VANCOUVER –
This weekend we want to give you an inside pass to our Grand Prix Final journey in Vancouver, so we're doing a daily blog here on the Fan Zone. We hope you enjoy the insight, and always appreciate your support! –Madi and Zach
MADI: At the beginning of this weekend, with two programs that were much different than they were when we last competed, Zach and I had a goal to put 100 percent into our performance here and not be afraid to lose some technical levels. The performance really carried us and we're incredibly grateful to one another for that commitment to carry us to our
first Grand Prix Final title.
ZACH: While a win is always going to feel special to Madi and me, I think what we've really tried to get ahold of recently is training like we want to win and then performing as though we don't really care if we win or lose. We call it "
making our own win." I found this quote on Instagram that speaks to that—it says, "Practice like you've never won and perform like you've never lost." For us, it took a really long time to break out of this place where we would show up, train and do what we were told but not much more. It was because we didn't really understand that there was this deeper layer to our connection and the building of our relationship and all of the essential tools that push our skating and our training higher.
The biggest change that has happened since we moved to Montreal is the way that we train. We're still evolving and growing. For us to train like we want to win – really push ourselves – now we rely on that in competition. We really relied on that this weekend with two mostly-new programs. We allow that need for gold or the pressure or whatever you call it just to go away and instead, we perform for each other.
MADI: I think after a win like this, we will let it soak in for a few days before turning the page. We're athletes that have been through a lot. You learn how to create a balance. I have my fiancé, our house, our dog, our home life in Montreal. It's easy to go unplug and just give myself some time to not feel like
Madison Hubbell the ice dancer. I can just be me. That, then, is when I let the moment in. We accomplished this goal, and before we set new ones, we have to give ourselves a little bit of a rest.
One thing we've also learned is that if you buy into everyone else's opinion, that's when you get into trouble. We've come to only judge things for ourselves. We have our circle – our team – and those are the ones we listen to. It's a wonderful feeling hearing from so many people online or on Instagram, but at the same time, you can't allow for that to alter the opinion of yourself.
ZACH: It comes down to what Madi was talking about a few minutes ago: How we set our own personal wins. For us, we have to find a way – even if we have one of those "fail" moments or something goes wrong. Having the control to be able to set what is a "win" for us really keeps medals in perspective. It keeps losses in perspective, too: It makes it so that we're really in control of our own career. We're not reliant on other people seeing us getting a gold medal to think we're stepping forward. Even if we're not having a championship moment we are still stepping forward; we are thinking about the long game. Once this is done, you have another and another… you have to be prepared.
MADI: It's so true. In a few days this event won't matter as much. It's going to be,
"Who's going to win U.S. Championships?!"
ZACH: Everyone is moving on. There's always something "next." You're a champion until the next person competes. It doesn't take away from our win, but it keeps it in perspective. The world doesn't stop for us, and we can't get too caught up in it, either. Yes, we can't only be thinking about the future, but we stay centered in the moment. That's all we can control.
MADI: We say all of this because we feel like we've had so many experiences. Experiences where… like last year, at the Final, where we were gunning for a medal and we really wanted it and we made a mistake at the end of our free dance for who knows why and for us, we thought, 'We're going to be so far below where we want to be.' And then, as the event unfolded, teams kept making mistakes and we were actually incredibly close to getting a medal. It's this lesson: You NEVER know what's going to happen!
That's what we have worked so hard on in Montreal: You aren't going to accomplish something if you don't believe yourself. It actually reminds me – randomly – that at one point there was this belief that the human heart couldn't handle a sub-four-minute mile. But once that barrier was broken, dozens and dozens of runners did it, too. Once someone proved it was possible… It is reminiscent of what we face: 'OK we
could be top five at this event…' or 'We
need to get this score to get XYZ.' There is always expectation ahead of an event.
We can skate our best and lose and we can skate our worst and lose. That's why we create our own wins. Last night, it was skating and being fully committed to one another. Our connection creates magic. It creates those moments. We're happy that we won, but we have to be happy with ourselves before anyone else.
ZACH: At the end of this weekend, I want to thank Madi for being my rock. I'm a big ball of energy and fun and laughs until the day of the free dance and she's there to keep me where I need to be. I'm so thankful for that.
MADI: And I want to thank Zach for the whole season, actually. We sat down after last season, decided to keep going and decided to start our partnership anew. We let go of any highs or lows from the last seven years and are getting to know each other in a whole new way. We are better partners now. And we have a lot more love and respect for one another than we have ever had.
BOTH: Thank you all for reading! We'll see you again at U.S. Championships – can't wait!
