I knew this would happen. Intellectually I knew that getting in shape wasn't going to be all smooth sailing. There would be good days and bad days. My weight would fluctuate more than I expected. Sometimes I'd feel like I was doing the opposite of making progress. But I hadn't experienced any of that yet.
Ever since I joined a gym in September, I've been slowly, but steadily improving. I was learning how to use the machines. I was able to lift more. I was getting better at running. Hell, I ran a mile on Sunday and it was practically easy. Far easier than I had expected it to be. Sure, December wasn't so great, but I had also completely stopped going to the gym.
But today was tough. I was barely able to jog a quarter of a mile. I had a stitch in my side that wouldn't go away. And even when I slowed down to a walk I felt like I couldn't quite catch my breath.
I know it was just a hiccup. My body was probably reacting to how hard I've been pushing it this past week. It decided to rebel a little. I'll be back on track soon. It was just rather discouraging to hit that wall. And now I'm in a blah mood.
I realize this is turning into a bit of an exercise blog. Whatever.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Lists and Stacks
I have a pretty extensive to-read list. For a long time, this was just a mental list. I'd hear about a good book and think that I should read it. And then, depending on my memory, I might or might not ever actually do that. But when I started this blog, one of the first things I did was actually write out that list. You can see it by clicking on the "Books" tab at the top.
Having an actual list has helped a great deal. I'm never at a loss when I finish one book and need a new one. I can add a book when someone mentions it in passing and then remember the name and author the next time I'm going to the book store. I've even sort of organized it according to the order I'll probably read those books in. That is, the ones I own are at the top and the ones I want to own are at the bottom. Every time someone recommends something already on the list it moves up a little bit.
When I add a book to the list, I'm thinking "I should read this book". It's not until I actually buy the book that I've committed to reading it. I may hear something new and lose interest. Or it may just wallow on the list for several years until the stars align and I decide to buy it.
A few times a year, I go on a book buying spree. I head into a book store and give myself free reign. This is a lot more fun than just buying books one at a time. Since I'm able to limit how often I do this, I end up with a stack of books that I'm planning to read in the near future
You see, the problem with my to-read list is that it keeps getting longer. No matter how fast I read or how many books I juggle at once, I add to that list faster than I check things off it. I never feel like I'm making progress. In a way, that's how it should be. I'd hate to run out of books to read. That's not really likely to happen, but it's nice to have a safety net stretching out to infinity.
Then again, it's nice to feel like I'm making progress. That's where the stack comes in. The stack doesn't grow; it shrinks. It will last me for a finite period of time, but then it must be replaced.
I mention this, because I have a pretty good-sized stack right now. The last time I had one this large was when Borders went out of business and I went on a mini-rampage. This year I used part of my end-of-year bonus to finance a bunch of books (along with a new bookcase). Here's the result.
Okay, I already owned Robinson Crusoe (the brown and red one) and The Silmarillion. But I just added them to the stack because I'm really planning on reading them before my next major book purchase.
That should keep me busy for a while.
Having an actual list has helped a great deal. I'm never at a loss when I finish one book and need a new one. I can add a book when someone mentions it in passing and then remember the name and author the next time I'm going to the book store. I've even sort of organized it according to the order I'll probably read those books in. That is, the ones I own are at the top and the ones I want to own are at the bottom. Every time someone recommends something already on the list it moves up a little bit.
When I add a book to the list, I'm thinking "I should read this book". It's not until I actually buy the book that I've committed to reading it. I may hear something new and lose interest. Or it may just wallow on the list for several years until the stars align and I decide to buy it.
A few times a year, I go on a book buying spree. I head into a book store and give myself free reign. This is a lot more fun than just buying books one at a time. Since I'm able to limit how often I do this, I end up with a stack of books that I'm planning to read in the near future
You see, the problem with my to-read list is that it keeps getting longer. No matter how fast I read or how many books I juggle at once, I add to that list faster than I check things off it. I never feel like I'm making progress. In a way, that's how it should be. I'd hate to run out of books to read. That's not really likely to happen, but it's nice to have a safety net stretching out to infinity.
