I’M SURE IT’LL BE OKAY, RIGHT? WHAT’S THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN. AHHHHHHHHHH ..read more

Two weekends ago, I skated at my first competition in two years, which was also my first competition at the Silver level. It was a chance to put the program out there and get feedback before Sectionals (ack! It’s Sectionals week already!), and also my first encounter with IJS scoring. The competition itself went… okay. I didn’t fall, I got credit for all my elements, I didn’t have a disaster skate. The scoresheet felt fair. It didn’t feel like a good skate, though, and I felt shaky throughout, like I didn’t have my blades in the ice. There were a LOT of ladies in Silver freeskate, and most of ..read more

Last year was kind of a big question mark for me, skating-wise, so I can’t say I had defined goals or even plans — I was just glad to resume skating again after being out with an injury, and relieved when my skills started to come back. I also went coachless for the better part of the year, and skipped competing and programs altogether, so it was only fairly recently that I started to look forward with concrete goals again. For 2018, I would like to: Compete my silver free skate at Adult Sectionals. I have no idea how I stack up against the field so my goal is purely personal: skate everythin ..read more

I’m now a Silver skater! Phew! Every time I test or compete, in the lead-up to skating I ask myself why I do this and what it brings me when it makes me feel so nervous and stressed out. But then I do the thing, and even if I don’t pass or do well, I usually feel fine the second I finish, even exhilarated. I tell myself consolingly that I don’t have to test or compete at all, that skating for its own sake is plenty rewarding, but then the thought of not testing or competing bums me out. So I continue to do it! Preparation for this test was a little rushed, because my new coach and I have only ..read more

My coach explained the importance of spins once hitting Silver, since some competitions start judging with IJS rather than 6.0. And given that I’m unable to land double jumps but could, theoretically, hit a Level 1 or 2 spin, the spins end up being bigger point-getters than jumps, although there are only 2 spins allowed versus 5 jumping passes. But then on the downside, if you don’t quite get a leg high enough or low enough, or hold a position long enough, the dreaded dash of doom could zero out the whole attempt. So all in all, I’m putting a lot of attention on my spins these days. It’s been ..read more