APRIL 14 - SATURDAY
8:20am    Got up and had some breakfast.  I kept tossing and turning all night as expected.  Now I'm just relaxing (but not too much) until I leave around noon time. 

12:02pm  Took the hotel shuttle to the rink

1:15pm   Had warm up with the rest of the Silver Men 1, 2 and 3.  I felt ok and in control.  Except for the flip and lutz attempts again.  But I turned around and did them out of anger.

1:27pm   Took my hotel pillow and laid down and relaxed.  I felt at peace and calm for some reason. 

2:25pm  Started to lace up my skates so if there was any adjustments I would be able to do so.  I listened to the Bolero the whole entire time I was getting ready.  It helped me to get into a controlled zone.  I was getting suprised that I wasnt feeling nervous.  I could still feel my body.  So I thought, ok, maybe it hasnt hit me yet.
So turned to my Ipod to play some videos, Oksana Bauil and Kwan skating clips.

2:52pm  Took the ice for warmup.  I felt at ease and was in the present. I did a loop, flip, lutz-I botched the jump bc my body wasnt together, then i turned around and did one that felt at ease.  Again, I realized, "hey, I can still feel my legs", I did a stupid thing by trying to attempt an unplanned salchow in the warmup where I was too close to the boards and had to botch it, so i turned around and did one to show the judges I can do a damn salchow. 

After the warmup I sat down again and watched my Ipod videos :-) I watched Katarina Witt for inspiration. 

Finally, it was my turn to skate.  I could still feel my legs and was feeling in the present.  I took a couple of sips of my red bull and headed to my position. 
When the first couple of notes started playing I felt so at ease, and was enjoying the music.  But I know I had to pay attention to my elements coming up:
Lutz/Loop/Loop - ok, considering I haven't done this combination this week
Lutz - phew, landed!!! I was relieved.  Most of the time I would just open up for no reason and pop it to a half.
Flying Camel - first one of the week.  Thank goodness the splat attempt last night was out of my head.
* After the spin, I was all of a sudden tired.  "Lack of training" I thought to myself *
So I waltz through my non existent un-trained straightline footwork into my
Flip jump.  At the last second I decided to put in a loop at the end.  I figured I needed another combination jump.  So I tacked in the loop.  Before I know it, there was the wall!!! I quickly turned my head and placed both of my hands on the glass ice.  What the heck??? I started laughing to myself because this never happened to me.  I then proceeded to my camel spin which I caught the hook but was unable to attain my centering to finish off with a second position - attitude spin.  Then I began to feel more tired. 
*Geez they are right, spins do take so much energy*
So I went on to do my backcrossovers to my ena baur.  At the last second I knew my legs were rubber and I didnt know if I could still muster up a salchow/toe loop combo, so I avoided it and went on to an attitude spin instead of my planned backscratch. 
Sigh * I thought I have lost it, due to lack of training leading up to this competition. The other skaters clearly had a balanced program and good technical elements. 
Sectionals was a much better performance. I attempted all the elements I planned within the program and at the end I felt sure that I have done it.  With this event, I was unfocussed.  Im glad this happened, its a wake up call.  I know I wont let this happen again for my next event, so I will work on it little by little until my next event this October/November for Halloween Classic. 
After my skate there was a colorful yellow paper bag that was thrown on the ice.  I wondered who have thrown it.  I never ever received anything after my skate.  It was from my good and sweet friend Meggan Rasdall :-D It contained a leigh, chocolates and a rubber ducky.  Thanks baby ;-)  It really means a lot!!!

So Jeremy and I were waiting for "the result sheet".  Its the part I have mix feelings with.  I like it and at the same time I dread it.  So within minutes the girl placed the ordinals/results on top of our starting order. 
I had: 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1.   Oh wow, I won! Phew, I thank God this trip wasn't so much of a waste.  Jeremy got the silver, Brendan Walsh got the bronze, and Dennis Wickline got the pewter.  I take my hat to them for having a constructed and fierce programs. 

For the rest of the time I ate, and watched the Championship Master's Men event.  Where Davin skated first and put out an awesome program.  It was very inspiring.  You can hardly hear his blades while he skates.  And he WON!!! I got to see the legendary Larry Holliday skate.  He had awesome tricks and the only major flaw he had was a fall on his triple salchow. 
I also got to see Jason Spicer who put out a good fight during his program.  He landed up to a 2Lutz.  Throughout practice he has been missing that jump.  So all in all, it was a clean skate and a well deserved standing ovation in my book.  Brooks Jones who was the reigning champion put out a good solid program as well that had him in 4th place. 

I didnt stay for the competitors party, I wanted to head home to see my hubby and my cats :-D