the format was just jam sessions in heats of four guys each. two rounds and a final round.

first round i was in the fourth heat and my time was spent working out the bugs and just trying to advance. just do stock tricks and try to make it to the next round. that was pretty much my goal.

one person was dropped from each heat in the first round and i didn't want to be the one. so when the heats were announced for round two i just shut my eyes.

i heard my name called second, which was good so that it didn't build the suspense to the point where i passed out... i was in heat number one in the second round.

so i pretty much thought that the rest of the contest was gravy at this point. just glad not to be cut from the first round.

just glad.

so in the second heat i figured i could either cruise again and try to land a good thing or two or i could just try things i'm unsure of landing and try to really make shit.

i really didn't make up my mind until it was time to drop in. i took a few practice runs and warmed my legs back up and just tried to breathe for a few minutes and get my bearings. talk to myself. get calm. in this round, two of the four people will be eliminated.

it was then that the announcer said 'whenever you're ready guys' and something clicked...

the banged-up knee, the skinned and bruised elbow, the spot on my ankle where i was hit by a board in practice, the sore muscles, the bloody shin-dig, the mysterious bleeding toe that turned my sock from beige to a rusty brown (not sure how that happened, but the blood is coming out of my toenail), and the cast. it all just faded. it all just went away. i just didn't feel it. any of it.

(at this point i'm listing the run, so if you are turned off to skating, or just don't care about the actual tricks, skip ahead.)

i was the first to drop in.

i came across the course and floated a stalled and late backside 180 over the middle pyramid and tailtapped on the opposite quarter pipe. dropping back in from that, i had two options; in practice i was either doing a double kickflip or a 360 flip, and they're both equally as hard and stuff, so it really didn't matter what i did. it was a matter of what i felt comfortable trying at the time. in this case i did a 360 flip, and at that point the fact that i hadn't fucked up anything was settling in and i got a jitter. just a weird feeling. the hardest trick i had been trying in practice was a caballerial kickflip, which is where you approach backwards and spin 360 degrees with your board as it flips under you and land moving backwards. i jittered when i was coming down the quarter pipe backwards and approaching the pyramid and all i could think was nothing. my head was completely clear and the only thing i noticed or even remember from that point until i was rolling away was the fact that i had a funny look on my face. i came down from landing basically the hardest trick i know how to do and just stared straight ahead. i just said to myself, 'holy shit.' and went up the ramp to let someone else go.

after that i landed a few more lesser tricks and felt pretty confident.

but there was no way i could make the finals. the finals narrowed the second heat down to the last 12 people, and there was no way that i was one of them.

i waited through the next 6 heats not really even caring if i had made it. i mean, it was good just to have made the second round, and it's not like i'm a professional or have any major sponsors as most of the people in the contest did, i just get a lousy discount at a shop. where they get free shoes and had their contest fees paid and have shiny new boards that came in the mail and are wearing their sponsors shirts, i had a shoe on the verge of having a hole in it and a month-old board with a chipped tail and a four-year-old bluetip shirt. i'm just a bum who most likely would be overlooked. when i landed everything a was trying the judges probably were sipping their beers or watching the shiny sponsored kids.

but i wasn't and they weren't

my name was called second for the finals, and all i could say while getting the token high-fives and pats on the back was 'holy shit.'

that was it.

who cares now, i'm in the finals. two one-minute runs all by yourself on the course.

it's an amazing feeling having your name called over the p.a and having to wave in acknowledgement at it, but i must have pretty much blown my load in the second round, because my first run of two in the finals was a wash. i think all i landed was a lousy couple of airs on the quarter pipes and i slid the rail once.

my second run was a little better, but still lacking the luster and mighty thunder i had displayed in the heat before it. i landed the double flip mentioned previously and i did a few things that i hadn't done in any previous runs, just to try and mix it up, but i was feeling really tired and hurting. i was fine with whatever i got at that point because all i wanted going into the contest was to avoid being eliminated immediately, especially with having to hold back because of the cast that i couldn't fall on.

so the worst i could have done is 12th place out of 40, and i'm happy with that. i won't know the results for a few days i guess, but i didn't make the top 5. so yes, that was my day today, and this is the longest entry i've had in many many moons. pictures forthcoming.