PHI!

Mel again,
Today is apparently sweetest day?  Happy Sweetest day!

Anyway let's talk about yesterday, and how exciting  it was for me.  I went to NYC to get my PHI passport! On top of that, Oksana Baiul was there to support me, and give me a few words of wisdom that meant the world to me. It was such a nice surprise to see one of my idols at a meaningful time.

A little while ago I answered the question of why I switched to the Philippines and I answered it here with Haley when we were talking about season plans.  Thanks for reading!
With Love,
Mel

What's on your Playlist?

Hello all Mel here!
Just got back from a 2 mile run with Michelle.  For some reason it was extra hard today. Maybe it was because we haven't met up for a run all week? Most likely. I don't know but, After this morning's run I decided to just blog about my training until the big day! Thankfully we ran when we did because torrential down poor occurred shortly after. Today I'm going to the Filipino Embassy to get my passport in NYC. I'm that much closer guys!

Michelle's Playlist:
Newsies Soundtrack because she is still in the musical spirit

Melissa's Playlist labeled Poppin Playlist (bc it's Pop music) (a little outdated)
Till the World End's Remix -  Nicki Minaj, Brit Spears
E.T - Katy Perry, Kanye West
Knock Em' Out - Lilly Allen
Naughty Girl Remix - Lil Kim & Beyonce
Carry Out - JT
I'm Into You - J Lo
Bass Down Low - Cataracs

This got me thru the entire run! I will be sharing more of my playlists with you guys later.

PS we did not find a worm for Gilbert but, he had a piece of my Ham sandwich. He's happy!

12 Days Until Regionals

It's the start of a new week, and lots more training to accomplish! Melissa and I are training hard, with different schedules, however Mel has more answers to your questions coming up very soon. This past weekend I performed my short program at the Washington FSC send-off in Rockville, MD donning my brand new dress. My dress was shipped for fitting a little over a week ago however before it reached my house it was returned to shipper marked "damaged". Never before had they seen something like that happen in transit...they were amazing and shipped a brand new dress out to me two days later. So dress number two amazing and just in time for the send-off! It was great to see SO many people representing the club and see all of the hard work they've done over the season. One of the highlights from my warm up at the send-off was fellow club member Armin Mahbanoozadeh. He performed his short program which was a-maz-ing. I'm thrilled to watch him compete in a few weeks at Skate America, he will be a strong contender for the podium. This week I'm back to training for Regionals, I will keep you updated about my progress.


In other skating news: I'm sad to hear about Courtney Hicks' injury while in Italy :( She's a talented skater and her humongous jumps will certainly be missed while she is recovering. Injuries are always a difficult task to overcome but she is a strong competitor and will get through it. Good luck to Team USA headed out to JGP Estonia and another round of Regionals this weekend!!!




-Haley

Friday: On Ice

Hi it's Haley! Had a great day training on the ice at UD, ran solid programs, and had a couple of minutes and wanted to share this with you. It's a layback spin video taped looking down at me while I'm spinning, then what I see while I'm spinning, and a regular viewpoint of watching. 

Weekly Update

We gave you a new vlog answering some of your questions-we've got plenty more to do and are enjoying having you on our weekly journey! Looking forward to talking to you soon!

Beautiful Day Beautiful Run

Mel and my best friend Michelle from way back when...(5th grade Bancroft Academy) is here with us!

This morning we went on a run and we even have a clip for ya! 

It's quite entertaining haha

Let me tell you today was rough. . .Even more sore from yesterday.  Pushed through did my short run through and missed 3 elements . . . So didn't skate too hot. . . hey I'm alive . . . Apparently "Pain is weakness leaving the body" I learned that from a water bottle I won (for doing a one minute arm hang) last weekend at the Brad Paisley / Blake Shelton concert. Thank you, thank you please feel free to be impressed! ;)

Anyway now that the work week is over I'm going to enjoy the weekend. WORK HARD PLAY HARD! Gonna let my body recover for a stronger week next week.  I feel after this week I'm at a very good and comfortable starting point. SO BRING IT ON!

