I like Bikram yoga because it's hot. You "warm up" your muscles to the max and this makes it easier to go to your deepest. (That's what they say..."Go to your deepest.") It's also harder, and that gets your heart rate up. It's strength building AND a cardio workout.
The heat also makes you sweat. A lot. What did that mean for me today? Well, I should note that I dyed my hair this past Saturday. Bright red. Which means today I dyed a couple towels red. No big deal. It only interfered with my practice once when it started running into my eyes. Yikes!
I also ended up next to a rather large, rather hairy man. No problem. We come in all shapes and sizes. Except for he was SUPER stinky! But let's keep things positive. At least it wasn't....
HIP HOP!!!
Showing posts with label hip hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hip hop. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Three points with an asterisk and one without
Point 1
My thoughts are consumed with fundraising. Let me clarify. I can't stop obsessing over whether I will actually be able to raise the minimum amount required. The trouble (that I didn't fully consider when I signed up for TeamChallenge) is I feel guilty asking people for money. At some level I realize that I will need to send out "that email" asking all my friends and family to donate. BUT...and I say this like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum...I DON'T WANT TO!
But enough with the negativity. The unveiling of my race plans has brought out much love and support from my sorority sisters. Thanks and appreciaton goes out to Bonnie, Lindsey, Elsha, Sarah and Amy! And let's not forget the MOMS! (That includes both mine and Jason's.)
Stacey is also very touched by the whole ordeal and wants you to know not to be fooled by the DONATION WEBSITE. You are more than welcome to donate less than $50 by simply listing the donation YOU would like to make next to "Other." Okay, you got me. I'm actually the one that wants you to know that.
And I suppose it's a good thing that my fear of fundraising has dwarfed any fear of actually running the half, right?
Point 2
I skipped hip hop this week. You could see this coming couldn't you? I'd had enough of Mighty's boom-to-boom counting system, and Kelsea's elbow had had enough of the one-armed warm-ups. Last week we only used our right arm in the "warm-up". What's up with that?! (The quotation marks have to do with the fact that the warm-up lasts probably 30 to 45 minutes. That's half of the class. The question and exclamation marks have to do with, "What's up with that?!") We both agreed that it was a sunk cost* and went to yoga instead. After yoga Kelsea** remarked on how much better yoga is than hip hop.***
As much as I enjoyed replacing hip hop with yoga, it threw off my workout schedule this week. How else was I to cross train? Enter - the bicycle. Detailed bicycle blogging will come in the future. For now I will leave you with the expression, "It's like riding a bicycle." All my life I misunderstood its meaning. Today I realized it means scary and harder than running.
*The concept of a sunk cost may be the single most valuable lesson I learned in a college course. I have applied its principles to my own life on many occasions, and I'm a happier, more satisfied person as a result.
**Kelsea is a very smart woman with excellent taste.
***The video is coming, it's just taking awhile. I'll post a link as soon as it's up.
Point 3
In addition to being hilly, there is always wind in my neck of the woods. I find myself pushing my earbuds back in my ear every minute or two. That's way too often. It's been quite the dilemma. Then I saw a girl the other week wearing a headband covering her ears/earbuds, and I thought to myself, "What a fabulous idea!" So I ordered one from Nike and it arrived in the mail today. I'm super excited to try it out tomorrow on my long* run!
*It's really only 4 miles. But keep in mind - not too long ago I was only running 0.95 miles at a time and not too long before that I was stitting on the couch.
Point 4
This week one of my co-workers said to me, "Are you jogging again?"
Me: "Yes I am."
Co-worker: "You look smaller. Not that you looked big before. But you look noticeably smaller than you did a few weeks* ago."
A little tiny voice in my head said, "Awww shucks! Jogging! I'm a runner now!" But mostly I was pretty happy about that.
*I think he meant months.
My thoughts are consumed with fundraising. Let me clarify. I can't stop obsessing over whether I will actually be able to raise the minimum amount required. The trouble (that I didn't fully consider when I signed up for TeamChallenge) is I feel guilty asking people for money. At some level I realize that I will need to send out "that email" asking all my friends and family to donate. BUT...and I say this like a two-year-old throwing a temper tantrum...I DON'T WANT TO!
But enough with the negativity. The unveiling of my race plans has brought out much love and support from my sorority sisters. Thanks and appreciaton goes out to Bonnie, Lindsey, Elsha, Sarah and Amy! And let's not forget the MOMS! (That includes both mine and Jason's.)
