To go or not to go???

[skatingdoris]

I am supposed to be going to my first competition next weekend (BAC at Lee Valley - I know alot of people on here are not going this year because of the way they have done the catagories) but i know a few people who are going and was really looking foward to it all, the social side and skating.

My problem is this,
Three weeks ago I started my PGCE (Initial teacher training) at Manchester university and have been able to get in virtually no skating practice. Last week and for the next two weeks I am in uni in the center of Manchester full time and so far have not been able to skate at all.

The problem is not so much the times for the course but that getting in and out of the center of Manchester is a joke:frus: If I have to be in class for 09:00 then I have to get on a 07:30 train (the next one is at 08:00 and doesn't get to the station, a twenty minute walk/bus from class, till 08:57). In order to catch this train I must be off the ice by 07:00, and thats pushing it, which is ridiculus when the ice doesn't even start till 06:40 - I certainly don't have time for a lesson.
Evening is much the same, we finish at 16:30 but by the time i get to the station, catch a train, get to the rink its about 18:15 and evening ice finishes at 18:45 - barely enough time to pay, warm up and get my skates on:giveup:

All this means that by the time of this competition on saturday morning I will have practiced once (tomorrow) in two weeks and had one half an hour lesson(last monday) :cry: :cry: :cry:

So my question is - do I bother even turning up?
It wasn't exactly the most polished programme in the world anyway and I don't think I can face the absolute disaster it will be now, or am I just getting to bogged down in the negative (seem to be very stressed at the moment.

Thanks for reading all this and your advice xx

[chantelly]

I'm in the same boat really, I have had really severe asthma for 2 weeks and I'm still too weak to skate much. Even so I'm going to go (I'm doing dance), otherwise I'd be forever wondering what if? If you have a program together and ready I'd say go for it. (especially after paying all that money out!)
It could well be the dreaded skating nerves too, I try to convince myself before that I don't want to do it, but on the day (at least after I have skated) I'm glad I did.
Good Luck and I hope you make the right decision for you! xx

[BatikatII]

Go and do it anyway. So it's a competition but the real joy of competitions is being able to go out and do your programme without having anyone get in your way!

I dont' know what level/discipline you are doing but I'm doing elementary free with a programme we only started choreographing 4 weeks ago. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't at all but I've paid my money so might as well go skate. Not wasting that amount. As for not being able to practice - I sometimes find if I've been away for a week or two I come back and somethings just seem to work that didn't before and the break had actually been beneficial so you never know it migh twork that way for you too.:)

See you there!

Oh and sometimes when you think you don't have a hope is when you actually have a good skate as you dont' put yourself under any pressure.

[chantelly]

Oh and sometimes when you think you don't have a hope is when you actually have a good skate as you dont' put yourself under any pressure.

I totally agree with that! Aim for a personal best not a medal too, and hopefully you'll be happy regardless, I just want my twizzles to work and my yucky foxtrot mohawk and i'll be a happy lady! xx

[Mrs Redboots]

Go and do it and have fun! We've not entered but are coming to cheer, and would be most disappointed not to meet you!

[skatingdoris]

Thanks everyone for your positive words, feeling a bit better today (probably cause I went to see John Barrowman at the theatre last night :yum: :yum::yum: :yum: :yum: :yum: :yum: )

I think I would like to go but still unsure, it says on the letter they sent me about having to hand in music at the draw on friday night but there is no way I can be there on friday night as I don't finish work till 16:30 in Manchester!! does anyone know if I can hand in music on the sat morning? perhaps i'll give them a call. xx

[sceptique]

As a proud holder of 1.0 mark from the last BAC (is that the lowest possible or they can use decimals only as well?), I can assure you it doesn't hurt as much as you think it would. Nobody would throuw rotten tomatoes at you or whistle you off the ice even if you have a worst skate of your life. On the other hand, you may end up with a decent peformance and surprise yourself - sometimes a bit of adrenaline works wonders (that's how I got through my college exams, by the way :mrgreen: ). At the end of the day nobody is ever happy with the training hours they manage to get, or the state of their programme, or their hair, or the ice, or traffic, or... you get the point. So just get there and do your best. See you at the rink!

[Mrs Redboots]

Oh, they can use decimals! We only got 0.8 on at least one of our dances last year! Mind you, the third judge was most generous (!) and gave us 1.2.... The way they were marking the dance, nobody, not even the highest level skaters, would have passed Level 1! We said afterwards that if they were going to judge us as though we were Senior skaters, then they should just put us on the IJS and have done.