Holiday Extravaganzas!

Happy holidays, everyone! I hope everyone has been having a good break. I've had so much stuff going on lately and it's all been great. Two full weeks of "break" is great, but as one of my friends put it (check out her page here), teachers use it as an opportunity to load us with crap. I have had two huge projects, four finals to study for, and a few extra assignments. Yay!

For the entire first week, I procrastinated with everything. I pretty much just laid around with the occasional gymnastics practice. Then, I sort of got this sense of urgency (ohmygoshthesemesterendsinaweek) and got myself out of bed for reasons other than food, family, and gymnastics. Success!

SUCCESS! Photo courtesy: Satyavrat

Another Intersquad!!

We had another intersquad. Yay!! It was great...... not. One short explanation? We were all sick, including myself. I could barely get through a beam routine without getting out of breath. Well, we weren't also that ready, but let's blame it on the sickness.

This time, we competed vault. Mine were very weird and slow, and I barely made the flip around. My vault is a Yurchanko Pike (Weird names, I know). This time, I hit my beam routine. I thought it was great until the judge told me I had to many acro skills (A.K.A. flipping skills). How can you have too many acro skills? Isn't this gymnastics? Anyway, now I have to change my routine, so I am adding a sheep jump. I guess that'll look cool.

Intersquad Madness

It has been an interesting week. Coming in Monday, we all knew our coach would be a little crazy.

Wednesday was our first intersquad.

An intersquad is like an at-home meet. We have judges come in and judge us on our routines. The first one of the season is always nerve-wracking, especially when you don't have a routine. You have to swallow your pride and show a routine that is a levels below you. Keep in mind that these are the same judges that are judging at national competitions.

#TBT

What do you think of when you see #TBT? Chances are, if you are a teenager today (A.K.A. The technology age), and you have an Instagram or Twitter, you may think of "ThrowBack Thursday." However, if you happen to be a gymnast coached by Amanda Johanson, you will think of "Team Beam Tuesday."

On a usual day, we will have individual assignments given to us every day to complete, except for one day. On Tuesday, we must complete the assignment as a team. One at a time, each of us attempts the skill. Each time someone "sticks" or stays on the beam, we get a point, but each time someone falls, we don't get a point. If all of us sticks a round, then we only have to do it once and we have completed the assignment. If we don't make it, then we have to keep doing it over and over. A few times, it has taken less than five minutes to complete the assignment. On other days, we spend 45 minutes trying very hard just to complete a single round.