landed on two feet.
Spins are coming back properly now and I've managed to clean up the entrance into them and was managing to centre the upright and camel.
We did a lot of field moves last night and realised that I've basically not really practised back turns on the new boots very much so we tried. I don't know what was wrong but I just wasn't feeling it last night. My usually OK back outside three turns were totally missing and I couldn't do one for love nor money.
After some frustrating attempts at moves we moved on to jumps. Toe and Salchow are back to being solid, but I couldn't land a loop on one foot at all. The jump itself took a long time to get going. I have a habit of dropping my left shoulder and trying to rotate around the left axis and not the right. After several attempts I managed to get the thing jumping higher and rotating around the right side but I couldn't land it on one foot.
We moved on to flip and back lower back started to feel a bit tired so I only tried two but the jumps were good, just landed on two feet.
Spins are coming back properly now and I've managed to clean up the entrance into them and was managing to centre the upright and camel.
treesprite
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I finally got the wrist-breaking nick in my blade fixed, so I can skate again. I was out of town for a week, then had some stupid work training thing this week, so other than rink guarding twice, my first real time to be skating will probably be this coming Tuesday. My posture and knee bend went out the window from not skating for a couple months, so I mostly will just be working on those things this coming week. My boots were not broken in yet, so that process has basically started over again, and is worse because my feet swell in summer. It's a big relief to know that the reason I fell was the nick, because now when I skate I won't have to obsess about it happening again, as long as I check my blades before skating.
Theoreticalgirl
your faves are problematic
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I went to a skate camp last weekend and it was great, but wowowowowow, skating after a week off was a huge challenge for me. Working with Linichuk was a hoot, but I think I gleaned some good things from the session.
I've been using August to focus on PT anyway, which is helping a lot. Just ready to get back on the ice at my home rink and back on a regular schedule again, instead of frantically searching for ice time that never seems to jive with my schedule.
I've been using August to focus on PT anyway, which is helping a lot. Just ready to get back on the ice at my home rink and back on a regular schedule again, instead of frantically searching for ice time that never seems to jive with my schedule.
treesprite
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I finally got the wrist-breaking nick in my blade fixed, so I can skate again. I was out of town for a week, then had some stupid work training thing this week, so other than rink guarding twice, my first real time to be skating will probably be this coming Tuesday. My posture and knee bend went out the window from not skating for a couple months, so I mostly will just be working on those things this coming week. My boots were not broken in yet, so that process has basically started over again, and is worse because my feet swell in summer. It's a big relief to know that the reason I fell was the nick, because now when I skate I won't have to obsess about it happening again, as long as I check my blades before skating.
Teamgracie
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I have a question and wasn’t sure where to post. I had to get a usfs membership to skate at my rink so I went online and entered info and submitted payment. Will they email or mail a membership ID to me? I haven’t received any response other than a receipt for payment.
@Teamgracie Are you in classes? Freestyle sessions? They made you get a USFSA membership to skate? I've heard of signing up with the rink, but not USFSA for any reasons other that LTS. That's a new one...
I've never done membership directly through them, but usually they send me a membership card through snail mail every year after I renew.
I've never done membership directly through them, but usually they send me a membership card through snail mail every year after I renew.
Teamgracie
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It’s because it is a freestyle sessin. I used to just go during public sessions but the rink stopped all weekday public sessions so I need to do freestyle. I tried to get the first time low membership through club but they would not do that so I just signed up online. Maybe they are just mailing it. Thanks!
antmanb
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All quiet on the practice front?
I had a lesson after my nearly two week holiday and it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I managed to get two enormous blisters on each of my little toes while I was on holiday so squeezing my feet into my skates was quite hard.
We spent a lot of time in my lesson drilling moves and getting things moving again and I was quite surprised that things weren't as bad as I expected. We moved on to jumps which were a little tentative and low, but I got waltz, salchow and toe-loop working. I even managed one tiny loop landed on one foot, albeit I was leaning way to far forwards on the landing, but i'll take it as it was landed on one foot.
Got back to the gym last night and did legs with my personal trainer. I can feel the pain slowly starting now - hopefully by Thursday it will have gone and i'll be able to skate ok. I generally find when I've done legs on Monday by Thursday I can feel all the muscles in a good way and it tends to help my skating.
