In Search of Fitness

So a year ago I quit Jazzercise for the second time. I just couldn't keep up. It was frustrating. I'd feel the energy drain away about halfway through the second song. And there I'd be...stuck for the rest of the hour, not wanting to walk out because that would cause my classmates concern.

I concentrated on yoga and walking, but it just wasn't enough.

Finally I asked Mensa Boy if he'd train me. He's been studying personal trainer programs with the goal of eventually being a personal trainer part time, or for retirement. He's fun and inspirational to work out with, and creative.

So we started at the little gym here in Indian Land. Right about that time I also decided to try running. I began following a couch-to-5k program. I bought some Brooks shoes that are intended for forefoot running and have minimal structure underneath. It was hard to start, but there was a lot of walking at the beginning with timed, not distance, runs. I ran on the treadmill for the most part. No issues with my knees or hips, I was working on the breathing. 4 weeks or so went by and then I had an issue with left foot. It felt just like it had when I experienced a stress fracture in the metatarsal a couple of years ago. So I rested it and began thinking about my options. I wasn't sure if it was the running or some of the things we did during the resistance work...step-ups, jumping, etc.

We hauled out my old Raleigh C30 hybrid bike and took it to a bike shop for rehabbing. I started to ride the stationary bike at the gym. Thursday I took my bike out for the first time and rode it 4.7 miles to the gym, worked out with Bob, and then rode home with him and the bike in the car.

Saturday I rode 6 miles and this morning 8.8. I like it. I'm using MapmyRide online to keep track of my rides. I can draw my route and it will tell me the mileage. I downloaded the app to my iphone but it doesn't work very well. It takes a lot of memory, which drags down my iphone 3gs, and it freezes up. The first ride I used it for, Thursday, it froze at .27 miles!

The only kink in the riding is my gears. I'm having trouble with the chain not hooking up completely in my 14the gear. I only use the middle 7 gears, and then I'm about to go down a hill, I switch to the hardest gear so I can pedal well as I near the bottom of the hill. The chain doesn't seem to want to switch well there and  I end up pedaling air until I either stop and slip it over, or switch around the gears until it catches. We took it back to the bike shop and they say there is nothing wrong with it. But it sure is putting a damper on my enjoyment.

We are doing strength training 3 times a week now and I can tell I'm gaining strength in my upper body. And I really haven't had too many fatigue issues. Just a day here or there.

Like a Big Grown-Up Play Date

Last night I went to Charlotte with my friend Liz to the yoga class at The Yoga Center. This was my third visit and by far that most fun. The teacher, Phyllis, was back on her game after being down with a virus for a couple of weeks. And so she worked us hard.

We did a lot of prep work on the ground and at a rope wall. (You can see a photo of that on the website) This was all leading up to doing backbends and handstands. I was very pleased to be able to get up into a handstand unassisted at the first try. My backbends were pretty good, too. But we did those with chairs underneath them. So I think my next step will be to do backbends starting on the floor.

We came out of there not tired but really energized and feeling like we had worked hard. To start the day in Jazzercise and then end it in yoga is a GOOD THING!

In between? Not much. I finished the first season of "The Wire" and then read my book. I can tell I'll probably finish it today. It's good to have a book that you can dive into and are reluctant to put down. But I do need to do some house stuff today.

Kingklip

Last night we tried Kingklip. I'm glad it didn't look like this when I bought it. Kind of eel-y lookin', eh?

I was looking for salmon to make our favorite salads with and saw this. The meat was gorgeous-looking and the price was $8.99/lb. I asked the fishmonger about it. He told me it's a lot like grouper.

And it is, but it has a very firm, almost crabmeat quality to it too. It kind of strings like crabmeat, if you get what I'm saying. We grilled it. I put Jerk seasoning on it after brushing it with olive oil. I started with it on foil on top of the grill and then moved it to the grates to finish. We also had roasted corn on the cob and salad. Excellent meal! We had a little piece left over so today I've shredded it and added to pasta, fresh tomato and pesto for my lunch.

Last night we watched an episode of "Expedition Africa." I think it's on the History channel. Too lazy to stop and look it up. Anyway, these people are reinacting Stanley's journey when he ended up finding Livingston. Kind of cool.

Did Jazz and then yoga this morning. I have one month to do as much yoga as I can before school starts. I intend to do that. I also talked to the teacher about doing a couple of private sessions. I've told her what my goals are and she'll craft a home practice for me. Woot!

Mensa Boy is out fixing the sprinkler system. It got stuck on the last station the other day and sprayed for something like 90 before I noticed it. He says it was a bad solenoid...is that how you spell it? He's so cute when he fixes something he's never fixed before. Proud of himself. And he should be! His next couple of projects are the ice dispenser in the refrigerator and the carpet cleaner.

Summer "To Do" List

Today marks the beginning of my summer break. Sort of. I'll go back on June 22 for 2 or 3 more days. We will be ramping up our School Report Card report to the state, and it involves documentation and records. And I would be the Registrar. So that's MY STUFF everyone wants to paw through.

Between now and Saturday I'll begin my summer stuff and then my adorable bff Julie will come for an 8 day visit. During that time we will drink wine, play board games, watch movies, paint 2 bathrooms and probably more stuff, and then we'll go to the beach.

Then I work those few days and begin my summer in earnest. And so to be true to my nature I have made The List:

1. Do yoga 3 times a week, Jazz 3 or 4 times a week.
   
2. Back up and clean our two computers
3. Work more on moving the old Gone to Carolina blog over to this one
4. Work in Photoshop with my new Wacom Bamboo Fun Tablet(It arrives in a few days). It should enable me to improve my skills on selecting and deleting objects in photos and many other things that require more detail work. I'M EXCITED! But I'll have to try to contain myself while Julie is here...

So there you go. Now it's out there for the internet to see. You can ask me how I'm coming on it.

Yoga+Jazz=WipeOut

But it's a good wipe out.

I've been doing okay in Jazzercise lately...able to hold my own for the most part. But there are a lot of classes where I'm just fatigued and sore during class and don't have the flexibility I'd like.

So I decided to try doing a yin yoga practice before Jazz by way of a warm-up. Yin yoga is a style that calls for holding poses for 5 minutes or so (or working up to that if you need to), and relaxing every muscle that you don't need to hold the pose. It's pretty darn hard. You have to take an inventory of your body during the pose and figure out if you need each muscle. If not, then you make it relax. The good part of all of that is that having the muscles relaxed allows the fascia to stretch. And when you get those deeper tissues stretching you get a very nice, fluid feeling in your body. I just started doing some yin yoga this weekend I like it very much. I've been doing a sequence I found in The Yoga Journal. Here is the link: Sweet Surrender.

So anyway, I did the practice Sunday by itself and then decided to try it last night before Jazz. It was a great experience! With the exception of a little muscle over my right hip, I felt great through the entire class. But man was I tired when I got home! And sore. I took a couple of Tylenol before bed last night to ease the sore muscles and slept like a baby. I'm going to see if I can get Mensa Boy to do some of those poses too. I think he'd find it would help his running a bit.

So it's raining today. Bear was not interested in going outside, so we did the backyard thing rather than trudging around the block in the rain. The garden looks joyful this morning as it soaks up the water.