Don Flamenco tryouts - Day 23

Ok, so what do you get when you mix rubber and ice? Give up? One hell of a ride. That is what I went through tonight - one hell of a wild ride. Details, if I must.

Today the weather was great - in the 40s. So, what does this mean? The five inches of snow we got over the weekend started to melt. Then, the temperature began to drop ... it was 15 when I started my walk and 11 when I got home. You know what happens to all that wonderful melting snow when it freezes - the damn sidewalks turn into nightmares on ice.

Ok, so watch this and at about 1 minute in you will see the Don Flamenco one footer on his way to kiss the mat. This was me walking tonight - except a bit more comical. The slip and slide, the feet doing the cartoonish back and forth in an attempt to stay vertical and the "Woa" moments where you catch yourself just before you face plant ... well, this was me tonight. The good news, I stayed vertical, finished the 6 miles and stayed warm because I was keeping a relatively decent pace given the environment I had to work with.

On the Jillian front, I knocked level three out of the way and didn't do anything more - still working on getting my lower body back into fully functional status. One thing to note, level three is definitely easier for me this time around than last time. I am finding that I'm not struggling with the moves as much as I was the first time around - yay me.

Blah - Day 17

Ok, so the blah still stands. I was hoping the endorphins rushing after NMTZ would nip it in the bum, but apparently that was just wishful thinking.

It is starting to get colder this week - will be down into the single digits over the weekend, so I will be bundling up like you wouldn't believe ... I need to get the miles in to keep my endurance level elevated. I'm thinking of increasing my gym membership to a super club that isn't too far away - they have an indoor track (and that may prove very useful over the next month of training). We shall see how everything else goes.

Here's to another day being over and done with ... now back to Stargate.

Here We Come A-Walking ... Among the leaves so green ... Day 7

Instead of wassailing, we will be walking. Thought I'd add a little Xmas flair in there since it is just a week away (dreadful holiday - far too commercialized for my tastes which is why I haven't celebrated it since the mid-90s). This morning when I got up, I got Bob and Jillian out of the way. Today was tough because they were both sculpting, and I gotta tell ya, my abs were screaming at the end of Jillian today. Bob does a very intensive ab workout on the sculpting day, and my oh my were they raising their sincere displeasure as I finished up the 3d circuit with Jillian.

But, I didn't let that stop me from getting in a long walk today. I got in 10 miles. I was planning on doing 20, but the temperature started dropping too quickly and I wasn't able to keep myself warm enough to make it another trip. I was satisfied with 10. I finished the 10 miles in 2:43. Granted, this is not a spectacular time, but with it being 30 degrees outside, I am fairly proud of getting it done in that amount of time. I did a fairly decent job of keeping my pace, and hopefully that will continue as I add on more miles in the coming weekends on the long days.

I am looking forward to BF tomorrow, it will be nice to change things up.

Whatcha Know - Wishes DO Come True

Yesterday, at the end of my post, I hoped that I would be more energetic today ... what do you know, I was very energetic today. I don't know what did it - perhaps it was the mound of soy nuts I munched on while reading more hearing transcripts, or perhaps it was the fact that I got some real sleep last night; but, whatever the reason was, when I got home I was rip, roaring and ready to go.

I went out for my normal six miles, and I made it through at a pace about two minutes a mile faster than I normally get through it. I was impressed. Although, I was not impressed by the fact that the temperature dropped 10 degrees while I was out there. Left, it was 33. Got home, it was 23. Not exactly my dream date for weather - but hey, the cold kept me moving because I didn't want to freeze my ass off like I did coming home on Saturday.

So, after the walk we (yes, that's me, myself and I) tackled yet another day of Jillian. With so few left to go, I have to say I am feeling better about this. Granted the rockstars in circuit three still totally kick my ass, but I'm still hanging in there.

Went Well
The good old-fashioned situps. I'm really liking those. I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

The scissor kicks - keeping up with Natalie makes me feel quite awesome. I simply ignore the fact that I'm stretching to keep up with Anita for the remainder of the moves. Keeping pace with Wonder Woman for just two exercises is enough to keep me in high spirits.

The modification on the squat raises - I'm loving the use of my kettle bell.

Could've Been Better
I don't know what it was today, but the butt-kicks turned into knee-lifts. The balls of my feet couldn't take the pounding, so I switched it over. Bit of an anomaly if you ask me as these have never been a problem before.

The sumo plyo moves, um these just hurt today. I don't think my legs are as stretched as they could be, and let's just say my inner thighs need a bit more time on the stretching to get back into the groove on this particular move.

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Well, another day is done and gone, and I'm feeling pretty darn good at this point. Hang in there Janet, we are almost done (just ignore the fact that we're starting all over again)!!!