My Goals for 2014

I don't know what has gotten me all fired up with goals this year. Maybe it's to fight the blues from taking over in this most squalid of winters or just maybe I'm all inspired from within. Well, whatever it is, I shall not question and just ride the wave.

So here are my goals for 2014 in no particular order. Notice I did not say New Year's resolutions. Somehow this feels so carved in stone and if I don't do it I'll be a loser of losers, a failure of failures, a characterless person. Goals sound so much more positive and realistic ~ something you're reaching for as opposed to being so resolute you'll never budge. Hmmm. But I digress:

Overarching

• maintain a consistent painting schedule
• maintain a consistent workout schedule
• maintain a consistent Ashtanga/yoga schedule 
• Get thee to your Mysore classes backslider!!! lol!

Painting

• To get more creative and start painting again after I let a couple of years slip by. Which I have! Woohoo!
• To do at least two of the most inspiring pictures I've taken last year. I'm starting small with two as to not overload myself. I even prepped three canvases. Who knew they would be the primary colours!

In the beginning there was Cadmium Yellow Light!

In the beginning there was also Primary colours!

Yoga

• To get an open Baddha Konosana or as I like to say a "Badass" Konasana. I'm hoping to have my knees on the ground by next December. This will open up so many postures for me.
• Be in full frontal splits by the end of the year.
• Widen my side splits. I won't say full, as I have a LONG reach to go!
• Being able to get my leg to face in Supta Padangusthasana ~ because I want to! Is it wrong?!
• A more open, deeper backbend: What would that look like?
– straighter arms in Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel)
– a more rounded Ushtrasana (Camel pose) with more open hips and quads,
– and starting to work on Laghuvajrasana
• More lift in my arm balances: being able to consistently get my feet back to bakasana from tittibhasana and a better positioning of the knees on upper forearms for jumping back with dignity instead of a sad flop.
• A cleaner jump through because it'll make me look fly!

Ways to get me there: 
• Always do crow, supta padangusthasana, titti-transition, splits, backbends and wheel with every practice.
• When watching TV sit in butterfly pose, or front splits. Also, practice passive stretches every other night for backbends over a chair with pillow, over yoga blocks, and on my exercise ball to open my back.

Cardio:

• Increase my cardio capacity: What does that look like?

– 1st: Being able to do a Cathe cardio dvd without pausing one iota.

– 2nd: Perhaps being able to do all of Cathe's Step Works without pausing one iota.

– Pinnacle: If I want to go for broke, being able to do Intensity dvd's step portion including the HIIT step portion without pausing! I'm not even going to attempt the other HIIT segments in this dvd as my goal as there's no need to bother. As it is, this one's going for gold. But ya neva know until ya try! As one reviewer said this has NO downtime, even the "moderate" segments are intense ~ it goes from intense to maximum intensity over and over again, no in between. Get it!?!

Ways to get me there: 

• Doing a varied and consistent routine of steady state, metabolic (since it has alot of anaerobic cardio that really pushes plateau's), HIIT's (anaerobic for plateau pulverizing) and Tabata's (app).

Hopefully, I'll remember to check in 6 months from now in July to see how I've been doing with these little goals of mine.

... so practice, make inspiring but realistic and maybe even some unrealistic INTENSITY goals ~ cause ya neva know unless ya try as my friend said, at least it will get ya some ways there! ~ and all is coming.

Yeah for Productivity!

And then there was Light! Cadmium yellow light to be exact.

I had a great day today! Very productive. Prepared all my foods for the week, painted for the first time in ages, did my Cathe step and then my blog. Now, I wish I was this well behaved every weekend. Ha! Snort! But I digress ...

Athletic Step

Did Cathe's excellent Athletic Step routine which is about 47 minutes in length (30 minutes of actual step) as it's meant to be tacked onto her amazing STS heavy weight program. So the length is compact. However, I just did her step as I was planning to do weights but it felt a little too ambitious for the day. I do have my limits!

