Got my mojo working

I'm feeling awesome today....for the first time in quite a while, really. I'm not sure what's different, but this morning I fired up my Spinervals Ultra Leg Strength Builder DVD, got on the bike and stayed there for the full 60 minutes.

Up till now it's been a struggle to do anything high intensity or for any decent length of time. Injuries haven't helped, but that's not really it.... my heart just wasn't in it for some reason.

I don't know what's changed, but I'm happy to say hello to my old mojo again. I had a million excuses - for one thing, the house and back yard are full of tradesmen doing stuff. But I just pretended they weren't there and did my thing. They quite possibly think I'm mad.

Anyway, I now have shaky legs, endorphins running wild and I suspect I may be very, very sorry tomorrow. Which is all good, of course.

Maybe my blogging mojo will stick around too....

On the other hand...

....high on the list of things that do NOT make me happy, is MICE.

It's perfectly reasonable to be petrified by a 5cm long field mouse scuttling around the room, right?

Happy

Debstar challenged readers to post ten things that make them happy, so here's my lot.

I've stuck with the little things....

1. A quiet couple of hours alone with a good book and a cuppa.

2. The moment when I wake up thinking: *sigh* I’d better get up for work.... and then realise it’s the weekend and snuggle back down under the blankets for a while.

3. Sitting by a window on a sunny winter’s day and feeling the warmth soak into my shoulders and back.

4. Creating something. A piece of clothing, an art project, restoring a piece of furniture.

5. A tidy house. Neatness and order make me feel serene; mess and clutter make me anxious.

6. Receiving something in a box or parcel. The anticipation is always a little exciting, even if I already know what’s in it.

7. A good glass of wine. Three glasses makes me REALLY happy. LOL.

8. Unsolicited hugs from my boys.

9. Seeing new shoots or buds on something in my garden.

10.Browsing through storage catalogues and mentally planning my next project.

Need a quick, no-fuss workout?

Sometimes we come up with all the excuses in the world about why we can't exercise. One of the biggies is "I don't have time". Hmm, let's see...

I was a bit slow getting out of bed the other morning, so there was no time for the Spinervals session I'd planned to do. Not to worry, I had twenty minutes or so, and came up with this:

Warm up 3 minutes on the spin bike
Increase both resistance and pace and do 3 x 30 seconds hard(ish), 30 seconds recovery
Jump off the bike and do 15 bodyweight squats, then 15 alternating overhead dumbbell presses.
Back on the bike for 30/30 x 3 of seated climbs
Grab the BOSU for 10 sumo squats, then 10 pushups
On the bike once more, this time for a medley:
30 seconds standing climb, 30 seconds recovery, 30 seconds (each side) one-legged, 30 seconds recovery, 30 seconds fast as you can, 30 seconds recovery.
Grab a resistance band and do x-band walks - 10 left, 10 right, 10 left, 10 right. BOSU plank till you die (I'm kidding - 30-60 seconds will do it)
Back on the bike to cool down for 3 minutes, then add a couple of BOSU core exercises. I did dead bugs and something else that escapes me....

Stretch and you're all done!

If you don't have a bike, then swap it for any other cardio machine. No machine? No problem. Grab a skipping rope and/or a step, or just head outdoors and run around at the park or up and down the street. Jog, sprint, walk, jog backwards, high knees....there are plenty of variations.

Yes, your neighbours probably will think you've lost the plot, but who cares?

Eeeek...!

I did it again. 500+ unread blog posts in my reader. *sigh* I wish organising my life was as easy as organising my junk drawer.

Life hasn't been particularly busy, I've just been going at a bit of a slow pace. We've pottered around the house, doing a few necessary bits and pieces before the landscapers hit the ground running next Wednesday. I got bitten by the domestic bug (I know! How bizarre) and ironed every single item in the basket, tidied up some drawers and cleaned out my wardrobe. Again. How can I still have surplus clothes after three lots of culling in the past two years and a whole year of buying nothing new? It's one of life's great mysteries.... I've also settled into the new job and it's not as awful as I thought it would be.

As well, I've been tossing up which way to go with a couple of career/life things and almost have that all sorted out. The big decisions have been prompted by the thought that I'll be 50 at the end of this year, and that I'd really like to retire before I'm too old and feeble to enjoy it. I don't fancy living on baked beans and mince either, so some serious planning is required sooner rather than later.

One result of all this thinking, researching and scheming is that my business will be getting reorganised. I'm still figuring out the finer details, and that's all going a bit slowly, but I'm very positive about it all.

*************

On the injury front, things are about the same. Taking a break from serious training seemed like a good idea to let things settle down, but I suspect that some of my problems are worse because of it. Rather than going like a bull at a gate though, I'm doing some routines based around Liz's prehab exercises and some that my physio set me. Then I've added some cardio and some basic weights work (avoiding too much stress on the tricky right forearm and left bicep) plus some core stuff, with the BOSU featuring heavily.

I rang to make a physio appointment last week, and couldn't get in till NEXT week. Aargh! Maybe by then, there'll be some small improvement. I live in hope.

I'm also walking like a have a poker up my arse, thanks to some glute and hammie DOMS. Fun. NOT.

*************

Yesterday we had a ripper thunderstorm, which hit just after I left work to drive home. I avoided the freeway, which turned out to be a good thing, since it was apparently reduced to a crawl. But the minor roads I took were flooding and visibility was utter crap.

Bike Boy had come to work with me, and he isn't the world's greatest passenger (can you say "backseat driver?") I think I almost gave him a heart attack at one point when we hit a patch of water that I didn't see till we were right on top of it and the car tried to do an impersonation of a boat....

He didn't seem to be amused when I yelled: WooHOOOOO, Baby! Adventure driving! Isn't this fun?

Pfft. We made it home in one piece. I don't know what he was worried about.

Oh. Where did that last two weeks go?

Just popping in to say I'm still alive.

I've been battling back pain, doing the office drone thing once again, and getting kids back to school, so blogging has been a bit low on the priority list. Plus I've been mulling over some personal plans and goals and the best way to achieve them.

All that seems to have sucked up my time and energy, but I'm on the brink of sorting myself out properly and getting back into normal habits.

Meanwhile, did anyone see the SBS doco on Tuesday night: Why are Thin People Not Fat? Fascinating stuff.... If you missed it, go track the video down online. I'll see if I can find a link later on, don't have time right now.



Gotta run....love you all! xx