I thought I'd play with it this week and take it to Wednesday night tumbling.
I took it out of the box (which was actually super complicated and I had my husband do for me). And here are a few things about a GoPro
1) No viewfinder! You can't see what you're shooting. No one told me this!
2) You can synch it to an iPhone or iPad to control it or show you what you're shooting.
3) It's super tiny, but tough.
4) Accessories. You will spend a fortune on it.
I got a $30 pack of accessories from Amazon including a chest harness and head mount. I got the chest harness out for tumbling. Here's me doing a flip with the GoPro on my chest. I actually do two flips. I think it's super cool how I can see my feet and the camera must know I'm going to make the landing.
Here's a video of my front tuck. It's not the best because I'm still learning the GoPro. And the coach is right, my flips are low! Seeing it helps so much.
The downside of playing with the camera is that I wasn't very focused on working on my back handspring. I was a mess. Next time, I should work on what I want to work on and just get the camera out for 10 or so minutes. Then I won't be such a mess.
Next time, I want to try cartwheels and flips with the camera on my head. Or maybe put it on one of the girls who can really flip!
What else should I do with the GoPro? Any ideas?
Hopefully you'll see more (and better) videos later this year.
Today was the first tumbling class of the fall semester. There were so many people in the class. During the summer it was usually 5-6 people. Twelve people was a big class. I think there were 17 people there tonight: some of the regulars, 4-5 acro people, a few cheerleaders, some college dancer/gymnast type people and a few guys who must do acro, parkour cheer or something, because they were flipping impressively.
I had to redo paper work. Then it was stretching and drills (forward rolls, handstands, cartwheels, round offs). We did these in lines three people deep—there were so many there.
When it was time for stations:
I worked on my bridge kick over. I've been stuck on two rainbow mats, or about 3-4 inches for a month. Today, I tried on one mat, about 2 inches and finally got that. Hooray! Progress! I tried a kick over on the ground—and got it twice with a tiny push from Coach Megan. I guess next week, I'll see if I can do it without her. And then I need to work on going back to a bridge instead of coming up from one.
I did some handstand drills.
Then I worked on my front tuck. Robert (one of the new instructors) piled the mats up to my chest and had me practice getting UP and getting my hips over. I think this is exactly what I needed to work on. So I did this, and did it and did it. He wanted to build muscle memory. Hopefully, this is exactly what I need.
Goal: Front tuck by the end of the year, if not sooner.
I was a little overwhelmed by all of the people in the class, but I got to work on what I wanted to work on. I got some time with the coaches (there were 3-4 there).
Tumbling is my favorite class of the week. I wish I could do it a few more times. And I'm thinking about buying a tumbling mat. If only there weren't so expensive. #takinguptumblingat31
I've wanted to go to Skyzone since I heard about it a year or so ago. A giant trampoline gym? Yes please.
The closest one, however, is more than an hour away. Friday I was in Gwinnett to have my car looked at. On a whim, I typed in Skyzone on my iPhone map to see how far away it was. Five miles. I really needed to get home to feed my cats, walk my job, and let my friend get something she'd store in my garage out. I was tempted though.
I was leaving the service center and the guy told me not to take my usual route home. He said there was a bad wreck. I took that as a sign I needed to try Skyzone. (So I called and had my neighbor take care of my pets and to tell my friend I'd be home later.)
I drive to Skyzone. It's in a giant warehouse in a business park. There was plenty of parking. You go in and fill out a waiver on their computers, then wait in line to be checked in at the front desk. I signed up for a 30 minute jump. It was $10 + $2 for some orange grippy socks. (I thought the socks would be annoying. I barely noticed them). They give you a sticker to put on and then you go jump for your allotted time. Mine was 6:30-7 p.m.
There were some quarter-opereated lockers to put your stuff in. There's also a concession stand. There were a ton of trampolines. I didn't know where to go. There were some trampolines near a foam pit. (The lines looked long.) There were two dodge-ball courts with 8-12 year-olds jumping madly over pads. And there was the giant trampoline court. It had vertical trampolines on three sides and was probably 3x the size of Aerofit. These trampolines had a lot of little kids (toddlers with their parents) and some 5-8 year-olds, but not a lot of older kids. That's where I went. An employee in an orange polo shirt gave a group in front of me directions, and I followed on the trampoline. I went to a relatively unused corner and tried to figure out what to do. There were kids just running and jumping. No one was doing tricks really.