Stacey is also very touched by the whole ordeal and wants you to know not to be fooled by the DONATION WEBSITE. You are more than welcome to donate less than $50 by simply listing the donation YOU would like to make next to "Other." Okay, you got me. I'm actually the one that wants you to know that.
And I suppose it's a good thing that my fear of fundraising has dwarfed any fear of actually running the half, right?
Point 2
I skipped hip hop this week. You could see this coming couldn't you? I'd had enough of Mighty's boom-to-boom counting system, and Kelsea's elbow had had enough of the one-armed warm-ups. Last week we only used our right arm in the "warm-up". What's up with that?! (The quotation marks have to do with the fact that the warm-up lasts probably 30 to 45 minutes. That's half of the class. The question and exclamation marks have to do with, "What's up with that?!") We both agreed that it was a sunk cost* and went to yoga instead. After yoga Kelsea** remarked on how much better yoga is than hip hop.***
As much as I enjoyed replacing hip hop with yoga, it threw off my workout schedule this week. How else was I to cross train? Enter - the bicycle. Detailed bicycle blogging will come in the future. For now I will leave you with the expression, "It's like riding a bicycle." All my life I misunderstood its meaning. Today I realized it means scary and harder than running.
*The concept of a sunk cost may be the single most valuable lesson I learned in a college course. I have applied its principles to my own life on many occasions, and I'm a happier, more satisfied person as a result.
**Kelsea is a very smart woman with excellent taste.
***The video is coming, it's just taking awhile. I'll post a link as soon as it's up.
Point 3
In addition to being hilly, there is always wind in my neck of the woods. I find myself pushing my earbuds back in my ear every minute or two. That's way too often. It's been quite the dilemma. Then I saw a girl the other week wearing a headband covering her ears/earbuds, and I thought to myself, "What a fabulous idea!" So I ordered one from Nike and it arrived in the mail today. I'm super excited to try it out tomorrow on my long* run!
*It's really only 4 miles. But keep in mind - not too long ago I was only running 0.95 miles at a time and not too long before that I was stitting on the couch.
Point 4
This week one of my co-workers said to me, "Are you jogging again?"
Me: "Yes I am."
Co-worker: "You look smaller. Not that you looked big before. But you look noticeably smaller than you did a few weeks* ago."
A little tiny voice in my head said, "Awww shucks! Jogging! I'm a runner now!" But mostly I was pretty happy about that.
*I think he meant months.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
A stroke of genius
As I was wrapping up my post last night I asked Jason, "What was the term they used in Inception for planting an idea in someone's mind?"
Jason: "I think it was Inception."
Me: "Oh right."
In other news I went to yoga tonight for the first time in two weeks, and it was so great! I have two more weeks of hip hop and then it's yoga twice a week. I can't wait!
Jason: "I think it was Inception."
Me: "Oh right."
In other news I went to yoga tonight for the first time in two weeks, and it was so great! I have two more weeks of hip hop and then it's yoga twice a week. I can't wait!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A litte of this, a little of that
Seeing as how I cannot decide on a blog topic, I will comment on several topics:
Comment 1: Yesterday at hip hop Mighty put a stop to our dancing and said, "Hold up. I want you guys to get the timing." (Or something along those lines.) This was a drastically different tactic than the typical hand cup behind the ear, followed by two peace fingers pointed at this eyes that I gather mean: listen and watch. No, this time he was serious enough to use his voice. And his voice said, "Hold up. I want you guys to get the timing." And then he said, "It goes, da, da, da, da, boom, boom" etc. Really?
Comment 2: Today was the first day I was "too tired" to run even 0.95 miles. Now I will have to run 2 miles tomorrow to make up for it. Work is really getting in the way of my life...
Comment 3: It occurred to me the other day that Bikram is like the red headed step-child. I never blog about yoga. It's just overlooked, even though it's probably my favorite form of exercise. And my favorite hair color! (See pic of me and Mom.) I'll have to make a point to blog about it sometime.
Comment 1: Yesterday at hip hop Mighty put a stop to our dancing and said, "Hold up. I want you guys to get the timing." (Or something along those lines.) This was a drastically different tactic than the typical hand cup behind the ear, followed by two peace fingers pointed at this eyes that I gather mean: listen and watch. No, this time he was serious enough to use his voice. And his voice said, "Hold up. I want you guys to get the timing." And then he said, "It goes, da, da, da, da, boom, boom" etc. Really?
