Take me down to Yoga City

It occurs to me that having a car right now is making me lazier, even more than having a transit pass.

Given a choice between braving the cold, more and more often these days I am finding myself wanting to drive places. Thursday, I drove to Mount Pleasant to teach my class, even though it's only a ten minute walk.

I was going to do spinning, but ended up being lazy and missed it, although I did do Yvonne's Yoga Class.

I really love Yvonne's Yoga class... it's more of a stretch class really. As I become increasingly inflexible I find I should be doing this class more than once a week. It's typically filled with older ladies, which is why I often refer to it as my "Old Lady Yoga Class". Yvonne herself is 65 and I think she's fantastic. I've described this class as an Oasis in the middle of a busy and hectic schedule.

I really gives me a chance to try and relax, destress and clear my head as best I can. On the other hand, I found tonight it was a great chance to really think about things and try and figure out what I want to do and some Goals in that kind peaceful setting. It really kind of puts things into perspective for me.

WHAT I ATE TODAY (FRIDAY)
Wings, French Fries, Ribs, Key Lime Cheesecake, Ice Tea, banana.

We got the Beat.

Taught Combat tonight at Mount Pleasant. I am wiped.

Hopefully I can get back to doing weights twice a week and a few more Yoga and Flow classes. Not to mention Climbing and Spinning!

WHAT I ATE TODAY
Flax Bagel with light cream cheese, Orange Juice, Pickle. Mint Chocolate Clif Bar.

Time for new Skates

I'm really tired right now, but I want to try and capture some of the important things from tonight's Indoor Inline practice (and conversations that occured afterwards) before I fall asleep and much of it will have escaped from my mind by morning.

Everyone was very encouraging at Practice tonight, even though didn't feel anywhere near my top of form in terms of both endurance and technique. In fact I felt like the more tired I was getting the sloppier my technique was. I really thought things started to fall apart really badly towards the end of the track pattern/passing drill we were doing tonight.

I am physically exhausted. The culmulative effect of all the Kickboxing classes I've been teaching the past few weeks as well as more intensive Ice and Inline practices lately. I taught Combat at Noon hour with Tanya at the Eaton Centre and again I was having trouble speaking and catching my breath. Pre-cueing was off. I stayed for Body Flow and really enjoyed having a chance to stretch out my tired aching muscles.

I was going to try and take it easy tonight at inline practice, to make sure I'm well rested for the Combat Class I'm teaching tomorrow at Mount Pleasant in the evening. Unfortunately no one from the "slow pack" showed up! I ended up pushing myself harder than I was anticipating. Hopefully I can stretch it out at Yoga tomorrow and not be too sore or tired when my 5:00 class rolls around.

It was a good opportunity tonight to skate in with the fast pack. I tried my best to get in positions behind people I know have good technique. I'm going to do more of this from now on. It gave me a chance to follow their strides and track patterns in a way that I do not benefit when skating with the slow pack.

Some good feedback from different people.

Jesse and others pointed out that I should stay calm and not panick when passing or trying to keep up. I realize everything about my body language is screaming panick which will just tire me out. I think about skating with the Columbians and how cool Leo seemed to be at all times. Both him and Camilo (and others) have told me to never let it show when you are working hard. Keep steady, keep the technique and the strides and conserve energy.

I also find more often than not that I learn so much from just hanging out and listening to conversations that the advanced skaters are having.

At Tim Horton's after practice, Aaron and Andrew explained that as we are doing with the track pattern drills, I am losing ground going around the Apex because I don't have confidence in my wheels gripping, A Gap opens up in the straight and then I catch up on the next curve by entering tighter in the cones but encounter the same problem at the Apex again. Instead I should just take the turn wider and I should close the Gap at the Apex and conserve that energy. (I hope that made sense and that I was understanding properly, it's getting hard to focus when I'm this bagged).

Aaron again emphasized that I should put new wheels on my skates ASAP (the Star Grips are not supposed to be any good)... the Red Matter wheels that I was saving for Spring race season shouldn't be too worn down by indoor is what they told me.

We also talked about me getting proper racing setups as well. I've been meaning to upgrade boots and frames all last season but there seems to be so many different opinions that I have a hard time figuring out which setup I should get. The opinion around the table with Morgan, Sigird, Andrew and Aaron were to get customs of some kind rather than lower end stock boots to start with. In the long run it will be more economical and beneficial. Both Aaron and Andrew offered to do the molds if I get custom Bonts and Schenkels. The new 2007 models are all out, so I guess I should make a decision in the next month or so.

They mentioned that the lower profile of the three point frame mount of the Bont's is better in a Marathon situation, although not necessarily short-track. Given the fact that I'm a Marathon skater, maybe that means I should lean towards a Bont.

I'm sure there was plenty of other stuff that we talked about, hopefully I can recall them still tomorrow.


WHAT I ATE TODAY
Flax Bagel with Cream Cheese, Veggie Chili Soup, Orange Juice, Booster Juice, 3 slices of pizza, chocolate donut, Reese Peanut Butter Cups, Terriyaki Beef, Vegetables, Rice, Miso Soup, Salad with Ginger, Ice Cream/Mochi. Ice tea


Tuesday was a rest day.

WHAT I ATE TUESDAY
Flax Bagel with Cream Cheese, Tandoori Chicken, Garlic Naan Bread, butter chicken, spinich, ice cream, oranges, tomatoes, Saag Paneer, pakoras, onion bajas, lamb masala.

Everyone was KUNG FU Fighting

Jen and I did the second Self Defense seminar on Monday night. I was already tired from teaching Combat at noon hour, not to mention five plus hours of skating on Sunday (inline in the morning, ice in the evening).

It really brought home for me that I miss martial arts training at an intensive level a great deal. Afterwards Jen and I discussed different possibilites that we could pursue and what kinds of disciplines both of us would want to do together. If we do manage to find somewhere good (meaning a fun atmosphere with enthusiastic instructors) I suspect that something will have to go, and I believe that would have to be Climbing. Not that we've been climbing with any degree of intensity or regularity in the past few years. We haven't even been climbing outdoors in the past two years, and only went out once the year before that.

What was also very clear is how rusty I am in certain aspects and how many bad habits I've picked up just doing Kickboxing on a purely fitness level. We only covered some very simple basics during the seminar, like knees, elbows, palm strikes and I don't have anywhere near the precision I once had. I can't even imagine attempting more complex moves like locks, traps, grappling or even something like a hook kick or spinning jump kick. I'm sure that my flexibility has been compromised as well which no doubt will be an issue.

Tanya had given me passes for classes at Florida Jack's Boxing Gym just before Christmas as a reward for helping her with the posters and Body Combat Schedule. Jen wants to try it out. I'm not 100% how I feel about that. It's been almost a half dozen years since I trained there, and I have to admit after hearing about Jack's untimely death a few months ago, to being suprised that the gym is still open under new management. If we do go, I wonder how it will feel to be back in that gym. It won't be the smelly old-school style boxing gym like the original space above the Burger King that Tara and i first wandered into. I'm sure they are courting a more upscale and more female clientelle these days given the amount they are charging for a membership. Four years of Boxing workouts at Florida Jack's really gave me a degree of confidence that I didn't have before. I went from the worst shape I had ever been after a year sitting behind my first desk job, to being in the best shape I had ever been previously. It's there that I actually began building any kind of muscle mass. I met some great people and have very fond memories, even though I lost my enthusiasm towards the end. I can't see myself really going back to Florida Jack's on a regular basis. I wonder how Jack's son JJ is doing?

Florida Jack's also introduced me to kickboxing with Scott and Ginesse, and their Savate based style. According to Kathy, they still practice out of that Church in the Annex a couple of days a week. I should look into that for Jen and I to go check out.

