Cross training with Jillian

Yesterday was my work from home day and in the middle of the afternoon I got antsy for some activity. So I decided to pop the 30 Day Shred in and get a butt-kicking courtesy of Jillian. I did Level 2 and man am I feeling it my back and shoulders this morning. Holy Moly.

Working out in the middle of the afternoon freed me in the evening to go watch the BF's volleyball team in their last regular season game. His team won all three games, even though they didn't play their best. BF had an alright night. Playoffs start next week. I might try to make it to those, but it means I'd need to start work at like 6 a.m. So we shall see.

I also have some important yoga news to share.

After this month, I will no longer be teaching yoga on a regular basis. The past five months or so of teaching have been a lot of fun, but lately teaching class has seemed like more of an interference in my life and something I was forced to do rather than being something I enjoyed doing. I will still be a sub so I can fill in when other instructors need help. That will give me more flexibility to fit classes around my life rather than trying to fit my life around my classes.

You wouldn't think that one or two extra hours a week after work would make that much of a big deal, but I've just found it really has. There are some nights when I just want to go for a run and can't. Or I just want to sit and relax, but can't.

So I've decided now that it's become more of a chore than something I truly enjoy doing, it's not really worth it to me anymore. I may miss it down the road, but right now I think I'll be glad to have my evenings back for things I want to do.

Canceled yoga and a three miler

The policy at the gym where I teach yoga is that if no one shows up to class by 15 minutes after the class starts, the teacher gets to leave and still gets paid.

Lucky me that's what happened last night. It's the first time since I taught the really really early class at UMD that I've actually had no one show up. I was pretty grateful though. I just wasn't feeling yoga last night and I was able to come home and head out for a quick three mile run instead.

By the time I left for the run it was about 8 p.m. and the sun had set so the temperature wasn't too uncomfortable. I didn't notice the humidity until close to the end of the run when the air really felt thick and hard to breath as I charged up a serious uphill on the way home.

I thought I was going to make it the whole way without having to stop and walk, but one of the very last hills did me in and I walked for a minute or so.

My left leg acted up again, but not to the extent it was last week. I've been really stretching it out and I think that's helping.

In BF training news, he hit the treadmill at the gym tonight and did 1.5 miles, but said his knee still nagged him, although it wasn't too bad. I'm hoping maybe that if we can at least build his endurance up by the end of the summer he'll be able to finish the race even if he has to walk most of it.

My sleep schedule is so messed up

This weekend was so much fun what with my trip down the shore and two parties with friends, but it took a serious toll on my sleep schedule.

The BF and I left for Sea Isle City after work Thursday night. We got in around 10:30 and were able to head out with my friends for a quick drink. We hit the hay around 1 a.m. but because of some unfortunately rude house guests got approximately two hours of sleep the rest of the night. No good.

I spent much of my time Friday napping on the beach.

Saturday night wasn't much better. We got home from shore and about 20 minutes later were out the door heading to the first of two parties. It was a long night and we probably didn't get to bed until 2ish.

I spent much of Sunday napping.

Sunday I went to bed by 11. Later than I would have liked but nothing ridiculous.

I spent much of Monday napping. (It was my day off work.) Unfortunately my nap was from like 3:30 to 8:30. Not so good for wanting to get to sleep early Monday night. I stopped reading and attempted to sleep around 10:30. Tossed and turned for forever. Dozed and woke up a ton of times. Hit snooze twice and then accidentally slept an extra 20 minutes waking up at the time I usually am finished getting ready to leave for work. Fabulous. Still made it to work on time because I am that awesome.

As you can see though, my sleep schedule is seriously messed up. Not cool at all.

I have to teach my yoga class tonight, which I'm pretty much dreading, because I'd rather go for a run (assuming I'd have energy to run) and then tuck into bed early. I'm still going to go for the get to bed early thing. I've got to get my sleep schedule to something that looks more normal!

Three happy miles

Last night's run was pretty much perfect except for that weird left leg thing I've got going on (see last post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)

I went out around 8 p.m. last night and the weather was amazing for a day in the middle of July. Temps couldn't have been any higher than the mid-70s and the humidity was almost non-existent.

