September 2005
Thursday September 1, 2005
…Some Days I Don’t
When I went to the rink on Tuesday, I basically sucked. I had been off the ice for months, though I have worked to keep my body in shape. I felt pretty disappointed with my performance. After the session, I poked my head into the other rink to watch the competitive skaters training. A couple of them were working on double axels. One girl would do it but lacked a nice run-out. Another was working on a triple salchow. I know better than to compare myself to skaters who could easily be my own children, but it offers an often unnecessary reality check. Long ago I learned that I am not going to do triples and huge doubles. I can live with that, but I really get disgusted when my humble arsenal of skating skills deteriorates.
I returned to the rink today, telling myself it could only get better. My basic skating was considerably smoother than during the previous visit. I hit a nice camel early in the session and drilled a layback straight into the ice. The tracing looked like it had been outlined with a compass. Catching my breath in the player’s box, I asked myself if I would like to try a flying camel. Of course, I would. I warmed up with a couple of camel-change-camel combinations, the first of which was quite strong. The flying camel landed easily, a miracle of muscle memory. Among my more impressive achievements were a well-controlled inverted back camel and a five-rotation backward attitude spin.
Jumps are more troublesome for me. They always have been; this is nothing new. However, it has been a long time since I dumped a loop jump. My knee buckled, as though in surprise, upon landing. I went down in a heap. My next attempts were not much better. If I did not fall out-right, I wobbled and thought about it. Abandoning loops, I practiced flips until I got decent straightness in the take-off and distance in the air. After watching the “triple salchow girl”, I digested her technique and applied it to my remedial single. It worked very well. I over rotated a couple and contemplated trying a double. It seemed so easy, and my body longed to spin in the air. Maybe tomorrow. Returning to the loop, I realized I was digging my pick into the ice and slowing to a snail's pace. This can only be due to insecurity. I tend to skate rather fast, considering. Additionally, I have enough experience and understanding that I can diagnose many of my own skating problems. I deliberately monitored my speed and hit a take-off pose. “Now jump, dammit,” I commanded myself. Concentrating on proper timing, I pushed off and leaped into the air. Better. Each attempt improved until I covered respectable distance and landed cleanly.
Toward the end of the session, I enjoyed my favorite footwork pattern of backward crossovers and back inside to forward outside double three-turns. Overall, I skated well, definitely better than last time. Out of practice or not, the fact remains. Some days I suck…some days I don’t.
Week of September 12, 2005
…at the YMCA
Somehow, I still cannot think about the YMCA without also remembering the song by the Village People. I used to love to skate to that song when I was kid. If it played during one of my infrequent trips to a roller rink, I made the letter arm gestures along with all of the other disco skaters. More often, I skated in the garage and listened to a portable radio, usually doing the same thing all by myself.
However, the YMCA has a different meaning to me now that my husband and I joined. The local Y opened this year and is located near my husband’s work. He needs to exercise regularly after his heart operation, and I do too, but for less severe reasons. A recent trip to the doctor confirmed that I have gained weight, and I do not want the situation to spiral out of control. We have been members since the beginning of the month. The facility has a huge indoor pool, where we have been swimming on the weekends. It also offers and excellent fitness room. I have been riding exercise bikes and running on the treadmill, though I prefer to run outside. A wide variety of aerobic and other exercise classes are included. Group cycling is offered for a nominal fee. I have yet to try any of the classes, but I have stretched in the exercise room in front of its huge mirrors.
I swim laps for about thirty minutes per visit. My favorite stroke is the back stroke, and I am pretty fast. I also like the breast stroke, plus it will tone my upper arms. Although water aerobics is also offered, I have not participated in an organized class. For now, I do my own aqua movements in the deep end of the pool. The objective of this exercise is to trim my inner thighs, a problem area for many women. I naturally have large legs and have built considerable muscle mass from years of skating. However, the inner thigh area remains a flabby problem. I cannot remember the last time I saw daylight between my thighs while standing upright. It certainly would be nice to wear a sundress on a humid summer day without my thighs sticking together. Anyway, the exercise consists of treading water by opening the legs to the sides then scissoring them back together against the resistance of the water. Sounds simple enough, but it targets this troublesome zone. After swimming, I sit for a few minutes in the hot tub, followed by the steam room and dry sauna, with refreshing cold showers in between. It is really quite heavenly.
Following my pool routine, I rinse and change for the gym. After a warm-up walk on the treadmill, I set the speed and run a mile. For some reason, the treadmill is more tiring than road running. This is probably because I must maintain a steady pace or fall off the contraption. In ten minutes, I am sweating like a pig and my heart rate has ramped up to 165-170+ beats per minute. I walk on the treadmill to cool down before moving on to an exercise bike. The bikes I prefer have chairs instead of butt-unfriendly bicycle seats. I set a random resistance program and increase the difficulty, then ride while reading a book for a half-hour.
After all of this exercise, I enjoy a warm shower, clean clothes, and leave the YMCA feeling good about myself.
Week of September 18, 2005
Aqua Aerobics
This week, I attended two aqua aerobics classes at the YMCA. Traditional aerobics have been part of my life since I was a teen, but not in an organized format until I began taking classes as an adult. However, I had never tried water aerobics, which is known as a very low impact form of exercise. My husband scoffed thinking the class would be filled with old ladies who cannot swim. Swimming is excellent cardio exercise, and he suggested I just swim laps. I do swim laps and find it rather boring, though it does get my heart beating. He was right about the student population of the aqueous aerobics class. Most were older, some elderly. Those who were not older were vastly overweight, such that land-forms of exercise might damage their joints due to intense pounding from excess mass. Other than the instructor, I was the only reasonably younger fit person in the group. I generally cannot say the same for a floor aerobics class.
