phoenix
08-07-2006, 10:35 AM
Hi everyone, I'm back! Still a little groggy (work? you want me to WORK now??!). I had a *great* time at Lake Placid, it was huge and overwhelming and soooo much fun.
First of all for the skating: My waltz went about as well as it could have. I was thrilled to be 13th out of 15 after the first round. Then the tango.....I skated pretty well & did all the elements, but very cautiously with very little confidence or attack. I was 14th in the tango & 14th overall. But since I had figured I'd probably be last, I was happy with that result!
I watched some of the other competitors & could clearly see that my choreography was much much simpler than the others. In fact, in my last official practice I changed my straightline footwork to add another twizzle to try to ramp up the difficulty a bit! It worked out okay, but then I missed the step after the new twizzle in the actual performance. Oh well, that was a learning experience too.
Some other things I saw/did/learned:
• I skated on an open practice session w/ Vitaly Novikov & high level student, a few junior teams, & some high solo skaters. I'd never been on such a session before! After total panic for the first 5 minutes or so, I settled down to work & was determined to hold my own, and furthermore, look like I belonged out there with the rest of them. I worked really hard, stayed focused, stayed out of everyone's way (mostly), and came off the ice in total triumph. I actually skated too hard & used up too much energy instead of saving it for the comp the next day. So I learned a little something about pacing yourself too. But that practice was the most fun I had all week!
• I took care of myself on my practices & monitered my own skating (coach wasn't there). I managed a choreography change last minute, and did it pretty well in the competition. But I also realized I hate being at a comp without my coach, & probably wouldn't do that again.
• I met Jerod Swallow (one of my heroes) & gushed a little too much instead of just talking like a sane person......:oops:
• I watched all the levels of free dance skaters & decided I'm currently skating at a juvenile level......and not even a great juvenile. I have so much work to do! (ETA, for the freestyle skaters out there who aren't familiar w/ dance levels--juvenile would be pretty little kids, not much polish, pretty slow. Test requirement is preliminary dance, juv. moves. On paper, I'm much higher than that. But not in the real world as it turns out, so that was an eye opener!)
• I have great new images in my head of what I'm trying to look like.
• I see a much, much bigger picture beyond the daily practices at the home rink, & I need to remember that when I get all caught up in my little practices, test sessions, etc. I need to get over myself and get on with it and get to work.
• I learned a lot about pacing yourself at a long comp, & how important it is (esp. for the kids) to try to maintain some sort of schedule/structure with meals, sleep, etc.
• I stayed in a house w/ (among others) a coach who has 2 senior teams & one of the members of those teams. I asked them tons of questions & listened to them discussing the competition, partner stuff, judge stuff, parent stuff, etc. It was fascinating & I learned a lot.
• AND, the final triumph: at the airport in Albany, I ate a Milky Way Midnight candy bar.....in front of Igor Shpilband. :twisted:
First of all for the skating: My waltz went about as well as it could have. I was thrilled to be 13th out of 15 after the first round. Then the tango.....I skated pretty well & did all the elements, but very cautiously with very little confidence or attack. I was 14th in the tango & 14th overall. But since I had figured I'd probably be last, I was happy with that result!
I watched some of the other competitors & could clearly see that my choreography was much much simpler than the others. In fact, in my last official practice I changed my straightline footwork to add another twizzle to try to ramp up the difficulty a bit! It worked out okay, but then I missed the step after the new twizzle in the actual performance. Oh well, that was a learning experience too.
Some other things I saw/did/learned:
• I skated on an open practice session w/ Vitaly Novikov & high level student, a few junior teams, & some high solo skaters. I'd never been on such a session before! After total panic for the first 5 minutes or so, I settled down to work & was determined to hold my own, and furthermore, look like I belonged out there with the rest of them. I worked really hard, stayed focused, stayed out of everyone's way (mostly), and came off the ice in total triumph. I actually skated too hard & used up too much energy instead of saving it for the comp the next day. So I learned a little something about pacing yourself too. But that practice was the most fun I had all week!
• I took care of myself on my practices & monitered my own skating (coach wasn't there). I managed a choreography change last minute, and did it pretty well in the competition. But I also realized I hate being at a comp without my coach, & probably wouldn't do that again.
• I met Jerod Swallow (one of my heroes) & gushed a little too much instead of just talking like a sane person......:oops:
• I watched all the levels of free dance skaters & decided I'm currently skating at a juvenile level......and not even a great juvenile. I have so much work to do! (ETA, for the freestyle skaters out there who aren't familiar w/ dance levels--juvenile would be pretty little kids, not much polish, pretty slow. Test requirement is preliminary dance, juv. moves. On paper, I'm much higher than that. But not in the real world as it turns out, so that was an eye opener!)
• I have great new images in my head of what I'm trying to look like.
• I see a much, much bigger picture beyond the daily practices at the home rink, & I need to remember that when I get all caught up in my little practices, test sessions, etc. I need to get over myself and get on with it and get to work.
• I learned a lot about pacing yourself at a long comp, & how important it is (esp. for the kids) to try to maintain some sort of schedule/structure with meals, sleep, etc.
• I stayed in a house w/ (among others) a coach who has 2 senior teams & one of the members of those teams. I asked them tons of questions & listened to them discussing the competition, partner stuff, judge stuff, parent stuff, etc. It was fascinating & I learned a lot.
• AND, the final triumph: at the airport in Albany, I ate a Milky Way Midnight candy bar.....in front of Igor Shpilband. :twisted: