Crosses, Combos & Community: Tracy Gajewski

Dizzy Skips (00:00)
Tracy Gajewski, thank you so much for joining me on the Jump Rope Podcast. I’m so glad to have you here.

Tracy Gajewski (00:05)
Thanks so much, Dizzy, for having me on. I’m excited.

Dizzy Skips (00:07)
Yeah, it’s great to see you again. We met in person earlier this month at the Chicago Jump Rope Meetup and I’ve got all sorts of things to ask you about that.

Tracy Gajewski (00:15)
Yeah, that was so much fun. I loved it.

Dizzy Skips (00:17)
Yeah,

it was fun. I went through and, you know, watched all the videos that you posted from the Jump Rope Meetup and they just bring back so many great memories. And I think I posted a comment on one of your reels, like, I just can’t wait to do this again. I’m not sure I can wait until next summer to do another meetup.

Tracy Gajewski (00:35)
I’m in the same boat. I don’t think I can wait that long either. I agree.

Dizzy Skips (00:37)
Yeah, I think we have to put something together and I’ve

got some ideas. I talked a little bit to Allison about it after the Jump Rope Meetup about some ideas that I came up with and we were kind of bantering things back and forth. So I’m thinking something will happen before too long. Yeah, that would be fun. Yeah, I have to say like at the Jump Rope Meetup, I was so impressed with everybody’s skills and spirit and just the positivity and joy that was

Tracy Gajewski (00:53)
Good, good, good.

Dizzy Skips (01:05)
going around the whole time. I noticed every time I looked over at you, you were like this velvet thunder just knocking out combos. I feel like you’re a relatively quiet reserved person from what I picked up but you were just crushing it with the jump rope and it was so fun to watch. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (01:17)
Mm-hmm.

thank you.

I mean, you’re right. I’m more on the shy side, more introverted. So first meet up like that where I don’t know anyone. was just like, well, first goal is just to introduce myself to everyone and just do that. So that was really kind of what I focused on. And then I’m like, hmm, I should have done more combos. Oopsies. Time ran out. ⁓ But yeah, so I’ve got quite a bit of experience jumping from my past. So yeah, I just love it. Yeah. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (01:25)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it shows. Yeah.

So where are you geographically? Where do you live?

Tracy Gajewski (01:52)
I am in Wisconsin, so I’m central part of the state.

Dizzy Skips (01:55)
central Wisconsin and have you been there your whole life or?

Tracy Gajewski (01:59)
most of my life actually. After college I ended up going to Athens, Georgia for just a short bit and then I was in Chicago for about 10 years and then about eight years ago moved back to Wisconsin so back home again.

Dizzy Skips (02:08)
wow.

Okay,

all right. And so what does life look like for you outside of Jump Rope, like work, family, hobbies kind of stuff?

Tracy Gajewski (02:21)
Yeah, so I manage a small health food store. So I do all the buying, the hiring, training and everything you would imagine like a manager do, like keep everyone on task and customer service. So I’m walking all day, I’m on my feet all day. So I really kind of have to make sure I don’t jump too much during the week. Yeah, yeah, just cause like, I think within that first year that I got back into jumping, which is 2022.

Dizzy Skips (02:39)
Really?

Tracy Gajewski (02:46)
I think I overdid it a little bit and then I got shin splints like not again Don’t want to don’t want to do that. But yeah, since I’m on my feet all the time I just have to you know, make sure to take it easy No

Dizzy Skips (02:50)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So many of us that have suffered an injury that takes a while to recover from, I find like once we do recover, we have that respect. Like we know what jumping means to us. So you want to ease into the point where you don’t injure yourself again and end up just watching videos on Instagram going, why can’t I jump like Tracy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So,

Tracy Gajewski (03:04)
Yep.

That’s.

Yep. Yep, yep, yep. And like, oh, sad face, you know, I want to be out there.

Dizzy Skips (03:24)
What does your jump rope routine look like like how often are you jumping and where do you jump and for how long?

Tracy Gajewski (03:30)
Yeah,

absolutely, I’ll get to that. So I jump maybe two or three times a week, just depending on, I might sneak in a little bit here and there, my lunch breaks, but mostly I do jumping in the morning if I can before work, because after work I’m just too tired to deal with that. Mostly I jump at home outside ⁓ in the winter, cold months.

Dizzy Skips (03:37)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Tracy Gajewski (03:55)
Being in Wisconsin, I’m not going to be jumping outside that much, sorry. Unless it’s nice, know, mild winter going on like we had this last winter. But I…

Dizzy Skips (03:59)
Yeah.

How do you

adapt in the winter when you can’t jump outside or don’t want to? Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (04:07)
I just go to a gym.

Yeah, yeah. So just make it work. And, but the ceilings where I live are very low. So it’s like, I really can’t get much going here. So yeah, yep. Yep. So if I like go on my tippy toes and I’m only five, three, so like, I’m short, like I can touch the ceiling. Yeah. it’s, yeah. ⁓

Dizzy Skips (04:17)
⁓ yeah, like your house

Yeah. wow. Yeah. So you got to keep the rope really short in order to be able to jump indoors. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (04:33)
Yep. yep. So mostly at home or at the gym. Every now and then I’ll get out and about and jump somewhere else.

Dizzy Skips (04:40)
Yeah. So I’ve seen a bunch of videos of you jumping up against the woods as a background. Is that like your backyard kind of? Yeah. That’s really pretty.

Tracy Gajewski (04:45)
Yep, yep, yep, yep. That’s somebody else’s property,

but you know, it’s great. Yeah, it’s so nice and peaceful and you know, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (04:51)
Yeah.

Yeah. It’s really pretty

in that. I mean, you know, if you’ve seen any of my videos, I’d love to like jump up against backdrops that I find pleasing. And one of the things I love about that evergreen sort of tree backdrop that you have is that your rope and everything stands out so well. Like you have this, rope that’s like white and a couple of colors of blue, and it just stands out so beautifully against that. Yeah. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (05:02)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I love it. Yeah, that’s why I chose it.

Dizzy Skips (05:21)
Yeah, it’s funny when

you graduate to the point that you’re picking your ropes not just for the colors but for the way the colors will stand out in your reels, right?

