January

I've been thinking a lot about January lately.

It seems like December is always a rough month for me and I don't know why.  I always want to end the year with a bang but something (seemingly) disastrous happens and I somehow survive the end of the year and make it to the next.  This year is not that catastrophic, and it will be the month this year where I have a new addition to the family.... but December exhausts me.

And so I've already been considering January and 2011.  I think I want to make 2011 a year of health: Physical health, mental health, financial health.

In January, physical health will be my shoulder surgery and beginning the long process back to full shoulder mobility; mental health will be re-reading "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin and possibly putting my own happiness project to work... I've already started it but need to implement more; and financial health will be re-implementing "No Buy Month."

For "No Buy Month" I'm not allowed to purchase anything that I don't need.  Since it will be after the holidays, I will allow myself to spend gift cards, but aside from food, bills, puppy products & household necessities, I will not be making any unnecessary purchases with my paycheck.  I realized today that I can have all of my debt paid off in under two years while greatly increasing my retirement accounts if I just get serious about it.  I have a goal to have $100,000 in retirement by the time I'm 30, but at this rate it definitely won't be happening.  I need to stop flaking and purchasing unnecessary items and get my act together!

So there it is... now I have something to look forward to while I finish out the last two weeks of an absolutely miserable month. And hopefully will be getting puppy on Saturday!  Co-worker said he's drinking water and eating solid food, so he's ready to go!!

Tower Climb Results

I came in FOURTH in my age group!! My official time was 23:09.1

193 overall, but not too shabby for no training! Next up, a 5k!

C25K

Even though I didn't get to bed until pretty late last night I woke up at 8 am this morning (before my alarm went off) and was excited to get out of bed and go for a run. After the run/climb yesterday I felt so energized... like I've only experienced after a really good yoga class. I've always hated running before, but for the first time I wanted to do more.

My brother told me about this program yesterday called Couch to 5k, or C25K. Basically its a program for people who don't work out to be running a 5k within 9 weeks. I looked at the online version, but since I don't have a watch I can use while running I started checking out iPhone podcasts. Then I ran across the app... you run your own music, it keeps time for you and has the workouts all laid out and it tells you when to switch. Even thought $3 is a little hefty for me for an iPhone app, I bought it and tried it out this morning.

I started running without any specific route in mind and was pleasantly surprised when it told me I had hit the halfway mark so I was able to start heading back. Turns out in the 30 mins I managed to jog/walk 3.12 miles today... a 5k! I also had a 5 minute walk back to my apartment once it ended, but that put me on pace for a 11 min/mile which isn't too bad considering I haven't done any serious running (minus yesterday) since I was a senior in high school.

I'm going to see if there are any 5k runs starting in May, but if not I'll probably have to wait until September or October... there aren't many runs during the summer here! There's also another climb in May, only 32 flights (instead of the 90 I did yesterday) so I'm considering doing that.

Tower climb!

Woke up this morning at 5:30 to participate in the 25th Cystic Fibrosis Tower run.

I don't know my time yet, but I think I ran the tower climb in a little over 20 minutes. All I have to say is I wish I'd trained more...

The mile was the hardest part for me. I started off well but since I mostly abhor running, the bulk of my group started passing me. Once we got into the tower to start climbing the 952 stairs to the top, I was able to pass up a lot of the girls that had flown by me earlier.

It's really foggy today so I wasn't able to take a picture from the top, but here I am after the run. I'm proud of myself for completing it... maybe next up a 5k!

Yoga

Been a rough few weeks as far as yoga goes, but planning to go to yoga tonight just in time for the holidays. Making the long drive tomorrow night and have much to do tonight to get ready!

Another week

Happy Sunday! Today was a great yoga practice and a healthy dinner of an orange, avocado and alfalfa sprouts (with balsamic vinaigrette) sandwich which was delicious.

I mostly spent all weekend eating and watching tv shows with friend, but am ready to eat healthy and get in some more yoga time. Since I no longer fit in one of my pants I got only two months ago, I am now selling those on eBay and bought a new pair of shorts the replace them. They look awesome and I am so excited about them.

I'm just excited for another week in general... Grape Day is this weekend and I'm very excited about that!

Daily Goal Tracker

I started using this new goal tracker yesterday called Joe's Goals... You assign points to actions that can be either positive or negative and mark off the days you accomplish the daily, giving you a score for the day or week. I have Go to Yoga as +2, Blog +1, Bring lunch to work +1, Eat out -1. Any other suggestions for items?



I added this little chart in the right hand panel on the blog so everyone can see how I do each day!

Time to Rocktober!

Today marks the beginning of a new month.

I successfully didn't purchase anything unneccesary in September. I also made ten posts... yay! Accomplished both of my goals.

This month I'll be participating in the "Eat. Sweat. Blog." challenge on SocialWorkout.com. Basically, I commit to working out at least 20 times during the month of October and completing 10 of their healthier eating "feats". I've been wanting to step up my yoga practice for awhile, since I'd been down to two practices a week. Bad.

