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Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Ended up waking up somewhat later than I expected today, so I went with a quick free form workout to warm up for ultimate. Pretty basic, just did my normal free form things, not quite as completely as I sometimes do. Probably skipped a few things, too, although not much. It was a bit of a smaller game, with some new people, but it was still fun. The weather was pretty excellent, which was the main motivation for playing today, anyway, since the weather is supposed to be far less excellent by Tuesday. I’m really starting to look forward to full summer, when the usual forecast is for hot and dry. Only did a little bit of stretching afterwards, but since we didn’t play that long, it didn’t feel like a problem. I still plan to try and get an abs workout in tomorrow at some point, and possibly something else as well, depending on how I feel.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Slacked off again yesterday. I’m having trouble getting back into the routine right now. I’m doing some other stuff, but I used to get the workouts in as well. I just don’t have the dedication right at the moment, but I am working on it. Today, I went for a run. Did a few light stretches before the run, and then some more afterwards. The run was pretty good… just under 07:00 for the first mile, which was pretty surprising since it’s been a few weeks since I ran, and I really didn’t do any cardio for about two of those weeks while my hamstring healed. I took a short break, and then did another mile in 07:46, which was also pretty surprising, since I thought I was fairly slow during it. It almost felt like the times were too good, but that seems fairly unlikely. Anyway, definitely better than I was expecting. Afterwards, started off with the entirety of the running mini-workout, appropriately enough, and then just did a bit of free form to finish the workout off. Not quite as strong of a workout as I’d have liked, but I was definitely feeling some fatigue from the run, so I wanted to keep it fairly simple. I’m planning on playing some ultimate tomorrow, so I should definitely be getting a workout in then. Hopefully one on Monday as well, start getting back into the habit of regular workouts. I’m going to try and do abs on Monday… I think that was the plan back when I started forming a plan at the beginning of the season. Now that I’m healed and the season is starting in earnest, I should figure out the plan and try to stick to it, to make sure I get everything in. That’s all for now, probably some more light stretching on tap for tomorrow.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Went with a free form workout today before ultimate. Incorporated most of the running mini-workout, some stuff from total body, parts of the all sports workout, as well as my standard sequence for free form workouts, consisting of triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge. Ultimate went pretty well… I didn’t really go full out, since I’m still trying to be a little cautious, but I was able to play pretty hard, and didn’t have any problems with the hamstring. I did have some trouble with my calves starting to cramp near the end… I really need to start getting more water while I’m playing. One of my friends suggested having water by the endzone, which I think I might start trying. I did some stretching on the field afterwards, to try and help alleviate soreness. Just a few basic stretches, standing forward bend, backbend lunge, and the opening stretch from running. Oh, and downward dog as well. I should have done a few more stretches on the calves, I think, but didn’t. Something to remember for next time. Anyway, that all went pretty well, so that was good. Supposed to be a little cooler on Thursday, but as long as I stretch adequately I think I’ll be okay. Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow… maybe I’ll try to get in the hip flexibility workout, since it’s been a while since I did that, maybe something else as well. I’ll figure it out as I go along. Until then…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

