This post is about yoga

I was all set up to tell you about our ski trip Friday. About how I was surprised with free ski rentals, and how my knee didn't start hurting until the afternoon.

That's not me. Please. I have too much fear for those shenanigans. No, I make desperate pleas like, "Let's just not go on a black for the first run," and then try to keep up when the adrenaline junkies don't listen. I'm far better at these kinds of poses.

But I didn't get around to blogging on Saturday. So then I was going to tell you about my (what turned out to be) 7.7 mile run on Sunday. I was going to tell you how I stocked my iPod full of soothing music and made myself run slow. About how I didn't feel any knee pain until mile 7.25.

I would have mentioned that my training plan (the one I put together before the reality of my limitations set in) called for 8 miles. I so badly wanted to finish! But I reminded myself of my goals and stopped when a twinge turned into something more.

I even considered blogging about breaking out my new headlamp for a fast, pain-free 3 mile run tonight. And how I SWEAR it started to snow! Ever so slightly...

But all I ever write about is running. So I've decided to make this post about yoga. Yesterday - after waiting in line 15 minutes to change into a sports bra and an itty bitty pair of shorts - I realized I left my water bottle in my car. Have you ever worked out for 90 minutes in 105 degrees without water? I have now.

My 2011 fitness goal dissertation

Happy New Year!

Yeah, yeah. I know it's January 5th. But you have no idea the hours upon hours I have spent dreaming up, analyzing, re-working and prioritizing my 2011 fitness goals. Now I can only hope that it won't take you equally long to read this post. (Sorry!)

These goals are in a particular order.

MY MUST MEET GOALS

1) Be smart about injuries. This used to say something like "injury free." But why not set myself up for success instead? And since I believe goals should be measurable, "smart" means the following:

• No running in pain. I'll tolerate a little twinge here and there, but no aggravating an injury just to get a run in.


• Strength training. Some of my muscle groups are definitely stronger than others (i.e. I can barely fit my rockin' calves in ski boots, yet strain my hip muscles every other time I run up a hill.). I'm also aware of a few left vs. right side imbalances (besides just my lips). I'm hoping tackling some of these issues will ultimately help heal and prevent injuries.


• Vitamins. Believe it or not, I didn't even think about this until Page made the recommendation. And seeing as how she could probably run a marathon in the time it takes me to tie my shoes, I'm going to listen. Thanks Page!


• Stretch and ice. I accidentally just typed pie instead of ice. What do you suppose that means?

2) Keep running. No longer than one week without going for a run. It doesn't matter how fast or how far, I just want to keep running.

Note: I may need YOUR help next year remembering how to count (i.e. 1 comes before 2, which comes before 3, 4 and 5 etc.).

WHAT I'D REALLY LIKE TO DO IF MY KNEE LETS ME

3) Complete the Northern California Half Marathon Series. In order to complete the series you have to run four out of about a dozen half marathons in Northern California. I'm pretty much set on running the Oakland Running Festival, the Healdsburg Half Marathon and the Walnut Creek Half Marathon. The jury's still out on half marathon #4, but I'm leaning towards the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge.

4) Run a full marathon. My first marathon...whoa. "Wait a second!" You might say. "I've seen your sidebar and there's a marathon there!" Okay, yeah. That's true. This is the one and only marathon I have ever entered and I did, in fact, complete it. But it was far from ideal. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was happy to cross it off my bucket list and vowed never to do one again.

Well, I've changed my mind. I need a redo. I want to wipe that race from my history and run my first marathon again. And let me be clear. My goal is to run* a full marathon. Not walk a full marathon. Not race a full marathon. Not finish a full marathon.

*Walking through aid stations is acceptable.

5) Beat some times. Before "the knee" I had the times below in mind. They felt a little intimidating, but I also felt excited for and up to the challenge. I typically set time goals I know I can achieve and purposely decided to shoot for the numbers I really wanted instead. Unfortunately, hitting these targets would require some serious training that is not currently happening due to said "knee."

