Project LB (Living Better)

So today was Day 1 of Week 2 on C25K. It was tougher than I'd anticipated - especially the later intervals. I did drop the speed from 5mph to 4.7 or 4.8mph in the last couple of intervals. BUT I made it all the way through the run.

I don't know if it was all the jump or if it's the way the program is set up so you have two days off between weeks, but I definitely struggled. Oh well...if it's not a struggle, I guess I need to push harder to make it a struggle, right?

Still, I came home and did Yoga Meltdown too. Not gonna lie - I was shaking through that workout like I haven't before (I managed to hold both of the T-stands, though I did fall out of one during the Rolling T part). I'm sure it was because of the running earlier - that combined with the heat and humidity probably. Yes, I was drinking plenty of water. Yes, I had a snack (a luna bar). So I'm sure it was mostly the added stuff from the running.

But I made it through both workouts, and I'm still standing. I feel proud.

Rumor has it that we're getting our first summer school checks tomorrow (I'm sure the mayor or chancellor or whoever decided to go with the 7-10-15 day split on the checks so they'll ultimately get more taxes from us than the 10-10-12 split we had last year), and if that's the case, I'll have my first "real" running shoes either tomorrow night or Saturday!! :) Woohoo!!!

And now? This melted little girl is off to take a well-deserved shower!

I think I've decided I really like this combination - go to the gym and do my walk/run in C25K, then come home and do Yoga Meltdown! :) It makes me happy and feel really good!!

Got up this morning - at 6:30ish, but considering I went to bed at 9ish last night, a full night's sleep, and my body really wasn't having any more sleep at the time. Drank my banana breakfast shake (LOVE!!!!) and some water and some green tea, then got changed and headed off to the gym.

Did Week 1 Day 2 of C25K. Today I decided to try and push my running up from 4.5mph to 5mph, and I succeeded! :) Granted, there were times I was having to visualize Jillian or Bob standing there pushing me to finish a running interval (seriously? one or both of them need to do a C25K podcast!!!), but I made all the way through. The weird thing (? or maybe not so weird?) is that while I was really struggling and wishing the next to last couple of intervals were over, the last interval seemed to fly by.

My left hip muscle is protesting a little bit, but I think it's because it cramped up badly last night - or I slept on it weird...not sure which, but I woke up with it screaming at me and had to manually move my leg around. I pulled it back in 7th grade, so it's been susceptible to cramps ever since then. Weirdly it didn't cramp up the night after my first run, so I'm leaning towards I somehow slept on it weird. At any rate, it was ok for the run, so woo! And yes, when I get paid on the 15th, I'm hitting a running store that does video analysis for fitting and getting my first "official" pair of running shoes, so if it IS my shoes (though again, why a day later) that should get taken care of soon.

Then I went and stretched a good bit before heading back to the subway to come home.

Got home and did Level 1 of Yoga Meltdown. Completely love that workout!!

Now I should probably go and fix lunch since breakfast was about 4 hours ago. :P

Yesterday I was trying to wait out a possible coming storm which could have shut off power mid-workout and accidentally fell asleep. I had a concert to go to last night, so I didn't have time to squeeze something in AND get a shower before I had to leave. So I swore I'd double up today.

My thinking was I'd do BFBM since it's twice as long as your average Shred.

What DID I do? Yoga Meltdown. Level 1 and Level 2. Back to back.

Apparently I'm crazy?

To be fair, I did fall out of some of the level 2 poses and resort to Child's Pose (I've done yoga before, so I know it even if it never makes an appearance in Yoga Meltdown) a couple of times, but overall I did it. AND when it was time for the hold in Goddess, I held the entire time. Not all the way down like Basheera, but at least down as far as Maddie.

I don't know if I'll do this on a regular basis, but right now I'm pretty damn proud of myself right now!

Yay for Yoga Meltdown! I've done it for 9 days now!! :)

Shredheads May Challenge? Day 14 complete!

I'm a rock star!!

(Ok, it's been done since 4:30ish this afternoon. But I went into Manhattan to see a show. :P )

Today I decided to try Level 2 and see if that presented less issues than Level 1 and the Rolling Ts.

The verdict is...not really. There is one almost table pose that is definitely harder than the Rolling Ts. I held as long as I could, but bottom line is I don't have the arm strength to hold my body up on one arm for very long yet. I'm getting there. But not quite yet.

So tomorrow I'll probably do Level 1 again and stick with that until I can stack my feet in the stable side plank and stay for 15 seconds.

I'm debating doing Level 1 today just to do it...but I feel like I did most everything well. Maybe I'll just do some push-ups. Hmm...

Did it!

Still hate Rolling Ts. But overall love the workout! :D

http://www.shredheads.com Exercise Every Day in May Challenge Day 10 completed!!

Still loving this workout!! I suspect I'll be on Level 1 for a while, but that's cool. I still get a good workout in and feel it when I'm finished! :D

Yay!!

There will be a good bit of walking in today as well - going into Manhattan for a double show day, so I'll be wandering in between to kill time. Bonus exercise!! :D

So if you've been following my journey through my first 30 days of Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, you know that yesterday was my last day of that. At least for this go-round.

Several twitter friends of mine, at my "Ok, so I lost 12.5 pounds in the first go-round. Which I guess is good." tweet responded with variations on "Are you kidding? That is AWESOME!" So... If I seemed a bit blah in the weigh-in post, let me restate...

I LOST 12.5 POUNDS IN MY FIRST TIME THROUGH THE 30 DAY SHRED!!!!!! :D

Regardless, I finished all 30 days, and so as I promised myself, my reward for doing all 30 days is I get to start Jillian's Yoga Meltdown. Now, my intent had been to buy it, but the reality of NYC rents and needing to have food to survive set in, and I realized that I'll need to buy it with my paycheck next Friday. In the meantime, netflix has it!! Gotta love their no return dates thing!!

I've done yoga before, but it's been a while (it's on my list of things to start back at the studio I went to once I can swing it...hopefully summer school money will allow that), so I started with Level 1. And I'm glad I did! Level 1 is plenty tough to start with. You're using your body for your muscle resistance.

And yes, I was plenty sweaty when I finished, so it's definitely a workout!

But I LOVE it!!!