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July 18th, 2009
10:56 pm
I think I forgot to post for a while! I did yoga last weekend, and then again this morning. I have moved past backbends, woohoo! This next set is twists, which I'm excited about. This might just be because I'm lazy and most of the twist positions involve sitting on the floor. :D
Because I'm not doing any activity, my foot is getting better. I think it's time that I go back to the gym and do things that don't require being on my feet. It's hard, now that I get to come home after work every day, to convince myself to do anything else. Meh.
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July 2nd, 2009
11:42 am
Sometimes when I have a day off, I actually do things! It's very exciting.
Yesterday I did yoga in the morning - I'm working on the week of backbends. The backbends themselves aren't too terrible (although I can't really get far), but some of them really put strain on my knees. Still, I'm working through. And then I did an hour of dance practice with Hadia's DVDs. Then I went for a long walk (1 1/2 hours, with ice cream in the middle), and THEN I went to dance class, and walked home after (25 minutes). Hooray for activity. And then I did yoga again this morning.
I'm enjoying the two new dance classes I'm taking (replacing the other two, not adding on). One is an intermediate with a teacher that I was skeptical about - the classes I've had with her before have been very much "let's just dance", but she's really working us, and stressing intermediate level technique. And the other is a folklore class with an emphasis on Saidi this session. It's very aerobic! Holy crap. That's an energetic dance.
I'm still having pain in the ball of my left foot, so I don't really want to try running again. And my right knee is still hurting, so I've been avoiding doing anything else like the elliptical. But I think things are getting better, and I finally managed to convince myself that I should at least get back to the gym and do weights, even if I have to hold out on the cardio. But that might have to wait for a bit, because it's Fringe (yay!).
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June 16th, 2009
08:47 am
That's it, I'm breaking up with any form of the hero pose. I'm just not a hero.
Seriously, though, it completely kills my right knee. This time it was a modified version of the reclining hero pose, where you basically prop yourself up on a chair at a 45 degree angle. I only was in it for about 5 seconds, because I am too short and nothing was hitting the chair at the right place to actually be beneficial to the pose, and yet my has been swollen and barely bendable for two days. The same thing happened the first time I tried the basic hero pose. It's clearly just not for my body.
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June 14th, 2009
10:25 pm
I have a couple of dance classes to make up this session, from being sick, so I went to a "hard core conditioning for dance" class on Thursday (one of the only classes that isn't working on a choreography for the recital). It was truly hardcore - super ab work, pilates, yoga, and all the world's lunges. I was sore for days.
And then I walked a bunch on Saturday, had dance class, and walked some more. And this morning I finally broke out all the fake props and did yoga.
I just...I'm always sore these days. I wonder if that ever goes away?
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June 10th, 2009
09:44 pm
You guys, I am getting so old. My entire body aches. My hands, after a day of work, are so sore - death by typing. And my feet! It's not a recurrence of the plantar fasciitis, just all over "owwwww" when I take a step. Not to mention all sort of other parts of me - today, it's the muscles that work to lift your leg forward (the psoas, I think). Sigh.
I still haven't gotten back into the yoga, which I'm really disappointed about, because I was really loving it before. I just need one day when I can spread out in the living room with all the stupid props...and when I have the energy.
Meanwhile, though, I went to both my dance classes this week, and also did a bunch of practicing. I am trying like crazy to memorize these choreographies so that I can spend a couple of weeks actually making the movements look good. I've signed up for two different classes for next session (starting at the end of the month) - Folklore and a different intermediate. I'll miss this intermediate, which is basically my perfect class, but I can't do it and the folklore on the same night, and I'm totally looking forward to exploring some of the styles outside of cabaret.
I got a bunch of walking in on Saturday - to and from the library, to and from dance class. I like this pattern I've set up...which, of course, will be ending when my classes switch. I will continue to walk, though!
And I went to the gym last night! Baby steps. It was okay - I ran (still on 3 and 1, which I will clearly never leave, dammit), and then I did a pretty good round of weights. It was fine, I guess. I'm so not a fan of going to the gym.