This is a nice mix of steady state step with high intensity power moves/sequences mixed in to each combo keeping it challenging especially on the first and last combo. She even puts in a light blast sequence at the end to top it all off. Nice! I felt pretty accomplished with this one and saw a little bit of improvement in cardio power. As I had very few pauses for me. But still have trouble with the last sequence. It's so challenging that I keep thinking she's finished the combo when she invites you to now do it from the top! Waaaaa??? You mean we haven't done the full sequence yet??? It sure felt like we did and then some!! She gets me every time there and I always have to stop as my lung's about to bust a vessel. That's my measuring stick, that last combo. When I can do that one without pausing to catch my breathe, I know I've arrived. Almost! For this dvd anyway. There's ALWAYS more vista's to climb with Cathe. She's never finished with you. Oh, and the music's groovin! As always with the gurl!

Marathon Shop Miami Style!

I was very proud of myself as this past Wednesday I did Cathe's new Greatest Hits Vol. 1 step for the second time. And noticed some more cardio improvement. And again it hit the spot for my aerobics as it's a great compilation of my favorite step routines and is a great mix of steady state and high intensity intervals. And man, I'm really starting to finally notice some cardio improvement in quite unusual ways. 

The Marathon Dash

When I was in Miami I was tearing down Dadeland Mall on a marathon run through the mall. Going from one end to the other in a crazy dash. Because we were literally doing some marathon shopping before we had to get back to the hotel to get ready for a cocktail party. It was hysterical! And I noticed that I was not breathing heavy at all. Not even a little bit. It was like I was just taking a leisurely stroll meanwhile I was literally running, yes you heard me, running through the mall from one end to the other and back again, at one point. Thank goodness I could do this because it was the week day and it was practically empty. Love that! And I was astounded at the improvement cardiovascularly. It was so noticable. Yeah!!

... so practice marathon shopping and all is coming.

Back from Miami ... And No Cop Out!

Fortune House, what a beautiful place to stay.
Reminded me of Agatha Christie's Bertram Hotel.

I'm back down from the heights that was Miami! What an experience! I hope and plan for many more in the future. New day, new chapter, I say! However, I've landed like a drug come-down into the dank depths of reality. No fun! ... To counter this see saw highs and lows I've decided there's nothing better than planning. The bible says "Where there's no vision the people perish." I know, I know, sounds rather heavy. But it's helping me to plan and keep my focus so I don't go keening into a real depression. So, I've got three main goals/plans for now: planning and saving for my next vacation, widening my social circles, and artistry specifically painting. By the end of this month I need to have two canvases prepped; by next month a nice big deposit into my vacation fund; and by the next two months getting my butt back to Mysore School and joining some cool groups of interests. This will keep me buoyed up and mind busy to get me through these dull, cold, non-Miami days! Lol! But I digress ...

No Cop-Out!

I finally won mind over matter. And dragged myself to my gym at 9pm tonight. My shadow hadn't crossed it's threshold in almost a month! What with Christmas, a cold, running around in readiness for my Miami trip there just wasn't any time. Besides I was getting great workouts at home. However, there's no substitute for going heavy at the gym. And my legs really need it for therapy. So finally I was able to psych myself to get there and it was no easy task I tell you! You have no idea the war that goes on in my head every Friday to get there. But my head finally won and I did the "Just DAMN WELL do it!" moto. And it worked! Got my butt there and a-kickin. Did my leg extensions for my vastus medialis quads to help my patella track in place. Can do 90lbs and 105lbs now. Did my barbell plie squats at 100lb (down from 105lb) doing 2 sets of 16 plus 4 low ends. I usually do 3 sets but since I haven't been at the gym for about a month I need to ramp up slower. But now that I finally lost the weight (I was NOT going to Miami not at my best, no way no how!) down to my normal 114lbs, my knee braces aren't fitting tight enough and I have to really watch my form. Time for new braces, but with saving for said vacation, I may have to put it off for late summer. We'll see how my knees fair. I did back work, chest pec machine, triceps and abs on the nearly 90° ramp. Wicked! But totally forgot to do my inner and outer thighs! Bummer! I'm going to be SORE tomorrow. I always get sore when I've been delinquent in my weight workouts. Yowza, serves me right!

More Plans

My plan is to do yoga tomorrow, maybe Eion Finn's Power Yoga for Happiness, Strong Free and Happy 53min sequence. As it's got some nice arm balances thrown in and an ashtanga type floor work. Also, has some good warrior holds for strengthening the legs. Then on Sunday, I'm going to decide what two paintings to start and the ground colours to use. And do my step aerobics possibly Cathe's Athletic Step or 4 Day Split High Intensity Step plus shoulders and biceps thrown in.

