Community Ed Fitness

I signed up for a community education fitness class because it is at a school only a couple blocks away. It gives me somewhere I can walk to in the wintertime. Thus far the class hasn't been particularly challenging. It is only 50 minutes long, we usually start 5 minutes late, and there's 5 minutes of explanation etc.

Tonight though it kicked my butt. We did six stations and worked through them 3x. 1. mountain climbers 2. triceps 3. salt and pepper 4. squats and shoulders/chest 5. pop-ups shoulder thing 6. wall sits. After the instructor explained the exercises I headed straight for the one I dislike the most (mountain climbers), thankfully so. At the end I did not have energy for that. Also each set got a little shorter and on my first set of mountain climbers (the longest one) Macklemore's "Can't Hold Us" came on. I could of used a little more volume, but I'll take it.

The instructor walks around giving form tips. Today he said that my right knee bobbles inward when I come up from my squats. Previously I haven't taken his comments very seriously, but that is the exact spot where my knee has been injured a couple times. Wow. I had no idea it does that and I'm grateful he was paying attention and pointed it out to me.

I also like the wide variety of ages in the class from a 21 year old (son and mother team) to retirement age. Cathy is on the older end and I guess has been taking this class for years. She is talkative and inquisitive without being intrusive. "I thought you had soccer on Wednesdays" she said to me today, because she talks to people and pays attention :).


Bonus from earlier in the week:

I have so much respect for Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, the advice they offer and the way they offer it.

http://www.wbur.org/series/dear-sugar

"As Almond told Here & Now’s Robin Young, the people who write in 'don’t want an answer, they want permission essentially to feel what they’re feeling and to know that they’re in a process of struggle and they’re not alone in that.'”

Go Dakota County!

#1 - My friend and I went ice skating today and she said one of the things she appreciates about me is being willing to do things with people who are beginners.  According to the StrengthsFinders test, developer is my second strength so it gives me energy to encourage/support people to try new things/grow.  I get joy out of it naturally.

#2 - Another friend asked if I wanted to stay at the camper cabins sometime in a new Dakota County park.  I usually would prefer to be in a tent, however these camper cabins look gorgeous!  And there are ski and snowshoeing trails right outside so winter excursions are just as appealing.  Well done Dakota County! 

#3 -  I had my cholesterol checked for the first time.  I got the results which I don't know anything about.  My friend looked at them and said they are "really good".

#4 - The country that most closely rivals the U.S. for incarceration rates is North Korea (though that statistic is hard to ascertain).   

If you point a finger at someone else you have three fingers pointing back, right?  Well, for all the negative talk about that country, maybe this information could be clarifying, motivating, enlightening?

#5 - Also I read/skimmed a horrible NYTimes article today.

U.S. Research Lab Lets Livestock Suffer in Quest for Profit

Animal Welfare at Risk in Experiments for Meat Industry

The reason I came upon this article is that Cory Booker (New Jersey Senator) says he's going to look into it

and I believe him.

All I Need

• I made a spinach chickpea soup recipe from Simple Vegetarian Pleasures during breakfast.  It was inspired by the fact that I had a 1.5 pound bag of spinach that I didn’t know what to do with and was pretty sure most of which would go to waste.  However Jeanne Lemlin saved me, it needed 10 cups of spinach.

• My favorite 5 year old is wondering when I’m going to come over and put him to bed at night.  That was a part of being a kid that I hated, I suppose it is the “Activator” in me.  I wanted to be able to make things happen. 

• I told my father that I scratched his car last night.  It was in a tight parking lot and I didn’t realize the back of the minivan next to me swung into my spot.  I couldn’t see any damage last night to either vehicle but I figured in the bright sunlight it might be different.  There was a scratch, really minor, and it just made me realize how fortunate I am with over 20 years of driving to have this and a scratch to my sideview mirror in my old car to be my only mishaps.  When I told my father he said, “If you were in the hospital we would have a problem.”

• I wrote my friend an email about how great some of the guys I play soccer with are.  I thought it would make me feel appreciative/wealthy, but instead it made me feel a bit sad.  This perplexed me and I wrote to her again sharing this and trying to understand why I might feel that way.  She replied, “I get that. I totally do.”  And sometimes that is all I need.

Deep Blue

#1 –Looking out the window to the West and seeing a deep blue in the morning sky while the temperature read -4F on my way to my soccer game.

#2 – Not caring at all when my friend yelled at me in soccer (he yells at everybody including himself), and meeting the new woman on our team, a friend of one of our players.  Women in the over 30 league are a rare find.

#3 – Arriving to the announcement, “My best friend is here!”   (My niece as soon as I opened the door.)

#4 – I finally got my bedroom windows winterized with plastic last night before this serious cold snap blew in.  I almost just feel asleep sitting upright in front of the heating vent near one of them.

#5 – My soccer game was near my brother’s place so it was convenient to stop by afterwards and see them and my cousins who stayed there last night.  Then they all headed to the REI used gear sale which was  conveniently located on the drive home for my cousins' and also helped motivated them to leave before too late (on such a cold day).