Day 19: Flexi Friday

I see progress guys!

Standing Split - Definitely coming along.  Plus I'm able to hold my heel now - holding the toe is much easier. Trust me.   

 Right - Full split coming soon!  I can feel it.  :)

Left - not as easy for me.  I don't even like practicing this one.  

Center - Getting better.

Straddle - I feel this one improving daily.  And the nerd in me kinda wants to break out the protractor.  

Scorpion - definitely better.  And now I can actually grab by the knee and straighten.  Which is much harder than it sounds.  

I've also started doing some bridges and back stretching recently.  I will have to take a before picture of that one.  Eek.   Not pretty. Taking that one reeeeeaaally slowly though.  I've had my share of back injuries and I don't recommend.  

What I have been finding is that the most revolt is coming from my hips.  Which is counter-intuitive to me considering that I have had two very large babies spreading those hips right out.  But I guess in the last several years they have been in an uproar.   Inner hip monologue:  "Go back to where you were!  Stat!  And while you're at it, tighten up.  A ton.  So she doesn't try to put any more of those giant human basketballs through us!"  Seriously - mine are so tight and have no intention of twisting or loosening when I want them to.  They are definitely the source of most of my pain so far on this journey.  But I'm not 90 yet, so I intend on telling them who's the boss around here.   

Day 17 : Posture

The posture of the women in my family is horrible.  I fight this on a daily basis.  But I always feel that my shoulders are slanting forward and that my upper back will soon be slouched over like an old lady.  I think it's genetic.  We all do it.  Some worse than others.  And it is something that I will have to continue to fight for the rest of my life.  My physical therapist has given me several exercises to strengthen and elongate my upper back and I do them every morning when I wake up.  Every morning.  But I still find myself slouching over in chairs, watching tv, in the car...  And I notice that it actually causes me muscle spasms to hold a good posture for a long period of time.  So I'm hoping to fix that.  I've been doing more upper back strengthening at the gym and I will continue with my physical therapy daily.  So I ask, if (when) you ever see me slouching, give me a good whack please.  Any other ideas for improving good posture?

Day 12: Flexi Friday

Let's see if I have made any progress, shall we?  (apologies for bad photos.  I just didn't have the energy to care about good pictures this morning.)

Day 3 vs Day 12

Straddle - hard to say.  Maybe slightly better?

Center Split - I'm pretty sure that's worse.  I guess that's what I get for trying to look at the camera.

Left Split - same?  (Note to self - try to always angle the same way for comparison sake.  geez.)

Right Split - I actually can see significant improvement here.  I'm predicting. that this will be the first one I will regain.

Standing split - same?

Scorpion - hmmmm.  Another toss up.  But I did try this week to grab by the knee and straighten the leg.  It wasn't pretty, but I didn't die.  Maybe a picture of that will come soon.

All in all, I may feel more progress than I see at this point, but that's ok.  It's a long journey.  I'll try again next Friday.  

Day 8: Weekend Update

Jane, you ignorant slut. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)  The first weekend of my plan-of-not-being-a-slacker has passed. And I passed too. On Saturday we had a busy morning, but I managed to drag myself (possibly kicking and screaming) to the gym in the afternoon. If you know me, you know that afternoons are not my time of day. I'm a morning girl. Obnoxiously. And I start to crash right around 1 or 2 pm. And yet on Saturday, you would've found my butt working out at 2 pm. Aren't you proud of me?  I was. Can't remember the last time I went to the gym on the weekend. I usually stick to weekday mornings.

On Sunday the four of us went and played basketball for an hour. I don't want to brag, but you should know that I scored upwards of 6 points. But who's counting. It was a good hour of constant activity. The kids and I even had races across the gym and I realized that by this summer Caleb will be able to out-sprint me fair and square. Not yet, but real soon.

So I say that's a win. Lots of sweating this weekend. And lots of stretching. And lots more to do.

Day 5: It's Friday!

