I wanted to quit dance class and never go back last night. I'm such an awkward dancer. Its very sad really. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't staring into a mirror that covers the whole wall in front of me. Plus I agreed to this dance class thinking that I would be taking it with Lauren and Emma. Well, Lauren and Emma didn't show up last night. Its easier to have fun and laugh at yourself when its hard and awkward for someone else too...
But I can't quit. Its on the list. Stupid list.
I'm a little bit mad at the list right now. I made it thinking that it was going to change my life and make things more exciting and amazing. So far, I've started training for the 5k and am in a suspended state of soreness and exhaustion. I got roller blades and wrecked/almost died roller blading across campus.
I am pleasantly surprised and encouraged that I haven't missed one day of training since I started 3 weeks ago. In the beginning I really thought this was something I wouldn't be able to keep up with. Maybe its better to think that way. Then, every day that you don't quit is a battle that you've won. Thats how I look at it. Every time I finish a workout, I think to myself, "I successfully didn't quit....again!" Thats probably a bad way to look at it. But I works for me. Every time I workout, I basically defeat failure. At least failure can't fight back as long as I keep beating it.
In other news...
Nathan Hearn lights up my life. When I'm worried or scared or sad about anything in the world, all he has to do is hold my hand. He's a calm, cool, peaceful presence in my life. Sometimes he comes to run with me and the whole time we're running (and I'm dying) he's telling me how good it will feel to cross the finish line in May, and how very proud of me he is. I only hope that I could be such a strength for him, too.
G
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
5k training...
Eye yi yi... I have been training for the 5k I am supposed to run. Staring down the barrel of an hour and a half workout gets daunting sometimes. After I'm done though, I know its worth all the pain (lots) and sweat (seriously....gross).
This is my routine:
20 minutes of nautilus cardio, intervals. Try to keep my heartrate around 170-175
Weights - 3 sets of 12 for arms (15lbs on each arm), Nathan's "Ultimate Abs" work out and some lower back strengthening.
2 miles running - 2 laps running, 1 lap walking for 16 laps. (Each week I add half a mile, and another lap of running in a row)
I do this workout Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and a less strenuous version on Sundays.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Zumba dance class. Its latin dance. We also do some abs and really awesome stretching. Its fun, but pretty hard. I'm not a natural dancer...
Slowly but surely I am completing items off the list. I am having fun with it so far I guess. I've only really tackled the big stuff. I think Nathan and I decided what we're going to record. Its probably going to be "Whiskey Lullaby." Mmmmmm...
Goodnight.
This is my routine:
20 minutes of nautilus cardio, intervals. Try to keep my heartrate around 170-175
Weights - 3 sets of 12 for arms (15lbs on each arm), Nathan's "Ultimate Abs" work out and some lower back strengthening.
2 miles running - 2 laps running, 1 lap walking for 16 laps. (Each week I add half a mile, and another lap of running in a row)
I do this workout Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and a less strenuous version on Sundays.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Zumba dance class. Its latin dance. We also do some abs and really awesome stretching. Its fun, but pretty hard. I'm not a natural dancer...
Slowly but surely I am completing items off the list. I am having fun with it so far I guess. I've only really tackled the big stuff. I think Nathan and I decided what we're going to record. Its probably going to be "Whiskey Lullaby." Mmmmmm...
Goodnight.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
#2. Get Rollerblades - completed
So the other day I got rollerblades. Nathan and I went to Target and I tried about 3 different pairs and then Nathan pushed me around the sports and outdoors department of the store. They are awesome. Then we went back to Nathan's house. He was doing something else, so I thought it would be a great time to test my rollerblades on Nathan's driveway. I put them on and got ready to go, and brought him out there to watch me. This is where it gets ugly.....
I only made it as far as the end of the porch when I realized I didn't exactly know how to navigate steps on rollerblades. So, doing what anyone would do...I jumped off the end of the porch. My feet flew up above my head I landed on my arm and butt. I didn't cry though.
