Rowing

Tuesday:

Yesterday I went to BodyPump. Since I hadn't done it for about six months I used light weights and it was a decent challenge without being too painful. I thought I had plenty of time to get there but when I came out of the changeroom they were half-way through the warm-up, this happened again today and I've realised that I used to drive the kids to school then go straight to the gym; now I walk the kids to school, walk home, then drive to the gym, so obviously that is going to take a lot longer. It is do-able but I am going to have to hussle. Anyway; I was able to do all the moves except the lunges, and only the shoulder track gave my shoulders any problems so that was great.

I was hungry after the gym but had to do the shopping on the way home. I foolishly didn't buy myself an immediate snack, and by the time I got home it was lunchtime and I was ravenous, leading to poor food choices. I just shoved everything I could get my hands on into my cake-hole.

In the afternoon I took the kids back to the gym for their Club Gecko class and I got on the rowing machine. I did 15 minutes, which I think might be the longest I've ever done on the rower. I went 2.11 km and decided my target will be to do 5 km in 30 minutes, meaning I'll need to speed up a bit as well increasing my stamina. I finished up with a short stroll on the treadmill. Including walking the kids to school, that was over 2 hours of exercise. Awsome.

On the other hand, I ate nearly a whole bag of crispy m&ms.

This morning I was a little stiff and sore but not too bad. Mainly my thighs, from the squats in BodyPump I think. I went to Zumba, but was reminded why I don't like it any more. It was the same instructor that I've always had, and she is completely opposite my preferences in which dances we do. She goes for the hiphop and the heavy angry African rhythms, I like the Latin and the Bollywood. She puts sexy wriggles in otherwise really aggressive moves. To me, sexy doesn't go with "I hate you and I will kill you if you come any closer". I stuck it out for half an hour, telling myself that vigorous movement was good regardless of whether I was enjoying it or not,  but then I gave up and left the class. I went back to the rowing machine. I guess that is my new exercise-love! I was absolutely dying to get back on that rower.

I thought today I would try to increase my speed and do 2.5 km in 15 minutes. After 4 minutes I was wrecked! I had to slow down a little for a while, but then managed to speed up again. I changed my target to 2 km in 12 minutes and promised myself I could stop after that time. I struggled to keep up the requisite speed but sprinted for the last 30 seconds and eventually went 1.91 km in the 12 mins, pretty close. Not a bad start. I cooled down on the treadmill.

I just got up after sitting still for a while and my thighs are so stiff and sore I can hardly walk! Maybe it is the rowing more than the squats? Or both.

I forgot to mention something about the snow trip that seemed important at the time, the hired ski pants were hard to wriggle on over my hips but fit just fine when I was standing, but I found on the drive to the snow that they were very uncomfortable when I was sitting down. They cut into my waist, and a three hour drive in that kind of discomfort is no joke. It was such a relief to get out of the car and stand up. I thought they would be ok once we were there, but of course tobogganing involves sitting down too -- and even leaning forward a bit so it was worse. I tried wrigging them below my belly but of course my hips aren't any narrower than my waist so it just moved the pain. After a while I was hitching them up then pulling them down again every few minutes, and standing around instead of sitting on the rocks or tobogganing. Eventually I just couldn't stand it any longer and went back to the car to change my clothes before the rest of my family were ready to go. Such joy to get those horrible pants off! It was pretty cold in jeans but I didn't care.

If my stomach wasn't so big I wouldn't have had that problem. I'm still working on it.