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June 4th, 2009
07:46 pm
I am slowly working my way back into exercising. It's hard to convince myself that it's something I should do, when it's just so not any fun. But, I had dance class on Saturday, and I walked there and back, and then there and back again for errand running, and then to the library and back. I also attempted some yoga, but I've hit the week of backbends in my book, and it required more props than I had room for (my bedroom has exactly enough floorspace for a yoga mat). So I'll try that again some day when no-one is home and I can spread out slightly in the living room.
And on Sunday I went out running. Or "running". I honestly think at this point I'm never going to progress any further into the actual running, but it's better for me than sitting around, right?
Tuesday, shockingly enough, I went back to the gym. Or actually I went to a new gym, a new branch that opened up near home. It was pretty nice, although the whole trip was longer than when I go to the gym near work, there was added walking, though, on either end. And yesterday I could barely move because I overdid it on the lunges and squats. Oops. I made it to dance class, though, and that helped in the end.
And today I had Ethiopian food. And chocolate. YUM.
Oh, and I brought lunch every day this week so far! I really have to just make a bunch of stuff on Sundays, and then it's pretty easy. Lots of dishes, though. :P
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May 22nd, 2009
02:43 pm
So it's possible I haven't really been getting any exercise since I last posted. Oops. The problem is that "they" are right, sadly, and exercising really does give me more energy, so when I wasn't able to go to the gym for a week because of social commitments, I felt exhausted and lazy and kind of never went back. I have been going to dance class (which is also feeling harder because of not getting much exercise SIGH) and I did yoga twice last week, but I have to find a way to get myself out of this anti-exercise funk. It's probably not going to happen this weekend, though, because I appear to be suddenly quite sick, and I am a firm believer in sleeping illness away.
This week I've also been on a ridiculous sugar binge - ice cream, cookies, candy, and way too much of it. That needs to stop too.
Oh well: next week is another week, and anything can happen. And it will.
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May 10th, 2009
10:02 pm
Oh, poor journal, I've been neglecting you. It was a very busy week!
I did yoga on Monday - it was more sun salutations, with a focus on downward dog. I could feel that in my shoulders the next day, oh boy. Yikes. I do think, though, that my hamstrings might be just the slightest bit looser as a result of all this yoga. That would be awesome.
Tuesday I had a thing at 6:30, so I was going to skip the gym, but I had a breakthrough moment and figured that I could go and just do a shortened workout (basically just cardio), and still make it where I needed to be. That's a pretty new mindset for me - normally I'd use the fact that I didn't have time for everything as an excuse to do nothing. But instead I did a little elliptical, and some reclining bike, and then ate all the cheese in the world.
Had a great dance class on Wednesday. We're working on a drum choreography, so it's lots of little motions and muscle work. I like it.
Thursday I went to a spa with a friend and took the waters. It was very nice - I liked the hot/cold/hot/cold thing, although I'm not a fan of steam rooms.
Friday I took a make-up dance class. It was a zylls class, so not much of a workout, but a fun class. And then I walked home after class (25 minutes).
Saturday I did yoga when I got up (it was so hard to get up, even though I'd slept for at least 10 hours). It was a hard flow, and I didn't do all the relaxation at the end because I thought I was running out of time. I missed that. And then I walked to the library in a massive thunderstorm (it wasn't thunderstorming when I left, obviously). I didn't walk to dance class (see: thunderstorm), but I did walk back, since it was nice again. And I had a very sweaty class.
I hurt so bad when I woke up on today. I still don't know what I did. My arms were sore, which I expected, because 3 times I carried stuff long enough that I thought I wouldn't make it. But my hips felt bruised, and I could barely breathe, my ribs were so sore. The yoga? The sloth-like evening? I really don't know. In any case, I decided against doing anything, and slept for another 1/2 hour. I also did a 2 hour dance workshop (and walked to the studio) -- it was zylls again, but we were moving throughout the whole thing, so it was a certain amount of exercise.