• Run a half marathon in under 1:50
• Run a 10K in under 50:00
• Run a 5K in under 24:00

MY BACK UP PLAN

My stupid knee is forcing me to do something I am really bad at. I mean worse than peeing while standing up kind of bad at. And that is - drum roll please - going with the flow. But my knee isn't really into being predictable. So I'm tossing a few ideas around in case I have to throw out goals 3-5.

• Lots more yoga. I've done a 30 day challenge, but maybe I could do a 100 day challenge or something.


• Learn to swim and/or bike since I am, after all, intrigued by the concept of a traithlon.


• Join a cheerleading squad. Say what?!?! For those of you that don't know, I was a cheerleader in a former life and actually coached high school cheerleading for a couple years. I considered trying out for this squad for a couple years, but never took the plunge.


• Try something completely new. Like ballet.

The limiting factor

Once upon a time I was a weight lifter. Nothing hardcore, just a few curls here and a few presses there. When I found a weight especially heavy I also found it especially difficult NOT to make this face. (Note that I'm lifting the left side of my upper lip in the picture below. My involuntary lips curls were always on the right side of my upper lip. This will be important later...)

But then I stopped lifting weights and Elvis Presley left my lips. Until now. For the last week or so he's crept back in every time I try and pull my leg much higher than my head in this pose. (Picture featuring random internet lady.)

The curious thing about this phenomena is that I can't actually raise the right side of my upper lip on my own accord. If I make an attempt it ends up looking like this.

I'm not sure which is more embarassing. Making an Elvis face in yoga class or posting these pictures on the internet. Seriously. I look really bad.

The eye of the storm

I've been a little remiss in posting this week. But only because I didn't want to bore you. You need only to look to my blog title to know what I've been up to.

I did also make it to yoga once. Superwoman (That's what Kelsea and I call her.) was teaching and I barely made it out alive. The room is always unquestionably hotter when she teaches. And I laced up my tired, old pair of Adidas' once. The plan was to run one mile, but I was feeling so good I decided to go crazy and run two. How about that?

I did leave one unfortunate detail out of my Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas race report. My extreme knee pain. I started to feel it during the race but pushed through it. Which probably wasn't the best thing to do, because it only grew increasingly worse throughout the rest of the day. I was kind of bummed out about this because I've never really had knee problems before and wasn't really interested in starting.

The good news is it was completely gone by Tuesday and held up just fine during my run. And I only felt the very slightest twinge of irritation during one yoga pose. Still, I'm going to take it easy through the rest of the month. You might catch me cuddled on the couch, eating bags of Christmas cookies, watching Home Alone and enjoying this guy! (Don't worry. I have big off-the-couch plans for 2011...)

Points go to anyone who names our tree topper.

A few highlights

1) After I kicked the turkey's ass in the Walnut Creek 5K, I got to thinking that I might be underestimating myself. Really what I'm saying here is that I'm afraid to set goals there's a chance I can't reach. And that's stupid. Life's about taking risks, right?

This is what I was thinking when our Team Challenge coach gave his schpeal on how, "It's okay to run in a place that's uncomfortable." Right. It's not a question of what I can do and what I can't do. It's a question of comfort. The 5K showed me how much more I'm capable of if I let myself become "uncomfortable."

And this is what I was thinking when I opened up my Google Reader and saw this post on the Oh Healthy Day blog. I stopped thinking, and I decided. I'm shooting for a sub 2 hour half marathon in Las Vegas. I'm going for it. THIS SUNDAY.

2) Our Team Challenge coach also gave us a stern lecture on not wearing anything new on race day. I listened quietly, knowing full well that I plan on wearing a new shirt and two new pairs of socks. Yes, two. These socks are my next anti-blister plan of attack. I feel so rebellious.

3) My calves hurt for 4 days after the Walnut Creek Turkey Trot.