Tracy Gajewski (05:30)
Yep, exactly, exactly.

Dizzy Skips (05:32)
Yeah, I have several variants

on white or white and black ones because they tend to show up really well in a lot of situations. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (05:38)
They really do.

Yep, those are the best. Yeah, I agree.

Dizzy Skips (05:43)
So when you’re jumping, how long are you jumping for? And do you have like a warmup routine to get you going?

Tracy Gajewski (05:48)
Oh, okay. Yeah. Warm up. I do kind of without the rope. just do, you know, some, um, calf raises, some lunges, some, circles in my wrists and my ankles and hips and just kind of getting things warmed up. Um, so yeah, so I do that for about five minutes or so. And then, then I’ll just grab the Crossrope first.

Dizzy Skips (06:00)
Mm-hmm. I do all that stuff too. Yeah

Tracy Gajewski (06:11)
So I’ll have that weighted, you know, rope just to kind of do simple things, simple footwork, some crosses, you know, just kind of alternating for a few minutes. And then I’ll get right into it. Like whatever challenge I’m going to do or whatever skill I want to try to learn or whatever ideas I have for the day, then I’ll get right into it.

Dizzy Skips (06:26)
Mm-hmm.

So when you say Crossrope, is that like a half pound weighted rope? Okay. So you’re kind of, and so you use that as a warmup mostly. That’s cool. What I love about using those half pound ropes or those weighted ropes and then switching to the beaded rope is that it feels like the beaded rope, you can just move it like lightning.

Tracy Gajewski (06:33)
yep, yep, I do use the half pound.

Yeah, yeah, mostly. Yeah.

Yep. Yep. It’s like that whole weight difference is so nice. It’s like, this is easy.

Dizzy Skips (06:57)
Right, but you still have enough

feedback from your beaded rope that you don’t feel lost. Like you can keep things spinning, yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (07:03)
Exactly. Yeah,

yeah. And I’ve got the Coach Chris’s his, you know, thick and cord beaded rope. So I really like that. hmm. Yep, it is. Yeah. Mm

Dizzy Skips (07:11)
I wondered about that. Is that white and blue one from Coach Chris? Yeah. Yeah, I’ve

got a black and white one, which I should have up here. I have a jump rope around my neck. ⁓ But yeah, I’ve got a black and white one of his and I was jumping with it yesterday and I just love the weight. It’s just so, it feels like a perfectly balanced rope to me. You know what I mean?

Tracy Gajewski (07:22)
you

Yeah, same here. I really like the balance of it for sure.

Dizzy Skips (07:36)
Yeah. Did you start with ropes like that or like what what were your early ropes when you started?

Tracy Gajewski (07:42)
Yeah, so I guess I’ll go back in time. I started when I was six, actually. And so I was like my, my PhyEd teacher, she decided to start a jump rope team. And so my older sister was in it. And so then eventually I, you when I got into kindergarten, I started. ⁓ Yeah. And I must’ve loved it. I stuck with it, you know, until I was like in my early twenties.

Dizzy Skips (07:59)
Wow!

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (08:06)
Um, so we, um, we were called the wizards and, we were a demonstration team that like toured around Wisconsin and, you know, neighboring States and we promoted jump rope for heart, you know, the annual fundraiser for the American Heart Association. So basically we were just volunteers, you know, promoting that. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (08:06)
Wow.

Okay. That’s so cool.

So you did that from the time you were six to when you were 21, 22. Wow. You’ve been jumping for a long time, Tracy.

Tracy Gajewski (08:31)
Yeah, yeah, around there.

Yeah,

but I took a big break. So I took a break from my early 20s to my early 40s. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (08:37)
Sure, yeah.

Yeah.

When you picked it back up again, were you like, my gosh, this is a different beast.

Tracy Gajewski (08:49)
No, I was like, I remember this, you know, I’m excited to be back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (08:52)
Yeah, it was like riding a bicycle. Cool.

Did you jump with the same type of equipment when you had jumped earlier? Like were you using beaded ropes?

Tracy Gajewski (09:01)
I wasn’t using beaded ropes at that time. We did PVC. So it was just all PVC ropes. The double dutch ropes were all PVC, that we used. So when I started back up again, three years ago, I started with what I had. It was the PVC. And then of course, you know, I got into like finding all these jumpers online and how they talk about the beaded ropes. like, hmm, maybe I should do that. So I went ahead and I got my first one, which was all white.

Dizzy Skips (09:05)
Okay.

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Tracy Gajewski (09:30)
because that was gonna look good on camera, you know? So I still have that one. That one lives in my car, so I have one all the time with me. So that, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (09:30)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

The mark of a true jumper, by the way, like stashing them in different places. I have one in this bag and one in that bag and one in the,

I have a little actually like an ammo box in the car that’s got a bunch of jump ropes. I’ve got beaded in one and PVC in another and weighted.

Tracy Gajewski (09:54)
all organized and everything. Love it. Yeah, so then I just been using beaded ever since really, once I started. Yeah, because it’s easier to do like mic releases and stuff, which still pretty hard, but I like it.

Dizzy Skips (09:55)
Yeah, just ready to go. Yeah. Yeah. ⁓

Really.

Mm-hmm

So if you were talking to a new jumper, how does having a beaded rope make it easier to do things like mic releases or certain tricks?

Tracy Gajewski (10:18)
I think just the weight of it. And then of course, you know, when you’re missing and you’re getting that feedback of like, you know, where it’s missing and stuff like that. I know. I just feel like the weight gives you just so much feedback itself. Like how just to do the basic crosses, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (10:19)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

I think when, Coach Chris was on, he used the term proprioception, but you know, that the, the ability to feel where you are at. And I feel like the more weight you’ve got, the easier it is to kind of feel where your hand is at, where the rope is at. And it makes such a difference. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (10:46)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, I do agree with that.

Yep, yep, it sure does.

Dizzy Skips (10:57)
Do you ever switch back to PVC for certain routines or are you pretty much like 99 % beaded now?

Tracy Gajewski (11:04)
Yeah, when I do double unders, usually switch to PVC. It’s just easier. You know, when I want to do more like lengthy, ⁓ like double under sessions, just so I can get through more. ⁓ Then I’ll go to the beaded and I’ll do some, you know, with the double unders and stuff. But yeah, that’s mostly what I use it for now.