You'll notice I didn't run at all this week. I'm finding it hard to fit in, especially since I'm in love with doing yoga on the weekend mornings. But that's my challenge for this week - find my running flow again.
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May 4th, 2009
02:52 pm
And another weekend gone.
Friday I...I don't remember what I did on Friday. Hmm. Oh, that's right, I bought sandals. Hey, shopping is hard work for me! I am not naturally skilled.
Saturday morning I got up and went running. Shocking! The run itself was okay, but I sure liked being outside in the fresh (very fresh, since I was a little underdressed) morning air. And then I had dance class in the afternoon - a very energetic class. And I walked to and from class (25 min. each way). I sure appreciate spring.
Sunday I did yoga first thing - day 1 of the sun salutation week. Lunges are not my friend. Actually, it's getting in and out of lunges that's so hard for me. My issue with sun salutations is not the actual poses, but the flow. I suck at the flow. I liked how the book said to do everything in whatever variation is the easiest, and to work on the movement in between -maybe that'll help!
I was going to go for a walk or something in the sunshine but I was having a bad day so I didn't. :)
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May 1st, 2009
03:01 pm
Last night I went home and did yoga from my new book. Yay! It was Half-Moon and Pyramid poses, and I was not very balanced. :D But I put a lot of effort into keeping my legs straight, and I can feel it in my hamstrings today, which I'm taking as a good thing.
Next "week" is all about the sun salutation sequences. They are not my favourite, mostly because I find it hard to move in and out of the lunges with any speed, and I once collapsed while doing so and wrenched my thumb out of place. Ouch! But maybe with the book I can do it at my own speed, and also take the practice to work myself further down, so it's easier to get my hands to the floor.
The thing I forgot to mention about the gym on Thursday: after I'd gone a couple of times I weighed myself (which I haven't done in years), out of curiousity and because it's nice to have a baseline. So Tuesday I weighed myself again, and I've gained 5 pounds! How unencouraging. And it's not just that whole "fat replaced by muscle" thing that we all like to tell ourselves, because my clothes do feel tighter. It's very sad, though, since I'm way more active now. I was hoping there'd been a tiny loss, to keep me enthusiastic about going. Boo.
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April 29th, 2009
09:22 pm
On Monday night (because my book was apparently still in transit - I think they've lost it in a truck somewhere) I tried a yoga course from Yoga Download - they offer audio courses that come with pose guides so you know what pose the instructor is talking about it. And they offer some of the 20 minute sessions for free! I quite enjoyed the course. And I sure loved coming home and not going to the gym or to a class. One day when I am the first millionaire librarian I'm going to have a gym in my house.
Tuesday I went to the gym, despite all interest in just coming home again. I feel that I need to work on doing more/better cardio (blech). Cardio is so boring! At least with weights I can think about what I want to do next. Cardio just goes on and on and on and on. ANYWAY, I decided to switch things up, since my running endurance sucks right now. So I did 13 minutes on the elliptical (I was aiming for 15, but that was all I could manage) and then another 15 on the reclining bike at a pretty high level. It wasn't bad. My ability to use the elliptical varies wildly from day to day - sometimes I can go for 1/2 hour, sometimes I can't even make a minute.
Afterward I did a full body set with the weights, doing very high weights for as many reps as I could manage, but just one set. Basically wearing out the muscles. Generally, that meant about 6 reps. :D It did make me realize that I'm not working hard enough with some muscle groups, given what I could do with the much higher weights.
And tonight, dance class. Which was fun and energetic with lots of shimmying.
I got a copy of the yoga book in the mail for my birthday! So tomorrow I'm totally coming home to do yoga. Very excited.
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April 27th, 2009
01:35 pm
Friday I did nothing. Well, technically Friday I did lots of things, including eat much food, but I didn't do anything particularly active. I need to find a way to put exercise back into Fridays even though I don't have my dance class then anymore.
