I've had a difficult week. Fighting off the sads. I went to lyra practice last night, anyway. I wouldn't say it was a mistake. But nothing went right, and I mean, nothing. The sequence I had been dreaming up for a week, nope. The new poses I learned Monday, nope. Straddle, nope. Even dismounting straddle slowly, nope.
The car ride home used to be a time of reflection and my own version of a pep talk for derby. It's the same with lyra. It started with, I'm going to go home and eat all the ice cream and drink a bottle of wine. I talked myself off the ledge, into an apple and a piece of cheddar and one glass of wine. I still ended up having the tiniest serving of ice cream, just to satisfy a little sweet tooth going on.
I also decided to shift up my eating patterns on lyra days. Recently, I went to lyra in the afternoon, forgetting to eat first. And I had a great session. I wonder if there's something to this fasted state. I'm going to experiment. Last night, I had mashed potatoes, pork chops, and BBQ sauce. Like two hours before practice started. Next time, I'm going to have my planned dinner as lunch, then either not eat dinner before practice, or just have my snack of an apple and piece of cheddar. I felt so heavy last night. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with what I ate or not. Can't hurt to try.
Here's my attempt at Amazon. Same issue as Monday, I struggle to get back into the hoop. I wonder if this will help my lower core for straddle? If I can lift with my core back in...
Private lesson with my favorite lyra teacher yesterday. We worked on a ton of conditioning moves to help my straddle. She thinks it may be more that I'm not engaging the right muscles at the right time than a huge lack of strength. Oh, don't get me wrong...I still need to develop more strength.
A bit of breakthrough with shoulder lock off in the overhand grip position. This...I just couldn't do. Not even for a second. How does one improve on something like that? She said, show me. So I did. She came around behind me and held my elbows down by my side, and VOILA! I could hold it. I think my straddle will greatly improve once I can hold a lock off.
Then she taught me two new moves. Wheeee! New poses! They are hard, naturally. They will take quite a bit of practice to smooth out. When I do, I will for sure share some video. They are called Amazon and Angel. I am noticing that the UK has some different names for poses than the US. What we call Dragonfly, they call Front Amazon.
Here, Amazon is like a more difficult Dragonfly. And Angel is like a more difficult Outside Mermaid.
I did a new thing! The video quality is terrible. I knew it would be. It was taken on someone else's phone, then texted to me. I knew text would compress the file, but the guy was like, it's a small file, it'll be fine. It's not fine. But it is. Meh. Maybe as I improve, I'll have better quality photos and video.
Acroyoga. That's me, lifting a dude. Girls are strong.
And then with a more experienced flyer.
Briefly, an advanced couple showed up during the afternoon. She let me fly her in a shoulder stand on my hands, with her partner doing some serious spotting. But I think I was holding a good amount of her weight. Of course, no evidence of that.
I made myself go to lyra practice again last night. It sounds awful, but I figured I had nothing better to do. Watch TV? Lyra would be better. I had no desire to work on straddle. I've sort of lost hope for that move. And then not working on it, I'm sure to not get it. Vicious circle, but I just need a break.
I worked on a sequence. And then had to pair it down. I got ambitious with moves that tire me out quickly. My endurance will come with time, I hope. But it's still pretty and fun. Single hip hang and single knee cinches feel great. Dragonfly and arrow are probably my favorite moves.
So much sun. Level floors. All weather. The possibilities for my hoop dance are endless. I think I'd live out here. And then...install an aerial hoop rig, and I'm set.
Went to lyra practice tonight, even though I had class yesterday. What could it hurt? Well, my straddle done up and gone. Even fresh at the beginning, not even DIB level. Vanished. I might never get it. le sigh...
But I managed to have a decent session. Made some great progress on other moves. Like single knee cinches. At the studio, someone moved the bench I normally prop my camera on. So it's icky quality, but I'm so proud...first time getting the free leg out and back in, with no hands. On each side.
And then check this out, decent gazelle into single hip hang. I could actually let go and rest solely on that single hip. Woot!
Finally, my intermediate sheet move. Because I'm private track, and running out of moves on the fundamentals sheet, my teacher taught me this. I was finally brave enough tonight to try it on the medium hoop. Felt strong and secure and beautiful. Dragonfly. (Although perhaps in the UK, it's called Amazon.)
Had a rough class yesterday. No pictures or video. I suffer from the comparison bug. I didn't know anybody in the class, and they were all more advanced than I. I couldn't even DIB my straddle. And another friend of mine from another class posted a beautiful picture of gazelle at the top of the hoop. It's really hard being surrounded by students who level up so much quicker, usually because of some kind of gymnastics background as a child. Which I don't have. I have zero advantage coming into this sport. And that doesn't guarantee I'll get anywhere close to where I want to be.
Some improvement yesterday in single knee cinch, lifting that leg without any assistance. Dragonfly. I think I might be brave enough to try this on the medium hoop at my next practice. And rollups. I can roll up without assistance and hold the position, parallel to the floor, for a few beats. My teacher seemed impressed.
I just worry, with as much effort as I personally have to put into this sport, that others don't seem to, it won't be visible. If and when I ever get these advanced inversions, there will be no way to tell how much I struggled. Only I will know. I'm wondering if other students like me just quit when they realize how much longer it will take. I would love some inspiration. Some hope.
Here are some articles I could find that somehow make me feel a bit better...
Forgot to eat anything before practice time today. I was worried how it would go. It went fantastic. I've heard of fasted cardio before. Although lyra is probably a little bit cardio, mostly lifting. I wonder if I dare try fasted lyra again...
