May 22 to 28

 

It was fun but chilly water

There was no movie on in the garage gym this week, as I didn't work out there at all this week. Now, before you get on me, I was outside. Two or three workouts in Lake Ontario on a kayak and two or three hikes in the "wilderness" around Toronto. 

There is no wilderness ... it was a sidewalk or a rather nicely set up pathway. Anyway, no garage gym workouts so far this week. 

The swimming was cool. Literally, they opened the outdoor pool at my gym and I went in for a 1.1-kilometre swim. I'm pretty sure they hadn't turned on the heater. It was pretty chilly. At least at the end, people offered me a beer. I had to decline as I don't want that to become part of the habit at my gym. Anyway, at least I can go earlier for swimming now until the end of September and get in a pool without teenaged asshats sprinting for all their worth.

Lake Ontario was fickle too - one session was meter-high waves in the surf which flooded the kayak I was in. I got to surf one of the waves though ... which was unreal. The next day, the lake was as flat as a pancake. Was differently awesome. I will be exploring the rest of the province one day, but that was not this week. 

Anyway, closed the rings six out of seven days. Fitness is starting to show up in my life. I just need to continue to master the art of showing up. That's all it takes, really ... that and a big goddamn poster. 

May 15-21

This was in the DVD player this week.

 

This was an odd week, man. I didn't get my rings completed every day and was okay with that. I keep hounding myself that I must master the art of showing up and then don't. 

Weird.

I got out for two kayak sessions this week and strapped myself to my garage gym for a HIIT session. I even got two swimming sessions in as well. I mean I got moving, I just didn't move every single day.

I did do the morning session every day this week - those I learned last week I just can't blow off and not suffer later in the day. If I want to be able to move, I need to get myself stretched out. It's just a thing for me. 

Not a bad way for Ferris to travel

Morning sessions are looking like this these days:

Knees to chest and pulled in

90/90 stretches

Baby pose / downward dog to high or low plank

hamstring stretches / hip and leg rotations / seated hip extensions

low ball squats - really help with the knees and quads

reverse ball db flies, 

ball pike

band pullbacks / pull apart, forehead smashers

band rugby line out throws

airplane pose to two-legged bodyweight squats

warrior poses and variations.

...and scene. Yeah, I usually get that done in about 30-35 minutes. No, I don't do the part where you fall back asleep on the mat at the end. As these are early morning sessions, I usually have to get out of there and get everyone moving. 

I'm trying to get the diet under control and am doing an okay job with that. I also hit my sleep goal this week - which was impressive, to say the least. Need to keep doing that, too. 

May 7 to May 14

 

This is what was on this week.

Yeah, this was a good week, but I lost my brain. Well, perhaps brains aren't what I needed, but I went on autopilot and finished the week in a heap. I did finish my rings quite convincingly most days - hiking and swimming in the evenings, even a surprise swim on Wednesday was so much fun.

See the duck above for evidence of the coolness of the fun I had this week. 

Hikes were in the 3.5-kilometre range. Took me about 45-50 minutes to complete them and found new trails in my local provincial park. Simply cannot be replicated in my garage gym. The swims were 30-35 minutes in length and I got an average of 800 m swim in that time. Again, good luck replicating that in a garage gym.

not my back, but this is a reasonable facsimile

I did get some massage therapy done on Friday after a long hike - my back and legs got cupped and I'm writing this on Sunday and I still look like the victim of an octopus attack. My legs are without a bruise, but my back is another story. 

Stretching weekday mornings is really helping me gain perspective on the rest of the day and is also helping with pain management as well as mobility. I didn't do much journalling/writing this week for a reason that is escaping me at the moment. Strange how when self-care gets ignored, I start feeling grumpy. It's like there is a connection but I'm not quite getting it.

Saturday I was working and just stretching. I watched a bit of the Jays game and then went and had a nap. Then I worked, went and had a nap and then finished off the day by going to bed early and crashing. It's like I was tired or something. I didn't close my rings yesterday and exhaustion is clearly a part of that. I want May to last longer but I also want to skip ahead to when I'm on vacation. 

April 24 to May 6

I'm not sure I'm seeing this film correctly

Whoa, let a week sneak away on me. My mind slipping, too. In any case, got the rings closed on most of these days. I am dedicated to just showing up, man.

The weather is at least "warmer" ... but this is Canada, that isn't saying much. I needed to get out of the garage gym and see the world. Yes, I know that's heresy but I was getting bored by it. I went on more than a few hikes and eventually got a decent, enough sunshine warm enough day that I got my K1 kayak out for a rip.

Swims, too. I think I got three swims in this past week. At least two. In any case, swimming is coming along, and legs/abs are getting stronger. Want the arms that I've always thought I needed.  

Cardio continues to be a focus, but I'm really enjoying the outdoors. The longest hike was 3.5 km during this time. I'll work on that one. The RV is still in the shop, but that will get done this week. I'm hoping to be able to start really getting out there to see Canada. 

The April Challenge for me was swimming and I got that one. The May Challenge is to double my exercise ring thirteen times - which I've done four times as of the 6th.