Dizzy Skips (11:08)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Sure.

Yeah.

So I’m curious, when you were on the jump rope demonstration team, the Wizards, and you were going around and demoing things, I’m guessing that you all learned combos together. So now, are you basically like a planner? Do you do combo kind of stuff because that’s kind of where you came from? Or do you ever just kind of put on the headphones and just freestyle?

Tracy Gajewski (11:29)
Mm-hmm.

you

You’re exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. So I’m a planner, you know, because I think it was because like when we did our routines, it was like group routines. and so then when I came back to it, like, well, I want to do this trick and then that trick and then this trick, you know, and I’m going to practice them all together. so yeah, I’m more of a planner versus a freestyler, you know, or just let it flow. It just makes more sense to me. No. Yeah. No.

Dizzy Skips (11:48)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and that’s what you’ve done. Yeah. And

your combos are so tight, like watching your videos, like they are so tight. I was watching a few of them and thinking they’re so tight and smooth that it’s, and I don’t mean this in a negative way. It’s easy to overlook how complicated the stuff you’re doing is. Like in some of those combos, like they’re brain busters to me, but, but

Tracy Gajewski (12:12)
⁓ thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (12:30)
you know, a casual observer would look at that and go jump rope. And I look at it and go, my gosh, she just tied herself in a double knot and she got out of it. How did she do that?

Tracy Gajewski (12:40)
man, I learned that from just watching other people do those tricks. ⁓ Cause a lot of what I do now is new to me in the last three years. ⁓ So I’ll just like do a screen recording and then just go like, you know, second by second, like see where their arms are and see where their legs are and just kind of like dissect the tricks as I’m learning them.

Dizzy Skips (12:44)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you do that, you turn on screen recording on your phone and actually really slow it down. Yeah. Watching a bunch of your combos. thought you and Eilidh would be fast friends. Like if we ever get you and Eilidh at a meetup together, there’s just going to be legs flying and ropes whipping around. Yeah. Yeah. We got to see if we can all like converge on the London meetup next year or something. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (13:04)
Yep. Yep. Yep.

I would love it.

I know that would be great. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (13:25)
So I’ve also seen in your videos or at least some of them in your backyard, you jump on a mat. Is that common for you? Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (13:31)
Yes. Yep. Yep.

Yeah. Cause I just feel like that’s, you know, do all the precautions I can, you know, take care of my feet and calves and all that stuff. yeah. Yeah. True.

Dizzy Skips (13:41)
Yeah. And your ropes. It actually is good for your ropes. You should see some of mine. look just terrible, like worn beads away.

But, the way that I jumped at the beach that day is the way that I jump everywhere and on concrete with my ropes and move around a lot. That’s what happens. so how many ropes do you have? Like, do you have a little army?

Tracy Gajewski (13:54)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I love it. It’s awesome.

I probably have a small army. don’t have a ton. ⁓ I think because I jump on the mat, I’m preserving them. I probably only have three beaded ropes actually, which I was like, I thought I have more. Okay, well, that’s fine.

Dizzy Skips (14:06)
Okay.

Yeah. Yeah.

Do you, are they all

the same length? Do you have like a go-to?

Tracy Gajewski (14:22)
I, well, yeah, two of them I have bought around the same length. The other one I haven’t set yet for length, because I just want it. Yeah. Just, that’s my backup. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (14:28)
sized yet? Yeah. Yeah. I’ve got a few hanging downstairs that are like that. They’re still nine feet long and you know, I haven’t, and I was just

thinking today, I’m going to have to pirate some of the beads off of those to like replace beads on my other ropes, a little surgery. when you size your ropes, how do you size?

Tracy Gajewski (14:42)
Yeah.

Just putting the rope underneath one foot and just kind of bringing it up and then have the handles like coming out away from the body. And I probably have it like a few, like around my ribs, I guess. You know, some people go a little lower, some people go a little higher, but I feel like I’m kind of mid, mid area. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (14:55)
Yeah, perpendicular.

Okay.

Yep. Yeah.

Cool. So any recent breakthroughs or tricks that you’ve landed that made you do a happy dance?

Tracy Gajewski (15:12)
Oh, some, a lot of them really, you know, and maybe, maybe not physically, but maybe mentally more so, but there’s a wrap trick that I did recently. And I was like, wow, you know, I did not think I was going to be able to figure it out. So there’s that. I don’t know. I just, I just keep going. Every, every session is usually like, you know, it’s up and down. You’re like, Oh, I’m to get this, you know, like you’re really pushing and.

Dizzy Skips (15:14)
Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (15:40)
You get fails and you get some wins and it’s like, but by the end you’re like, you know, feeling so good.

Dizzy Skips (15:44)
Yeah. So when

you go out to practice, do you have a specific thing in mind? Like, Hey, today I’m going to work on that leg wrap or the toad or the elephant or whatever. And this combo. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (15:56)
Usually,

yeah, usually I try to have an idea before I get started. And usually I just go through whatever videos I’ve saved or go through the Tricktionary Plus app. So I’ll do a lot of like the tricks of the day or if there’s something specific. Oh, that’s great. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (16:08)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that’s such a cool app. Chris has put so

much work and heart into that thing. It’s amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And I know he’s doing a lot more. I’ve talked to him about he’s, he’s got cool plans for that app. It’s a really neat resource. So, you took this break from the time you were like in your early twenties until your early forties.

Tracy Gajewski (16:19)
Yeah, no kidding. I don’t think I could have done all that work. It’s so much.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (16:38)
Why did you get back into jump rope? Like what was the motivating factor? What pushed you over the edge?

Tracy Gajewski (16:43)
well, I like to stay active and I was doing a lot of walking and like, well, this is not really giving me much cardio and I don’t like running. So what can I do? You know, and I probably came across somebody jumping online and like, duh, you know, like I know how to jump. Like, why did I do that? It takes a long break. But, then I just.

