it's like the eye of a duck

As I (might have) mentioned earlier, I'm trying out the 100 pushups program. I'm up to day 2 of week 2 (first column) so I thought I'd post my results.

It took a couple of tries to figure out where to start. My first efforts were poorly done so I incorrectly assumed I fell into the middle (starting at 6-10), but after I corrected my weird arm width I fell firmly into doing 0-5. I may be making this harder on myself than need be, but I'm doing them from the toes because I AM physically capable of doing them, just with a great effort.

And it is a hell of an effort! I strain and go slow, but I'm meeting the goals, and I only pay in pain a day or so after my set :/ My only concern is that I think I'm "clenching" my lower back muscles instead of using my abs to keep my back straight, because my spine is paying as well.

On to day 3, and tomorrow on my feet most of the day. Aleve is a beautiful thing.

With the improved weather my rapier "unpractice" (two of us practicing in a public park) has moved from coffeehouse chat about fencing to drilling again, and I've been working on using my off hand - lose your right arm, you're allowed to switch your weapon to the other.

Which only reveals just how unbalanced I've become :/ The weakness and lack of control in my left arm is a lot worse than I suspected, and I have no endurance to speak of.

I'm attempting to address this not only by using my left hand more but by using a variety of weights, squeezy balls and the like.

Attempting to correct is aggravating my back though, so I'm diligently doing some yoga on my non-practice days to counter that.

I'm plenty sore, but so far I'm operating on the assumption that sharp pain in joints = possible injury; mild soreness in muscles = getting in shape.

Ow.

• 10:37 RT @neilhimself: twitpic.com/11mi5d - Me and @feliciaday and @sandeepparikh <- too much nerd in 1 place (in a good way)! #
• 10:39 Oh yes, I'm now awake due to telemarketer call. Snow still coming down & sticking to windows. #
• 10:39 DID NOT #
• 10:40 Er, DID NOT have 2-cat night 'cos little cat will not share w/ bigger cat. It's nice to feel wanted? #
• 17:23 Just excavated the front stoop for the workout. I am unreasonably pleased with myself #snowpocalypse #
• 17:24 RT @WomenWhoTech: DC Maps Snow Plowing - See snowmap.dc.gov and enter address to see activity near your home or elsewhere. #
• 17:25 Also tried to dig out my car - no point, really, as there's nowhere to put the snow. My guestimate is 2'-30" out there. #
• 17:27 #fencing is canceled tomorrow, as is any hope of getting to the grocery. Well, I might be able to walk for small supplies #snowpocalypse #
• 17:30 Watched some #Dexter; too depressing. Moved on to #burnnotice - same locale, fewer serial killers. #
• 19:57 RT @quasigeostrophy: YES!! Neil Gaiman confirms writing "Doctor Who" episode! bit.ly/b8o5uT #
• 20:50 I'm reminded yet again how difficult it is to drape on myself. #
• 22:05 Have hunger headache - makes no sense 'cos I HAVE eaten today. Is 10 pm too late to bake cookies? #

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• 23:23 Your immunity - exercise good; exhaustion bad: tinyurl.com/yzsadu4
• 10:20 Foundation garments for vintage clothes & where to find them: tinyurl.com/ylom67n ; tinyurl.com/ygbgpw3
• 15:31 Motivation: how do you keep yourself moving when it's cold/rainy?

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(Continued from here and here):

Physical fitness is the ability to physically do things.

That may sound like a low bar to set, but understand: I grew up in a smoker's household that didn't emphasize physical activity beyond yard work. Even my school environment only really endorsed competitive team sports played with balls, which put me right off.

What initially spurred me to start taking any kind of physical exercise was age related/quitting retail-related weight gain. A fairly commonplace reason, I guess.

It took me awhile to try anything other than the exercise bike, and I learned that with even minimal dumbell reps I got enough strength to take out my own garbage - for the first time in my life!

