DPP 07: Strength and Savasana!

Forgive the lack of technique in the shots, they were taken for me, as I was teaching the first ever NLXF yoga class this morning. And totally on cloud nine. Totally love. It's been a long time coming and I finally get my chance :)

Take your genetic predisposition a and SHOVE IT.

I've been working out seriously for close to a decade now. And only in the past few weeks have I been able to admit to myself, I don't need to be skinny. Not like that. 

 

Former fat kid in body. Still a fat kid in mentality. And it has taken right years of being a gym rat and two years of NLXF for me to get my head out my ass. It's been 8 or 9 sessions of me barely missing a day, in the beginning going twice a day just to get the results I wanted. Hitting cardio both before and after class. And eating what I felt was like a rabbit at times. I refused to be the fat kid again. And I was determined to torture my body to do it. 

And I hit a stop point. No results. No weight down. No muscle growth. No progress. Push up pyramids still get me crying near every time because in theory I SHOULD be able to do it. And I'm nowhere close. 

Last session is the end of all that crap. I don't need to be skinny like that. I never will be. But I can get jacked if I want. I can have that muscle and look just as good. As healthy. 

I was set that it was my body's fault. That it was messed up somehow. I are right. I worked out obsessively. Doctor after doctor found nothing wrong with me. Telling me to workout more, workout less, eat more carbs, flat out not believing me. And the one that had the audacity to tell me I was genetically predisposition to be obese. 

And I'm not convinced that I don't have some imbalances hindering me, but by godsend I feel like I've found my miracle. The trainer watching me struggle for the past two years finally had enough and has put an end to this misery.

 I've more than doubled my protein intake already (I don't like meat. It's hard for me) and started heavier lifting after class every day. Hours on the cardio machines cut done to under an hour a day. 

It's been mere weeks and the progress is there. I can see it. I can feel it. I am determined. I will do this. I will get there and stay. 

That's my long boring spiel. Welcome to my life. Have a seat and stay awhile. Things are going up from here. Even if it's the scale. All muscle baby. 

Yoga thoughts

Girl comes in Sol yesterday, my brain says she looks familiar, but I've got nothing.

She chats quite a bit about living in NY and how much she misses hot yoga so she's pumped about Sol now, wants to buy a package. Tells me her lady name for the computer, I immediately know it.

But there's two in the computer, I don't want to assume its her, I ask her first name. She tells me. I blurt "I totally rode the bus with you in elementary school, I'm Clare Nordyke" and she bursts "I KNEW I knew you!" She asks about teaching and says she's thinking about getting certified.

I was amused.

It's really amazing the amount of people I know I should know that come in, but with all I've been involved with since birth, I have no clue who they are. Sometimes they know me and acknowledge me, and then I feel bad.

And now there's people that act like they KNOW me when really I just teach them. That's a weird one. We have that at NLXF, but that's more a silent club. You know you see eachother dying and miserable at 6am in their weakest and most ugly moments, but you don't say anything to them. It's a silent bond that run shockingly deep. But at the studio, when students know you change your hair or start liking things on Facebook even when you aren't FB friends. It's a weird feeling.

Not that I mind, at least I know they don't hate me :-)

DPP 6: NLXF Beat Down

One round is:

Ladder/steps/hurdles straight

Ladder/steps/hurdles lateral left

Ladder/steps/hurdles

Lateral right

5 burpees, 10 push-ups, 15 sit-ups, 20 squats.

And you do that 8 times.

22:25. I wasn't first, I wasn't last. And I beat Tim (so what if it was only 40 seconds).

December Photo Project: Day 5. Take Me Home Tonight!

Ok, I wish you could see the pants better, but at 6am, this is the picture you get. 80s Day Gauntlet! Ready to rock!

Birthday Week Boo Boos and Ouchies.

I am an idiot. I was so excited to be getting back in to my fifth Next Level that I HAD to facebook about it as I was walking in. At 5:30am, when its dark, in a parking lot that I THINK I know very well. Next thing I know, I am on the ground. (Don't worry, the iPhone 4s was just fine).

I know my back and neck are jacked immediately. But I didn't notice all the bloody carnage until I got inside. It certainly wasn't pretty. Both knees banged up, shin with the road rash from hell, palm punctures. I was the picture of health to start kickboxing five minutes later (not).  Adrenaline kept the wounds from hurting too much (til later), but my neck was on fire.

I waited the few hours for the chiropractor to open. I get in, tell them the story (which they find hilarious) and then he informs me that I have given myself whiplash. By falling. I am an idiot.

So the past three days have been filled with ice packs, Icy Hot, and gauze. So much fun! Ugh. Sleeping with a neck that hates you and sheets brushing against road rash = not the easiest thing on the planet. 

Here's hoping i'm decently healed for Saturday's Color Run 5k and my birthday on Sunday! No more facebooking and walking until then.....or at least not a 5:30 in the morning. 

