You're Not Gonna Believe This!

I can hardly believe it myself. I am on vacation!

But that's not really the unbelievable part. I am going to the gym while on vacation! That's right, I actually got up and went to the gym this morning, instead of sleeping in. In fact, I was excited to go to the gym! My friend Kari just joined the Tri-City Court Club and they have a new class called Group Power, which is a close cousin to BodyPump. So I dragged Kari there this morning, and we tried it out. The class followed the same format as BodyPump and did a lot of the same exercises, but had different music and combined the exericises in a slightly different way. For example, we did clean and presses really slowly, and followed each one with five rows. I liked the abs track we did, though it was really challenging. We did real reverse cruches, sitting up with knees bent in front of us, and then leaning about halfway back and then coming up to the top again. Sometimes we would lean back and then twist to one side. It was tough!

After Group Power, Kari and I did about ten minutes on the stationary bikes. I've never used the bikes at home, but I don't think they're probably as cool as these were. They have a video screen attached, and you can choose different courses, and you race other people on the screen. The handlebars even swivel! It's just like one of those car race video games at the mall. You can even log in to record your time and distance. It was really neat!

I hope that I'll be able to make it back to the gym a couple times this week. There were a couple other exercise machines that I wanted to try, and they also have a really nice pool. I know that I won't be making many smart food choices this week, so working out can help balance that out, maybe.

Well, I'm off to shower and figure out what we're going to do today. I think we might be sewing with Kari's grandma. We also talked about driving down to Oregon just for the fun of it. Did you know that you can't pump your own gas in Oregon? I've never seen that, so we might do that. Plus, there's no sales tax on clothes in Oregon, so maybe we can do some shopping!

What Goes Forth, Must Come Back

Okay, I realize that really isn't a law of physics, but it certainly applies to biking. Yesterday evening I went for my first bike ride in nearly ten years! At first I was a bit wobbly, but after a few minutes, it all seemed to come back. I went with my two roommates and we had a really nice ride. The weather was nearly perfect: warm but not hot, with a (sometimes gusty) breeze. We just followed the bike trail that is just a few blocks from my house all the way to Bethany Park and then decided to bike up to Bethany Library, just up the street. All together our ride was about seven miles round trip and took us about an hour and a half (that's with a couple of short stops along the way and a longish break when we got to the library). It was challenging, but fun. My legs aren't nearly as sore as I thought they would be (thanks, BodyPump!). Maybe I'll start riding my bike to work on the days I'm at Bethany, especially now that gas is so expensive and won't be getting cheaper anytime soon. I really should ride my bike to the gym for BodyPump and kill two birds with one stone!

The bike trails in Lincoln are really nice and well-maintained. Though I have nothing to compare them to, since I've really only ever ridden my bike in small towns. There were quite a few people out yesterday. Lincoln often has that small-town feel, in that you always run into someone you know. I actually saw several families that I know from work and I saw a fellow library employee who lives in the neighborhood. I like the fact that the trails run behind people's houses, like alleys. You get a little glimpse into the lives of the residents. Lots of houses had really nice, big backyards and gardens, which I'm sure will look beautiful later this spring and summer.

Fun in the Sun

Last time I posted I implied that I would be posting more regularly. And obviously that hasn't happened. Maybe I'll be better this week.

I have had a pretty good week. I got my taxes done, which was a huge relief, and I'm getting a refund, which is an added bonus. I made it to three BodyPump classes this week, spread out more evenly throughout the week, as opposed to crammed into three consecutive days like last week. I didn't do as much cardio as I should have though. I stayed after BodyPump for a half an hour on the treadmill with Karrie on Thursday, and I went for a long walk with the dog, and yesterday Karrie, Jennifer and I played tennis outside for an hour, enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

I squeezed my weigh in yesterday into a couple minutes late afternoon between playing tennis and going to dinner. I was a half a pound heavier than I was a week ago. I really need to pay more attention to what I eat and I really need to step up my cardio exercising. My original goal was to do a half an hour every day, and obviously I haven't done anything near that. So that will be my focus this week. Starting today.

This afternoon I hope to get out and enjoy this warmth some more, despite the wind. I hope to get the tires on my bike fixed so I can actually ride it. I think they both need to be completely replaced. There are a ton of other things I should be doing, but spring fever has really gotten the best of me, and I just want to feel that sun on my face.

Ta ta for now, I'm headed out into that glorious sunshine!

We Now Return to Your Regularly Scheduled Blogging

Taxes are done! And I'm getting a refund! Yay!

I can't believe it's been ten days since my last post. I have no idea where the time has gone--I feel like I blinked and somehow missed the past week.

Working out: I went to BodyPump three days in a row last week, Wednesday morning (6:00!), Thursday evening, and Friday afternoon. I'm not sure why I did that, but I don't think I'll ever do that again. By the end of Friday's class, I was so tired and sore, especially in my triceps. I wasn't as good about cardio workouts, but I did spend about twenty minutes on the elliptical machine on Tuesday and Saturday. And there's a dog living in my house now, and I took him for a brief walk a couple times.

Eating: I really haven't been very good about watching what I eat. I haven't even been writing in my food journal. I am still drinking way more pop than I want to be drinking, but I have almost doubled the amount of water I drink too, so I'm very well hydrated. The only other good thing that I have to mention is that I've been eating breakfast every day.

Weigh-in: I did manage to remember to weigh myself on Saturday, though I didn't get to it until the evening. I worked all day Saturday and didn't make it to BodyPump. I was one pound lighter than I was the previous Saturday, though.

I went to my parents' house yesterday and while I was there I picked up my old bike. It needs to be cleaned up and tuned up a little too, but I hope to do quite a bit of bike-riding this summer. Lincoln supposedly has an excellent network of bike trails, but I've never been on a single one. Anyone want to join me?

If you go biking with me this summer, please don't make fun of my bike. I picked it out for my 12th birthday, and it's obviously a little bit childish. But it is still the perfect height/size for me. Maybe I'll try to paint it and make it look a little more like a bike owned by someone over the age of fourteen. And hey, at least it doesn't have tassels on the handlebars!