2013 Autumn Antics Showcase Dramatic
[N.B. I will post about my programs one blog entry per program]
So... all the prep was done. Friday night I was out at Peoria 'til about 10:30 setting up sound equipment and training people how to run music... this becomes important later :-).
Morning came and Melissa was at my house promptly at 8:15 so we could carpool to the rink (it's 40 miles). We got there and checked in, took a few moments to relax and watch some skating and then it was time for us to get ready for our individual skates. Since we had the exact same schedule it was pretty convenient, lol!. We had 3 of us in our group for Dramatic -- Melissa first, then Anna, then myself. The rule (apparently) at AA is that there are 6 skaters on practice ice at a time. So when it was our turn we were on the ice warming up. It's nice because you actually have a fair amount of time to warm up, and since you're behind the curtain no one is watching you. On the other hand you have the same number of people to dodge on much smaller ice!
So Melissa skated, then Anna, then it was my turn. They called my name and out I went! Took my time to get in position, struck my pose.... and waited... and waited. I look over at the music folks and they are frantically reloading my CD in the backup boombox. Oh well!
Finally, the music starts and of course I was a little surprised because I was distracted. Off I went through the first part of the program, into the LFI mohawk that weirds me out.. it was bad, but I survived (I've survived worse, mind you). That was really the only thing in the program I was particularly worried about since I find myself unable, apparently to do that mohawk nicely when I have any speed at all in spite of having done some nice ones just yesterday, and even in the warmup. Oh well.
On into the waltz jump and the spiral and it was going really well; I felt like I was skating relatively fast but it wasn't scary. Into the RFO3s->lunge->spin and the spin went really well so I was really happy, then on into the salchow. I think I went into the salchow a little early, or came out in the wrong place, because I wound up heading right in the direction I needed to go for the next element instead of needing to skate around. I realized if I went straight into it (the slow-motion punch) I would be waaay too far ahead so I made up something (not sure what, actually!) then on into the rest of the program and finished on time.
YAY!
One slightly jarring thing -- as I came off the ice out the door my R skate managed to line up perfectly with the joint/gap in the rubber matting and went (briefly) onto BARE CONCRETE. AHHH!! I was freaked out but I couldn't see or feel any actual problem. I went back on the warmup ice briefly to see if it felt okay and it did, so I decided not to worry about it.
I felt like this skate was some kind of turning point for me because at some point (after the spiral, I think) I felt like I COULD DO NO WRONG. I can't quite explain it. I told myself not to get cocky, that in skating such pride usually comes before a quite literal, and often spectacular, fall... but it was a great feeling. I wasn't really nervous. A little anxious, but that was all. Wow!
Results were posted and I came in SECOND! Melissa, then me, then Anna. I had 3 "2" ordinals, a "1" (YAY!) and a "3". This was THE FIRST TIME I didn't come in last! I'm so happy! And it was a great skate so I was really happy about that too :-).
So... all the prep was done. Friday night I was out at Peoria 'til about 10:30 setting up sound equipment and training people how to run music... this becomes important later :-).
Morning came and Melissa was at my house promptly at 8:15 so we could carpool to the rink (it's 40 miles). We got there and checked in, took a few moments to relax and watch some skating and then it was time for us to get ready for our individual skates. Since we had the exact same schedule it was pretty convenient, lol!. We had 3 of us in our group for Dramatic -- Melissa first, then Anna, then myself. The rule (apparently) at AA is that there are 6 skaters on practice ice at a time. So when it was our turn we were on the ice warming up. It's nice because you actually have a fair amount of time to warm up, and since you're behind the curtain no one is watching you. On the other hand you have the same number of people to dodge on much smaller ice!
So Melissa skated, then Anna, then it was my turn. They called my name and out I went! Took my time to get in position, struck my pose.... and waited... and waited. I look over at the music folks and they are frantically reloading my CD in the backup boombox. Oh well!
Finally, the music starts and of course I was a little surprised because I was distracted. Off I went through the first part of the program, into the LFI mohawk that weirds me out.. it was bad, but I survived (I've survived worse, mind you). That was really the only thing in the program I was particularly worried about since I find myself unable, apparently to do that mohawk nicely when I have any speed at all in spite of having done some nice ones just yesterday, and even in the warmup. Oh well.
On into the waltz jump and the spiral and it was going really well; I felt like I was skating relatively fast but it wasn't scary. Into the RFO3s->lunge->spin and the spin went really well so I was really happy, then on into the salchow. I think I went into the salchow a little early, or came out in the wrong place, because I wound up heading right in the direction I needed to go for the next element instead of needing to skate around. I realized if I went straight into it (the slow-motion punch) I would be waaay too far ahead so I made up something (not sure what, actually!) then on into the rest of the program and finished on time.
YAY!
One slightly jarring thing -- as I came off the ice out the door my R skate managed to line up perfectly with the joint/gap in the rubber matting and went (briefly) onto BARE CONCRETE. AHHH!! I was freaked out but I couldn't see or feel any actual problem. I went back on the warmup ice briefly to see if it felt okay and it did, so I decided not to worry about it.
I felt like this skate was some kind of turning point for me because at some point (after the spiral, I think) I felt like I COULD DO NO WRONG. I can't quite explain it. I told myself not to get cocky, that in skating such pride usually comes before a quite literal, and often spectacular, fall... but it was a great feeling. I wasn't really nervous. A little anxious, but that was all. Wow!
Results were posted and I came in SECOND! Melissa, then me, then Anna. I had 3 "2" ordinals, a "1" (YAY!) and a "3". This was THE FIRST TIME I didn't come in last! I'm so happy! And it was a great skate so I was really happy about that too :-).
Labels: Competitions
posted by Gordon @ 11:12 PM
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