Saturday, despite all my best intentions, I also did nothing, other that some walking while doing errands. I skipped out on my dance class - we had a sub, and I've had her before and find her a very frustrating teacher. So no.
Sunday I went running. In the almost rain! I didn't realize it was trying to rain until I was already outside, but I didn't turn back, so good for me. The running was hard. I just get out of breath so quickly! I dropped it down to run 2:30, walk 1:30, which seemed to help. At least I got through all 5 sets that way. The nice thing is that the running doesn't seem to be causing problems with my foot. Yay! The sad thing is that I may be running at 3 and 1 forever. :P
Tonight we're not cooking, so I want to do some yoga. My book still isn't in at the library, though! I'll need to come up with an alternate plan.
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April 24th, 2009
11:35 am
Remember when I promised I was going to do pilates as soon as I'd finished posting? I stuck to the letter of the promise, if not the spirit - I did some pilates, but I got bored about halfway through the DVD so I stopped. I'm thinking DVDs are not my favourite option - there's too much explanation before the actual poses, which is great the first time, but makes me bored when I repeat it. Or maybe I just need a different DVD.
Wednesday night I had dance class. It was a good class, although not nearly as muscle intensive as they've been recently. We're starting a new choreography, so it's more about brain memory than muscle memory at the moment. She really is my favourite teacher at that studio, though. I guess that means I'm staying in this intermediate class forever!
And last night I made my triumphant return to the gym! Okay, not so triumphant. :D Still, getting there is the hardest part sometimes. My foot's been feeling much better, so I decided to try running. It was fine! Correction: my foot was fine. The rest of me didn't enjoy it much. :D I did about half the 3-minute runs, and walked the rest at a fast pace. Cardio really is the death of me. And then I did a hearty full-body weight session, including some squats and lunges that I'm really feeling today. Hello inner thighs!
I miss the yoga! I hope my book comes back to the library soon. It would be easier if I just bought a copy, but it's pretty expensive, so I'm going to stick with the library, breaks and all.
Some things I thought about this week: I wonder if my foot problems were partially brought on by my gym shoes. I have proper expensive running shoes for when I run outside, but I have super cheap gym shoes that I use inside (because I used to only run outside, and mostly did the bike or elliptical inside, so the shoes weren't important). I don't like taking my outside shoes inside, because they're pretty grungy, but I think I might have to. Hmm.
Also, I think one of the reasons I'm liking the yoga so much is because of when I do it - an hour or two after breakfast on the weekends usually. I have so much more energy in the not-too-early mornings. After work is very hard. I can't see myself getting up early enough for morning gym sessions, though, and I hate getting ready for work there, and eating breakfast at work. Not to mention that I don't think the subways run early enough. But maybe now that it's getting lighter I could manage to get up early enough to go running. Again I say, hmmm.
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April 21st, 2009
06:09 pm
Sunday: more yoga. Tree pose and Warrior 1 pose, both balance poses. I'm pretty good at tree pose, as long as I can hike my pants up high enough that my foot is resting on bare skin. Otherwise it just slides right down.
I'm totally enjoying this yoga program. Sadly, the book had to go back to the library, but I should get another copy soon - I'm first on the waiting list, and there are 20 copies or so. Hurray.
Monday: my free day.
Tuesday: I am just about to throw on a pilates DVD (honest!). I had to work a little late today, and then I remembered that they're doing birthday celebrations at my gym, and I can't be bothered - too hectic. So I came home.
My foot seems to be doing better. I think possibly this weekend, if it's still feeling better, I might try running again. It didn't hurt at all today, other than the normal aches of being on my feet.
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April 19th, 2009
10:22 am
When last we left our heroine...
I didn't go to the gym on Tuesday, which was the right thing to do, since my knee was really acting up, and not going meant it was better on Wednesday, and I could go to dance class.
I'm really liking this intermediate class - it feels very focused, with specific things we are trying to add into our repertoire. Also, the teacher teaches in the style that works best for me. I like to take a variety of classes, but I haven't liked any of the other teaching styles as much.