I jumped across the trampolines. I think they were a tad bigger than the Aerofit trampolines, and there were some narrow tumble track looking trampolines. The trampolines felt different than the ones at Aerofit. They weren't sprung as tightly. I tried a butt drop and had to really concentrate to get it because the spring wasn't the same. I saw a kid flipping over the pads so I tried a cartwheel. And it's actually easier to flip here—because of the spring in the trampoline. I tried some round-offs and one-armed round-offs. I ventured over to the wall—which isn't lined up exactly. One vertical trampoline might be behind two regular trampolines. I tried some back bounces and supermans. They still felt different so they weren't as effortless and but totally doable. One other kids tried a back bounce into the wall, but I was mostly the one one doing tricks. (I couldn't do a backdrop hand stand. The trampolines weren't tight enough to get my arms under me.)
A16-year-old employee with a whistle in his mouth came over to my area. I bounced over and asked him what his best trick was.
"Probably that," he said to my butt drop. I was disappointed. The employees at Aerofit are the ones with the best tricks. They're also more enthusiastic than these kids who just give the little jumpers dirty looks. (Teach them a new trick!)
I jumped around some more and worked on some toe touches, back drops, flagpoles, whatever I could remember. I was having fun. By myself. No one ever comes to the trampoline park by themselves, but why not?
Finally a different employee (with whistle and orange polo shirt came over) and asked if I was doing a workout. I told him I was just playing. I asked him what his best trick was and he said a full. I was much more impressed with that, though he did not demonstrate. Apparently, he's a competition cheerleader. And we chatted about me not being able to flip. He suggested the foam pit. I decided to brave the lines and give it a try.
I stood in line with 4-year-olds who just dove into the foam pit. It was mostly really little kids. There was a 6-7 year-old who looked a little lost who was giving me weird looks. And there was a 12-year-old girl who seemed to be there with her toddler brother. They dove, I worked on my front tuck. I didn't have anyone to give me pointers on form, but I tried. And had a blast.
I'm just a big kid at heart. Skyzone was super fun to visit. I'm glad I went. I'd go back again (especially with a friend)—if only my car was working…..
I don’t think I’ve been indoor rock climbing ever. I think I did some too-easy climbing at summer camp once or twice as a teen, but it was always something that looked fun. My husband used to love climbing, so to surprise him I bought a Groupon to an Atlanta climbing gym.
Overall, I’d say that climbing was super fun. There was a steep learning curve and it was harder than I thought at first.
Climbing on the walls wasn’t the cake-walk I thought it would be. Sometimes it was really hard to know where to put a hand of a foot next. I’d panic on the wall, Matt would yell a direction and either I’d try it or I couldn’t do it. But having the direction helped.
And then belaying. Also hard. God bless the poor girl who tried to teach uncoordinated me how to belay. I was practically in tears trying to learn it. I kept doing my hands wrong, or bending over the belay. She kept saying “you’re not the worst we’ve ever had” which means I was pretty close. Finally, I figured out how to belay, up, up, down, down and slide my hands. And I tried belaying Matt who is 70 pounds heavier than me. It was a struggle to bring him down. His weight would bring me up. I had to brace and make a staffer spot me.
Mostly we bouldered. I was honestly angry and ready to go home after 10 minutes. It was SOOO HARD. Then, I started watching what the kids were doing and what seemed super easy for everyone else. And copied them. That worked! I could do some of these routes.
Then, I found the color-coded route guide on the wall and voila! I figured it out. I found the easiest routes and tried those. And climbing was so much more fun when I could do it.
I goofed around on the upside-down-holds, though I wasn’t strong enough to climb it. I tried the easiest way around the routes all the way around the gym (and just didn’t any colored holds if I was really lost). And finally had to call it quits when I was too tired to do anything else. The hubby said I did really well and took to it surprisingly well. (He does sugar coat things but I loved climbing trees when I was little.) We left the gym and he threatened to go buy a bunch of climbing gear. He was hooked.
Random thought: I did spend a lot of time spent deciding what to do next or waiting for a path to climb.
Quick guide
Verdict: A fun way to spend an afternoon. A little more challenging than I’d anticipated, but fun once I figured it out. Don’t give up too soon! Ask for help or watch others.
Atmosphere: Very casual and family friendly. Everyone was doing their own thing without staring at you.
Hazards: The day after my hands were a little chapped from climbing. Not too bad.
Intensity: I didn’t break a sweat but I could tell my shoulders got a workout.
Price: $22 for two people to climb. Includes gear. Very reasonable. Rented shoes are awful though.
What to wear: Workout clothes. The website urged against shorts. Bring socks.
Would I do it again? Yes, I’m going climbing again later this week. Matt is completely hooked.
