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Excitement vs. Nervousness
Jun. 29th, 2010 05:21 pmPanic and I are getting ready for a three-day USDAA trial this weekend. Well, I'm getting ready and Panic is busy relaxing and soaking up the summer sun. Which we'll be getting a LOT of this weekend as it's an outdoor show. I love outdoor shows, but there are so terribly few of them now, and with good reason. It has been so HOT lately, in the 90's almost every single day. So I'm happy it's outside but fully prepared to melt.
I'm excited for a lot of different reasons. Of course I love showing Panic, it's always so much fun, USDAA is a blast, and Panic has been doing amazingly well in practice lately, even in the heat, and even on all the ISC and WT Tryouts courses we've been running in class. We're doing DAM team for the second time which is also such a blast, and we're on a really fun (insane? unpredictable?) team.
I'm also nervous for a lot of different reasons. Of course I'm really hoping that Panic and I can compete even a little bit at nationals this year, but I simply can't afford to do many more trials. But more than that is that I was looking at the running order today and immediately thought HOLY CRAP, what on earth are all these amazing people with AMAZING dogs doing coming to this show? Not that I wasn't already feeling a little bit of pressure in the tournaments, but now Panic and I are thrown into the mix with all the big dogs! We simply don't stack up to the competition. I will admit though that it gives me a little bit of a thrill...
Even with all this nervousness I'm feeling, any jittery feelings I have about agility somehow melt away when I'm actually in the ring, something I'm incredibly grateful for. I really feel no pressure when I'm out there running. I know that Panic and I are not at the level that I often disillusion myself into believing, but I do think we have potential, and I do think we are really and finally coming together as a team.
As a very welcome break from all the stress I've been going through this summer, in a couple of weeks I'm taking a VACATION, yes a real-live, non-agility related VACATION to Michigan for a week with a friend of mine. I am really looking forward to relaxing at a lakeside cabin, but the best part is that Panic gets to join us! I think we both deserve a little R&R ;)
Panic is increasingly unconcerned with my jitters and increasingly concerned about the squirrel population. (And hey, check out that plume of a tail he's got going on now!)
I'm excited for a lot of different reasons. Of course I love showing Panic, it's always so much fun, USDAA is a blast, and Panic has been doing amazingly well in practice lately, even in the heat, and even on all the ISC and WT Tryouts courses we've been running in class. We're doing DAM team for the second time which is also such a blast, and we're on a really fun (insane? unpredictable?) team.
I'm also nervous for a lot of different reasons. Of course I'm really hoping that Panic and I can compete even a little bit at nationals this year, but I simply can't afford to do many more trials. But more than that is that I was looking at the running order today and immediately thought HOLY CRAP, what on earth are all these amazing people with AMAZING dogs doing coming to this show? Not that I wasn't already feeling a little bit of pressure in the tournaments, but now Panic and I are thrown into the mix with all the big dogs! We simply don't stack up to the competition. I will admit though that it gives me a little bit of a thrill...
Even with all this nervousness I'm feeling, any jittery feelings I have about agility somehow melt away when I'm actually in the ring, something I'm incredibly grateful for. I really feel no pressure when I'm out there running. I know that Panic and I are not at the level that I often disillusion myself into believing, but I do think we have potential, and I do think we are really and finally coming together as a team.
As a very welcome break from all the stress I've been going through this summer, in a couple of weeks I'm taking a VACATION, yes a real-live, non-agility related VACATION to Michigan for a week with a friend of mine. I am really looking forward to relaxing at a lakeside cabin, but the best part is that Panic gets to join us! I think we both deserve a little R&R ;)
Panic is increasingly unconcerned with my jitters and increasingly concerned about the squirrel population. (And hey, check out that plume of a tail he's got going on now!)