training under eteri

washed up

the first real competition of the season had approached and for the first time in a while i was excited. i wanted to skate, i wanted to prove to everyone i was capable and i wanted to fight for a medal.
i started to put an effort into my training again. i no longer went through the motions, waiting for the day to be over. my skating and passion had heavily increased, and i started to feel like myself again.

—

nepela memorial challenger
september 19-22 2019
bratislava, slovakia

i had been to bratislava for competitions before, but this time it was diffrent. i was no longer a junior, or novice skater, i was now a senior. i was 15, the minimum age for the category, and the youngest skater. majority of the people i will be competing against are 17-20, which makes a huge difference in our sport. my biggest competition are sasha, hanula kim, and kaori sakamoto.
..
the flight to bratislava was a very easy and short flight. i spent majority of it sleeping because i want to be prepared for my skate, and i just really needed a nice nap.
..

the rink was huge, with isu detailing everywhere. eteri checked sasha and i in, and handed us our badges (one of my favorite things to collect).

sasha and i headed to our locker room, while the coaches checked out the rink.
for this competition we were very lucky. our room had enough space for at least 20 other skaters, but only sasha and i would be in there.

i put my skates on, and headed out towards the ice. the rink was pretty busy, with all of my competitors skating in it. i set my cat tissue stuffed animal, water bottle and guards near my coaches, and started my warm up. at the beginning of my practice sessions i like to pretend like it's a real completion, and i'm doing my 5 minute warm up. i do quick laps, and start jumping. i normally start with a double loop and double lutz, then move onto the jumps in my program. if i have extra time, i do a back camel to see if my center is still there.

..

after a long hour and a half, our time was up, and i exited the ice. we had two hours before the next session, so i spent it napping on one of the benches in our dressing room. honestly, it was very uncomfortable, but i would do it again. i was awoken by dudakov, who told me to start warm up since the next session started in half an hour.

i warmed my legs and body up by running around the room for about two minutes, and started to jump. i like to run through my jumps off the ice, before i do them on the ice. once warmed up, i put my skates on, and followed sasha.

my favorite session is always the second once since we can run our programs. before heading on the ice, everyone's coaches put their skaters name in, and the officiants put us in order, normally random. in this session, i was running my short 6th, and running my long 10th. i didn't mind where i fell since i hate being last and i hate being first.

..
" ты выглядишь великолепно, анастасия. если ты будешь кататься так же завтра, золото будет твоим."
( you look great out there, anastasia. if you skate like that tomorrow, the gold is yours.) eteri told me after skating my long program.
i smile flashed over my face as she spoke,
getting praised by a coach who normally drags you down is a feeling like no other.

—

i woke up the morning of the short program excited. i wanted to go on the ice, and preform again. it had felt like a life time since i was out competing on the ice. of course, we had a few skating shows, but it's not like we won any medals for those.
..
sasha and i started our hair and make-up together at the hotel, and then headed to the rink.
it was 5.30 am, and our practice started at 6am, and the competition at 1pm. i never understood why they made us start so early. i'm barley awake at 6am, how am i supposed to get on the ice, and skate at that time? sadly, it's not up to me to decide the time, but if it was, we'd be getting there at 2pm.
..
i focused on my short program jumps, and spins mostly, throwing a few quads throughout, just to practice them.
sp jumps-
3 axel
3 flip
3 lutz+3 loop