I also had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I have plantar fasciitis, probably from the increase in activity and the weight gain over the last few years. Oy. So I'll try to stay away from things that aggravate it, and stretch, and stuff like that, and hopefully it'll stop hurting.
Thursday and Friday I had a life, so no exercise. Shocking!
Saturday was another dance class. I'm not convinced about this teacher - I like the way she explains things, but I never feel like she's really fully dancing in class, so it makes me not want to fully dance either. I'll probably stay in the class for the next session, though - we're starting a choreography, and that's an area where I need work. I also, because my foot felt fine, walked there and back (about 50 minutes all together). Gorgeous day! My foot hurt like crazy when I went out later to get groceries, so it's definitely going to be a balancing act. The various insoles I've been testing seem to help a certain amount, though.
I think my plan for this week is to get back to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. I want to stay away from the treadmill (no running or walking), but I can work on upping my endurance on the elliptical, and weights are not a problem now that my knee isn't hurting anymore.
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April 14th, 2009
03:09 pm
The rest of my weekend: dance class on Saturday, yoga Sunday and Monday. I was going to do yoga on Saturday morning as well, but I was very slow moving and didn't leave myself enough time for that and breakfast and showering before dance class.
My heel is *still* killing me, hence all the yoga. And my low back has started hurting as well, plus my right knee (which I think is a combination of walking funny because of the heel pain, and the Hero pose that I tried to meditate in at the end of each yoga session). ARGH. Anyway, I was going to go to the gym after work today, and find something non-heel-pain-inducing to do, but with the knee hurting as well, I think I just might not bother. I don't want to aggravate anything further. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so we'll see.
I'm enjoying the yoga book I'm working through. I like that it's very specific about length of time for each pose, and that even though it's working on some of the same poses, the order is different each day. I like variety. The last two I worked on Mountain, Forward Bend, Warrior and Side Angle, I think.
I may have also eaten a carton of ice cream in one sitting. I haven't really talked about food much here, because I have issues, and I'm still a little in the "avoid and deny" stage. But I've been reading and working through a book called "The 4-Day Win", which says it's going to chance the way I think about food and eating, so hopefully I'll be able to be a little more comfortable with everything soon.
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April 10th, 2009
07:29 pm
I did, in fact, go to the gym on Thursday night. I decided to use the elliptical because it doesn't put much pressure on my heels. Sadly, I am a big wimp, and also easily bored, so when the TVs were all showing sports and news (no TLC!) and the battery on my mp3 player died, all I could think about is how HARD the elliptical is (2 minutes at the lowest level and my heart rate was above anything on the chart) and I gave up after 10 minutes. I think I might need to work the elliptical into the schedule to get a little better at it. :D
However, after that, I did an excellent upper body workout - incline chest machine, barbell chest press, lat pulldown, seated row machine, lower back lifts, and some dumbbell work - shoulder raises (10 lbs each side!), shoulder press, hammer curls, bicep curls, and tricep kickbacks. Plus abs. (I did only upper body because I had plans to go to the gym this morning on my bonus day off, and I don't want to work the same muscles two days in a row.)
And then I woke up surprisingly early this morning! I like it when that happens, when I wake up and have clearly had enough sleep. And I waited until weekend gym hours, and then went to the gym (a new one! I am going to try them all.)...which was both hard to find, and also still CLOSED. As was the next branch I tried. So I went home and did some yoga instead.
A friend had mentioned this Rodney Yee 8-week yoga plan book that she was working through, and I was of course intrigued, because I like plans that I can follow and pretend that I'm going to complete. So I took the book out of the library, and today I tried week 1 day 1. It was good! A longer yoga session than I normally do, which was actually great. And given that my foot is still hurting like crazy, I might just do yoga all weekend. :P
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April 9th, 2009
01:58 pm
It's not that I've forgotten this journal, it's just that nothing has really happened. :D
I believe it was Sunday when I left you. Monday nights are the traditional new recipe night for me and my roommate, so I take that as my regular day off. And even though she was busy this week, I pretty much took it as a day off anyway - I did take about a 25 minute walk through a blizzard when the bus didn't show up, but that was it. And Tuesday I didn't make it to the gym because of Fun Things.
