BAAAAD boots, off ice axels, personal training

My feet are NOT happy campers right now!!!

... well, at least my left foot. The padding around the bones of the ankles of the boot have worn down to the point where it's hitting the ankle bones and it is QUITE painful to skate. I skate CW, so this is my picking foot, my landing foot AND my backspin foot. OW OW OW OW!!!! (Then again, it held up well for someone who's been skating regularly on them 4 times a week for 3 years...)

Can't take my boots to Harlick 'til Tuesday when they're back from this ISI comp in LA that they're at now. Meanwhile, I'm using some gel pads to cushion things a little bit, though it's still not that much help. Needless to say, my jumps aren't doing that great as of late. :-( I probably will be off ice for at least a week or two while they do the repairs, I'll bet. :(

But...better to get this done now than risk being injured right before Adult Nationals though... but I am kinda bummed b/c I was supposed to start on doing axels on ice.

Off ice axels
Meanwhile, I will have to wait 'til the gym is emptier (i.e. weekends) to continue doing off ice axels. Why? I want ramp up space to kick thru rotated and land and I don't want to end up crashing into people and/or gym equipment. The good news is that they are becoming HALF axels now -- from an overrotated waltz jump. This is PROGRESS!!! I am also doing a lot of jump and rotate exercises, trying to close my arms in (depending on who I talk to -- it's either "give myself a hug" or "give myself a Heimlich") and keeping my body straight throughout the jump. Now if I could get this right, I should have an off ice axels soon.

Speaking of which, most people look at me funny, but ONE guy actually smiled when I was doing them and asked "Axels?" I smiled back and said "Yes!!!") :-D

Personal Training and Fitness
Ballet Guy Trainer is finally settled training as an independent trainer... just in time for me to adjust my training sessions with him and my figure skating personal trainer. Ballet Guy trainer will now do half time personal training and half time getting me into more "dance therapy" stuff. I am addressing some issues with the placements of "knowing" where my arms and free leg are, how straight they are, etc. This should be fun, since I will get to do a bit of dancing and I LOVE to dance! (Doesn't MEAN I do WELL on it though... :-P ) We agree that figure skating trainer will also work me partly on being a personal trainer and partly on the off ice stuff that my skating coach doesn't have the time to work with me on (b/c she's working on my other jumps and spins and moves.) The figure skating personal trainer HAS an axel (on ice) so she should know what I'm up against in learning the off ice axels first and how it translates to ice. :-)

Probably is... since Ballet Guy Trainer left my fitness club, I'm now stuck with four personal training sessions! I am still contemplating on where I'll use it on. One thing I had thought about is taking "Black Belt Trainer" for kickboxing and get some self defense lessons. (Hey! A girl's gotta do what she's gotta to protect herself. Can't rely on hubby to always there there to beat up the bad guys... and I do take pleasure out of beating the crap out of the bad guys out there! LOL!!!) Problem is that "Black Belt Trainer" is no longer training at the current branch of my fitness club and I don't know if he will be willing to come back to it. I would have to go thru the arduous paperwork process of transferring my personal training credits towards switching to another branch. Now... I've been thru this with my former PT back at my old branch and I really don't want to go thru that again!!!

I do have a backup PT in mind now for this if "Black Belt Trainer" doesn't pan out. (I'll refer to this one as the "bald guy trainer" since hubby asked this past weekend "Hey! Where's the bald guy trainer you were telling me about?") Just got his business card. Has ACSM certs (SWEET! I don't run into too many ACSM guys out there!) Passed Test #1 and #2 on potential PT tests.

Yes, there are a couple of concerns. One of them is that he doesn't come off "low drama." Given my previous experience with a former personal trainer (I'll call him "Psycho Trainer"... long story here!), this is definitely deal breaker for me. I'm here to focus on my training for Adults Nationals and I'm already stressed as is and need to be calm and focused when I train out there on the ice AND on the gym floor.