Then again, it's nice to feel like I'm making progress. That's where the stack comes in. The stack doesn't grow; it shrinks. It will last me for a finite period of time, but then it must be replaced.
I mention this, because I have a pretty good-sized stack right now. The last time I had one this large was when Borders went out of business and I went on a mini-rampage. This year I used part of my end-of-year bonus to finance a bunch of books (along with a new bookcase). Here's the result.
Okay, I already owned Robinson Crusoe (the brown and red one) and The Silmarillion. But I just added them to the stack because I'm really planning on reading them before my next major book purchase.
That should keep me busy for a while.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Setting Goals
Last week I was sitting in my office trying to psych myself up to go to the gym. In the course of this, I idly wondered if I'd ever be able to run a mile.
In high school and college I took gym classes that forced me to "run" a mile. I was supposed to improve on my time over the course of the semester. But I've always been a horrible runner with no endurance. At most I could make it about halfway around the track before I found myself gasping for breath. In high school this led to the discovery that I can walk a mile faster than I can run one, and in college I basically just gave up. This strategy meant I had to wait longer for breakfast (Physical activity at 7AM should be outlawed), but at least I didn't feel like I was going to die.
It didn't help that one of my former dance teachers had informed me that running dislodges one's uterus. I've had this horrible vision of running around a track and suddenly finding that my uterus has fallen out of my body for years. And even though I knew that plenty of women run every day without losing organs, I avoided the activity out of irrational fear. This "fact" came from the same woman who told me I could tell I was getting too fat when my period started back up. Clearly I should never have listened to a word she said. But when things play into your prejudices, well, you tend to hold onto them with a death grip.
After I joined a gym the whole running thing got framed a bit differently. I was supposed to jog for five minutes at the beginning of my workout to warm up. In the beginning, this was nearly impossible. But I pushed through and eventually it got easier. I was able to up my speed a little. I could still do it if I increased the incline And my heart rate (taken at the end of the 5 minutes jog) was slowing down. All of these were signs of improvement.
Then, at my friend's wedding in San Francisco, I managed to run half a mile on the treadmill. As someone who'd barely been able to make it an eighth of a mile before, this was a huge deal.
So last week I got it into my head to try and run a mile. It would be okay if it took a while to get there. This was just something I'd be working up to. A mini-goal as I start to get serious about alternating weight-lifting and cardio. At any point I could slow the treadmill down and walk for a while.
On my first attempt I surprised myself by running 3/4 of a mile. Listening to music helped stave off the boredom (why is cardio so boring?). More impressive was the fact that I wasn't terribly short of breath. I didn't have a stitch in my side. I had to stop running because of a shooting pain in my ankle.
See, never being that serious about running, I hadn't bothered to procure appropriate shoes. I'd been wearing a pair of old sneakers to the gym every day. They worked fine when I was lifting weights, but didn't provide enough support for me to run for extended periods of time.
With said shoes purchased I attempted my mile again on Sunday. The shoes aren't quite broken in yet (I miss my days of pointe and breaking shoes in with a hammer), so my ankle was still bugging me a bit (actually, that's probably because of dancing en pointe, too). But I made it through the entire mile, even though the last tenth was a serious challenge. At that point, I couldn't just give up.
I can now cross "run a mile" off the list of things I've never done. Now I can actually focus on improving my time of 13 minutes. Or maybe running a mile and a half.
In high school and college I took gym classes that forced me to "run" a mile. I was supposed to improve on my time over the course of the semester. But I've always been a horrible runner with no endurance. At most I could make it about halfway around the track before I found myself gasping for breath. In high school this led to the discovery that I can walk a mile faster than I can run one, and in college I basically just gave up. This strategy meant I had to wait longer for breakfast (Physical activity at 7AM should be outlawed), but at least I didn't feel like I was going to die.
