That’s kind of a weird title, isn’t it? I should explain, since we haven’t talked in awhile. About a month ago, I got a bike to ride to work and to the grappling gym. Now, I haven’t ridden a bike in years. Seriously, we’re talking middle school maybe — back in the 80’s! But it’s true what they say about how you never forget. (Thank goodness!)
It’s about 3 miles to work, another mile and a half to the grappling school, and about 4.5 miles home. Uphill most of the way home. I wanted to die that first week. And the second. And the third. My legs hurt. My tailbone hurt. I couldn’t breathe. And I had to stop and walk a lot. Felt pretty silly walking my bicycle up the bike trail, I promise you. But it had to be done. I’ll tell lots more about my experiences on the bike because there’s fun stuff to share.
But tonight, I just wanted to check in and say — I have now ridden all the way home from work (3 miles) without stopping to walk — TWICE! And tonight, I made it about 75% of the way home from the grappling gym (4.5 miles) before having to walk; and the walk was only a short way. Mind you, I tried a new way home tonight that took me a bit out of the way when I made a wrong turn, too. So next time, I will probably make it further.
I am pretty flipping excited, I tell you what. . .
I am thinking the belt I bought with my 48 jeans is too big. The jeans may or may not be baggy, too. In a few weeks, I am going back to try on the 46’s again.
That’s it. Just didn’t want to stay away for so long. . .
I wanted to mention one other thing. Lately, I have been able to run just a smidgeon in the gym. If I am on the treadmill for about 30-40 minutes, I will keep the speed at 3.2-3.5 and then play with the incline. However, every five minutes or so, I will up the speed to 5.5 or so. That’s a light jog. In fact, it’s not even a 10-minute mile. But it kicks my butt, and I am lucky to make it 1 minute before slowing back down. Recently, I made it 90 seconds. I can do this “interval” workout about four times in a 30 minute period. I recently read in MEN’S FITNESS that a good way to do it is 30 seconds of running followed by 1-2 minutes of fast walking. I may try it that way soon.
It’s really amazing news. You can’t imagine what it’s been like being such a slow-moving person. I still have a LONG way to go, but it’s getting better one day at a time.
I was at Grappling class tonight. During the warmup, I decided to try a couple of lunges. I did them! You don’t understand. I have been trying to do lunges all the way to the floor since I started exercising a year ago. I have never been able to. Until tonight! I told everyone at the gym — “Guys, I just have to share this. . .” They were all very cool about it.
Don’t believe me? Here’s very low-video-resolution proof:
I have uploaded two new photos from tonight, as well. The pants I am wearing are size 2X. Impressed? Wait a minute. I want you to notice that the t-shirt I am wearing is size XL! That’s right, you heard me. I wouldn’t wear it out in public, but you’ll notice it does go all the way around me and leaves no skin uncovered. How cool is that?
Did I mention that I bought those size 48 jeans at wal-mart and have been wearing them every day to work?
It was a good day, even if I did take an accidental elbow to the temple tonight at class.
I went to wal-mart the other day and tried on a pair of size 48 jeans. They fit! And, they were only $11. I didn’t buy any that day, but I will before long. I couldn’t tell you when I last wore anything smaller than a 48. We’re getting somewhere!
So, I am now about 5 weeks into working out at the Grappling school. There was about 2.5 weeks lost in the middle there, when he closed for vacation. Then, I got sick for a week. Uggh, did I feel awful. I think it was just a bad cold, but it was the worst I had been sick since about last May. So, couldn’t work out at all. But got rolling again last week.
It’s really been a good time. Everyone there is very positive and helpful. We usually practice drills of some kind, like armbars or triangle chokes, for about the first 2/3 of class, after we’ve done some kind of cardio (remember the laps after dropping those danged medicine balls??!!). Then, we’ll “roll live rounds”, which basically means trying to submit each other and use some of the techniques we’ve learned.
I always lose, sometimes pretty spectacularly. There was night when I rolled with a guy who must have literally been half my weight and much shorter. He tapped me out three times in a row very, very fast. The little sucker could get around behind me and rear-choke before I had time to realize it! But it’s a lot of fun, and I always try to learn from it. They say that you tend to make certain mistakes over and over and over until one day you figure out how to not make them — diving into a guillotine choke is a big one for me, for example, as is not shrimping to the side when the guy has side control on me.
Sometimes, I get so sore that it kills me. One night, we did calf raises. Everyone else did 500 — I was able to do 400. The next day, I could barely walk. Then the next. Then the next. It took me almost a week to recover from that one! I shan’t push myself that hard again — I overdid it a bit, didn’t I? I know I am getting more flexible, though, and strength is increasing. So, it’s all good.