As I was hoping to do, I played some Stepmania tonight. I took it fairly easy, just sticking to 7 footers, but I didn’t have any problems with the hamstring, so that’s a pretty good sign. After that, I went for a free form yoga workout to keep stretching out the hamstring, trying to get it back to full strength. I incorporated pretty much the entire running mini-workout, but broken up into a bunch of parts as I inserted whatever felt right in between. So it ended up being a mixture or various workouts, with the overall goal of stretching the legs out gently. I could still feel some tightness in the right hamstring that I wasn’t willing to aggressively try and work out of it. I’m still trying to be pretty cautious, especially now that I feel like it has been healing during the time I’ve been taking off. While it’s possible that I might be able to play ultimate on Thursday, I’m pretty sure I’m going to stick with my plan of taking this week off, and provided I don’t do something to aggravate the injury again, I think I should be ready to go for next week, pretty much back to 100%. So that’s the plan for now. As for the workouts… I might take tomorrow off, depending on how the leg feels. Or I might try to get an abs workout in, since that shouldn’t affect the leg much, and it’d be good to get one in. We’ll see what happens.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Through a combination of weird timing and laziness, I managed not to do a workout yesterday. I’m a little annoyed about it, since I was going to do an abs workout, probably pilates. I’ve definitely been slacking off on the pilates abs lately. Anyway, before ultimate today I went with a pretty similar workout to the one I did on Thursday. Trimmed it down a little bit due to time constraints, but only a little. Ultimate was okay… it was a practice, which was good, ‘cause I got to learn some stuff and do some drills. I was also really trying to work on my defense, which was somewhat effective, but it was also a good cardio workout. The bad things were that my skills were pretty off today, overall, and I strained my right hamstring a bit. It doesn’t seem too bad, so I think it should recover pretty quickly. I spent some time stretching it out at the field after we were done, and then did another free form workout when I got home, with an emphasis on stretching the hamstrings. Not sure how effective it was, but it certainly seemed to be helping on the field, at any rate. Not quite sure what my plan is now… I was going to at least play Stepmania tonight, but now I don’t think I’m going to. Definitely better to rest the leg. No idea what I’ll do tomorrow, as it will most likely heavily depend on how the hamstring is feeling. So, I guess I’ll get back to the workout whenever I feel ready. Until then…