... so practice planning and DAMN WELLs, and all is coming.

I had no idea ...!!

that Cathe's Low Impact Series: Athletic Training would hurt so good in the legs!! Just did it yesterday for the first time after coming off Christmas week where I hosted, for the first time, an amazing Boxing Day Christmas dinner with my family. This was all done while nursing a not so nice achy-breaky cold no less. So with that I thought I'd start out with something "lighter" and less challenging to ease my way back into Cathe and yoga. It looked so innocuous! Well, Cathe fooled me again. I woke up to a hint of soreness in my legs and thought great it DID do something for me, surprise, surprise! Well, I was in for more of a surprise when I came home from some pre-Miami trip shopping and low and behold my legs were in AGONY, like a full on heavy leg workout!! What was I thinking. Cathe snuck up on me again. Never underestimate this woman! lol!

Athletic Training

Cathe's Athletic Training is part of her Low Impact Series and is a low impact circuit workout done metabolic style. You start out with the step doing a very simple athletic repetitive steps done really fast and leaves you out of breathe pretty soon. It snuck up on me pretty fast, and I had to pause a couple of times due to being out of breathe and my legs aching. It was a bit repetitive as I'm used to very advanced interesting choreography and more jumping. But surprisingly enough it's quite effective! And just what I needed for post-cold workout and for my neighbors sanity. Lol! Then we moved onto weighted leg work using the step at 3 risers. I used 15lb when Cathe used 8lbs, I believe. I wanted to go heavy (in terms of this type of evercise) with my legs. From then on I used heavier than Cathe on all the leg work except the one where we did shoulder lat raises where I did do the 8-10lbs called for. At this point I really didn't think I was working my legs much even though we went up to 3 risers. As I consider this quite light weight work. Who knows I'm still flummoxed as to what worked my legs out this much. Whether it was due to the cold or due to working with weights on the step repeatedly. Whatever it was, it worked! ... I've now come to the conclusion that it's using weights while employing a higher step. As I just saw a guy doing the same thing at the gym. And if a dude is doing it, ya know it's effective!

Then we went on to more weight work. However, by the time we got to the pushups off the step I had had it. This workout is MAJOR anaerobic cardio burn!! I was sweating and huffing like you wouldn't believe. Even though it's metabolic in nature and I find this approach usually does NOT give me an effective strength workout for neither my upper or lower body. Nonetheless, it's incredibly effective in upping your cardio anaerobically. It worked for me!! And I was dying!! I nearly fainted at one point! Lol! I felt myself receding and my surroundings darkening when Cathe was going "Now lets do pushups off the step." Ya right! And I usually have no problems with pushups on the floor or incline with feet on steps. So I knew I was beat and surrendered the white flag! AND I even felt that exercise induced nausea too! Starting exercise at the tail end of a cold is not for wussies!!

... practice, suck it up and don't be a wussie, and all is coming!!

I'm Busay!!!

... what with Christmas fast approaching. And what with feeling rather tired and draggy of late fighting a cold for nearly 5 weeks no less. I don't have a cold but my body's trying desperately to push this virus out of me for that long with me taking a vitamin C powder in my green smoothie. The darn vitamin C powder is working enough to keep it at bay with hints in my throat and if it leaves my throat it tries to give me an eye cold. So the darn virus has been moving back n forth, up n down for nearly 5 weeks now, whilst everybody else at my work is dropping like flies. But I am DETERMINED to kick it out of me for good. So my new tactic is to up my Vitamin C to morning and night. And it seems to be working. Darned if I'm going to get a cold when I'm putting on Christmas dinner!! So take that you virus!! So what with that and the added busyness I've been feeling a bit wonkered and my workouts have been lagging. But I'm proud of myself that when I'm feeling a little up to it I fit one in. But I'm not pushing. So with that I managed, finally, to fit in a workout with both Gym Style Legs and tacked on the floor work of my new Cathe dvd, Lean Legs & Abs. Both are leg workouts but I had a sneaky suspicion that Lean Legs would be too light on my legs and heavier on cardio and I was right. So I was really glad to mix the two dvds as Gym Style is just what it is, a nice heavy leg workout making your legs toast if you use heavier weights than what's called for, which I do. So I got my sweat on with these 2 workouts. 