4) I did some speed work on the track on Saturday anyway. I was pretty excited to get out there during the daylight. Unfortunately all that meant was I was able to see all the puddles, mud, goose poop and random benches and tables really well. I had to jump back and forth between the track and football field. And, not surprisingly, managed to slide in the mud and fall down halfway through my first 800m. Beautiful.

5) I love 105 degree yoga in the winter. This is exactly where I wanted to be last night.

6) I went for a cold, dark 5 mile run tonight. I took a handheld flashlight. Pretty sure I looked like a strobe light running down the street. An elementary-school-aged boy out collecting the mail sprinted back into his house when he saw me coming. Intimidated by my beauty probably. Oh puberty.

7) My calves are sore again.

8) I'm pretty excited for the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon this weekend.

9) It's been ages since I got a haircut. My color is looking a little dull too. What do you think? Brown or light red?

Dark red?
Bright red?
Or blonde highlights?

Digesting vacation

I'm back again! From the land of family, food and air conditioning.

Jason and I were in Pensacola, Florida since last Friday visiting his family. It was a nice break from the real world, as all vacations are. And we didn't do much besides eat, sleep, read and watch television. Just to be clear - this is exactly my ideal vacation. "What about sight seeing?" you say. No. I'm not into that.

Did I mention we ate? Oh boy did we eat. Pizza, cake, bacon, cookies, danish, more pizza, pumpkin pie, ice cream, hamburgers, french fries, milk shakes, more pie, and more ice cream. Among other things. Then I topped it off with an entire Chipotle burrito bowl on the way home from the airport yesterday that I'm still digesting. As pleasurable as it was, my body was definitely ready to get back into the swing of things today.

The good news is I was able to squeeze in my long run (9 miles) Thursday night before we flew out. And it felt great! I realized that I really like running at night. I might call this time of day evening during the summer when the sun stays out longer. But at this stage of the year, it's definitely night. And I have decided. Running at night is far better than running in the evening. Even if the time on the clock is the same. Only bummer is not being able to see (eh, details).

I was also able to squeeze in a run (6 miles) in Florida and make it back in time for yoga yesterday.

I made it to one of these twice in Florida. Once because it happened to be 3 miles into my 6 mile out and back run. And then again the next day to eat.

And there you have it. You're all caught up!

Turn that frown upside down!

I'm 'chicken pecking' this post. Typing with my right hand only. Because of this bad boy.

I sprayed hot oil all over my forearm flipping over a fish filet tonight. I can assure you there was much yelping, cursing, and maybe even a few tears. But I survived. Not only that. I refuse to drink from my glass half full of poison! Instead I will focus on the ingenious engineering behind the contraption (displayed above) that kept my arm iced all evening.

I will also focus on the marvelous product of my blood and sweat. (Not because I intend to become a food blogger, but to reassure myself that my sacrifice was not in vain.) Tilapia, kale, gold beets, walnuts, balsamic red wine reduction and goat cheese. Mmm!

Also-I will not complain about the poorly marked Team Challenge group run routes! So I ran past the turnaround for the second out of two runs this past Saturday morning? No problem. It makes for good post run fodder. I should listen to my teammate that said, "We need a GPS tracking device for Laura!" Perhaps it's time I bought myself a Garmin?!

Instead, I'll tell you about what an awesome run I had. I managed to keep up with a couple other runners this time, despite the extra distance and the rumbling in my tummy. No need to even mention how my antibiotic induced nausea progressed to full fledged diarrhea and vomitus Saturday afternoon. No need. (Who advertises their bowels over the internet anyway?) All that matters is that my affliction AND those meds are gone!

Gone in time for Tuesday yoga. And what a fabulous yoga day it was. One of the best I've had in a long time. Not only that. How big is the pain in my ass? Today I'm a 0/0!

