Week 1? Day 1 Natalie

Do I have to start all over again? This afternoon I got over my fear of the rec center pool, and headed over for a swim. I didn't swim for a particularly long time, but man, i can already feel it in my muscles. All of those little muscles that don't get used running, biking, doing ballet, pilates, yoga... yowza. I hate to even think what it's going to feel like tomorrow. At any rate, it's good to be back. Missed y'all! Oh, and week 18 I did ride my bike once. ha!

Week 13 Days 3 & 4, Natalie

Okay, so day 3 probably shouldn't count, but I'll do it anyway. When I got home from school Thursday, the options were to go to a class or to borrow a ladder and climb up on the roof and throw limbs down. I'm afraid of heights, but for some reason really wanted to get up there. I feel like I should be on my roof at least once if I'm able, right? SO I borrowed the neighbors ladder and had them watch me as I climbed up and then launched huge limbs off the roof. It was more an exercise of fears than it was physical exercise, but I'll count it anyway. Day 4 was yesterday. I worked in the yard, and was feeling like it wasn't really technically work, but I can feel some aching in my legs and gut from all of the squatting and pulling I did. I yanked up a good number of cast iron plants, which were not really wanting to come up. If my neighbors were home, I'm sure they were curious as to what was going on in my back yard.

I said that I wasn't going to let the teacher from that resistance class affect me, but clearly it has. I haven't been back to the rec center since then. Ballet is still on for Tuesday though, so hopefully it will give me the guts to continue.

Week 13 Days 1 & 2, Natalie

Tuesday I returned to ballet. It was a very small class, so we were able to do some work at the barre... which I had been missing. So it was a good class with some heavy-duty leg stretching. Today I went to my first resistance training class, and I'm not sure if I'll be going back. The girl seemed kind of put-out that I didn't know how to do everything, but she also seemed a little put-out by the fact that the door was locked and she had to go get a key to get in, so maybe it really didn't have anything to do with the door OR with me. I need to stop being so self centered and realize that I'm really not that important to total strangers... it's usually something else. Besides, even if I was annoyed by someone who was lost, I'd admire their stickwithitness if they stuck with it until they got things down. So we'll see. But I did wish I had done the pilates class instead. So what is tomorrow... was it PiYo? hmmmm, that was Friday.... NO Friday was kick & sculpt, so PiYo it is! I think I might try something new again Friday if I can squeeze it in. I also need to try to squeeze a running day in soon too, it's been so long! surely I won't still be bored with it, right?

Week 12 Day 3 Natalie

Yesterday evening I attended a Kick & Sculpt class, which consisted of 30 minutes of kick boxing (which unfortunately involved coordination), 15 minutes of resistance training, and 15 minutes of stretching. I recommend the instructor, too. I think what I like most about this instructor and yesterday's instructor is that they walked around checking to make sure that people were doing things properly rather than just let everyone possibly do everything wrong. So. There ends my exercise week, because the exercise I'm going to get today involves the dictation I just finished and the hour or so on my ass driving down to New Orleans. The End!

Week 12 Day 1 Natalie

I skipped ballet last night because I had a paper to write. Boooooo! But today I went to a NEW! class (new for me...) the 30-20-10 class, where you do 30 minutes of cardio, 20 minutes of resistance training, and 10 minutes of stretching and stuff. It was a good workout, but I am terribly uncoordinated and wasn't able to follow a lot of the cardio work. But someone was kind enough to tell me that it gets easier the more you do it, so I may try it again. Now I'm watching my neighbors climb up a ladder onto(?) their roof. I heard a loud crash earlier, I wonder if a mountain goat fell to its death. I'm gonna check it out.

30 Minute Pilates Class, take one

I went to a short pilates class this afternoon when I got finished with class. It was okay. I'll probably go to another one if I am in class until 3:30 again (it starts at 3:50), but I will probably NOT wait around if I get out of class early (like today and every day this semester). I might try out a 30/20/10 class tomorrow afternoon, or I might go for a run. I guess we will see when we see! Oh, and Kevin, I have a beginning pilates dvd if you would like to borrow it!

Week 10 Day 1 Natalie

I went to the ballet class at the rec center today, and it was fun. Mainly fun because I am able to laugh at myself, but I felt really good afterwards. Maybe because I got over my fear of doing something new BY MYSELF. I mean, I didn't get over it, but I was able to overcome it and get my ass in there. It was about an hour long and included stretching, jumping, and what may have been a little pilates. All around a good little workout I think! Also at the beginning, the instructor made some announcements- such as what days you can come in for free fitness and nutrition evaluations, which I think I'm going to need to check out. So as I've grown a little bit bored with running, I might just cut that down to once a week and keep doing new stuff. Then I'll have a whole arsenal of activities to choose from. Exciting! So Kevin, for me we have:

Running/Elliptical = Out
Trying out various classes = In

Have a great week 10 guys!

Week 3 Day 3 Natalie

So this is going to be my new schedule I think. It works for now. I went to the rec center again this afternoon, and did the elliptical for another 35 minutes. Prior to going to the rec center I sprawled out on one of the Indian mounds and read some of my reading. So it added more structure to my life again. I might have to start staying 2 hours after class and then running around campus on Wednesdays to ensure I get a good 4 hours of reading in on school days. Then I have 5 more days to scramble to get the rest done... which will be a lot more reading than I have done in past semesters, so things should work pretty well. The End, Amen.

Week 2 Day 3 Natalie

Welcome to the Rec Center! I met -a over at the Rec Center this afternoon for an introduction. I did the elliptical machine for 35 minutes. The first 5 were grueling, but after that I guess I caught a groove and kept on going. I also noted that there were classes to take, which I might have to look in to. There is a ballet class!!! yea!!!

this is not the elliptical machine I used...

Week 2 Day 1 Natalie

Yesterday I took a run for a little over 2 miles, which was a nice little jaunt. The weather was much more conducive for running than Saturday's soup, and if it weren't getting dark out I may have extended things a bit longer. I have plans to meet up with -a. for a trip to the rec center on Thursday, which is more than mildly exciting. Classes start up again tomorrow, and now I'm super excited to be learning how the rec center works too. I will keep everyone posted on how things go.... Oh, and I did buy that bike pump, so once it's not so cold out I will resume riding my bike to skool. Also, my friend Lesley in New Orleans is interested in joining our challenge, so I'd like to take the time to officially and publicly call her out on it. Bring it sister! Any other takers???