Progression

Bike weather today. Pool weather for the next week...

I hopped on my Globe Vienna by ten and stopped to admire the flowers along the way. It was like a little oasis by the lily pads.

Got home and since I was warmed up, hit the play button on Absolute Beginners: Kettlebell 3 and 1 with Amy Bento. It's been in my Netflix queue forever with a short wait status for most of that time..

Even though I'm not a beginner, I like to see how other people teach kettlebell and to see if I can pick up any tips.

I didn't do the whole workout but I did like the simplicity of the workout -- just some good ol' swinging -- two-hand, one-hand, cleans, jerks...The sweat was rolling after just five minutes. I decided to practice the snatch. I was not in class when Marisa taught it so I usually do a clean and press while everyone else is doing the snatch.

I did what Phil Scarito said in the video below and success! I love that feeling of exhilaration that comes with learning how to do something and I liked doing the snatch in three parts (high pull progression). I instantly felt the fruit of my labor smack dab in the middle of my back. No pain. Just gain.

Enter The Gym

We were supposed to be a party of four today but Patti's newbie backed out at the last minute. It seems to take rock climbing newbies a few false starts before they actually enter the gym.

Joe showed up -- that's him at the start of the Forever Loving Jah route. I climbed with Joe last Saturday while Patti was climbing outdoors.

Check out Patti on a route in Jackson Falls. Are you thinking the same thing that I am thinking? What is there to hold onto???

We had a great outing until I squared off with The Roadkill Helper route. Patti and I do our safety checks and I notice that she has her belay devices and I have my belay devices locked and ready. Only, I'm supposed to be climbing and looking at a figure eight knot and a back-up knot. You know that I never heard the end of that, right? Patti kept asking me if I was locked in...

After climbing, my upper body was all locked up and tense. I decided to do a little yoga but I don't know if Amy Bento's 10 minutes of power yoga was the best choice. I will concede that my body is not as locked up as it was before but, dang, I was tired after those ten minutes.

I do have to say that it's so refreshing to be barefoot. I really don't do it often enough. Since I've never taken an official yoga class, I often wonder if I'm doing downward facing dog right. My positioning is not as bad as I thought but, as with all things, there's definitely room for improvement.

Route tally:

5.5, The Five
5.7, Sponge Bob
5.7, The Seven
5.8, Bright Idea
5.8, Face Plant
5.8, Rainbow Bright
5.8, The Roadkill Helper



What did you do active today?