It didn't help that one of my former dance teachers had informed me that running dislodges one's uterus. I've had this horrible vision of running around a track and suddenly finding that my uterus has fallen out of my body for years. And even though I knew that plenty of women run every day without losing organs, I avoided the activity out of irrational fear. This "fact" came from the same woman who told me I could tell I was getting too fat when my period started back up. Clearly I should never have listened to a word she said. But when things play into your prejudices, well, you tend to hold onto them with a death grip.
After I joined a gym the whole running thing got framed a bit differently. I was supposed to jog for five minutes at the beginning of my workout to warm up. In the beginning, this was nearly impossible. But I pushed through and eventually it got easier. I was able to up my speed a little. I could still do it if I increased the incline And my heart rate (taken at the end of the 5 minutes jog) was slowing down. All of these were signs of improvement.
Then, at my friend's wedding in San Francisco, I managed to run half a mile on the treadmill. As someone who'd barely been able to make it an eighth of a mile before, this was a huge deal.
So last week I got it into my head to try and run a mile. It would be okay if it took a while to get there. This was just something I'd be working up to. A mini-goal as I start to get serious about alternating weight-lifting and cardio. At any point I could slow the treadmill down and walk for a while.
On my first attempt I surprised myself by running 3/4 of a mile. Listening to music helped stave off the boredom (why is cardio so boring?). More impressive was the fact that I wasn't terribly short of breath. I didn't have a stitch in my side. I had to stop running because of a shooting pain in my ankle.
See, never being that serious about running, I hadn't bothered to procure appropriate shoes. I'd been wearing a pair of old sneakers to the gym every day. They worked fine when I was lifting weights, but didn't provide enough support for me to run for extended periods of time.
With said shoes purchased I attempted my mile again on Sunday. The shoes aren't quite broken in yet (I miss my days of pointe and breaking shoes in with a hammer), so my ankle was still bugging me a bit (actually, that's probably because of dancing en pointe, too). But I made it through the entire mile, even though the last tenth was a serious challenge. At that point, I couldn't just give up.
I can now cross "run a mile" off the list of things I've never done. Now I can actually focus on improving my time of 13 minutes. Or maybe running a mile and a half.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Back To Square One?
Since I hadn't been to the gym since before Thanksgiving, I was fully expecting a painful experience when I did get my butt back there this week. But it ended up not being so bad. The worst thing was actually the ridiculous influx of people that I suppose happens every January. It was hard to find free machines my first night back and I ended up not doing as much as I would have liked.
Actually, maybe my limited workout contributed to it not being so bad. But I really don't think my hiatus set me back too far. The first walk/jog warmup was tough, but by the second night I was right back where I was before my break. I do a 3.2 mph walk followed by a 4.6 mph jog, with the reverse to cool down. I'm considering bumping that up to 3.3/4.7. Considering I started at 3.0/4.4, this is pretty awesome. And also counts as three levels.
I was also back up to my highest weights for lifting by the second evening. So I guess my muscles didn't disintegrate as much as I thought they had. Hopefully the crowd at the gym will thin out soon and I'll be able to access the machines I want again. It's not that they were always free before, but there actually seem to be lines now. Whereas I used to just be able to go to a different machine and come back, I now find myself waiting. It probably doesn't help that my work schedule means I'm at the gym at the busiest time and don't have much flexibility in that.
The greatest improvement to my workout has been putting Daft Punk's album Discovery on my phone to listen to. I watched the music video for the album, Interstella 5555, several times in college (possibly upwards of 100, as it was perfect to have on whether I was grading papers or stoned and falling asleep) and listened to various songs even more. Now my jogging warmup happens during a chase scene, which I think is why I'm motivated to go faster. I lift weights to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" which helps me keep time and encourages me to increase weights and make it through all my reps and sets. This album has definitely made working out more fun.
My New Year's Resolution is to get to the gym at least three times a week, every week. Well, until Thanksgiving, because December just fills up with too much other stuff. I don't think it will be too hard to keep.
