Boat Pose & Other Killers

Seeing as how i’m still patting myself on the back for the 5.3 mile run i decided to walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes (this time using a program called mountain climb which IS all about incline), lift some free weights (arms only) and practice a yoga sequence just once.

Treadmill: I have a hard time just walking on the treadmill. I’m still in the mindset that i’m not really doing anything unless i break into a run sooner or later. Walking is impatience reincarnate. Plain and simple. So. I read a book. I’m currently reading Boy With Loaded Gun by Lewis Nordan (tragic, poignant & funny all at the same time) so i was pretty distracted from the real work of walking. I think between the humidity & the incline i worked up a decent sweat (only managed to walk 2 miles, though).

Weight Training: I am definitely not afraid of a little muscle. I’d like to think my arms are getting back into shape – somewhat. Tonight, that’s all i concentrated on. Bicep curls, hammer curls, tricep kickbacks, tricep overheads, something involving the resistance bands…For some reason i wasn’t all that motivated and soon i quit. Don’t get me wrong – i did all the necessary reps and sets (10/4) so it’s not like i shortchanged the exercise completely. Just wish i had put more into it. O! Did i mention i’m using whimpy 8 lb weights for everything (except the band exercises, obviously).

Yoga: Again, i sort of feel like i cheated a little. i only went thru this sequence once (left left then right): warrior I -> warrior II ->side angle -> triangle -> tree -> “skater” pose -> down dog -> cobbler -> seated bent leg stretch -> back twist -> boat -> table. 
My favorite poses are the warriors I and II. I like seeing my strong thighs supporting my weight in a perfect 90 degree angle. I don’t twitch or shake, but stand there, confident and well, warrior-like! My favorite pose to work on is what i call the skater pose (because at the moment i am forgetting the real name of it). Basically, it’s a balancing pose where you stand on one leg and reach the other leg out behind you. Slowly bending over with arms outstretched you end up forming a ‘T’ with the leg you are balancing on strong and grounded beneath you. Or, at least that’s the pose you are going for. I wobble a little and i’m never sure my back, legs and arms are in a straight line. My least favorite pose out of this whole sequence is boat. I think in pilates it’s just called a V post. Basically, you sit on your tail bone with your legs and torso forming a ‘v’ while you reach your arms beyond your trembling legs. My stomach isn’t strong enough to hold this pose for long. Everything quivers and i feel ridiculous. This is one pose i really have to work on!

So, all in all, it was a good workout – 45 minute walk, 20 minute strength training and 10 minutes of yoga.

Day Four

As usual i am a day behind and a dollar short. Don’t know where that saying came from but i have always loved it because i can relate! Anyway, this is how yesterday went:

Cleaner eating: was a disaster…maybe. I had a respectable bowl of cereal and half a cup of coffee. I tried reheating the coffee and having another cup but somehow managed to let that one go cold, too. Maybe i just don’t like my husband’s coffee…i don’t know. The rest of the afternoon was spent “grazing” from the fridge: 1/2 cup cottage cheese (low fat), a handful of wheat thin crackers (low sodium), a handful or raisins (plain), a few leaves of lettuce…nothing really substantial until dinner. Meatballs and whole wheat pasta.

Weight Training: Followed Merrill’s training from the Oxygen magazine and did a bunch of situps and calf raises. Overhead tricep presses with 8lb weights. Four sets of 12 for everything.

Cardio: Ran for 40 minutes on the treadmill. Got as far as 3.82 miles. That makes 6.31 miles so far this month. Yay.

Yoga: Wednesday is balancing month and i think i need help with nearly every move. That’s not entirely true but here are the ones that are giving me trouble: Tree pose (i want to get my leg higher – say thigh high and still balance strong. Right now i’m hovering at the calf level). Warrior III (i love the way the sequence goes from tree to warrior III but i don’t feel my W3 is strong enough). Half Moon (not nearly as pretty or as strong as i want it to be. i feel as though i am out of whack). Eagle pose (Cyndi doesn’t have me sitting into the pose but i think i would like to).
Here are the poses I feel best about: downward dog split (although i found myself lifting the wrong left and threading the needle instead), chair pose with twist (my ankles are getting stronger), side inclined plane (love, love, love this pose!)
It’s funny, but i was watching Namaste Yoga yesterday and they ran almost this exact same sequence. Of course they looked amazing!

