Tourennatrix gets Intense

[tourennatrix]

 

June 17-19 is my first Capoeira Intensive! Eep! As the name implies, it will likely be rather intense but I do not intend on getting completely winded in my first 5 minutes. With this in mind, I am going to ramp things up a bit to get ready for 3 days of insanity. (Also, the Insane Inflatable 5k the weekend before the intensive. Whew!)

 

Training:

• M-T-W - at least 2 classes

• Fri/Sat - at least 1 extra day of (focused) practice

  • Filming whenever possible to critique/show progress

• At least 1 day strength training (BWW/Conditioning)

 

Eat:

• 5 days/week “paleo-ish”

• 8 cups water every day

 

Practice:

• Pandeiro 3-5 times/week, at least 1 time outside of class

  • Whenever possible, make practice session long enough to hurt, and keep going!

• Portuguese 3-5 times/week

 

Body Care:

• At least 1 yoga routine/week (Ideally 2-3)

• At least 1 prehab session/week (Ideally 2-3)

• Feet to the earth at least 3 times/week (back yard, walk around the block)

• Get a massage! 1 massage before end of challenge

 

Saturday Stress Test (Pick one each week)

• No Chairs! All day, not allowed to sit on chairs, couches, benches, etc. Stand, squat, lean, or lay down. Sitting on the ground/floor is ok, but should not be taken advantage of. Bikes and toilets get a pass. Cars get a pass if they’re unavoidable.

• Really long walk: 2-3+ hours on the trails. Bring a picnic (ruck!)

• As above, only on a bike.

• Run (jog/walk), both morning and evening. Aim for ~half hour each excursion.

• Darebee Daily Dare

• Something else...? (suggestions welcome, especially for week 1 where I'll be road trippin')

 

Soul Care: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE.

• Do something every day to enrich or soothe the soul (see previous challenges for ideas). This may overlap or even override any of the above components of the challenge.

 

Yes, it looks like a lot, and Yes it's a bit of a jump from the ultra-gentle approach I've been taking the last few months to take care of my head/heart-space. BUT it's still a reasonably forgiving and not too far off from what I normally do anyway. There's no strict scheduling involved, I don't expect to get 100% and with Husband's assistance I think I can finally snap this months-long PMS style mindless binge-eating at work problem. Also helps that the first 2 weeks my schedule at work will have me working normal hours instead of 4 long days to make up for one short day. WHEW. I just have to try to fill in the boxes over the course of the week (boxes with a slash are optional)

 

 

 

Obstacles:

• May 6-7 I will be road tripping to and from Lincoln, NE, so lots of time spent in the car. 4-5 hour drive each way >.< Might have to skip the stress test for week 1

• Husband’s work will be blasting into high gear over the course of the month, and he’s taking on an additional part-time job. He is the main provider of real meals in the house and he will have less time available to do so. BUT he’s really excited for salad season, so hopefully that enthusiasm will carry over to really good meals.

 

Let the countdown begin!!

 

[Teancum]

I'm going to follow this challenge! I've always wanted to try Capoeira, and I will some day when I've shed some excess poundage. Also I like the idea of the stress tests!

[RogueLibrarian]

Following!

[imjustarogue]

4 hours ago, tourennatrix said:

June 17-19 is my first Capoeira Intensive! Eep! As the name implies, it will likely be rather intense but I do not intend on getting completely winded in my first 5 minutes. With this in mind, I am going to ramp things up a bit to get ready for 3 days of insanity. (Also, the Insane Inflatable 5k the weekend before the intensive. Whew!)

Well, to be fair, you're running the 5k with me. It'll be anything but intense (for you) unless you decide to not run with me. It'll probably be a lot intense for me what with the haven't exercised at all for about 9 months thing that happened. >.>

[SkiBlue]

ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!! WOOOOOO!

[tourennatrix]

2 hours ago, SkiBlue said:

ALL ABOARD THE HYPE TRAIN!! WOOOOOO!

 

CHOO CHOO MUTHA FUKAS

 

Proper first update tomorrow if I have time after MOWING THE FREAKING LAWN FINALLY OMGAWD.

