Competitive Cross Training in the Ballroom

Last week was awesome! I was present in every difficult and easy moment, enjoying it all. It was a state of training, friends, performance and competition.

I love performing. Aside from the several showcases I’ve done since taking up ballroom in January 2013, I haven’t had a scrutinized performance since I did standup comedy in 2008. 

The Emerald Ball Competition is one of the biggest ballroom competitions in the country. Preparing for it was a physical challenge and I knew it would be a big mental challenge. Big challenges call for big guns. I broke out the CD my hypnotherapist, Brennan Smith, made for me in 2008 to have a first successful comedy set. I mentally adjusted the comedy-specific suggestions to a ballroom competition. I had one last listen before driving to the South Bay to spend the night with running friends so I could sleep in until 4:30am for my 6:15am hair and makeup appointment.

All the comp prep was similar to race prep. Friends. Food/Fuel. Bed (at a reasonable time). Like usual, I set several alarms and triple checked them, convinced something would go wrong. I changed only one thing: I put my own sheets on the bed, so the ballroom-dark spray tan I was rocking wouldn’t come off on their sheets. I woke up several times in the night (like normal), convinced it was 4:30am and I had to go get my hair and makeup done.  All of a sudden, I heard an alarm that wasn’t mine.

Holy smokes!

Thank goodness, the husband is the kind of guy that wants to walk a lady to her car. He set an alarm so he could wake up and escort me out.

I prep as quickly as I can.

I forgot I brought breakfast and went out to find food.

Foraging for food at 5am is not an easy task, and if you’ve stayed away from fast food for years, you’ll be very disappointed. I eventually found something and modified it enough, (asking for no bacon and throwing out the bread) and made something reasonably palatable. More importantly, there was coffee.

Hair and makeup was going to be at LeNique, the dancewear shop where I (and so many dancers) get their dresses. It was so early, there was even parking by the Culver City Steps, which never happens. I was breathing easy. Jim (my coach)and I were going to meet at 8:30 and my first heat wasn’t until 11. Endurance racing mentality wins out again. Biggest difference. You need hair and makeup for a ballroom dance performance.

The hair and makeup Snow Urbin gave me was spectacular. I rarely feel super girly, but Snow made me feel the most girly I’ve ever felt. The amazing thing is she did it all in an hour.

I changed into my dress so that way I could jump out of my car and run into the ballroom. I met Jim, my instructor and the other dancer who was competing. 

The ballroom was not intimidating. I had been there before, last year supporting friends.

Besides, I like preforming. It’s easier than standup. And, it’s certainly easier than walking from your hospital room to a gurney to get wheeled to brain surgery.

My heats came up. Pre-Bronze Rhumba, Swing, Salsa... quickly followed by Newcomer Rhumba, Swing, Salsa. There were other styles peppered in, so it gave me time to relax and work on dance combinations. The bonus is my ankles didn’t get tired because I’m dancing in heals that are .5” taller than what I normally do.

I ultimately finished with two 2nds in Pre-Bronze Rhumba and Swing. A 1^st in Pre-Bronze Salsa.  And, firsts across the board for Newcomer Rhumba, Swing and Salsa. 

I was happy with how I did, but naturally, I want to do better. There’s always room for improvement, with everything. I like chasing that next P.R. (in whatever it may be).  So while working to get in marathon shape, I’m now working towards being able to do more styles without my ankles giving out while really getting my arms and hips to move.

I took Wednesday off, and resumed workouts on Thursday. Friday became my long run day since I had plans with a friend Saturday morning.

 How else does one cap off a week of being one of their most girly? A little boxing and kickboxing at LAKO. Between the weight training and running I’ve been doing for the past month, I didn’t die. And, the bonus is that the ballroom dance adds a great element of stability and hip action.  I was so excited, I tweeted out that I felt like Paige VanZant. As of this post, Paige is a UFC fighter and on this seasons Dancing With the Stars. I was excited to have this commonality with a supreme athlete. I didn’t expect her to respond.

Yes, it was a good week. Now, to jump back into a training schedule and add hills so I can have a successful trail half marathon this fall. I feel like more and more I’m stepping into my athletic prime.

Back In It

I'm officially back in the game.

After struggling to make a commitment to myself and my over-all health, I've reached the point everyone reaches in training. It's the point where training becomes nonnegotiable. I'm not waiting for the mood to strike me or find time to train; I'm training.

