the East River

I'm very lucky, to live where I do. Andy said, "It's like you're at summer camp, too! Just like your students! But you're at Yuppie Camp. You know, you live in a nice area...you have a washer/dryer in the building...now go make me a lanyard. Out of money."

I came home from work today - kinda fried, again - and took a short nap, which worked very well, because by 7pm I had enough energy to go running in the park along the East River. It was beautiful, Naomi. And it smelled like being by the sea...well, also with sort of a gasoline smell, but what can ya do.

Midway through my run I threw in stretch kicks, 3 sets of 10 pushups with my feet up on a step, and a few tuck-ups on a bar. Oh, and 10 handstands, some of which had definite hang time. 'Getting there!

If I could just stop chowing down on cereal and pop tarts, I'd totally have a six pack by now.

Bob Geldof didn't particularly care for Mondays, either

Monday's workout: jack shit.
I finished work at 4:30pm and was so fried, I just came home and lay on Andy's couch for five hours and ate pop tarts.

So basically it was a lot like last Monday, except this week I did not emotionally blackmail my ex, so I guess that puts me in the plus column.

;-)

hanging in there

Hey Nae! Miss ya.
Friday I worked out in the gym - 10/10 handstands (I skipped the straddle ups. I really stink at those, dude!), 3 sets of 10 squat jumps, and a bunch of trapeze stuff. I find myself really gun-shy to do any of the suspension on the ropes moves. My grip needs to toughen up.
Also I forget exactly how to get into meathook, if you care to remind me.
On the plus side, I am choreographing. Front balance to catcher's, pull up on the ropes to aeroplane, then - I made this up - grab the bar and drop down into a back beat. It's kind of intense. I hope it looks good - I might need to tape it and see if it's as dramatic as it feels.

Saturday I walked five miles, but at a very slow pace...

And today I went for a short but exhilarating run. It was insanely humid and hot out. I'm proud of myself for going outside at all. I probably should have added some sprint intervals, but, well....hey, did I mention it was really hot outside?

:-) Hope you're doing well, girl. And if you're not training as hard as you'd like, because of teaching or gym access or what have you, just go easy on yourself. After the year-long intensive, it's probably a good idea to rest anyways.

love you!
-Nati

oh yeah, and for the first day in over a year I underate instead of overate. So maybe pretty soon I'll start achieving a balance.

back to the drawing board

You were right, Naomi. You promised me that someday I'd hang my trapeze again and start doing it just because I love it. Thanks for believing in me.

I didn't train today. My body felt so tapped out yesterday that it seemed like it would be a diminishing return. I just did ten handstands and three free-standing back bends (in Central Park!) My diet was abysmal. But when I think about trapeze, for the first time in ages, I'm thinking creatively. I'm choreographing again. It feels really good.

love you!
-N

My trapeze hangs in the school gym!!

'Spent a little shy of an hour on my trapeze today. I did the usual warmup and conditioning, then worked on a new routine I am writing. Back balance to crucifix is easy, right? For some reason I keep chickening out.
Pyramid pullups, but only up to 3. I am still worn out from the 25 pullups I did the other day.
10/10/10 handstands.
Oh, and cookie dough for breakfast. I hate writing that here. But hopefully that will soon serve as a strong enough deterrent.

Today was my trapeze presentation to the campers. It went really well, and was a pretty good workout in itself. In addition:
100 pushups
100 dips
10 handstands
1 package cookie dough. (I know. Commence terrible downward spiral.)
50 straddle press-ups.

Q: What do you call a half-gallopette? A: a hard landing

Hey Naomi! 'Hope you're doing well. I miss you - you would love my little science campers. They're so industrious!

I fell off the trapeze today. Fortunately I was alone in the gym, had a mat below me, and sort of expected the fall. My judo training kicked right in - thanks, Dan! - as I slapped the mat hard with my hand to break my fall. I landed really evenly, too. It happened like five minutes ago and already I feel fine.

I was doing a move called gallopette; do you know it? Seated on the bar, hands around the bar with palms toward the audience, forward roll/tuck...I sort of forget what happens next, which explains why I fell :-)

Apart from that I did some knee beats, straddle ups, pyramid pullups, and ran through just about every trapeze move I know so I can show them in my presentation tomorrow. Then I did my 10/10/10 handstand practice. So I didn't, like, knock myself out today. I should probably run.

At home I ate a monte cristo sandwich and a vanilla milkshake. That sure made me feel like crap. Then I moped around for a while and picked a fight with S. I regret it, sure. We're not speaking now.

I miss you, Naomi. Life made a lot more sense when you were around :-)

love you!
-Nati

ENGLISH NINYAS

So finally i sign on as your alternative font alter ego after arriving in my home land and being faced with disorientation i attempted to consider training and realised i was far too confused to get my head around it so a 20min walk in the woods and then my hour long pilates rountine will have to do for today!!

I am loving the pyramid headstands then pullups. I may do it with timed handstands against the wall as i do too many headstands, they are my cheat way of training headstands.

But... AIRPORT TRAINNG WAS OFFICIALLY SUCCESSFUL! 30mins at hartford consisting of... 3 ball juggling practise, push ups, headstands, forearm stands. Then handstand practicse at Montreal only for about 5 mins before boarding as i had the shortest connection time ever but did some one arm training, 2 press to handstands and 5 strong balanced handstands just off the wall to make others feel sfae. Fully satisfied with my training i sat on my ass on the plane for the next 7hours then did nothing yesterday as was in a state of confusion. Gotta love cross continental travel!

