2016 JGP Cup of Mordovia Blog #5

Hi!

I’m trying to go through the day I just had – I’ m just really happy right now!

The day started for me around 1 am, I woke up and wasn’t able to go back to sleep.  I think that once everybody goes to bed, the wifi signal becomes stronger and it’s waking me up.  Seriously, my last complete night of sleep was last Sunday!

Anyway, sleep or no sleep, you have to get up, dress up and show up! So, that’s what I did and so did Anthony. Practice went very well and we were surrounded by 3 Russian couples. After practice, we both needed  some serious napping time to get some energy back for competition.

Time went by so fast between the practice and the competition.   We were pretty relaxed and we were talking about random things, laughing and having fun. Once we got to the rink, the second warm up was almost finished and we slowly began our off-ice warm up.

The on-ice warm up went well, but I have to admit even if we always skate last, the wait is long! Skating after the Russian National Champions and World Junior bronze medalists on their home ice is not easy, but the crowd made it better.  They were so supportive and we skated a good free dance. We’re happy with the marks and the results.  The crowd was great!  Some of the volunteers and young spectators were coming to have their pictures taken with us or to sign autographs.

I don’t know if some of you watched the medals ceremony, but it was beautiful. The flowers lady were wearing traditional Russian costumes, soldiers were carrying the flags, the lights were down, it was really special. I was happy that Anthony’s babouchka (grandmother) was there to share those moments with us.

At 8pm, we had our team dinner at “The Big Pig”.  Everyone was there, it was a lot of fun and the food was soooo good – no more [energy/protein] bars!   Again, thanks to our team leader Lori Dunn for organizing this dinner.

I will leave JGP Saransk with great memories. I can’t believe that our JGP season is over. Thanks to all of you who have taking the time to read my blog.  It’s time to go pack as we are leaving the hotel at 4 am for our Charter flight to Moscow.

Until next time,

Christina ????