In my opinion, aqua aerobics does not provide the same caliber cardio workout one can achieve in a traditional aerobic dance class. However, one would not expect to ramp one’s heart rate up to 165 by bouncing around in a pool. Like any other form of exercise, you get out what you put in. When the instructor says: “Jog fast”, I move as quickly as my muscles will respond. When the instructor counts the beat of other movements, I do double time. When she tells us to lift our knees high, I pull them all the way out of the water. By listening to the rhythms of my own body, I enhanced the vigor of the routine.
Water’s natural resistance provides excellent toning benefits. While my heart rate may not have soared though the roof, I felt a pleasant soreness in my legs from working various muscle groups that may not be employed during skating or jogging. Aqua aerobics also includes very worthwhile arm exercises with foam dumbbells. I chose the larger, more buoyant ones. Familiar arm exercises like bicep curls, rowing, and presses are performed entirely underwater with dumbbells that would prefer floating to remaining submerged. It requires a lot of strength to keep those “weights” below the surface. Because water resists a curl while both lifting and lowering, the triceps are worked in the same exercise as the biceps.
After water aerobics, I swam some laps with a kickboard and fins. The fins add resistance to challenge the leg muscles. Within a few minutes my thighs and calves hurt. Plus they allow me to swim delightfully fast. I hardly noticed the strain because cutting though the water and creating a wake behind the kickboard was such a thrill.
Following my pool work, I relaxed briefly in the very hot tub, doused with cold water and stretched in the steam room. Another cold splash preceded a restful conclusion to my workout in the dry sauna. A warm shower in the locker room and fresh clothes completed the session.
Saturday September 24, 2005
Cholesterol
I had to wait until Sunday to write this entry, because if I had written it on the day of the actual event, it would have overflowed with four-letter words. I was very upset after my doctor’s appointment on Saturday morning. I went in for routine blood work, specifically for a thyroid check. Unfortunately, the test revealed a high level of "bad" cholesterol, about 190 ("good" cholesterol was 44). Never before has a doctor told me I have high cholesterol. It was the last thing I expected. Maybe I should not be surprised. I am not a genetically small or thin person. Fat coats readily on my body, and I have to struggle to keep it off, usually battling the same twenty pounds for years. This is nothing new, though I have progressively gotten bigger with age, some of which can be attributed to musculature; the rest to middle-age spreading.
As an active university student, I forced my big eastern European figure to conform to an unrealistic cultural ideal. I was borderline anorexic. Between a young healthy metabolism, a busy schedule, and raw determination; I dieted my 5’6” frame down to 110 pounds. I looked like a fashion model, except for my orthodontia. In ancient times when my peasant ancestors worked the fields and endured brutal winters, the genetic ability to retain a few extra pounds of blubber provided a valuable survival advantage. In modern times of relative American leisure, this same trait causes us to gain unnecessary weight that results in related health problems. However, to my knowledge, none of my direct relations has suffered a heart attack. Nor has anyone been diagnosed with diabetes. But, thanks, Dad for the hypothyroidism and enormous Polish bone structure. And thanks, Mom, for the dumpy figure and monstrous tits that required surgical alteration.
As I aged and developed thyroid disease, it became harder and harder to keep the weight off. I abandoned my starvation tendencies in favor of good food. Part of my prior minimalist eating behavior was due to a tight student budget that allowed few indulgences beyond skating. I also found myself sitting behind a desk bored shitless at a corporate job. I did not last long in that career and left it to stay home for a few years. During that time, I skated and exercised rigorously; often clocking twenty hours of various types of physical activity per week. I worked part-time as an adjunct professor and earned a public school teaching license. When I went back to work a couple years ago, it was to become a science teacher in an urban school district, where I am still happily employed and making positive contributions to the lives of young people.
Although I enjoy professional satisfaction, I am left with less time to workout. Since my return to the full-time workforce, I have packed on twenty pounds of excess cargo. My exercise routine has decreased by at least half. Since the rink nearby closed last season, I have barely skated. Though exploring alternatives, I have discovered nothing satisfactory. Thankfully, the local YMCA is getting my ass off the couch. I have also developed a genuine love of running. I am considering taking balance beam and trampoline lessons at a gymnasium near the YMCA, though I am embarrassed to venture into that den of skinniness in my present condition.
The doctor suggested I drop those twenty pounds. Well, duh. I plan to get rid of them just as soon as possible. He told me to take omega-3-fatty acids in the form of fish oil vitamins. He told me to eat this nasty-sounding margarine that absorbs cholesterol. He offered me a diet plan that I flatly refused. I will not starve myself or eat like a rabbit. I already maintain a very health-conscious regimen, but will not give up certain treats that I enjoy. I quit smoking, do not drink or partake of recreational drugs. I can’t even find a place to skate anymore, for God’s sake! If I can’t have a delicious Indian lunch on Saturday afternoon, I may as well pack it in right now. The doctor said I should have one alcoholic drink every night. He should keep a bottle in his examination room for all of the horrified patients who fail the cholesterol test.
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