Lunes el 5 de marzo de 2012
Estoy en la biblioteca de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras... estoy aquí porque enseñé a las niñas Aroa y Laura hoy en el Paseo del Cauce. Aunque andé en bici, no tenía ganas de ir al piso otra vez solamente para regresar al Bar Templo a las 7:30... menos que la media hora desde ahora. Tengo una... ¿digamos cita? con una chica se llama quien encontré dentro de un programa de 4x4 en el Centro de Idiomas. Ella quiere mejorar su inglés, y yo, por supuesto, quiero mejorar mi español. Así tenemos una cita por un café... o en mi caso, té porque no quiero seguir estando despierta hasta las 3 de la mañana, especialmente cuando ya he tenido un días muy lleno y agotador. Me levanté a las 8:30. Comé el cereal y tomé el café como siempre y me fui a la facultad para las clases de la historia del arte. La clase llamada Espacios y Sociedades era interesante. La profesora era actualmente preparada y lista para desarrollar su tema de manera ordenada. Patrimonio me llevo un poco peor. La iconografía era así así, pero era demasiado lento. No obstante, tuve la oportunidad de hablar con una chica brasileña que conozco un poquito (aún no tanto a recordar su nombre... :/ ). No sé por qué pensé que fue de Francia. Pues nada. Escribiría más, pero ya es la hora de irme al bar. Hasta la próxima.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Ocupado
Estos días son más ocupados que los del primer cuatrimestre. Estoy enseñando tres días a la semana en el Centro de Idiomas y la semana pasada empecé a dar clases particulares a dos niñas. Hoy he estado ocupada planificando la lección por ellas y escribiendo los informes semanales para lo que enseño en el Centro de Idiomas. No he parado.
Pues, empecé el día bastante tranquilamente. Me levanté a las 10 y miré dos capítulos de Dexter mientras tomando mis dos tazas de café y comiendo el cereal. Luego, fui al piso de Savannah para reunir antes de caminar al gimnasio donde encontramos con Aleks. Aleks corró mientras Savannah y yo levatamos pesas. Considerando tan lleno fue el gimnasio, yo diría que tuvimos una sesión bastante bien de ejercicios. Para mí era un día de 3-12´s. Pensé en correr un poquito también, pero la garganta estaba irritatda y no estaba segura si estaba enfermandome o no. Por eso, decidí ejercer la caución y paré con solo las pesas. Vení a casa, comí las sobras del pollo y pureé de patatas que preparé ayer por la tarde. Después, hablé un ratín en Skype con mi madre sobre los planes de la boda que intentamos tener en agusto. John se queda en el estudio de morfina, y por eso hablé un ratín con él también para que no sentiera sólo. Escribí los informes. Descansé con una sesión de Piyo de 10 minutos y sigué trabando. Hablé otra vez con la madre sobre la boda... ¿Qué más...? Preparé la lección de mañana para las chicas. Me tardé una hora y media en ella... por el precio que cargo, rechazo de dedicar más tiempo a esa tarea. Ahora supongo que debo lavar los platos y trabajar en las clases del Centro de Idiomas hasta que tengo ganas de dormir.
Pues, empecé el día bastante tranquilamente. Me levanté a las 10 y miré dos capítulos de Dexter mientras tomando mis dos tazas de café y comiendo el cereal. Luego, fui al piso de Savannah para reunir antes de caminar al gimnasio donde encontramos con Aleks. Aleks corró mientras Savannah y yo levatamos pesas. Considerando tan lleno fue el gimnasio, yo diría que tuvimos una sesión bastante bien de ejercicios. Para mí era un día de 3-12´s. Pensé en correr un poquito también, pero la garganta estaba irritatda y no estaba segura si estaba enfermandome o no. Por eso, decidí ejercer la caución y paré con solo las pesas. Vení a casa, comí las sobras del pollo y pureé de patatas que preparé ayer por la tarde. Después, hablé un ratín en Skype con mi madre sobre los planes de la boda que intentamos tener en agusto. John se queda en el estudio de morfina, y por eso hablé un ratín con él también para que no sentiera sólo. Escribí los informes. Descansé con una sesión de Piyo de 10 minutos y sigué trabando. Hablé otra vez con la madre sobre la boda... ¿Qué más...? Preparé la lección de mañana para las chicas. Me tardé una hora y media en ella... por el precio que cargo, rechazo de dedicar más tiempo a esa tarea. Ahora supongo que debo lavar los platos y trabajar en las clases del Centro de Idiomas hasta que tengo ganas de dormir.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Mi día en español
Y bueno, ya está la hora de mejorar mi español a todos costos, incluso escribir mis blogs en español. Y la verdad es que es vergonzoso; siempre estoy cometiendo errores. Pero como todos los días impongo mis alumnos escriban en inglés, supongo que yo también debo hacer la esfuerza.
