Queen Tunafish and Team Fox

I am relieved that winter is finally over.   It's still a little cool, but summer is on the way.  The cold weather took its toll on me this year -- at the end of March, I ended up with a prolonged case of flu and I appear to have torn a meniscus retrieving a cute (but really uncomfortable) pair of shoes from under my desk when we moved offices.  I rebounded from the flu and the favvulous knee doc appears to have sorted out the achy knee so I am back in the pool (and back to the blog and my lap swimming/training for an open water swim in September).  So it's all good (and summer is coming).

This past weekend, we had a mini family reunion with my cousins in Connecticut.  We hadn't gotten together in years.  My cousin "Ablets" and my sister-in-law came up with the idea for "Cousins Day" -- we hope to make it a regular event.  My dad and his cousin were both only children, so my brothers and I spent a lot of time with these cousins when we were younger.  I was the youngest kid of our generation (and am the only one still in my 40s).  With this crew, I will forever be known as Queen Tunafish.  At some point, when I was 4 or 5 years old, my much older brothers and slightly older girl cousins tied me to a tree in my cousins' back yard (don't ask) and I apparently declared myself "Queen Tunafish" -- because I loved tuna sandwiches.  I'm not sure if they tied me up before or after I declared myself the queen.  My cousin Risa also reminded me that I liked to read the encyclopedia as a kid (so I was a sea creature and a geek).  My nieces thought it was hilarious.  Ah, childhood memories.  I realized this weekend that I started as a tuna and grew up to be a Mermaid (and I'm still a geek).  It all makes sense now.

Team Fox

This trip down memory lane reminded me that I was afraid of swimming as a young kid, which brings me to Team Fox.  My law school friend Bret Parker was also afraid of the water when he was a child.  Bret is one of the most amazing and courageous people I know (he's simultaneously a mensch and a bad-ass).  We went to law school together and he was always smart, witty and supportive when I worked with him on our law journal.   He still is.

Several years ago, Bret was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (he wrote an amazing article about it in Forbes).  Rather than letting it slow him down, since his diagnosis he has run marathons, taken up skydiving, gone on safari, and is a one-man fund raising machine for Parkinson's research.  Bret set out to conquer his fear of the water this past year and -- in typical Bret style -- is doing a triathlon this summer.  He is attempting to raise $50,000 for Team Fox by completing the Mighty Hamptons Triathlon.  You can contribute to Team Fox and read about his inspiring journey here.  And I know he'll ace that swim -- go Bret!!

-MM

Return to Aqua Studio -- Restorative Cycling

After a long cold winter, spring has arrived (once we survive the predicted nor-easter/snow-bomb next week).  I generally enjoy winter, but I am really craving some warm weather and sunshine.  I started my lap swimming and I decided to do a more reasonable open water swim on the East Coast in September (slightly shorter and sans hypothermia, rip currents and sharks).  Details of my training will follow in future posts.  In the meantime, I decided to give aqua cycling another try.

Last September, I tried an interval class at Aqua Studio in Lower Manhattan (and blogged about it here).  I really liked the pool at Aqua Studio, and I felt great after that class, but standing up and pedaling on the bike kind of aggravated my knee.  I loved the idea of Aqua Studio, but I was a bit ambivalent to return (note -- if you enjoy spinning, you will love the interval classes).  I was really excited to see that Aqua Studio added some new classes, including a "Restorative" class.  According to their website:

The RESTORATIVE CLASS objectives are to restore physical and mental well-being by releasing stress, strengthening and realigning the body, as well as connecting it to the mind. This class combines aerobic endurance training with deep breathing, stretching and yoga. You will leave this class feeling calmer and rejuvenated.

I continue to be a little stressed out (for various reasons - mainly work-related) so I thought I'd give it a spin.  I loved it!  Since I work downtown, I opted for the Thursday 8 pm class.  I arrived a bit early, so I chatted with some of the other ladies in the class, some of whom were recovering from sports injuries.  

Ed, the teacher, appears to have a devoted following.  The Interval class before our class was packed with a lively bunch of students.  Ed is in great shape (very muscular) and very calm with a good sense of humor (he described the Restorative class as classical music, as compared to the "rock 'n roll" Interval class).  After he adjusted our cycles, we were off.  

