We're in Salt Lake City!! We got here yesterday afternoon after the most boring drive ever through Wyoming. Since we couldn't check into the Airbnb yet, we stopped by the rink to get registered and walk around the facility. I'll be skating both of my events on the East rink. We grabbed dinner then tucked in for the night since I had practice ice super early.
Practice Ice - The ice here is hard. Not like Casper hard but a bit more solid than I'm used to. However, all of my spins were Amazing! Super centered, fast, controlled. My jumps were bouncy and consistent. Basically, it was a great 30 minute practice and I was feeling really confident. After practice, I had some time to head back to the Airbnb and get dressed and do hair and makeup before needing to get back to the rink for my event.
Warmup Ice - This also went really well. I tested out my camel spins again to make sure they were still good and they were. I was ready to go!
Free Skate - Oh man, here we go. I think this is the least nervous I have felt for a competition. The practices I've had recently were great and the warmup ice was great. I was cool, calm, and collected. I hit my starting pose and the music began. First jump combo was good, I made eye contact with the judges on my way to the opposite Lutz corner for my second combo. That combo was good. Lots of expression going into my camel spin and then... I went down. Ugh. I have been competing for 6 years and have never taken a fall during a competition but here I am at Nationals and I fall on the camel entry. Not trying to make excuses here but if you have been following the "East Rink Drama" on the Adult skaters page on Facebook, you know all about the roof leak and the soft ice (and the ensuing cone followed by the bucket affectionately named Herbert to catch the rain water). I went down right there and it wasn't the typical camel fall. It looked like I just sat into the fall in the spot were the ice was a bit soft. So yeah, I feel like that spot is cursed. But here's the thing, I got up, did a quick one foot spin to kill time and then went right into my footwork sequence. I slayed the rest of my routine because I was skating angry and somehow that lent itself well to my music. I finished everything as planned and ended on time with the music. Outside of the fall (which may or may not have been due to "Pre-Herbert" shenanigans) this was the best I've skated this routine.
Results - Out of 9 skaters, I placed 7th after a tie breaker. Ugh. The ordinals were all over the place (4,6,6,9,8). I think what stung the most was the one last place ordinal because I didn't think I skated the worst. And the judge who gave me that last place ordinal was from Denver. Double ouch! Anyway, I was really proud of how I got up after the fall and basically badass'd the rest of my routine. My overall goal for coming to Nationals was to skate a routine that I was proud of and, you know what? I was damn proud! :)
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