Headstands

Feeling mad lazy today, not gonna lie. Here's the plan:

Pyramid pullups and headstands. Alternating. So, 1 pullup, 1 headstand. 2 pullups, 2 headstands. You get the idea.

I had totally forgotten about headstands until I read your post. I don't think I've done one since November!

'Gotta train that backbend, too. I'm losing it!

And stretching. Lots of stretching, 'cause I have a two-hour bus ride to NYC tonight. My whole life for the next two months is tidily packed in a medium-sized suitcase. INCLUDING my trapeze. Diesel.

A response to your Comment

Hey lovely,

You are very much in my thoughts and prayers today as you make your way home. I love you!

I am so impressed that you fast-walked up Wantastiquet. I'm such a lightweight when it comes to hiking.

Today's workout sounds awesome! You will totally rock that airport. Now would be a good time to practice pretending that you don't speak English, because you're probably going to get hit on a lot.

One time I did get in a terrific workout at the airport. I had to keep relocating because I hate getting stared at. I'm like, "You're drinking a twenty-ounce frappuccino to fuel you for sitting on your bum for nine hours, and you're looking at me like I'M crazy?! And by the way, who puts whipped cream on coffee, for crying out loud?"

Today I went to breakfast with my grandma and had stuffed french toast with raspberry cream cheese. Naturally, this did not have a positive effect on my motivation to do lots of pullups.

Ninja Calisthenics

OMGsh, Nae. I can't believe I described that workout as "not hugely ambitious". Any workout with 80 burpees in it IS hugely ambitious. 80 burpees are KILLER. 80 burpees are DEATH. We are earning our Circus Ninja cred now, because 80 burpees would TOTALLY sneak up on you and slit your throat while you sleep. Without a backward glance.

But I did 'em all, and I called on my Boot Camp days to get me through them: dig deep, don't complain, maintain perfect form. And you know what ended up being the hardest part? Keeping my toes pointed during the jump. But that's the difference between an athlete and a circus performer, right? Point those toes.

the no-gym workout, day 1

I'm gonna post it before I do it. That'll force me to do it.

:-) today is Day One of Kicking My Own Ass, i.e. working out without a gym. Right now I'm going to eat something and then jog up to the school track. Here's the plan:

1. run 2 miles (8 laps); do 10 burpees between each lap. A burpee is a squat thrust-pushup-jump.

2. handstands: 10 kickups, 10 tuck ups, 10 straddle ups

3. handstand press practice: a. slide toes toward hands b. sit on bench, press into hands and elevate in a straddle sit.

4. back stretches: sit in straddle, hands behind head, lean to each side.

5. more stretching: splits, straddle, and piriformis (that's the muscle that runs diagonally across your bum; mine get really tight and then I'm prone to a debilitating muscle spasm in my lower back.)

It's not a hugely ambitious workout, but it's a place to start. When I get to NYC I'll have access to a pullup bar and a rope to expand on my routine.

Love and miss you, girl. Today is your departure day; I wish you a safe flight and a smooth and happy return. I can just picture you waiting at the airport gate...sitting in pigeon pose. :-) :-)

ps: have fun on Wantastiquet and watch out for giant cats, especially after your killer dog experience :-)

Or maybe I am just still spooked from my half-devoured-deer-carcass encounter.

weights

25 minutes of cardio, then a maximal strength series: warmup, then 10 sets of 2 squats/10 sets of 2 deadlifts. I can squat 155lbs - more than my body weight! Yay.

Part of me wants to record my body weight here, because in six months I'll look back and wonder what it was. But another part of me wants to honor what you and I have talked about, and keep the weight issue out of our training. That part wins.

A nice man named A.J. helped me with my form on the deadlifts, so I continued training them at a lower weight and definitely felt it working.

What does weightlifting have to do with circus? Nothing, I suppose...except strong hamstrings will give you a killer 1-knee hang :-) But weightlifting is something I'm GOOD at, and getting back into it has given me that confidence and easy, natural athleticism that I lost at circus school. And I like the equipment itself; the industrial clank of the weights, the little bump of testosterone I get from slinging them around.

But my gym membership expires today, as I am moving to NYC. So we're about to start the "do it yourself" leg of this adventure: training with no equipment. I think that's where this blog will come in handy - admittedly, it's a really boring blog (I'm wary of putting ANYTHING "interesting" about myself on the internet), but it'll hold me accountable on all those days when I want to skip out on training.

I haven't figured out a way for YOU to log in and post here, so for now you might have to dwell in the "comments" section. Bummer.

A letter to Naomi

Hey lovely.

I created that blog we talked about so we can keep in touch...and keep up with our training. Right now you are trying to cram a year's worth of memories (and tank tops) into 23 pounds -- oh, make that 50 pounds, yay metric system! -- of luggage.

So chances are you didn't get any good training in today. If you're upset with yourself, DON'T BE. I haven't been training hard either, and I have no excuse.

So here's what I did:

yesterday: 10 sets of 5 deadlifts and squats. Approx. 135 lbs. 25 min. cardio.

oh wait. Yesterday I did jack shit. That stuff was TWO days ago.

today: a whole bunch of arm stuff - chest and shoulder presses, pullups, bicep curls. 25 min. cardio (does the elliptical count as cardio? I get mad sweaty but I don't get tired.)

In between sets - my pullups were particularly diesel, I'm proud to say - I worked on my standing back bend, which was total crap today.

Oh, I'm also working on my abs for handstands by pressing my hands into the bench and lifting my legs off in a straddle. Dude, it's HARD!