Dizzy Skips (16:53)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (17:07)
got hooked, you know, just, you know, on Instagram, just scrolling and finding all these amazing jumpers. I’m like, there’s all these tricks I’ve never seen before, you know, like I gotta do this, you know? And so like just the, you know, exercise part of it, but then also the creative part of it, you know, where it’s like, sky’s the limit, you know, what kind of tricks you could do, learn combos you can make. And then like when I’m in it, like my mind doesn’t think about anything else.

Dizzy Skips (17:08)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (17:35)
Like it is like work, life, whatever, none of that’s bothering me. know, everything is just in the moment. So that’s another really good thing. It’s just like, it just calms my mind right down.

Dizzy Skips (17:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that focus is priceless to me. It’s just amazing. It’s, it’s yeah, I visualize it, you know, as almost like a tunnel vision thing, but it’s not like it’s limiting my vision. It’s just clearing my mind. You know, it’s, it’s, ⁓ like the best parts of meditation to me, very dancy, bouncy meditation.

Tracy Gajewski (17:51)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep.

It’s just a physical form of meditation. That’s how I feel it. Yeah. Cause it’s like when you sit down you try to meditate, sometimes it’s just really worse, you know? Yeah. Exactly. You’re right. Exactly. Exactly.

Dizzy Skips (18:12)
Yeah.

Right, yeah, it’s like, can I shut this thing off? And then you get the rope spinning and it’s like, it does it for you. Yeah.

So when you picked up the rope again and you started, you said you had already set up an account on Instagram and you were kind of engaging with the jump rope community.

Tracy Gajewski (18:29)
Mm-hmm.

I think I had just a different account on Instagram and I was just finding these people and then when I decided I’m like, okay, I’m gonna do this. Then I started my own like just purely just jump account. And then that’s when I just like, yep, yep, yep.

Dizzy Skips (18:38)
Okay.

Yeah, @tracyjumps2.0 Yeah, I love that name. And

so you started posting videos. How long was it before the jump rope community influenced your journey?

Tracy Gajewski (19:01)
I mean, right away, really, you know, like I wasn’t expecting people to, you know, comment on my videos even early on. I’m like, whoa. And my first video I did a combo that Coach Chris had put out like a trick sure Tuesday, what kind of thing.

Dizzy Skips (19:09)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tracy Gajewski (19:20)
and I didn’t quite understand one of the tricks and he let me know. like, okay. So then I retried and I reposted that same thing, you know, like a couple of weeks later when I finally got it, I’m like, you know, I was like, this is cool. I get feedback right away by some somebody that doesn’t know me. Right. You know, like that was, that was really inspiring.

Dizzy Skips (19:30)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

The jump rope community and the motivation and support that I’ve gotten has been amazing. Even early on, like I had nowhere near the jumping experience that you did. My first jump rope videos were probably very remedial, but just people being encouraging. And it’s so fun to be part of a community that is like that, right?

that where you can find people who are just starting out and know and appreciate what it feels like to be in that position. And even the joy that you can have there when you can basic bounce for more than 15 skips without tripping, you know.

Tracy Gajewski (20:06)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love the community and that’s why I get sucked in. It’s like everyone just roots each other on, know, like small wins, big wins, you know, the fails, you know, like it’s all good. That’s really great.

Dizzy Skips (20:19)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Did you find, there certain people or styles of jumping or things that inspired you once you started digging into the Instagram jump rope community?

Tracy Gajewski (20:35)
my gosh, I would say probably everyone, you know? But if I were to narrow it down, like, of course, Chris, Stacey Skips, she was early on, Kathy Jumps early on. ⁓ Of course, Lauren early on too. ⁓ And so yeah, I had a hard time kind of finding like which style I wanted to do. Cause like I…

Dizzy Skips (20:37)
Yeah, yeah, totally.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Tracy Gajewski (20:57)
I could do, you know, I guess pretty much most of it or I could, I could decide which way to go. Footwork, you know, I could do, but I think I just really like crosses and stuff. It just feels more challenging. So, so I like doing that. So that’s what I spend most of my time on, even though I like really want to do footwork too, but it’s just like, I only have so much time. So I just ended up just choosing the cross and my cross route.

Dizzy Skips (21:03)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (21:24)
So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (21:25)
Yeah, your profile on Instagram, I think you have a little sentence there that says jump rope is my happy place or something to that effect. And, I think, you know, it is the same for me. I really appreciate that. And I was one of the questions I ask people sometimes is like, how do you describe your jump rope happy place? And I think you just kind of did. It’s kind of like a lot crosses and puzzly stuff.

Tracy Gajewski (21:48)
Mm hmm.

Yes. Yep. And challenges for some reason, as I was thinking about them, like, oh, I do a lot of challenges, you know, just like, you know, repetition and, um, that just seems exciting to me. And it’s like, when you, when you get done doing a challenge and you’re like, Oh, I’m exhausted. And know, that just, I don’t know, that’s the best feeling to me. This is like, I accomplished something, you know, like I’m pushing myself and then, then you see all this progress. You see the strength or the flow or

Dizzy Skips (21:56)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (22:17)
timing, all that. So I just love to see the progress.

Dizzy Skips (22:18)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, absolutely. So when you went to the meetup in Chicago, was it your first meetup? Really? Yeah. And what made you decide to go?

Tracy Gajewski (22:27)
Yes, that was my very first meetup.

Um, I think I missed last year’s and then ever since then I’m like, I want to go because it’s like, I want to be around, you know, other jumpers and jump with other jumpers. And cause it’s like, I’m just out here by myself, you know, it’s fun and dandy, but you know, every once in a while, you just got to jump with other people.

Dizzy Skips (22:38)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it’s interesting. I was wondering about the prevalence of introverts in jump rope because in a way it is a pretty solitary sport. I mean, certainly you were part of a team as a youth or whatever and that’s a little different, but I find so many of us as adults are jumping on our own most of the time, you know, and I wonder if there isn’t a higher prevalence of introverts

Tracy Gajewski (23:02)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yep.

Dizzy Skips (23:13)
I consider myself an introvert. I it’s a spectrum and I can fake it, you know, but going to a meetup like that does have a certain amount of stress for an introvert, right?