Workout: Free Form, Yoga Conditioning for Athletes: Mini-workouts
Author: chaos

Took yesterday off, which I think was a good thing for the body. My legs feel fully recovered today, which they haven’t felt since Saturday or so. Not surprising, considering I kept working them out through that period. I’m considering making Wednesdays a day of rest, and working hard the rest of the week. We’ll see how that goes.
Went with a free form workout before ultimate today. Started off with the intro to Total Body, then after the second downward dog switched into my normal free form series of triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge. Switched into a mixture of the running and all sports mini-workouts after that, getting a little more leg stretching in. Ultimate itself was a bit of a disappointment tonight, since we only had 7 people show. No idea what the problem was tonight, as the weather was clear, if a bit cool. Anyway, got some good running in, as we decided to play some double hot box. That was pretty tiring, but also really good for conditioning, so I wasn’t too disappointed by it. By the time I got home, I was feeling somewhat recovered, so I decided to play some Stepmania for a while. That went surprisingly well… I can definitely tell I’ve improved quite a bit, just in the last couple of weeks. Even though my legs were somewhat tired, I was still able to pass some 9’s that I hadn’t passed before, and fairly easily passed another one that I had barely passed before. After that, I cooled off with the running and all sports mini-workouts. Decided that I didn’t really need to do swimming, since I wasn’t feeling particularly in need of the stretching, and I had already done plenty of cardio for the day. Not sure what I’ll do tomorrow… I think maybe I’ll try and get some abs in. Getting the abs in twice a week might be the way to go. Can’t push myself too hard tomorrow, though, since I agreed to play ultimate Saturday morning. Although abs certainly doesn’t stand in the way of that. Maybe I’ll just run and do yoga, and pass on the Stepmania until Saturday some time. Well, I guess I’ll figure out how I feel tomorrow and work from there.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Another free form workout today in order to get ready for ultimate. I went with a pretty traditional free form workout for this… started off with the very beginning of power yoga in order to stretch my legs a little, then segued into the triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge sequence. From there, did a wide angle standing forward bend, then Ardha Matsyendrasana, and then finished off with some forward bending and reclined leg stretches. I had pretty decent focus today, helped by the fact that I had a lot of time, so I wasn’t worried about having to be somewhere. I managed to find new cleats yesterday, so I’ll be trying them out today at ultimate. I’m a little concerned, because the right one feels a little tight on the outside at the front, but I think they’ll expand once I break them in a little bit. Still, I’m hoping that my feet aren’t in great pain by the end of the game. Don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow, although I’m guessing another stretching workout will probably be in order. Until then…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I failed to get in a workout yesterday, and partly because of that, I ended up waking up really sore today, mostly in the quads. So I decided to start off the day with a light free form workout in order to stretch out my legs. They started off pretty tight… I couldn’t get much further down than a toe touch to start off the workout. After a few rounds, things started loosening up a little. I pretty much ran through the beginning of the total body workout through the first warrior II sequence, and then just did a little bit more leg stretching. I ended up still being fairly sore after the workout, but at least the workout alleviated some of the soreness. I don’t know that I’ll have fully recovered by tomorrow, but at least it should be a relatively light soreness by then. Of course, I’ll be doing a stretching workout before ultimate as well, so I should be pretty much good to go. Not that it really matters, since I’d be going anyway, but I hope not to be too sore, since that would lower the enjoyment a little. Anyway, just kind of rambling at this point. I’ll try to get a nice complete stretching workout in tomorrow, and hopefully do some stretching after ultimate, too.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Going for another game of ultimate today. For the workout, went with almost exactly the same workout as Monday. Substituted wide angle forward bend for reclining twist, and maybe had a few other minor differences, but that was pretty much it. Still feeling fairly sore, but not as much as yesterday. Hopefully playing will get rid of a lot of that, although it’s hard to say how much will be back tomorrow. Planning on heading home tonight, so I’m probably going to try and start picking up the intensity on these workouts. We’ll see how that goes. Anyway, hopefully a workout tomorrow, probably one on Friday, otherwise.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Getting ready to play some indoor ultimate today. I knew it would probably be too much for me to resist playing indoors while in Chicago, so I didn’t fight the urge too hard. I’m just hoping to take it a little bit easier, and not create any new injuries, and hopefully not aggravate any old ones. Went with a basic free form workout today… 6 sun salutations, incorporating triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge. Did jumps in the last two sets, and also did the pushup separator. For final stretching, just did cobbler’s, seated forward, reclining twist, reclined cobbler’s, and relaxation. Hopefully that’ll be enough. If things go well today, I’ll quite likely play Wednesday as well, so if I don’t get a workout in tomorrow, I’ll probably get one in then. So until next time…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I was definitely feeling the motivation a little more today, and was able to get that into my workout a bit. Started off with the first sequence of py:strength, then started into a more traditional free form workout with a simple sun salutation, then integrating triangle and side stretch. Instead of a simple warrior II next, though, I went with the eight-pose sequence from total body. Had a really nice backbend lunge after that, then started sequencing the seated stretches. Started with a little child’s pose, then went into thunderbolt pose. Did Ardha Matsyendrasana next, followed that up with cobbler’s pose and wide angle seated pose, back to cobbler’s and then into boat pose. Finished off with seated forward bend, reclined cobbler’s, and relaxation. The only thing of particular note, I think, was that I was able to grasp my right wrist with my left hand around the bottom of my feet in seated forward bend, which I can’t recall ever quite being able to do before, or at least not having ever done it before. I suppose I should also say that half moon pose went well in the eight-pose sequence. Not sure what my plan is for tomorrow… heading home, definitely, but I don’t know if I’ll try to get the workout in before or after doing that. I should really do it before, since it’s fairly likely I won’t really feel like it afterwards, but it’ll probably depend on how early I actually manage to leave. If it’s early enough, I might just wait. But I’m guessing that won’t be the case, so probably another morning workout tomorrow, and then who knows what’ll happen after that. Oh yeah, I also noted today that my ankle seems to be feeling better, so hopefully I’ll be able to start playing Stepmania in a regular fashion. I should probably take the rest of the year off from ultimate, but I don’t know if that’ll actually happen. Anyway, until tomorrow…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I started off today’s workout with the first part of total body, up through the first downward dog. After that, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do… I was in a somewhat odd mood, and rather tired. I went to triangle next, then did a tree pose, and then pigeon lunge. Then I segued into some seated leg stretching, doing cobbler’s, cobbler’s forward bend, wide angle seated forward bend, reclined cobbler’s, and relaxation pose. I had a hard time getting into the workout today. Hopefully I’ll start to feel somewhat rejuvenated after today. I’ll probably do abs in the next day or two… I originally planned on doing it today, but wasn’t in the mood. I do want to keep up with my abs, though, so probably tomorrow.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I started off today with the YCfA:Running mini-workout sequence, and then moved into some general leg stretches, much like yesterday. I wasn’t really feeling like doing standing poses today, possibly just because I was feeling pretty tired. I was also having a harder time staying focused today, perhaps because of the rather sedentary workout. I’ll probably have a better workout tomorrow, since I won’t have to be up nearly so early. Until then…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I was feeling fairly good for the workout today. I started off by following the total body sequence through the first four downward dogs. After that, I jumped to a more traditional free form workout with triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge. I finished off the workout with cobbler’s, cobbler’s forward bend, wide angle seated forward bend, seated forward bend, reclining twist, reclined cobbler’s, and relaxation pose. I had fairly decent focus today, somewhat surprisingly. I definitely think that yoga, and particularly the more meditative yoga aspects, are helping me to maintain calm and prepare for stress. That’s going to be quite useful in the next couple of days, I think.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