Actually, maybe my limited workout contributed to it not being so bad. But I really don't think my hiatus set me back too far. The first walk/jog warmup was tough, but by the second night I was right back where I was before my break. I do a 3.2 mph walk followed by a 4.6 mph jog, with the reverse to cool down. I'm considering bumping that up to 3.3/4.7. Considering I started at 3.0/4.4, this is pretty awesome. And also counts as three levels.
I was also back up to my highest weights for lifting by the second evening. So I guess my muscles didn't disintegrate as much as I thought they had. Hopefully the crowd at the gym will thin out soon and I'll be able to access the machines I want again. It's not that they were always free before, but there actually seem to be lines now. Whereas I used to just be able to go to a different machine and come back, I now find myself waiting. It probably doesn't help that my work schedule means I'm at the gym at the busiest time and don't have much flexibility in that.
The greatest improvement to my workout has been putting Daft Punk's album Discovery on my phone to listen to. I watched the music video for the album, Interstella 5555, several times in college (possibly upwards of 100, as it was perfect to have on whether I was grading papers or stoned and falling asleep) and listened to various songs even more. Now my jogging warmup happens during a chase scene, which I think is why I'm motivated to go faster. I lift weights to "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" which helps me keep time and encourages me to increase weights and make it through all my reps and sets. This album has definitely made working out more fun.
My New Year's Resolution is to get to the gym at least three times a week, every week. Well, until Thanksgiving, because December just fills up with too much other stuff. I don't think it will be too hard to keep.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Zero Sum Bookcase
The other day I saw a reference to a zero-sum bookcase. I can't find it now, but the idea of a zero-sum bookcase is that you've read every single book you own. In the discussion I saw, it was pretty much taken for granted that no one had reached this state and the conversation was focused on how long it might take one to achieve such a thing, assuming no new books are bought and no other books re-read before it's over.
This intrigued me. I certainly have several books that I bought or was gifted and haven't gotten around to reading. There are a few I started reading, but never finished. So I decided to take stock and see how long I could theoretically stay occupied if I stopped buying books.
I'm not including textbooks, which I read sections of for classes but have never and will never read cover to cover. I am including books I was supposed to read for class, but never got around to. Mostly because I already sold the ones I actually have no intention of reading . I've also excluded several of Boyfriend's books, because there's a whole shelf full and I'm not really sure whether or not I'm interested in them. A lot were for classes he took in college.
This is actually a good time to do this as I haven't bought any new books for a while and this list mostly captures things that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A friend of mine got this for me just before I left for college because we're both huge Buffy nerds. Although it sat on my bookcase in my dorm room all through college, I never even attempted to read it. I might someday.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Okay, I've actually read most of this. The bookmark indicates that I made it to page 213 of 309, which isn't bad. I just put it down one day and never picked it back up. I'm not sure I will. I know the story and I read enough of the book to get the gist. There's a ton of French and German that I never understood. Besides which, it centers on an older man pursuing a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl and there's only so much of that I'm willing to read. I sort of waver back and forth between considering this book "read".
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare. This is a good book to own. I can reference things easily and it looks cool on my shelf. But it's not exactly something you just sit down and read. I'd be more likely to buy Dover editions of individual plays if I ever got the urge to read them. Which I kind of want to do for Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and a few others. Thus far, I've read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, King John and seen Macbeth performed.
The Iliad by Homer. I've read The Odyssey, which was a bit more to my tastes. Adventures on the high sea are more interesting than bloody battles. Also, we were supposed to read this in a week, which was a frightening prospect during my sophomore year of college when I was taking 18 credits. So I didn't quite finish it, though I still intend to one day.
Metamorphoses by Ovid. We read bits of this in my Classical Mythology class, but I'd still like to read all of it at some point. The Greek Gods are fascinating
The Voyage of the Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes. Another book I bought for Classical Mythology. I'm not sure if it was never assigned or if I ignored the assignment, but I have yet to read it. I really just need to go on a Greek myth kick at some point and knock these out. Maybe this year?
