Passed PB Freeskate 9-22-2007

3:06p
No skating on tuesday this week- did I post that? THere was a hockey game.

Wednesday practice went well- had some really good spins in there, felt really sick though. Didn't skate during synchro but did off ice.

Today edge class went well. We did alternating crossovers- I'm good on forward, not on backward. And spirals on edges- eck. I went back at noon and skated for about 20 minutes to go through the test- I'm without a doubt ready.

However, now I feel like I am going to puke and my legs are shaking like crazy.
I also woke up with an eye infection and will have to test in my glasses since I can't wear contacts. The world is clearly against me.

After this test, it is unlikely I will ever test again. The stress isn't worth it- and I don't need the tests for anything, really, oh well adult nationals, I don't think I'm making it to bronze. I hope I pass today, but it won't suprise me if I don't based on nerves alone. I know I am good enough to do the required moves.
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6:42p
I'm a PB skater now!
I passed PB Freeskate! No videos this time. It's just not an interesting enough test to bother taping.

For some reason they had 3 judges judge it- and that was kind of strange- when I got off everyone said they saw that and were really confused. They were running pre-pre test 3 at one time. Still, I was glad I got the ice to myself, although it did mean you could hear my scratches.

Overall the test was pretty representative of how I skate. My scratch spin wasn't a scratch spin, just a one foot at ankle spin, but I figured it would be better to do a low level spin well, then ruin a higher spin. Spiral was REALLY slow, but when I did my show program I caught a toe pick and almost fell, and that's how I hurt myself last month, so I figured safe was better than falling on my face. The pre-nerves were apparently a good thing. I felt like I was going to throw up all week. When I got on the ice I was mostly fine, just slightly nervous. My husband said I looked really angry (oops), but that I wasn't looking down the whole time (good).

Judges comments were pretty brief-
Two different jumps:
Judge 1: waltz jump- equal flow in and out, toe loop- not quite fully rotated.
Judge 2: waltz jump- okay, toe loop-okay
Judge 3: T-careful

One Foot Upright Spin
Judge 1: 6 revs- controlled
Judge 2: okay
Judge 3: 6 r on toe (eek! I didn't think it was)

Two Foot Upright Sprin
Judge 1: 6 revs
Judge 2: okay
Judge 3: 4 r (wonder how I got 2 revs less here?)

Forward Crossovers
Judge 1: controlled
Judge 2: okay
Judge 3: okay

Backward Crossovers
Judge 1: steady flow
Judge 2: a bit stiff and scratchy
Judge 3: tenative

Lunge or Spiral
Judge 1: spiral at hip height and steady
Judge 2: okay
Judge 3: 4 seconds- ok position, lacked speed (sure did!)

August 19, 2007 - Pre Bronze MITF!

8:32a
Test day today. We plan to leave at about 10:30- which should put us in Des Moines at about 12:30, and my test isn't until 2:00 but I wanted to leave early enough that if there is any sort of accidents or construction on the highway, I'll still be there by 2:00. It's raining today so that might slow us down.

I sewed up the holes in my tights last night, and sewed the "ears" at the foot of the OTB tights to the elastic so they don't stick out as much. Also got the hook and eyes on. I plan on wearing the OTBS, and the footless are there for back up.

I have my dress packed, and a spare dress packed. I have extra blister pads, a needle and thread, my ankle gel pads, and my blade guards packed. Kevin checked to make sure the bag contained TWO ice skates. (I've gone to the mall before with only 1, imagine driving all the way across the state with 1!) I actually had to go search out the blade guards, as I never use them when I teach, but imagine stepping on a penny or bobby pin on a test day! Blade guards will be on.

I'm more nervous than I thought i would be. I wasn't nervous about the show. There were LOTS of people there watching. Other than the judge- I doubt anyone will be watching me. But I guess there were no stakes if I did poorly at the show, and here there are some stakes. I mean, it doesn't REALLY matter if I don't pass- but I will be out $45- so that's something.

I still haven't decided if I want to practice on the other ice pad while I am waiting to test. I don't want to because I'm nervous if I skate poorly it will REALLY make me nervous on the test and affect my performance. I'm also nervous I'll rip my tights, or skate over something that will ruin my blades (it's known to happen on public sessions). But I think it might be a good idea because if I skate WELL- well that's a good thing.

But since I often only skate 30 minutes at a time, well the 5 minute warm up will let me know if I'm skating well- and that will give me confidence, and if I'm skating badly, I won't have time to freak about it. Burton hasn't talked to me about what to do for warm up. If he doesn't I plan to stroke around the rink (hopefully in the more difficult direction, it will depend on "traffic") then do backwards inside edges. Then some forward right inside 3 turns. That's enough to let me know I'm ready for the test. If time allows, I'll add some crossovers.

I KNOW I can pass this test. I just have to manage to hold the contents of my stomach in until the end of it! (I didn't sleep well, and am feeling quite sick)
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4:28p
PB Test Notes
Well, I'm back from Des Moines. It was good and bad. The good is I passed. The bad is I have never skated so badly in my life.

I touched my foot down during my backward OUTSIDE edges (which are usually pretty good). My backward Inside edges were shaky. I touched my foot down on a 3-turn during pattern 5. I FORGOT COMPLETELY to do the last lobe of the crossover pattern. (I could have sworn I did four, but nope.) My waltz 8 was okay, and my stroking was good. I really did not think I was going to pass. My body has always reacted badly to stress (I was on beta blockers for anxiety when I danced in high school) and even though I had convinced myself that this test didn't matter, clearly my nerves did no get the message. My legs were shaking, I'm suprised I was able to stand up. The ice was also horrible. I've never skated on a rink with the "ice bumps" before, so I spent a part of the warm up trying to figure out where they all were on the ice. I really think Burton thought I'd fail. I was asked to reskate the half of the crossovers I didn't do- and I kind of thought that might be a good sign, why would they have me reskate if I'd already fail anyway. (Oh- I did the reskate great. By that point, I figured it was already shot and was back to my normal skating)- but he told me he wouldn't consider it a reskate, just a completion of the test. I had to try really hard not to cry, and even when I got the paper that said I passed, what good is it passing if I was horrible? Am I just usually way above the standard? Did I get a pity pass because the judge assumed I normally skate better?

These are the comments
Forward Perimeter Stroking: Nice position, nice flow. CCW nice, CW nice slightly stiff.

Basic Consectuive edges: Nice Bilateral Skating
FO: steady edges, very neat (Steady? I was shaking like crazy!)
FI: Smooth edges
BO: A little stiff- neat (I set my foot down on the first one- the rest weren't too bad)
BI: pushes a little 2 footed (I don't think I knew they weren't supposed to be...)

Forward Crossovers: 3,5,4 (I counted 4,4,4 weird?) RESKATE- nice neat strokes! Better Power! (see back to normal)
Backwards Crossovers: 7,8,8,8 neat strokes

Waltz Eight: Good Symmetry, BO edge a bit short

Forward 3-turn pattern: little bit tight, but consistent flow. R-L a little shallow, L-R stronger (YEP! R-L is my bad side, that's why I do it first!)

I guess I'm disappointed in myself. But ready to kick butt on the freeskate test in just over a month!

(I have videos, but I don't know if I'll put them on youtube- I don't think I can handle the U Suxx comments)

ETA: Okay, I did put the videos on youtube- the links are in the next post.
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10:20p
Videos of PB Test
Moves 1 and 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1fGnReGk8

Moves 3, 4, and 5 plus reskate
(gosh, I can't believe how tenative I was on those crossovers!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXlQt-3q0w