Apologies for the terrible video footage. I have no one to hold the camera for me. I just prop it up, which means it's portrait style. And very dark. But LOOK! My straddle is looking so nice and so much more controlled! I got video from both angles. And also the momentum to seated in two tries. Looking good, if I do say so myself.
Also working on a bit of vine climbs. These hurt like a MOFO. But it was the first time I could hook my foot up on the hoop. And hold the position well. See, it doesn't look like it hurts, does it? (it does)
I predicted it. Once I learned pike arrow, next would be tofu hook. At least I'm a ways away from attempting it one handed. And it's hella hard to get back up into the hoop from the position. But not too bad for now.
And finally a bit of single knee hangs. These are still awkward to get into, I brace the floor a lot. But today was the first day I could let go in position. So voila, a still shot...
Re-discovered how running intervals help my depression...like whoa. No other form of exercise does anything for my mood. It's got to be intervals, a bit like HIIT. I run for a minute, walk for two minutes, repeat five times. I can do hoop drills which are cardio intensive, I can go for a long incline walk, I can do lyra, derby...none of that impacts the chemicals in my brain. Running intervals do. I discovered this years ago, when I first started derby, and someone suggested C25K to help my endurance. I kept getting stuck around week four or five. Until I just gave up and would do the above, run for a minute, walk for two minutes, a bunch of times. And I was blogging privately. And I started to see a pattern in my mood vs when I would do these runs. It still took until this week to realize that it's the only form of exercise that touches the chemicals in my brain. But it feels like someone turns on a faucet in my brain. If you don't know what that feels like, you don't know what that feels like. But I do.
Anyway I hadn't done a run all last week. I was doing hoop drills instead. Still burning same amount of calories in the same time frame as my runs. But my mood TANKED. I tried to spare this blog from the worst of it with my last post. But lemme tell you...when my mood is like that, it's quite dark inside my head. Quite unpleasant, indeed.
Friday, I did a run. I usually do a long incline walk on Fridays to burn extra calories for the weekend. I didn't have it in me. I just did my 20 minute running intervals. And per usual, around two hours after, the faucet turned on. I felt amazing. And it carried over into Saturday. I went to lyra. And had an amazing time. And something clicked...my performance (or my attitude about my performance) at lyra is much improved if my mood is happy. And how do I help keep my mood happy? These runs. Nothing else will do. I now have proof.
We were all working on sequencing. I wanted to also work my straddle. My first attempt was so great! Another student, who's seen me struggle with straddle, saw how great it was, and asked me if I was filming that. No, of course not. I tried again, and it was also very good, and she asked again if I was filming. Nope. So by the third attempt, I filmed it. I think maybe it wasn't as good as the ones I didn't get on film, but it was pretty improved. Proof that it's improved. Look...
This blog is where I sort out the good, the bad, and the ugly. Today is ugly. If you've ever regretted a workout, you'll know what I mean. And yes, it's possible to regret a workout.
I suppose I should focus on small gains. I've been lately trying to stretch straddle by laying on my back and pulling my legs in a V. They don't fold very far, of course. But I'm trying. Last night while stretching, I did my straddle stretch and without thinking, grabbed the arches of my feet and pulled my legs straight. I've never been able to reach my feet before.
Yet another thing to be pleased with, I guess. At my private lesson this week, she wanted me to practice front balance. I'm hanging forward by my hips, folded over, and I raise up both upper body and lower body at the same time, until I'm just balancing on my pelvis, parallel to the floor. Usually I do this with my hands sort of holding on a little. But I've been practicing on my own doing it without hands. I can almost get there but not quite. Anyway, when my teacher saw it, she nearly flipped out. She said, there are students in my intermediate class who can't do it. And you're nearly there. So then I worked on it last night, and it got a smidge better. I got there and held it a hot second before I had to grab hold.
I spent the majority of practice on straddle and ball mount. Zero improvement. I just don't get it. And yes, I'm quite impatient and easily discouraged.
I did work a bit on arrow, variations in leg position, and bent. My back doesn't arch very well. I've seen people get into bent arrow more as a "U" upside down. Mine just looks sad. I just have a very straight back that doesn't curl back in any kind of arch.
What a wonderful weekend. I'm thoroughly sore. Seriously, everything hurts and I'm dying. But in quite a good way. After Friday's three hour hoop workshop, I woke up Saturday quite sore. It was an intense workshop, learned so much. Saturday was Lyra. My pregnant teacher is now on maternity, we have a substitute teacher for the summer. I like her. She's soft spoken but friendly. But she worked us hard, yo. Oh my. Plus there were only four students.
Best bit of the class, wish I had it on video. We started off working on straddle mount. My first one was almost perfect (for me). I did a small hop and just folded over, I didn't need to "catch" the hoop with my legs. Another student who's been coming to this class with me for months said, that was the best I've ever see you do that. Yayness! Of course, the subsequent attempts were not as good. But progress. I know I have it in me. Just gotta keep practicing, and it'll get more consistent.
Lots of candlestick and vine climb ups. Profile straddle, which I just don't have. I think I'll need to master regular straddle first. Profile straddle is just way hard. By the end of class, my arms were jello. But...a new move! Called bird's nest. It's a bit awkward getting into (best way is ball, but I can't do ball...yet); I'll smooth that out with practice.
Star struck. Got to meet Rachael Lust last night, at her workshop. It was intense, much of it advanced, but so much fun. I learned a ton. Some I picked up quickly, some will take work. I'm so glad I went.
By the way, if you don't know who Rachael Lust is, check this out...
