khodabae

Still in Vegas and missing my silks and trapeze! I swear my hands are getting softer as I haven't roughed them up in over a week : ( Limited exercise at the moment, but I am incredibly proud I have stuck with my diet on vacation so far. Even when I was out drinking on the Strip, I stuck to clear liquors and diet mixers. Feels good as usually I cave on vacation. Looking forward to Disneyland this weekend!!!!!!!

So, my first week is not going to follow my challenge real well. I am on vacation. Vegas, baby! So that means no aerial classes this week (no worries, I will get to make them up when I am back and have even MORE aerial classes!) I did a short run around the Strip in the morning but I am tapering off this week anyway so limited running. My half marathon is coming up on Sunday! It is Avengers themed and thanks to Under Armor, I have the best shirt ever (which I scored at the outlet store for $25 woot)

Thanks! Here's one just for you. Thank you!

Lol. I'm not escaping, I swear! I'm still totally lurking over there for the fun circus people. : )

They have slings at my studio as well, but they don't offer yoga. This is my hanging in one of them. I keep meaning to take a slings class but they don't coincide with my work schedule : ( Aerial yoga does look super fun though!

This is my third challenge and my first with the Rangers! I am working on a little bit of everything so I figured this would be a fun guild to try. Little about myself: I decided to completely overhaul myself around a year and half ago. I had gotten quite overweight in grad school and lacked any athletic ability whatsoever. I have since cleaned up my diet, lost over 60lbs (about 30 to go!), and I am loving finding new ways to be active. I have gone from not being able to run a mile to completing a half marathon and have found a passion for the trapeze and hanging upside down. I am also a huge Star Wars geek, so this essentially my excuse to use Star Wars gifs : ) Quest 1: Run! I completed my very first half marathon during the last challenge and I have another one coming up. In order to complete my quest, I must complete 2-3 short runs per week and 1 longer run. I don’t have a speed or time goal, I just want to have fun and have the endurance to finish the race. During this challenge I will be running two 5K races, a 15K race, and a half marathon (The Avengers Half at Disneyland yay!) I have also started listening to audiobooks while I run (the music was boring me after a while) so this is also my bookworm time. Quest 2: Lift! I am super excited because this is the challenge I will be learning to lift! After I finish my half in a couple weeks, I have training sessions scheduled with a weightlifting coach to teach me the basics and make sure I don’t screw anything up. I have really wanted to work on my upper body strength in particular to help with trapeze. I don’t really have any specifics for this quest yet, except to just try something new! Quest 3: Fly! Finally, and quite possibly my favorite quest, aerial time! I am currently training in aerial silks, trapeze, and rope and take lessons 2-3 times a week. Some specific goals for this quest are: finally complete a straddle inversion with no spot (so close!) on silks; get more than halfway up the rope using a toe climb; and be able to do an egg on the trapeze (essentially stand on my tiptoes on the bar, hold on to both ropes, pull myself into a tuck and hold for at least 5 seconds). Bonus Side Quest: Stretch! I am signed up for a one day Intro to Yoga workshop during this challenge. I have never done any yoga before so it should be fun.

CHALLENGE WRAP-UP #1 Attend aerial classes 2-3 per week- Attened 3 per week every week! #2 Running- Was fairly consistant, but not as high volume as I wanted. I did finish my half marathon though! I have my second coming up in a few weeks. #3 Keep to my diet- Mostly in check- I avoided most of the office sweets and fast food. I did have a few carby indulgences after my half. Side goal: Nope. Did not get around to it. Running and aerial kept me worn out. Maybe next time.

Thanks! I am actually doing another in a few weeks- the Avengers Half at Disneyland : )

I FINISHED MY FIRST HALF MARATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So my running has not been going so well this week. The weather has been horrible and, well, there has been protesting and crazy stuff going on around the park I run around (all about the St. Louis/Ferguson issues-I live quite close to the most recent incident). Also resulted in my kickball games being cancelled all weekend. Kinda sucks, I am hoping to find somewhere to run as my half is rapidly approaching. Diet is going ok. Made a delicious ribeye for lunch. Man, I never get sick of steak.

Trapeze class on Monday, mixed aerial on Tuesday (my aerial fitness class was of this week). Missed my regular run due to poor weather conditions/the warmth and comfort of my bed : ( On track with diet. I have been salad obsessed this week, making a bunch of variations. My new sous vide cooker is arriving today so I will be cooking lots of steak and chicken soon!

Yay aerial! I have tried lyra a couple of times but I never like it as much as trapeze. Rope is new for me so I am excited to try that.

Ran 4 miles on Thursday. Two rounds of kickball on Saturday. Ran 8 miles this morning. Also, made some amazing spinach artichoke meatballs with a creamy sauce. Omg good. Diet on track! No aerial since Tuesday but starting next week I will have class Tuesday morning, Tuesday evening, and Thursday evening. Silks, Trapeze, and Rope. They didn't have enough people sign up for stilt waking so sadly it was cancelled : (

Let's see- I did trapeze on Monday for a couple hours, and then aerial fitness and mixed aerial on Tuesday (played on slings for the first time). I was learning to Russian climb and toe climb on rope. I now have rope burn between my toes- very odd feeling! Ran 3.5 miles this morning so on track with running. Made egg avocado boats for breakfast and a huge taco salad for lunch- haven't messed up my diet since Saturday!