September 8, 2009
Well, it's been about a month since my website opened and I feel like a totally different person than I was then. First things first, I won the silver medal at my JGP in Hungary and now I'll be competing at the JGP in Germany at the end of this month! I'm so excited because I finally feel like all of my hard work is paying off.
Budapest was amazing!!!!! I can not stress how wonderful my trip was. The city is so beautiful and my coach Lindsay and I were able to see everything I had on my itenerary of places I wanted to go. And believe me, that was a very long list. We nagivated all three lines of the metro, walked from one side of the city over the bridge and to the other side, took goofy pictures, and had the time of our lives. Hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures so everyone can see the fun we had. My roomate was Dean Copley who was a really nice guy. Our schedules were completely different since he is a dancer, so we didn't see all that much of each other, but I would definately say that I made a good friend.
The skating rink was really nice, though we had to walk a while to get there from the hotel. I guess it was a good warm up before I skated! I skated very well on the trip, so I guess the walk must have helped! I felt very prepared for this competition, moreso than any of the others I have done. I had been skating clean shorts for two weeks before leaving and some really solid longs as well. So coming in I knew that I was going to do well. My short program was one of those programs you kind of just dream about. The best part is, it didn't surprise me. I skated clean with a triple lutz- triple toe (with an unfortunate edge call), a double axel, and a triple flip. Being in first place after the short was a little bit of a surprise, given how strong some of my other competitors were, but it taught me to never doubt in my ability as a skater.
My long program, at least according to Ice Network was "troublesome". I actually didn't think it was that bad. Sure, I had a couple silly mistakes, but I fought through it and came out a stronger skater. I recieved full credit for an 11 point triple lutz- triple toe, double axel, triple sal, triple lutz-double axel, and triple flip-double toe, double loop from a back spiral at 3 minutes and 50 seconds into my program. My only glaring error was popping my planned triple loop. Since the mistakes I did make were in the middle of the program, I was proud of myself for coming back and finishing so strong. I think it is a testament to my solid training and the great work all of my coaches have put into my skating. It was a little dissapointing to finish second, but I accomplished my goal, to finish in the top 2 and qualify for a second JGP. It was the icing on top of the cake to receive my medal, hear the national anthem, and see 2 US flags being raised. It definately made me even more proud to be an American.
Now, it's time to get back to work. I'm in the process of breaking in new boots, as the other ones were falling apart while I was in Budapest. I'm so excited to be going to Germany and being able to represent the United States once more. After the competition, Lindsay and I are going to Prague for a day, which will be a lot of fun. First, I have to get my medal!!!!
Before I say goodbye, I want to give a special thanks to Sara Kastner and Christine Lawless who were our team leader and doctor while we were in Budapest. They took wonderful care of me on the trip, and I couldn't have done it without their help.
So until next time, Auf Wiedersehen!!
Talk to ya after Germany :)
Grant