Weighing the pain in my ass

More on the topic of yoga funk...boy was I in one yesterday. It occurred to me, just as class was beginning, that I really didn't want to be there. My first thoughts sounded something like, "Are you kidding me?! I have another 90 minutes of this (you can fill in the blank)!" Weird, I know. I usually love yoga.

After much time and consideration, I have concluded that my angry feelings stemmed from frustration. Frustration with my hips. And yes, I mean hips in the plural sense. My hips hurt so I rest. My hips start feeling better so I workout. When I workout I hurt my hips. It's a vicious cycle I just can't seem to kick. I really want to get up off the couch and I can't. It's so demoralizing.

Sigh.

I can't blog about my hip every day, but I know you are all very interested in keeping up to date. You may be asking, "How big is the pain in your ass?" Well let me tell you. In number format. Beginning with the left hip, followed by a back slash, and concluding with the right hip. For example - yesterday I was a 3/1. Today I'm a 1/0. I guess things are looking up?

0 - No pain. Party time!
1 - Pain that's so subtle anyone else wouldn't even notice. But I notice because I know it can very easily turn into a 2.
2 - Noticeable pain, but nothing bothersome.
3 - Not too bothersome, but I'm starting to get worried this will turn into a 4.
4 - Ouch.
5 - Debilitating pain. I'm walking with a limp and need a little help doing things like rolling onto my side.
6 - Now this is a serious pain in my ass. No joke.

Into thin air

I'm back!!!

I've been missing from the blog world for the past week while back in Colorado. Once a year big oil flies me to the mile high city so I can interview students at my alma mater, the Colorado School of Mines. And while I very much enjoy the free trip home, the recruiting itself is so exhausting! Interviews all day, dinners at night and now a bunch of write-ups to squeeze into the middle of my actual job. Don't get me wrong. I love meeting the "kids" (That's in quotes because, really, I'm still a kid.). It's just a lot of work. It's amazing I found time to workout!

Tuesday I (very frantically) crammed a run in between interviews and dinner. It was a pretty uneventful 4.75 miles at a, roughly, 10:15 min/mile pace. It was also on the treadmill. I used to run on the treadmill all the time. And I used to prefer running on the treadmill. Well I don't know what I was thinking. I was so bored!

Thursday I drove across town to one of the two Bikram yoga studios in the Denver metro area. And it was well worth it. It was pretty, clean and smelled like roses. Okay, maybe not roses. But it did not smell like funk. And by funk I mean gag inducing body odor. (For those of you living in the bay area and considering trialing Bikram yoga - I will say that Funky Door is pretty true to its name. If you catch a whiff of my drift. That's why I go to El Cerrito Yoga.) Luna, the yoga instructor, was positive energy packaged up into a human being. If I lived in Denver I would definitely be a regular at Bikram's Yoga College of India - Westminster.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early (specifically 6:00 am) and went for a 6.5 mile run with a friend of mine from high school who I haven't seen since, well, high school. I had such a great run I actually didn't want it to end. (Say what?!) The weather was cool, the course was flat and the company was awesome! And I felt pretty pleased with myself for keeping up the 10:00 min/mile pace at altitude.

In fact, I felt so good about this run I decided to do another one on Sunday. A bigger one. Back at sea level and on my home turf, I decided it was time to face my fears head on. What did that mean? I ran a non-stop 8 miles, in the middle of the day, and I didn't scope out the hills ahead of time. Not only that. I started up THE hill - the very hill I have been planning all of my runs AROUND for the past four months - at mile 7.

And it was TOUGH! But still a success. I didn't stop. I didn't walk. I told myself that if I could do the Oyster, I could run up a hill (or two...or five). I didn't get a headache from dehydration. And I averaged a 10:01 min/mile pace. Once again confirming that it's tougher to climb a few feet on foot than a few thousand by plane.

Deli meats and yoga

A few tips, brought to you by yesterday's yoga instructor.