Los últimos dos días han estado increiblemente llenos. Ayer, el lunes, dejé mis clases de la historia del arte... pues, para ser honesta, tampoco estoy matriculada en estos cursos todavía. Necesito matricularme lo antes como posible, pero como tuve que irme de repente a los EEUU hace una semana y media, todavía estoy atrasada en todo de mi vida española. Supongo no importa tanto porque ya planeo salir de España en mayo en vez de junio. Así, me es posible conseguir créditos en los cursos. Tampoco quiero el crédito. Tengo un montón de créditos bajograduados, y si gano más, la oficina de apoyo ecónomico no va a ayudarme más. Pero, como dejé las clases, utilicé el tiempo para calificar examenes y ensayos que hicieron mis alumnos mientras estaba yo en los EEUU. También, planifiqué una breve lección para dos niñas de las edades 6 y 11 que encontré debido al hecho que su madre es amiga de mi profesora de italiano del cuatrimestre pasado. Fue la primera vez que conocí a ellas. Son adorables e inteligentes, y creo que va a estar divertido darles las clases particulares. Después, fui a Mercandona a comprar algunas cosas y después al Centro de Idiomas para calificar más y intentar a planificar la lección de hoy. Eso no pasó, por supuesto. Pasé todo el tiempo calificando y no tuve tiempo bastante para planificar la lección. Fui a casa, comí algo pequeño (no me acuerdo de qué) y por fin, anduve al Café Shamash donde ESN estaba haciendo un Tandem. Es la primera vez que he asistido hace algunos meses, pues, porque algunas veces que me fui, no estaba muy satisfecha por la cantidad de español hablada. Pero ayer lo pasé muy bien. Tomé dos cañas y hablé con una cantidad increíble de gente, y todo era en español. No me molesta ayudar a la gente mejorar su inglés, pero hay que considerar que he cruzado el mar, he dejado el prometido por nueve meses, y me he puesto atrasada por un año en mis estudios por venir aquí y mejorar mi español. Ya he sacrificado un montón; no quiero que cada vez que me voy a un tandem, la gente me obligue a hablar en inglés todo el tiempo. Pues, bien, también, en una hora durante el día, también fui al gimnasio y corrí 60 minutos (caminé 5). Fue la primera vez hace herrí el tobillo que he estado capaz de correr así. Por eso, estaba bastante satisfecha con mi sesión de ejercicios. Por la noche, durmí más pronto que lo que es normal para mí. Me puse a dormir a la 1:30.
Hoy fue otro día muy lleno. Fui a clase... pues me quedé por dos, porque estaba perdia en la otra por no asistirla nunca. Qué mala estudiante soy yo... pero bueno... no estoy aquí para ser estudiante. Estoy aquí para mejorar mi español hablado y enseñar inglés. No siento nunca culpable por no asistir a mis clases. Puedo asistir a clases de nuevo en agosto... y joder... como voy a asistir a clases en ese tiempo. Después de clases, vení a casa para lavar los platos y comer algo. Luego, Savannah y yo fuimos al gimnasio. Ella hizo una mezcla de ejercicios. Yo solo levanté pesas. Fue mi días de 5 8´s. Es decir... 5 series de cada ejercicio con 8 repeticiones en cada serie. Es pura misería. Pero es la mejor manera de aumentar la masa muscular... ya, yo lo sé que soy una rara chica por querer aumentar la masa muscular. Pues nada. Después del gimnasio, fuimos a Mercadona... compré una pizza de microondas, lechuga, pan (siempre compro pan aquí porque está hecho todos los días... todavía era calienta a la compra) y ketchup. Comí la pizza. Me duché. Planifiqué la lección para mi clase... que pasada. Y sin más de 10 minutos extras, terminó la calificación de los ensayos. Fui a enseñar. La clase pasó bien, en mi opinión. Los alumnos eran un poco desordenados, como siempre, pero participaban... hablaban. Y bueno, ahora, estoy aquí en el sofá escribiendo esto. Ahora me voy a prepararme un sandwich de queso y calentarme una lata de sopa para comer con ello. Después a leer y hablar con John en Skype.
Los últimos dos días han estado increiblemente llenos. Ayer, el lunes, dejé mis clases de la historia del arte... pues, para ser honesta, tampoco estoy matriculada en estos cursos todavía. Necesito matricularme lo antes como posible, pero como tuve que irme de repente a los EEUU hace una semana y media, todavía estoy atrasada en todo de mi vida española. Supongo no importa tanto porque ya planeo salir de España en mayo en vez de junio. Así, me es posible conseguir créditos en los cursos. Tampoco quiero el crédito. Tengo un montón de créditos bajograduados, y si gano más, la oficina de apoyo ecónomico no va a ayudarme más. Pero, como dejé las clases, utilicé el tiempo para calificar examenes y ensayos que hicieron mis alumnos mientras estaba yo en los EEUU. También, planifiqué una breve lección para dos niñas de las edades 6 y 11 que encontré debido al hecho que su madre es amiga de mi profesora de italiano del cuatrimestre pasado. Fue la primera vez que conocí a ellas. Son adorables e inteligentes, y creo que va a estar divertido darles las clases particulares. Después, fui a Mercandona a comprar algunas cosas y después al Centro de Idiomas para calificar más y intentar a planificar la lección de hoy. Eso no pasó, por supuesto. Pasé todo el tiempo calificando y no tuve tiempo bastante para planificar la lección. Fui a casa, comí algo pequeño (no me acuerdo de qué) y por fin, anduve al Café Shamash donde ESN estaba haciendo un Tandem. Es la primera vez que he asistido hace algunos meses, pues, porque algunas veces que me fui, no estaba muy satisfecha por la cantidad de español hablada. Pero ayer lo pasé muy bien. Tomé dos cañas y hablé con una cantidad increíble de gente, y todo era en español. No me molesta ayudar a la gente mejorar su inglés, pero hay que considerar que he cruzado el mar, he dejado el prometido por nueve meses, y me he puesto atrasada por un año en mis estudios por venir aquí y mejorar mi español. Ya he sacrificado un montón; no quiero que cada vez que me voy a un tandem, la gente me obligue a hablar en inglés todo el tiempo. Pues, bien, también, en una hora durante el día, también fui al gimnasio y corrí 60 minutos (caminé 5). Fue la primera vez hace herrí el tobillo que he estado capaz de correr así. Por eso, estaba bastante satisfecha con mi sesión de ejercicios. Por la noche, durmí más pronto que lo que es normal para mí. Me puse a dormir a la 1:30.
