the start

I had half a post written yesterday for the last day of nablopomo.  I did not get it finished.  So let's forget all that, and talk about something else.

Today was the first of our series of 5k races, the Jingle Bell Run.  The weather was a cloudy 39 degrees with a slight wind.  241 runners and walkers completed the race, and Sam and I did pretty well.

Laura's time: 28:17 (9:07 per mile average)
Actual splits: 9:29, 8:40, 9:10, 0:50 (ish)
Place: 107/241 overall, 15/57 in age division

Sam's time: 21:54 (7:03 per mile average)
Place: 26/241 overall, 1/13 in age division

I had meant to either just run 1.5 miles, or run the whole race at 10 minute per mile pace in order to work my legs and feet back into this running thing.  The competition got the best of me, however, and I went a little faster than I probably should have.  I have to say I felt pretty good.

Sam said he felt like he was really slow and his legs were heavy.  Ha.  He approximately tied his best 5k time and finished first in his age division.  Perhaps that experimental shot of espresso prior to the race had something to do with it.

day 27: revving up

Yesterday I started my new workout schedule geared toward the three 5k races I will be running the next three months.

My plan looks something like this:

Mondays, Wednesdays: swim
Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays: run and yoga
Fridays: pilates
Sundays: rest

Two days in, and I have successfully accomplished 10 laps in the pool, 1.5 miles on the road, and some refreshing yoga.  I'm starting slow to keep the feet and knees happy.  Nothing hurts yet!

day 20: giving

So, if you haven't noticed, I have pretty much given up on the whole "daily exercise" thing.  Mostly, this is because despite the fact that I have typed the word "exercise" here many, many times, it always takes me at least three guesses before I can get it spelled right.  It's a mental block, I'm sure, just like I can never remember the PLU for pistachios in the shell.  Never.

Seriously, I never seem to have the time to do even fifteen minutes of something silly.  I know this is a very big excuse.  I could, for example, get up earlier, read less internet, or many other things to set aside some time.  But I have not done so.

Instead, I have just had Sam sign me up for a 5k winter running series.  One 5k race every month for the next three months.  That gives me a concrete goal of beating Sam, and therefore, I must prevail in real workouts.  My initial plan is to get up really early every day.  This will start after Thanksgiving break, of course.

day 18: gallons and gallons

Today we brewed two batches of beer.  Sam reminds me that we have now brewed twenty gallons of beer in eight days.  This is what we do when Ultimate is not in season.

Our beer menu for this year so far:

Black IPA
Amber
Rainy Day Pale
K2 Porter
Veterans Day Pale
Imperial Oatmeal Stout
Mock Dubbel

Today's workout:
Running up and down the stairs to get brewing supplies.
Scrubbing lots of pots.

day 15: the old days

Ten years ago this month, I was two months into my study abroad year in Japan.  This is what November looked like in Kyoto ten years ago.  As you can see, the leaf-viewing season is a little later there than in Wisconsin.  Sometimes I miss it all.

Today's workout:
15 minute dog-walk, during which I did
3 sets of 6 lunges
3 sets of 10 high skips
10 Frankenstein toe-touches per leg

day 14: success

A few weeks ago, I wrote a proposal for summer Ultimate leagues and submitted it to La Crosse Parks and Recreation.  Today, Sam and I met with the person in charge of adult programming at Parks and Rec.  Based on our discussion, it looks like La Crosse will be getting an Ultimate league next summer!  Exciting!

Today's workout:
YMCA Iyengar yoga class

day 13: mistaken

Today I got two packages in the mail. Two!  Unfortunately, one of them was just my contact lenses, and the other one wasn't actually for me.

I hate to say it, but the way I informed the possibly true owner of this mistake was to look up the name on facebook.  I did first look in the yellow pages for anyone with the same last name, but this is a college town, and most college students are not listed.  One search on facebook using the name and city, though, and I found the likeliest candidate.

Now just to wait to see if this person will respond to a "Hello, I think I have some mail that belongs to you" message.

Today's workout:
Calf stretches
Ankle circles
3 x 10 calf raises
Lunge to pigeon pose to downward dog (twice each leg)
Twenty jumping jacks

day 12: teaser

It was 65 degrees here on Saturday.  Today it snowed.  I did an informal poll of co-op customers, and it seems like they're split 50/50;  half would like the snow to stick (and preferably increase as soon as possible), and half would like to return to Saturday's weather.

I'm in the former group.  The worst thing is a winter without snow.  What point is the cold weather if it doesn't come with some fluffy stuff to play in and look at?  Therefore, I was excited when I looked out the window to see a flurry of snowflakes, and then disappointed when it stopped suddenly and never came back.

On a side note, I want to make a snowglobe.

Today's workout:
100 abdominal exercises in various incarnations

day 11: recovery

We've been having trouble with a backing-up drain in our basement floor.  Yesterday at dinner, we were talking with friends about this issue, and Sam mentioned something about plants growing in the drain.  I said, "What?! In the drain?"  I imagined green tendrils emerging from the drain holes, searching for light.

In fact, it turns out that there are some sprouts of some plant growing in the sediment deposited around the drain.  I don't know where the seeds came from.  They could have come in on our clothes when we were working outside, or they could be a few pieces of malted barley that got away when we were gathering our grains for brewing.

I don't really know, but I plan on letting them grow as long as they can make it, just so we can find out.

