Pole R.7

Last class before performance week.

The previous week and open pole sesh was pretty successful...aside from the whole missing skin on my foot sitch. It's fine. I love being challenged at something that already challenges me. And this is why you should make sure you are competent with your skills on both side. I climb with my right food behind, but now that it's skin-less I can't really do that. I can climb with my left, BUT it's not as graceful. Whatevs.

SO we did our warm up stretching. That was going well and I was pretty limber (sometimes my old body is a little stiff ever since the back incident of 2012), so I had high hopes for this day...until my hip decided to start catching in the socket when it was rotated. Talk about a good time! No. This happens from time to time and I can usually get it snapped back into the correct place, but not today.

This week we reviewed some of the skills that we had already learned and went over some simple filler, floor, and spin moves.

The windmill. We've done the front windmill before (start with the pole on one side, and basically fan kick leading with the outside leg, end up on the other side) and I didn't love it. It's not hard compared to some of the things that I've learned, but my hip flexors give me a bit of trouble and my hamstrings are tight so I don't always get the nice lines that you should.

The variation we did was a bit different. Start behind the pole for filler work, put the inside hip against the pole, then fan kick leading with the outside leg. Yeah, it's pretty similar, but once we add in the hip action my brain seems to shut down and my body doesn't function. Didn't help that I couldn't really swing my left leg with the new hip issue. Irritated is an understatement. I def ended up with the bitchface/furrowed brow combo for the whole class.
And we worked on the spin pole. I haven't practiced enough to be able to control the spin, and fighting my body wasn't helping.

This was the longest class of my life. And not in a Ihadsomuchfunineverwantedittoend kind of way.

Hopefully my hip will reset itself so I can perform next week.

Pole R.6

Instead of a typical ab workout we did floor work that highly incorporated the abs. This was way more fun! And yet more challenging then I anticipated.

Floor work

I was so glad we did not traditional ab exercises by working on floor work.

• Candle Stick - where you lay on your back, roll up so that you are primarily on your shoulder blades and your legs are in the air. Feel free to use your hands to prop yourself up. Engage that core and do some leg work!
• Front roll - No, not a somersault. I wish. Lay on your stomach, one arm out to the side, the other propped up as if you were doing push-ups, your head facing the direction of the propped up arm. Using your core, start lifting your bum while dragging your legs (if you are in shoes it helps if you are dragging on the platform part) towards your head. Eventually you'll get them close enough that you can tuck your head and roll...or end in candle stick like we were trying to do.

I could not manage to do that effing front roll. My straight armed shoulder hurt so bad from the pressure I was putting on it. It had this weird green bruise for days and felt like I had chipped off part of the bone. And my shoes kept hitting the cushion part at the toe that totes doesn't slide. ugh. I haven't worked on it since that class because I am scared for life from the pain of my shoulders. Hopefully I'll brave it again soon and make it my bitch.

For the spin portion we brushed up on variations of the parachute spin, which is now called the carousal. It's amazing how much easier it is to do with my healed back!

 

My fave part of class was when we started doing combo spins. We started out in the plank carousal, then pulled our legs into v-spin, before turning that into a climb. I managed to hit the moves on my first try (although not perfectly) and Jackie said I looked a little monkeyish. Which I did, but it was only my first try. It's a little scary taking your legs from V to climb, so I was a little frantic with it and it made me look like a monkey. Whatevs. After a few tries I was looking a lot better.

 

#hastagwars

From: Brittany
To: Jessica

#naskedwasted

#adultdaycare

#dropitlikeitshot

#fultonontheloose

From:Jessica
To: Brittany

#approveapproveAPPROVE

#racaforprez

#incestuousoffice

#hookups

#AGM

#feelinloveinahopelessplace

#notus

#vegas

#whokilledbob

#pleasedontdie

From: Brittany
To: Jessica

#inifnityapprove

#werebroke

#nojobs

#fultonnotforprez

#hotmess

#sinkingship

#breaksthebank

#getmeaflightrightnow

#bobonaleash

#vegasunleashed

#nakedwasted

#nakedwasted

#nakedwasted

From: Jessica
To: Brittany

#nakedwasted

#baddecisions

#whereamI

#whoareyou

#wakingupinvegas

#planBbreakfast

#plannedparenthoodsponsored

#bieberbaby

#knockedup

From: Brittany
To: Jessica

you win... hahahaha

Pole Technique & Pole Fiction: Suit & Tie

I had a double hitter with Kelly on this particular Friday night. She taught one of the first classes I attended, so I'm always excited when I get to have her again.

