Sectionals Recap: Part 1 - Compulsory Moves

Practice Ice - I only had one event on the first day of sectionals (compulsory moves) and this is the one event where I feel pretty capable and relaxed about everything. My coach got there just before the start of my 30 minute practice ice so I was ready to go. This is really a last minute lesson in a way because he was coaching me from the boards. Immediately upon getting on the ice I noticed how freaking weird it was! It's elevated on a platform and the ice...was bouncy? I don't know how to describe it. It kinda gave a little when I landed my jumps and it was an odd sensation for sure. As a result, it took me a few minutes to get accustomed to the feeling of skating on this kind of ice. Eventually, my jumps felt secure enough but my spirals just didn't feel right. They were really shaky and insecure. I mean, I don't have the best spirals naturally anyway but, lately in practices, I've been able to bend more at the waist to get my free leg higher. On this ice, however, it just felt dangerous to do that so my spirals were real crap. I'm glad I signed up for practice ice because I think if I were to have gotten on this ice for my warm-up I would have panicked a little.

Warm up - I think we got a 5 minute warm up instead of 4. It certainly felt like a long time out there. It was more than I needed, really. I made some last minute adjustments but mostly I just did edges to get a feel for the ice. The weird, weird ice. 

Compulsory Moves Event - Showtime! I was first in my group to get on the ice and, as soon as I skated out to my spot, the announcer said "you may begin" before I even set up my starting pose. I was like "okay, I guess it's time to go!" Everything went really well. I did a proper toe loop (not cheated!) and my spin was centered perfectly. You can tell in the video how insecure I was feeling about my spiral because it was very hesitant and then I caught a rut getting out of it. A slight bobble but I recovered nicely. It's hardly noticeable on the video but just know that, in that moment, my heart stopped. 

Results - There were four of us total and I placed 2nd. I am pleased with the results. The lovely lady who placed first had a really nice spiral and seemed a bit more confident than me. She skated beautifully and totally deserved her first place medal. I did everything I set out to do. I skated a clean program with a proper toe loop and centered spin. I really can't complain. The video is below but the quality is pretty crappy. I fussed with it a bit to see if I could make it better but it was shot on my husband's cell phone and I guess that's just the way it looks. Overall, I consider Day 1 a success!