you spin me right round...

This year has been the year of trying new things, if that wasn't obvious.  I don't know that it's actually more so than any other year, but I'm certainly highlighting them more by occasionally, even though infrequently, writing them down. (Or, in cases like this, starting a post and not returning to it for two months...)

A few years ago, I decided to branch out a little from trapeze, and spent an hour playing on the aerial hoop (aka lyra). I came bruised and grinning, with scrapes down my spine. I thought I should do more, but I never made it happen.

Until this summer. This summer, I had the opportunity to take the hoop a little more seriously, and I jumped at it.

Hoop's challenging for me in different ways than trapeze. The rigidity of the hoop lets me work at the edges of my flexibility, though it also requires me push my back arch more than I'm accustomed to.   But it's disorienting.

And you spin! It's rigged from a single point, so there's no front or back. You use your body to generate momentum for spins, you use the spin to generate momentum and flow for your tricks.

It's disorienting. Dizzying.  Perspective-shifting.

Apparently, I needed that in my life.  Each week, the lead-up to hoop class is equal parts excitement, anticipation and mild dread... and the end of class is a mixture of satisfaction, relief and joy. Can't complain.



(Next up, mountain time! assuming I ever start to catch up on posting...)

flying through the air ...

not necessarily with the greatest of ease.

I fell in love with aerial and circus arts without ever trying the circus apparatus that everyone knows: the flying trapeze.

About a year ago, I did my very first swing on the flying trapeze -- one of my pals was an instructor and just threw me up there one evening.  It was a little terrifying... no, more than a little terrifying. And yet, a great adrenaline rush.  But I never got back up there.

Over Memorial Day weekend, a friend came to visit from out of town. She, El Bandito, and I all went and took a beginner's drop-in flying class -- some super basic tricks, and after about the 4th time I stopped being incredibly terrified about the height.  The funny thing is that the fear went away as soon as I had a good grip on the bar; it was standing on the platform that made me shaky!

so far, it's been a great year of trying new things, even if I'm lax about documenting them here.
So much more to come!

upside-down? Sideways? what's vertical?

It's been a good year so far, despite having a mild case of pneumonia. It's been a year for gently pushing my own limits, though each step makes me want to jump further from my comfort zone.

adventure #1: the half-marathon. currently deciding what organized race is next, although enjoying my maintenance running. Two short runs on the horizon, one to accompany a friend on her first 5k race. Another just to have fun with the craziness of a Color Run. But another half, I think, in the future. Could i train for, and run, a marathon? sure. But running's my secondary love; I don't want to compromise circus time for marathon training.

adventure numero dos:  Vegas, baby, Vegas.  The tail end of a fun road trip exploring Death Valley with El Bandito, while both of us were a touch under the weather. Fancy duds, a good meal, a fun Cirque du Soleil show, an awesome room service breakfast. I'd never been to Vegas -- over the top. Very over the top. Not my usual kind of scene -- I'm more about "the less well-traveled path" but it was fun for a short trip. I could return for Cirque Week, as long as I got to balance it with more outdoor time.

adventure iii:  the circus showcase. I've been looking for an opportunity to perform for a while. But wasn't sure how I'd like it. Answer: LOVE IT.  Once my hands were on the bar, the apprehension disappeared. Sure, watching video, I can see spots I need to work on, facial expressions to relax, hand gestures to refine. But I had a blast. Bummed it was only a single show.  And it was so much fun to be part of creating something with a large group of people, of doing transitions from act to act that were entertainment themselves.

I've had a couple smaller adventures in the last week.  I spent an hour playing on the aerial hoop (aka lyra) with an accomplished friend.  I spent both afternoons this weekend in an aerial dance workshop where I hung from ropes and danced on walls and had a fabulous time.  In my aerial work, I've been focused on either learning specific tricks and skills, or rehearsing and refining my routine. It was so fun to just play. That's something I want to bring more of into my life: time to play.  And this was definitely chalienging -- not just physically, but psychologically, especially since I leapt in to a group of "advanced" dancers (despite my lack of dance training).

I don't know what's next -- we're talking about our vacation plans and whether we're doing a big trip in the winter for my birthday... but I'm loving this year of adventure. I want MORE.  There will be backcountry hikes, and sea kayaking. and more play!

finally.

Saturday night was a circus show.