The Bible. I made it through Exodus. I'm still determined to read the whole thing at some point
The Koran. I bought this at the same time as the Bible. It's a book I'd like to have read, though actually reading it is proving less interesting.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. I'm not sure if I'll ever actually read this in it's entirety. It's about the Vietnam War and is broken into chapters that basically work as short stories. We read a chapter in a high school English class, but the copy we got there was censored. I forget if it was for language or violence or what, but entire passages were occasionally blacked out and it made me mad. So I bought the book with the chapter so I could read the uncensored version.
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. This is the ninth of eleven books in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I loved the series in high school, but I got so angry at the premise of this book that I only made it 100 or so pages in. I doubt I'll ever attempt it again, but there's a chance I will. So it stays with the rest of the collection.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I bought this shortly after rewatching Muppet Treasure Island a few years ago because I was motivated. I made it about four chapters in before I got distracted. Not long after, I decided to attempt it again and again got distracted about four chapters in. If I could only make it to the ship I'm sure I'd stick with this one to the end.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I just received this book for my birthday six months ago. It is entirely reasonable that I haven't gotten to it yet. It'll probably happen soon.
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft. Boyfriend's mom got me this for Christmas. I'll probably be picking at it for years. But it's also totally reasonable to have not read a book I've only owned for a week. Especially since I haven't been home for that week and this book is a beast. Not as beastly as The Complete Works of Shakespeare, but still difficult to cart across the country
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. This was a Christmas gift ages ago. Maybe a decade ago? Either way, I think I made it halfway through and then got distracted. That happens sometimes.
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I received this around the time the movies were coming out. But it was toward the end of my interest in Middle Earth which peaked during my junior year of high school. I don't think I've seen Return of the King since I saw it in theaters. However, that interest has recently been reawakened. I am currently re-reading Fellowship of the Ring and intend to come back to The Silmarillion once I finish Lord of the Rings
The Town That Forgot How the Breathe by Kenneth J Harvey. My friend bought this for me for All Hallow's Read and I've been having a difficult time getting into it. I'll read a few pages, get bored, and move on to something else. Then a week or so later I'll find myself wondering about the characters or plot. So I'll pick it back up and read a bit before getting bored again. I think this points to the book being a poor execution of an interesting idea.
This intrigued me. I certainly have several books that I bought or was gifted and haven't gotten around to reading. There are a few I started reading, but never finished. So I decided to take stock and see how long I could theoretically stay occupied if I stopped buying books.
I'm not including textbooks, which I read sections of for classes but have never and will never read cover to cover. I am including books I was supposed to read for class, but never got around to. Mostly because I already sold the ones I actually have no intention of reading . I've also excluded several of Boyfriend's books, because there's a whole shelf full and I'm not really sure whether or not I'm interested in them. A lot were for classes he took in college.
This is actually a good time to do this as I haven't bought any new books for a while and this list mostly captures things that have been sitting on my shelf for a long time.
Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham. A friend of mine got this for me just before I left for college because we're both huge Buffy nerds. Although it sat on my bookcase in my dorm room all through college, I never even attempted to read it. I might someday.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Okay, I've actually read most of this. The bookmark indicates that I made it to page 213 of 309, which isn't bad. I just put it down one day and never picked it back up. I'm not sure I will. I know the story and I read enough of the book to get the gist. There's a ton of French and German that I never understood. Besides which, it centers on an older man pursuing a sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl and there's only so much of that I'm willing to read. I sort of waver back and forth between considering this book "read".
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare. This is a good book to own. I can reference things easily and it looks cool on my shelf. But it's not exactly something you just sit down and read. I'd be more likely to buy Dover editions of individual plays if I ever got the urge to read them. Which I kind of want to do for Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, and a few others. Thus far, I've read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, King John and seen Macbeth performed.
The Iliad by Homer. I've read The Odyssey, which was a bit more to my tastes. Adventures on the high sea are more interesting than bloody battles. Also, we were supposed to read this in a week, which was a frightening prospect during my sophomore year of college when I was taking 18 credits. So I didn't quite finish it, though I still intend to one day.
