I clocked another 3 miles of running by Alamo Creek this morning. I needed the cardio after my deep-fried eating fest in Stockton this weekend.
Last week, I landed my axel at Vacaville Ice Sports. I felt like a rock star. I also feel like I’ve made so much progress since I first stepped on the ice in Topeka. When I was competing, this jump was my Achilles’ heel. It messed with my head and it took me forever to master it. About three years, I think. But it also serves as the basically building block for more difficult jumps. After landing the damn thing, I was able to move on to those jumps and more.
My Axel from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.
I think I’ll managed to get all my double jumps back after this. I’m super happy with last weekend’s sharpening job on my blades. I thought it was worth the 1 1/2 drive to Novato. (yes, Mark drove…but that’s not the point!)
Southwest 1995 from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.
I was a junior in high school and I weighed about 30 pounds lighter for this competition. That’s in comparison to my current weight. I have a feeling I won’t be able to match this level of skating again. I think that’s OK since I’ve made a life for myself without competitive skating…as a wife, a journalist, college graduate and a woman with family and friends living in all parts of California and the rest of the country. However, I’m also happy with having skating back in my life. I don’t have the same confidence on the ice, like when I was a teenager. But, I’m showing my body that anything’s possible, like landing axels when I’m 29-years-old.
Overall, I think I’m doing well with a commitment I made to myself to stay healthy and active. I made that promise three years ago. It was after reading an article in Vogue’s Shape Issue, April 2005.
Cameron Diaz wrote about getting one of the lead roles in Charlie’s Angels. She was required to train in kung-fu. 3 months, eight hours per day and five days a week. Insane. Diaz wrote about the changes in her body and energy…and the sense that she could do anything.
“I made a pact right there and then with my body. I promised it that I would always try and meet it half-way. If it continued to give me the reward of strength, I would give it the opportunity to do so, â€Diaz said.
I made the same pact with my body.
Here’s the article:
dude you look so cute! and elegant! and powerful! Man, that’s awesome.
And I think you have made some great goals to keep in shape like that.