With my new boots as an excuse, I'm being quite lazy at the moment, and only made it onto patch for the last twenty minutes. This was possibly twenty minutes too many: I started doing some cross rolls to warm up, somehow lost my edge, and the next thing I knew, most of my left side hit the ice. I felt my head make contact, which was a first (and ( Read more... )

Just as I was getting used to having a 45 minute lesson again, it's going to be all change in the new year. Mark wants to put me back to having half an hour at 1pm, and take me for an extra 15 minutes between the intervals on dance club. I don't really like that slot - it has a tendency to get shortened rather badly any time the announcements ( Read more... )

…. and everyone seems to be piling down to the ice rink. Last night we had a party of scouts, a bunch of Italian teenagers, and a group of students from one of the colleges. Sigh. Anything with a pattern was not an option ( Read more... )

I’d completely forgotten that Mark had juggled his lessons around to take me and M on OXIST, so I turned up at the rink at 7.30 to give myself chance to warm up, thereby extending the time my feet had to spend in the new boots (which still feel as though they’ve been padded with finest Swiss concrete) by 45 unnecessary minutes ( Read more... )

Officially there was no patch today, because of the kids' spin spiral jump and novice foxtrot competition, which the coaches organise a couple of times a year. But as I was judging it, I made the trip to Oxford anyway, and took my boots, just in case there was enough time afterwards to have a lesson ( Read more... )

Finally, back on the ice last Saturday. After 12 days off, and with alien-feeling new boots as well, I made a point of being at the rink a bit early to skate the tail end of the public session, as I didn’t quite fancy going straight into a lesson. Although, by the time I’d made a detour into town to pick up some new gloves, having forgotten to ( Read more... )

Oxford via Slough to get a grind put on my new blades. Got them adjusted slightly as well - the regrind man said they were a little too far to the inside - and got the old ones done too: I may as well put them away sharp, in case I ever need them again. No going back now, although I do need to find a way of addressing the size issue. I was ( Read more... )

Mark had a lesson slot free this morning, so I got a lesson to make up for the one I missed yesterday. I said I wanted to work towards getting the rest of my level 6 (I still need 5 and 6 free dance, and 6 OD). So the obvious place to start is level 5 free dance ( Read more... )

I don't know what to do next. From the beginning of the year, I've worked towards one thing after another, but now the last competition is out of the way, and I've nothing else until the end of May. Matters weren't helped by both Mark and Lana cancelling my lessons, so I had nothing to focus on there. Shame, because it was really quiet this week ( Read more... )

You’d think once the competition was over that there would be nothing left to do. But no - first there are the protocols, which have to be compiled and sent out to NISA and all the judges; then I’ve had i-Skate magazine on the phone demanding a write-up and photograph by the end of the week to meet the deadline for their next issue; there are ( Read more... )