• "Squeeze your chest to your thighs like a Japanese ham sandwich."
• "Feel that fresh, genoxygenated blood flowing through your body. Sooooo good."
• "Stand up, one vertebrae at a time, and pivot 185 degrees to your left."

A few follow up comments, brought to you by yours truly.

• Apparently the Japanese ham sandwich is frequently referenced in yoga. A quick Google image search yields yogis a plenty. But what I would like to know is - what does the actual sandwich look like? Is it named as such because it has very little ham? No ham? I think ham consumption is pretty low among the Japanese...does it even exist? (Oh my, why did I just spend my time researching Japanese ham sandwiches?)
• No. There's no such thing as genoxygenated.
• In case you're wondering whether I turned around and then turned just a little bit more, the answer is no. I just turned around.

Oh how I ache...

...let me count the ways.

One - My right hip flared up again. Argh! It was feeling a little sore before yoga on Tuesday, but I somehow managed to skirt through class without any further damage. Unfortunately, Wednesday's class wasn't as successful. I decided to skip my 2 mile run today in an effort to recover, and I'm okay with that.

But here's the thing. I'm going out of town for the weekend and have been feeling a bit stressed about some work, laundry etc. that needs to get done before that. I came home this afternoon, started whining to Jason about my To Do list, injuries, some other silly miscellenous mumbo jumbo and ended up in tears. Jason promptly addressed the water works by telling* me I wasn't allowed to run the scheduled 5 miles (or any for that matter) tomorrow morning if my hip hurts at all. Which it will. So looks like I will get NO running in this weekend. And this bums me out BIG TIME. I plan on taking my gear with me but doubt I will have time to get out and about.

*I do make my own decisions. In this instance, however, I must admit that Jason is right. Mom too...hate it when that happens.

Two - I woke up this morning with a sharp pain on the right side of my chest. I haven't experienced this before and have no idea what it is. I do, however, find the fact that's it's only on my right side rather curious. Perhaps I strained it while compensating for Ache #1? We use our muscles in such surprising ways sometimes. For example - what activity do you suppose aggravates my hip the most? Wrong. It's sneezing.

Three - I just hit my knee with my laptop. Hard. Can a girl catch a break??

Time to relax with a raspberry lemon drop and my Google reader.

This one's for you Laura

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!!!

A synonym for "butt"

For awhile now I have alluded to an interest in Bikram yoga. Well, my friends, it's time for a post. Here is my commentary on yesterday's class, complete with illustrations. Of some random woman I found on Google.

Back Bending
I wasn't a huge fan of this one when I first started, but I have been loving it lately. It's the first pose I can really feel in my back. Like jumping into a swimming pool that's a little too cold. "Here we go...!" And then, "Aaaaa...refreshing." Bringing the stretch into my upper back is really what has made the difference. I focus on taking full, deep breaths in order to fill and lift my lungs. Mmmm.

Eagle Pose

It reached 94 degrees yesterday outside my El Cerrito yoga studio, and somehow that translated into a hotter room. I don't totally understand why since Bikram calls for a climate controlled 105 degree room. But it did. The instructor even commented on it being an especially hot day. Normally I would find the extra heat intimidating. But a good lubricating sweat is key for eagle, and for weeks I hadn't worked up a good one in time. Yesterday I was sweating before we even started practice and slid right into this one.

Standing Bow Pulling Pose

Bikram yoga reminds me of a sprint workout. It's a series of short, intense bursts of energy. And standing bow is like your 8th 400m. Rarely am I able to hold both sets on each leg for the entirety of the alotted time without my heart running away from me. The good news is my yoga has been a lot better since I've started running again. I'm able to focus more on the postures and less on merely staying alive.

The bad news is I now focus more on the postures. Yesterday I chose to focus on how crooked my right leg was whilst pulling. The left leg is manageable. The right leg, for whatever reason, is not. No matter how hard I try to make corrections, my knee just wants to bow out, and my toe can't help but turn in. And boy did I try to correct it yesterday. And not without consequence I'm afraid...we'll get to that later.

