Beyonce is beyond amazing.

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the
imagination, and life to everything. ~ Plato

I recently bought a new laptop and have been transferring all my music to it. However, it's a frustrating and tedious process since my old laptop was a slow Mac and there is no easy, one-step way to go about this. But the process though is really making me think about all of my music. It makes me think that music is like clothes and sometimes there are things that you should just get rid of because you don't wear them any longer. Why do I have All Mighty Senators on my i-Tunes when I skip a song each time it comes up? Sure, they are a rocking funk band and seeing them live in the mountains of Virgina blew my lid, but why are these tunes that I never feel connected with anymore taking up space on my hard drive? OK, after listening to that youtube clip, I might keep a few songs.

Another habit of mine is downloading all those free i-Tunes songs that they give cards for at Starbucks. It's a great promotion, of course, but I think I only like about 2 percent of what I end up with. And yet the other 98 percent of songs pile up like garbage on my system. Yes, Ceu is a really interesting, global artist, but I'm comfortable enough to admit what's not really my bag. Or another habit is downloading an entire CD because I like one song. Then it turns out the other songs are vastly different and yet again, there they sit, rotting.

I need to come up with some better categorization too. There are some rock or pop songs that I love listening to while running but yet if they come up in shuffle on my drive to work, I can't hit "forward" fast enough. I also wish i-Tunes would add a double genre feature. The songs by the band Drive-By Truckers (my favorite of all time) are perfect example of why we need the ability to assign two genres to one song. They are country and they are rock. Simply put, they are both.

This post doesn't have anything directly to do with working out, but you can see where I'm going with my thoughts. Maybe one day I'll transfer all my music, categorize all my songs aptly, and then make the mot outstanding workout mix of all time. We'll see. I have yet to see two people agree on one mix CD with equal enthusiasm for each song.

Back from vacation

We returned home from Denver on Monday evening to an energetic, very excited puppy! It's great to know the legends of dog loyalty appear that maybe they could be true. There was no exercising for me on Tuesday as I settled into unpacking and organizing and grocery shopping. On Wednesday night, I actually made it to the gym after work for a run on the treadmill. I thought I might see some of my peeps there but perhaps with the chill in the air, they were too weak to leave home. Who knows? I ran three miles in 36 minutes and had to stop twice (yes, twice) to tie my respective shoelaces. I think I need that gizmo that toddlers have to keep their laces tied tight all day. And I need a new pair of running shoes on top of that. I realize I bought mine when I did the half marathon more than two years ago. Yep, time to bite the bullet and see how much I can talk myself into enjoying the thought of spending $100 on a pair of running shoes. Maybe I'll be like the Africans or some of the other great ancient runners and forget the shoes altogether ...

On Thursday night I forced myself to my first Bikram yoga class in a long time. Like, maybe two months ago, that's how long of a time it has been. But dammit, I paid more than $200 for this stupid package of classes and I'll be ashamed if I let the classes run out on my lazy, unmotivated ass. Seriously, I was so annoyed with driving to Plymouth that I was already contemplating writing a post called "The love affair goes sour." However, I perked up when I saw that class was being led by my favorite instructor. Some of them are like drill sergeants who make you feel like a lazy slob for not attempting each pose 100 percent. I knew I was not ready for a class of that style yet. So I slogged through the sweat-soaked 90 minutes with a passable determination. Now that I'm not going out of town on the weekends, perhaps I'll be able to pick up more classes. Cheers.

Hot Streak Continues

I feel wonderful about how I've been waking up early for workouts and even making time for them on the weekends. It's like going from seeing a therapist once a month to a more consistent basis and you feel like you really start making progress. My idea of joining bootcamp for a month in the hopes of carrying the early morning workouts on has turned out well. It's sweet relief to be sitting at my desk and know I'm done for the day. I can go home after work and do whatever I want. I've been alternating between some DVDs I rented from the library and going to the gym. I actually ran twice on the treadmill last week and felt energized after. I leave for my Colorado vacation in two days, so I'll accomplish what I can beforehand and then tell myself I don't have to give a hoot about exercising for nearly a week. Cheers!

Happy birthday to me!