On the road for a few days. Didn’t bring any of my videos with me, so just ran with some free form action for stretching before ultimate. Pretty much a classic workout… A few sun salutations, then integrating triangle, side stretch, warrior II, and backbend lunge, followed by a few seated stretches. Ultimate was fun, although somewhat painful. I scraped up both of my knees, my left thigh, and managed to aggravate both of the current injuries of note. Also brought back an old injury to my left knee, which made running difficult the last part of the game. All of this just reinforces my thought that I need to take the winter off from ultimate, so I can focus on the yoga without dealing with injuries all the time. The plan for tomorrow is yoga abs, so that shouldn’t be a problem… it’s hard to say what will happen on Friday, though. I’m guessing a light workout, at this point, but maybe things will work out.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Because I wanted to try and avoid using my hands for support as much as possible, I decided to go with a free form workout today. That way, I’d be able to control how often I did poses like downward dog, and hopefully avoid any problems with my finger. However, the problem injury turned out not to be the finger, but the left ankle. It’s been strangely bothersome the past couple of days, and today’s workout was no exception. I’ve been having trouble with it since some time in June, on and off, but it’s rarely been a problem for yoga. I did tweak it again on Tuesday, and it did hurt a bit more than it has other times I tweaked it, but it didn’t seem any worse afterwards than it has in the past. So I confess that it’s a bit of a mystery.
Anyway, between the finger and the ankle, kept things pretty light today. Started off with some standing forward bend/bent-leg standing forward bend transitions to try and open up the hamstrings. Did a YfS:s2 style transition from mountain to set up for triangle, which is when I first started noticing the ankle. Then did tree pose, although I had a lot of trouble getting the left foot to stay up, perhaps because I was trying to avoid putting too much pressure on it. Did warrior I and II, then transitioned to a lunge, standing forward bend, mountain, back through the sequence to downward dog. Did some seated stretches, and then called it a workout. Not quite as intense as I would have liked, but still better than nothing, I suppose. I may end up taking a day or two off here if my ankle doesn’t start improving. I hate to do it, since I’ve really started getting into the groove of the workouts, but better to do that than keep proverbially limping through the workouts. So, possibly a day or two off, or maybe I’ll do some more pilates work or something. Until next time…