Comment 2: Today was the first day I was "too tired" to run even 0.95 miles. Now I will have to run 2 miles tomorrow to make up for it. Work is really getting in the way of my life...
Comment 3: It occurred to me the other day that Bikram is like the red headed step-child. I never blog about yoga. It's just overlooked, even though it's probably my favorite form of exercise. And my favorite hair color! (See pic of me and Mom.) I'll have to make a point to blog about it sometime.
Friday, July 16, 2010
This is your moment to suck!
This is what a lady in my hip hop class shouted out on Wednesday right after Mighty's pep talk. Mighty is the main hip hop instructor. He is the one that thinks boom is a number (as referenced in this post). Mighty is an interesting little man. I say little because he's fairly small. Mostly in height (kind of in frame, but he's clearly done a lot of working out to remedy that).
Now I'm also fairly small in height, and I like to say I make up for that in height of character. I would bet Mighty would say the same thing (He does call himself Mighty after all). Sitting a few inches past 60 is a multi-colored (purple and hot pink I believe) mohawk. And lying just below that - all the musings that fused together into the pep talk.
Now I can't remember exactly how it went. But I do remember mention of 80-year-old water skiiers, crotchety dancers and how we needed to wade through suck to become any good.
(Be forewarned, my engineering tendencies come out in this next paragraph.)
I suppose this was good advice. I took it to heart yesterday evening after my...drum roll please...0.95 mile run. (This is a 5.6% increase from the 0.88 mile daily run I had been doing. Yes, this whole time the 0.9 mile run has actually been 0.88 miles.) For some crazy reason I decided to time myself. I gave it my all and felt like I was running at a pretty good clip. I even kept my pace on the uphill! But alas, it took me 8 minutes and 28 seconds. Normalized to a full mile, that's an 8:55 minute/mile pace. An unsustainable beyond 1 mile 8:55 minute/mile pace.
I wanted to feel disappointed. But then I remembered Mighty and my fellow hip hopper. This was just my moment to suck. Just a little more wading and I'll be good.
(Also note that in a couple weeks I'll post a link to the video of our hip hop class and you will see. I suck at that too.)
Now I'm also fairly small in height, and I like to say I make up for that in height of character. I would bet Mighty would say the same thing (He does call himself Mighty after all). Sitting a few inches past 60 is a multi-colored (purple and hot pink I believe) mohawk. And lying just below that - all the musings that fused together into the pep talk.
Now I can't remember exactly how it went. But I do remember mention of 80-year-old water skiiers, crotchety dancers and how we needed to wade through suck to become any good.
(Be forewarned, my engineering tendencies come out in this next paragraph.)
I suppose this was good advice. I took it to heart yesterday evening after my...drum roll please...0.95 mile run. (This is a 5.6% increase from the 0.88 mile daily run I had been doing. Yes, this whole time the 0.9 mile run has actually been 0.88 miles.) For some crazy reason I decided to time myself. I gave it my all and felt like I was running at a pretty good clip. I even kept my pace on the uphill! But alas, it took me 8 minutes and 28 seconds. Normalized to a full mile, that's an 8:55 minute/mile pace. An unsustainable beyond 1 mile 8:55 minute/mile pace.
I wanted to feel disappointed. But then I remembered Mighty and my fellow hip hopper. This was just my moment to suck. Just a little more wading and I'll be good.
(Also note that in a couple weeks I'll post a link to the video of our hip hop class and you will see. I suck at that too.)
Monday, July 12, 2010
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas
Well now that's not entirely true. I took about 2.5 lbs home with me. And if you think vigorously dancing the night away offsets your increased alcohol consumption, well then I have news for you. That's not true either.
I have been recording my weekly stats on Sunday mornings. But yesterday (Sunday) morning I was in Vegas so the weigh-in went down this morning. Oh what a moment of hopeful dread filled me as I stepped onto the scale. Followed by inevitable disappointment. But I'm trying to stay positive and realistic. I'm still net negative for the week, and I'm still on track to meet my goal. So no harm done.
Today I went for a (you guessed it) 0.9 mile run, and tried to practice the hip hop dance. I also baked a cake.