 

<3

[raptron]

OK, so totally different format but you've got this!

[tourennatrix]

The lawn has been conquered. Or at least heavily maimed. The back yard still needs to be spot-mowed (waaaay too much going on back there, ew) and need to go over the front with a weed wacker (the folks who had this house before us decided to line the house with the nicest perenials so we don't have to do anything to make flowers happen but mowing up to the flower beds is just impossible when you can't see where the lawn ends.

 

Yards are dumb.

 

ANYWHO.

 

First two days have been pretty successful! Paleo-ish is actually starting to work, though I need to work on my 'in moderation' part of the equation for acceptable non-paleo snackage. After lunch I was stressed and mildly upset- I managed to forego the gas-station pitstop of doom, but devoured my late-afternoon/pre-workout snack right after I got to work even though I was by no means hungry. Need to chase lunch with orange juice or something to counteract my need for dessert maybe? After class I wound up having a dinner of coconut water and a small pork chop and nothing else, and miraculously I didn't feel like death when I woke up this morning. Success?

 

Class consisted of me, Astro,and S, and we did drills. So many the drills. We started with animal drills and for some reason these just KILLED me. Then we moved on to offense and defense drills, with Astro leading, then with me leading, then with S leading. It was all review for me but definitely good practice. I kept dying. A lot. Need to check on a piece of vocab  with Girafa tonight though...

 

I was trying to figure out what was going on when I wasn't getting winded so easily (back when Girafa decided I needed to start doing my 3-Legged Cats backwards), and I think it comes down to two things. One, the weather was cooler, which sounds like a lame excuse because it's been cold for the last week or so. But it got warm for a while and brought rain and now there is a hint of humidity everywhere. Also, when I was doing better, it was coming off of the hot humid season, so everything was easy, now we're on the up-hill climb. (This doesn't freak me out about the intensive at all, really, I swear). Two, weight and/or diet choices. The last few months have not been kind to my weight, and while the change isn't drastic, I'm definitely closer to my starting weight than my goal weight again. I felt a lot of things were just easier when I was successing the paleo thing in the fall and melting off the extra layer. Looking forward to that again!

 

I will not get a soda today, despite being super tired. I'm going to continue easing into not eating crap at work, no matter how tempting crap can be (read: infuriating). 

 

Go go go!

[SkiBlue]

I feel like crap when I eat like crap too. It sucks because of how hard it is to avoid. You got this!

[tourennatrix]

Totally.  Time to go through the mildly unpleasant detox phase (again, hope it goes by quickly, and then I'll be set )

[SkiBlue]

37 minutes ago, tourennatrix said:

Totally.  Time to go through the mildly unpleasant detox phase (again, hope it goes by quickly, and then I'll be set )

 

Ugh, that flu/migraine crap is the WORST. Best of luck!

[tourennatrix]

No class today as Girafa was busy with "stuff" So when I got home I built up a new "boosted" BWW based on this article (Thanks @RogueLibrarian!) I was able to do 7 of the 8 options, because I don't really have a good way of doing rows indoors at the moment. More reason to go to the park for these things  Also, I took a little too long setting it up so I only had time to do one round before dinner. I think I'm going to put together two different routines- one for home and one for the park. It was a good experiment, will do again.

 

50 sec on - 10 sec break

Marching Hip Thrusts

Ball-floorboard incline push ups (17) (!!!)

Spider squats (20?)

Hip hinge (8) 

Pike push up attempts (??? I don't even XD )

Baby shrimp squat (7 ea)

Pull up (#3: 5, 1)

 

Nothing quite like hip hinges to remind you how bad your lower back and hamstrings are XD Aaand I want to see about how to work into pike push ups. 

 

Food continues to success, even though I nearly bombed it today. We had to take Atlas to the vet (just a check up) over my lunch. Thankfully I had just enough time afterwards to grab some leftover salad and make a smoothie.

