13:30 minutes. 1 mile. 1 time jumping off to stretch my arches, because they were squished and couldn’t flex properly. 1 blister. 1 “Yes We Can” and 1 “No Air” among other hot jams that kept me going.
6:00 am, you don’t scare me anymore. Sunrise, nice to see you on my way out of the gym. Happy Tuesday, friends.
Tonight = reserved for President Obama.
I hope you’ll join me in viewing so we can talk about it tomorrow. I can’t wait to see what he has to tell us.
Pedometer on. Here we go.
This week I’ve finally decided to start swimming at the gym. I bought a bathing suit a few weekends back, and I already had goggles. Swim cap ready, I headed to the gym Monday morning after waking up too late to make 6 am yoga. I swam from 6:15 to 6:45, for a total of 31 minutes, and swam 16 laps. That’s a little less than a half mile. After consulting with my sorella, I learned that she was just as slow when she started, so I didn’t feel so badly.
But I did have questions. How do you breathe? Do you breathe every stroke? Do you exhale under water? Am I kicking my legs correctly? Does it make you feel like you’re going to drown? Do you ever swallow water when trying to breathe? Why doesn’t my swim cap cover all the hair in the back, and how can I take it off without pulling out all of my hair.
Needless to say, I need a few days (and a yoga session) before I could dive back in. Last night, though, I had about 45 minutes of free time before I was supposed to meet a friend at the movies (more on that later.) I grabbed my swim stuff and headed to the (overcrowded after work) gym. One lane was open, so I grabbed it, though not for long. Soon I was sharing my lane with a speedo-wearing man, but at least he was just as slow as me, so I didn’t feel as bad. The swimmers in the middle lane were intimidating, as they didn’t stop between laps and seemed to have thrashing down to a minimum. And they didn’t stop mid-pool to make sure they were swimming straight.
Shortly after, about 20 minutes in, I was sharing the lane with two speedo-clad men. Luckily, this made me swim faster (who doesn’t love a little competition?) I ended up swimming 18 laps in 26 minutes, which was about .55 of a mile, and was faster than Monday! Improvement! Already! Splendid!
Today my back hurts a little, so I’ll be going to yoga to see how I do, but I think it’s because I am not kicking correctly….Nikita says I should use a kickboard, which I will try next time I swim.
After swimming last night I headed to the movies (located a mere 2 flights downstairs, oh LA how I love you) with my gym bag, wet hair, in sweat pants, and holding my bike helmet (I biked to the gym.) I talked to my dad on the phone, telling him about how ridiculous I looked and how hot it was outside and how I always looked like a hot mess when going to the ArcLight and someone famous always walks by. Immediately after I hung up with him (CW had arrived) Gene Simmons walked by. Serves me right.
Weekend is almost here. Can’t wait. What are you lovelies up to? Anyone have kicking technique advice?
The conversation went like this:
“I really want a new iPod.”
“But you have an iPhone.”
“But I don’t want to drain my battery all the time.”
“Well get one.”
“I want an iPod shuffle.”
“So get one.”
“I want one of the old school ones, though, that had the click buttons. I don’t like the new ones without the click buttons.” (I’ve been known to lose headphones. And if you don’t have fancy headphones, it appears you cannot use the new one…shame.)
“So get one.”
“But I don’t need one. I shouldn’t spend the money.”
So Jeff got me two, instead. Used and new, one that might work, one that will work. (Turns out, they both work. This girl just became the proud owner of two patriotic second generation iPods.)
Meet my new iPod(s). There names are: “she paints me blue” and “she’s a red star.” 
Bonus points if you can name the songs and artists of said names.
(Thank you Jeff, for delightful options and a new bff at the gym and in the car.)
Now, all of you who are constant readers know that my feet and I don’t always get along. As I type, I am rolling my feet on tennis balls, hoping to loosen my muscles before Yoga tonight. They tend to get tight during Yoga, when I need them to keep me in tree or triangle or warrior 3, and so I am hoping this will help the day.
Last night, I jumped on an elliptical machine, hoping to try something new. I set the time to twenty minutes, after spending five minutes trying to figure out exactly how to WORK the machine. (it kept telling me my target heart rate of 160 was unsafe, what?) Then I just listened to my tunes, trying not to fall off the machine or knock anyone around me. This proved harder than I thought, and around minute 10 I was sure I was going to fall off. I tried to hold onto the longer supports with my hands, but that only made it worse, and I nearly flung myself into the bike machines. So I kept them on the middle supports, heart rate monitor broken.
My feet slowly revolted, saying “no, thanks” and I began to slow down. I eventually got off (at 20 minutes) and went over to the bikes. Ahh, 10 minutes of a hard cardio workout. That’s better. Nikki insists if I walk on an incline or run I’ll be OK, but after my feet hurting that much, I don’t know. I guess I’ll only know if I try, which I intend to do: soon. Real soon. For now, I’ll stick to 11 mile bike rides, yoga, and the occasional kick boxing.
What are all of you doing for exercise these days?