THOUGHTS - "Respite Ramblings"

August 29, 2004

Hi friends,

Well, after not writing an update for six months I guess I should replace "Hi, friends" with "Remember me?" Yes, to sounds of loud acclaim the prodigal son of email has returned. The final day of my yearly vacation is currently slipping through my fingers and I get to
start taking over the world again tomorrow. My dad handed me a great caveat of wisdom this afternoon as we were returning to Detroit Metro airport from northern Michigan. "I've found out over the years that just when you think you simply can't get away for a vacation is the very time you need it most." That is precisely the mental state I was in before my family's annual pilgrimage to Harrisville, Michigan and now that I've been rejuvenated through rest and relaxation, I completely agree with his statement. When I'm in the thick of training
I tend to be very consumed by it and don't want to do much else. I feel driven and single minded. What a change it is to just BE! To sit on a beach chair and BE. To stay inside on a rainy day and BE. Tashiana is pretty good at this but it's something I haven't mastered
yet. I know I'm going to accomplish a plethora of things in my lifetime by DOING but sometimes the best thing to do is just BE. (Well, at least once a year :-)

While in northern Michigan I had the pleasure of teaching a seminar (and getting in one practice session) in the neighboring city of Alpena. Several months ago my parents discovered a little club up there and I contacted them and the rest is history. I taught on stroking, presentation, spins, jumps, off-ice, and dabbled in psychology. The things I covered were well received so hopefully there is potential for next year. Plus it was a wonderful coincidence that I earned enough to pay for my airline ticket. Free vacation!!! Now that I have an ice arena 45 minutes from my parent's home that might mean a longer vacation next year. (Don't tell Diana yet :-) My vacation was filled with....whatever I felt like doing at the moment. My parents have a two person Sea-doo which is basically a motorcycle on water. Tashiana
and I had a blast jumping waves and taking tight turns at high speed. We also went tubing behind the Sea-doo and had the pleasure of getting physically punished that way as well. I also enjoyed a return to my pre-nuptial hobbies of reading and taking naps in the hammock:-) Prior to vacation I had many grandiose plans of training through biking and visualization but everything in me resisted those notions once I arrived in Michigan.

Those hindrances turned out serving me very well. True to form, a week and a half has now passed since I began this letter. Daily commitments have a way of usurping my free time to write. Nonetheless, I've been skating better than before vacation and I feel great. Hoon
Kim, one of my coaches, joking said I should take a vacation every month! At least I'm acutely aware of the need for rest and time off now. Time and again I realize that sometimes rest is the thing that can make me move forward the quickest.

This summer I have competed three times: Broadmoor Open, Skate Detroit, and Colorado Championships. Since I have a mild history of being slow off the starting blocks, Diana and I decided to begin competing earlier this season. Skate America isn't going to take me by surprise this year! Instead of expecting flawless performances, the goal of each competition has been to make continual improvements and practice my competition mindset. I've heard it said that excellence is habit-forming. The more you use your state of excellence the more
likely it will be to fire when you need it. I know I sure don't want to shoot with blanks! Overall, it has felt like I've worked extremely hard over the last four months with only mild results. That whole inertia thing is a bit of a bummer but I know it is a fact of life in athletics; it takes a while to build momentum. One major setback I had during the early summer weeks was my foray into Jackson boots. I had and am currently using Graf skates and am very pleased with them. I was hoping that the Jackson boots would enable my left big toe to heal as well as saving me over $500 which is how much new boots cost. My toe has been injured for nearly two years now. To make a long story short they didn't fit my feet as well as the Grafs and my performance suffered. I mail ordered a replacement pair of Grafs and started training on them a.s.a.p. They felt much better but I was quite perplexed when my skating didn't instantly turn around. Why was I still in a rut? What I finally discerned was that as a result of the physical difficulties that I was having my mental thoughts and approach changed as well. Our minds are very sneaky. I had no conscious awareness that anything had changed. What was even more frustrating was that at the end of last season I identified all the things that helped
me to perform successfully. One would think it is simple to do the same thing every time. Unfortunately, time has a way of dulling the senses and I wasn't where I needed to be. I made the command decision to cut my losses by forgetting all the "new" things I had been working on and returned with full focus to what has already proven successful. That took place roughly two weeks before Skate Detroit and It has been since that point in time that I have been gradually building up steam.

Besides these experiences, the only other major skating event worth highlighting was Ryan's National Tour during April and May. I had the privilege of guest skating in four weeks of ice shows straight. I went from Penn State, PA to St. Clair Shores, MI to Casper, WY to Denver,
CO. If Tom Collin's doesn't want me on his tour I'll make my own:-) I was blessed by meeting so many great individuals along the way and I greatly appreciated the performance opportunities. At these shows I debuted my new show program to "La Cumbia" choreographed by Rostyislav Sinitzn. It is a parody on pair skating and was a new genre of program for me. I enjoyed the growing experience and it was well received. I showed up in Denver three hours before show time without my music! I've been skating for over 17 years and I can't remember EVER forgetting my music for a performance. This put me in quite a
predicament because I was an hour and a half from home and I was the second number! Like true champion skating parents my hosts in Denver launched into action, scouring the local music stores. My first program "That's Life" was easily found amongst the collection of the show director so that bought me more time. Thank goodness I didn't cut the music!!! Tashiana was at work in the Springs and couldn't leave and "the team" found out "La Cumbia" went out of print years ago. As a last ditch effort I called two families who are my coaching clients. The second family picked up and the mother GRACIOUSLY saved my tail by driving halfway from Colorado Springs while one of the "supermoms" from the show drove down and met her. The music was in my hands by half time. Can you believe that????

A few tidbits from my non-skating life (yes, it does exist.) I've inherited a palm pilot from my father who upgraded to a cell phone that could control the world's banking system. The idea had never crossed my mind to have one but now that I do I love it! Calendar, address book, To-Do list all in one place. Goodbye sticky notes! Tashiana and my favorite past times have expanded to included learning new vocabulary words and playing anagrams on our lectronic
dictionary/thesaurus. We are continuing our studies into nutrition to include the raw food diet. Yes, being a vegan wasn't good enough. I'm experimenting to see if eating food in its natural form will help me heal better. My goal is to eat 90% raw fruits, veggies, nuts, and grains while only 10% cooked food on any given day. Only time will tell the benefits or lack thereof. Tashiana graduated from college in May!!!! Her diploma came in the mail a few days ago so now she is officially smarter than me. She has been enjoying her summer off and has taken up the hobby of beading clothing. Her creations are beautiful and well done. Back in June I was invited to be the keynote speaker and the graduation prayer service for the Grosse Pointe High Schools where I grew up. I spoke on receiving God's vision for one's life and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Ideally, I plan to do much more public speaking in the future.

Thank you to everyone who altered their daily schedules to cheer me on at my different competitions and performances over the last six months. Your presence really helps me. I am praying that you will be blessed and your lives will be at peace because of the blessings you've first shown to me. I am committed to using all of my physical, mental, and financial resources to become national champion and make the 2006 Olympic Team. I wouldn't have enough in any one of those three areas without your support. Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Love,

Ryan

Return to Thoughts Index