What had happened was...

I decided that chisel class is the devil. I skipped both classes this week. I planned to replace the Tuesday beatdown with the water exercise class that was mentioned to me. It must be a super secret class because it wasn't on the website anywhere. I guess that's why hardly anyone comes. Anyway, I was going to either do the class, swim or hit the gym for the elliptical but I was so so tired. I can't even explain how tired I was. But my sleep ain't been right since I got home a couple of weeks ago. I go to bed really late and wake up early. I find myself needing to pass out at some point. Then I'm wide awake at night. Great. It was a darn shame that I wasted a day. My body felt great but was way too tired to be bothered.

Speaking of feeling great, my runs have been great. Okay, I'm lying. They were good but they started out so-so. The longer the interval, the better I feel. I spent a day or two before my 1st Week 4 run concerned about the 5min interval. Would I make it? Would I hate it? Would I be too tired? Man, look. It was the best part of the run. Whatever pain, muscle burning, irritation or whatever I felt worked it's way out the longer I ran. It was the 3min intervals that had me feeling everything. I swear, my hamstrings have so much to say. But if I run long enough, they're absolutely silent. So I'm kind of back to where I was mentally when I was at the height of my running. I have to talk myself into sticking with the run until it feels better. It will..eventually.

After having a taste of 5min intervals, I'm beginning to think that I should skip to Week 5. Day 1 has three 5min intervals. Day 2 has two 8min intervals. And Day 3 has one 20min interval. I should be good and warmed up by then. In the meantime, I need to search for my Garmin. Yeah, I know. Bad runner, bad runner *smacks hands*. I have no clue where I put the darn thing since I haven't used it in AGES. I plan to join Black Girls Run in the park once I'm done with intervals. I could use a phone app but Garmin is SO much better. And I paid enough for it. I better find it!




7/13 - Bounce, rock, skate, roll (1:52 - getting better at backwards skating. Yay! me.)


7/16 - Yoga (50min)
C25k - W3D2
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (18min)


7/18 - C25k - W3D3
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (18min)
(Oh and water exercise was canceled. Boo!)


7/19 - Elliptical (2.92mi - 35min)
Recumbent bike - (2.8mi - 20min)

7/20 - C25k - W4D1
Warm up/Cool down (10min)
Run/Walk (21:30)

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?)

I'm Making Progress

No. Not on my hip. That's still jacked up. There's a sensation in the joint that shouldn't be. My guess is that it's healed when I don't feel it anymore. I also suspect that the elliptical irritates it. I may lay off that for a while. But darn it, I'm not a fan of the bike. You have to be on it for a while to burn some serious calories. And you know me, it's all about the calorie burn. Well, I could just swim more.

Speaking of swimming, I'm improving. Well, at least, I think so. No, I haven't increased the front crawl set yet. BUT I'm working my way from 3 stroke bilateral breathing to 5 stroke. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I remember going from 2 stroke to 3 stroke, and I felt like my lungs were going to collapse. But I stuck with it. And now bilateral breathing is just natural for me to do. I've also learned that the key with breathing is to make sure you exhale as much as possible before you inhale. About time I get to the end of the pool, it feels like there was less effort involved. So I guess with my breathing getting better, I'll be increasing front crawl sets soon. Right now, I'm still switching to breaststroke every 50yd. Maybe in a few more weeks, I'll begin to cover more distance in a shorter time frame. I'm excited.

So I took a couple pictures after I got out of the pool yesterday.

I like blue. Can't you tell?

Me and my fins. I use them for kicking drills.

Oh, and I was also showing off a yoga pose. No, it's not that serious. I'm wearing jeans and a sweater.

My arm used to tremble. I thought my yoga teacher was crazy.

And it was luck that I got into this position. I tried to do it last week, and it was extremely difficult to reach my hand around my back to my foot. I guess swimming helped loosen me up a bit.

Ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana..Say what? Say that 3 times fast.

And with that, I'm off to the pool. Have a great weekend!!

10/24 - Yoga: Practice for the Spine (47min)

10/25 - Bike (35min - 7.72mi)
Elliptical (35min - 3.44mi)
Swim (1:02:11 - 1900yd)

10/26 - Yoga Class (1:30)

10/27- Swim (1:06:50 - 2000yd)

10/28 - Yoga: Wringing Out the Old (36min)
Shimmy (Belly dancing - 25min)

10/29 - Swim (52:01 - 1700yd)

Christie Runs, Right?