Triangle Pose

I've been doing Bikram yoga for about a year and half now, and it's always the same 26 poses. By design. Yet the instructors will still say things here and there that make me go, "Ohhhh...that's how that works." It's one of the things I love about it. There's always something else to learn. Something else to perfect. Last week the instructor took a few minutes to explain how to approach this posture. What can I say. Whatever she said hit home. This posture feels completely and pleasantly different now.

Toe Stand
I don't have a lot to to say about toe stand other than I feel like I've been rocking it out lately. If only I had this lady's six-pack to go along with it...

Locust Pose

Usually this is one of my stronger poses. But yesterday my legs felt like logs. Just a bit of foreshadowing...

Bow Pose

I told you about my highlights so it's only fair I tell you about my lowlights. Just before beginning this pose I overheard this thought, "Only two more to go in this stupid floor series." Sadly, that quote is verbatim...

...and not even the worst part. But in order to tell that story I have to start at the beginning. In April 2007 I pulled a muscle. Bad. For the first couple weeks I could barely move. I remember breaking down into tears one morning because I couldn't get my pants on. After a few weeks of this kind of waddling around and no signs of improvement I made an appointment with the doctor (which was a fairly amusing phone call).

Me: "Hi, my name is Laura and I'd like to see a doctor about some muscle pain."

Lady on the phone: "Is the pain you're experiencing the result of any known trauma?"

Me: "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I injured it excercising."
Lady on the phone: "And where is the pain?"

Me: "Um...(clears throat)...it's uh...my butt muscle."

Flash forward to my doctor's appointment.

Me: "It's...um...pretty much right down the center of my left...uhh (croack)...butt cheek." Imagine pulling and proding.

Doctor: "Looks like you pulled a muscle in your hip." Aaaaaahhhhh!!!! The hip!!! Why didn't I think of that??!!?

But I digress. It took about a year before I could exercise without it flairing up. Even now, EITHER of my hips will flair up sporadically. I think I must favor my "good" hip without realizing it and, in doing so, strain it unnecessarily.

So there you have it. By the end of yoga I was having trouble sitting up and had to limp out of the studio. I'm quite upset about it.

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.

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!

A Giant burn

I pride myself in being pretty low maintenance when it comes to my appearance. I can pretty comfortably get ready in 35 minutes if I shower and 15 if I don't. Until now.

It all started with the Giants game last Saturday (see the pretty pictures below).

They were free tickets Jason got through work on the Club Level. (Which, side note, I have now decided is the only way to do a baseball game. ) The sun was shining, the birds were chirping (potentially), and the Giants won 2-1. A great day, right?

Let me give you some more background. That morning, as I was getting stuff together for the game, I asked Jason, "If I bring my fleece and my black, puffy coat do you think that will be enough?" That's, count 'em, two coats. Because I'm ALWAYS cold in San Francisco! Because it's ALWAYS cold! ALWAYS!!

Except for last Saturday. That's why I fried. I'm talking lobster, cherry, candy apple red fried my arms. Now I have the most ridiculous tan lines that will probably still be there one month from now when I'm walking down the aisle at Steph and Shawn's wedding in a strapless dress.

So I decided to try and bring some color to my pasty chest, in addition to soothing my arms. Hence my now high maintenance moisturizing routine:

• Mary Kay TimeWise Age-Fighting Moisturizer for my face
• Eucerine Plus Intense Repair Body Creme for my Eczema prone legs
• Aveeno Intense Relief Repair Creme for my burnt arms
• Jergens Natural Glow Daily Moisturizer for my chest

Moisturizing aside, you may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with working out?" Imagine laying on your burnt arms in a 105 degree room. That's right. I skipped yoga this week. And I'm going through withdrawls!!! Three exclamation marks worth of withdrawls! ELSHA - Go try it! Try it tomorrow! And blog about it so I can live vicariously through you!

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.

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!