I really liked two elements of this class:

• No standing up -- We cycled the whole time but we didn't have to stand up.  We did do the vault-backwards-over-the-bike move a few times (which is apparently called "position 4").  If you watch this video news report, they do position 4 about 1 minute in.  Kudos to Ed for adjusting the foot straps on the bike so I didn't fly out of the pedals this time.  And I managed to let go of the seat for long stretches of time.  

• Lots of arm movement -- Although we were sitting on the bike, we moved our arms for the entire class -- sweeping through the water, freestyle swimming, figure 8s, treading water, etc.

Ed was extremely attentive and walked around the pool making sure we were doing the exercises properly.  After the class, they put out a tray of lovely herbal tea in the locker room.  It was a really good class -- a decent amount of aerobic exercise, some good yoga and Pilates-like movement, and a total body workout.  As we were stretching after the class, I really felt like I had worked my thighs.  Later that night, I was acutely aware of EVERY muscle in my body -- I was a bit sore.  And once again, I slept like a rock after the class.  I felt calm and rejuvenated.  

I will definitely go back - I enjoyed the class and I felt GREAT afterwards, and it was a really nice group of women -- covering a good range of ages.

Aqua Studio is at 78 Franklin Street, between Broadway and Church.  You can register for classes on their website.

-MM

The Mermaid Prepares to Swim With Sharks (literally...)

Over the holidays, I had a chance to reconnect with my high school friend the SF South Ender ("SFSE").  She and her family live on the west coast.  SFSE is a big fan of the blog.  We were talking about water exercise -- her dad is a fellow mer-man -- and she came up with a great challenge, an open water swim!

As I've dived into the aqua exercise scene, I've noticed the tension between the lap swimmers and the water exercise classes.  Many of the folks who swim at Equinox are training for triathlons, so there is always some friction when the club closes the pool for an hour for an aqua fitness class.  Years ago, I was one of the lap swimmers.  I conquered my fear of the deep water when I was about 12, and I swam laps intermittently until I was in my late 20s.  It was great exercise and it's very calming to swim back and forth in the pool.  I gave it up because I kept getting ear infections and my life got a little too busy.

So I've been sticking to my aqua fitness regime for more than a year, and I feel like I need a challenge.  My knee feels great.  The year I turned 40, I completed a marathon.  50 is looming on the (distant) horizon.  Since I don't think I can do another race on land just yet, I am going to train for an open water swim in September.  The first step was to purchase ear plugs and a good pair of goggles (blue, to match my eyes).

I just started swimming laps again, and I'm optimistic I will be able to do 1.5 miles by September (I have plenty of time to train), and then I have to psych myself up to put on a wetsuit (!) and deal with sharks (seriously), cross currents and possible hypothermia.  As much as I love the water, I am scared of swimming a long distance in open water, so this will be the real challenge for me.   Luckily I have the SFSE and all my friends to support me and cheer me on.  I'll keep you posted on my training as well as other aqua crimes against fashion.  I have some good swim coaches on hand to give me advice and I'm sure I'll have some adventures along the way.  And don't worry -- I will still devote equal blog time to other aqua fitness endeavors.

For inspiration, I recommend this New Yorker profile of Diana Nyad.  You need a subscription to read the whole article.  I was stuck in a tunnel on the #2 train for an hour last week so I had a chance to read the print version (as well as most of the magazine).

-MM

Aqua Tai Chi

We got a brief burst of spring-like weather this weekend (before the return of the dreaded polar vortex). It continues to be a bit of a struggle to get to the pool, but I tried a great class at Asphalt Green a few weeks ago -- Aqua Tai Chi -- taught by Andy Diaz (or Sensei Andy).

Tai chi is actually a defensive martial art, but it is practiced by many to promote balance (mental and physical), flexibility, and improved circulation.  I lived in China years ago, and I've always been fascinated by tai chi.   I taught at a college in Beijing for a year after I graduated from university.  Every morning at about 6 a.m., a group of my Chinese colleagues from the college would go out to practice tai chi in the little garden beneath my apartment.  Sometimes they would walk to class carrying swords -- to practice a variant of tai chi called taijijian.  It was a bit incongruous to see the foreign language faculty armed to the hilt at the crack of dawn.  I always wanted to join them but, alas, I've never been a morning person.  But I did manage to sit on my little balcony, clutching a large cup of coffee and watching the group practice their moves, before heading off to teach my English classes.  I found an old photo of one person practicing in the garden (taken from my balcony, coffee cup out of the frame).