Hoy fue otro día muy lleno. Fui a clase... pues me quedé por dos, porque estaba perdia en la otra por no asistirla nunca. Qué mala estudiante soy yo... pero bueno... no estoy aquí para ser estudiante. Estoy aquí para mejorar mi español hablado y enseñar inglés. No siento nunca culpable por no asistir a mis clases. Puedo asistir a clases de nuevo en agosto... y joder... como voy a asistir a clases en ese tiempo. Después de clases, vení a casa para lavar los platos y comer algo. Luego, Savannah y yo fuimos al gimnasio. Ella hizo una mezcla de ejercicios. Yo solo levanté pesas. Fue mi días de 5 8´s. Es decir... 5 series de cada ejercicio con 8 repeticiones en cada serie. Es pura misería. Pero es la mejor manera de aumentar la masa muscular... ya, yo lo sé que soy una rara chica por querer aumentar la masa muscular. Pues nada. Después del gimnasio, fuimos a Mercadona... compré una pizza de microondas, lechuga, pan (siempre compro pan aquí porque está hecho todos los días... todavía era calienta a la compra) y ketchup. Comí la pizza. Me duché. Planifiqué la lección para mi clase... que pasada. Y sin más de 10 minutos extras, terminó la calificación de los ensayos. Fui a enseñar. La clase pasó bien, en mi opinión. Los alumnos eran un poco desordenados, como siempre, pero participaban... hablaban. Y bueno, ahora, estoy aquí en el sofá escribiendo esto. Ahora me voy a prepararme un sandwich de queso y calentarme una lata de sopa para comer con ello. Después a leer y hablar con John en Skype.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Funeral stuff
Got back yesterday from an emergency trip home for my grandmother´s funeral. It all felt so surreal- I´m still integrating it all in my mind. One minute I´m putting the finishing touches on my lesson plans, the next John is calling me to say that my grandmother has not only been put on life support, but that she´s being taken off of it, and I´m calling Savannah to come get my lesson plans and teach my class for me. The next thing I know I´m buying a train ticket online, packing my suitcase, and waiting for John to finish the purchase of my airline ticket home. I slept two hours that night... Valentine´s Day... waking up a lot crying, imagining her face. We all knew she was ill, but we didn´t expect a fall that would cause hemorrhaging and sudden death. But that´s how it went, and really... I suppose it´s better that she didn´t have to suffer anymore. She was breaking out a lot, having more bad days than good ones, unable to eat, itching, and depressed. If it was only going to get worse from there, I´m glad she´s free of suffering now. I just wish I could talk to her again, hug her again. In honesty, the last time I hugged her, when I was leaving to go back to Morgantown before coming back to Spain after Christmas, I guess there was this sort of pressure to it. Those arms that had been so week were squeezing me with such firmness... and her eyes were filling with tears and she was looking at me hard. I felt she believed that would be the last time I saw her. But then things were going ok, as ok as it gets with advanced liver cirrhosis in someone operating on one kidney after a heart attack... and then she was just gone.
I was confused. Savannah had to basically sit on my bed and remind me to pack underwear, socks, and bras, because the only thing I remembered on my own was sweaters. Everyone was in- Erica came up from Miami, Emily drove in from Virginia, Natalie, Bryan, John and Megan made it from Clarksburg of course, I made it from Spain, and the rest of us live in the area. Jesse came down to her mom´s from Wheeling to be there for me. That meant a lot.
I felt like I wasn´t processing things for most of the time I was there. I mean, I was sort of slammed with reality on Skype, traveled for 22 hours, crossing the ocean and 6 time zones, and then I woke up in the morning and was making pancakes and eggs with Dad, and Pap-paw and Bryan were there, and Bryan was asking me to do a eulogy. I didn´t mind being asked. In fact, I thought about it on the way home, in the plane, that there was a fair chance I´d be doing that and that it would be an honor to speak about her, for her. So from that point, I felt like I just couldn´t lose it in the moment or I´d be lost and unable to do it. John, Megan, Erica, Emily, and Carly all stood up with me while I read it. Carly was crying uncontrollably behind me, so I paused for a minute to grab her. She settled down. I let her go. I kept going. Jesse was right in my line of view, so even though I had to keep my eyes on what I was reading, that gave me a visible, supportive soul to focus on. Joe was there, too, drove in with César and Claire from Morgantown. Of course, my family was there, too, but I felt more like I had to support them in that moment than to rely on them. Had I begun to think too much about them, I would have just buckled, too. I´ve given a lot of speeches, performed a lot in my day, but I never spoke with my knees knocking that hard before. Ultimately, it was OK.