The seminar also brought back memories of training with Dale and his integrated combat system. I can't help but think that I could have worked harder and spent less time goofing off had I known Dale was dying of cancer. Less than two years of martial arts training with him as my teacher, but I learned so much from him. I really enjoyed all the different disciplines I got to practice at ICS. Muy Thai and Kali (Philipino Stick Fighting) were my favourites. Dale was just so incredibly passionate about teaching that I guess I kind of lost my enthusiasm for martial arts training after that. The one of two other places that I tried out just didn't feel the same. Kathy and I went to the Hun Gar place in the Chinatown community centre that was offering lessons for free, but it just was a bit too old-school for me... not as practical as what Dale was teaching us. Banging your forearms together to toughen them was one thing, but Dale was all about showing us how to take a knife away from an assailant.

Then there was the Capoeira course that I took last winter. That was interesting, and showed how unco-ordinated I am and how much I lack any kind of rhythm. Jen and I could go over to the school at Dufferin and Bloor to try out a class and see how she likes it. It is cool that Body Combat is integrating Capoiera moves, which have been for for me.


Again, I have to ask myself, if I start training in Martial Arts at my previous level of intensity, will this divide my focus even more once again? I guess some people like to devote themselves completely to one thing and master that one thing. I've found myself to be the kind of person who dabbles in a bit of everything. I'm not getting younger and my body seems to be able to handle less and less these days without some kind of rest intervals between workouts.



SOME OF THE THINGS I NEED TO WORK ON...

Not holding my breath. This is common with many of the physical activities I undertake, particularly noticible in climbing. Also: avoid Closing My Eyes!!!

Relaxing. Keeping loose. With all the Karate and other showey moves in Body Combat, I really am tensing up quite a bit and not flowing enough in the manner that Dale's drills taught me.

Keep the hands up! A good tip was when you are in a situation with the potential to escalate, talk with your hands so that they are ready to block and strike if you need to, yet still open and neutral instead of closed fist, tense and threatening. Body Language is important, to be able to read it and respond to it.

Time for a nap yet?

Anthony, the guy who organizes Friday Night Skate posted a link to this...
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=13761

It's interesting to me just because I often am functioning in a state of fatigue. I've been hoping it's not considered overtraining if I am focusing on different kinds of activities on different days, but I really felt it today teaching Body Combat at noon hour with Tanya at the Manulife Centre.

I was out of breath almost the entire time. Usually I'm winded after Muy Thai, but I was breathing hard (and trying to talk!) through most of it. It was a large group with good energy... I think I yelled too much or I'm coming down with something because my voice started to go towards the end. I'm surprised how many people showed up on such a cold day... I barely made it in myself.

Candy showed up at Inline yesterday unable to speak. She had a magnetic pad with her to communicate! Hopefully I won't have to resort to that in the remainder of the week when I'm teaching kickboxing. Otherwise I'm in trouble. I'll have to work on the non-verbal cues.

WHAT I ATE TODAY
Flax Bagel with Cream cheese, Banana and Yogurt, General Tao's chicken, Zuccini and beans, pad thai and chow mein, Jugo Juice Mango, Harvey's Bacon Cheeseburger with the works, Onion Rings, Fries.

SkateMonster

What a miserably cold day it was today! I didn't think it could get colder than it was last night. I wish that I had Jen to keep warm with this weekend, but she's gone on a big Ski Race Weekend up at Alpine.

Today was all about skating. Pushed myself today.

Went to bed too late again last night. I thought the "domino" effect would happen this morning if one of us decided to stay in bed setting off a chain of people sleeping in on a bitterly cold Sunday morning. Dorota and Carolyn both sounded pretty tired when I talked to them on the phone, but they were both wanting to get up and skate, so I loaded up the car with all the ice and inline gear I would need today and picked them up for practice. I guess the good thing about having a car (besides not having to walk to the Subway) is that it gets me out to practice when other people rely on me to get there. Otherwise I'd be hitting the snooze and being lazy.

It was pretty casual at Inline this morning. I tried to skate behind Kevin as much as possible and he had some good pointers that I haven't been thinking about lately. Dropping my shoulder/twisting into the turn have always been my problem with crossovers. It helped to follow someone with better technique than me. I've always learned best skating behind people and trying to match their technique. During the past two summers, Camilo and Leo always tried to describe proper technique to me, but I have always found I learned best just skating behind them. If I was thinking too much about something and consciously trying to do it, I tend to get sloppier.