Tracy Gajewski (23:15)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, it sure does. The whole social aspect, you know, like when you don’t know, you’ve never seen, you know, all these people, but you’re excited to be there. You’re excited to, you know, meet everyone and hear people’s stories and, you know, get to it and like learn skills from other people. Yeah. I mean, it does take a lot out of you, but it’s still, it was worth it.

Dizzy Skips (23:36)
Yeah.

Did you do anything special to prep for it as an introvert?

Tracy Gajewski (23:44)
just mentally just thinking like, okay, well, at least if I have one goal is just to like, at least talk to everybody and to say, hi, I’m Tracy, you know, then I, then I’m, you know, successful in that. yeah. So that’s, that’s basically how I did it.

Dizzy Skips (23:51)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

That’s good.

Yeah, that’s good. I know I went with this list of things that I wanted to accomplish and all sorts of ideas or whatever. And once you get jumping, you know, I lose time. ⁓ so I ended up, you know, driving home that night, I was thinking, well, you know, I didn’t jump in the lake with Janie and I didn’t do this and I should have taken more footage or whatever, but I had a ball. It was just so much fun. And I’m so thankful for the time that we got there.

Tracy Gajewski (24:06)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

yeah.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I had the same thoughts. like, I should have wore a hat because I got burnt on my forehead during that time. I would have loved to do some double dutch, but I had to leave because it was just too much sun for me after like three and a half, you know, almost four hours. ⁓ So I missed the double dutch. So was like, next time we got to do that earlier.

Dizzy Skips (24:31)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (24:45)
would have liked to done the wheel with people. And then I was thinking about it today and like, I could have like taught people how to do like the triangle, which is like three long ropes, like three double Dutch ropes. So you got three turners and we’re turning out like that and you got three jumpers in all three. Yeah. So it is a triangle, you know, shape. I think that would have been really fun. And there’s also another like group thing called the traveler. At least that’s what we called it. You have a bunch of people lined up.

Dizzy Skips (24:47)
Yeah.

⁓ wow. Yeah. my goodness. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (25:13)
I have one person with a rope that just kind of goes in between and then like, you know, jumps with, and there’s different things you can do with that too. So.

Dizzy Skips (25:20)
So they’re moving and moving the rope and they’re moving to other jumpers who are jumping in the rope with them. I’ve seen people do that. It looks so cool.

Tracy Gajewski (25:25)
Yes. Yep. Yep. So

it is just like you go down the line and we did that with a bunch of kids at like our little like reunion the last couple of years that we had for our team and they just loved it. It’s so much fun.

Dizzy Skips (25:37)
yeah?

I bet. So what sort of things did you take from or learn at the meetup?

Tracy Gajewski (25:46)
was just really cool to see everyone’s style, you know, and just kind of learn different things from other people. So I’ve got at least three new tricks, that I’ve been incorporating.

Dizzy Skips (25:49)
Yeah.

Yeah.

I think I’ve seen you do that kickback thing that Davy was showing us.

Tracy Gajewski (25:58)
Yeah, yeah, that I don’t have,

yes, yes. I don’t have it consistent yet. It’s just driving me nuts, but I’ll get there. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (26:04)
Yeah, yeah, I’ve been messing

with it too and I’m not nowhere near as smooth as Davy Davy’s just he kind of floats up and kicks it back and it just looks so cool and mine’s not quite there yet.

Tracy Gajewski (26:15)
Yeah,

yeah, yeah, it’s so cool. just, yeah, hopefully to get there too. ⁓ Yeah, I know I saw her too. I’m like, she’s even do the variation where like, like does like a half turn kind of thing. I was like, I got to learn that part now too.

Dizzy Skips (26:20)
Yeah, I’ve seen Ms. Nikki post a few reels of her doing that as well.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it was so

so cool to meet them and to be able to watch and learn that. That was one of the first things I think I learned there, from somebody else

Tracy Gajewski (26:42)
Mm-hmm. Yeah,

same here. I think that was like the moment where all of sudden, you know, everyone’s like, what are you doing? You know, and then he starts like, you know, teach everyone and everyone else is like, I want to that.

Dizzy Skips (26:52)
Yeah. Yeah. It’s fun to see those videos like surveying the beach and you see like five or six people all jumping in one place, trying to learn the same skill. It’s just, warms my heart. So what, what else did you learn?

Tracy Gajewski (27:01)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Yeah

I guess it’s really mostly just like the new tricks, then just like, know, just seeing other people like doing combos together and just, you know, everyone just kind of like bouncing ideas off of each other. And it’s just so cool. So quick, you know, how people will just like pick up on something and they’ll just create something. It was just, that was really fun to see.

Dizzy Skips (27:16)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah, I really enjoyed seeing that too. And how it’s it’s fun to see this loving, supportive jump rope community that we participate in online in person and realize these are all the same people and they behave the same way, you know, they’re all as supportive and loving. You know, one thing that was a little trippy to me was as an introvert showing up in the morning and have people

Tracy Gajewski (27:41)
Yep.

Dizzy Skips (27:48)
say “Dizzy!” I’m used to being a loner in this town and every once in a while someone will recognize me, but, but to walk up to a beach in Chicago and have people say there’s Dizzy. I’m just some dude from Minnesota. Yeah. So I’m guessing you would go to another meetup. mean, I think you’ve already said we can’t. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (27:55)
Mm-hmm.

Now you’re celebrity all of sudden.

⁓ yeah. yeah. And a heartbeat. Yep.

Yep.

Dizzy Skips (28:11)
any funny or memorable moments from that weekend that stand out to you?

Tracy Gajewski (28:17)
I think just everyone’s personality was kind of cool to see, you know, and some people being really bubbly or like people that think the same way as me. It’s like, I plan out all my stuff too. I’m like, yeah, I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s like, I need to plan out my, you know, my jump routines and stuff like that. So that was really cool. And just seeing other people’s perspective and just hearing like,

Dizzy Skips (28:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (28:42)
I’ve only been doing this a little bit or I’ve been doing this for a while. You know, it’s really cool.

Dizzy Skips (28:47)
Yeah. So what keeps you at it?

Tracy Gajewski (28:51)
I think just the addiction to learning more, you know, and just like improving and, and, just the challenge, you know, the challenge of it, but also just, I like the fact that again, like my mind gets to like shut off of everything else, you know, and I can just be right in the moment. and just be creative, but be active. So I like being active. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (28:53)
Yeah?