PS I got the job at Guess :)

- <3 Mel

Day 3!

Mel here!

I was very right about being sore today. This morning I did not was to get out of bed! But eventually I got up for my morning run. IT'S ALMOST FRIDAY GUYS!

1.85mi this morning. Tomorrow my running girl is back! Chelle and I are going for 2.5mi

That was all the off ice training I did today. I'm all about listening to your body. You know that there is such thing as over training. ;p

On ice (60 min)

Long Program (double run through) 10/11 elements. heyyy!

Short Program Karen and I just worked on re choreographing my short program straight line step

Today had my 2nd interview with Guess! They narrowed it down from 12 to 6. I get a phone call tomorrow before 8pm. FINGERS CROSSED!

Can't wait till tomorrow.

That's all hangin out with the girls Anna, and Michelle tonight!

Love

Mel

Sweat and Smiles

Hello all, it's me Mel again.  This morning I missed out on the Delaware Sunshine, and skipped my run to get my eye appt.  My eyes went from -2.00 to -2.25. I gotta start eating more carrots or something!

Anyway my 2 hours of skating went well, and I was a little bit better than yesterday.  Today my FS program I hit (9/11) elements. Nine better than yesterday considering the fact that I did not do a long program yesterday. (whoops)
And today's short....wait for it....(6/7) elements! After the run-through 2 laps, 3 double Axels, followed by Straight line step sequence and another double axel. HELLO LACTIC ACID!
My consistency of my triple lutz is kinda lack luster at the moment (10/15) Hey, at least I'm passing. 

Remember how I said I wasn't that tired and wasn't that sore yesterday? Not so much today.  I'm gonna be sore everywhere tomorrow.  I'M FEELIN IT! Here was today's workout


Strength Training Circuit
Push Press (15lbs,15,15) (8reps,8,10)
1 Legged Leg Press (90lbs,90,70) (6reps,6,10)
DB Bench Press (25lbs,25,25)(10reps,12,15)
1 Legged RDL's (25lbs,25,25)(6reps,8,10)
Lat Pull Down (70,70,70) (8,10,10)
DB Shoulder Press (15lbs,15,15) (8,10,12)


Core Workout
If you guys have an iPhone or iTouch
get the Nike Training App, I did the ab workout today w/ a medicine ball. 3 times w/
Toe touches - 60 sec - (52 reps, 31, 27 )
Russian Twist -60 sec (27reps, 22, 27)
Plank - 30 sec
Side Plank (right/left) 60 sec - (3 sets)
Crazy Ivans (right/left)  60 sec (14,14) (13,12) (11,12)

Cardio
4 x 2 min sprints (60 sec rest)
w/ cooldown 15 mins (196 cals)

Have mercy that's all!

To check out my diet you can friend me on www.myfitnesspal.com my username is mcb816 !

On a good note. Today aside from the training and eye appointments.  I decided to give one of my best friends, Michelle, a "just because you're awesome" gift and guess what?! Today I went home for my break and found a "just because you're awesome" gift from Nick! Yay! He got me soakers! Haha, they were long overdue. Anyway you know what they say, "what comes around goes around!" and my friend Grace's quote "Karma is only a b*tch, if you are"
Finished the day off with my kiddies at Learn to Skate.  Let me tell you I'm making superstars. I have so much fun with them.  Every time I work with them they remind me why I start skating.  What a perfect way to end the day.  Oh and I got a phone call back from Guess! :) The Second interview is tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Lots of Love,
Mel

Make sure to leave a comment for suggestions, and whatever ya got! I need some tips to get me through till November! Tweet me @melbulanhagui Email: halenhagui@gmail.com  !

Train Insane or Remain the Same!

Nick gave me those wonderful words of wisdom last year during training season. Time to bring it back!

On Ice Training (2 hrs)
Short Double Run Through (5/7 elements)
Learned new footwork!
Consistency exercises for Triple Lutzes

Off Ice Training
Morning Run (1.4 mi)
Zuzana's We Found Love Workout. 10 min High Intensity Core & Strengthening! You guys have to check out BodyRock.tv if you enjoy working out at home.  She's hard core!

