Tuesday 5/31 -K

Went to da gym!


My gym is pretty sweet, basically all I did was 10 minutes on the elliptical and then the weight machines. (I do my cardio every other day.) Also, I get free membership since I work there.

Interesting things that happened while I was at the gym:

• I watched Judge Judy and an infomercial about Paint Zoom.
• Judge Judy is so sassy, she told this one guy that it was time for him to put his big boy pants on.
• This man got on the elliptical in front of me, blocking Paint Zoom, which made me mad during the Judge Judy commercials.
• This other man got on the elliptical next to me...that's just wrong! There were at least seven other ellipticals in the room. Why he had to pick the one beside me I'll never know. I was scared that his sweat would fly off of him and land on me.
• I couldn't figure out how some of the machines worked, so I looked quite silly trying to adjust them. Luckily for me I was one of six people at the gym this afternoon (yet this guy still ellipticalled next to me...?) so nobody (aside from an old lady, who I'm pretty sure didn't know how to use the machines herself, so it didn't really matter) saw my confusion.
• The large sweaty men that were there didn't wash off the machines after they used them. I find that DISGUSTING and gross. I got a wart my sophomore year of high school and I blame the gym for it. Actually, I blame the disgusting people who don't clean up after themselves.
• I made a doctor's appointment after my workout since the office is right above the gym. For what? Wart removal. I'm still suffering from the carelessness of gym members five years later. What a shame.

Tuesday 5/31 -I Dance Dance Revolution!

Today it was raining, so instead of going running I played DDR with my brother. I freakin LOVE this game. When I was in middle school I bought a playstation just so I could play it.

In case anyone doesn't know the game DanceDanceRevolution, it's the game where you use a mat with arrows on it and step on the arrows to different songs. It can get really intense. I attribute my skill at/love of this game to my being a quarter Asian. Somehow instead of the black hair gene I got the DDR skill gene (my brother got the Guitar Hero skill gene).

Reasons I love DDR:

• I'm pretty good at it, but it's still challenging. Through the years I've worked through beginner, light, and standard, and now I can play some songs on heavy-the hardest level.
  
• I feel like I'm at a rave when I play it, and forget that...
• It's really good exercise. With all the jumping my calves are always sore afterwards, and I was definitely out of breath and sweating a LOT. But I played for over an hour without even remembering I was getting a workout.
• The funny Japanese pop music (eg- the song "Sweet Sweet ♥ Magic")
  
• Two player mode lets you play against your friends

I asked my brother today if I could take the playstation to college so I could play DDR at school next semester, and he reminded that I was the one who bought it in the first place. So now I'm really excited about having it at school next year!

Monday 5/30 -K

2.31 miles
23:25
10:07/mi
Ab workout(ish)

Interesting things on my run:

• I wore my hat, which was kind of awkward and I should have worn my sun glasses, but oh well.
• I decided that from now on I will run at night because even the early hour of 8:45 is too hot for me.
• There is this weird pile of pink, red, and blue string on the side of the road. I'm not sure what it is but I think it may be disgusting. I'm too scared to move it.
• I admit, I walked a few times. I managed to run the first two miles though, after that, whenever I saw shade I walked. I ran in the sun because I wanted to get it over with.
• My runs the past few days started out with Alex Goot's Sensitivity. I don't really like Alex Goot, he kind of scares me even though I've never met him. He is some kind of talented though, check out his Youtube channel. But, for some reason, his song has made it to the number one spot on my running playlist. And I'm ok with it. 
• Actually, I don't have a running playlist. It's just a list of songs that are either recently added or that I'm not embarrassed to have other people hear. When I finally make a playlist, I'll be sure to let you know.
• My earbuds kept falling out of my ears today. Not sure whether that was due to sweat or earwax or the fact that earbuds never stay in my ears, probably a combination of all three.
• I wore a shirt I got from Dollar General
• I almost died of heat stroke

Interesting things during the ab workout

• I did the ab workout in my room today, where I decided I want to get rid of my purple fuzzy rug because the pieces of fuzz stick to me.
• I didn't get to the hammer chops (idk what they're really called) or the planks because I needed to leave my house asap. I work as a lifeguard and wasn't supposed to start my shift until 3. Me, being the smart person I am, decided to get to the pool by 10:30 because I wanted to get a parking spot before the Memorial Day crowd forced me to park 2 miles away. I already ran, I don't need to do any more work than I have to.

Monday 5/30 -I

45 minutes
Move-in workout

Interesting things:

• I saw two cats on my run. Both of them stared at me. One was a random white/brown patchwork stray, and one was my neighbor's cat. I think her name is Roobie (the cat, not the neighbor), but my brother and I just call her FatCat (again, the cat, not the neighbor). And whenever we talk about FatCat or talk to FatCat my brother and I talk in this funny voice, kind of like a baby voice but really low. I'm not sure why. FatCat is really funny- we see her on the path outside my house all the time, and she'll look at you sheepishly for a couple seconds and then dart into the bushes. Except since she is fat sometimes she gets stuck and can't make it all the way into the safety of the bushes and has to back out and try to find a better opening.
• I was motivated to not stop running on my way back by the fact that I was supposed to skype with one of my best friends, Jenn, at 9:00. I was running late (ha that was puninentional) and I would be even later if I stopped to walk. So I ran faster than I would have otherwise. But I walked a little bit too...I'm bad about forcing myself to run when I'm alone.. I need my running buddies from last summer to rejoin me

*Isabel's Freshman Move-in Preparation Workout

The Sun Salutation, (I used to do a lot of yoga) but in the middle where you do the plank I also do:
Push Ups (I can only do like 5 real ones now...but I'm increasing it every time I work out)
20 Plank Leg Lifts
30 Side Crunches
30 Normal Crunches
15 Backwards Tricep Pushups (I don't know how to describe this very well... you lie on your back with your knees bent and have your hands on the ground next to your butt and lift your self up)

5/23-5/28: First week in Switzerland!

