« Snow scene | Main | I am a Melting Pot dessert genius »
February 20, 2006
I feel like poop
So, I took a day off of work today to (a) take my new driver's license photo (b) decide on bridesmaid dresses with my maids and (c) take a figure skating Moves in the Field test.
First, I forgot that it's a government holiday, so no DMV for me. I'll have to do it another day this week. It's horribly inconvienent, because one of my classes is finishing this week, and there's a lot of last-minute work to do.
The bridesmaid dress thing went well. That was the high point. My dearest friends gathered around me and praised my good taste in fancy dresses - no MUDs for them (Mandatory Ugly Dresses). This made me feel good.
Then, the skating test. I was stiff, because yesterday I hurt my knee trying to race Terry on the eliptical machine. I really hate that he has passed me in cardio output, so I was trying to keep up. Plus, I think I've really known for a while that something was going to happen to me, pain-wise. I have long-standing problems with my knees and shoulders, both of which have led me to really know my way around a physical therapy gym. My hip has been bothering me lately, leading me to believe that I should really start trying to strengthen my joints.
By the way, a Moves test in skating is where you do a set pattern of steps for a judge or a panel of judges, who then decide if you pass or fail. If you fail, you wait at least a month and take the test again. The level that you hold is used to determine what level you should compete at - in freestyle, it's a combo of Moves and Freestyle tests. In synchro, they just use the moves test. I don't think I'm currently subject to any restrictions, but progress is about having goals, so taking tests gives me something to work towards. I passed my first test, Pre-Bronze, last month. Today I took the Bronze test.
So, after taking both Advil and Tylenol, I get on the ice for my test, and I feel okay, but not great. The ice is really hard. I'm nervous, so I'm rushing a little. I wait for my turn to test, and I'm going through it pretty well. I actually hit the wall a little at one point because I've got so much flow that I'm running out of room for the pattern I'm doing. However, I only really sideswipe the wall, and it's quiet, and the judge isn't looking. The only point at which I feel really terrible is the last move. My legs are shaking from the effort, and I just want to stop. I get through it, but I know that it wasn't good. I didn't think it was terrible though. And since the rest of my moves are nice, I think I might get away with it.
No such luck. I need a 2.5 average, or a 12.5 total score to pass. I ended up with a 2.44 average, or 12.2 total score. I just barely missed it. The real killer is that someone I regularly practice with, who I'm confident that I can outperform, passed. We tested at the same time, so she had a different judge, who was apparently looking for something different than mine. Not that I can figure out what my judge wanted - she praises me for my flow on most of the moves, and says that my extensions are OK. But even with those comments, she gives me a minimum passing score for those components of the test, so that I fail just barely for "shallow 3-turns" and "tentative mohawks." My coach thinks that she decided she wanted to fail me, and then arranged the numbers to make it happen, regardless of the comments she made. Even so, I feel pretty bad. In retrospect, I shouldn't have gone to the gym yesterday. I should have dug up a knee brace to add a little support to my aching left side. Unfortunately, all the hindsight in the world doesn't affect the fact that I have to take the test again in two months, which means paying for it a second time, taking time off, and, worst of all, practicing the same moves for two more months. I'm really bored with them. I want to do something else. I can spend some of my time on other things, but I'm going to have to keep coming back to the same tired patterns that I've done probably thousands of times by now. Ick.
So, I feel like poop. Despite the wonderful brownie and the pretty roses that Terry brought me. Despite the pep talks from several friends. I feel like poop anyway. :(
Posted by Janice Ryan at February 20, 2006 11:25 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.numtopia.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/206
Comments
Posted by: Geana at November 14, 2007 3:16 AM
Posted by: flower girl dress patterns at January 5, 2009 10:09 PM