Gordon's Sk8er Boi Blog

My adventures as an adult male figure skater in Tucson, Arizona Portland, Oregon Chandler, Arizona.

Monday, January 13, 2025

Edges, FO8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice and just 4 skaters.

I was running late, so I just warmed up with forward edges.

Today's lesson:

  • B edges -- these were a bit rusty so we spend some time on them.  I'm still having a bit of trouble with the push off for both BO and BI, just not getting my weight promptly over my skating foot.  It got better.
  • FO8 -- just a few minutes on these. I actually did a somewhat better job on my posture, though I'm still not getting all the way around.

Labels: ,

Friday, January 10, 2025

Edges

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  This was changed due to no ice on Monday.  I didn't get a warmup due to the j-o-b (lol).

Today's lesson:

  • F edges -- meh.  I hadn't skated since mid December and it was all very rusty.
  • B edges -- also meh.  Although the BI edges were mostly okay other than needing to work on the push for a bit to get it better.

Labels: ,

Monday, December 16, 2024

FO8 & Waltz-8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate; 8 skaters, and beautiful ice.  I was running late so all I had time to do was scribe circles.

Today's lesson:

  • edges -- okay.  The BI were actually pretty nice, and BO were too.
  • FO8 -- working to get a better push.  Ugh.
  • waltz-8 -- I'm still having issues just doing a 3 anymore.  Sheesh.  We worked on the wall on the step forward.  I can do them down the line and step forward 180 degrees, but on the circle it's a bit more than that.  It was good to work on these.

Labels: ,

Monday, December 09, 2024

Edges & FO8

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate. Nice ice, 7 skaters.  I was running late so I just had time to scribe circles.

Today's lesson:

  • edges -- not bad, actually.
  • FO8 -- about the same.  Still not getting around the circle, but the posture is slightly better.

Labels: ,

Monday, November 18, 2024

Edges

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate. Nice ice, 8 skaters.  I was running late so I just scribed circles, no warmup.

Today's lesson:

  • FO edges -- Meh.  Okay but not great. Did them over again and they were better.
  • FI edges -- nice, as usual.
  • BO edges -- eep.  As usual with no warmup, difficulties with posture and bringing free foot in front.
  • BI edges -- we had to spend some serious time in the first push, as I am getting in my head about it.  Yuck.  Also I am still skidding on these, esp. the L foot.  I would blame it on my blades, but I felt them and they seem reasonably sharp.  I think it's because I am just up to far on the darn toe. 
  • FI8 -- just 2 minutes on these. Not bad, but I am still only getting like 3/4 of the way around. I used to be able to do these nicely.  Urph.

Labels: ,

Monday, November 04, 2024

B8s

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  Nice ice, 4 skaters.  I warmed up with edges and scribed circles.

Today's lesson:

  • BI8 -- I am a long way from getting around the circle on these.  Still working to fix my posture and get a better push.  Unfortunately, when I get a better push I tend to push my feet out from under me and I'm on my toes.  Yuck.  The first push is the worst, for sure.
  • BO8 -- These were somewhat better. Flow is better, push is better, but still not sufficient.  The L side is so much better/easier than the right!  Uck.

Monday, October 07, 2024

Talk Less, Skate More

 My figures lesson with Danette on the Chandler adult skate.  I was running late, so didn't get a warmup and didn't scribe circles.

Today's lesson:

  • edges -- that's really all we worked on.  Posture and flow were just Not Good.  Uck.

This was not a very productive lesson, for two reasons -- 1) we spent waaaay too much time talking about miscellaneous, mostly non-skating things; and 2) mid-lesson I felt a bit light-headed and had to sit down for a bit.  In retrospect I was sick and wound up staying home the rest of the week, and beyond. Ugh.

Labels: ,