25/5 sat practice

We're starting to work on min. skills more and more and one of the things I hadn't even attempted was my 25/5. It scared me. A lot. I was pretty convinced that the first time I tried it I was going to be a total fail at it. Like 15 laps and that would be a lot of work to improve upon by March.
So yesterday at the beginning of practice after warm-ups and stretches someone said they wanted to try it because they hadn't done so yet and the girls talked me into giving it a try as well. So the three of us that were doing it lined up, clock was set, and off we went. The other two ladies were immediately pacing faster than I was and I tried to keep up, but was consistently a couple seconds behind them. I fought to not let them lap me as I started tiring out and refused to stop or even think about how many laps I might have skated or anything other than the idea of skating and footwork and making it around the rink.
After five minutes of skating when time was called I practically fell over and laid there trying to catch my breath. I've only been skating for about 4 or 5 months and I'm getting better, but that was srsly hard for me. I was pretty sure that I hadn't made 25 laps. I had no idea how close I was. 21 laps in 5 minutes for my very first attempt at it doesn't seem too bad. I know that my form was pretty poor and that I was coasting a LOT through turns because the 93a(ish) wheels are still a teeny bit too hard for me to be super comfortable with on crossovers at speed, but I want to get to the point that I am good with them. At any rate I'm glad I tried it cause now I know where I am, and will be working to improve as much as possible before testing in March. DL<3!

Dixie von D.