 

I have soooo much excite for tomorrow. (1) One of our corporate managers is going to be visiting the office in bossman's absence (oh the feels >.< ) which is really kinda cool because I don't think she's ever been to our office. She's a tiny french-canadian and she's fierce as hell (I think a black belt in karate?). If circumstances happen there may be french speaking in the office which I have so many mixed feelings about  (2) OMG MASSAGE DAY. 

 

(I love how the one guy's like "ooh yeah let's work that knot out" and the other guy's all "please god let it be over")

 

Girafa let me pick between Swedish and Shiatsu- I picked shiatsu because it's something I've never tried before and when comparing the two, the internet tells me that swedish makes you "relaxed and sleepy" and shiatsu makes you "relaxed and energized"... and I need to function at work after this, so yeah... This means that instead of using his massage space in town I get to drive 10 miles out of town and find his house. Adventure!

 

. . . I have way too much energy for 10pm.

[tourennatrix]

... so what does a proper Rebel do? Why, 2 more rounds of the thing, of course! Girafa's going to have fun working this out of my muscles tomorrow. (And then class? Jeepers what am I getting myself into here?!)

 

 

The question marks are because I fail at counting and/or I'm not sure I'm doing the thing right. (Keeping in mind there was over an hour break between sets 1 and 2) Damn that's a lot of pull ups! Oh I'm going to be feeling this tomorrow (especially all dem squats!)

 

And now, a tale of hair, which has nothing at all to do with NF:

Saturday, Husband decided to take me out on a date, so I decided to throw some stuff in my hair to make it look like something other than a shiny blonde mop. We got back late, but I knew I should probably wash the stuff out before going to bed. However, I didn't have anything to do the following day, so I wasn't too concerned about the bed head, resultant of going to bed with sopping wet hair. I had some awesome bed head ALL day Sunday, and into Monday morning. I didn't feel like taking a full shower yet, so I just threw some stuff in to make the rest of my hair match the bed head and went off to work. After work, I went immediately to class, and after class I spent time with family, and after spending time with family I just wanted to crash, so I did (Hey, no judging, you've done it too!) planning to shower in the morning. Still with the hair cement keeping things nice and voluminous.

 

This morning, I was a ROKKER.

 

 

Too bad I had to wash it out and tame it down a bit for work

[SkiBlue]

Quick, mildly creepy comment before I rush to work:

 

I have that same shower curtain.

[RogueLibrarian]

"Massage day" sounds like the best day in the workout schedule, not gonna lie.

[raptron]

^ Seriously! And soooo hard rawk. 

[tourennatrix]

3 hours ago, SkiBlue said:

Quick, mildly creepy comment before I rush to work:

 

I have that same shower curtain.

 

 

2 hours ago, RogueLibrarian said:

"Massage day" sounds like the best day in the workout schedule, not gonna lie.

 

14 minutes ago, raptron said:

^ Seriously! And soooo hard rawk. 

 

So very yessssss

[tourennatrix]

I have no more muscles. I used them all up.

[RogueLibrarian]

GROW SOME NEW ONES FOR TOMORROW

[tourennatrix]

Girafa found all those muscles I thought I used up.

 

The massage was amaaazing (and G's house is freaking cool. It was one big open space and he had the doors and windows open and the skylight was open and the birds were singing). There were lots of "ooh that's good, that's nice, THAT'S A SPOT OK hoo remember to breathe..." Rinse, repeat. When we were done he said he could tell I'd been training XD Some of the more notable aspects were when he was working on my shoulders and my arms would get tingly (in a "oh, my nerves are unblocked, I can feel again!" sort of way) and when he worked on my glutes I could feel it in my psoas. He threatened to go after the psoas for real next time. Oh dear. 

 

He gave me a few stretches that I should consider doing (more, again) to help relieve the forward head position and tight shoulders/chest, told me to drink lots of water and consider having a soak this evening (which I ended up doing, yay!). He expressly did not forbid me from coming to class.

