This last weekend saw Orion and I in Neumünster at the second last World Cup qualifier. The nickname for the Neumünster Stadium is the 'witches cauldron' because the crowd sits so close to the competition ring and the atmosphere is so intense. But Orion and I are getting better and better at dealing with this pressure and on Saturday when we entered the ring we were both able to get tunnel visioned and focused. Instead of being distracted by our surroundings we were able to show off all the home work that we have been doing in our training the last couple of months and we scored a 68% in the Grand Prix which qualified us for the freestyle on Sunday!
On Sunday for the freestyle Orion and I were able to keep the same degree of focus as in the Grand Prix, I just made the mistake of not setting up Orion 100% correctly for my last line of changes down the centreline and we lost some valuable points because we didn't get a clean line of one tempi changes in. Our final score was 69% and we placed 14th overall. Which considering the field of competitors we were up against was A-Okay ;-) ... As always there are many things that I learned over this weekend, and the most important lesson that I would like to share is that, hard work pays off! I have mention this before, but both Orion and I have had issues with our nerves and there have been various situations where frazzled nerves have costs us valuable points, and as frustrating as those moments have been, getting to the other side and being able to look our fear in the eye has been extremely motivating. I know that there will be more challenges to face in the future, so the most important lesson I will take from conquering this hurdle is to never EVER give up!
Here is a picture of Orion being spoiled with some days off and just getting to roll around in the dirt
Keep up the hard work! Love, Alexandra
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