She looked beautiful. The funeral home really did a good job on her. Too good. I kept feeling like she was going to get up and hug me. We were at Lori´s having lunch between viewings on Thursday, and I thought I was going to see her coming through the doorway of the kitchen into the dining room at any moment. John had something bothersome going on with his shoulder while I was home. My first thought was to tell him to ask my Mam-maw.
I really just felt disoriented the whole time I was in. Just the suddenness, not only of death, but the planning of such a long journey, and then being home when I wasn´t supposed to be... when I was supposed to be 4,000 miles a way, was just confusing to all my senses. I kept feeling like I just had to... wait it out, ride it out. I kept telling myself, this is fine, this is just the new reality as it is, and she´s at rest now.
I don´t think it was until I got on the plane in Pittsburgh that I really let the hurt all the way in. There was a woman sitting behind me, I think she was dying, but she was definitely a cancer patient, and she was traveling with a friend to Philadelphia. I think they were going to see someone for the last time. Listening to them talk, dancing around the truth, her calling herself pathetic, was just so... reminiscent of what I´d just been through. Mam-maw used to refer to herself as pathetic when she wasn´t feeling well, when she felt like all she did was complain. So I started crying on the plane, unseen, thankfully. I don´t know what I would have done if some stranger had begun trying to comfort me. I just held onto the gold heart-shaped nugget she had made out of the old chains of her mother´s jewelry while the plane took off and stared hard out the window. It felt like, taking off, I was really leaving her for the last time. I could look at her in her casket, I could visit the newly dug grave, but getting in the air, leaving the ground where she´d most recently had breath, that´s what did it.
And then I was back in Spain, also suddenly-seeming. And I figured out the train back to Valladolid, and I was in a taxi. Then I was in my bed, taking a 4-hour nap. Then I woke up and it was 3:30 in the afternoon, and I´d gone home, been with family, been to my grandmother´s funeral. I went for Mexican with Jesse and drank a huge margarita while staring at the floor and not being conversational at all. I showed my grandpa pictures of my London trip. And then... I was just... back here. Going to get groceries with Savannah. Unloading them into the refrigerator. Reading to focus my consciousness. Going for paella with Ntina, Aleks, and Savannah, again... mostly to focus my consciousness and also to keep myself awake to try to get over the jet lag sooner. Walking home from dinner, Savannah was buzzed and talking a lot to me. I felt I could not respond. I was just focusing on getting up the sidewalk and getting into my bed.
Today I slept in. Trying to let myself recuperate gradually from the stress and the jet lag so I don´t get sick. I spent hours planning my conversation class only to have a technical difficulty, rendering my Power Point presentation on Valentine´s Day incorporating the use of the conditional... useless. Usually, that would irritate me, but today it made me absolutely crazy. I taught class. It went well. I think they got something out of the role plays they did and enjoyed the class, so maybe my three hours of planning didn´t go completely to waste.
Then I went to the gym. Ran lightly on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Took it easy because I´m recuperating from several things. Two weeks before I went home I started having a flare up of tendonitis in my ankle. The next week I had a stomach bug and couldn´t eat. Then I found out about my grandma and went through jet lag to encounter grief. Then I came back. So... I just didn´t want to overdo it the first day back to it. 40 minutes running with 10 minutes walking was plenty for today.
Came home. Made some dinner... was thinking of doing porkchops and a zucchini pasta, but then I thought, the pizza I heated up for lunch due to realizing I had no bread for a grilled cheese sandwich... would dry out before tomorrow. So I reheated the rest of the pizza, fixed some broccoli and had that for dinner. Good enough.
Anyway, those are about all my thoughts right now. I need to get back to this. I feel better when I write... as negative as this post probably seems. But I needed to get that out of my system before sleeping, so... meh.
I was confused. Savannah had to basically sit on my bed and remind me to pack underwear, socks, and bras, because the only thing I remembered on my own was sweaters. Everyone was in- Erica came up from Miami, Emily drove in from Virginia, Natalie, Bryan, John and Megan made it from Clarksburg of course, I made it from Spain, and the rest of us live in the area. Jesse came down to her mom´s from Wheeling to be there for me. That meant a lot.
I felt like I wasn´t processing things for most of the time I was there. I mean, I was sort of slammed with reality on Skype, traveled for 22 hours, crossing the ocean and 6 time zones, and then I woke up in the morning and was making pancakes and eggs with Dad, and Pap-paw and Bryan were there, and Bryan was asking me to do a eulogy. I didn´t mind being asked. In fact, I thought about it on the way home, in the plane, that there was a fair chance I´d be doing that and that it would be an honor to speak about her, for her. So from that point, I felt like I just couldn´t lose it in the moment or I´d be lost and unable to do it. John, Megan, Erica, Emily, and Carly all stood up with me while I read it. Carly was crying uncontrollably behind me, so I paused for a minute to grab her. She settled down. I let her go. I kept going. Jesse was right in my line of view, so even though I had to keep my eyes on what I was reading, that gave me a visible, supportive soul to focus on. Joe was there, too, drove in with César and Claire from Morgantown. Of course, my family was there, too, but I felt more like I had to support them in that moment than to rely on them. Had I begun to think too much about them, I would have just buckled, too. I´ve given a lot of speeches, performed a lot in my day, but I never spoke with my knees knocking that hard before. Ultimately, it was OK.