I also found a random photo of me and my French neighbor Thierry (from my China days) next to a giant mountain of cabbage (which was basically the only vegetable available there during the freezing winters).

In the winter, people would stockpile cabbage on their balconies to last through the cold months.  I bought one and put it out on my balcony in a sign of solidarity.  Oh the things you find when you pull out the old photo albums....

Since I am still not a morning person, I was happy to find an Aqua Tai Chi class on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 in the lovely heated training pool at Asphalt Green (on the Upper East Side).  The teacher, Andy, has been practicing tai chi for nearly 40 years.  He was extremely friendly and interesting.  There was one other student in the class that night.  Luckily, she has been studying tai chi for years, so she was able to help me out. We started with a series of six poses, some of which had amazing names, including Parting the Wild Horse's Mane, White Crane Spreads its Wings, and Grasp the Bird's Tail.  Andy was extremely attentive to posture and position, and we repeated this sequence many times.  There was a nice flow between the slow graceful movements, and I really liked that I had to engage my mind (to memorize the sequence) in addition to moving my body.  Everything involved balancing two forces -- pushing and pulling, moving backwards and forwards -- yin and yang.  At the end of the class we went through a sequence of about 70 movements -- by that point I had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun.  I will probably try the class again -- I felt really relaxed and focused afterwards, and I liked the whole mind-body aspect.  I need to read up on tai chi so I can understand it better.

Asphalt Green is located at 90th and York Avenue.

Return of the Polar Vortex

It's cold and snowy again in NYC.  I went to Aqua Bootcamp and had a good long walk yesterday while it was a balmy 40 degrees.  Today I hunkered down and worked from home with my helpful sidekick.

I love winter but I definitely need a week on a beach somewhere.

Here are some random Mermaid newsbits.

Aqua Trampolin

Jenni Lynn shared this great video of the Aqua Trampolin.  Just the thing to cheer me up on a blustery winter day.  Looks like lots of fun -- hopefully it will be available in NYC at some point.





Glam and Go

This has nothing to do with aqua fitness, but everything to do with looking fab after your workout.  Exhale Spa on Central Park South and on the Upper East Side now has an express blow dry bar, so you can work out and then re-beautify yourself on the go.  Glam and Go offers a menu of services from $20-40.  They have also opened a branch at Sports Club/LA on the Upper East Side.  They were profiled this week on GMA.

Enjoy, stay warm and be fab!

-MM

Knee Redux -- Arthritis Exercise at Asphalt Green and Aqua Yoga Poetry Slam

I feel very middle aged this week -- my knee has been achy and stiff since New Year's (maybe because of the frigid weather or maybe because of a little holiday overindulgence).  It's not terrible, but it is definitely making its presence known (especially when I am going down steps), and I started refering to myself as Snap, Crackle, Pop.  

I mentioned in my first blog post that I did not embrace the fact that I have arthritic knees.  It's hard to accept that your body is working against you.  When I had my tumor a few years ago, I coped by imagining that the tumor was a separate entity (an unwanted squatter) inhabiting my head.  I even gave it a nickname (a really awful nickname known to only a few friends) so I could visualize evicting it.  It was very useful to imagine that it was not a part of my body, and it helped tremendously as I went through the surgery and recovery process.  I think that I have been seeing my creaky knee in the same way -- as this tetchy little tenant in my leg that I don't want to deal with.  This month, I decided that my knee and I need to find a way to co-exist more amicably.  I am not ready to replace it, as cool as it would be to be the bionic woman.

The Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Alliance has a lot of useful resources on their website, including a searchable directory of aqua fitness classes geared to folks with arthritis.  I finally bit the bullet and tried the Arthritis Exercise class at Asphalt Green (they offer one evening class and several daytime classes each week in the fantastic heated training pool).  I was worried that the class would not be challenging and pleasantly surprised to discover that it is an excellent workout.

The teacher who normally teaches the evening class was out for a couple of weeks, but I was thrilled to see Joni, who also teaches Aqua Yoga at Asphalt Green.  I was the only person in the class the first week (and there was a larger and very friendly group the second week). Joni is a great teacher -- she hops in the pool and exercises with her students and also jumps out occasionally to demonstrate certain exercises.  She explains the exercises clearly and makes sure you are doing them properly.  Teri, the teacher who normally does the evening class, has a very loyal following among my fellow students.