The two weeks of lumbering out of bed to go run or lift weights has paid off. It could be the decreasing numbers on the scale or the tone I'm seeing. It might be the trail half marathon (with 5,000 feet of elevation gain) that I'm terrified to sign up for, but my friends keep telling me I can do. It might be my first dance competition on Tuesday or other personal (secret) goals I've set for myself. Whatever it is, I'll take it. I couldn't recreate the feelings from December that set me on the first path to health, but this one is so strong, I don't see it going away.

I'm excited to see/feel my strong legs carry me over the miles and on the dance floor. I like seeing the waist creep back in and feel the extra fabric on my dress that wasn't there when I purchased it. I have new goals set and a new mission.

Today while my marathon brain wanted to do my typical "Saturday Long Run," the logical dancer side of me pipped in and said, "Slow down. Don't tire out those leg muscles for the sake of mileage." And, so, I walked a brisk two miles and will remain focused on my immediate goal of the dance competition. I'll continue to stretch out to keep muscles limber while doing other exercises to work on form and patterns.

 Apparently, while getting back into Marathon Shape, I've become a dancer. The other night, while celebrating a friend and her new career path, she told people I was a competitive ballroom dancer!

It happened again

I've been logging miles on my kitchen calendar, but I'm not carving out enough time for myself.  I need to "Snooze" less.

I cam back from my run invigorated to write a short pithy post- then I saw confirmation of the last time I wrote. I've had runs since then. They've felt great. Important things happened on them. (I should write that down.)

But, for today....

Two miles before work!

In your face world.

Reignited Motivation

Two days in a row! Two miles logged each day. I feel great.

I won’t kid you… Day two the first half mile was rough, really rough. But, I pushed myself to dig down to the last time I was here and remember that I pushed through painful miles before. It’s sill a matter of cardiovascular fortitude and not liking the discomfort. But remarkably, I found a nice comfortable and natural pace. worked through it, slowed my pace, but kept pushing with the running. I know I have more runs like this ahead of me. Those dreaded runs where I want to stop, but if I want to get back into Marathon Shape, I have to keep pushing. Ten miles is my goal it is my favorite long run distance with friends. But once I get there, how fast do I want to run it? I’m competitive with myself, so naturally, I’ll want to run it faster each time. Right now, I’m concentrating on a weekly goal of 15 miles or more. And, in this moment, I’m feeling Greeaaaaat! I was going to do some quick abs after the run. (In the winter I found some great yoga abs and I’m using it again.) I’m feeling so good, ab work requires more than just dropping to all fours to do Dynamic Down Dog or Step Out Planks. No sir, didn’t keep it quiet. I found my best high octane sports club music and cranked it!

Two days in a row of running and I’ve already logged two miles for this week.  I’m going to keep the trend going. I found my mojo. Maybe, it’s from gnashing it out in keystrokes and a few painful runs. Maybe it’s the ballroom dance competition at the end of April. And just maybe, it's from the new conversations and self reflection to create a new perfect storm of success and conviction. Now, the trick is to hang on to it and not get in my own way.

Where's My Motivation?

This was originally intended to be posted March 20, 2016....

I wish I could recreate those moments where it felt so good… Only 5 weeks ago I had conviction. I was exercising daily. I was logging into my various apps, tracking nutrition, water, sleep and exercise. My conviction for improved health hasn’t been that strong since surgery. In 2011, I was just trying to be normal and prove brain surgery and the possible brain cancer wouldn’t keep me down. But this year, everything was different. This time, inspiration and drive was coming from everywhere…. There was the coworker who told me about his Saturday runs in the hills of Griffith Park and what caused the paradigm shift. We talked about simple things, like becoming a better runner is a matter of deciding to get out of bed or to sleep in. Then there are my running friends. They are slightly more competitive with themselves….

So much so that one insists you can't wear a FitBit while working out. You can’t fault her logic because a workout is a workout and the  FitBit is designed to track in your “sedentary” day. Then, there is the crew of people I met by joining Body Space. This is an online community of people on various exercise and nutrition plans working towards their individual health goals. I had all these forces pushing me to be my best and lighting the fire. But, now, finding that happy fire in my belly is impossible. I want to recreate these moments, but I’ve been struggling to get it together. What is wrong with me? All these conversations were happy accidents. Besides, in addition to these big moments, there were probably instances that were so small I didn’t recognize their importance to fire me up at the time. I don’t know how to get it back and trying to recreate these conversations may not yield the same results.

I got two slow miles in again. The cardio hurts like it always does when you restart. But even with my chest burning I pushed through most of the places where I wanted to start walking. And, I loved it. I forgot about the psychological thrill you get when you just go. To my surprise, going didn't seem that bad. It was fun and easier than expected. I need running like eating, I must do it before the day gets out of hand. Running in the morning also makes me more mindful of what I put in my body.