Today's workout:
Five sun salutations
Triangle pose progression
Half-moon pose
Five sun salutations

day 8: sunshine on millie's shoulders

Millie does not like cameras.  Every time I point one in her direction, she turns away.  That is, until I stand there so long she gets annoyed.  This is Millie's annoyed face.

Today's workout:
2 sets of lunge circles on each leg

Lunge circle on right leg:
Stand neutrally
Lunge straight forward, return
Lunge to 2 o'clock, return
Lunge sideways to 3 o'clock, keeping body facing forward, feeling the stretch in left inner leg, return
Step back to 5 o'clock, sitting back so that left toe points up, return
Bring right leg behind left leg, extending toes to 9 o'clock (think bowling finish or curtsy), return

Repeat on left leg going counterclockwise.

day 7: i'm not dead!

Millie like to play catch, and she needs to play catch in order to settle down for the rest of the day.  The problem is that our yard is really not cut out for playing catch.  We can do it, but even rotating between the front and back yards doesn't do much to slow the increasing number of divots Millie's paws make when she bounds and turns to grab a ball or a disc.

About a mile down the road is a bit of privately owned green space.  I have talked to the owner, and Millie and I are allowed to go down there and throw.  The problem is, what started as a 15 minute throwing session in our yard becomes a 45 minute throwing session when you factor in the walking.  I often do not have that time.

This morning, I somehow had 30 minutes to spend with Millie, and I knew she needed serious play time.  So I re-instigated my daily workout, and we ran to the green space.  Running is not something I should be doing, as this time of the year is my low-impact/protect the knees and feet time.  But I felt bad for Millie, so I did.  It wasn't horrible.  I'll consider doing it again.

Today's workout:
Jog for 8 minutes, throw for 15 minutes, jog for 8 minutes

day 5: head, shoulders, knees, and toes

It's funny, but the "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song is really similar to the first part of a sun salutation, and if you did a couple repeats of the song at increasing speeds, you'd probably get a pretty good workout.  I know I'd be out of breath when I sang it with  my Japanese students.  The little kids always loved that one.

Today's workout:
Five sun salutations (I love these)
Chair position, arms extended in front, open one arm to 180 degrees, return, do with other arm (10 each arm)
Arms at side, bring up to T, hold for 20 seconds, arms down to side
Sun salutation, hold in chaturanga (hover an inch above the floor in push up position) for 10 seconds
Two pushups
Repeat the four exercises three times

day 4: warrior in the house

Pictures of Millie were requested, so here you are.  This is Millie in the middle of a playing catch.  Note the leaves/grass/dirt in her mouth that she completely ignores in her quest to grab the ball as quickly as possible.  I really do now believe that retrievers have very little sense of taste, or that if they have a sense of taste, they'd rather ignore it in exchange for getting whatever you're throwing into their mouth.

Today's workout:
Five sun salutations
Yoga warrior series, twice
Five sun salutations
Yoga warrior series, twice
Five sun salutations

day 3: junk in the trunk

Between the sun salutations Thursday and the leg lifts yesterday, the top and bottom parts of my body are a little sore.  So today I worked on the middle.

I have to say that I cheated a bit.  I had meant for these to be workouts to do in the home, but I did this one outside at the dog park while throwing for Millie.  And yes, I probably looked ridiculous to the other dog owners, but that's okay.  My dog's coolness makes up for my lack of coolness.

Today's workout:
Side stretches
Back stretches
Side reaches
Trunk rotations
Trunk circles
Lower back lifts (right, left, front)
Lunges with twists

day 2: pumpkin legs

Sam was home sick today, which meant that once again my ideal morning schedule did not happen.  So here I am at 5pm, finally getting my daily workout in.

Unfortunately, I have no time to write details at this moment, as I have to take a pumpkin spread I made today to the Classy Ladies' Beer Club where I will speak knowledgeably about Belgian-style beers.

I will say, however, that yesterday's sun salutations left my arms feeling sore, so today I focused on my legs.  We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Today's Workout
Leg lifts at various angles from various positions (floor, chair, standing)

day 1: unexpected visitor mixes things up

Today started off poorly in terms of scheduling and performing my planned workout.

Sam left for the bus, and five minutes later he returned with a yorkie in tow.  He had found it wandering around without a collar along Cass Street, which is too busy of a street for a dog to be wandering around alone on.

The Humane Society does not open until 9am, so I've been babysitting two dogs who can't tell whether they want to play with each other, ignore each other, or something in between.  This makes doing pretty much anything difficult.

Today's workout:
30 sun salutations
(start out slow to stretch, and increase in speed for cardio)

Laura's sun salutation:
Stand in mountain pose (with arms at side)
Raise arms above head
Bend at waist, touch the ground
Look forward, keeping fingers on the ground
Bring right leg back to lunge
Bring left leg back to meet in plank position (push up position)
Lower to ground like doing a push-up
Push up upper body, leaving legs on ground (cobra)
Lower to ground
Push up into downward dog
Bring right leg forward to lunge
Bring left leg forward to meet
Raise upper body and arms all the way up, stretching to the sky
Return to mountain pose

I did about five before I realized it wasn't going to be effective, as the dogs kept running through my legs.  The new plan is to take the stray dog to the Humane Society when it opens, and then continue on with my day, including this workout.

Update: The yorkie has been turned over to the Humane Society with only minimal marking of territory in my house.  I am reminded why I like female dogs.