Aquatics for arthritis aims to increase strength, flexibility, range of motion and balance.  There is a little bit of aerobic exercise, but the class consists of various movements (utilizing buoyancy and resistance) to work out all the joints in the body.  The class started with walking (or jogging) around the pool forwards and backwards doing various arm exercises -- scooping up water, churning our arms, etc.  Once we had warmed up, we moved on to some arm and leg exercises -- chopping motions, figure eights with our arms, playing the piano, sweeping through the water with both arms, frog jumps, moving our arms and legs like hinges, various leg exercises, and some stretches.  There were some yoga moves (the flamingo, the plank, pushups against the wall and squatting as if we were sitting in a chair).  We also did a great leg exercise where you stand on one leg and move the other as if you are propelling yourself along on a skateboard.  When I had my private class, we did side planks standing against the side of the pool.  I feel like I've made some progress in the past year -- my core is much stronger.  

We were definitely moving for the entire hour.  After the first class, I felt good when I got out of the pool.  I woke up at 5 a.m. the next morning because every muscle in my body was sore (not bad pain - I obviously worked some muscles I hadn't used in awhile).  I had the same experience early this morning after yesterday's class.  My knee feels a little better.  Oddly enough, my neck and shoulders feel better than they've felt in ages (all the stretching and moving helped work out some of the tension from sitting at a desk all day).  

I still like my more active classes -- Aqua Boot Camp, Deep Water Running and S'Wet, but this is a good complement for some stretching and toning.  I will try to do this every couple of weeks.  You can pay by the class (or buy a series of classes).  The classes are free to members.  I just wish Asphalt Green was closer to my apartment -- it really is a bit of a schlep to get home from there (the bus is right there but it takes ages to get back across town).

On a related note, I tried another Aqua Yoga class at Asphalt Green -- this one was taught by Malissa (on Monday evening).  Malissa is a good teacher and it covered much of the same ground as Joni's class, but included one additional feature -- chanting.  I haven't totally embraced the spiritual side of yoga, and it felt a little odd to be standing in a pool in Asphalt Green chanting (attempting to chant) in Sanskrit.  When I got home I posted the following on Facebook:

Tonight I chanted in a pool.  Oy vey.

I have very creative (and zany friends), so I leave you with a mini aqua yoga poetry slam, with collaborative credit to my friends Todd and Stacy:

Tonight I chanted in a pool.  Oy vey.

My lane mate took me for a fool.  Oy vey.

She tried to stop my chant.  Not cool.  Oy vey.

I responded with: "Namaste."  Oy vey.

Until next time (oy vey).

-MM

Asphalt Green 10-day Guest Passes - Free

Just a quickie.  Asphalt Green is offering a special promotion until January 15 -- a free 10-day guest pass for either its Upper East Side location or Battery Park City.  You can activate either until January 15. The guest pass includes use of the pool and adult aqua fitness classes.

Enjoy.

-MM

My Fav Year 2013

I have mentioned that I lived in England for a few years.  This Christmas, in a fit of nostalgia, I sat down and watched the Queen's annual Christmas message, in which she meditated on the past year and set the tone for the new year.  New Year's is always a time for reflection and resolution.  If the Queen can do it, so can the Mermaid.

I try to keep my "real" life and this blog separated, but since it's the end of the year, I hope you'll indulge my Mermaid musings.

At the beginning of this year, I sat down to devise a resolution for 2013 -- something I could stick to.  At that point, I had had major surgery in 2011 and 2012, I was feeling out of shape, and I felt like my knee would never stop aching.  Honestly, I just wanted to get through the year without having knee surgery.  Rather than resolving to exercise or diet, I came up with the "Moment of Fav" (which I've shared with my Facebook friends throughout this year).  Without losing my trademark cynicism, I resolved to find and savor a moment of "Favvulosity" every day in 2013.  No, I haven't forgotten how to spell -- Fav is like "Fab," only better.  Every day, no matter how tired or grumpy or cranky I might be, I found one thing that made me smile (basically, I took time to reflect on how great my life really is).  For the first time, I stuck to my resolution.