So I'm back home in Geneva Switzerland for (part of) the summer! My goal is to get back in shape and go running as much as I used to when I lived here. One of my big motivations is that I signed up to help with Freshman Move-In in August, and I want to be able to carry their boxes all day without dying.

I got to Geneva on Monday, and since then I've gone running three times. That's more than I went last semester at W&M (the humidity and my business/laziness stopped me...).Here's a recap:

Tuesday 5/24:
15 minutes (it was my first time running in a long time...AND a lot of it was up a really steep hill..)
Freshman Move-in Preparation Workout*

I ran to my old high school and back (got stuck behind a bunch of the boarders-the school is half boarding school-on their way to dinner). Then I went and watched the sunset down by the lake (my house is right by Lake Geneva)


Thursday 5/26:
1 Hour
Move-in Workout

I ran with my highschool friend Tanmay, who's back from UW Madison. We actually walked and talked more than we ran. Since I took Philosophy of Religion last semester I've been really interested in hearing about people's beliefs. Tanmay's beliefs are mostly Hindu, and I'm Christian, so it was really interesting talking to him. And it definitely distracted me from how tired I was from running! We ran to the Centre Sportif de Versoix and ran a mile around the track and then came back.

Friday 5/27:

I didn't go running, but we went to a family's house for dinner and I looked after their adorable little kids and jumped on their trampoline with the kids for like an hour...and it was tiring so I figured I'd count it as exercise.

Saturday 5/28:
45 Minutes
Move-in Workout

Ran to the sports center again and ran a mile around the track and then back home. At the track I wasn't running very fast, but I felt like I was because I was the fastest person on the track- there was just a man jobbing and a middle aged woman speed-walking.

let's give a warm welcome to...

Isabel! I've convinced her to start writing a workout blog! She'll post to this one until she is brave enough to start her own. Or she'll just forever post to this one, that's fine too. Yay!

5/28/11

3.13 miles
31:26
10:02/mi
Mae's ab workout

Interesting things on my run

• I'm so sore from Body Pump yesterday, that's why it's a terrible time
• I saw my 7th grade Civics teacher gardening
• I almost started walking, but I saw my neighbor cleaning his mailbox and I didn't want to seem like a wimp in front of him
• I walked up the steep hill, but only after this car passed me so I didn't seem like a wimp
• I got chill bumps cause it was cold when I started running
• the temperature rose a butt load and I sweated more than I've ever sweated in my life
• I wore a highlighter yellow shirt that made me look super tan - it also worked as a safety precaution so cars wouldn't run into me
• the dead squirrel I saw the other day had turned into a brownish red pancake

Interesting things during my ab workout

• I was so sweaty that when I got up, I was covered in dog fur
• I did the whole thing!

5/27/11

Body Pump


 Body Pump is this thing at my gym where you do weight training to music. It's pretty sweet. We used to have Group Power, but they changed it up right after my Spring Break. Body Pump is basically a more intense version of Group Power with longer songs and better music. It was my first time doing Body Pump, so I used the weenie weights. I felt very silly. My sister laughed at me, but whatever. I didn't see her lifting any weights...she was just awkwardly sitting in the back waiting for Zumba to start.

Interesting things at Body Pump

• it was my first time ever
• I didn't die, but I almost did during the shoulders portion
• I got really confused during aerobic lunge time
• I also got really confused during the dynamic around the world planks
• I couldn't reach my toes during stretch time
• the girl behind me kept checkin me out (according to my mom...weird)
• I didn't use enough weights for the warmup, legs, back and biceps
• my disdain towards shoulder exercises was affirmed

I should run today, but it's raining men, hallelujah, outside and thundering so I guess I'll just have to run...later. Tomorrow morning, perhaps? We'll see how motivated I am.

5/25/11

3.33 miles

31:38

9:29/mi

Mae's ab workout* (partially)

Interesting things on my run:

• dead squirrel in the middle of the road that wasn't there the first time I passed that spot
• barking dogs restrained by invisible fences
• hurting ankle
• seeing my neighbor's boyfriend leaving her house
• a bird almost pooped on my head. When I ran under the telephone wire, it flew away. As it flew away, I saw poop land on the ground near my foot. No lie.

Interesting things during my ab workout:

• Brown Dog stepping on my legs
• Brown Dog biting my hair
• Brown Dog licking my sweat off of me
• Brown Dog biting my earphone cord
• Brown Dog barking at her bone that she flung under the table because she wanted me to get it for her
• Brown Dog biting my face
• Me giving up before the planks since Brown Dog was annoying the crap out of me. Next time, she won't be in the room as I workout

*Mae's ab workout

50 crunches x2
40 side crunches on each side x2
25 hands under your butt and knees together, make your feet extend almost toward the ground but not touching x2
50 sit on your butt twisting and chopping your hands on either side of your body (x2 if you're feeling daring)
30 second plank
25 second plank
20 second plank
(eventually you can boost up the times you plank)
end on 50 crunches, last 15 super slow

intro

I think that if I were to write and publish all of my workout habits, I may make them more of habits rather than spur of the moment happenings. I'd like to set a regular schedule, but I don't know my internship or work schedules yet so that can't happen until next week at the earliest. So enjoy hearing about my workouts. Or don't, that's fine too. Just keep me accountable. Not that anyone reads this thing anyways.