Right. Right? Well, in theory, yes. In real life, not so much. I haven't run since last Friday. I still have this nagging injury to my left hip. Well, it's the hip/pelvic bone region. It's been an issue since August, when I was doing some serious mileage. I can run on it. And it usually doesn't bother me during the run. But the fact is, it just gets more aggravated afterward. So I'm back to square one. It didn't help that a few days after my last run, my hip was still talking to me. Makes no sense to keep injuring the thing. I think it was about Wednesday when I decided to be serious about not running. My hip had a lot to say.

What's funny is that now I'm not pressuring myself to run, I want to run. I step into the Y and want to walk over to the treadmill. I hate the treadmill. I'm kind of jealous of the people I see getting their run on. I'm like I can do that too. For real! I'm pretty good. But you wouldn't know. I'm injured. In the meantime, I'm embracing the elliptical. It's a lot easier on me than actual running. I found myself constantly increasing the resistance yesterday. That just tickles me because I really, REALLY hated that contraption. Anyway, I finished up drenched in sweat. It was a good workout after all.

In the past, when I've stepped away from running for whatever reason, I did nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was an all or nothing type thing. When I came back to it, I would hate it. I could still manage a decent pace, but my heart rate would be through the roof. The most uncomfortable and horrible series of runs ever. But now, I'm completely caught up in swimming. Talk about some ass kicking cardio right there. With that, I think that my first run after however long will be pretty decent.

Speaking of swimming, yesterday's session was on point. I don't know what happened but all the sudden, it just started to feel easier. I was able to breathe more deeply. I didn't feel beat when I got to the end of the pool. The thought of increasing front crawl sets scare me. I wonder how I can make it through without my lungs collapsing on me. But if my swims continue to be this way, it won't be so scary after all. Mind you, when I started in swim class, I'd stop 2 or 3 times before making it to the end of the pool (only 25yd). It was torture. And once I got down there, I needed to catch my breath AGAIN so I could struggle on the way back (stopping along the way). I've improved a lot but still have a long way to go.

So Christie probably won't be running for a few weeks. And that's cool. I'm not just a runner anymore. I think I've evolved into an athlete. In the meantime, I'll be improving my swim technique and expanding my lungs. When it's time to run again, I'll be so ready to kick asphalt!

10/22 - Yoga: Finding the Balance (45min)
Belly Dance: Basics and Beyond (38min)

10/23 - Yoga: Shoulders, Arms, Wrists and Hands (16min)
Yoga: General Practice Routine (42min)
Elliptical (35min - 3.52mi)
Swim (48:43 - 1600yd)

10/24 - I'm sore. Maybe a little yoga. Maybe a lot of couch. Still up in the air.

Yesterday was a waste...

But today was not. Here's how it went down...

With some stuff going on at home, I wasn't able to get to the pool until about 8pm. Come to find out, they're shutting down the pool because some dumb #$%@& threw up in the pool. The story was that homegirl was actually sick before getting in the pool. Hard headed wench got in anyway. She then tossed her cookies and ruined it for everyone. Doggone it!!

So I head to the other Y. The swim team hogs the pool until 9pm. That means only 30min left to swim. But dang it, I was getting in a pool somewhere. I get there, watch the swim team a bit. Then I go to grab my swim gear. Towel..check. Swim cap..check. Ear plugs..check. Fins..check. Goggles..goggles? Where the heck are my goggles? I had them at the other pool strapped on when I found out about the fool in the pool. I check the car to see if they fell from my bag. Nope. Nada. Damn. Oh well. I did kicking drills. I always do drills, but not for the entire time. The day was wasted.

Today was completely different though. I went to Sports Authority for a new pair of goggles. Got to the Y, jumped on the bike. It was cool because I got to read my book. It started getting juicy as my time on the bike came to an end. Jumped on the elliptical next and continued to read. Had no idea those things had a nice little ledge to put a book or magazine. Good stuff. On my way out, I check the ARC trainers to see if they had ledges too. And they do! Maybe I'll tackle that next time. I had a date with the pool.

Couldn't read in the pool but that was okay. I forgot my fins and ear plugs. That was okay too. Ear plugs are important when you're not entirely comfortable in the water, learning a stroke that requires your ears underwater. But the more I front crawl, the more comfortable I am with it. Still need lots of improvement though. Tried to do some catch up drills but didn't work out too well. The more I concentrate on the drill, the less comfortable I am, the more rigid my body becomes, then I feel like I'm sinking instead of floating. So I did away with that. Better luck next time. In other swimming news, my endurance is slightly better. Before I would alternate between front crawl and breaststroke every 25yd. This allows me to swim nonstop. I don't take breaks to breathe at the end of the pool. Now I've started alternating the strokes every 50yd. My next goal will be every 75yd. Baby steps.

