Be the change you want to see.

Working out is *fun*.
Tal seems to grok that a) bodyweight exercises are both more appropriate for the shape I'm currently in (ROUND is a shape!) and b) that mixing it up, making each workout different, is the most engaging.
I don't think we have done the same exercise twice yet, barring warmup on the fitness center stairs.

 

bless her. I admitted I didn't do my homework between Wednesday and today (was supposed to do an hour of something cardio and an hour of yoga, oy, that's a lot!).
She asked, semi rhetorically, "what am I supposed to say to that?" in her slight accent.

 

I said mildly, "Say, 'do better next time'."
So she did, exactly so.

 

*smile* I don't know if I will be able to do all of the next batch of homework, she wants me to do two cardio and one yoga (Monday and Tuesday classes I've been trying to attend anyway) so if I can fit one cardio in over the weekend I'll be set.
she also wants me to eat five times a day.
I like how that makes me feel when I do it, so I will definitely try. I'm up to twice today, and I will see how it goes.

 

Balance work is crucial, I was very weak and noodly-muscled when I tried the various balancing exercises Tal asked me to do. Core strength also needs work.

 

well, that IS why I'm working with her. Because I know I need help to get back to a habit of fitness and flexibility.

 

This is the diagnosis phase, where we find out what I'm capable of while simultaneously working to IMPROVE what I'm capable of.

 

Forward Momentum!

Not feeling like I'm doing enough right now, physically, and work-out wise. Muscles and joints are achy and tight, I don't think I've been to the gym yet in February, and THAT has to change, pronto. Haven't been to a yoga class since December, and I can feel it all the time. BOTH knees are a bit sore, and that's unacceptable. I'm *still* stronger than I expect myself to be: I could hunker down in a squat and hold 20# of quiet baby on my knee with no problem, and I did manage to dig a 2' diameter hole for planting my rosebush yesterday, though it made me sore (and I squatted also to shift the dirt because standing to shift the dirt hurt my back, the shovel's too short)... but the muscles and tendons all round my knees hurt when I rub them, and my hamstrings are ridiculously tight.

every morning when I wake up I find myself stretching and stretching and stretching and it's never enough.

Today I have two goals. I'm not scheduled to work so I can do some much needed pick-up-and-put, but OMG I need to go to the gym, and gently work out all the parts of me! That's one.

Two is to build a draft of my resume, fresh and new, completely starting from scratch, well not scratch but my linked in profile...

Reward is that Cory Doctorowis in San Francisco tonight at Borderlands, signing his new book. I get to do THAT if I finish THOSE.

OK, LJ friends, help keep me honest. Poke me and help make sure I did those two things.

*exhale*
here goes nothing!

Got my ass to the gym today, in spite of a variety of housecaring tasks to be done.

increased adductor/abductor from 60# to 70#, increased leg press to from 100# to 120#. 12 minutes of cardio on upright bicycle (all the ellipticals were busy. I had a sad.) What else? Did lots of arms/upper back work, pectorals, rowing... realized my left tricep and shoulder are tense/spasming... I wonder now if how I pull the seat belt has any influence on this problem, or if the chronic tension from my airline-cable neck muscle just migrated...something to do with other driving habits? Need to figure that out.

did some good stretching later, and spent several minutes playing on the bosu-balance-ball, doing hip work and practicing my balance-squats. 10 slow, steady squats down and up again there. Not as much wobbling as before, I think the stretching of hips and calves really helped stabilize my form.

And I kicked that ass that I got to the gym, sweating a little bit and everything, and I hurt less after than I hurt before I started... So, Go me.

Yesterday I made it to the gym with Special Guest Star FuzzyNumbers! Yay!

It was fun. We hung out on the recumbent bikes for awhile, she tried a new variety of treadmill, both did weights and stretching, and she showed me some tweaks to the half-balance-ball exercise board and also to the bridging exercise, that will help me isolate the muscles I need to be working with and also do additional work on my left shoulder, which I have been trying to get strong so I won't have the tendinitis recur.

Whole body feels pleasantly sore, and I've been stretching more yesterday and today than usual, because it feels good. Was doing a cross-step waltz through my living room, again because it just felt good.

It's a really nice change to be moving just because it feels good.

If you always do what you always did,
then you'll always get what you always got.

Yeah, today it's hard to get out of the house, but I've promised myself that I will go seek exercise pants and then spend at least 45 minutes at the gym, even if I am embarrassed about how long it's been since I went.

I'm no longer needing to have a Kleenex box next to me 24/7 (for which much YAY) and my joints are feeling creaky. Must move. Must needs schedule some gym time so I can start checking out the available classes at the gym: they have Zumba and Nia and Pilates and Yoga, and that is also full of Yay.

My friend Kim just posted a video to FB about a guy in NYC doing a "Dance-Walk" thing with his iPod. Such dorky fun... but shameless though I am I do not have *quite* that much shamelessness.

Okay, here I go.

Today I started the first of seven short-days of substitute teaching. Matter of fact, I am only teaching periods 3 and 4 for the choir teacher at The Nearby High school. The assignment is vague... I've actually got an email drafted for Mr. S (who is, at the moment, traveling abroad with two of his choirs) asking for clarification so I can help the students with their assignment. Third period has 19 students, Fourth has twelve young women. Cool. So we'll see what we can do with that.

The reason I can tag this under 100 Things and Health & Fitness is, because, for the first time in a couple of dozen times I've worked at this school? I WALKED to work today. =D It's almost exactly one mile from my house to the school. Very pleasant walk, although, oddly, the sidewalks vanish when you cross the border from My Town into the neighboring town. Weird. Large homes with beautiful landscaping all along the route. I stopped to literally smell the roses twice or three times (they were Double Delight roses, do you blame me?) and was nicely warm by the time I arrived at the school. Took just about exactly twenty minutes to walk.

My feet are a little tender and my hips are a little sore. I'm about ten days out from having spent the last two months of my life spending an hour every morning stretching and marching and running and moving and singing and dancing and getting down on the floor and back up off the floor with the first and second grade kids. Best. Workout. Ever. Yoga's more dignified, and more specifically challenging, but not as much fun!

That said, I'd best sign up for some yoga classes. I'll need that work to continue the progress that began while I was working for Njeri. (still a little sad)

Tomorrow I think I will bicycle to work and keep my bike in the choir room. Should not be a problem. Then I can go exploring and looking at pretty suburban houses after school is over, and maybe drop my library books at the library. I love the idea of using my bike more, it's a wonderful bike (and it's *aubergine*)!