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I spent some time last night reading through parts of the archives, because I want to start getting in a few more free form workouts, and I wanted to see what types of free form workouts I had been doing in the past. So armed with that knowledge, I went for a free form workout today. Actually, it was a little suboptimal… I ended up way shorter on time than I was originally expecting, and so I ended up rushing through the workout somewhat. Still, it wasn’t too bad… two sun salutations, then modified into the style of py:stamina in order to do triangle and side stretch, then again to do warrior II and backband lunge, went down into Ardha Matsyendrasana, wide angle seated forward bend, reclined leg stretch, and finally reclined cobbler’s pose and relaxation pose. It was fairly satisfactory in terms of stretching, it just would have been nice to have had a little more time for the workout. Ultimate was again good, although it’s getting to be so short. Lack of daylight is very annoying. I couldn’t catch today, though, which is always irritating… I just don’t play as well in cold. The condition of my ankle is starting to deteriorate again, although it’s not as bad as it was before vacation. I think it’ll hold up well enough for the rest of the outdoor season, since that’s only three more weeks, and then it should recover fairly quickly after that, hopefully to return to full strength. Not sure what the weekend plan is yet, although I think there’s a good chance of abs work tomorrow, although I may go for a long workout if I’m inspired.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

I’ve been feeling strangely tired all week, and the last two days were no exception. Yesterday was particularly bad… I felt like I was out of it all day, and after playing some Stepmania for the first time in a long time during the evening, was completely exhausted. So I ended up not doing a yoga workout, but did still get some exercise in. Tonight, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do… I thought about the full YCfA workout, but decided I wasn’t quite up to that. Then I thought about flexibility, but decided I needed to warm up first. So I played some more Stepmania. Unfortunately, I overdid it a bit yesterday, and then again today, making my toes a bit tender. When I went to do the flexibility workout, I decided that between the sweat and the sore toes, it really wasn’t that great of an idea. So after the first couple of sequences, I switched over to do the stretching part of the total body workout. Which was what I mostly wanted to do anyway, get a nice stretch, particularly after Stepmania. I suppose it was really more of a medley workout than a free form workout, but that’s not a category I’m planning on adding, so this will have to do. I think I’ll try to get an abs workout in tomorrow, or perhaps pilates, depending on exactly how I feel.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

After a great deal of avoidance, procrastination, and voluntary distractions, I finally got a workout in. I find this to be quite encouraging, one of the more encouraging signs I’ve seen for a while. I feel like my life has gotten too… disorganized, perhaps, that I’ve just been letting things happen or not happen without any direction or focus. I think one of the areas that this has most clearly shown up in is my yoga practice, which I’ve allowed to become a shadow of its former self. Certainly, I’ve had injuries to deal with, and playing ultimate isn’t terribly conducive to getting a hard workout in on the same day, but these are really just excuses, for the most part. While they’ve unquestionably played a part in the workouts that I’ve been able to do, they haven’t had such a strong effect on my mental state, which is where I’ve really slipped in the past few months. So although it took quite a while, I’m cautiously optimistic that getting to the workout today is the beginning of a new trend of self that I’m trying to engineer.
The workout itself was fairly basic… some standing forward bend, some lunges, triangle and warrior II, a few different forward bends. I made a concerted effort to focus on my form tonight, trying to work on getting more extension and stretching. I think that may work out very well for me, but it’s a little early to be certain. The bonus of focusing on my form is that it also meant I was more focused in general. While far from perfect, I mentally stayed with the workout for a much greater percentage of the time than has been the norm recently. For now, I’m going to head off to get some sleep, and hopefully follow this workout up with either an abs or pilates workout tomorrow.

Workout: Free Form
Author: chaos

Completely failed to do a workout over the weekend. Which is a little funny, because I really felt like doing one at a couple of points, I just couldn’t motivate myself to actually do it. Rather weird, to be honest. Anyway, took way too long to start getting ready for ultimate today, so I just did a quick free form workout to stretch out. Mostly, I did a mix and match of various parts of the normal mini-workouts, plus an addition or two of my own. As it turns out, it didn’t really matter… it was rainy and relatively cool, so no one else showed up. Really, the only reason we showed up was because I had agreed to bring the cones, and though it seemed unlikely that anyone was going to come, I figured it would be bad if people did and no one had cones. Didn’t really matter, just hung around for a bit and then grabbed dinner. Anyway, the weather is supposed to be clear tomorrow, so hopefully it will be and I’ll also get to the workout a little more promptly, not leaving myself open to pulled muscles, or at least less open.