I Am A Hurt Bagel

bagel (2)

The other day I woke up and my body was a bit stale. I thought nothing of it until later in the day. I started to workout with Baguette. I stretched and then ran. I was fine until we started to do the floor exercises. I should restate that. It was not until I tried to do the floor exercises that I started to feel real pain. I was falling ungracefully as Baguette showed me what to do. Yes, she did the floor exercises and I flopped around. I wound up getting unnaturally twisted up and my staleness turned into real pain. It was so bad that I could not fall asleep that night.

Thankfully us Bagels heal fast with a little wet heat. I was back to my non-exercising self within a day.

 

 

Over 3/4th of the way to 100

ocean walk 192

If you follow my blog you know that I am doing a 100 day  challenge where I do at least a ‘base’ workout. This consists of 10 reps of 10 different exercises. I first challenged myself to this undertaking in my 100 day challenge post. Since then I have recorded little things that I either felt, learned or thought of while doing the workout. I write these little records on a piece of paper and have now filled 3 pages. The first 2 have their own posts (1st post and 2nd post links).

This latest list starts on day 54, but since this is a new post the numbering starts at 1. Here is the latest list.

  1. Feeling pooped and icky is not an excuse. You can still reach for your goals. ( I was happy with this day, since there was a smiley face after it.)
  2. I’m so ready for bed, but I did my exercises so won’t be angry with myself tomorrow.
  3. Good day, good training and good fun. (It was a BJJ class day and I was smiling.)
  4. I feel like a warrior. A sneezing warrior, but still I’m a fighter now.
  5. I took the day off get stuff done and did everything and them some with a smile on my face. (It was another smiling BJJ class day.)
  6. I am becoming a better me at least with fitness. Life is a process.
  7. Only 40 more days until a new goal or challenge. I’m excited.
  8. I’m realizing the scale is not my friend. I am tougher than it tell me since I am not used to muscle.
  9. I didn’t think about working out I just did it. That’s what happens when goals become habit.
  10. You can learn anything, just try and ask questions. ( It was a BJJ class day. )
  11. New goals, new challenges and dreams combine beautifully.
  12. Pushing yourself when you think you can’t won’t only prove the negative thought bit also put a smile on your face.
  13. Always looking back may be a bad thing. Yet being reminded of how far you’ve come is good.
  14. Even if you don’t feel like you can do it doesn’t mean you can’t. You can do it.
  15. You really do control your attitude and mood so believe you can and be happy.
  16. It’s hard to do your daily goals when your routine is off; hard not impossible.
  17. Pushing yourself is always good. ( I went to my first BJJ tournament on this day.)
  18. No matter what you think you are awesome. (I went to the tournament again and decided I wanted to start working towards competing.)
  19. I may have shown up lat to class but I showed up. (I showed up half an hour late to class because of traffic and work. I still showed up though.)
  20. You life is yours so live you life and achieve your goals.
  21. Being positive and thinking positive changes everything.
  22. I’m pretty sure I can do anything I set my mind to and you can too.
  23. Since I danced and did kick boxing I did my workout a bit different but I did it.
  24. The challenge is paying off. I’m seeing physical, mental and endurance changes. (I went to class that day. I must have been able to do more than normal.)
  25. Always be honest with yourself and know what motivate you.
  26. Hobbies and goals should be fun work. If not why do them. (I went to class and it must have been a fun one, since I was thinking about fun work.)
  27. Woot! It’s tough but I keep going (This was on day 80).
  28. Support is great and needed to have. Be grateful for your support system

Bonus thought  – Trying is winning  because you are beating those who are not trying and your yesterday self.

My Challenge To Myself

success

Yes, I usually use this picture for my DreamWard Bound posts, but I felt it fits this post. I have a challenge that I challenged myself to and I accepted that challenge. This challenge is to create an exercise routine that I can do everyday for 100 days.

I got this idea from a friend at work who is doing a 100 day challenge for herself. She has her 15 minute routine that she does every day. She found this “century” challenge first from a sword fighting challenge she heard of or did. It was basically 100 strikes for 100 days. She took the idea and made it into a workout challenge.

I am now taking that idea and making it my own.

Now I usually am on the go, so I might not get to do this all at once. However, I need to make sure I do it all.

Here is my challenge.

  • 10 Squats (and hold for 10 seconds after)
  • 10 Russian Twists
  • 10 push ups (hold in plank for 10 seconds after)
  • 10 crunches
  • 10 shrimp/ hip escapes (each side)
  • 10 hip switches
  • 10 shoulder rolls
  • 20 bicycles
  • 10 leg lifts
  • 10 Cross-body mountain Climber (That may not be the name, but I know what it means)

If you want to know more information about these exercise, please let me know. I may still expand on the exercises, but that is the list so far.

The catch with this challenge is that I will do these exercises for 100 days and if I miss a day I will reset the day count. This means if I am at day 66 and miss a day I reset the day count, so the next day I will be at day 0 or 1 depending if I actually workout.

The only exception to the set back day count is my class days. I want to be able to focus all my energy on the training and class. Plus, I will be doing more than 10 sets of most of these exercise during class.

After the 100 days I will increase the exercise numbers and do another 100 days.

I will also be keeping or trying to keep a log of my challenge. I am not sure how I will do this, but will be keeping track some where, some how. Stay tuned for the log of the challenge.

Finally, let me know if you are taking this challenge too.