Today, I rang in at 334 pounds, which puts me above 100 pounds lost for the first time! And, it’s my second weight-loss goal (the first was 350) — I realize I never wrote that one, but it always was in my mind.
The next goal is 319. . .
(I am on my lunch break at work, so I can’t write more. I will post this week to update about grappling school, etc over the last few weeks. Good times.)
I am listening to The Marshall Tucker Band as I start this New Year’s day posting. (hence the title) I thought about coming up with a list of resolutions, and I may yet do it. I also want to spend some time reviewing the past year, which has been so eventful in so many ways. But not now. Now, I am just having my coffee and doing some laundry and waiting for the dishes to run in the dishwasher.
So, what then? I thought I might share how I have been to two training sessions at the kickboxing/grappling gym so far. It was awesome! I learned some basic moves, like the armbar and the triangle choke and the rear naked choke. On my second day, we did a kind of hot potato game workout with a medicine ball (12 lbs). If you dropped it, you had to run 10 laps around the room (small room, but still. . .). I dropped it twice! My big 3x pants wouldn’t stay up, so I am shuffle-jogging around the room holding them with one hand and trying to catch my breath with the other. Comical, to say the least. Then we did wheelbarrows, where someone holds your feet and you walk on your hands across the room and back. Ugh, did that suck! Then they did fireman carry squats, with someone over your shoulders. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to even try those even with one of the smaller guys, so I just did my 5 sets of 10 as regular squats while they all moved on to another exercise.
We spent most of the evening working on defending the rear choke, taking turns being the defender or the attacker. It was exhausting and frustrating and really really fun.
Man, I have got to get a car so I can work out there 4 nights a week without depriving my awesomely-sharing brother of his car. That’s gonna be a new years resolution for me, to figure out how to save up a few bucks.
Enough for now. Happy New Year to all. I will post more in the coming days about resolutions and such. . .
This morning, I went outside to warm up the car. You guessed it, a lot of snow again! I rolled my eyes because I knew I would have to shovel the sidewalks at the office. Heck, shoveling or sweeping has become a daily task.
Well, I got to work, and one of my coworkers was shoveling — and wouldn’t even let me help or take over. I should have been deliriously happy. But you know what?
I was disappointed. That’s right. Somewhere in the crazy back of my mind, I realized that I like to shovel the snow (well, provided I have gloves on, I like it). It only takes about 15 minutes. But it gets my blood flowing and some crisp air into my lungs first thing in the morning. I missed it today.
Okay, so a few things have happened since I last wrote in. First, some car trouble proved to me that picking a gym that I have to drive to in a car that isn’t my own is not the best choice for being a consistent gym-goer! I am in the process of trying to get them to cancel my account, but I don’t think they will. The next step is to try to freeze the account for a few months while I try a new experiment. I found a gym within walking distance of my office. It’s a pretty good little place, and it’s cheaper than my current gym. I plan to sign up a week from today and start going there everyday on my lunchbreak. I have to ask my boss, but I think she’ll be fine with my taking a 2-hr lunch and then making up the extra hour at the end of the day. I am actually quite excited about that plan. (plus, this gym has two personal trainer women who have competed in national fitness competitions.) I’ll keep y’all posted.
Second, the kickboxing/grappling club I have been looking into is ready to open again after Christmas. Check out their website at http://www.americangrapplingacademy.com/. It’s not the flashiest of sites, but it is a cool-sounding place just the same. I have already spoken with the owner, and he said it’s totally cool that I come out even with no experience.
Third, I anticipate getting my kickboxing workout bag next week. I received enough $$ as a gift to buy the bag, and I will add a bit extra for a pair of boxing gloves, handwrap/undergloves, and a set of grappling gloves. I’ve just been waiting for some after-Christmas coupons to kick in (get it? “kick” hehe). Should be awesome! Working on a bag is one of the things I miss most about the exercises Mel had me doing. Now I will be able to do it at home.
What else? Some stability, finally. My job moves from temp agency to full time in january. Health Insurance, baby! Just in time for a one year cholesterol, etc checkup from last Feb — I’ll just have them order up my records from Pasadena, and we can compare numbers. Plus, even though the paycheck will only come once a month, I think it’ll be a good thing to help me budget for things like the monthly gym fees and some new exercise equipment.
Guess that’s about it for now. Oh, I am down to 341 this morning. Only 2 pounds in a few weeks. But I expect to move into overdrive once the kickboxing and daily workouts get rolling. It’s been virtually impossible to be consistent at the gym without controlling my transportation. I hope that’ll be fixed soon with the ability to walk to the gym.