Committing to 20 workouts during October comes out to approximately five per week. I'm going to shoot for most of those being yoga, although Fridays are hard for me to get there (last class is at 5 pm when is usually the earliest I can leave work) so I may have to substitute something else on Fridays.

Throwing a wrench in those plans is my doctor's visit yesterday where I was diagnosed with tendinitis and muscle spasms. I'm not really allowed to do anything that stretchs out my arm or requires heavy lifting... and yoga is all about stretching. Great.

I am happy that I've gotten in six practices the past eight days. I was hoping to keep it up with at least five a week, maybe even six. I feel as though I'm finally settling into a routine and finding my groove and I like it. In fact, these past few days I've been in such a great mood when I wake up... it's been refreshing.

The week begins

I reached my goal of at least 10 posts, yay!

I couldn't get to yoga yesterday, but was able to make it today. The class was a little rough, but I am happy overall that I started the week out right with yoga. I have had a problem with leg cramps in the past and one of my instructors suggested I am not replenishing my electrolytes. So today I had a vitamin water before yoga and... no cramps!

I don't want to pay extra $5-$10 a week the waters would be though, so I just bought some electrolyte pops and we'll see how those go for now.

My no-buy month ends Wednesday and I believe I have successfully stuck to it. Can't believe its almost October, but ready for hockey season!

...but if I had my way, I'd take the rain

My intention last night when I got home from yoga was to write a blog post. But since the power was out in the entire neighborhood, I did the next best thing, pen & paper! The weather has cooled off considerably since it's been raining for two days straight.. but I do love it. It makes me miss Vancouver a lot.

I took 5 days off from yoga and these past 2 practices have been really rough... but at the same time, I notice more starkly my improvements over the past two months. I still hope to improve my balance, but the standing series is much better than when I started. During floor series today, I noticed how strong my spine is and I wonder if that comes from all the years of volleyball... I am glad though that there is strength in my spine and hopefully that will lead to a stronger practice all around.

I've reached a point in my practice where I am able to mentally check out and just do the postures. I haven't yet figured out if that's actually a good thing, but it's nice to suddenly realize we're moving into camel pose and it seems like we just began.

Every day in class I stare at the 60 day challenge wall and consider attempting it... but I can't seem to mentally prepare myself for class five days a week, much less every day (or more!) for two months. Until then, I find peace in the classes I do get... the hour and a half I give to myself.

"Practice yoga, and all is coming." - Guruji

Fourteen.

(photo via lululemon)

Yesterday I read that it takes 13 classes to really get into Bikram yoga. Today was my 14th class. And let me tell you, it was leaps and bounds better than the last.

The first Bikram class I attended, I hated every minute of. During savasana I stared at the ceiling thinking how much I wanted "normal" yoga right at that moment and was never coming back, screw the 10-day pass I'd just purchased. But after I left the room the first time, I felt incredible. So I went back the next day, and again, I hated it, but not quite so much as the first time... and again, when I left the room, I felt incredible. Here I am, 3 weeks and 14 classes later committed to approximately 12 months of unlimited Bikram yoga.

How did I get here from where I was 3 weeks ago? I have no idea. But I know my shoulder pain is mostly gone. I eat less. I drink more water. I sleep better. Etc etc etc.

My poses have improved drastically over the past several weeks as well. Day 1--I'm slightly embarassed to say--I was so proud of myself with how well I could do all the poses, and I only had to lay down three times! But I didn't do the poses correctly, and that's okay. Now I pick a specific body part to focus on (it's been legs the past few classes) and make sure I have that body part correct in every single pose.

Today I pushed my backbend further than I have before and it felt amazing! My spine popped a little but I almost felt as though I could hold the pose forever...

Do you practice any form of yoga? How long have you been practicing? What changes, good or bad, have you noticed?

Back to the yoga

Tomorrow marks the end of my intro to Bikram Yoga. For 7 of the past 9 days, I've gone into the 105 degree plus room with 50-60% humidity and performed the sequence of 26 postures... some days, like today, were great days and others were terrible days. Since last Wednesday was my first time to try Bikram, I feel as though I've come a long way. I already sleep better at night, my body is more hydrated with all the water I've started drinking, I sit straigher and I breathe better.

Another benefit is that yoga breaks down scar tissue and rebuilds, and boy, is it breaking down my scar tissue in my shoulder. Granted, my shoulder always aches. I have had to sleep with it by my side since high school because the pain would be to great if I stretched it out for long periods of time. But right now, my whole upper right side is aching... my shoulder, my back, my neck... I know it all stems from the one injury, but its amazing to see how much damage was actually done during volleyball.

I talked to one of the instructors about it last night and feel better about the pain. He said it's normal to have pain while the scar tissue is breaking down... but to make sure I know my limit and the difference between good and bad pain. I still think its good pain...

And with that thought, I bid you goodnight.