I Passed Junior Moves!!!

I Passed-I Passed-I Passed!!!!!

I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to make it through the test because my ankle was really sore Tuesday night and this morning during practice. I guess taking that wall feet first on Monday did some damage after all. It actually worked to my benefit though. I was so worried about my ankle giving out that I forgot to be nervous about testing.

Here's the play by play:

On Tuesday night, I could barely put weight on my left foot. I iced it, elevated it, and kept it wrapped in an ace bandage. This morning, I took some ibuprofen and hoped for the best. I got to the rink to warm-up on the 7:10am freestyle. I planned to skate hard for an hour, but I spend most of my time stroking and testing my ankle. I didn't make it through the CCW forward power circle once because it hurt so much. And, my best move, the inside rockers were so painful that I can't even begin to describe it. At that point, I was seriously considering backing out. Coach K wouldn't hear it though. She told me to suck it up and keep skating.

After freestyle, I got changed and did my hair and makeup. I had over an hour until I tested, so I had a peanut butter granola bar and watched some of my rink's other skaters test. There was a juvenile FS, an intermediate FS, a junior FS, and a senior FS. I'm pretty sure that they all passed, so it was a really good day for my rink.

Then it was my turn. I was a bit slow on warm-up as my ankle had stiffened up again. I made it through all of the patterns except the power circles which I never do on warm-up even with the sore ankle. I had to wait through 2 novice MITF tests which seemed like forever. I kept jogging in place and wiggling my left foot to keep my ankle loose.

My power circles were good, but not my best. The forward CCW was especially weak, but I was happy to make it through without my ankle giving out. The back ones were both ok. I've done better, but I didn't get to practice them much during winter break due to crowded freestyles. I actually enjoyed being able to do the exit glide without looking over my shoulder for munchkins!

Strangely enough, I wasn't even worried about the outside rockers (one of my nemesis moves) because they didn't hurt my ankle too much. It was probably one of the best sets that I've ever done. I just thought about staying on absolutely true edges at all times. Nothing else mattered in my mind. It must have worked because I didn't even wobble on the exit of the BO turns. Yea!

I was worried about the inside rockers because I knew that the left foot side was going to kill. My first side was ok, but a bit on the slow side. The left foot side hurt so bad, but I hung on and finished the pattern.

The edge pulls were a bit slower than usual. I also attribute this to crowded freestyles the last two weeks. I don't think I've gotten a full set in since before winter break. I also had a tiny bobble out of one of the turns on the left foot. I kept up the rhythm of the pattern though.

Choctaws were the last hurdle because they hurt my ankle too. They also just came together for me in the last few days. I made sure that I hit nice deep edges. I had one little wobble on the first side and almost ran out of room on the last side. However, it was by far the best set that I've done on a test session.

Coach K didn't seem to think I'd passed, or maybe she just didn't want to get my hopes up since judging on these tests has been so inconsistent. She thought I'd have to reskate the power pulls or choctaws. And, she thought that the whole test was a bit slow for me. I felt really good about the test whether I passed or not. It was the first time that I felt like I'd put out a really good test. I could have been faster, but I knew that my edge quality (which I'd been dinged on in the past) was great today. And, I was skating on a bad ankle!

When I got the judges sheets back, I found out that I not only passed, but every single judge passed me over the average! Here are the comments: (4.0 is passing for each move, 24.0 is passing for the whole test)

Forward Power Circles
Judge 1: 4.0: into the ice, power created, flows out
Judge 2: 4.0: nice knee bend, good power
Judge 3: 4.0: ok power, nice line on glide

Backward Power Circles
Judge 1: 4.0: power created, some accel., exit held, gets choppy
Judge 2: 4.1: ?? glide, good power
Judge 3: 4.0: nice, secure glide, nice line and power

Outside Rockers
Judge 1: 4.1: nice edge pressure, good edge quality, power throughout and lean
Judge 2: 4.0: hesitant out of some B turns, deep edging, good overall flow
Judge 3: 4.1: very good edge, ok pace

Inside Rockers
Judge 1: 4.1: power + nice edge quality, well controlled
Judge 2: 4.1: good flow, deep edging, smooth turns
Judge 3: 4.1: nice deep turns on good edge, good placement

Power Pulls
Judge 1: 4.0: power consistent, deep, quick
Judge 2: 4.0: quick turns, solid, powerful pulls
Judge 3: 3.9: lacks power

Choctaws
Judge 1: 4.0: nice edge quality, looks like work
Judge 2: 4.0: nice edges
Judge 3: 4.0 nice edge quality

Overall
Judge 1: 24.2 and wrote nice job
Judge 2: 24.2
Judge 3: 24.1

It feels good to pass by all three judges and to be over again. I haven't done that since juvenile!

Now I'm on couch or computer chair rest for the rest of the day in hopes of making it to my lesson tomorrow. I'm not planning on doing anything strenuous, I just want to start learning the patterns for senior moves!