Metamorphoses by Ovid. We read bits of this in my Classical Mythology class, but I'd still like to read all of it at some point. The Greek Gods are fascinating
The Voyage of the Argo by Apollonius of Rhodes. Another book I bought for Classical Mythology. I'm not sure if it was never assigned or if I ignored the assignment, but I have yet to read it. I really just need to go on a Greek myth kick at some point and knock these out. Maybe this year?
The Bible. I made it through Exodus. I'm still determined to read the whole thing at some point
The Koran. I bought this at the same time as the Bible. It's a book I'd like to have read, though actually reading it is proving less interesting.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. I'm not sure if I'll ever actually read this in it's entirety. It's about the Vietnam War and is broken into chapters that basically work as short stories. We read a chapter in a high school English class, but the copy we got there was censored. I forget if it was for language or violence or what, but entire passages were occasionally blacked out and it made me mad. So I bought the book with the chapter so I could read the uncensored version.
Chainfire by Terry Goodkind. This is the ninth of eleven books in Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I loved the series in high school, but I got so angry at the premise of this book that I only made it 100 or so pages in. I doubt I'll ever attempt it again, but there's a chance I will. So it stays with the rest of the collection.
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I bought this shortly after rewatching Muppet Treasure Island a few years ago because I was motivated. I made it about four chapters in before I got distracted. Not long after, I decided to attempt it again and again got distracted about four chapters in. If I could only make it to the ship I'm sure I'd stick with this one to the end.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I just received this book for my birthday six months ago. It is entirely reasonable that I haven't gotten to it yet. It'll probably happen soon.
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft. Boyfriend's mom got me this for Christmas. I'll probably be picking at it for years. But it's also totally reasonable to have not read a book I've only owned for a week. Especially since I haven't been home for that week and this book is a beast. Not as beastly as The Complete Works of Shakespeare, but still difficult to cart across the country
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. This was a Christmas gift ages ago. Maybe a decade ago? Either way, I think I made it halfway through and then got distracted. That happens sometimes.
The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. I received this around the time the movies were coming out. But it was toward the end of my interest in Middle Earth which peaked during my junior year of high school. I don't think I've seen Return of the King since I saw it in theaters. However, that interest has recently been reawakened. I am currently re-reading Fellowship of the Ring and intend to come back to The Silmarillion once I finish Lord of the Rings
The Town That Forgot How the Breathe by Kenneth J Harvey. My friend bought this for me for All Hallow's Read and I've been having a difficult time getting into it. I'll read a few pages, get bored, and move on to something else. Then a week or so later I'll find myself wondering about the characters or plot. So I'll pick it back up and read a bit before getting bored again. I think this points to the book being a poor execution of an interesting idea.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Where Does The Time Go?
Every year it happens. I flip the calendar to December and then I turn around and it's Christmas. It's the busiest month of the year and it leaves me with no time to blog.
So what did I do in December? I traveled a lot. I put up the Christmas tree and bought and wrapped presents. I attended a bunch of holiday parties. I didn't go to the gym at all.
I drove down to LeJeune to see my brother before he shipped out to Afghanistan. I'm really glad I was able to see him before he left, and I can't wait until he gets home. I also sent him some cookies which I'm hoping he receives before they all crumble or go stale.
I went up to Pittsburgh to visit friends and go bridesmaid dress shopping. We played Cards Against Humanity which is related to Apples to Apples but as a black sheep. Two of my friends decided to get it for each other for Christmas but I don't think they ended up doing that. Which is a shame as that would have been funny.
I went to Boston for my company's holiday party and to visit Boyfriend's family and some friends from college. The weekend was busy but lots of fun.
Then we went back to Colorado to spend Christmas with my family and celebrate my mom's birthday before finishing out the year in Pittsburgh.
Now we're home and things are settling down. We don't have any plans this weekend which hasn't happened since October. I'm hoping to have time to go the gym again and keep up with this blog. Here's to a relaxing January.
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