Yesterday I had dance class, which was nice. I'm back to exhaustion after holding my arms up for just a few minutes, which is frustrating. That always seems like a stupid thing to slow me down. But I guess maybe I just haven't gotten back into the gym routine I did before going away. Other than the arm pain, it was a hard working class of level changes, hip drops, and omis.
Today I have my gym gear with me, but I'm contemplating my options - my foot is really hurting a lot when I put any weight on it, and the amount of walking and standing I've had to do at work is making it worse. So if it stays not too bad, I can go to the gym and maybe do the bike or something like that. We'll see.
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April 5th, 2009
04:52 pm
Friday night I abandoned exercise in favour of roasted tofu and veggies with the roommate. :)
I had dance class on Saturday - we had a sub this week, which is usually pretty sad, but I quite liked this teacher. I particularly liked that she had a plan as a sub, and wasn't trying to fit into what we normally do. I just started this class last week - it's Bridge to Intermediate, which means Intermediate moves at a slower pace with more drilling. Since I'm already in Intermediate, it's more like a refresher class for me, which could be good. I wasn't totally thrilled with the class last week, but we'll see. And then I walked home! 25 minutes. Or possibly longer because it was crazy windy.
Both today and tomorrow when I woke up I decided running sucked, and went back to sleep. But I managed to convince myself today that I should go after I had digested breakfast, but before I got hungry for lunch (a tiny window). So I did. Today was supposed to be my last day of 3 and 1, but I haven't yet managed to do it properly (as in make it all the way through all 5 3-minute runs), so I think possibly I need to do it a couple more times. Sigh. I was looking forward to getting new music. The problem with your standard 3 minute song is that they all seem to have an instrumental bridge at 2 minutes, during which I get bored and impatient. I want to move on! But there's no point moving on if I can't actually run the 4 minutes.
And then I did a walking errand run, which was probably about 45 minutes all together. I managed not to buy any ice cream during that time, which was pretty impressive on my part. I make no promises for the rest of the day, though.
[Side note: so that I don't spend my entire run looking at my watch, I put together running playlists - a 4 minute warm-up song, then a 3 minute song, a 1 minute song, a 3 minute song, like that.]
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April 3rd, 2009
10:06 am
I wimped out a little at the gym last night. I mean, I went, but everything just seemed so hard, so I barely completed any of my normal sets. I didn't even stretch as much as normal!
What I did do: another round of run 3, walk 1 (except that I didn't run the last set of 3 minutes - I started, and then felt wobbly and like I was about to fall off the treadmill, so I stopped. wimp!). When I'm at the gym I walk a little extra to round up to 30 minutes all together. I could probably walk for longer without noticing because of my secret shame (...one of the TVs is always set to TLC,and I get to watch 2 half episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8! Last night was especially shameful because the TV right in front of my was showing that Posh Spice comes to America show, and it was embarassingly riveting), but I don't. Honestly, I feel so proud of myself for the running that I really can't care that cardio-wise it's maybe not that long.
And then I did some weights. My legs have had quite a workout over the last couple of days, so I was going to make this an upper body heavy workout, but it didn't quite...work out. I did leg press (and that was an arm workout on its own, because the person before me left their very high weights on the machine, and I had to take them off to put my own wimpy weights on. Heavy!), hamstring curl, calf raise, abductor and adductor. And then crossover cables, bench press (this is the one where I pretend that I have some strength and do what the real gymgoers do), lat pulldown...and then I gave up because everything was too hard! Sheesh. I don't know what happened there. It wouldn't have killed me to do a quick round of shoulder, tricep, bicep.
My Friday night dance class is over now, so I was contemplating running after work tonight, so that I wouldn't have to go tomorrow morning, but it's pouring rain and shows no signs of stopping any time before June. So maybe I'll find something else to do.
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