She looked beautiful. The funeral home really did a good job on her. Too good. I kept feeling like she was going to get up and hug me. We were at Lori´s having lunch between viewings on Thursday, and I thought I was going to see her coming through the doorway of the kitchen into the dining room at any moment. John had something bothersome going on with his shoulder while I was home. My first thought was to tell him to ask my Mam-maw.
I really just felt disoriented the whole time I was in. Just the suddenness, not only of death, but the planning of such a long journey, and then being home when I wasn´t supposed to be... when I was supposed to be 4,000 miles a way, was just confusing to all my senses. I kept feeling like I just had to... wait it out, ride it out. I kept telling myself, this is fine, this is just the new reality as it is, and she´s at rest now.
I don´t think it was until I got on the plane in Pittsburgh that I really let the hurt all the way in. There was a woman sitting behind me, I think she was dying, but she was definitely a cancer patient, and she was traveling with a friend to Philadelphia. I think they were going to see someone for the last time. Listening to them talk, dancing around the truth, her calling herself pathetic, was just so... reminiscent of what I´d just been through. Mam-maw used to refer to herself as pathetic when she wasn´t feeling well, when she felt like all she did was complain. So I started crying on the plane, unseen, thankfully. I don´t know what I would have done if some stranger had begun trying to comfort me. I just held onto the gold heart-shaped nugget she had made out of the old chains of her mother´s jewelry while the plane took off and stared hard out the window. It felt like, taking off, I was really leaving her for the last time. I could look at her in her casket, I could visit the newly dug grave, but getting in the air, leaving the ground where she´d most recently had breath, that´s what did it.
And then I was back in Spain, also suddenly-seeming. And I figured out the train back to Valladolid, and I was in a taxi. Then I was in my bed, taking a 4-hour nap. Then I woke up and it was 3:30 in the afternoon, and I´d gone home, been with family, been to my grandmother´s funeral. I went for Mexican with Jesse and drank a huge margarita while staring at the floor and not being conversational at all. I showed my grandpa pictures of my London trip. And then... I was just... back here. Going to get groceries with Savannah. Unloading them into the refrigerator. Reading to focus my consciousness. Going for paella with Ntina, Aleks, and Savannah, again... mostly to focus my consciousness and also to keep myself awake to try to get over the jet lag sooner. Walking home from dinner, Savannah was buzzed and talking a lot to me. I felt I could not respond. I was just focusing on getting up the sidewalk and getting into my bed.
Today I slept in. Trying to let myself recuperate gradually from the stress and the jet lag so I don´t get sick. I spent hours planning my conversation class only to have a technical difficulty, rendering my Power Point presentation on Valentine´s Day incorporating the use of the conditional... useless. Usually, that would irritate me, but today it made me absolutely crazy. I taught class. It went well. I think they got something out of the role plays they did and enjoyed the class, so maybe my three hours of planning didn´t go completely to waste.
Then I went to the gym. Ran lightly on the treadmill for 40 minutes. Took it easy because I´m recuperating from several things. Two weeks before I went home I started having a flare up of tendonitis in my ankle. The next week I had a stomach bug and couldn´t eat. Then I found out about my grandma and went through jet lag to encounter grief. Then I came back. So... I just didn´t want to overdo it the first day back to it. 40 minutes running with 10 minutes walking was plenty for today.
Came home. Made some dinner... was thinking of doing porkchops and a zucchini pasta, but then I thought, the pizza I heated up for lunch due to realizing I had no bread for a grilled cheese sandwich... would dry out before tomorrow. So I reheated the rest of the pizza, fixed some broccoli and had that for dinner. Good enough.
Anyway, those are about all my thoughts right now. I need to get back to this. I feel better when I write... as negative as this post probably seems. But I needed to get that out of my system before sleeping, so... meh.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Another Week in Fitness
Sunday, January 1, 2012
1:25pm
As the title suggests, this post is simply about another week in fitness. I did pretty much the same thing this week as last week, except that I am taking my rest day today (although the idea of sitting still all day with nowhere to go and no real physical activity seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, so there is a good possibility of a walk or some yoga) instead of having taken it on Friday.
Monday- 5-8´s: About an 80-minute workout of lifting heavy (for me) weights for 5 sets of 8 for each muscle group. Abs included.
Tuesday- 60 minute run outside. Ran all the way up Río Esgueva to where you can see the big mountain in the background. I ran a little farther this week in my 60 minutes outside than last week, so I can feel myself getting stronger.
Wednesday- 32-minute recovery run. Slow speed. Short distance. Aim was just to bring fresh blood into muscles needing to repair themselves after Monday´s lifting and Tuesday´s long distance run. Did some abs at home afterwards.
Thursday- 3-12´s: About a 70-minute workout coming at each muscle group with 3 sets of 12 repetitions. Slightly easier than the workout on Monday. After resistance, did 4 sets of 2 minutes walking, 1 minute sprinting on the treadmill. Felt stronger than last week, like I could have done those sprints faster, but since I was still adjusting to a new routine, I decided to leave it.
Friday- 60-minute run on treadmill. I was actually thinking about making this just a 20-minute jog and then going to batuka, but then I decided to stay on and finish. So... it wound up being a more intense run than I was planning, because when I was originally planning to do only 20 minutes, I ran really hard to make up for it. Again, feeling stronger with my runs all this week.
