Robynettely

Last night we were working on a move called Halfsie, which is like a pullover,but only with one leg. You wind up hanging upside down with one leg hanging onto the hoop. It's pretty uncomfortable -- so much so that I could only do it on one side (the right leg over). Which led to a funny conversation. Do I have higher pain tolerance on one side than the other? Last Friday we were sparring at karate, and it went on for quite a while. The longer you spar without a rest, the worse your control gets, so I was blocking badly and wound up covered in bruises. I went home and iced my left forearm and my left foot, and then it was bedtime and stripping down, I noticed that my right arm was also swollen. I hadn't even noticed! Maybe it's because, being a lefty, I use my left arm more? But I also tend to fight in right stance if given an option, which might be protecting my left side more. Weird. Trying to add a picture. It will work better later.

As I mentioned on Twitter, last week I passed my level one aerial hoop test. It involved such skills as hanging by one knee, hanging by one arm (my worst skill), pullover (adrenaline got me over), mermaid, and spinning for 20 seconds (ugh, queasy). After circus, we have a ritual smoothie. This week's was Pumpkin Pi(neapple). The last time I made a Pumpkin smoothie, it didn't go over that well. It was too thick maybe, or too rich. This one worked better, and it got two cans out of my fridge, so win! 2 cups milk 3 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt 1/2 can pumpkin pie filling 1/2 can pineapple with juice banana Blend it! Yum!

Last night was picture night at circus, so we aren’t really supposed to learn anything. However, I did get a skill! A few weeks ago, we started working on pullovers. This is essentially the same as a parallel bars skill in gymnastics where you grab the bar, do half a chin-up, pike your feet up and pull to get your hips over the bar. A month ago I couldn’t do it. Three weeks ago, the coach told me if I couldn’t do it, I could jump onto the hoop and do twice as many controlled pull-downs (the second half of the skill, where you go down the same way – it uses the same muscles, but is easier because gravity helps) as everyone else. This led to an amazing set of bruises across my lower abdomen.  Last week I tried, and I could do it if I put my feet on the sides of the hoop as I went up in order to get my hips high enough.  Last night, I pulled over, all the way! Four times!  Also, I learned skin the cat, because it's on my conditioning list, so it do...