I started my day at 3:33am coughing and wheezing. I took some musinex and airborne. I have been battling a damn cold for the past few weeks. I was hoping to get back to bed at least around 4:15, but no! More coughing and wheezing. So then I started watching skating videos. I got back to bed around 5:40 and started to doze off, my alarm went off at 6:00, 6:10, and finally 6:15.

I headed to the Port Authority Bus Station to catch the 197 at 7:30am. I got my two bread and water bottle. I felt so numb from lack of sleep

I arrived at the rink - Ice Vault at Wayne, NJ at 8:43. I signed up for the 9am session for one hour. I didnt even bother stretching or any warming up. I went on the ice at 8:58. There on the ice was Tim Covington practicing his Junior Moves, we exchanged greetings and I went on to tackle my f*&^% moves in the field. The rink was sooo cold that I felt stiff. By 9:23 I began to feel at ease. Most of my attempts were lousy and thought I was bound to strike three! At 9:25 Galina Z. stepped on the ice to coach this talented girl who was having head issues with her 2Ax. She recognized me and said hello I still felt a tad bit stiff so I tried to put on a program music for me to be really loose. It worked a little. At 9:55 I stepped off the ice and had enough. My legs were already tired and numb. At least I didn't trip I thought.

I had an hour and 15 minutes to kill and relax. I was glad. 11:19 was my time for warmup, but by 10:47 everything was running 15 minutes early.
So I laced up my skates and got some hot cocoa If rink 1 was freezing, I know rink 2 is much worse. I stepped inside the arena to check and yeps, it was north pole. I stayed outside the door waiting for the Junior Ladies MIF to finish. When I saw her almost done I went to make a quick trip to the bathroom nearby. I looked myself in the mirror and told myself, "You have been skating since 94, there is no excuse why you cannot pass this, you damn moron!!! Toughen up and pretend this is a program without jumps and spins and music"

* I would like to add before I put on my results and comments, if I have not checked the USFSA Adult MIF video/update, I would have made an ### out of myself at the 8step mohawk sequence, I would have done the pattern in an 8 sequence. Thankfully it was much easier now that you only have to do the lobe once at a time. *

My warmup went well, I mostly stroked and tried to feel the ice with speed and flow. I saw a couple of the judges smile at me, so I took that as a good omen.

There was one Prelim FS to go before me, so I head up to the bathroom to tell myself the same thing.

I went back out. Kathie the test chairwoman was so sweet to offer her presence next to the boards in between my moves. It made a difference.


8 step mohawk sequence
I skidded here and there I thought, then my asthma began to kick in after the first sequence. The second sequence felt lousy as hell!!!
Judge 1 - 2.7, bit rushed on mohawks
Judge 2 - 2.7 good flow - *scribble* into steps
Judge 3 - 2.8 fast, good turns

Forward and Backward strokes
I thought I was a little weak on this area. Well after not skating for 3 weeks and just stepping on the ice for the test, what do I expect?
By this time my legs were sooo numb!!!
Judge 1 - 2.7 *scribble* bit shaky
Judge 2 - 2.7 edges *scrible*out of lobe
Judge 3 - 2.7 strong - good flow

The dreaded FO - BI 3Turns
Oh I prayed and prayed I dont skid and make any ugly sounds, I did
Judge 1 - 2.7 turns a bit late on circle
Judge 2 - 2.8 good snap in between
Judge 3 - 2.7 good flow - turns are fine

The other dreaded FI-BO 3 Turns
I was much confident on my back outsides than my back insides. I did find myself run out of room
Judge 1 - 2.7 skated a bit slow
Judge 2 - 2.6 wobbles and *scribble* on turn - loss of edge
Judge 3 - 2.7 LBO wobbles

* At this point I thought, oh damn it I wasted time and money again *

Forward R & L Forward Spirals
This I knew I didnt have to warmup, so I took my entrance and strongly strutted my stuff. My left blade skidded a little bit. I thought I was about to do a Mandy Wotzel from the 94 Olympics SP::uch::: I held on!
Judge 1 - 2.8 nice extension, both feet
Judge 2 - 2.7 extension & speed, work on position and edge
Judge 3 - 2.8 excellent extension

Forward and Backward Power Pulls
By this time I was really out of breath and about finished with my hot cocoa. Why they put this at the end of the test when you have no legs, is a mystery.
Judge 1 - 2.7 pulls *scrible*
Judge 2 - 2.7 solid
Judge 3 - 2.7 nice test!

By the end of the test I just knew it was a waste of time and just couldnt wait to go home and sleep. The last thing I told Kathie was, I hope the third time is the charm! I watched her took the papers from the judges as I stepped off the ice, and she told me, well it worked, the third time! I was shocked, I almost tried to go to the judges to see if there are any moves I have to retry.

So in total Judge 1-16.3 Judge 2-16.2 Judge 3-16.4
PASS!!! I am so extatic I passed on all three judges.
Oh I am so glad I am over with this mess and I dont have to worry about moves for another 1 year and a half - for gold. I will test my Silver Free on November so I can prepare better for NYInvitational, Sectionals & Nationals.

Thank you all for your well wishes and I will keep you all up to date on my Silver Free.

__________________
Tim David's Website

CONGRATS !!!
What an exhausting morning, but a great result!
See you at NYI.

CONGRATULATIONS!

I'm sure you have put in a lot of hard work on this test, since it's your third try, but the thing I really admire is your attitude. Your youth enabled you to go out there and skate well enough in spite of your cold, but without the great attitude, you could not have done it.

__________________

Congratulations! It took me 3 tries also, but it made me a better skater by my third attempt. Make sure you work on spins for the freestyle.

Congratulations - that was well worth the time you spent!

__________________

Way to go!!!

Congratulations!!!! And yes, what a looooooong morning!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, Tim! And well done for carrying on even though you were convinced you'd made a mess of it.... all goes to show!

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

TIM: WTG! I loved your description of the entire thing! giggle. I felt like I was watching a movie and was delighted each time the judges thought you did significantly better than it actually felt to you! You have to be so proud! We are proud of you!

Congrats! If your asthma kicks in, should take a puff of ventolin or something before you do your tests.

Good for you! I can't imagine trying to pull it together like that without having skated in a couple weeks - and not feeling well to boot! I'm so impressed!

Good for you Tim!

S xxx

__________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"

Thank you all, hopefully I can meet you guys in person in the future

__________________
Tim David's Website

I'm late, but CONGRATULATIONS!

Your test sort of sounds like me on my Novice Moves (except mine was 10th time's a charm, not third! ). I was pretty sick on test day and everything felt strange. Apparently strange is good, though.

I have asthma, too, and one thing I did that I'd never done before in any of my tests was took my time. I figure, I paid for this test, so the judges can wait a little bit in between moves until I get my legs back.

It made a HUGE difference. I just took deep breaths and bent my knees to get the circulation going, looked to make sure the judges were watching, and then went to it! They didn't seem to mind.

Good luck with silver free next!

__________________

"Without Vision the People Perish"
שלום לעולם תמיד