I had a lesson after my nearly two week holiday and it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. I managed to get two enormous blisters on each of my little toes while I was on holiday so squeezing my feet into my skates was quite hard.
We spent a lot of time in my lesson drilling moves and getting things moving again and I was quite surprised that things weren't as bad as I expected. We moved on to jumps which were a little tentative and low, but I got waltz, salchow and toe-loop working. I even managed one tiny loop landed on one foot, albeit I was leaning way to far forwards on the landing, but i'll take it as it was landed on one foot.
Got back to the gym last night and did legs with my personal trainer. I can feel the pain slowly starting now - hopefully by Thursday it will have gone and i'll be able to skate ok. I generally find when I've done legs on Monday by Thursday I can feel all the muscles in a good way and it tends to help my skating.
bladesofgorey
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Hmm, well yes it's quiet here!
Let's see, I finally got a lutz jump back, which I was oddly terrified of because every time I went to pick in my brain told me that the physics of the dang thing don't make sense to actually work. But lo, they do.
That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then I got new skates, moving from a Reidell Gold Star boot with a Phantom blade to an Edea Piano narrow with a Phantom (yes, I know. It's a long story- I wanted the Gold Stars again in a smaller size since my boot is too big but sizing down aggravated my huge retrocalcaneal bursa and the Edea Pianos were a boot that did not hurt my heel).
Anyway, I think the boots are fugly, and it's taking me a really long time to get used to the different mechanics. I went down from a !0 blade to a 9.25, and comparing the blades my old blade had been almost completely flattened out due to a botched sharpening at some point. So I feel like I am in hockey skates and having a hard time not being on my rocker doing back crossovers. I only skate weekends now so I took them to a couple public sessions and got very frustrated.
I could not center a spin to save my life, in fact could barely spin at all, so did not really attempt any jumps. This past Sunday I realized the blade on the left side was mounted askew, so I moved it (it still has the temporary mountings) and suddenly my scratch spins were back near normal. I was able to do a few (poorly executed) salchows and a couple decent toe loops. I'm hopefully having a lesson this coming weekend so I'll try o work through the other jumps just before that so it's not a total waste of time and money.
I do have to say though, these boots are extremely comfortable even if they are trying to kill me.
Let's see, I finally got a lutz jump back, which I was oddly terrified of because every time I went to pick in my brain told me that the physics of the dang thing don't make sense to actually work. But lo, they do.
That was a couple of weeks ago. Since then I got new skates, moving from a Reidell Gold Star boot with a Phantom blade to an Edea Piano narrow with a Phantom (yes, I know. It's a long story- I wanted the Gold Stars again in a smaller size since my boot is too big but sizing down aggravated my huge retrocalcaneal bursa and the Edea Pianos were a boot that did not hurt my heel).
Anyway, I think the boots are fugly, and it's taking me a really long time to get used to the different mechanics. I went down from a !0 blade to a 9.25, and comparing the blades my old blade had been almost completely flattened out due to a botched sharpening at some point. So I feel like I am in hockey skates and having a hard time not being on my rocker doing back crossovers. I only skate weekends now so I took them to a couple public sessions and got very frustrated.
I could not center a spin to save my life, in fact could barely spin at all, so did not really attempt any jumps. This past Sunday I realized the blade on the left side was mounted askew, so I moved it (it still has the temporary mountings) and suddenly my scratch spins were back near normal. I was able to do a few (poorly executed) salchows and a couple decent toe loops. I'm hopefully having a lesson this coming weekend so I'll try o work through the other jumps just before that so it's not a total waste of time and money.
I do have to say though, these boots are extremely comfortable even if they are trying to kill me.
treesprite
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I was checking every day, wondering where everyone is but having nothing to post.
Im still not doing any more than guard skating when working, because as the edges started to wear after getting the big nick out (the one that made me break my wrist), a bit of the nick showed up again and I was afraid to skate on it. It was really tiny, but I'm paranoid now. I went back to Waldorf again Saturday to have them sharpened again even though they were still pretty sharp.