Saturday- 35-minute recovery run on treadmill, 5 minutes walking to cool down. Felt tired, but that was due to going to bed at 6am and rising at 12pm. Plus, I drank a fair amount of beer the night before at a party, not enough to make me sick or even drunk, but enough to make me feel a little more groggy than usual the next day. Did abs, traps, and external rotators afterwards.
So I had 5 days that had some type of cardio, 4 that were aimed at aerobic activity, 2 of those aimed at improving it over maintaining it. One day was cardio but no aerobic, aimed at building speed.
I had 2 days aimed at building strength.
So for the most of this week I´ve felt really strong and like I could do more in my workouts. The thing is, I´m focusing on a few different things right now- speed on Thursdays, endurance on Tuesdays and Fridays (or Saturdays), and strength on Mondays and Thursdays. So if I try to make improvements to all of these at once, it´s a recipe for disaster, because there will never be a single day in the week that my body is doing what it already can. Each day will push it beyond it´s limits, and that can just lead to burn out and injury. I have to ask myself, where do I most want to make my gains? Strength, speed, or endurance? I want to say ALL OF THEM! I want to run further on my distance runs, faster on my speed drills, and I want to do more lifting. Maybe I´ll make a compromise and split it between two categories. Strength and endurance. For strength, I will *either* add a pump/burn out set on one of my lift days *or* add some strength training at the end of my recovery run on Saturday. And for endurance, I will make one of my long runs this week 65 minutes instead of 60. Little by little.
1:25pm
As the title suggests, this post is simply about another week in fitness. I did pretty much the same thing this week as last week, except that I am taking my rest day today (although the idea of sitting still all day with nowhere to go and no real physical activity seems a bit overwhelming at the moment, so there is a good possibility of a walk or some yoga) instead of having taken it on Friday.
Monday- 5-8´s: About an 80-minute workout of lifting heavy (for me) weights for 5 sets of 8 for each muscle group. Abs included.
Tuesday- 60 minute run outside. Ran all the way up Río Esgueva to where you can see the big mountain in the background. I ran a little farther this week in my 60 minutes outside than last week, so I can feel myself getting stronger.
Wednesday- 32-minute recovery run. Slow speed. Short distance. Aim was just to bring fresh blood into muscles needing to repair themselves after Monday´s lifting and Tuesday´s long distance run. Did some abs at home afterwards.
Thursday- 3-12´s: About a 70-minute workout coming at each muscle group with 3 sets of 12 repetitions. Slightly easier than the workout on Monday. After resistance, did 4 sets of 2 minutes walking, 1 minute sprinting on the treadmill. Felt stronger than last week, like I could have done those sprints faster, but since I was still adjusting to a new routine, I decided to leave it.
Friday- 60-minute run on treadmill. I was actually thinking about making this just a 20-minute jog and then going to batuka, but then I decided to stay on and finish. So... it wound up being a more intense run than I was planning, because when I was originally planning to do only 20 minutes, I ran really hard to make up for it. Again, feeling stronger with my runs all this week.
Saturday- 35-minute recovery run on treadmill, 5 minutes walking to cool down. Felt tired, but that was due to going to bed at 6am and rising at 12pm. Plus, I drank a fair amount of beer the night before at a party, not enough to make me sick or even drunk, but enough to make me feel a little more groggy than usual the next day. Did abs, traps, and external rotators afterwards.
So I had 5 days that had some type of cardio, 4 that were aimed at aerobic activity, 2 of those aimed at improving it over maintaining it. One day was cardio but no aerobic, aimed at building speed.
I had 2 days aimed at building strength.
So for the most of this week I´ve felt really strong and like I could do more in my workouts. The thing is, I´m focusing on a few different things right now- speed on Thursdays, endurance on Tuesdays and Fridays (or Saturdays), and strength on Mondays and Thursdays. So if I try to make improvements to all of these at once, it´s a recipe for disaster, because there will never be a single day in the week that my body is doing what it already can. Each day will push it beyond it´s limits, and that can just lead to burn out and injury. I have to ask myself, where do I most want to make my gains? Strength, speed, or endurance? I want to say ALL OF THEM! I want to run further on my distance runs, faster on my speed drills, and I want to do more lifting. Maybe I´ll make a compromise and split it between two categories. Strength and endurance. For strength, I will *either* add a pump/burn out set on one of my lift days *or* add some strength training at the end of my recovery run on Saturday. And for endurance, I will make one of my long runs this week 65 minutes instead of 60. Little by little.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
A Week in Fitness
This post is much more for helping myself than it is for expressing any ideas which might be remotely useful to someone else. That said... if I accidentally say something helpful, that would be cool. I´m writing to recount my week in fitness, as I´d decided I´d get more regulated and routine about my fitness upon my return to Spain. That isn´t to say that I wasn´t exercising regularly already, just... not with the same discipline as, ¨I need to get x number of cardio workouts in per week at a certain intensity and for a certain length, and I need to do resistance training x number of times per week.¨ I am recording this week´s and using it for an example, because I feel that it went pretty well.