Kevin described it as "sticking my hip out", which means being aware of it so that it can remain in neutral position (if I am understanding correctly about how you might compensate metally when they say +1 or -1). Coincidentally, "the hip" was the focus during the intermediate session of Ice today. While I struggled with it this morning, it did Click on Ice later with the kinds of drills we did.

I finished off Inline practice by following the fast pack around as they were doing their passing drills, staying at the back of their pack and just trying to watch technique. I managed to stay with them for a few dozen laps.

After that we had the debate as to whether to stay for Dryland and/or Eric's inline training session. We opted to go eat instead.

At ice tonight, I did all three sessions. We were unexpectedly invited to stay for the advanced session! I was the only one of our Inline group who opted to go back to do the Learn to Skate session today. I figured that I just really needed to reinforce the basics as much as possible. The soft spoken coach (Mike?) had our advanced group and we covered a real range of stuff... basic position, crossovers, starts. I was really good to go over all this stuff again, particularly since I had missed the first two sessions of the original Learn to Skate program.

At the intermediate session Jared decided to focus on the "hip" thing that had plagued me this morning. The drill was fun... we took a bucket and basically had to lean on it while we did crossovers, first on the outside of the cones and then on the inside of the cones. It forced us to get our hips into the proper position! and towards the end of the intermediate session, things began to "click" for me. Pushing the hip out, I felt much more power from the inside leg, and it felt like the blade on the left side was gripping better as well instead of it's usual fishtailing.

The Advanced Ice session was pure endurance. I managed to keep up for most of it, but I was starting to get really sloppy towards the end the more tired I was getting. We had a minor Pile-up at one point when I went down.

The most tiring part of all about going to the advanced practice is helping to put the big crash mats away!

All in all, I felt very happy with Ice tonight. It will be interesting to see how this will start translating into my Inline.


Focus continues to be an issue lately. I have too many physical activities and they really take a toll on my body. It seems that it's really hard to focus on one training activity without the others suffering. For the longest time it has been climbing, which I've managed to maintain recently in the winter, but that went out the window in the past few weeks that I've been focusing on Kickboxing for the new Body Combat release. I've also been negecting my Resistance Training since I haven't done Pump or any weights in a few weeks now and I'm not getting the stretching I need via Yoga and Flow. I think Inline has suffered as well because my legs are so tired from the Kickboxing that my techniques been going out the window.

Hopefully after the Thursday class I am teaching, I can resume a normal schedule with a balance between Pump, Flow/Yoga, Combat, Spinning, Climbing, Ice and Inline!

WHAT I ATE TODAY
Strawberry Yogurt, Banana, Flax Bagel with Light Cream Cheese, Mango Smoothie, Rare Beef and Beef Ball Pho, Satay Beef and Onions, Strawberry Milkshake Thai Style, Feta Cheese and Spinich pastry, Chocolate Chip Muffin, Peanut butter sandwhiches on Ancient Grain Bread, Veggie Chili and pickle. Orange Juice.


SATURDAY

Rest Day. Stayed indoors and cozy up until I had to go out to see the Canadian Tenors with Dorota. Coincidentally it Mike and Iona were going as well with Mike's Mom, and the concert took place at the Church where they got Married! Went to Mike and Iona's for dessert but I was good and didn't have the Pecan Pie ('cause of my nut allergy).

WHAT I ATE ON SATURDAY

Whole Wheat Bagel and Cream Cheese. Peppermint Tea. Veggie Chili.

FRIDAY

Taught Body Combat at noon St Clair with Tanya. Spinning in the evening at St Clair, followed by much needed Yoga with Yvonne. Combat was exhausting.

WHAT I ATE ON FRIDAY

2 Lick's burgers with all the fixin's. High Impact Acai Booster Juice. Tuna Fish Sandwhiches.