I did three miles without a watch, but I felt like I was working hard and there were lots of hills. No iPod either. When I went to leave my house I realized the battery was dead. Man, I hate when that happens. I figured for such a short run though it wasn't the end of the world, and I managed to survive without it.

My right leg felt awesome and like it could have gone on forever. My left though was driving me nuts before I even hit the first mile marker. I stretched my calves and IT bands like crazy when I got home and I'm hoping that's going to take care of the majority of the problem. Thanks for all your suggestions yesterday about strength and core work. I always make my yoga classes very core and leg work heavy, but I could probably be doing more. Time to get back into Jillian on cross-training days perhaps, she has wicked awesome core and leg moves.

I'm leaving tonight for the Jersey shore where the BF and I will be meeting up with some of my friends from high school. I'm looking forward to a nice couple days down the shore. Then we come back in time for my other friends engagement party on Saturday night. It's gonna be a busy weekend, so I'm still trying to figure out where my run is going to fit in.

Five sweaty and sucky miles

The Metro hates me again. And I got home obnoxiously late from work yet again. Then it broke down again this morning on my way to work. It's making me sound like a freakin' broken record.

But despite another craptastic commute, I managed to get in five miles last night. (My three miler plus two make up miles after cheating on running over the weekend.)

It was hot, it was sweaty and it was hilly. All things I do not love when running. I had to walk two of the biggest uphills because my legs were getting tired and I could tell something was going on with the form in my left leg.

Basically I get this weird feeling in my shin and then my IT band and then next thing I know I feel like my leg is swinging out to the side instead of going straight back and forth. I'm not sure what's going on with that or how to correct, but its definitely kind of painful in my left leg.

Anyone have any ideas what that might be about or what to possibly do about it?

Cheating on my long run with tennis

I cheated on my long run this weekend with two days of tennis instead. Shame on me.

But I was able to convince the BF to play with me both Saturday and Sunday and I didn't want to miss the opportunity. Saturday we had tons of fun and I picked up a little bit of color thanks to being out in the sun for a few hours.

Sunday was a kind of overcast day and I just wasn't feeling it. All I wanted to do was curl up and take another nap. I had already taken one when I got home from church. I was seriously dragging all day.

I'm feeling much better today though and plan to get some make up miles in tonight after work. Not sure how far I'll go. I'll just play by it ear depending on how I feel.

BF's still having knee problems. He said it hurt him Friday after we spent a few hours walking around the mall, (we both found some sweet stuff in Express on sale!) but that it doesn't annoy him too much after tennis. Strange, right?

I'm thinking about giving him a copy of my physical therapy program to see if that helps at all. I'm just getting worried because the half is quickly approaching!

Man I missed tennis

My friend from PA. that I used to play tennis with all the time last summer and fall was in town yesterday before shipping off for the Peace Corp next week. We took advantage of our being in the same general area to get some tennis in for old time's sake and for a killer work out.

We played for about an hour and I have to say it was one of my better performances. My friend suggested that I look into joining a league, but I'm not that good, yet. I do miss having someone to play with though. Since moving to D.C. I've picked up my racket a whopping two times, including last night.

Hmmm, maybe I can get the BF to play with me sometime...

Tennis is seriously a kick ass workout. I was chasing balls all over the court because now that I've got more tennis skillz than when I started my friend has taken to playing much more up to his usual good self, rather than just hitting the ball over nicely so I could return it.

I figure the bursts of speed to chase down balls are probably helpful to my running in some small way too!

This morning my right shoulder is a little sore from swinging the racket. It's nothing that I can't deal with. It's just reminding me that it hadn't been used in a while.

I may look into leagues or lessons or something so I can maybe find someone to play with once a week or so. I'm not looking for a huge time commitment, just someone to hit the ball with.

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Hope you all have a great 4th! I'm not sure what my exact plans are yet, but I'm sure they'll involve watching fireworks somewhere!