Monday- Heavy lift, 5-8´s, 75 minutes
Tuesday- 60 minute run, outside, abs at home
Wednesday- 40 minute recovery run, abs at home
Thursday- Moderate lift, 3-12´s, plus sprints, 60 minutes
Friday- rest
Saturday- 60 minute run on treadmill
Sunday- 30 minute run on treadmill, plus light abs, traps, and erector spinae
In review with analysis: I feel this was almost perfect. As far as lifting goes, I did a full body workout twice this week, one day more targeted at raw strength, one day more aimed towards maintaining strength over multiple repetitions. I feel that this is adequate to meet my goals. With the intensity to which I pushed myself, twice a week is sufficient. I want to be strong, but a body builder, so I think this is good. In regards to cardio, minus the walking I did around town (maybe Friday shouldn´t actually be listed as a rest day), it was exclusively running. I miss Zumba. I like to swim. But having one goal, improving speed over time gives me focus in my workouts. My goals is to run a few 10Ks this summer and ¨do my best.¨ That sounds like a wishy-washy goal, but I hate to have a goal time, because every course is different. That hell I endured on the steep, rocky footpaths in Coopers Rock last summer is sure to be different than a completely flat street race. So ¨my best¨ sounds like a good goal to me. I know I push myself hard no matter what and don´t need the added discipline of a ticking clock. So I had two long run days to build endurance, and I think I´ll stick with 2 1-hour runs per week as my hard days for 4-6 weeks, to give the body time to adjust. I never want to be a marathoner, so there is no reason to push myself beyond that time capacity sooner than that. You don´t want to go into a race not having run about 30% further than that distance at some point, so to do a 10K, I should have run 75-80 minutes straight a few times before I actually do it. And when I make my increases, it will be gradual. Two weeks at 65 minutes on one day, 60 the other, 70 and 60, and so on. No need for an injury. I took the recovery runs seriously this week, running easy on my two recovery days to get blood flow to the recovering muscles without placing excessive demands on them. These days weren´t aimed at calorie burn, strength increase, or improving my cardiovascular capacity beyond what it already was. Recovery. Plain and simple. And one day, my 3-12s with weights, I did sprints on the treadmill. For me, speed and strength on the race course is my biggest challenge. I´m a deer. I can run forever and sort of float along, but if I needed to kick it in, that´s tougher. That´s simple to tell by looking at me. Long limbed, meaning short muscle bellies (less power) in comparison to bone length. So by sprints what I mean is, I would walk, just... walk, 2 minutes on the treadmill and then sprint 1. I did this for 12 minutes, completing 4 sets. It seemed appropriate on a strength day, because even though it isn´t ¨resistance,¨ it has a similar training effect on the legs to do that kind of work because you use them powerfully instead of steadily. Anaerobic. Also good for a fat burning and cardio burst at the end of my workout.
I have also been good about stretching at the ends of my workouts more consistently and for longer periods of time. Not that 2 minutes all over wiggle and out the door. I *should* be doing some yoga, for the stretch and the calm more than the strength. I think I do enough strength training (although, yeah, I realize it´s a different type). But it´s harder than ever for me to have that quiet reflection time, so I flip and want off the mat. I try to make up for the lack of yoga in my life by doing more extended stretching and having more ¨active¨ reflective periods, like listening to music while drawing or writing. Asking myself to be on that mat for more than five minutes is just asking to much at this point. I need a teacher. Or I need to be teaching. I need to either be hearing someone else´s voice and having a new objective every few minutes to keep me focused and in the moment, or else be focused on getting everyone else through an hour. I get more out of it when I have a teacher, so that´s what I want right now. In lieu of that, I´m letting go of the self-judgment, and trying to make up for the benefits of yoga in other ways like I mentioned above.
I´m eating healthy, taking my vitamin, drinking plenty of water, not overdoing the caffeine, and sleeping well. So even minus the yoga, I´d say I´m doing OK for now. I´m happy with where I´m at in terms of my active, healthy lifestyle.
Monday- Heavy lift, 5-8´s, 75 minutes
Tuesday- 60 minute run, outside, abs at home
Wednesday- 40 minute recovery run, abs at home
Thursday- Moderate lift, 3-12´s, plus sprints, 60 minutes
Friday- rest
Saturday- 60 minute run on treadmill
Sunday- 30 minute run on treadmill, plus light abs, traps, and erector spinae
In review with analysis: I feel this was almost perfect. As far as lifting goes, I did a full body workout twice this week, one day more targeted at raw strength, one day more aimed towards maintaining strength over multiple repetitions. I feel that this is adequate to meet my goals. With the intensity to which I pushed myself, twice a week is sufficient. I want to be strong, but a body builder, so I think this is good. In regards to cardio, minus the walking I did around town (maybe Friday shouldn´t actually be listed as a rest day), it was exclusively running. I miss Zumba. I like to swim. But having one goal, improving speed over time gives me focus in my workouts. My goals is to run a few 10Ks this summer and ¨do my best.¨ That sounds like a wishy-washy goal, but I hate to have a goal time, because every course is different. That hell I endured on the steep, rocky footpaths in Coopers Rock last summer is sure to be different than a completely flat street race. So ¨my best¨ sounds like a good goal to me. I know I push myself hard no matter what and don´t need the added discipline of a ticking clock. So I had two long run days to build endurance, and I think I´ll stick with 2 1-hour runs per week as my hard days for 4-6 weeks, to give the body time to adjust. I never want to be a marathoner, so there is no reason to push myself beyond that time capacity sooner than that. You don´t want to go into a race not having run about 30% further than that distance at some point, so to do a 10K, I should have run 75-80 minutes straight a few times before I actually do it. And when I make my increases, it will be gradual. Two weeks at 65 minutes on one day, 60 the other, 70 and 60, and so on. No need for an injury. I took the recovery runs seriously this week, running easy on my two recovery days to get blood flow to the recovering muscles without placing excessive demands on them. These days weren´t aimed at calorie burn, strength increase, or improving my cardiovascular capacity beyond what it already was. Recovery. Plain and simple. And one day, my 3-12s with weights, I did sprints on the treadmill. For me, speed and strength on the race course is my biggest challenge. I´m a deer. I can run forever and sort of float along, but if I needed to kick it in, that´s tougher. That´s simple to tell by looking at me. Long limbed, meaning short muscle bellies (less power) in comparison to bone length. So by sprints what I mean is, I would walk, just... walk, 2 minutes on the treadmill and then sprint 1. I did this for 12 minutes, completing 4 sets. It seemed appropriate on a strength day, because even though it isn´t ¨resistance,¨ it has a similar training effect on the legs to do that kind of work because you use them powerfully instead of steadily. Anaerobic. Also good for a fat burning and cardio burst at the end of my workout.