Also... to be frank... I have two personal trainers already. I don't need to add a third one! I have LOTS of "People Power" behind Team Jazzpants now. It's one thing for me to take up "Black Belt Trainer" b/c I do need to learn about self-defense and how to beat up the scary punks out on the street if needed. But currently I don't know what this "bald guy trainer" can bring into the picture for me (aside from probably junk bond tips, the guy was in finance... :-P ) and whether or not those needs aren't already met by anyone in Team Jazzpants already. I think in a way, it's a matter of what "bald head trainer" can bring that's unique and is something I need. So far, I haven't seen it yet, which is why I'm NOT already training with him. (But I am keeping his business card in case something falls thru with one of my current trainers or if someone else needs a recommendation. I do like the guy and want to help the newbie out!)

Third thing... and this is bad for my gym... but I am opting to take my personal training OUTSIDE my fitness club and looking for independent PT's who do not answer to the fitness club's needs for profit and how to train clients. I want them to develop their own style of training and carve out their own niche! This is where true success comes from and where your "paper creds" becomes $$$.

More LUTZ stories and that EVIL four letter word...

Okay, so I have a lesson with my secondary coach, who has never seen me do a clean lutz. I managed to land a couple of relatively cheated ones. She made a few "adjustements" and I've managed to land some good ones and know when I'm not going to land a good one...

She said that she's proud of me for landing those lutz! They were good lutzes!!! Then she says "Well...I guess we're gonna start working on [here comes that EVIL four letter word]...the axels pretty soon, huh?" *evil grin* Panic sets in!!! (And for the record, secondary coach knows I'm panicky about starting on the axel. Primary coach thinks I'm a big CHICKEN and therefore STILL not ready to start on the axels yet.)

Though it's a nice realization that I've finally reached the point where I start working on that infamous axel jump an certain amount of dread starts getting me nervous. AND, of course, reading about Braden Overett's very nasty fall on his 3axel and the "recovering period" didn't help me in the confidence dept. either. I mean the only thing he has in his favor is that 1) he's young, 2) he's young, and 3) he's a well trained athlete. His waxel fall was a very common problem amongst skaters that are doing the axel and those falls from what I've hear are PAINFUL!!! And to make it EVILLE too... I don't know if this time I am allowed butt gel pads to work on this jump, b/c she doesn't believe in "coddling a student skater." I do know that I will be on the harness too.

Wish me luck... meanwhile I made sure my life insurance is paid up & all.

Crashing in bed... lack of sleep this morning! ZZZZZzzzzzzz....

Weight Loss/Maintanace Status: 2/2/2008

I had another visit to my dietitian. The maintenance is going well!

I've gained one pound from last month's but I didn't do a fat analysis since December b/c I went off my diet for Christmas. So my comparison is from early Dec. 2007. But my body fat % DROPPED! So apparently my weight gain is MUSCLE, not fat!!! (I was worried that I actually lost too much weight b/c my "old tighter" clothes are loose on me and my wedding band is practically falling off my ring finger. May have to resize the ring again...)

Here's the stat as of this afternoon:

2/2/2008
Weight: 122.2 lbs
BMI: 21.3
Fat %: 23.4%

Total Fat Mass: 28.61 lb (12/1/2007: 33.61 lb)
Muscle Mass: 93.61 lb (12/1/2007: 87.61 lb) <== I've gained 6 lbs of MUSCLES!!! :-D

And I am proud to say that my husband also has been losing weight and pretty much saved himself from being the next heart attack victim!!! Back about 6 months ago... he was walking on the treadmill for not more than 5 minutes before he gets this really bad back pain and would demand to go home or to eat at some place where he would NOT have to do much walking from the car to the restaurant. (And mind you, he's NOT walking very fast. I think he was going about 2.5 mph with no incline in fact.) These days, he's walking about 20-30 minutes. Still at 2.5 mph and no incline, but he's going a LOT longer than before! His shirt size also went from an XXL to an XL too!!!

Most important is that his MOTHER noticed the weight loss! This is good, b/c it shows her that I'm trying to take good care of her little boy. I won't have to deal with comment from her such as "Why aren't you taking good care of my son? He's WAAAAY overweight!!! You have to nag him some more to lose weight." (Ummm... he's a 43 year old grown man and CAN take care of himself??? Besides, nagging him would not work in this case. He had to want it for himself!!!)