For pole technique we mainly just focus on new moves, some filler, some a little more skilled.

• Crab filler - Stand beside the pole, kneel while you rub down your leg, and back up while you stand and extend your back backwards. Really let your head fall for a dramatic touch. Or if your back is on and off like me, you will barley move backwards and look as if someone just punched your spine.
• Crab - This is a really slick floor move that involves almost crossing one leg over the other, then throwing it to the other side, followed by the other, while you roll over to your stomach and snake up.
• Snake - Climb the pole, then slowly (I may have been speed racing this one) reverse body roll down, while moving around the pole, like a snake. Really arch the back to get a good effect.

 It was all fun and games until the final pole circuit when I managed to remove a nice area of skin from my foot. I'm talking 2x3 inch area. After my last snake (the move that did it) I felt a stinging on my foot. The lights were low so I couldn't see it. But when I touched it and felt my skin roll beneath my fingers I panicked. I was afraid I was bleeding. And was already pre-embarrassed my foot was probably making.

Luckily there was no blood, but it stung so bad...and I still have another 90min class. Ugh. I rinsed it off in the bathroom sink (the tallest bathroom sink known to man) and managed to breath through the pain. The next day it looked pretty gross and cool all at the same time. I met up with Jess for dinner and she thought I had spilt ketchup on my foot because of the red color. delish! I did put peroxide & neosporin on it, left it uncovered, and it ended up healing in 4 weeks time. Made things interesting pole climbing with my other foot. And this, ladies and gents, is why you should always practice all skills on each side of your body. Lesson learned. The new skin is still sensitive and I'm afraid of it happening again. Who knew pole will be so dangerous?

The second class Kelly taught was a dance inspired by J.Timberlake's "Suit & Tie." It was so much fun! Even with my jacked up foot. AND we used props: obviously a tie. The dance only had two pole tricks that were beginner level, so it was a nice reminder that something doesn't have to be extra complicated in order to look good.

6 weeks

It's been six weeks since I last ran.

Six weeks or anticipation.

Six weeks of still working out but stopping an activity if my knee felt any irritation.

I was so nervous and excited about my run this morning. I'd been waiting weeks for this and was hopping that my IT band had decided to start acting right. There hadn't been any pain or irritation in the IT area for a couple of weeks, so I was really only nervous about my lung capacity.

I got up early (I actually miss my early morning weekend runs), laced up, turned on my Garmin, and hit the park. I forgot how much I loved the smell of the morning air at the park. It brought back memories from the last three years. I felt free and was already pre planning which days/activities would be swapped out for running. The first .5 felt good. My legs felt confused but they weren't as slow as I had anticipated. In fact, they were trying to go fast; they obviously forgot how to pace themselves. Breathing was getting rough, but I was maintaining. I had planed to do a little less than 3 as to not over due it.

And then all of my hopes and dreams were crushed around the first mile. The pain kicked in. Subtle at first, so I slowed my pace, but it soon grew. It almost feels like I'm the tin man and if I could only oil it up then I would be fine. As the pain forced me to a walk I stated having crazy ideas about cutting my leg open and riding my body of the IT band, but I figure my leg won't work at all without it.

I don't feel that this is severe enough to require surgery, but I'm not sure why it's failing to heal. You now how Lex Luther never gets sick and heels well from his encounter with the kryptonite? (I'm obviously going off of the Smallville version of this story because I didn't read the comic books). I feel like my body is the opposite. I don't get sick often, but when I get injured I'm pretty much injured for life.