I tried fencing on a whim when bicycle/weights around the house got too dull for me to make a habit of it. Y'all know how that went ;)

So now physical fitness is the ability to fence more/better - AND be able to take out the garbage :)

• 11:09 Finding this useful: bit.ly/WC29G
  . Can't do all of 'em but they stretch me out well!

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THIS was gonna be the big weekend that I CLEANED OUT the house, really and for true. But read the subject line - it didn't quite turn out that way:

First off, a lot of the old appliances are still usable - taking them to recycling would be a waste, so I need to Craigslist or similar, which entails a lot more work than simply loading up the car and going.

Also, dotheranon alerted me to the fact that a local Borders was shutting out and selling everything, including fixtures, at deep discounts. I went to check it out but discovered there was no way to fit any of the leftover bookcases in my car. I did come away with a small stack, more than I'd hoped but fewer than I'd feared, and I can justify every single one:

( carnage snipped )

So, yeah - I still have more books than shelf space. If I can move out all the things I'm trying to give away/trade, I might be able to get a small Ikea thang that will relieve the clutter a bit more, but I'm not there yet.

Also spent some quality D. time and cat time on the sofa, watching old M.A.S.H., Spaced, and seeing Robocop for the first time (I was pop culturally undernourished in the futuristic shoot-em-up genre as a kid - I don't think I saw any of the Terminators until sometime in college :P) I cut out D.'s banyan and am going to get the hooks and eyes on the fitted gown this week, by doG, and be finished with it!

Did some footwork yesterday and today because I'm feeling a stupor from lack of exercise. Am VERY eager to get back on my regular 2-3 times a week fencing diet!

Went to historic fencing practice Out Yonder for the first time in over a month.

I'm slowly reconciling myself to the fact that my historic fencing is having to, and should, take a back seat to my sport game, because of time and availability - there simply aren't enough hours in the day.

What I don't like is that I don't have the physical stamina to do both. My arms are buffer and stronger than they've EVER been, but I still had to tap out early because that damn rapier is heavy. I could, of course, lift weights more often to build strength, but in order to get the results I want, I'd have to do it every single day, and I'm just not prepared to.

Right now I couldn't anyway because I'm already committed to my physical therapy exercises every night. They were taking about 1/2 hour but as the therapists recommend more the time is lengthening. Though I'm a sore afterwards it IS working and after another month or so of this I should be able to kick through walls - but it doesn't leave time for much else.

That, and I do want to do things in my life other than exercise. Like read, and such - my friends have some writing I'm eager to read and I've had this crunchy new book for over a week and haven't had time to drool over it properly.

I may duck out of SCA practice Weds. to have some "book time".

I got the oil changed, grocery shop, etc. but I fear I might still be running a fever. Most of the congestion and coughing is gone but my sinuses still ache when unmedicated.

Work or not tomorrow = undecided. My general rule is that if I feel well enough to play, I feel well enough to work, and I did feel well enough to get out to the library and to the fabric store for the new Miyake on sale (though I was out of it enough that I didn't remember which shop was having the sale, and went to both).

I also created a nameless device to help me exercise my wrists using torque (wrappable wrist weights Velcroed [damn, I had no idea I had THAT MUCH scrap Velcro!] to either end of ~45" of PVC pipe), though I've not used it much.

Also made dotheranon his seasonal favorite, corned beef and cabbage, just 'cos I'm nice that way (I can't stand the stuff). In the spirit of celebrating late St. Paddys, I had an Irish coffee while cooking :P

Not complaints exactly, just concerns:

• My feet and hands go to sleep at the drop of a hat - not from sitting on them or elevating them either. With my hands, it might be carpal tunnel but I have no explanation for my feet, especially considering more exercise = better circulation than I've ever had before. Some snooping on WebMD suggested it might be a lack of B vitamin so I'm going to supplement and see if that helps.
  
  
• My right knee is sticky - not painful, just a bit stiff sometimes. This is definitely fencing related as it's worse on days/mornings after practice. Not sure whether to rest it or exercise it more.