I woke up early to start the day with a bang at the gym. Jason was taking Quixote to dog care so I didn't have to worry about reserving 30 minutes of my morning for his walk. Therefore I stayed at the gym for about 90 minutes, of which I ran for a half-hour. That was great for my self-confidence and it was incredibly reassuring to know that run with Ed hadn't damaged my knees irreparably. After that I alternated ab work, weights, lunges, exercises with the ball, alternating jumping lunges, etc. I put forth a hearty effort. I felt I had to. I know people assume I'm this freaky eater who never eats crap but let me put that myth to rest.

Over the course of the weekend I ate an entire Hershey bar and three no bake cookies that each had 9 grams of fat. Also, throw in homemade French toast with cinnamon swirl bread from Good Harvest. Don't forget the pizza on Friday night. After that sugar onslaught, a caramel apple pie appeared in the kitchen at my office on Monday. I only had a sliver of a slice but I'm sure it wasn't on any healthy top 10 list. So, blah blah, there you have it. I'm not perfect with eating like a health nut every day. Hence, my appearance at the gym in the wee hours of my birthday.

Tonight looks like dinner at PF Changs and yes I've already looked at the menu and the nutrition profile online. That place is out of control. Do you know there are some dishes that are considered to be three or four or SIX servings on one plate?? I will definitely be gorging on Buddha's Feast. It's my birthday and I can eat like a nerd if I want to!

Two days down, the rest of my life to go

I continued the trend of working out before work on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday I did my own rendition of boot camp based on a workout site I found online. I usually feel like a dork bopping around on my carpet in my living room but I was determined to try and make a solid effort. I must've done something right since my thighs are screaming for mercy today. Those are the crazy kind of results I can boast about! On Tuesday I went to the gym. It's probably been more than a month since I've been there. I alternated 15 minutes on the treadmill and the elliptical, interspersed with upper body weights and abs. It didn't feel like the hardest workout of my life but back-to-back morning sessions are a strong way to start the week.

I decided that in order to entice myself to keep on this trend of early rising, I need new programs to hold my attention. Until something has proven itself as a lame workout program, I can believe it's going to be great. Therefore I put holds on about 10 DVDs through my library system. Hopefully those will capture my attention, and tone my body as well!

I will miss boot camp

Boot camp technically ended on Monday but I made up two days that I had missed, making this morning my last class. We took body measurements of our neck, chest, waist, thighs, etc. but after a month I didn't have any shape difference. I'm not surprised. I was working out before I even started the session. However, I did notice improvements in the exercises we did for our fit test. For example, on the first day, I could only do 16 burpess and by the end I could do 20 in a minute. I went from holding the plank position for 92 seconds to 107 seconds. I also improved my full sit-ups in one minute by about 25 percent. It's incredibly rewarding to have that tangible evidence of progress.

Boot camp was a very different sort of fitness from what I am used to. It was short circuits, explosive movements, a lot of variety. It's not like doing the same machines at the gym repetitively or plodding along on the treadmill for 30 minutes or even yoga with the exact same exercises every single class. Boot camp was new and challenging in a way that my body responded to really well. I loved how so many exercises tested my core area without it seeming like mindless, dull sit-ups. My abs have never looked better.

Here's an example of what we did today. There were four stations. We did two exercises for 30-45 seconds at each one and then rotated the circuit twice. At the first one, we alternated holding a weight and mimicked the wood-chipping form. At the next station we laid on the floor and raised our legs to make circles one way around a raised bar and then the opposite direction. At another station, we balanced in a bridge position with our neck and shoulders on the ball and then raised and lowered heavy weights over our head and back to our knees. Then we held that position and did tricep extensions. At the next station we kneeled on a bosu ball for decline pus-ups and then hopped with rotating feet to stomp against the ball. That was one circuit group.

Then we were given new exercises and had to repeat each station twice with two movements at each one. tT made the time fly by. It was a perfect combination of cardio and explosiveness with weights and muscle burning. We also did jumping jacks and ran around the building space for more direct cardio. That's just an example of one day and we never had two days that were the same. We'll see how many benefits and tips I can take from this class and carry them over to my gym routine.