Yeah.

Yeah. When you went back to jump rope after your hiatus, did you, did you realize other benefit? Like we’ve talked about the mental health benefit, the focus and that sort of thing. Did you get other benefits like physical benefits or things from it?

Tracy Gajewski (29:17)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yep. I noticed that just in general, like my whole body just felt like it was getting stronger, you know, like muscle building. Um, and I didn’t really start like weightlifting until this year, like regularly, cause that’s supposed to be really good for us women as we age, you know, for our bone density and all of that. So, um, yeah. So I just, I’ve noticed that just doing the physical stuff that I have to do at work. Like, yeah, it’s, it’s not as

Dizzy Skips (29:32)
Yeah.

Mm.

Sure.

Tracy Gajewski (29:55)
hard, I guess, and it doesn’t take out as much for me, know, so stamina for sure has increased.

Dizzy Skips (29:56)
Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s totally cool. And it’s, do you find our, at least it’s happened for me where I will be doing something like jumping and I will have been jumping straight for three minutes or something like that. And then it’ll occur to me, there was a point in time where I would be gasping after, you know, like a minute or 30 seconds or whatever, you know, and just, and now I end and I don’t feel sore. don’t, you know,

Tracy Gajewski (30:15)
Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (30:28)
Don’t feel that when I’m sweaty is all get out and gross. I’m sure but you know, I feel like I could do this

Tracy Gajewski (30:28)
Mm-hmm.

Yep. Yep.

Yeah, yeah, it was definitely way more sore in the beginning with my calves for sure. And so like I definitely felt it there. But then as as you know, time has gone on, like, you know, they’ve just gotten stronger and stronger. It just feels good to be strong. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (30:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, it does.

So forgive me. don’t know if you, how long are you jumping when you jump your three days a week?

Tracy Gajewski (30:57)
Yeah, I realized

I didn’t answer your question just now. So yeah, I probably go like 30 to 45 minutes typically, but then when on a day when I don’t have to like go to work, I mean, it might be an hour. ⁓ But yeah, so for me, because it’s like a lot of, you know, start and stop tricks and stuff like that. ⁓ So I can, I feel like I can go that longer timeframe. You know, it’s not like I’m just, I think footwork tires me out more.

Dizzy Skips (31:08)
Okay.

Mm-hmm.

yeah, sure.

Tracy Gajewski (31:24)
you know, like, cause you’re just constant, constant, constant. But yeah, so 30 to 60 minutes, I guess is typical.

Dizzy Skips (31:24)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you, I’m curious, did you meet anybody at the meetup that was new to jumping?

Tracy Gajewski (31:40)
No, I don’t think so. No, I don’t think any of the people that I had talked to were completely new. Yeah. Did you?

Dizzy Skips (31:45)
Yeah, there was one lady that was part of the meetup there. I think she had a scarf on and she was relatively new and so I talked to her for a while and worked with her for a little while. And then right after I got there and put my backpack down, there was some guy that walked up the beach and was like, what’s going on? Is there a jump rope thing happening here? And I was like, yeah, it’s like the people that met each other on Instagram were gonna jump rope. And he’s like, that’s cool, I like jump rope. So I handed him one out of my bag and he just started whipping out the…

you know, basic bounce right there. And he said he may come back later. And I didn’t see him later, but but it was cool. And I noticed throughout the day, you know, people would walk by and then stop and then just kind of watch. And that, mean, I would too, because, yeah, I mean, it’s pretty amazing to watch a group of adult people playing, right? Like having fun and not being ashamed of it. Like it’s the best to me.

Tracy Gajewski (32:15)
awesome.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, we definitely had some spectators.

Yep. Exactly.

No, and it’s not like a competitive thing either. It’s not like, you know, baseball game, softball game or whatever volleyball game, whereas. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Dizzy Skips (32:42)
Right.

Right. I’m gonna take you down!

Yeah, yeah,

it’s cool to see. I think that’s, it’s just such an attractive thing about the community and it’s such a hard thing to kind of explain to lay people or people who aren’t in the jump rope community, like to convey the amount of benefit that I get from these beads and participating in the community and showing up at meetups and stuff like that. Like I want to spread the word so bad, but I would be one of those annoying, you know,

Tracy Gajewski (33:03)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Dizzy Skips (33:20)
I don’t know, proselytizers. How’s that for a big word?

Tracy Gajewski (33:21)
Yeah, it’s funny

when I, when I work with somebody new and then I finally open up to like, yeah, I’m a jump roper. And they’re like, what? What’s that? You know, what are you kidding me? And then I’ll show them a video and they’re like, what? So it’s just, it’s fun to see people’s thanks so much.

Dizzy Skips (33:32)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I’m sure when they see your videos, they’re like, what, like, how did you get out of that? Your videos are impressive.

Yeah. So what’s next for you? Like, do you have, plans of new things to learn or what’s next on the horizon for you?

Tracy Gajewski (33:55)
Yeah, I would really like to get better at like the different variations of the mic release. That’s just, it’s just been a hard thing. I don’t know why, but it’s just like, I just see, you know, even Nikki, like she does all these different types of releases, you know, I’m like, ⁓ just, I just wish I could get that and be that consistent. ⁓ That’s one thing for sure. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (34:09)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, me too. So can I ask like as far

as releases, where are you right now? Like I’ve seen you do normal releases. ⁓

Tracy Gajewski (34:21)
Mm-hmm. Yep.

I can probably do like three types so far. That’s probably like the three different ones that are like, consistent. Other ones I’ve tried and just haven’t been consistent with yet. For the life of me, I cannot do a shuffle and, you know, release, you know, at the same time, like try to do it multiple times in a row, like once, okay. But like to continue doing the shuffle and that I’m like, oh gosh.

Dizzy Skips (34:27)
Okay.

Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I’m not good at it. And the times that I’ve landed it, my brain’s been completely off. As soon as I start trying to think about it, it’s all over for me. I might as well just whap myself with the rope.

Tracy Gajewski (34:51)
It’s rough for me.