I looked back through all my Moments of Fav from 2013 and there are definitely some themes:

- Starting this blog and watching it grow (over 3300 views as of year end)

- Savoring time with family and friends

- Making time to take care of myself

- Cooking for my friends and family

- Celebrating my friends' accomplishments (and my own)
- Enjoying a play, movie, book or TV show
- Food p*rn

- The relief of the completion of repairs to my parents' Sandy-damaged house

- Enjoying my cats 

- Reconnecting with old friends (and surviving my milestone college reunion)

- Celebrating those who triumph over adversity 

- The random things you see on the NY subway

- Enjoying a good cuppa 
- Travelling

- Making jam

- Taking the time to enjoy a beautiful sunny day (or a snowstorm)

The big moment of Fav as the year ends is that my friend Miss C is on the mend after taking a nasty spill over her bike handlebars last Friday -- very grateful that she was wearing a bike helmet (and very thankful for the daily updates from her hubby GKH).

I think there is something to this positivity -- by being more positive, I actually started taking better care of myself, eating better, exercising, etc.  Without sounding like a Weight Watchers ad, I can see the physical results so far:

Last year 

Last Month

Same favvulous me, fewer chins, and my knees and back are less achy.  I'm happier and more "present", and I'm enjoying the journey.

For 2014, I am still working on my resolutions -- I am going to discontinue the daily Moment of Fav, but I will note occasional Moments of Fav when the mood strikes me.  I will make sure life continues to be favvulous (and I have a few new water adventures in the works for 2014).

Happy New Year!

-MM

Mermaid at the Movies -- Channeling my Inner Esther Williams

It's Christmas week -- Merry Christmas to those who celebrate!  Good New York Jew that I am, I spent yesterday indulging an old holiday tradition -- a movie and Chinese food with my folks.  I have been lucky enough to spend recent Christmases with friends, enjoying delicious feasts (in NYC, the UK and even California).  This year, I wanted to have a low key holiday and I really wanted to go to the movies.  Luckily, my parents were game.  We went to see American Hustle (very good, but didn't live up to the hype, in my opinion -- but I loved all the seventies hair styles and period details) and had nice big bowls of noodle soup and some dumplings at a very frenetic Chinese restaurant on the East Side.  Chatting up the staff in Mandarin helped us get a better table, at least.  It was a good day, but the reality of a teeming Manhattan movie theater did not live up to my childhood nostalgia.  I think I'll go back to Christmas dinner with friends next year (and watch some videos on Boxing Day).

I am working this week, but I still have a chance to catch up on some movies at home, so I started thinking about water-themed movies (while trying to avoid obvious choices like Splash and The Little Mermaid).  There are not that many movies depicting water exercise.  A friend mentioned Lost in Translation (one of my favorite movies).  I forgot about this scene of Bill Murray swimming in the Park Hyatt Tokyo.  The underwater view of the class is pretty great.  Bill Murray gets in on the action in this deleted scene.

I also thought about this scene from Cocoon, in which Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley and Don Ameche are rejuvenated with the help of alien pods in the swimming pool.



Those guys are pretty great divers (or else the editing of the stunt men is very good).

But then I decided to go back to the source and discovered this great set of Esther Williams DVDs on Amazon (you can also stream some of these online via Netflix, Amazon Video, etc.).  Nothing beats a classic.  Esther Williams passed away earlier this year at the age of 91.  She was a championship swimmer and became the queen of the Hollywood water musical extravaganza (there are a bunch of great clips from her films here).

Yes, some of these films are very dated.  Looking back, however, I love that all the women are very athletic without looking starved (they look healthy and athletic but still a little curvy).  The bathing suits are very retro-glam, and it makes me want to put on a flowery swim cap and sign up for synchronized swimming lessons.  Williams married Fernando Lamas (her co-star in several films, including Dangerous When Wet).  Dangerous When Wet also features a sequence with two animated co-stars (Tom and Jerry).

This sequence from Easy to Love puts the Go Go's to shame.

I leave you with this Oscar-winning song from Neptune's Daughter (partially filmed at Weeki Wachee in Florida), featuring Esther, a surprisingly hot young Ricardo Montalban, Betty Garrett and Red Skelton.  Skelton is pretending to be a South American polo player, hence the strange accent (don't ask).

A holiday classic (it probably wasn't that cold in Southern California, but suspend your disbelief and enjoy!).

-MM

For the Dogs

A quickie on this snowy morning.   Spotted this video of a dog who opted to stand in the pool rather than swimming with her pals. 

Perhaps she is following the Mermaid's lead and doing aqua yoga!  Never be afraid to march (or paddle) to the beat of your own drum!!

-MM