Talking To My Gym

I may be doing random topic  writings lately. I am enjoying writing them and I hope you enjoy reading them. I find it  a fun challenge to write the ordinary in a poetic way or not typical ways. 

writing

Hello, it’s me again. I was pushed by my goals to come and see you again. Let us get this straight I did not want to see you; I did not want to be here. Still here I am. I am walking in pass these glass doors. Before I start I do want to tell you I am drained, tired and it has been a long day. I am not sure how long I will stay or how exciting this visit may be. Maybe I should just turn away and go back home.

No, I will stay. You’re right I need this and I will feel better once I get started. So, here I go. I am starting this thing, called a work-out. I am moving my body that has been locked behind a desk all day.  I’m not going to think about that. I want to think about something else, something better. I know I will make up a story that is only for me about my future adventures that I may have at some point.

Okay, now I am feeling better. Now, that I have started to move and be active, now I feel alive. I am awake and I think I will be able to stay longer. Yes, I am going to stay longer. I am going to push myself. I may fall asleep as soon as I get home, but I will push myself.

I am starting to feel the sweat come on as I start to enjoy being here. This is starting to feel good, like I am really trying. I think I am making a difference with my health. This is great and I am not even paying attention to the time any more. How long have I been on this machine? The machine says half an hour. I guess I should go stretch.

Stretching feels so good. I have been so tight for being stationary for most of the day. It’s nice to pull my muscles at least for a few minutes.

Right, the stretching is done, so it’s back on to the cardio area. I think I will go on a new machine. I want variety, plus I am paying for all these machines. I should get my money’s worth, right? Alright I have not done this lateral moving one in a while.

Let’s see how does this one work? I want the fat burning work-out. Age, weight, wait is that weight again? No, I did something wrong. Age, oh it was target heart rate, now the weight. Alright I am ready to go. No, how do I change the difficulty? I can’t change the resistance I guess. I’ll just start pushing buttons as I work out and see what happens. Nope that mode will kill me. I’m not even going to try that. How about this last one? Yes, it will work, I guess.

Doo de doo now it’s back to my daydreaming, while I do this. Okay, it may be getting easier. Oh, it is and that is because I am going slower. I see the slower I go the easier it is. I am going to push myself. Let’s see how fast I can go. I am going to try to keep this crazy fast pace for five minutes, okay maybe 3. I can do 3 minutes at maximum. I will do this. I will do 3 minutes at maximum. I can’t do it. I want to stop, but I won’t. For some reason being with you makes it harder to take it easy, so I will push myself. I will get to 3 minutes. I am almost there and it’s getting closer. There I did it.

That actually feels great. After a short break at a slower pace I am going to do that again. You know what, maybe you are alright. I don’t know why I hate you so much when I am not around you. I really do enjoy this time here.  Oh, I am almost done with my work-out. I’ll push myself again. I will go as fast as I can. I won’t give up. I can’t give up. Here we go. I can do this. I will finish this work out strong. I am almost there. I will go out strong and I did finish. Great, I feel great. I am really sweat and gross, but I just kicked my butt.

Thank you for being here. I will be back in a day or two. Next time I will try not to be so against you. I know you are here for my health and that is just awesome. I really am happy that you are around. I feel great now and I somehow have more energy.

Let me know what you think of this post. I  am not even sure what category it should go in, but I like writing it.

In The Diner(Short Story)

In The Diner Short story

“I am not from around here.” She told the stout woman who approached.

“Few people are, darling.” The waitress, Cindy, told her with a smile.

“I can imagine,” Laura, the woman who looked around, stated as she sat on her bar stool.

“How’s that?” Cindy asked, not needing to rush her since she was the only customer without a meal in the diner.

“I just drove up 9w and it was beautiful.” As Laura spoke, she again looked around as if trying to find someone or something she lost.

Cindy took the pause to mean that there was something she should ask. “It is beautiful. I suppose many people move to town to enjoy the redwood forest.”

“Yes, I suppose, but it was when I got off route 9w. It was another world. I come from a farm in Utah and there is so much space there. All the roads are long and most are wide. Here, however, two streets never meet at a right angle and they are hardly streets at all. Instead, you have tiny little roads like, ‘courts,’ terraces,’ ‘ways.’”

“There is a ‘landing’ or two.” Cindy chuckled.

Laura ignored Cindy’s little joke and continued, “And lining these street-like things are rows on rows of tiny houses that only the lawn ornaments distinguish between the different properties.”

“I have heard of new people calling up a taxis just to have them lead them out of neighborhoods,” Cindy said light-heartedly, trying to make her customer feel at ease. After a moment Cindy asked, “What will make you feel better right now? I can get you a coffee or maybe a pie?”

“Coffee and pie sounds good. Do you have apple pie?” Laura answered, forcing a smile on her face.

“Yes, darling, I will get you a piece of warm apple pie and you can tell me more about what brought you here.”

Cindy left, took care of a few other customers, and came back with a coffee and pie for Laura. As Cindy slid the plate and mug towards the mid-twenty-year-old she asked, “So, tell me the story of brought you to Suburbia.”

“That is simple. My husband got a job in the city, but we didn’t want to live in a city. We had a great big farm we lived on in Utah. My brothers took care of horses and my family had some cattle. If this job wasn’t something he felt he needed to do, I would have stayed on the farm.”

“Is that who you are looking for?”

“What?” Laura asked, shocked that Cindy noticed her nerves.

“You keep looking around.”

“Yes, we were supposed to meet 20 minutes ago, but I was running late. I don’t know why he would be this late.”

Just then, as if Laura’s husband heard his story being told, he walked in the door and straight to his wife. With a kiss on the cheek, her nerves went away and they could enjoy the apple pie together, before ordering their meal.

Want More?

If you would like to read more short stories please check out my Portfolio or perhaps you would enjoy watching readings of my work on YouTube.