Diet: check it out on myfitnesspal.com . My username is mcb816  Didn't do so hot today, since I was at the mall for my job interview today, Chick-Fil-A saw me and was screaming my name.  I couldn't say no!

Had to cut off ice training a little short today because I had a job interview at Guess! I think it went pretty well! It was actually fun, it even consisted of Armless charades.  It's now time to unwind! Not feeling too tired right now, this means I can push myself even harder tomorrow! We will see how I feel about this in the morning. . .

I Still want to know what keeps you guys going, and what keeps you motivated! Leave a comment, or tweet me @melbulanhagui . Love you all!  Thanks!

GETTIN INTO GEAR

Hello! Mel Mel here! Monday morning wake up call.  Today, I just figured out it's go time! A lot has been goin on with me. I lost two months of training time because I was really ill, and missed Liberty due to a diagnosis surgery. Shortly after, Nick received short term notice about his deployment. I got my plane ticket to visit my love in Colorado Springs to see him before he had to leave. Fortunately he didn't live too far from The World Arena, so I was able to keep some skating up during this visit. During this trip I also got engaged on Pikes Peak. We then enjoyed our precious time together before he had to go overseas as an engaged couple! Between all this and that, where did I find the time to train? LOL exactly, I didn't. I had the choice from the rink, or out at the park with Nick and all his friends. I choose the park one too many times.

Right now, my better half is in Afghan. I'm finally off two of my medications, and only taking one.  Feeling much better, but I haven't been training programs! HELLO! I have a big debut to make in 2 months!  This is the perfect amount of time to kick it into gear so I can perform at the level I want. This week I'm going to blog everyday and keep you posted on how the on and off ice training is going.

Hopefully this will help me stay motivated! Maybe you guys have some tips for me? Like what keeps you motivated?! We all have stuff to take care of, I wanna know how you do it! At this point, I need all the help I can get =)

There's a million ways to reach me! Leave me a message on my twitter @melbulanhagui, leave me a comment right here, subscribe to my vlog, youtube.com/halenhagui or email me at halenhagui@gmail.com

Thanks guys love you! 

PS This is my song of the day, only because I every time I wrote the word motivation I thought of this song.  Otherwise there is no correlation. Close your ears and shut your eyes if you don't want to see or hear anything dirty!

Secrets EXPOSED.

Last night we made a vlog of our "secrets". Just a fun and random post...we had a lot of fun making the video!


We've gotten a lot of responses, ideas, and requests and are working on putting together more vlogs this week that include your questions and topics! Just wanted to keep you updated.


Thanks and keep it coming-we are going to get to EVERYTHING!

-Haley

More Ups n' Downs & Working Hard

Hey it's Haley,

Since Mel has given a little information about herself, I should as well. I grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina, as an only child. Skating began at four and a half because I wanted to be in a Christmas show and have everyone clap for me. Continuing the need for more applause, I competed at Junior Nationals in Juvenile and Intermediate. I got my triple jumps while living in North Carolina and then really started on a roll winning all three rounds at 2009 Liberty in July and my Developmental International in Quebec in August. Then in September, my dad was transferred to the DC area. Carrying my momentum from my last two events I won Regionals in October, but the transition and move was difficult and not going well. I still managed to qualify and compete at the 2010 US Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, however, realizing that the situation was getting worse I left to go and train at the University of Delaware where I successfully came through and qualified for US Championships again in Greensboro this past January scoring forty points higher than my previous trip. I like to emphasize the ups because we all work and strive for the ‘ups’. I guess having the 'downs' makes you appreciate your accomplishments. So far I’ve made it farther into my skating career than ever before, being an alternate to a Junior Grand Prix. Now I’m excited for this qualifying season as my Senior debut…starting with Regionals in a few weeks and working towards being on a World team!

Wanted to share this-Still love skating as much as I did when I was 10, perhaps even more! And yes, I did grow in to my skates ;)

Follow us on twitter @haleydunne and @melbulanhagui