Mm-hmm. It just… Yeah,

yeah. And that happens so much. Yeah, the Mikra release took me so long to learn. Like, I had to take a big break of it because it was like my first winter. I didn’t really know where else to jump and I was jumping inside my house. So was like I couldn’t do any mic releases without like ruining the ceiling. So, ⁓ so my learning was kind of like sporadic in the beginning, especially.

Dizzy Skips (35:10)
I know.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (35:31)
But.

Dizzy Skips (35:31)
Are you

a person that when you’re learning a skill like that, that you make yourself learn it on both sides?

Tracy Gajewski (35:37)
Sometimes, depending on the trick. Yeah, yeah. I haven’t yet. Not on both sides. Yes. I know I should.

Dizzy Skips (35:39)
Yeah. What about releases? Yeah. They’re hard enough on one side, aren’t they? Yeah. I’ve been trying to make myself practice on

both sides and I’ve found it helpful because the first time I did, so I’m right handed. So the first time I tried to do releases on my left side, it was just totally reminiscent of the first times I tried it on my right side. Like I looked like a Muppet throwing a rope around, you know?

Tracy Gajewski (36:01)
I’m sure,

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (36:05)
And ⁓

but then I started catching it a little bit and thinking, all right, I am making progress. And eventually if I keep this up, I could, I could do it on both sides. What types of releases, do you struggle with, or are you trying to learn that you haven’t quite landed yet? Do you do the Tomahawk one, the one where you catch over your shoulder?

Tracy Gajewski (36:09)
Mm-hmm.

⁓

no, but that one would be really cool to learn. Yeah. That one I have my eye on. Yeah, for sure. I guess different like, like EB, I guess, like behind the back, ⁓ or

Dizzy Skips (36:26)
I want that one bad. Yeah.

Is that where you’re

holding it behind, you release the front and then you spin it behind? Okay.

Tracy Gajewski (36:40)
I think you release the back.

Yeah. I’m right-handed as well. So yeah, I think you just release it from the left hand. And then some other variations that, you know, under the leg and some way, or form. Those ones I’m struggling with too, but yeah. Yeah, I can do it. I don’t know. just mentally, I think it scares me a little bit. Like I’m gonna whack myself in the face, but.

Dizzy Skips (36:54)
Yeah.

Yeah. What about Mamba, where you go back and forth?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (37:09)
so I just got to get past that a little bit. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (37:12)
Yeah, I know one coach and every time I see him do the mamba, he puts one hand up here while he’s got his rope spinning. And I just imagine he’s taken it in the face a few too many times and decided to be defensive. Feel like he needs a little hockey mask or like a football helmet, right?

Tracy Gajewski (37:18)
Okay.

Right. Traumatic. Yeah.

Right.

Dizzy Skips (37:31)
Yeah, when

I talked to Coach Kathy, Kathy jumps, she was, she made some comment about, wearing sunglasses and how, people thought some people have made comments about like, you think you look cool or whatever. And she was like, no, it’s just eye protection. And I think about that every single time I take a rope to the face now, like I’m so glad I had my eye protection on cause I’ve gotten really close to popping one out before.

Tracy Gajewski (37:43)
No.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yep, for sure. that’s the worst. Hit yourself in the ear, you know, like, ugh. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (37:58)
Yeah.

Yeah,

or I I’m not sure if I have the same headphones, but I’ve got some over the ear Bose headphones and launching those off, you know, like coming in too tight with the rope. I’ve launched those off my head. I did it the other night when I was I was at in Lake City, which is maybe 20 miles down the road and I was jumping right on Lake Pepin. I was like on a sidewalk that was right next to Lake Pepin and I had my over the ear. I’ve got some

Tracy Gajewski (38:06)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Dizzy Skips (38:26)
beats over the ear things that kind of slide over the ear. So they’re pretty secure. And I was doing something and I think I tried a release or whatever and I whacked the side of my ear and launched that thing off and it landed like a foot from the side of the dock. was like, that’s great. I didn’t want to have to jump into the Lake Pepin and fish out one of those things. It was close. I’ve lost them to the water before, but not that not that time. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (38:29)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

⁓ my goodness. no.

really?

that’s good. I wear hearing aids. And so like, I’m always afraid that they’re gonna get caught like a guy caught once and like fell out. But yeah, so that’s one thing that like, I do get concerned about like, I don’t want to be ruining these things. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (38:52)
Yeah.

⁓

Interesting.

How long have you worn hearing aids?

Tracy Gajewski (39:08)
over 10 years or so now. Yeah. Like maybe 12. Yeah.

Dizzy Skips (39:12)
Okay.

Did you just have hearing loss? Like normal hearing loss or?

Tracy Gajewski (39:17)
Well, I’ve had, I think it’s more like a genetic thing. I’ve had the hearing loss since I was young, but I didn’t have hearing aids when I was young. Probably should have, but it made a world of difference once I started wearing them, you know, just like being able to communicate with people. So yeah, just like wearing glasses. wear, not so much. mean, I do. It’s part of my like, you know, just ⁓ my, my regular.

Dizzy Skips (39:25)
Okay.

bet.

Yeah. So you didn’t have to read lips so much? Like… Yeah. I do too.

Tracy Gajewski (39:46)
like way of that I just make sure I hear what people are saying. So yeah.

Dizzy Skips (39:49)
Yeah,

I do too. I have tinnitus and so my ears, I have constant ringing in my ears and, and certain environments are worse than others. There’s a restaurant I used to go to where it was like one big open room with, you know, tile floors and nothing big on the walls. And so there was all this echo and I just always had to read lips in there.

Tracy Gajewski (39:52)
⁓ me too. Yep. Yep.

⁓ yup. Mm-hmm. ⁓

that’s the worst. That’s the worst scenario for sure. Yeah. Yep. Exactly. Yes. I’m going to jump as long as I can. Love it.

Dizzy Skips (40:12)
Yeah, the marks of getting older, but at least we can still jump, right? Yeah, me too. I keep saying I’m jumping till my knees fall off.

Yeah.

So how about golden advice that you might have for new jumpers or people who are, you know, of any age who are thinking maybe that jump rope might be something they’d want to try out. What would you tell them?