Gym Style Legs

Gym Style has lots of squats with barbells, lunges with pulses (believe they'll get you burning), plie squats followed with low ends, 15 low ends followed by 15 more to be exact! And I use a barbell of 55lbs as opposed to their lighter dumbells. Suffice to say, I'm still working on completing the 15 low ends without breaking. But I'll get there yet! There's also leg presses where I use a 15 lb weight rather than their stretch band. 

Lean Legs and Abs

I stopped there and went onto my new dvd, Lean Legs and Abs, which I had been looking forward to doing for awhile now but just hadn't fit it in yet. Finally I got to and it was a fun workout. Rather metabolic in nature with alot of compound moves while working out the legs with lighter weights. Cathe kept it quite aerobic based while she kept saying "I want to keep your heart rate up." And she wasn't mincing words! Cathe never minces words! lol! The cardio kept on creeping up on me with her non-stop squat presses, lunges, jumping sumos, lunges to jumping scissors with nary a break in between. I was glistening with sweat in Gym Style, but by the time I got a third of the way through Lean Leg's floorwork I was pouring sweat like any cardio class or sweaty studio Mysore class, and huffing and puffing to boot! And the music was the boss! Nice! So, even though I didn't find it a heavy leg workout, I find it PERFECT for tacking onto a heavier weight dvd to get a nice chisel effect to the legs and some cardio/metabolic work at the same time. A perfect combination!

... so fit in a practice, no matter how big or small, and all is coming.

Had a Blast! ...

... tonight with Cathe's Lower Body Blast dvd. Check out my sweaty forehead to prove it. Okay, it could've been sweatier but I kept forgetting I was going to take a pic and kept wiping it off with my oh so cool superstar wristband.

I can't remember where or when I got that thang and discovered it in my drawer just lately. And I'm oh so thrilled it appeared. It's definitely handy, if I do say so myself. lol! And check out the pink nail polish, in the middle of winter no less. Very matchy matchy. I promise it wasn't planned. I was just trying to channel summer. But I digress ...

Lower Body Blast!

I decided to do my new fav lower body workout again. I have a secret, I don't really want to admit to myself. But I think I ramped up my high impact cardio too quickly for my achilles' own good. Humf! So now they're kinda complaining, with their old injury giving me reminders. I get over enthusiastic with cardio as I LOVE step and I LOVE jumping as it reminds me of my old love ballet. I was really good at jumping in ballet. My teachers used to say I had amazing ballon, I had height ~ took air ~ and looked weightless when I jumped. So getting achilles tendonitis or a hint of soreness there is my nemesis as I LOVE to jump. So, I've been really diligent about icing but it seems to be still creeping in. Yuck! With that I've been taking calculated risks trying to figure out how many high impact cardio's I can slip in here or there to assuage me need for speed and before my achilles say it's really time to go grounded now. So I decided Lower Body Blast is now or never. And I must say it was a blast! 

It's a 60 minute funtastic, effective, lower body strength workout that intersperses fat burning cardio blast intervals in between the strength segments. It worked me good! We started out with a warmup into the first cardio blast off the mini step with  repeaters, power 7's, jacks, etc then into the first segment of leg work using free weights, barbell, gliding disks and stretch band for floorwork. And man she worked my legs good with walking lunges Cathe burn style, low step ups to low lunge (really works the thighs and glutes), barbell squats with pulses and low ends (I sub plie squats as they're safer for my knees), barbell plie squats, lunges, sliding warrior lunges, dead lifts, hover squats (killer), you get the drift. Done at an almost non-stop pace with cardio blasts interspersed to keep the heart pumpin and the fat burnin. And all to great music. I felt the burn and Missy Cathe kept my sweat glistening and me wiping with my superstar wristband. Cathe never fails.

P.S. Me hopes I'm still walking tomorrow or the next day! Those DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) can really sneak up on you and take you by surprise. Just like when I did my step aerobics on Saturday (still have to post on that one as I was so proud of myself) using 3 risers instead of 2 and surprise, surprise, my legs were killing me not on Sunday but on Monday!! Ouch!! I haven't had sore quads from step in YEARS!! ~ until those 3 risers kicked in!! Wow!!

... so have fun and ballon and all is coming.