| Skating Journal 2002-2003 Season Part III |
 |
| March 12, 2003 Only 3 more days until the local competition. It is impossible to practice now because all of the out of towners are here and the sessions are super crowded. I had a run in with a mom today because I told her little Basic Skills kid who was visiting the rink, but not competing, to be careful and make sure she watches for people. I was only considering everyone's safety and this lady was irate. I am not a skating snob and was very nice. She said she had already paid and I told her to go ask for a refund, because by then there was no more use trying to be nice. UUUGGGGHHHHH!!!! So, I worked on bits and pieces of my programs and really I do not care how this competition goes, but I think I still have a lot of work to do before I go to Adult Nationals and I just don't have the time...I am stressing out...and this is just for fun... Oh this is what I live for - the stress and hectic pace, followed by, hopefully, sweet rewards! Last year I really was not that nervous, and I hope I am not this year, but last year there was nothing very hard about my programs - there is actually some stuff I might mess up in these! My camel spin is still not consistent and well, I just don't know what I shall do? Awwwww! I am going to be whiped out again this year for sure. I volunteer the entire day Saturday and Sunday and then have one more week of skating, a show and then that is it for the ice! Hasta la Vista! March 26, 2003 Belated competition update. It started off with a team event that included Lori and two of the young teenage skaters. We competed against a team of youngsters from Sun Valley and pre teens from Whitefish, MT. It looked like it would be real close, but we ended up winning. I had to perform a scratch spin for my element and in the practice I could not center that spin at all - except once, I did an awesome one. Then for the judges I did a spin that was pretty tight, great speed - not too shabby! Our team were dressed in flapper outfits and we called ourselves Charleston's Angels and we ended up with the Gold Medal. Friday night I had my practice ice - they ran out of time and I was not able to skate to my music for my Artistic and was a little annoyed about it, then I waited a half hour and skated my practice ice for my freestyle. I got to skate to my music this time. Then just as I was wrapping up the session I went to do some last foot work and launched myself off the back of my blade and landed on my back. This was a similar fall to the one that landed me in the hospital last year, so I was pretty worried. I could not put any weight on my right leg at first, but I held in my tear and was eventually able to skate a bit and even landed a flip jump. I limped through the gorcery store and home. I woke up Saturday, the 15th with some tightness and soreness in my back and was worried I might have to scratch, but it worked its way out and I ended up in good spirits by mid morning. I competed in both Artistic and Freestyle. Artistic was so much fun. I skate to Bjork's, "It's Oh So Quiet", which is really fun and playful. I get to be this entirely different person, and it is not technically difficult to perform, so I really have a good time out there. Lori and I after being tortured by the judges and referee about our outcome (they kept saying they knew the outcome and laughed) finally found out we had tied for the gold medal - that was an even better way to end the performance. In the afternoon I had the "Main Event" - the freeskate competition. I was most worried about this because it is a very challenging program for me. I was very happy with how I skated except I left off the second loop in my loop loop combination - I was bumbed about that, but the timing was perfect and I was overall very satisfied with my skate. Lori was also thrilled with her program and skated just beautifully. The judges did not tie us this time, but gave the gold to a very happy Lori. The rest of the story... I was extremely whiped out after the competition and for my Monday lesson I was pathetic. I was crabby and nothing was working. It was apparent that I still needed more sleep. The camel spin was almost completely gone! Tuesday -Thursday I worked like mad. I went over and over my program and I was seeing definite fitness results from this as well. I have a lot of arm movements in my footwork and as a result, my arms were getting into great shape. Being fit is a wonderful side affect of being addicted to figure skating. Friday I played around on the ice and took Saturday off. Sunday I attempted to practice on Public, but that was not very successful. Sunday night was the dress rehearsal for the final show on Monday. I found out that the ice surface was curtained off and that I had to cram my program into a fraction of what I have practiced it on. The rehearsal went all right - considering. The night of the show I practiced my program before hand and thought it was going well - the end result was another - OK program. That was the first solo I have ever done with a spotlight on me - it was very exciting, but the spot is rather distracting. Tuesday...THE ICE IS ALL GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The future... Well, the Adult National Championships is in two weeks and there is NO ice, so Lori and I are off to Logan Utah this weekend and Salt Lake next weekend. I just called to confirm the hotel reservation which was WRONG! They had us checking in on the day I needed to leave. I think it has been cleared up, but there still may be a small problem with it. This totally stressed me out today! I found out our packet of info came today, so I am excited to go read all of the detail when I get home! April 21, 2003 - Adult Nationals Report I left for Nationals on the 8th with Lori. That night I had practice for an hour. Who could have ever imagined that one could be so nervous just to practice? I had never seen so many adult skaters and I must admit I was preoccuppied in sizing myself up. However, my session had both Silver and Bronze skaters (I am at Bronze Level), so I nerver knew who was in my group unless I saw them do an Axel, then I was sure they were Silver. I tried not to be too absorbed in this and did manage to pull off a pretty good session. We did not bring our coach with us, so Jon did his best to fill in. He is a tough "coach" and does not let me get away with anything. He immediately noticed my wandering eyes and told me to forget about all of the other skaters and pay attention to what I needed to get accomplished. Jon went to all of my practice and warm-up sessions and was perfect at his job because he knows me even better than my coach and could help with my nerves and getting me to concentrate. Wednesday was the qualifying round. I skated second and I LOVED my skate. It was just one of those great moments where everything feels just right. I had a great smile that showed exactly what I was feeling inside. When I got off of the ice I was beaming and then Lori hugged me and Jon hugged me and I started to cry with joy - it didn't matter the placement because I overcame enormouns fear and nerves to pull off a program I was thrilled with. The results were in and I about fell over to see that I had placed 2nd of 13 in my group! Thursday was all about FUN - but first I had a 7:30 AM practice in a -20 degree rink! This was not my morning - nothing worked and Jon realized I was crabby and just let me be - good man! I went back to the hotel and slept until I had to get up and go to my warm up for the Interpretive Program. I was not worried about this program because I love it and it is just about having fun. The warm up was good and I was over my crabby morning. I had a BLAST performing my Interp, which was to Bjork's, It's Oh So Quiet. A fun song about the ups and downs of love. The music is eratic and goes from very soft to loud screams - it's tons of fun to skate to! I had to compete against the likes of Cruella De Ville and Scooby Doo. I was a little worried because, screaming music aside, I was pretty tame in comparrisson. So, the results came out and of the 14 skaters, I was fourth! Fourth at Adult Nationals gets you the Pewter Medal, so I got to go to the podium! Friday, although it was the "Main Event" I was not that nervous all day because I had already done what I set out to do, which was to qualify. I was in a tough spot anyhow, seeing as I was skating 1st! I had a great practice the night before and at the earlier warm up - so I was ready, but just before I went out, I got nervous! I never seemed to recover either. I never got into my program and was not smiling as much as in qualifying. I skated a clean program - not a single mistake, but it felt terrible. I couldn't understand why Jon was so happy about it. He said it was better than in qualifying, but I did not beleive him. I had planned to watch the rest of my group, but I just couldn't. So, I had no idea how anyone else but Lori did (she qualified 4th and got 6th in Interp!). I couldn't bare to watch all the others. So, once again, without any clue as to the outcome, I went to the posted results, saw my name and then could not retain my excitement at placing 4th! A second pewter medal! Nationals was an awesome experience that I could never have imagined without having Lori and Jon there for their support! |