Fun-ish or Month-End Review, June

Went to my treadmill and elliptical gym this morning to practice yoga. This is the second time that I've attended Anna's class and she is in love with vinyasa flow. It's chaturanga this and chaturanga that...Although, she always gives you the option to go straight to downward facing dog. Anna talked "us" through tortoise pose. It's a fun...ish pose, she said but did concede that she probably had an easier time getting into it because her arms are long. When I think about it, most of the activities that I'm involved in have elements of fun-ishness and hellishness; guess you can have everything...

5 Day Get Fit Mix

Cardio Kickboxing, 3 x's

Power Yoga, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Rapid Results fat burner

Power Sports Drill, 1 x

Bicycling, 2 x's

Boxing

Give Me 10!

Bonus Kettlebell Tone Up, 1 x

Cardio Fat Blaster, 1 x

Kettlebell Class Practice, 3 x's

Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

15-Minute Total Body Circuit

Rock Climbing, 3 x's

Swimming, 8 x's

Walking, 9 x's

Yoga, 10 x's

How would you describe your workouts?

If You're Going to Swim Like That or Stuff People Say to Me at the Pool

I don't know if there's going to be enough room in the pool now that I'm getting in.

(I was in the pool by myself.)

Now, you're going to have to get out of the pool if you're going to swim like that and show everyone up...

(Two of Us in Pool at This Point)

Have you been watching the Olympic trials?

They have amazing bodies -- like triangles. Yeah, my body is totally like that.

Me: We all have different shapes.

Kay: And God loves us all, doesn't he?

Well, sometimes I think he loves people with triangles better. I'm like an inverted triangle.

Don't let me interrupt your exercise.

I think that I have your routine down. White glasses for freestyle and dark glasses for the backstroke.

See you in four years (at the Olympics)...

Olympic Size Me

Hit the pool yesterday and the water was divine.

The lanes? Olympic-sized. That's not the actual pool that I went to but I wanted to give you an idea of how dang long the lanes are.

If you haven't heard, I've struggled mightily with front crawl breathing but I finally got the hang of it,  for the most part, and, as a result, the black line in the middle of the pool has lost its sway over me and I swim back and forth at will for 25 yards anyway.

I was interested to see how I would fare for 50 yards. My first time down the lane, I sputtered before I reached the end but on my second attempt, I settled down, relaxed and breathed calmly. It was a nice hurdle to get over... As I rested at the end of the lane, this man said that he was practicing for a sprint triathlon. I usually finish last but I don't know too many 70-year-olds doing triathlons. I congratulated him in advance.

After swimming I went to practice yoga and, because I putzed around, I got to class a minute before start time. Hello front of the classroom. The class hadn't been packed since January...Donna usually tells us to take out our eraser and get rid of the day's worries but she was on a mission last night and had a laundry list of things for us to get rid of.

Another classmate arrived about seven minutes into class. Before, I would have been annoyed but last night I actually thought there's room up here by me. I felt good after swimming but I felt entirely centered after practicing yoga. As I tweeted, yoga class was on point...

Gotten over any hurdles lately? Gone to any amazing yoga classes?

Ninja Lite

On the Down Swing

At first, it was just Chip and me and while Chip tried to decide on what 25% off kettlebell he wanted, Marisa started class. Warmed up with the usual assortment of flavors: jumping jacks, mountain climbers, plank jacks and "bend your feet and touch them." I was pretty much done after the warm-up and pretty sure that I'll never want a personal trainer.

At one point, Marisa said that she was being  nice and I thought if this is nice Marisa, hmmm...

Marisa had a bruise on her leg from a kickboxing class that she taught. Her student kicked her instead of the bag. I wanted to engage in a little kickboxing myself...

There just seemed to be no space between circuits. We did a tabata-style circuit and I swung my usual 10 kg kettlebell but alternated with a 16 kg which was the first time that I've picked up anything heavier. After 20 seconds of swinging the 16kg, I felt like I could toss my regular kettlebell as if it were a small rock.

Don't put it down this time.

