Unplugged: In Water

As I headed to the pool, I told myself You have all day. I wanted to swim a mile which I haven't done in a while. One of my friends does not care for lap swimming. She finds it boring and I totally get that. In fact, I sometimes long for a water MP3 player but I won't buy one because sometimes you just have to be unplugged.

This swimming instructor told her student that he could not go in the lap lanes because they were for people swimming back and forth. Poor child must have been confused as I stood there motionless trying to ready myself for the full brunt of the frigid water...

Needless to say, I am all kinds of inspired by Diana Nyad and, as I struggled to swim one mile, I thought about how she swam 110 miles in 53 hours.

Went to sign up for boxing at the Y and saw that the price had been raised by $12 dollars which, in the larger scheme of things, is not that much money but it's $31 a month and $10 more than I pay for the fitness club that I'm currently going to. Plus, there are other fitness expenses including rock climbing. I wondered if it was time to switch over and get all my fitness needs taken care of under one roof but even if I get a Y membership at $63 a month, I'd still have to pay $31 for boxing because it's a specialty class.

After seeing a picture of Josie who blogs under Yum Yucky, I decided to give boxing a break. Josie works out at home all the time and so does Gingerzingi. I have more than enough DVDs to work out on my own for a couple days a week.

Earlier in the week, my colleague said that she had a feeling of deja vu as I tried to release the tweak in the middle of my back with seated spinal twists, shoulder rolls and shoulder hugs.

It took everything in me not to get down on the floor and do cat/cow or crocodile pose. I wasn't sure what would relieve my side stitch though.

I was feeling the love from mile two of Just Walk* which is the walk and tone segment. The resistance band seemed innocent enough but it worked my back deeper than I had expected. The other Just Walk segments are:

Mile 1: Classic Low Impact
Mile 3: Speed Intervals
Mile 4: Strength Intervals
Mile 5: Ab Walk

I thought about Hazira while I did these miles -- especially mile one. What do you say Hazira? Will you try this one with me?

During mile five, Sansone encourages you to get your navel to your spine and says that Stability gives you power which is true in more ways than one. I also like it when Sansone says Every system of the body works better when you work out -- something that I know but I never tire of hearing.

A woman named Lori joins Sansone and her crew during the cool down. Lori was able to walk off 140 pounds. Hoping that I'll be able to walk off a considerable amount as well.

Can't wait to incorporate Just Walk and other DVDs as I shake up my routine.

*Disclosure: I received this video without charge.

Take The Time To Squeeze It

On tap for today's cardio portion of the program was a 7:00 p.m. selection of Step Interval.

Hmmmm, I don't think evening exercise is for me. First, I watched the news dominated, of course, by events in Haiti, ate and threw a load of clothes in the laundry. I was ultra-relaxed and having second thoughts about Step Interval which is why I normally head straight to the gym after work. Nevertheless, I took my less sore glutei (wording especially for Yum Yucky and purple_moonflower123) and worked them out some more.

The woman who taught the class was named The Squat Mistress Toni. Good God! She believed in squats and reminded us to take the the time to squeeze it i.e. our butts when we came up. I was also introduced to the chair. Hold it. Hold it.



We held the chair long enough for me to get vocal and amuse the woman next to me. Toni actually used peer pressure to keep us in the chair pose -- saying that we would not finish until everyone crouched down and went into a holding pattern.

Tammy (another instructor) jumped into the class while it was in session. I took Tammy's Drills To Make You Sweat Class. Tammy has the oddest most business-like expression on her face and she actually unnerves me a bit. She certainly kicked my butt when I took her class. I think I'm going to start referring to Tammy as Léon: The Professional...

Has anyone ever done the bridge before? Well, I hadn't. Toni was like place your mat at the edge of your step, put your butt as close to the step as you can get it then place your feet on the step. We also had weights to play with while we were doing the bridge. I was hurtin' for certain. For the record, I would not attempt a bridge on a fitness ball because London Bridge would definitely fall down.



While we were doing some routine on the step, I could not get the choreography down. I was so embarrassed but I got over it.

Anything Can Happen

I watched Spirit of the Marathon over at Hulu.com.



I'm not a runner but Spirit... moved me. I enjoyed the sportsmanship, Deena Kastor's inspirational finish in a Chicago Marathon and Kathrine Switzer's groundbreaking move; using initials only, she signed up for the Boston Marathon at a time when it was off-limits to women. The race founder literally tried to knock her out of the race; what a punk...

I went swimming today and got in 20 laps. As usual, I had a reusable bottle at the end of my lane so that I could stay hydrated. Drill sergeant Judy of Bally Total Fitness fame told me how important it is to drink water while in the water. She said that you don't see it but you are sweating while during water workouts.

For those days that I am out-and-out sweating, I thank Josie over at Yum Yucky for the Pond's Gym Essentials. I really don't have a lot of things on the ol' want list these days but this giveaway was a cool one. I really didn't think that I had much of a chance but as Josie said:

Ahh, but anything can happen at Yum Yucky. Congrats!