A scaled-down, one-night only showcase for the circus school I go to.  Previous showcases (before the school's implosion in early 2011) were full weekend events, with 4 shows, and tickets costing $20. This was a free show.

None of this diminishes my joy in *finally* having gotten to perform a trapeze act.

It was tremendous fun to be part of a show, with silly transition acts and group dance numbers (that was pretty ridiculous).

I want to do it all again. Now!

As exhausting (physically, mentally) and time-consuming as the training and rehearsals were, I still want to do it all again.

Damn addictive trapeze.

I've got drafts of posts written. About road-tripping with El Bandito, about watching sunrises over salt flats. About running, and about discovering I had mild pneumonia three weeks before the show.

But I was simply too busy in March, once I recovered from aforementioned pneumonia, to finish any of those thoughts. This was worth it.

Finally.
Again!

faster than anticipated.

I spent the day before the half-marathon coughing and cranky, although I did fit in a lovely 4-mile walk with a friend and an ice-cream date with El Bandito. We were smart enough to go park the car in the neighborhood of the finish line, and then wind our way home via a grocery store, public transit, and the fancy new ice-cream shop and soda fountain.

I've had this lingering chest congestion (which I still have) for a couple of weeks, and it was worse the day before the half-marathon than it had been. So I was a little worried.

There are advantages to a race in one's own backyard. I got to go back to bed after eating breakfast. El Bandito came and saw me off at the start -- the previous two years, I've done the 5K at this race, so he's gone straight to the finish rather than the start, to be sure of getting there in time. This year, he got to see the chaos of nearly 10000 people, and then head off to mile 6 to wait for me.


I was afraid I was going out too fast. But it felt good. and I did force myself to take my scheduled walk breaks.
I got to high-five El Bandito and keep on moving.

Two friends were standing on a corner at mile 7ish, and that was awesome.


I need to remember to do either gu, sharkies, or something a little sooner -- I swallowed half a stinger waffle around mile 8, but that was later than I should have.

El Bandito was waiting around mile 12 again, then at the finish.

I had fun. I crossed the finish line smiling, and didn't even think to check my time...

which was better than my stretch goal.

it was actually a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

I'll do another.

the year is flying...

2012.

It's hard to believe it's already February.
And February, short month that it is, is already booked.

Sunday, I'm running a half-marathon.
Aside: how the hell is it I'm getting a cold now? (Apart from the fact that El Bandito's been sick intermittently for the last 3 weeks, and I've been fighting it off and fighting it off.  I'm going to be very cranky if I'm sick on Sunday. (See previous instances of bad timing).

Later this month, I'm auditioning a trapeze piece.

El Bandito and I are taking a long weekend trip to the desert (lowest, hottest, driest National Park). I am excited.

El Bandito is job-hunting -- not because he doesn't have a job, but because it's time to move on. I should be doing the same. I am, just much less actively. Because one thing my job does give me is time -- and giving that up will be hard.  Vacation time, for which I have more adventure ideas than I can afford -- or fit even into my generous vacation time. Flexibility, so I can run out the door to a trapeze class. or take an hour-long run at lunch.  Time to day-dream -- and I am full of adventurous day dreams right now.

One friend just returned from a (nearly) spontaneous week in Thailand. Three other friends returned from seeing an amazing circus festival in Paris.  Another friend is off to Hawaii.  Despite our 2011 being *stuffed* with travel, I want to go more places and do more things.

How the heck I'm going to fit it in? I don't know. Maybe I'll think about that on Sunday, since I'll have a couple of hours to think while running...

I just hit enter...

on the registration for my first ever half-marathon.

Despite the fact that my long run today didn't go well -- not enough sleep, not well-timed nutrition, too much sun, and legs much too tired from the week's workouts, even though I only ran one other time this week.

I may not finish it quickly. I certainly won't run every step.
But I'm fairly confident that barring injury, I'll do just fine. It won't be under 2 hours. It will probably be under 3.

And really, it's about the challenge to myself. I turn 40 late this year (how the heck? I swear I just hit 30.  Somehow, a half-marathon seems like a good way to kick off the year.

and hopefully, trapeze performance at the end of March, although I'm half-afraid I'll jinx it by even mentioning it.

and then, we'll see.
I came up with the crazy idea of hiking the Torre del Paine circuit in Patagonia for my 40th birthday, if I can get some friends who are equally as crazy to join me.

But first things first. Wish me luck.