I have been recording my weekly stats on Sunday mornings. But yesterday (Sunday) morning I was in Vegas so the weigh-in went down this morning. Oh what a moment of hopeful dread filled me as I stepped onto the scale. Followed by inevitable disappointment. But I'm trying to stay positive and realistic. I'm still net negative for the week, and I'm still on track to meet my goal. So no harm done.
Today I went for a (you guessed it) 0.9 mile run, and tried to practice the hip hop dance. I also baked a cake.
Friday, July 9, 2010
I beat the week
This week kicked my ass for two main reasons. The refinery decided to take a crap. I also happened to start a new job, and this new job placed me right in line with that crap. At one point I told a co-worker of mine, "I might have to schedule a meeting with myself just to make sure I have time to go to the bathroom." That was my work week. Long, busy hours and not enough sleep.
My workout schedule also took a step change (up) this week. Thus far I have been pretty content on the 0.9 mile/day run program. I've found that I can maintain my weight by managing what I eat and running for, well, 10 minutes a day. Then I lose a little weight once a week on yoga day. This is very manageable. But not good enough for my all or nothing personality.
So I signed up for a hip hop class. The signing up took place several weeks ago, and class just so happened to begin this week. Of all weeks. I could probably write a blog just about hip hop class, but I don't have time so I'll just share a few highlights:
1) The teacher had a completely opposite teaching style than I do, and I did not like this. When I was coaching cheerleading I taught many a dances, and I always used the 1 to 8 count approach. You know, the routine might go to a soundtrack like, "1, 2 and 3, 4, 5, 6 hold 7, 8...1, 2" etc. This instructor used the boom to boom count approach. I hadn't a clue what move was supposed to happen when until he turned the music on at like 100 times the speed.
2) The ab workout...oh my God the ab workout. All I need to say about this is I just about cracked my skull open on the decline when I hit it on the wood floor. I also woke the next day to find my muscles were about the sorest they have ever been. My neck muscles of course.
3) The 90 minute class ran 20 minutes over.
With that said, it was a good workout. That was Wednesday night. Thursday night was yoga night (Ahhh yoga!! I like you so much better than hip hop!!). Today is Friday and I have already completed a 2 mile run. These are my results:
My neck hurts (sit ups), my chest hurts (push ups), my back hurts (yoga), my legs hurt (but only a little) and my elbows hurt (I have no idea). My Monday morning weigh in was 117.6 lb / 19.5% body fat. My Friday morning weigh in was 114.4 lb / 18.4% body fat. Say what?!?! I officially need new jeans (YES!!) and as soon as I click 'Publish' I'm off to Vegas!
My workout schedule also took a step change (up) this week. Thus far I have been pretty content on the 0.9 mile/day run program. I've found that I can maintain my weight by managing what I eat and running for, well, 10 minutes a day. Then I lose a little weight once a week on yoga day. This is very manageable. But not good enough for my all or nothing personality.
So I signed up for a hip hop class. The signing up took place several weeks ago, and class just so happened to begin this week. Of all weeks. I could probably write a blog just about hip hop class, but I don't have time so I'll just share a few highlights:
1) The teacher had a completely opposite teaching style than I do, and I did not like this. When I was coaching cheerleading I taught many a dances, and I always used the 1 to 8 count approach. You know, the routine might go to a soundtrack like, "1, 2 and 3, 4, 5, 6 hold 7, 8...1, 2" etc. This instructor used the boom to boom count approach. I hadn't a clue what move was supposed to happen when until he turned the music on at like 100 times the speed.
2) The ab workout...oh my God the ab workout. All I need to say about this is I just about cracked my skull open on the decline when I hit it on the wood floor. I also woke the next day to find my muscles were about the sorest they have ever been. My neck muscles of course.
3) The 90 minute class ran 20 minutes over.
With that said, it was a good workout. That was Wednesday night. Thursday night was yoga night (Ahhh yoga!! I like you so much better than hip hop!!). Today is Friday and I have already completed a 2 mile run. These are my results:
My neck hurts (sit ups), my chest hurts (push ups), my back hurts (yoga), my legs hurt (but only a little) and my elbows hurt (I have no idea). My Monday morning weigh in was 117.6 lb / 19.5% body fat. My Friday morning weigh in was 114.4 lb / 18.4% body fat. Say what?!?! I officially need new jeans (YES!!) and as soon as I click 'Publish' I'm off to Vegas!
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