Sectionals Recap: Part 2 - Free Skate

Long warm up - I signed up for a 15 minute warm up but it was scheduled several hours before my free skate so I'm not sure how much it warmed me up, exactly. It was just okay. I was really struggling still to get used to the weird ice so my spins were crap and my jumps were meh. It really didn't help me feel confident at all going into my free skate. They also never gave us a 1 minute warming toward the end, they just waited until the 15 minutes was up and then announced that the warm-up had concluded. That caught me off guard a bit. I got off the ice, took my skates off, and sat in the stands to watch the Silver ladies compete. My friend Marie qualified for Nationals so I'm really glad I got to see her skate. She did an amazing job!

Short warm up - Fast forward about 3 hours and now it's time to get dressed for my free skate and start stretching. My coach arrived and I think he could tell that I was nervous. Seriously, that ice killed my spirit a bit. He reminded me to relax and have fun and to BREATHE! I got on the ice for my 5 minute warm up and ran through everything like we planned (one lap of stroking, all of my jumps in each quadrant, both spins, and a run through of the footwork sequence). I finished all of that by the time they gave the one minute warning so I just did a couple of laps while doing some slow, deep breathing to kill some time and calm myself down. 

Free Skate Event - I was second out of seven to skate so I was properly warmed up and ready to go when I was announced. I took one final breath, got into position, and smiled really big at the judges one last time before my music started. Although my loop-loop combo was inconsistent in practice, I pulled it off for the performance. Was it perfect? Naw. But I did it and I didn't fall so that was a HUGE relief. Again with the shaky spiral and I rushed my salchow. My toe loop was proper, though! So, yeah. My jumps got landed, my spins spun (kinda) and I ended on time with the music. There was only one point where I felt like I was behind the music and that was right after my sit spin because I ended facing the wrong direction so I had to add some additional crossovers to set up for the stag jump (which only ended up being a half flip because I felt rushed). It's such a speedy routine and if I have even one mishap, it throws everything off. But I got caught back up and back on track. My final attitude spin wasn't centered at all and I couldn't get the free leg higher without falling out of it so I abandoned it after two revolutions. Not my best spin. 

Results - After a tie breaker, I finished 4th to get the pewter medal. I think what it came down to were my spins. Because of my injury, I don't think I'll ever have a low enough sit spin to compete with and my attitude spin was trash. The person who got third had better spins but two footed a landing or two so I can see why we were tied. Maybe they just liked that person's program better overall and that's what broke the tie? Who knows. What I do know is that I skated a program that I am not embarrassed to show people. It was a relatively clean program and, although it's speedy, I was able to keep up (this time). I was disappointed to get 4th but this will light the fire under my ass to really work on technique, timing, and artistry.