 

I had every intention on listening to my body to see how things settled in afterwards and use that to decide if I was going to class or not. At the end of the work day it was feeling like getting up and moving would help things, so right about 6:45 I settled on going to class. Then at 6:50 HANGRY started settling in (I only had about half a smoothie for lunch) and at 7 I was grumpily trying to wrap things up while a friend was trying to get me to go out to dinner to spend time with a friend who we only see about once a year. I have difficulty with dealing with plans changing when I'm not hangry. Alas, this was the only chance I would have to see him, so I went. And it was fun, it was just... fun with an undertone of frustration? The meal itself was also tinged with disappointment. I had been really good about warding off snacks all day, even though I was grossly under-prepared for not having time for an actual lunch. When we went to the restaurant I had the intention of getting the fajitas and just eating the meat and veggies portion, but instantly started munching on the chips and there was something exceptionally bland about the fajitas so I used the tortillas so I could fill my tummy faster and stop eating sooner. I have leftovers that Husband can re-season. The only reason I'm not saying fuck it and having a cider to drown my frustrations is because I know I need to continue with water and not alcohol to help flush stuff out of my system that was worked out of my muscles today. Yay being responsible?

 

So I'm a bit bummed. And I'm frustrated that society tells me I shouldn't be bummed, that I should be happy I got to see my friend. But I'm bummed anyway. It's a good thing I made it to class on Monday, even if I did almost die in the process.

Also, C is officially on vacation now and tomorrow will be my first missed appointment with him, so that's starting to settle in. 

 

BUT! I'm killing my water goal and I took a soak in the tub (this makes 3 in the past month. The verdict is still "baths are boring and I don't like them" but I will do them for muscle health... sometimes. Since I won't be spending so much time driving and going to appointments tomorrow, I will try to do some practice in the park when I get off work. Friday after work is road trip time!

 

Now is bedtime.

[tourennatrix]

I woke up feeling like this: 

When I sat up, I rolled over a few spots that G had dug into pretty hard and it feels like my back is covered in tiny little finger and knuckle sized bruises XD That wouldn't bug me so much (really it's more amusing than painful) except my neck decided to revolt and I have a pretty bad headache (despite superhydrating AND taking a muscle soak before bed, wtf body???). Started the day with some chest and shoulder yoga to see if I could tame the beast, but no luck so far so food and ibuprofen it shall be >.<

 

Once I can extract myself from the coziness of the couch...

[SkiBlue]

10 hours ago, tourennatrix said:

So I'm a bit bummed. And I'm frustrated that society tells me I shouldn't be bummed, that I should be happy I got to see my friend. But I'm bummed anyway.

 

That happens to me EVERY time. Don't sweat it.

 

Y'all need to stop being broken! I am not my cleric IRL!

[tourennatrix]

27 minutes ago, SkiBlue said:

 

Y'all need to stop being broken! I am not my cleric IRL!

 

Heynow, I'm pretty sure it doesn't hurt quite as bad as a week or two ago where I could barely turn my head, so there's improvement! I just need to figure out how I'm going to manage staring at a computer screen all day >.< If I can get through that, I will either be dying to get up and move and I'll go practice, or I'll just be dying period. Only time will tell!

[SkiBlue]

Dying is not allowed.

[tourennatrix]

On 5/2/2016 at 2:58 PM, The Scarlet Pimpernel said:

I'm going to follow this challenge! I've always wanted to try Capoeira, and I will some day when I've shed some excess poundage. Also I like the idea of the stress tests!

 

On 5/2/2016 at 3:37 PM, RogueLibrarian said:

Following!

 

Man I fail at social interactions. HI PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T READ MY STUFF BEFORE! (I presume?) - I talk a lot about my capoeira classes in broken coded Portuguese, so if you're wildy curious about what the heck I'm talking about, just ask and I'll try to provide a picture or video or something. @SkiBlue is also a good read for this stuff. I play Angola, she plays Regional. My instructor makes jokes about how we're supposed to be rivals but we're more like really creepy long distance twins sometimes  My other 2 most frequented topics are how awesome therapy is (C is my therapist, out for 2 weeks for dance parties in California, so jealous, I miss him already) and how much pain I'm in (usually said with a smile. Or I hope usually.)

 

Ski did I miss anything? XD