I have also been good about stretching at the ends of my workouts more consistently and for longer periods of time. Not that 2 minutes all over wiggle and out the door. I *should* be doing some yoga, for the stretch and the calm more than the strength. I think I do enough strength training (although, yeah, I realize it´s a different type). But it´s harder than ever for me to have that quiet reflection time, so I flip and want off the mat. I try to make up for the lack of yoga in my life by doing more extended stretching and having more ¨active¨ reflective periods, like listening to music while drawing or writing. Asking myself to be on that mat for more than five minutes is just asking to much at this point. I need a teacher. Or I need to be teaching. I need to either be hearing someone else´s voice and having a new objective every few minutes to keep me focused and in the moment, or else be focused on getting everyone else through an hour. I get more out of it when I have a teacher, so that´s what I want right now. In lieu of that, I´m letting go of the self-judgment, and trying to make up for the benefits of yoga in other ways like I mentioned above.
I´m eating healthy, taking my vitamin, drinking plenty of water, not overdoing the caffeine, and sleeping well. So even minus the yoga, I´d say I´m doing OK for now. I´m happy with where I´m at in terms of my active, healthy lifestyle.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Asian chicken
OK. Mostly because I don´t want to forget this recipe, but also a little bit just because I am excited about the food. To deal with boredom and a case of the blah´s, I decided I needed to try out some new recipes to keep me interested. Food always calls me back to life in a way that hugs never can.
Anyway, so I found this recipe online called Mama´s Asian chicken. I´d link it here, but all I did was read it once and then make it however I wanted. Cooked some white rice. Put the following in a frying pan:
2 tbsp Heinz 57
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 crushed, minced garlic cloves
1/5 (ish) an onion, minced
¨some¨ crushed red pepper mix (or the closest thing I found to it here in Spain)
2 tbsp OrAnGe JuIcE (dont be afraid, i really think this is what made it)
¨some¨ olive oil
Sauteed that together
Then I cut up a little over a pound of chicken... recipe called for chicken breast, but it turned out just fine with thigh meat and was cheaper (more fattening, yes, but stfu.) Sauteed it all together for awhile... I think the recommendation for stir frying diced chicken is 7-8 minutes but due to my extreme paranoia over undercooked meat, I usually go for about double the time. Took 10 very long sugar snap peas (so probably need about 15 of what we have back home), cut them up into generous chunks, and fried that, too. Works better for the peas if covered, because they tend to remain tough. I didn´t have an adequate cover, so I just made an enormous mess by using a lid that was too small (and sitting it on the counter to stir every so often). Just goes to show you can use whatever you have around. Anyway, by belly is full. I fed my roommate. And now I´m going to bed fat and happy.
Oh yeah, and ObViOuSlY... to serve, put some rice on your plate and bathe it in the chicken/oil/flavory goodness/peas slop.
Anyway, so I found this recipe online called Mama´s Asian chicken. I´d link it here, but all I did was read it once and then make it however I wanted. Cooked some white rice. Put the following in a frying pan:
2 tbsp Heinz 57
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 crushed, minced garlic cloves
1/5 (ish) an onion, minced
¨some¨ crushed red pepper mix (or the closest thing I found to it here in Spain)
2 tbsp OrAnGe JuIcE (dont be afraid, i really think this is what made it)
¨some¨ olive oil
Sauteed that together
Then I cut up a little over a pound of chicken... recipe called for chicken breast, but it turned out just fine with thigh meat and was cheaper (more fattening, yes, but stfu.) Sauteed it all together for awhile... I think the recommendation for stir frying diced chicken is 7-8 minutes but due to my extreme paranoia over undercooked meat, I usually go for about double the time. Took 10 very long sugar snap peas (so probably need about 15 of what we have back home), cut them up into generous chunks, and fried that, too. Works better for the peas if covered, because they tend to remain tough. I didn´t have an adequate cover, so I just made an enormous mess by using a lid that was too small (and sitting it on the counter to stir every so often). Just goes to show you can use whatever you have around. Anyway, by belly is full. I fed my roommate. And now I´m going to bed fat and happy.
Oh yeah, and ObViOuSlY... to serve, put some rice on your plate and bathe it in the chicken/oil/flavory goodness/peas slop.
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