In Like or Month-End Review, January

Went to my third Zumba Gold class. While I'm not in love with Zumba, I'm definitely in like. It certainly helps that Jenn, the instructor, is all into it too. She had me laughing when she said Welcome to yoga to the group of about 40. Then You're in a two hour Zumba class. I totally wouldn't mind participating in a Zumbathon. And to think, I almost let the northwest flow and below average temperature keep me from heading out the door...

Earlier today, I saw someone that I hadn't seen in about five years and the first thing she said to me was that I had lost weight which made me feel good. It lets me know that even though I've gained weight, I haven't put it all back on.

It's, amazingly, the end of another month. Here's how I stayed active:


10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fit Mix

Fat Blasting Interval, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: KnockOut BODY!

Knockout Body Blast, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones

10 Minute Stretch, 2 x's

Boxing, 4 x's

Kettlebell, 5 x's

Rock Climbing, 5 x's

Supreme Day 90, 2 x's

Swimming, 3 x's

Walking, 5 x's

Yoga, 12 x's

Zumba Gold, 3 x's


Tried any new activities?

Putting My Back Into It

Want One

This week, I'm keenly aware of my back.

I feel every downward facing dog, every punch that I've thrown, every route that I've climbed, and every kettlebell clean and press that I've executed. There's no pain but a feeling of expansion.

Kettlebell practice was mostly about the upper body. I enjoyed working on the TRX and it did cross my mind that maybe I should get one -- along with a boxing bag but only if I unclutter more.

For my fellow kettlebeller, Tiffany, I have several nicknames -- Little Ms. Turkish Get-Up and Princess Tiffany (for the sparkly headbands that she wears at times). Tonight, she was Cirque du Soleil for doing a plank, arms-extended, from a medicine ball.

As for me, I had to ditch the medicine ball and modify since it's always a risky situation when I try to perch on a ball.

We Did The Wild Thing

10 Mins Before Class

I've been thinking about giving up a few classes until the New Year's craze settles down. Even so, I didn't consider that option for Gloria's class.

To alleviate the real estate issue, Gloria offered to teach two classes on Sunday but the gym wasn't receptive to the idea but, when I looked online last night, I was surprised to see two Gloria classes scheduled for Sunday. A note on the door said that the additional class is a seasonal adjustment which is funny because the attendance in Gloria's class is not a seasonal thing.

After I put my mat down, I headed out of the room and this newbie wanted to know if the class was starting or ending. I told her that it was starting and that she should enter immediately.

As sweat started rolling down my face after a couple of sun salutations, I thought about how peaceful Gloria's class is even though it's packed to the rafters...

Gloria mentioned that practicing yoga is a chance to recharge your Prana which I was sorely in need of as I have been feeling out of sorts and blueish for days.

We did wild thing pose and it was the perfect asana for me this morning. I found it challenging but fun and very liberating.

The Put Down Factor

Saw Swimming Studies on someone's must-read list. It's an interesting book by Leanne Shapton, an almost Olympian. What I enjoyed about the story is Shapton's devotion to swimming -- all the way up to her fascination with the Titanic disaster from the perspective of a swimmer.

Being a newer swimmer, I haven't spent time considering swimming-related injuries so I found the tidbit below interesting:

Freestylers, backstrokers, and butterflyers usually have shoulder problems, but most breaststrokers have knee problems...After workouts and races, I would sit in the bleachers with a styrofoam cup of frozen water, rolling the flat ice against the insides of my knees until they turned bright pink and lost all feeling... (4)

Shapton has illustrations of swimmers and a Smithsonian-like catalog of swimming suits that she once owned along with notes of where she bought them from and where she swam in them (Canadian Olympic trials, Switzerland). I like Shapton's portraits of what it requires to compete then later of her non-competitive tendencies:

The last ten or fifteen meters are tho most painful, physically and mentally. Muscles flood with lactic acid. Strokes shorten, weaken, churn, and find no purchase. It's a terrible, desperate feeling, where the results of training are determined. Not enough cardio and your entire body fails, not enough drills and your stroke slips, not enough strength training and muscles burn like paper curling in flames. (33-34)

* * *

I'm a poorly drawn jock. I suspect, these days, I am more suited to bathing...(288)

Swimming Studies is a bit eccentric but I was drawn in from the beginning and couldn't put it down. I totally related to Shapton when she forgets to pack her swimming suit and is at a hotel with a famous swimming pool. Been there -- not at a famous pool but leaving my swimming suit or workout gear at home because I didn't think I'd have a window of opportunity then debating about whether I should buy something new...

No Rep Left Behind

If Marisa says that we're doing a Tabata with six sets of triceps dips then we're going to do them but not because Marisa realizes that she stopped at five but because of Tiffany who will remind her.

It doesn't matter if I call Tiffany Little Miss Turkish Get-Up or I tell her that I'll see her on the parking lot afterwards, she never lets us forget a rep or circuit but, as Marisa likes to say, you're only cheating yourself when you don't push...

Tiffany tells me I'm a scientist and a Type A Personality... Ugh, she can't help herself. I ask Tiffany how often she works out. She tells me five days a week then I wouldn't be able to make it through work if I didn't. I assured Tiffany that she was not the only one who wouldn't be able to make it.

At one point, we get up after doing some situation on the floor and Marisa wants us to do jumping jacks but I cannot get the signal from my brain to my legs and arms so I take a break...Marisa definitely came prepared with one of her wreck you routines...

My massage therapist gave me Epsom salt the last time that I saw her. Go ahead and use the whole thing...and it will be fragrant because it has essential oils in it, she said.

Post-Kettlebell Rx

As I read in the bath, I thought about Hazira who thinks about the financial situation of friends in the former Yugoslavia. Hazira asked me how much my ings (climbing, swimming etc.) cost per month and how much for massage. I know it's a luxury but not...

Current Reading Material

The Yoga Ambassador

Got quizzed by a few regulars in a yoga class including one who said I don't think I've seen you before.

They like to introduce themselves, Sharon said as she walked by me. I totally didn't mind. I love decorum and I hope that I'm still practicing yoga as a senior; I will walk around and be an ambassador as well.

Sharon told us that it was a gentle yoga class and we wouldn't be doing the likes of downward facing dog. No problem, Sharon, I knew what I was getting myself into and I definitely was not going to bemoan the absence of down...dog.

Sharon wasn't totally honest, though, because we did wall dog -- a modification of downward facing dog using the yoga wall and a bar. A dog is a dog is a dog.

Haven't taken Sharon's class in ages but I still love it when she says And breathe...don't hold your breath because when she's says it, I'm usually holding said breath.

At some point during savasana, the teacher wants you to wiggle your toes or make circles with your wrists and to bring your awareness back to the present and there's always part of me that's screaming and shaking my head on the inside. No, no, no -- I don't want to come back to the present.

As I rested on my side, I started thinking about the problem with yoga and massage -- I never want to leave those rooms.

As yogis put on coats, a woman said I could go for a massage right now.

Stop it!, I said. Just stop it....

Belly Breaths and Such

Anantasana or Lord Vishnu Pose

Enjoyed yoga practice. Gloria made me chuckle when she said Free the belly as we went into child's pose. We got back in touch with the belly before savasana when Gloria asked us to put our hands on our stomachs and take deep belly breaths.

Enjoyed the preparation for Lord Vishnu and enjoyed the pose as well.

I checked out LV and now know why I liked the pose so much:

The peace-loving deity of the Hindu Trinity, Vishnu is the Preserver or Sustainer of life with his steadfast principles of order, righteousness and truth. When these values are under threat, Vishnu emerges out of his transcendence to restore peace and order on earth...

What did you enjoy today?