Gold, love and mint tea (Yuzuru Hanyu )

5 - Great expectations

Munich, September 2nd 2015 - 10:32

I step on the ice with great expectations, I mean training here has to get me back to the top. This year has been like hell for me and it absolutely has to pay off. I inhale deeply, nervous about this first training session.

"Alright people get over here!" I hear Svetlana shout with authority, I make my way towards her along with the other skaters. I can spot Christina and the presumptuous ass amongst the ten other skaters. That's great, 13 skaters on the ice is not bad, it's less people than in Moscow.

"Okay so we're doing an endurance practice today so no jumps, no spins. We're focusing on footwork, skating skills and stamina!" she says. I'm taken aback by that, we definitely never did anything like this in Russia. "But before we get to that, we have a new skater joining the group please make Darianka feel welcome!" she adds gesturing towards me. I feel uncomfortable, smiling awkwardly and waving at everyone.

I exhale with relief when I see Christina skate towards me.

"Damn you look like you're about to die!" she nudges me playfully.

"God I hate people..." I groan covering my face with my hands "So what's with the endurance training thing? How does it work?"

"It's actually quite useful, we basically have twenty minutes to run through our programs on our own and then you do it at least twice with music" she explains.

"That sounds rough..."

"Oh yeah, if it's your first time you'll die!" she mocks before skating off.

I start with my step sequence, focusing on keeping my edges clean.

"Your skating skills are surprisingly good for your age"

I stop in my tracks looking at the middle aged man that what skating towards me, surprised to hear him speak Russian.

"I'm Micheal your second coach, but you can call me Misha." he smiles warmly at me "I suppose you're Darianka..."

"Nice to finally meet you!" I answer.

"Oh sorry do you not speak Russian? I just assumed-"

"No no I do!" I chuckle "People in Europe usually don't like when I talk Russian around them."

"Don't worry about that here, we speak English when we're gathered together but when we're one on one we talk different languages with each other so it's up to you!"

"Okay Russian works for me, I'm more used to the technical terms!"

"Okay, well as I said your footwork is impeccable. I usually don't come across skaters as young as you that have such good technique..."

"Thank you, it's actually what I enjoy the most when I skate... I mean I love jumping too, but I guess I always spent a lot of time on footwork! And after all I did start skating with Sveta as a kid..."

"True, ice dancers are obsessed with skating skills... That's good, that means we can come up with a killer step sequence for your free skate... Did you choose your music already?"

"No not yet, Sveta said she would give me some options tomorrow!"

"Okay then let's see your step sequence again, maybe we'll tweak it a bit!"

~

"Oh my god, my lungs are on fire!" I huff, throwing myself on the bench in the locker room drenched in sweat.

"Told ya you would die the first time!" Christina laughs at me, even though she's also sweaty and tired.

"Ugh, I need a shower..."