THE MEMOIRS OF SUMMER RAY

This is a different kind of post. It involves skating indirectly. But it mostly involves my overall health. I decided to take a step back from being on the ice, to off ice training. My body has taken a beating the last several years and forcing my body to do what it couldn’t do, on the ice was just maddening. I became angry, frustrated, depressed and just plain sad. My skating took a nose dive after COVID and I am still in recovery. I have Long Term or Long Hauler COVID. It’s a horrible disease because it affects so many different parts of our body. But overall, I do believe I am improving little by little. Thank God! But I lost my endurance to skate. I would be on the ice for five to ten minutes, then on my CPAP for five to ten minutes.

It became a vicious cycle. So, for the next two months Cathy and I will be doing off ice training; stretching, strength training and working on endurance. I will be working more on ballet as well and power walking. Endurance cannot be built back up on the ice with only five to ten minutes of skating at a time.

When I get back to the ice in September, if need be, I will have my BiPAP breathing machine with me to use before I get on the ice. This will help me tremendously. It is also more powerful then my CPAP. But it forces air in and out of my lungs and allows my body to have more oxygen flowing through it. Plus, I will be doing more warm ups before I skate. I may need to cover my mouth so I am not breathing in cold air that may be a trigger in shutting my vocal cords. I also suffer from Vocal Cord Dysfunction. My vocal cords are good. But they just malfunction and open and close when they are not supposed to. When that happens, I also can’t breathe. It is a double edged sword. Thankfully, I have been taught rescue breathing. But then the BiPAP is needed to move air until my throat is fully functional again. This was brought on by intubation in 2016. COVID made it worse. But that is what that disease does. It affects weak parts of our body and attacks them making the condition worse. I gain about twenty extra pounds over the last two years because I haven’t been able to do any cardio. But I am starting to. It becomes a mind game that we play on how we are supposed to look, or want to look but don’t – yet! But I have to stop being so hard on myself. I couldn’t walk two feet without gasping for air and having to sit back down. Now, I have walked more than I have in the last two years. I still have to take it slow. If I over exert myself, my vocal cords shut and it will repeat the reactions. But, at some point to get my cardio, I will have to over exert myself. This is where a portable CPAP or BiPAP will come in. But for now, I just need to concentrate on my weekly off ice training with Cathy. Having a pity party does no good. Getting depressed does no good. It only makes things worse. It only concentrates on the problems not on the solutions. Also, I am guilty of a bad diet that also contributed to weight gain, and not drinking enough water. We have to be real. We cannot blame doctors or anyone else for our bad habits! This book is LIFE CHANGING! To view it on Amazon just click on the book cover.

STOP BLAMING OTHERS FOR YOUR LACK OF DISCIPLINE!

Believe me, I had to myself. But it forced me to look at what I needed to change. Is it my age that is making me look and feel like this? Or did injuries, a chronic illness and bad habits contribute? I do not believe that age is something that I can blame – like so many do. I feel for many it is a cop- out; “avoid doing something that one ought to do.” I have seen women my age and older doing amazing things at Jazzercise – right here in Gettysburg. They blew me away and I was walking fifteen miles a week, doing ballet and skating – BEFORE COVID! But I could barely keep up in class. So, it isn’t an age thing – it is a mindset thing. It is a discipline thing. For more information of a Jazzercise in your area (I am not sure about other countries) please visit: https://www.jazzercise.com/. But I also agree it is important to check with your doctor before starting any exercise program. But it is also important to start off slow. I may want to do a full lunge – but I need to work little by little on stretching my muscles. I have muscle memory. I am confident that I will get back to doing full everything of what I used to be able to do. But I have to do the work. But I can’t make it happen overnight. Just like I cannot – no matter how much I want to, finish this 8th book right now. But if I want it to be done right, I have to take the necessary time to do the much needed research. I see already how this book is shaping up and I am so very happy about it. But, I want the finished product something I can be proud of. I want to give my readers a quality product and quality takes time. So, think of yourself and your health as something that is of quality; “the degree of excellence of something.” Don’t rush it.

QUALITY TAKES TIME!

You are of value. You are of great worth. Think of being something of excellence and that is what you need to focus your attention on, me as well! I want my skating to be of excellence. But my health needs to come first so that I can obtain that! It is how dedicated I am to being Summer Ray’s skating double. It gives me focus.

Till next time, take care of you and thank you always for being a part of our Summer Ray world.

References: www.dictionary.com; Google search