Thank you US Junior Nats!!!

My Husband rocks! He works at the airport and happened to help a customer last night....get ready for this....One of the Spiteris from SP Teri. He came in town for the U.S. Junior Nationals, which is being held at my rink this week. My husband told him about me and my skating, so he already knew of me when I stopped by the SP Teri booth tonight. I told him I have unfortunately already ordered Jacksons which will be in next week. But I went ahead and had a fitting done. I learned a lot about skates and breakdown and propper fitting. He gave me some suggestions for my pronation, and they have a custom insole that can be added to the stock boots (ProTeris in this case).

Here's the dilemma: I was fitted for a 6D in Jacksons, though the heel size was not taken into consideration. I have a narrower heel, and I'm afraid my Jacksons are going to fit well in the toes, but slip in the heel. For SP Teri's, I'm a 6B with a C ball. If I have a combination fit in one brand, does that mean I'd have a combination fit in another brand? I know that all boots (like street shoes) are different, but I'm sure there's some similarity in sizing. As for blades, he suggested a few, including the Coronation Ace. I've heard tons of good things about that blade from www.skatingforums.com.

So....If the Jacksons don't fit right, I'm going to try and get a refund and go with SP Teri's. He said he'd keep my info for about a year. Whatever happens, I'm going with the boot that fits best! And maybe I can upgrade when necessary to SP Teris.

I haven't skated for about a week due to work and rink schedule conflicts, but my last skate was amazing! I felt that I had so much power and control with alternating crossovers and edges - especially backwards edges. 3-turns are also happily coming back - both directions! And I did a few good spins. Mohawks are about the same. Still holding off on jumps until I'm out of these darn recreation skates. Sometimes I think skating is 90% Mental. If I think I can't get an element right...welll...I end up messing it up! If I skate with the attitude of "I can do this!" then, I can!

The Basics

Felt like skating today. Went to the outdoor rink. The ice feels really different - much harder. I worked on just the basics: Edges, crossovers, mohawks, and a few lousy FO3s. Ok, so maybe a couple of them were good. And crossovers felt really good! My spins have gone missing, though. It may seem crazy, but I think the sweet spot on my blades got sawed off when it was last sharpened.

Skating outside is wonderful, but people walking by like to stop and stare...and I'm a bit bashful... But the weather was great, and nothing beats skating in mild fall weather during sundown.

Two weeks and counting until I get my Competitors...

Winter is Here!!!

Image from www.utahvacations.org

Yesterday the Gallivan Center Rink opened up downtown. I dragged my husband along, and he just observed from the sidelines. It's a decent size rink for outdoors, but much smaller than the olympic sized rinks I'm used to. And there were SO many people! Everyone was having tons of fun. And the ice was all snow when I got on. I never knew it was possible to skate on snow. :)

Then they zambonied the ice. And I have to say, the ice was fantastic! And many many people slipped and fell on their bums once they discovered the glossy ice. hehehee.....

The weather was perfect, the sky clear, and no polluted inversion air. It was sweater weather, and although I could only do a single 3 turn and a couple of crossovers, and basic stroking (minus good extension due to the crowdedness) it was a blast!

Update on New Skates

So....because of my duck feet my skates won't be in until at least DECEMBER 2nd! It's a long time to wait, but it will be worth it. And as much as my skates are hurting my feet and hampering my progress, I WILL skate downtown once the outdoor rink opens up Nov. 16.

As for skating, I haven't been to the rink lately. it's been a rough month and to finish it out on Halloween, my car and my husbands car were both wrecked and mine will take at least a month to fix. Back to skating: I am getting a bit better at my FI3s, as well as change of edges.

Ordered new skates!!!

I had an official fitting at a local rink today. I have decided on Jackson Competitors since it's a good freestyle skate and will hold up to my extra weight. The fitter agreed with me. I found out that my right foot is smaller than my left foot, but only slightly. And I told the fitter I have wide feet. She measured them, and looked at what was available in the Competitor and said "you do have wide feet! - I measure you at an 'E' and the widest it comes in is a 'D'". No wonder my husband calls me "duck feet." So, I bought size 6D. I can have it punched out if needed. She said if it is too wide in the heel, then we can add padding/insoles whatever is needed. I'm so excited!!! They should be here in a couple of weeks, depending on if they are already made or not.


As for skating in my current skates, I'm not going to jump in them, but I will practice MITF. I have been very hesitant about jumping in my skates because they don't offer enough support, and the toepicks are so small that they are useless. I can always go back to jumping. Lately my skates have been cramping my feet within 10 minutes on the ice. So, I think MITF is a good option - especially my FI3s, FO3s, and crossovers. I even printed the Pre-Bronze MITF patterns so that I can work on them.

One very cool thing to look forward to: November 16. The outdoor rink in downtown SLC opens! yay for outdoor skating!!

Wednesday Skate

Got back on the ice this past Wednesday. Very slow to warm up, and my boots definitely don't feel right. They are way too big! But I dealt with it. Worked a lot on edges at first to warm up, as well as some crossovers. Then some mohawks. These still feel the same. My 3-turns took a while to come back, and FO3s are SO much easier than FI3s (which need A LOT of work).

I then attempted some jumps. Waltz jumps are still resulting in being glued to the ice. I did observe some other skaters doing waltz jumps with good height and noticed they really bring that free leg up so they fly in the air. That's what I need to do! So I practiced quite a few bunny hops (evil, yes, but they help with swinging the leg through and getting height on jumps). I actually did a few really good bunny hops, except I think I bent my free leg too much. Oh well. I'm getting the concept of the "swing through and jump."

I then tried some half-flips. Not happening yet, but I did work a lot on jamming the toepick into the ice and jumping straight up (no rotation). This is to help gain height on the jump so I can make the half rotation. Doing this seemed to help out a lot. It may take a few more sessions until I'm up to attempting full jumps.

Spins: I did a couple of one foot spins, albeit very wimpy. But my balance is back! There is no way I can get a one foot spin yet from BXO's (which was taught in my lesson), but I'm getting there from a pivot. I've got to start somewhere, right?

So it was a semi-productive skate, and I didn't lose as much skill as I thought I would. Hopefully I'll make it to the rink this weekend.

Break's Over

Ok, so I was pregnant until I miscarried this weekend. It was a very devastating experience, but I'm doing much better now. So I'm returning to the ice this week - maybe Wednesday. I never looked at skates when I was out of town since I was in baby mode. So now I get to look around town and hope there are some good skate fitters around.

I've been thinking about my waltz jumps and and I seem to have a hard time actually jumping off the left foot. It seems like my foot is glued to the ice!!! Is this just a mental thing?? I think I may be holding back and thinking about the jump too much. Any suggestions on how to get past that mental block??