Im still not doing any more than guard skating when working, because as the edges started to wear after getting the big nick out (the one that made me break my wrist), a bit of the nick showed up again and I was afraid to skate on it. It was really tiny, but I'm paranoid now. I went back to Waldorf again Saturday to have them sharpened again even though they were still pretty sharp.
antmanb
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Despite being a bit under the weather I went skating last night and it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I do think I need to find some thinner socks because I keep getting bunching underneath my right toes that causes some pain.
Anyway the practice was good, we focused on moves and went right back to basics and concentrated on my posture and technique. I've noticed that unless i'm really concentrating, even on simple stroking and pushing off into moves I don't get the full push and extend from the free leg, and I also rise up in the skating leg rather than stay down on a bent knee. I don't know why but I've always found this difficult - having one leg straight and the other bent, its like both have to be doing the same thing, or if I demand a difference they even out to not quite straight or bent on both
Once i'd managed to get that into my head and found I was getting strong pushes and (un!)-wanted speed (unwanted by me because scary, but coach was happy), we then had to focus on me staying upright and not bending at the waist and sticking my bum out. We ended up having a really good laugh with my coach about all of this, but ultimately the result was to realise that the faster you go, the safer it feels and more control you have to be down on bent knees, and a straight back. And all of this is hard - you use your core and a ton of muscles in your back and shoulders to keep yourself right.
These are all obvious things, but they are all things that you let slide from one practice to another so revisiting them and trying to make a mental note to keep them in mind every time I skate was useful.
We ended the session with a few easy jumps (no mention of trying a dreaded loop for example), and they felt fine if a little low.
I'm away with work next week so will miss the session but will try and keep these things in mind for the next time I skate.
Anyway the practice was good, we focused on moves and went right back to basics and concentrated on my posture and technique. I've noticed that unless i'm really concentrating, even on simple stroking and pushing off into moves I don't get the full push and extend from the free leg, and I also rise up in the skating leg rather than stay down on a bent knee. I don't know why but I've always found this difficult - having one leg straight and the other bent, its like both have to be doing the same thing, or if I demand a difference they even out to not quite straight or bent on both
Once i'd managed to get that into my head and found I was getting strong pushes and (un!)-wanted speed (unwanted by me because scary, but coach was happy), we then had to focus on me staying upright and not bending at the waist and sticking my bum out. We ended up having a really good laugh with my coach about all of this, but ultimately the result was to realise that the faster you go, the safer it feels and more control you have to be down on bent knees, and a straight back. And all of this is hard - you use your core and a ton of muscles in your back and shoulders to keep yourself right.
These are all obvious things, but they are all things that you let slide from one practice to another so revisiting them and trying to make a mental note to keep them in mind every time I skate was useful.
We ended the session with a few easy jumps (no mention of trying a dreaded loop for example), and they felt fine if a little low.
I'm away with work next week so will miss the session but will try and keep these things in mind for the next time I skate.
misskarne
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Went to the rink this morning, after a few weeks of moving house/being sick/recovering from both moving house and being sick. I wasn't sure how my back would go.
I was actually able to work hard enough that I had to take my jacket off and skate in my t-shirt. I completed a full circuit of one of the Elementary test stroking patterns. It was my aching thighs and feet that let me down, and not my back. I am beyond happy. It was still only about 20 minutes, but my back didn't hurt at all.
I was actually able to work hard enough that I had to take my jacket off and skate in my t-shirt. I completed a full circuit of one of the Elementary test stroking patterns. It was my aching thighs and feet that let me down, and not my back. I am beyond happy. It was still only about 20 minutes, but my back didn't hurt at all.
antmanb
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That's the best way @misskarne I'm finding my feet hurt a lot last time I skated after having a couple of weeks off. The boots are, I suppose, still breaking in since I don't think I've skated more than 10 hours in them since I got them so probably to be expected, plus I always have pain in my feet when I've had a few weeks off.
I'm back to the rink on Thursday and hoping that having last week off won't leave me in too much pain. I have new socks to try out in them as well.
I'm back to the rink on Thursday and hoping that having last week off won't leave me in too much pain. I have new socks to try out in them as well.
misskarne
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I'm feeling you on the boots. I only got my new ones mounted up a week or two before I injured my back, so they've had so little skating time I'm still in freakin' temp screws. (I really need to get on that.)