Tracy Gajewski (40:37)
I would say start with a very short time frame and like maybe two or three maximum times a week. So like no more than five minutes and just really slowly work up to it. And then over time, just slowly add more time to start with the basic bounce really and just get the timing. I think that’s really important because.

Dizzy Skips (40:50)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (41:00)
Once you get the timing, then it’ll be a lot easier to add in other tricks or footwork, whatever that they want to do. So, yeah.

Dizzy Skips (41:05)
Yeah. Yeah, totally. All right.

So let me ask you this. How would you count counsel somebody like me who got so much joy out of jumping in the beginning that jumping for five minutes seems like a second, you know, like I, and of course I injured myself in the beginning cause I would go out and jump for two hours and it was way too much. But what could someone like me do? How would you counsel someone like me who’s like, but how do I stop at five minutes?

Tracy Gajewski (41:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

too long. Yep.

Put your timer on and just stop. And just stop. You’re gonna, you’re gonna hurt yourself. Yeah. To go back and watch people jump and just know, and just, guess, do other exercises to strengthen. ⁓ you know, it may not, that five minutes may not last more than like, you know, two weeks or something, but you know, I, yeah, yeah. Cause that’s, because jumping’s intense, you know, and

Dizzy Skips (41:34)
Yeah, yeah, just stop. Go watch me jump on Instagram. Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (42:00)
It’s using every single part of your body and your feet and your ankles are doing a lot. So you want to keep them healthy for sure.

Dizzy Skips (42:06)
Yeah.

Yeah, I know for myself when I started, I put a lot more energy into jumping than I do now. I jumped higher than I needed to. Do you know what I mean? It was like as I was learning and that seems pretty common. Like you jump a little higher than you need to and as you get better and as your rope gets tighter and whatever part of getting better is just being a lot more efficient with your jumping.

Tracy Gajewski (42:15)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Yep. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, yes, yes. And that’s what I’m trying to work on now too, is just making sure I don’t put too much energy in, you know, when I don’t need to put the, you know, just kind of be, I guess smart where my energy is going and then just really paying attention. I jumping too high? You know, yeah, there’s some jumpers out there. I’m like, well, yeah, they have really good, you know, jumping height or good technique and good timing and flow. And I’m like, I think I could tweak a little, you know.

Dizzy Skips (42:37)
Right. Yeah.

Yeah.

Tracy Gajewski (42:57)
So there’s always something to kind of work on.

Dizzy Skips (42:57)
Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely. That’s one of the glorious things about jump rope is first of all, there’s an inexhaustible number of tricks that you can learn and put together and combo and whatever. I have been trying to work on tightening things up, like being really conscious of where my rope is and that it’s not flopping out here, but it’s right next to my body and that kind of stuff. And I have fun drilling that stuff too.

Tracy Gajewski (43:13)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, it’s hard in the beginning too. know, like if you don’t, that’s too much to like think about, know, when, especially when you’re just trying to, you know, jump over it. Cause like that can be hard enough. It’s just like, when do I jump?

Dizzy Skips (43:28)
Right.

Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah, that reminds

me of when I had Coach Nate on the podcast. I asked him if he worked with jumpers on breathing or whatever and.

Tracy Gajewski (43:46)
Hmm.

Dizzy Skips (43:46)
I

think it was guy, cause I think about breathing a lot while I’m jumping and the pace, I think about a lot while I’m warming up and then try to remember to breathe while I’m jumping. And it was like, yeah, no, I don’t really talk to new jumpers about that. It’s kind of, I mean, I’m paraphrasing what he said, but I think the gist of it was like, there’s a lot to pay attention to without having to worry about breathing too. Like as long as you are breathing then, and you’re jumping, that’s enough.

Tracy Gajewski (43:50)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yup, yup.

Dizzy Skips (44:11)
First of all, warming up for me is very important as I’m an older guy and, you know, if I don’t warm up, I pay for it. But the paying attention to breathing and with flow, even if I’m just doing flow rope kind of stuff, trying to concentrate on breathe in, hold, breathe out slowly. And that flow, I think, actually helps inform the flow of the jump rope or vice versa, if that makes any sense.

Tracy Gajewski (44:11)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yep. Mm-hmm. Yep.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

I yep, for sure. I could see how that would be a nice like breathing meditation really, you know, with with the flow flow style and rope, whatever if you’re jumping or not. Yeah, that would be really good exercise for sure. Yeah, good.

Dizzy Skips (44:42)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. And it’s, and it’s very meditative, just like whether or not you’re jumping. Like I did this probably for 20 minutes last night, just walking back and forth in a line, know, wrist wrapping and changing directions and stuff like that. And it wasn’t intense jumping. was listening to music, but it was all about the flow and the timing stuff. And I feel like that helps me out.

Tracy Gajewski (44:53)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, wonderful. That’s awesome.

Dizzy Skips (45:12)
Yeah. Well,

I really appreciate your coming on and talking to me, Tracy. This has been super fun. It was such a pleasure to meet you and see your insane skills in person in Chicago. And I can’t wait until we have another jump rope meetup where we can get together and do it again.

Tracy Gajewski (45:21)
You

Thank you, Dizzy, for having me on and thanks for having this podcast. It’s been really nice to hear everyone’s story and get even more motivated, you know? ⁓ And it’s just, it’s great to know like, there are other people that think the same way, you know, and want to, you know, do the same thing. So it’s just really nice to be in this community and I actually cannot wait for the next meetup as well. So.

Dizzy Skips (45:35)
Yeah.

Right.

I know, I know. I’m gonna have to start

putting pressure on people here because like, I mean, I was out last night and now where I live, the sun is setting around 8.15 PM. and you know, our days are getting shorter quickly and I’m thinking, all right, we’ve got, you know, a couple more months where…

Tracy Gajewski (45:52)
Yes.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

They really are.

Dizzy Skips (46:07)
It’s still going to be palatable weather, you know, where we could still jump outside together. So maybe we have to throw together another little impromptu, you know, show up in Chicago or show up in Madison or something. Or Minneapolis. Yeah. All right. Well, this has been lovely. Thank you so much.

Tracy Gajewski (46:10)
Yep.

Yep, yeah, for sure, for sure. I’ll be there. Awesome.

Thank you so much, Dizzy.