Before I Forget...

Here's what I did this week:

1/11 - Swim (33:35 - 1250yd)
Yoga Class - (1:30)

1/12 - Yoga: General Practice w/Backbends (38min)
Chisel Class - (1hr)
Bike (50min - 10.54mi)

1/13 - Elliptical (50min - 5.47mi)
Swim (45:19 - 1600yd)

1/14 - Yoga: Finding Balance (36min)

1/15 - Yoga: Going with the Flow of Life (40min)
Elliptical (50min - 5.54mi)
Bike (50min - 10.71mi)

1/16 - Yoga: Open and Strong Heart (30min)
Strength Training (12min)
Dancing!

I tried to do something every day, even if it was just yoga. Actually, this is the most yoga I've done in a week. Yoga is the perfect thing to do when you feel like doing nothing. There are lots of days I want to do nothing. So instead of nothing, I'll do yoga. But today, I'm actually resting. I am so tired. And it has nothing to do with my workouts. My period is due this week. And right beforehand, I get so beat that I could fall asleep standing up. Well, not really but you get what I mean. When my body says rest, I do so. I dosed off numerous times during the football games. I just hope I can sleep tonight and wake up refreshed tomorrow. I hope to swim and such.

Usually, I would write more but I'm just not in the mood. I'm watching tennis. And I just feel like being lazy. So on that note, I'm out. Have a great week!

I love a challenge??

Who needs bikram yoga when you can sweat to death in your own living room? Okay, so I'm not really sweating to death. But I manage to get quite a workout. My yoga classes definitely improve my home practice. And I'm not sure why people get the impression that yoga is just stretching. If it were just stretching, then it would be called stretching. And I've never experienced muscle soreness from just stretching. Nowadays, my yoga sessions feel more like strength training workouts. My goal is to practice more at home, especially on days I feel like doing nothing at all. There are many people who get into yoga and eventually cut out everything else. If you can support your body weight with just arm strength, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you really don't need to do anything else. No, I don't plan to give up everything else. I just want to do more yoga. It's just good for you. It makes me feel stronger and stand taller. I'm trying my best to make 5'5 1/2" look as tall as possible :) By the way, I spent most of my life thinking I was an inch shorter. Then I measured myself a couple months ago. So I grew a bit after high school. Who knew?

Now that I'm doing this yoga thing more, I find myself wanting more of a challenge. Some people like to workout within an inch of their lives. They wanna feel like they've just had their asses handed to them. That is so not me. I'm totally okay with not feeling the burn. Sweating is a good enough indication that I'm working hard enough. Yes, I'm a wuss when it comes to working out. No challenge? No problem. But I find myself doing more intermediate yoga routines. Heck, I actually want to do the arm strengthening exercises. What? That is unheard of. My upper body is my weakness. And I hate working on my weakness. What's going on with me?

That brings me to swimming. I found myself in the pool on Friday because I wanted an upper body workout. What in the world? But I skipped chisel class this week. Mind you, this is the class I hate. I call it torture. Different muscle groups are burning in every class. And all the sudden, I find myself missing it. I felt like something was lacking. So to the pool I went. I got my fill with the breaststroke. I felt every bit of that. Front crawl didn't bother my arms as much. After 2 swim free weeks, I decided to throw in some 5 stroke bilateral breathing too. What was I thinking? At times, my lungs wanted to kill me. And other times, I felt like I was breathing normally. My goal is to get up to 7 stroke bilateral breathing, but I'm a ways off. And eventually, I want to practice with the Masters Swim team. But my cardio is not ready for all that. I don't want to die a watery death. In the meantime, I will practice, practice, practice.

Maybe this whole challenge thing is about measuring my improvement. I love, Love, LOVE seeing results in the activities I do. I guess that's why I have a love-hate relationship with chisel class. It hurts, but I get fast results. I went from feeling sore and broke down to feeling normal the next day. My arms look great and I'm a lot stronger. Heck, I'm halfway tempted to do pushups again with someone standing on my back. Okay, I'm not gonna take it that far, but you get what I'm saying. The more I improve, the more I want to do. It's funny how that works. So here's to putting my wussy ways behind me!

Oh, and here's a recap of my week in case you care...

1/5 - Elliptical (50min - 5.38mi)

1/6 - Yoga Class (1hr)
Elliptical (50min - 5.42mi)

1/7 - Yoga: Fire in the Belly (42min)
Dancing

1/8 - Yoga: Going with the Flow of Life (40min)
Swim (53:31 - 1800yd)
Dancing!

1/9 - More Dancing! (Is there a contraption to measure the calorie burn?)

Yes, I'm Still Alive!!

Hey Everybody! Happy New Year! I know, I know, I've been a sucky blogger. Honestly, it just hasn't crossed my mind. For one, I've been slacking. Not bad, but by my standards anyway. I stopped running again, because I'm still not completely healed. It's been maybe two weeks? Or is it three? I'm not sure. I caught a cold that had me coughing my lungs out. Yeah, didn't work out much then. I stayed home instead of infecting everyone at the Y. I hate when people insist on spreading their germs. I didn't wanna do that. Then it just got too cold to get outta bed. Yeah, I'm not motivated to do a thing when it's cold. And then the holidays. So yeah, lots of excuses for not being consistent. But I didn't stop working out all together. I post all workouts to Dailymile. And I'm always chit chatting on Twitter. So if you don't see me here, you can catch me there.

So what have I been doing? I've been getting my party on. Where there is good music, you can count on finding me on the dance floor. My cardio is still very much together. My clothes size is the same. I have my social calendar to thank for that. I dance, I socialize, I enjoy myself. There's gonna be a time when I won't be able to do that. So I'm gonna get it in when I can fit it in.

Now back to what this blog is all about...I'm getting back into my workout schedule. But I was extremely annoyed when I ran into all the New Year's Resolutionists at the Y on Tuesday. The parking lot was packed. My chisel class was packed, so I left. The actual gym was packed, but I managed to snag an elliptical machine. I'm always complaining about chisel class. It's torture from beginning to end, so it seems. But I can't complain too much when I see noticeable improvement in my upper body strength. Arm strengthening yoga poses are a lot easier because of it. So I have a love-hate relationship with the class. But it annoyed the hell outta me to skip it. Bummer! I have class tonight. Not sure I'll make it though. The social calendar calls.

Since I'm not in the mood to recap everything I've done since I last blogged, I'll leave you with random pictures.

At the class reunion, Thanksgiving weekend

In my winter running gear about 4 weeks ago

Random trip to NY to party about 3 weeks ago

Pizza eating before said party

My friend's sister's pups. They're the cutest.

Pumpkin muffins NOT for the holidays but because I like to eat.

Chocolate chip w/walnut cookies. No special occasion except me being greedy.

Funny street sign in Philly

At the club a couple weeks ago

Yesterday after yoga and the elliptical

My lil guns thanks to yoga and chisel class

Today's breakfast: tofu scramble, breakfast potatoes, broccoli and toast

Happy Running Everyone, or whatever it is that you choose to do! Just keep moving!