Lookin like a Fools 5k

I ran my first 5k last weekend. Which is really strange actually, I run on the treadmill every day. And I mean EVERY day, for 10+ miles, but I have never run a 5k, or any race for that matter. What it boils down to, is that I hate running outside. How am I supposed to watch Real Housewives when I'm out running on the sidewalk with nothing but squirrels to look at and my own thoughts to drive me completely insane? If anyone should not have free time in their own brain, its me. It just gets so freaking boring. I'd stop after a mile, guaranteed. Not even the Jersey Shore soundtrack can keep these feet pitter pattering once I'm officially bored. But Tim has become a runner over the past year or two, and has done a couple of 5k's himself. Somehow, i have never even been able to attend a race of his. This does indeed make me a bad person. And when I heard that a bunch of NLXF members were going to be running in this 5k (Fool's 5k), I figured I might as well give it a shot.

The NLXF crew

 I had planned on practicing outdoors before the big day. Never happened. Oops. Day of race. Low 40s. Cold. Br. With a thousand people racing, we had to be there over an hour early. Did I mention it was cold? But we survived along with my lovely NLXF pal Jen and started the race with everyone else.

Braving the cold with Tim & Jen

 I could have done much better. I had to stop to tie my shoe three times in the first mile. And right around mile two, I was hit with a massive shin splint attack. I tried to relax, but yeah, good luck with that when you have burning searing pain in your shins that only grows with every hit of the pavement. It was my last desire in the world, but I knew that if I didn't walk a bit, I would be crawling to the finish. And I'd have to forget any workout I had planned for the rest of the day. So I walked for maybe a tenth of a mile. So not too bad. But I was never even winded in the slightest, so that’s happy. I remember back in the day of the mile run at school. I was lucky if I could get 20 minutes. And thats looking on the upside, I would have never thought this would happen. But I did.

After the Fools 5k!

 Of course Tim beat me, by 2ish minutes. I blame at least one minute of that on the shin splints, but considering Ive never really run outside. I think I did pretty damn good.

 Besides, it gave me a reason to eat a Scratch mini cupcake completely guilt free once I crossed that finish line!

Silly me.

I have been running for five years now. Mind you, on a treadmill, not outside. I like being able to stop whenever I want, watching trashy reality tv on tivo, and running year round despite the weather. Running outside seems like a mind boggle to me.

I just signed up for a 5k in March. I do a 5k every day inside. More like 3 or 4 5ks. Why am I so terrified?!

A rollercoaster of an NLXF week.

I gotta say, the beginning of this week's NLXF is a lot better than last week. I have been meaning to write a whole post about my addiction and life orienting NLXF, but its still in the works. Alas, you'll just have to deal with my highs and lows of last week.

Monday-
5:30am class had pissed off Ryan so he was in a horrible mood. We suffered for it, but it was only slightly.
Second to last burn out set of the day, I was throwing a right roundhouse and completely rolled my ankle. Not just a little bit, but so far over that I couldn't balance on it on the hop into the roundhouse and just totally crumpled to the ground. Pain I can deal with, the fear of having to take a few days off of class is NOT acceptable.

Tuesday-
Ankle was weak and wobbly, but good enough to work on. 5:30 had pissed off Ryan so much again that there was no stretch, no warm up, straight into the work out. And I thought I was going to die. It was walk in at 6:30 in the morning, completely cold body and into suicide squats. I was pissed. Plus his mood was so filled with angst and vindictiveness that my anger just grew the whole class. And I sure wasn't the only one. People were livid.

Thursday-
Ryan was finally back to himself.
I had quite the "clouds opening up" philosophical moment that lasted the whole class. A section of the boot camp was racing steps. And I know that I focus so hard on them that it has a tendency to slow me down. I know this because when I let go of my brain and just go, I can fly a lot faster through them. Its like I think the step is going to jump out from under me or I am going to miss it or something. At the one moment, it just ran through my brain, "The step will always be there. The step will never change" You'd think I was in the asylum as much as I was chanting that in my head through class. And even the next day, going through bags, the bag will always be there. Trust that it will, and hit it harder.

Friday-
Before class even started, I had the joy of hearing a Gretta story revolving around her desire to be body slammed by Creed. Even if it was in punishment for telling future classes about the workout. She might be the single most entertaining source possible at 6am. Her completely out there in the open crushes on both Creed and Ryan and how they make her "swoon" is enough to make anyone laugh. Not to mention the looks on her face when Ryan tells us to watch his hips (a very happy look) or when he announces Burpee pyramids (this one is usually accompanied by silent profanities).

For some reason, I had done a total 180 since Monday and I was just able to go to town during the Gauntlet. I killed it. I had more power in both hits and kicks than I have in a long time. Creed called me out by name four times in an hour, with an "atta baby" attached to each one. Its his catch phrase, but that many. I knew it wasn't one of those faux encouragements. Even with a less than stellar Week 5 (of this particular session, not overall) weigh in, I was feeling pretty good.

Only growing my ego more when I walked in for my second class of the day at 9:15, and Creed told me before we walked into class, "Clare, you're an animal. No, you are, and you know why." Which then proceeded into yet another bag slaughter session.

Beast mode. Success. Now just to buckle down this carb and sugar intake in the next five weeks. For some reason, my self control the past few weeks has been lower than it has in years. I've gained seven pounds since New Years. And that better stop!