After my dramatic program I came back to my room and crashed. I’d wanted to see the rest of the skating but was a bit too tired and sick. I missed seeing Scott from my rink with his fantastic purple trombone and Husky marching band music and costume. We’d skated together on a few early Saturday sessions as we both tried to prepare. Scott ended up winning the pre-bronze men’s light entertainment with his spirited performance.
On the plus side my room had one of the virtues of an older hotel room: a deep, hot bath with plenty of hot water. Combined with The Boys in the Boat it was heavenly. Eventually I revived and watched the end of the day’s skating.
On the next day’s practice with Gary my lutz was back. He had me do it several times and it behaved each time. It was small, with a foot tap on the landing, but good enough to go. Gary tried to help me on my spins. He wanted my free leg to hip height on my camel and my sit-change sit to have six good rotations on each foot. On my Ina Bauer he wanted my trailing leg completely straight and not scratching with the toe. Both seemed hard to achieve, the toe-scratching was especially stubborn. He added arms to the back cross-strokes at the beginning of my footwork pattern and had me alter the end of it so I’d face the judges at the end.
loop jump
One of my skating friends from home kept me company before my skate, so did Gary. I had a good five-minute warm-up, doing my jumps and spins but very little of my footwork and transitions. My actual skate went pretty well. The most egregious bobble was the ending footwork. My counter became a three-turn, and adding arm movements on the back cross-strokes made the inside spread eagle just after that a bit weird. Worse, trying to face the judges at the end made me lose my concentration and miss the skid stop into my ending pose. I tried to do a T-stop and then awkwardly glided into a stop dragging my toe pick behind me. Smooth last impression.
Ah well. Other pros and cons: I was happy with the beginning of the program, I felt it had good musicality and flow. My jumps were OK, the lutz was mediocre which is about as good as I could expect. I got stuck in a corner after my salchow/toe and my crossovers became flat and powerless, I abandoned a little footwork that came right after that.
flip/toe loop landing
I got my free leg at least temporarily up to hip height in my camel, but once I stood up it traveled. Still, at my current skill level I can’t sneeze at a camel that worked at all. I had trouble changing feet on my sit-change-sit, but again, it could have been worse: at least I changed feet and stood up on one foot.
I placed 4th of 6, same placement as last year but in a younger-skewing age group (45 to 54 instead of the former 51-60). Now if I can just train for Nationals! I’ve been out for a week with bronchitis, I’m waiting for the meds to kick in so I can get back out there.
Related Posts:
My skate at Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals Skating at my first big competition, the Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals.
Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals: Part II My skate at 2014 Pacific Coast Adult Sectionals.
Skating goals and keeping the old bod on the ice My goals for this skating season and how they are going so far.
My first lutz in competition My skate at the Pacific Northwest Interclub Championships.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
That was a lovely performance, Mary! You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. Your loop jumps were big and gorgeous, and what an amazing Ina Bauer! I can’t wait to meet you at Adult Nationals!
Eva recently posted..Skating Fridays
Thanks Eva. I’m sure I should focus on just enjoying what I CAN do in my skating. The loop is my favorite jump. I’m looking forward to Salt Lake and meeting you too!
Beautiful program Mary! You flowed and interpreted the music so well. I agree with Eva your Ina Bauer was fabulous. I really enjoy reading your analysis! All the best at Nationals!
Thanks Marcia, both for your good wishes for Nationals and for letting me know you enjoyed my post. I have naturally open hips so Ina Bauers happen pretty easily for me.
Good for you, Mary! The opening into the loop was very fluid and I saw a strong flip-toe combination well into the program. The dress color is beautiful and shows up really well on the ice. Enjoyed Scott’s creative performance as well-I can barely do a catch-foot spiral, and can’t imagine doing one with a trombone. Thanks for sharing your adventures and hope you feel better soon.
Jo recently posted..Happy birthday, Bach!
Thanks, Jo. I am happy with that beginning, and one of my coaches helped me a lot lately with my flip. I agree Scott did well! His coach is a very creative choreographer. I’m slowly improving, will skate this week for sure.
WOW!! I think you looked amazing!!! I can’t imagine attempting to jump while on skates and you did it numerous times!
I hope you get over your bronchitis soon and can start training for Nationals!
Kim recently posted..Sometimes a Race Ends up Not Being a Race
Thanks, Kim, jumps are fun, when they work anyway. I skated a bit this morning, I have a local performance Saturday so we’ll see what I can do this week.
Good luck with your performance this weekend! I enjoyed watching your FS again (live the first time!) I can’t believe Nationals is in 3 weeks. I hope it is fun and not too overwhelming for the first time.
Thanks Melissa! I think I’m turning the corner on getting better, today was the first day that I felt good when I skated. I can’t believe Nationals are in three weeks, either! Don’t feel like I’ve made any progress particularly in my skating since Sectionals. But I am trying to keep in mind that Nationals are also about hanging out with everyone else and seeing what other folks are doing. It will be my first time too! I’m going to do the STARS program on Thursday, that ought to be interesting.