Thank goodness!  Actually, it's been a pretty successful week around here.  I have managed to get to the gym 4 out of the five days and on the other (yesterday) I did a super HIIT workout at home.  So 5 for 5 on the sweating. I found this list online somewhere and decided to try it out.

Took one look and said "Yep, no prob.  That's easy.  Jumping jacks for 30 sec.  Done.  Plank for 30 sec.  Piece of cake."  Then I did the list.  3 times.  With no break in between anything.  And let me tell you, I was breathing hard by the end of this.  Swapped out push-up rotations (what the heck is that??) for these awesomely harder than they look back leg extensions.  But now I have a quick workout in my back pocket for when I have to be at home or anywhere else and have no gym equipment.

Now for the hard part.  I tend to be a weekend slacker.  But planning not to be.  Let's see how I do...

Day 3 - Before Pics

Today I am sharing some somewhat embarrassing "before" photos.  Embarrassing for two reasons.  1) In my own mind, I realize how far these are from what they used to be, and 2) as Jay pointed out, "these before poses are probably most people's 'after' photos".  But this blog and journey are for me.  And I'm only here to compare myself to myself.

Standing Split - Just so we are all clear, I do realize that most adults can not hold their leg straight out while standing, but I used to be able to get it up to my head, so to me, this is a FAIL.  But a good starting point.  Optimism, self, optimism. 

Scorpion -  I used to be able to hold that leg by the knee and have it be straight.  Workin' on it.

left split - not horrendous

center split - This picture surprised me a little bit, actually.  I'm down farther than I thought I was.  Maybe this one IS attainable??

right split - Oh dear.  Where have you gone?  Lots of work to do here.

Sad straddle - This is the stretch that makes me realize how much flexibility I have lost in the past few several many years.  I'm old.  

These pictures will at least give me an idea of how I'm progressing in flexibility as the weeks tick away.  I will take them again in a few weeks to compare.  

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnndddd, the aftermath.  :)  

Day 2 - Question

So I was running jogging this morning, and a training question came to mind.  How does one train for running a certain distance in a certain time?  Should I always run 3.1 miles and just go faster as I get better at it?  Or should I run fast and then increase the distance that I do each time? This morning I ran one mile at my "fast pace" and then slowed it down for the rest of the run. Am I better off being consistent throughout the whole distance? Advice please.

Day 1 - Press Handstand

Now, clearly I haven't done this is years.  YEARS.  So be gentle.  But to give you an idea, there should be no bed holding me up.  And there should be no hop from my feet.  Essentially your feet should be lifted straight off of the floor with your core.  No jumping allowed.  And the straddle needs A LOT of work.  But this is day one and I don't know of too many 38 yr olds that could do this at all.  Right?

Day 0 - Goals

January 12, 2014

Today I was inspired.  By a picture floating around on the internet. 

And I realized that I would like to set a goal.  To be in the best shape of my entire life at age 40.  (August 1, 2015)  My return to fit journey has already begun with the Couch to 5k program that I started this fall and with the 30 days to a 5 minute plank program that I have been peer-pressured into by the girls this past month. Skeptical on the 5 minutes part, but optimistic.  

So in order to be assured that I am in better shape at age forty than at any other age thus far,  I thought back to all of the things that I was once able to do.  As a child.  As a swimmer.  As a teen.   As a gymnast.  And I’m going to one-up or at least match them all.  Well maybe not all.  I’m not going to relearn a handspring vault at this point in my life.  I’m just not. 

So let’s start.  At some point, I’m pretty sure that I could do 20 real push-ups .  That’s a guess, but it’s got to be about right.  I’m starting with this one because I don’t honestly think it will be too hard to do.  I’m also sure that as a teenager and a gymnast, I could do at least 5 pull ups.  Real ones.  With hands forward.  Not cheaty ones with the reverse grip.  This will be a significantly harder goal.  Today I allllmost did one from a dead hang.  Almost.

