Skating Fridays

Adult Nationals – Gold Ladies 2 Recap

A week and a day ago, something crazy happened. Yes, I was competing at Adult Nationals in Delaware, but an unexpected thing occurred. Check this out:

That’s right – I somehow ended up on the podium and earned the SILVER medal! I’ve never earned a medal at Adult Nationals, so this was such a surprise! And to do it at my home rink (I grew up in Delaware, and this was the exact rink where I learned how to skate) made it that much more special.

I wanted to skate well and to exude joy, and I think I accomplished both. The weeks leading up to Adult Nationals (AN), I was trying to find a word/phrase that could help me get into the proper mindset for the axels. In previous years, I used some phrases that were ineffective and didn’t provide me with the confidence I needed. This year, I found the phrase that finally worked: “I’m the boss!” And yes, I say it out loud.

Right before the first axel, I mumbled under my breath, “I’m the boss!” and I landed it. I took a huge breath before the second one, said the same phrase, and successfully landed that one as well.

In fact, I even did an impromptu fist bump after I landed that second axel and before heading into my final spin. My spins, however, were a different story. Normally, they are very consistent and very fast. However, they were slow and not awesome. I did, however, earn positive grades of execution for them so they weren’t terrible – just not as good as I am normally capable of.

I was dumfounded and in utter shock when I took my final bows. I stepped off the ice and listened for the announcer to share my score. When she said 29.30, I just about fell over. Not only did I top my personal best, but I was sitting in second place!

After the remaining skaters finished, we listened to hear the final skater’s score and it was lower than mine. Somehow, I had secured a spot on the podium! I started crying like a baby and said that I just wanted to make my mom proud. I had visited her gravesite a few days before the event and told her I was skating. I hope that she was in the stands watching and enjoyed my performance.

I’ll share the official photos and video soon.