Day 15 and the week gone by

It's been a busy week, and as with the previous 90-day endeavor, scheduling workouts has proven to be the week's challenge.

I usually like to do the workouts in the mornings. First, it's a great way to start the day (cliched, yes, but true), and second, it sucks trying to force them in at night, when I'm getting tired, hungry, bitchy, and generally not my best self. (Imagine those 'Snickers' commercials, where one of the group turns into diva/rock star/acclaimed-film-director-cum-pain-in-the-ass). Unfortunately, after my visit to see Jenny off to Africa, I apparently ate or drank something (the humus? The tap water in Philadelphia, aka 'Philthydelphia'?) that turned my stomach in knots. No Peace-Corps-esque ceremonies worshiping the porcelain gods, but enough to put my sleep schedule totally out of whack for the rest of the week.

Luckily, that was all that was out of whack. I stuck with the diet like a champ; only once did I have to cave and stop at a store for some carbs with lunch (a croissant; less grams than called for, but probably a lot more butter & salt). Otherwise, I'd already had the foresight to cook & weigh all of my breakfasts & lunches, and managed to nail all of my dinners, as well. Lots of cooked ground bison; organic, free-range chicken breast; steamed veggies (carrots, potatoes, beets, & sun-chokes); whole-grain bread; and mesclun salad with carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, avocado, & cucumber.

Work-outs the rest of the week were good. Yesterday's wide-angle forward bend was not quite as pathetic as last week's, though I did use a pillow, and spent most of the time propping myself up, with my arms behind me. I did manage one small stretching victory--I was able to grab my toes on the elevated groin stretch on Day 9. A first in I-don't-know-how long. Since I'm a few grade-levels behind in the flexibility department, I'm wondering if there is any 'extra' stretching I can do. 5 minutes of forward bend while I read the morning news?

I went to Aikido last Sunday, but haven't been back since. One of my classmates was, uh, somewhat hard-core, and I felt like I pulled something in my shoulder. (I also got to class late, and probably didn't warm-up as much as I could have). Nothing major, thankfully; the soreness went away after a day or two, but I didn't want to take chances and over-do it. I hope to be back for class tomorrow morning.

I pulled a 12-hour day yesterday to try to get a draft of a handbook section done for work, so today was 'catch-up day.' After last night's workout, I literally unplugged my alarm clock, took out the batteries, and let myself sleep as long as I wanted to--which turned out to be about 9 hours.

And I finally got to the challenges today. So, for the record:

1. 12 hits with the ping-pong ball.
2. 'Cold,' morning forward bend: finger-tips 2/3 of the way down my shins. (Ugh.)
3. Standing jump: 8 feet and 8 & 5/8 inches (2.657 m).

Meditation seems very 'hit' or miss; if I'm tired or have something planned post-work-out, then my thoughts tend to drag me along for whatever ride they are on in the moment. Since it's getting cold again, I'll probably split up the work-out & stretching/meditation, taking the latter back inside where it's easier to relax--and avoid frost-bite.

Now to catch up with the rest of the team--hopefully everybody had a solid week!