I remember that I always reached the presidential mark on the National Physical fitness tests.  Every year.  So although I have never considered myself an athlete, I was at least fit.  I looked up this data today and found that I must’ve been in the 85th percentile or above for all of the 5 tasks each year.   I’m not about to set up a shuttle run with chalkboard erasers, but I can time my mile and sit-ups and hang from a bar.  Man, I used to be really good at that dead hang.  Definitely over a minute.  I’m going to aim for 1 minute 30 seconds  of dead hang by age 40.  Don’t laugh when you see me at the kids' playground hanging with my chin above the bar.  Cheer me on. 

I was once a very flexible child.  I actually still am pretty flexible for a 38 ½ year old with two children.  I can still hit that presidential mark on the sit-n-reach.  This may be due in part to my freakishly long arms, but I’m counting it.  But  last year when I was helping out with the boy’s running club I realized that I can no longer straddle like I once could.  Flexibility can’t be too hard to regain, right?  Right split and left split by age forty.  Also a perfect bridge.  And let’s tack on the standing side split and the scorpion. (the dance scorpion, not the yoga scorpion.. because that shit is craaaazy.)  Bonus points if I can regain a center split as well. 

Along with gymnastics comes great core strength.  Even if you are a mediocre gymnast like I once was.  But at one point in my life (age 13-17 maybe...) I could do a press handstand.  In straddle position.  If you are not familiar with this sort of thing, just know that it’s all core.  And some balance.  Upside down balance. But mostly core.  This is where the five minute plank routine will come in handy.

Probably the most difficult part of this for me will be the running.  Here’s the thing about running:  it’s reaallly boring.  Like I start running, and after what feels like an eternity of running, I look down at my watch to see that 2 minutes and 37 seconds has passed.  And by “running”, what I really mean is jogging slowly.  And flailing a lot.  As my husband always says, picture Phoebe from Friends running.  All limbs, flailing, can’t run in a straight line to save her life.  That’s me.  I am not fast.  I have never been fast and I never plan to be fast.  I would only like to compare my “running” to my past self, not to all you fasties out there.  So I feel that it’s unreasonable to ask myself  to run for more than ½ hr or so at a time.  This year, I have at least come to not-hate running, but 30 minutes is still a type of boredom torture for me.  So as a goal, I would like to be able to run a 5k in 30 minutes.  My fastest time for a 5k is close to that, but I've never done it sub-30, so I would like to be able to accomplish that by 40.  Also, I remember once running a mile in 8 minutes (or slightly under).  Let’s be honest, I was probably 10 years old or so, (why are kids so much better at this kind of stuff??), but I hope to be able to do that again.   A 16 year old girl should be able to do a mile in 8:23 according to the presidential fitness program, so at least I hope to be as good as my 16 year old self. 

There are a few things that I really hope to accomplish by doing all of this.  I hope that perhaps some of the aches and pains that I have been feeling will subside.   (Is there a chance that planking is going to help my jaw?? No?  My back at least??)  I have been feeling really stiff, and tired, and old.  And it’s because although I consider myself a pretty active person, I think I could move around more.  Or at least differently.  I'm hoping that somehow my body will process this healthy attitude as a need for less migraines. Somehow.  Because I really need that to happen.   I hope that by doing this, I will be happier.  Not that I’m not happy.  Just that this sort of thing should make one happier, right?  I’m hoping that it will help me get through the horribly depressing winter months of upstate NY.  And perhaps, by the end of this I will have a bikini body again.  And a place to wear one.  ;)

I am starting this blog as a place to be held accountable.    I’m really good at saying that I want to run more or do pull ups, but when no one’s looking, I would rather be curled up on my couch with a blanket and a cup of coffee.  Some things that I post here may be slightly embarrassing or awkward for me.  But I know that I won't make these goals without sharing the progress.  So you are all my supporters.  Whether you want to be or not.  Check in on me.  Hold me responsible for what I am saying right now.  K?  Thanks.