Good Morning

For the first time since maybe the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I woke up and skated BEFORE work. Surprisingly, it was a really good session, especially since my coach finally agreed that I would not be prepared for Sectional. Thank goodness! It wasn't so bad. I had gone to bed early, slept poorly and took all sorts of public transportation to get to the rink. There are advantages to working in Manhattan! And my skating went well. Everything was peachy! Until 11:00. That's when I crashed. Trying to work past the sleepiness, I had the idiotic idea of going for a walk during lunch. Sadly that made things worse. I actually felt as though I was walking in my sleep; maybe I was. The main point of this post is: I skated before work and survived. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed. Good morning and good night.

Sectionals

This morning, I received surprising and somewhat upsetting news: I am eligible to compete in Sectionals as a Silver, even though I haven't passed the test yet. What makes this so surprising is that I simply assumed that I was not eligible and therefore never put the idea in my mind. What is so upsetting is that I could have been working on this ALL SUMMER LONG!!!! As I struggle to find a new coach, or at least a supplemental coach, I am stunned into silence regarding this new piece of information. If I can scrape together a dramatic program, which I was told that jumps aren't necessary, so I'd only be concentrating on a Salchow, a waltz jump and maybe a toe loop, I can compete. However, at what price? Do I really want to literally throw a program together just to say I competed in Sectionals? And show-up as unprepared as it sounds? Or do I want to be prepared, well-trained and confident about my program? I am choosing the latter. While I would LOVE to compete at Sectionals and Nationals, I have spent too much money and participated in too many competitions where my training and preparation was, well, half-assed. I'm tired of that. I'm also tired of coming in last; I know someone has to do it, it just doesn't have to be me. When this idea was presented to me, I initially said, "No." However, my coach would like me to do it. I said I would think about it, however the deadline is really soon. Heck, the competition is really soon. I am not in shape and cannot currently get through a program without coughing up a lung. So, rather than make a fool of myself, I am conveniently going to miss the deadline. So as they say in one of my favorite children's shows.... "Problem solved Problem solved. We solved the problem So everything is awesome! Problem solved!" Peg Plus Cat

Door Slam

If you've been reading this blog, then you are familiar with my desire to change coaches and obstacles placed in my way. Now that I have a new job (YAY!!!) that I will be starting shortly, I figured, okay, let's get this road on the show. Maybe you recall my mentioning a jump coach I wanted to work with (no, not the guy from Long Island who NEVER showed up for my first and only lesson). I had texted him in August/September about working with me and another adult skater. I had watched his coaching and he worked people HARD, which is why my co-skater Abby and I were going to split a half hour lesson. He had an ice show he had signed on to do, but would start working with us in January. Fast forward to January. He moved to the west coast.

World Ice Arena has finally added an evening session on Tuesdays. Abby and I figured, we'll both skate there and work with a coach there: Zack. The sessions are zoos and we both found out that Zack is totally booked.

We had one more choice, but neither of us are quite sure he was the right choice. If everything works out, I'll have more to say. For right now, I feel as though there are so many things blocking my progress. We'll see...

Let The River Run

Got a new job in Manhattan. I'm going home!