Also, I've been doing bilateral breathing for quite some time now. I breathe every third stroke. My goal is to eventually breathe every fifth stroke. It's helpful because I notice now if I'm not rotating properly to one side. Some days I have problems with the left side. Other days I have problems with the right. How do I know? Because I end up with a mouthful of water. No rotation issues today though. I have yet to figure out why I may not turn enough on one side. Maybe it's just an issue of not being completely relaxed. I don't know. I just know that today was a good rotation day.

Finally, I had yoga class. It was just what I needed after today's workouts. I'm feeling like such a yoga pro. Well, not really. I can't do any handstands, but I'm pretty thorough at what I can do. And I always finish feeling strong. I actually start to sweat. No, I'm not doing bikram, hot yoga or power yoga. But what I am doing gets my muscles working. I guess I'm moving from beginner to intermediate.

Now here's a recap...

10/16 - 3mi Treadmill (27:39 - 9:13 pace)
Elliptical (25min - 2.35mi)
Swim (1:00 - 1850yd)

10/17 - Yoga: Going with the Flow of Life (40min)
Shimmy (Belly dancing - 18min)

10/18 - Swim (1:07 - 2000yd)

10/19 - Yoga Class (1:30)

10/20 - Swim (24:25 - 900yd) <--Wasted day

10/21 - Bike (35min - 7.93mi)
Elliptical (35min - 3.39mi)
Swim (56:05 - 1650yd)
Yoga Class (1hr)

Gots ta get it in when I can fit it in

Didn't make it to yoga yesterday. And I was planning a swim too. But I was stuck in the house getting some stuff repaired. Life happens, I guess. Since I was a bum, I went to the Y to get it in. Jumped on the treadmill. Hated every minute of it. Haven't had a really, really sucky run for a while. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's business as usual. What possessed me to jump on the elliptical after a crappy run is beyond me. Well, I did need to waste a lil bit of time before jumping into the pool. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I actually wanted to stay longer. The torturous device that I once hated is now cool with me. We peaced it out. Finally, the swim team left, so I jumped in the pool. I thought I was gonna feel tired. But it was Kool and the Gang. I felt strong. I'm kicking better. I guess the kicking drill warm ups are doing their job. And with all that, I'm officially tired now. Activity Route: Treadmill Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Mount Laurel, NJ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/15/09 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:30 PM Difficulty: 1.5 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 3.00 miles Time: 0:26:07 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 42 /mi Calories: 320 Notes 1mi @ 9:16 2mi @ 8:39 3mi @ 8:12 Cool Down = .32mi Elliptical Distance: 1.62mi Time: 18:00 Calories: 151 Swim Distance: 1450yd Time: 45:54 Calories: 390 1x400 Flutter kick w/fins 1x1050 Front crawl + Breaststroke

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I really didn't feel like it

But I did some strength training. Then I went to the gym.

2 x 15 Dumbbell Shrugs w/3lb weights
3 x 15 Squats w/10lb weights
3 x 15 Wall Push Ups
2 x 15 Tricep Dips w/Bent Knees
3 x 15 Crunches w/3lb weights
2 x 12 Lying Leg Raises
1 x 30 Modified Plank (I really wasn't feeling this today)

Music: Earthtones mixed by DJ Lil Dave
Elliptical: 35min (includes 5min cool down)

I was thinking too much today, so I went to the gym. This is the first time I was in the actual fitness center of the Y location with the indoor track. There are tv monitors attached to the treadmills. Okay, maybe I'm ignorant. I really didn't think such things would exist at the YMCA. Bally's yes, YMCA no.

I got on the elliptical trainer. It's been ages since I've been on one. Well, not ages, but probably over a month. I was never an elliptical fan. Pre-iron, it would kick my ass in 5min or less. I was never in pain. I guess I was just winded. It's hard to describe the feeling. But whatever feeling you get when your blood cells don't carry enough oxygen to the areas in need is how I felt. Post-iron, we're actually friends. Okay, not friends exactly, but acquaintances. I don't love it. But I don't hate it either. It can be just a bit boring. It was a good workout though. I woke up to my arms a bit sore from yesterday's weights. Nothing serious. But after the elliptical I was reminded they were sore again. More sore than before actually. It's a good thing though. The last time I was really sore, I probably had the flu. Now I can say I'm sore from actually doing something. It's a great feeling.

Music: Cherry by Lisa Shaw
Elliptical: 35min (includes 5min cool down)

Breakfast: Cream of wheat w/cinnamon, raisins, maple syrup, soy milk and flaxseed
Lunch: Yesterday's lunch
Dinner: Yesterday's dinner
Snack: Apple w/PB and pretzel twists
Late night snack: So Delicious ice cream sandwich