Day Three

Every morning is like Groundhog day to me. I roll out of bed, bleary-eyed and somewhat disorientated (dreams take me for some whacked out rides & sometimes i forget where i am when i come to a stop). I slip in front of the computer to check email and see what the work-out calendar has in store for me. Then, it’s breakfast and coffee. Shower. Maybe make the moves on the calendar…More coffee at work and maybe a 2nd breakfast. I’m trying to eat every four hours so granola at 11am is the most appealing. I have grown to love Kashi’s orchard spice. The mountain whatever isn’t that bad, either. I usually always forget my lunch so i’m either buying something in the cafe or standing in front of the vending machine – usually the latter choice because it’s the cheaper of the two. Such is lunch today – sun chips from Mr. Vending. Dinner, as usual is healthy – because i try to cook healthy at all times. Salmon marinated in all things Asian with steamed veggies. Brown rice on the side. Such is clean(er) eating. Bad habit to break: not bringing something (anything!) for lunch!

Weight training: nada…unless you count a pilates session as “weight” training. Lots of stomach (core) exercises and a few inner/outer thigh moves. No arm exercises.

Cardio: zilch. Tomorrow will be a 45 minute session to make up for the fact that last night was only 25, a real quickie.

Yoga: Tuesday is all about standing poses. Nothing really bothers me about this sequence. It’s literally a variation of warrior poses and Sun Salutations. Seemed straightforward enough.

Day One

Clean(er) eating:
Breakfast ~ red pepper, red potato, vidalia onion, veggie sausage, sauteed with shots of balsamic & Tabasco, served with two eggs (one whole, one white), 1/2 slice dry wheat toast & coffee two cups).
Lunch ~ with a friend. Sacraficed healthy to hang out. 5 large chicken fingers with sauces & a glass of water.
Dinner ~ Oriental chicken salad from Friendly’s. Ate 1/3 of the salad without dressing. Water with lemon.

Weight training:
30 shoulder presses (the last set with calf raises)
60 sit-ups (lower abs)
15 sumo squats

Cardio:
None since I ran two days in a row (Friday and Saturday).

Yoga:
Three sets of Sun Salutations.

Because today is Sunday I don’t feel this is a good representation of how my days will actually go. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Shout at the Devil

The devil is feeling lazy and today I took one angry scream at it. My angel? A little yoga. A little more weight training. A four mile walk thrown in for good measure. The halo on top? A plan with a friend. Let me start from the beginning.
Yoga was barely a process. Saluting a sun already up for hours, feeling the stretch come slow and easy in down-dog, cobra, childs… While the practice was a mere five minutes it felt good to move from pose to pose in easy grace. I felt strong in every warrior pose.
Speaking of strong –  it was then time for the BowFlex. I’m new to this type of weight training. I prefer free weights that force me to keep my form. But the BF wasn’t that bad. We concentrated on upper body strength – back, chest, arms, and abs. Changing the weights was laughable. I wasn’t able to get the right mix of bands but it was only my first time…In addition to the BF I concentrated on quad work. Everyone is telling me in order to help the knee I have to strengthen the quads. I’m on it.
The four mile walk was quick – one eye on the weather, one eye on the river beside me. We went beyond the park and chased the river with no sign of rain until we put one foot in the door back home. Bring on the rain.
But, here’s the best part – the plan with a friend. I was this close to canceling my gym membership. I hadn’t gone in months and while it’s only $10 I was feeling guilty. Plain and simple, I didn’t like shelling out $10 a month for guilt. Now, my friend just joined. I’ll go whenever she goes. I’m free from working out with the college boys! Yay!

So. While I haven’t run a single step I’m on my way back to training. I feel as though I am washing away the self doubt, rinsing away the insecurity. I’m taking it slow enough to stand in the face of anxiety and say boo. Take that!

A New Beginning

Point blank, I am sick of being me. I’ve spent the last 30 plus years being embarrassed by myself…as odd as that may seem. I’m not out to reinvent myself, or deny who I really am, but I do want to change the things that really, really bug me. Is that a bad thing? I am tired of being a wallflower. I’m tired of being out of shape, on the brink of being blobby. I am tired of being a blink in the eye of the beholder. Does that make sense? Here, on the other side of sleep I want to kick some ass. Take no prisoners. Take back my life.

Today, I made a decision to make this blog less about what happens in my sleep and more about my journey back to waking up. Here, for the record is my list of goals:

• Yoga! I keep saying I want to practice daily. I need to make that happen!
• Weight training – I want to be strong, body & mind.
• Eating right – stop the affair with the vending machine…
• 13.1 – need I say more?

I start tomorrow…