I also wish other parts of my body would stop hurting when my back isn't. I was super excited to skate today until the headache set in.
antmanb
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Practice yesterday was pretty good the new socks I bought were too thick though and I couldn't really feel the ice properly so I felt a bit wild and loose doing field moves. I'll have to go back to my normal socks until I can find some other socks.
Because the field moves were lacking control I thought jumps would be a mess but after a bit of adjustment I managed to get the jumps going. Because they were working well I attempted a loop and landed it on one foot first time (I can't remember the last time I landed it but it was a fair few weeks ago). I tried a second one and also landed on one foot so coach was over the moon. I tried a few flips but I wasn't picking in right to start and then managed to get some good jumps but I was two-footing them and breaking at the waist.
Overall though it felt like a good session - I hope I can build on it next week.
the new socks I bought were too thick though and I couldn't really feel the ice properly so I felt a bit wild and loose doing field moves. I'll have to go back to my normal socks until I can find some other socks. Because the field moves were lacking control I thought jumps would be a mess but after a bit of adjustment I managed to get the jumps going. Because they were working well I attempted a loop and landed it on one foot first time (I can't remember the last time I landed it but it was a fair few weeks ago). I tried a second one and also landed on one foot so coach was over the moon. I tried a few flips but I wasn't picking in right to start and then managed to get some good jumps but I was two-footing them and breaking at the waist.
Overall though it felt like a good session - I hope I can build on it next week.
gkelly
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Hard fall on my left hip on a Foxtrot mohawk. The left hip is fine (it's well padded); the chronic pain in the right hip is not happy about the jostling from the impact.
Dance Coach: I don't think you've ever fallen on the mohawk before.
Me: Not in this century. When I was first working on it around 1995 I used to fall a lot. That's why I never practice it any more without holding the wall or your hand.
The worst thing about falling these days is that I'm not flexible or well-balanced enough to get my weight where it needs to be to get up on my own most of the time. Kind of embarrassing to need help and to stick my butt up in the air when I'm otherwise fine.
Aside from that, the patterns for the Foxtrot and European were bigger and better shaped than usual, especially after making an adjustment to the angle of a few steps on the Foxtrot.
Dance Coach: I don't think you've ever fallen on the mohawk before.
Me: Not in this century. When I was first working on it around 1995 I used to fall a lot. That's why I never practice it any more without holding the wall or your hand.
The worst thing about falling these days is that I'm not flexible or well-balanced enough to get my weight where it needs to be to get up on my own most of the time. Kind of embarrassing to need help and to stick my butt up in the air when I'm otherwise fine.
Aside from that, the patterns for the Foxtrot and European were bigger and better shaped than usual, especially after making an adjustment to the angle of a few steps on the Foxtrot.
Bunny Hop
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Coach said my choctaws were 'real ones' (i.e. on the correct edges). These are of course assisted mohawks (holding coach's hand), but I'm happy with that. Let's see if co-coach agrees on Thursday...
misskarne
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Monday's session was completed with 20 minutes of stroking patterns, including a side-step into both forward and backwards crossrolls. The former were a tad wobbly, but I completed a full circuit of the crossroll pattern with no pain in my back after.
Hoping to skate again tonight but my stomach will need to stop turning itself inside out before that can happen.
All going well, I may be jumping again come next Monday - and I managed to corner my coach on Monday and, to the delight of both of us, arrange a lesson in two weeks. Very luckily, she hasn't filled my slot.
Hoping to skate again tonight but my stomach will need to stop turning itself inside out before that can happen.
All going well, I may be jumping again come next Monday - and I managed to corner my coach on Monday and, to the delight of both of us, arrange a lesson in two weeks. Very luckily, she hasn't filled my slot.
Theoreticalgirl
your faves are problematic
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Blah, I keep meaning to post in here and then forgetting. My coach had to temporarily reschedule my lesson time to one of my days that I take off for recovery and it's been a huge challenge trying to adjust. Otherwise, skating's going OK and I'm trying to prepare as best as possible for a competition next month.
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