How did Marisa know that I was thinking about putting down the 16 kg?

I slid, like butter, out of a plank. I did the two hand swing while others did hand-to-hand. I was punch-drunk, people.

Not even Chip's favorite Ninja song could inspire me onward. Chip did have me cracking up when he referred to tabata as Chewbacca.

At the end of class, I collapsed on the floor. The woman behind the counter was smiling from ear-to-ear and amazed by my stillness and speechlessness. Nothing worked at the end of class -- not even my vocal chords.

Uncool Like Dat

Got up and did sun breaths, then couldn't resist going for a walk since it was mild.

Did a sufficient amount of slugging then decided to hit the pool. It was tough deciding whether or not to go inside or out. I like to kick it and lounge around poolside but I also like to kick it down the lane. I headed indoors and it was a totally good decision since there was an empty lap lane. I swam for about an hour and called it a day.

Lately, I've been suppressing the urge to freak out about my weight. Watched Jeff, Who Lives at Home and Jeff called himself Sasquatch when his brother wanted him to hide. I totally related to Jeff. There are reasons that I have not freaked out. I can still wear four-year-old clothes and I've had to make adjustments to my swimsuit that I bought in October.

The Refined Look of Crude Adjustments and Safety Pins

My body is dense and, to put it mildly, it's uncool to reduce everything to and harp on a number.

It Depends on How Mental You Are or Overheard in the Gym

Belayer: You just have to step up with the right leg and let go.

Climber: Let go?

Better than ever.

Meghan's daughter's enthusiastic response to How are you?

Mom, will you spot me?

A.J. (who wanted to boulder) to Leah

A.J.'s Pancake Impression

Switch position!

There's a trio of French-speaking climbers who brought along a newbie and the belayer was giving the climber instructions in French when I heard him switch to English on a route call Switch Fast. Guess the route was appropriately named.

Yoga has helped me with my balance.

Woman with limited vision

Patti: A lot of climbing is mental.

David: Yeah, it depends on how mental you are.

David, Level of "Mental" Unknown

I think this route requires tallness. It also requires technique.

A belayer to a climber

Feet up then hands up.

A climber offering advice to a newbie

I think that I may actually throw up.

New Hot Yoga Practitioner

You don't hate me, do you?

The nauseous one's friend

Microfiber Towels -- Good for Absorbing Sweat & Vomit, If Necessary

Roll this (mat) up for me; you're 25 years younger.

Mother to daughter after Hot Yoga

The Millionth Time

Tried out a new gym with a ring and everything. Dude (Tim) was like this is an actual boxing gym and made me take off my earrings.

Tim had me shuffle around a circle while practicing a one-two punch. I shuffled one way then the other and the shuffling alone wore me out.

Next, we all headed toward the bags. One group worked the bag for a minute while the second group did conditioning (squats, jumping jacks, bob and weaving, plank jacks etc.).

My shoulders were screaming about halfway through the drills.

After working the bags for about 20 minutes or more, we headed back to the spongy floor to shadowbox.

We formed two lines and Tim gave some complicated combination which he quickly modified for me. I did a one-two punch with a slip to the right and some other situation. He had me cracking up when he told us to get back in line and keep going -- I don't think that anyone has done this for the millionth time.

After shadowboxing, it was time for push-ups with a partner. One person performed reps, while the other counted. The mission was to do 25-20-15-10 and five. My arms were buckling at one point but once you get to the 15 zone, you start knocking them out fast just to be done.

I went to a much-needed yoga class later on and when I came home, I wondered why the porch light was off. No electricity. Grabbed my fully charged iPod Touch and listened to podcasts, played games, took a yoga break courtesy of Kripalu, had a little email tennis going on with Cindy and hoped there were no slugs on the porch.

Caught light out of corner of my eye but it took a while for it to sink it that the house was fully illuminated and the lights were back on.

My upper body and forearms are wrecked on fire. Not a good idea to go climbing but I did; my pectoral muscles,axilla armpits, triceps fingertips and wrists will thank me even more in the morning.