Saturday, January 21, 2012

Challenge Week #1

One of the frustrating things about work is that I sometimes miss derby practice. I *love* my job but I wish it was a little less flexible of a schedule. I realize this sounds odd but I don't work a "normal" 9 to 5 job and often have hours spread all over the place. This works great for me on a lot of levels but not so great for derby.

I learned a couple of days after our first practice, which I missed, that there are now going to be weekly challenges to help us improve during the week. Awesome! Yet another thing to work on with the wonderful women with whom I skate.

Week #1 Challenge
Sets of 3 & 20 regular sit ups
Do everyday. Should take about 4 minutes.

Sets of 3 are
3 push ups on your toes then 3 on your knees and then 3 tricep push
ups on your stomach.
2 push ups on toes, 2 knee etc...
Then one of each.

Finish with 20 sit ups.


So how did I do? I'm sad to say not too well. I didn't find out about it until late on Tuesday and my day didn't really allow for it when I wasn't getting done with work until after 10 pm. I managed to do it Wednesday, with my fiance wanting to know all about it and even doing it with me. Thursday and Friday went by in a blur. I did manage to do it today. During a show. They were doing a door prize drawing and I knew I had about 10 minutes to kill so I did it in the light booth.


While I didn't get it in the other days, I'm not feeling too bad because of the other stuff I managed to fit in. There's a room being redone in my new home and I've been painting the walls. If you've never done a large amount of painting, especially on a roller on 8' walls, trust me, it works out the arms and the abs. My job is very physically demanding. This week I spent time pushing and steering concert units that weight two tons as well as flying in various theatrical elements. All of this also works the arms and abs and I certainly am feeling it.


There is something really big I learned this week though. In order to succeed at these challenges, I need to plan the time ahead of schedule. I am a queen of many things in my mind and one of those is a queen of procrastination. Everything can be done later. This is an aspect of my life that I'm fighting against because I'm really starting to see how there is never a "later" for things to get done. So I need to set aside a time everyday when I know that I can do the challenge and I need some sort of accountability system which is why I'm writing about it. By the end of this session, I hope to have fit in every challenge, even during my busiest weeks. It takes small steps though and the smallest is acknowledging that I need to do this to be successful. 

4 comments:

  1. How funny, I wrote about balancing derby and life today, too!

    I have to be honest about this week's challenge - I was too sore to move on Monday. My *bones* hurt. My son likes to remind me that bones themselves do not actually have nerves, so your bones cannot hurt. However, Monday was full of such deep tissue pain from muscle fatigue that my bones were carrying my weight and hurting from it. Tuesday, I had muscle spasms throughout my body as my muscles were healing. I felt like a wuss on Sunday, but the way I hurt on Monday and Tuesday proved to me that I did put all the effort I could into that workout on Sunday.

    So, Wednesday, I hit it and I hit it hard. I did the week one challenge five times (to make up for the days I missed while healing!) and I jumped that #@%^ing grocery bag 20 times. Then I gulped for air like beached fish and did it again. And then again. I ran the stairs in my house I don't know how many times because I set a goal that every time I had to go downstairs for *anything* I would turn around and sprint up and down the stairs five times. So I ran stairs probably a million times. I did the ab exercises Hanna had us do at my own pace (I've had extensive abdominal surgeries in the past and therefore need to add new ab exercises to my routine carefully) and *then* I did my usual workout with squats (holding weights) my normal ab routine (many exercises with a weighted balance ball and bicycles and planks) and push-ups and hand weights. And then I did it all again Thursday. My plan was to do it all again Friday as well and take Saturday off, but on Friday my *bones* hurt again and on Saturday I was having those full body muscle spasms. So, I know I'm working it!

    But it's stupid hard isn't it? It does help (me anyway) to plan my workouts ahead of time and work my free-time schedule around them. But, there's always something I'd rather be doing than jumping grocery bags or doing planks and push-ups. Until you're wheezing and your knee is giving out on those stairs at the Excel center, THEN you wish you'd taken the time during the week to really prepare!

    Anyway, when will I see you again? Are you going to be at practice next Sunday? Are you going to do the NERDy skating event on the 30th? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever! :-(

    Madame Self

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  2. If it wasn't stupid hard, then everyone would do it. I like that it's hard because it means that not everyone will follow through on it. So many people want it to be easy and simply look like a derby girl. These are the same people who don't get how hard a lot of things are and just expect to be able to do it because hey, there was a movie montage and some character learned how to do it without a lot of struggle!

    I can't always sprint up the stairs at work because of what I'm carrying or because they're awkward. Spiral staircases with differing steps on each side can just be awkward. But I do move up them rather quickly when I go up them as it's usually because something is *wrong* and must be fixed *NOW*. But you know the awesome thing about the bag exercise? I can now jump over things that I wouldn't have even dreamed of doing a year ago!

    I was going to be at this practice but I'll also be at the next practice. I may or may not be at the NERDy thing on the 30th. I'm feeling a little....frustrated with the kids and am taking a bit of a breather from them as I deal with things. And it's been since last year! ;)

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  3. Ha ha, true! All true!

    I caught a nasty head and chest cold, so I've been down for the count since Sunday and have been just able to do my work and what needs to be done here. Ugh. I hate winter.

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  4. wow this seems like a heavy schedule
    i wish you the best!

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