goes to eleven, again

So, I take the dog for a walk or a skate around the park almost every morning, sometimes once or twice in the evening as well. I feel like I've actually been spending a lot more time outside than I usually do, which is sort of impressive considering that I have almost no yard to speak of so barely any yard work. I have a push mower that I use for about 30 minutes a week...or every two weeks depending on the rain. So, I've been getting a lot more fresh air time, lots of walking, etc, which is good since I haven't been sticking to a consistent aikido schedule in the past two months. Well, today I went. Of course, the last intro series ended a couple weeks ago, so Saturdays are now all-student classes, which are both longer and harder than the regular classes. Needless to say, I over did it. About 3/4 of the way through I had to take a break and leave the mat, get some water, start breathing again...

Yeah, it can be a pretty tough activity not because you are getting thrown around, but because you keep doing it over and over and over and over. It is the repetition that really gets me. I'm sorry to say that all of that great work I did during the early part of last year when i first started aikido might have been undone by my 2nd and 3rd trimester inactivity, especially having missed so many classes. I might have tested for pre-sixth kyu, but I just hadn't gone enough and I didn't want to rush it. The next test is in August or September, then in December. I'm not trying to fast track it anyway. I'd rather be much better at my technique when I test than just working my ass off to get good enough to pass. I'd like to pass with a wide margin. Granted, my next test is a pre-kyu test, but still...

In other fitness news, since the basement is somewhat my domain, Andrea has finally allowed me to put up a chin-up bar. You may not know or remember this, but when I was finishing up college and was living on my own, I had put up a chin-up bar in the bathroom doorway of my studio apartment. It was a great diversion for whenever i was bored or waiting for something. I think chin-ups are a great exercise for building strength and toning your entire upper body. Well, it is something i have missed for years. Now i have my chin-up bar again and I'm baby stepping back to beter shape. I used to be able to do 20 chin-ups! Right now I can only do 6. I'm sure that my arms are weaker and it also doesn't help that I'm about 15-20lbs more than I was back then. Yep. I had a regular physical a couple weeks ago and i weighed in at 192lbs. Yes. I may be stocky, but I really shouldn't be pushing two bills that closely. I'm sure my ideal weight is something like 172 (or if you go by height alone it would be 160 according to most BMI calculators).

So, here's to getting healthier, and being able to push it to eleven without passing out.