I skipped my session at the Y on Sunday because there was some drama in my personal life on Saturday and it was a lot to deal with. I needed a break. Long story short, one of my friends passed away and, before he did, he asked me if I would take care of his cats for him. I promised him I would. So over the weekend, my husband and I drove down south to my friend's old apartment to pick up Zeus and Athena and take them home with us. Since Dinah is no longer with us, I am able to fulfill my promise to my friend and will love them and care for them the way he wanted. I'm pretty sad about losing a friend but the silver lining is that I know he is resting easy not worrying about his kids and my house isn't as quiet and sad anymore now that there are cats there again. They really are sweet kitties and I'm glad to have them but we are all grieving. My husband and I lost our kitty, I lost a friend and, Zeus and Athena lost their human. I guess we can help each other heal.
So, my lesson on Monday was a bit of a mess because I was super distracted plus there was that missed practice. But, I got through it anyway. Christopher was understanding and was patient with me which was kind of him.
The 27 Program Challenge (7/27) - Before running the whole thing with the music, he wanted to spice up some areas to make them look a little nicer. He adjusted a couple of steps at the beginning of my step sequence, changed where I'm looking on the end of the step sequence, reminded me to create a deeper curve going into the final spin, and he adjusted the end pose slightly so that I'm making a full turn to face the judges instead of a half turn to face the goal. All tiny adjustments but they will all add up to make things look a little more clean. I ran the step sequence to the end with the changes and my muscle memory kicked in and I reverted back to my original steps. I made a face (and an expletive) but kept going. When I was done Christopher reminded me that the judges won't know I messed up if I just roll with it but, they will definitely know if I drop an F Bomb while making angry faces, lol. Finally, I ran the whole program with the music. I fell pretty hard on my loop jump (which never happens, it's my best jump) and it stunned me for a hot second before I was able to get up and finish the program. Funny thing about program falls: they only hurt if you don't get up, lol. Once I got up, the pain disappeared until I was able to finish. Adrenaline is a beautiful thing!
I keep reminding myself that I still have plenty of time to polish this up and a few bad run throughs are not an indication of how I'm going to perform come competition time in September. I have also had good run throughs as well so I know a clean program is in there somewhere.
Testing - I spoke to Christopher about how I'm not entirely confident about being test ready next month. He advised me to keep plugging away at things as if I'll be testing but we will do a trial run of the test a couple weeks before and see where I stand. I do know this: This will be my last season skating at the Bronze Level. Hopefully, I'll be able to earn my way to Silver by the start of next season but if not, I think I'll skate up anyway. I think it's just the kick in the ass I need and I'm already including Silver level elements in my programs. I don't want people to think I'm sandbagging by staying at Bronze. But yeah, it will be nice if I can test into it but if not, I'll be there anyway. I also don't think I'll participate in the Adult Competition Series this season. There are a lot of things changing in my personal life and I don't feel ready to commit to going to Midwestern Sectionals to finish out the series. It will take some of the pressure off.
No comments:
Post a Comment