Today I wore my rollerblades to travel across campus for the first time. Oh God. Rollerblading on brick sidewalks is SO much harder than I thought it would be. My calves are on fire.
In other news: I've started the training for the 5k (#1). So far I am really enjoying. No lie, my entire body is sore, but its getting easier each time I work out. Also, I signed up for a latin dance class yesterday and payed the money (#8). No turning back now. We'll see how this goes.
Grace
I only made it as far as the end of the porch when I realized I didn't exactly know how to navigate steps on rollerblades. So, doing what anyone would do...I jumped off the end of the porch. My feet flew up above my head I landed on my arm and butt. I didn't cry though.
Today I wore my rollerblades to travel across campus for the first time. Oh God. Rollerblading on brick sidewalks is SO much harder than I thought it would be. My calves are on fire.
In other news: I've started the training for the 5k (#1). So far I am really enjoying. No lie, my entire body is sore, but its getting easier each time I work out. Also, I signed up for a latin dance class yesterday and payed the money (#8). No turning back now. We'll see how this goes.
Grace
Friday, January 9, 2009
The next thing on my list...
To do before May 8th, 2009:
1. Run a 5k
2. Get roller blades
3. Fly a kite
4. Go on a picnic
5. Get a pet
6. Visit my family once a week
7. Give a compliment each day, and mean it
8. Take a dance class
9. Go on a road trip
10. Hot air balloon ride*
11. Watch Denis The Menice
12. Lose 10-15 lbs.
13. Sew a piece of clothing and wear it in public
14. Read my bible every day
15. Go swimming in a lake, river, and pond
16. Climb a tree
17. Make a difference in some one's life
18. Watch a sunrise
19. Record a song with Nathan
20. Give a selfless gift
Call it a resolution, call it a to do list. I've decided its time for me to stop letting my life happen without doing anything to make it great. Some of these things are things I've always wanted to do. Some are things I know I should do, but have neglected. And some are simply challenges to myself to make my life count for something more than existence.
In this blog I will document my progress in completing the items on this list. Who knows what amazing things will happen along this journey. We shall soon see...
*I recently googled hot air balloon rides, and while it has been a lifelong dream of mine, I do not currently, and will not in the forseable future have $200 dollars to spend at will. But I'll give it the old college try. We'll see what happens.
Grace
1. Run a 5k
2. Get roller blades
3. Fly a kite
4. Go on a picnic
5. Get a pet
6. Visit my family once a week
7. Give a compliment each day, and mean it
8. Take a dance class
9. Go on a road trip
10. Hot air balloon ride*
11. Watch Denis The Menice
12. Lose 10-15 lbs.
13. Sew a piece of clothing and wear it in public
14. Read my bible every day
15. Go swimming in a lake, river, and pond
16. Climb a tree
17. Make a difference in some one's life
18. Watch a sunrise
19. Record a song with Nathan
20. Give a selfless gift
Call it a resolution, call it a to do list. I've decided its time for me to stop letting my life happen without doing anything to make it great. Some of these things are things I've always wanted to do. Some are things I know I should do, but have neglected. And some are simply challenges to myself to make my life count for something more than existence.
In this blog I will document my progress in completing the items on this list. Who knows what amazing things will happen along this journey. We shall soon see...
*I recently googled hot air balloon rides, and while it has been a lifelong dream of mine, I do not currently, and will not in the forseable future have $200 dollars to spend at will. But I'll give it the old college try. We'll see what happens.
Grace
Saturday, January 3, 2009
I wish I could be more original sometimes
I wish I could be more original sometimes. But every time I start to think that, I realize that my wanting to be original is actually wanting to be like some person I know. Thats not very original at all, is it?
The day is done, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.
For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.
Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;
Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
The day is done, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain
Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.
Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.
For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.
Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start;
Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music
Of wonderful melodies.
Such songs have power to quiet
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.
Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhyme of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.
And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents, like the Arabs,
And as silently steal away.
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