A moment in time.

Yesterday was a lovely fall morning here in PA. I went to Stephanies level 2 class after getting everyone off to school, which felt great as my back and shoulders were sore after body combat. All of the classes at the studio are 75 minutes, and are just so different from the fast paced vinyasa flow classes at ACAC. There is a distinct (and long) centering and warm up, you may only do a few (if any) vinyasas, poses are held longer, balance poses are done more, and its just very much an all around different sort of practice. Challenging in its own way, but very different. I came right home and got in a quick and hilly (for the post hip era) 4 miles then had to pick up Jake.

Last night my left shoulder was in pain again, that same pain that I had dealt with right before my last training weekend. That same pain that came right when I was doing a ton of yoga. I stretched and foam rolled it last night for a good 45 minutes, but the pain and the location has me wondering if it is from chaturanga. Which makes me wonder, am I doing chaturanga wrong???

Anyway. Today I wanted to get a good cardio workout in and I am hurrying to finish my book club book as I'm behind and book club is Thursday night. The obvious solution? Stairs. I did interval work for 60 minutes, at the highest intensity I could comfortably handle for that duration (that ranges between levels 14 and 16 depending on what types of intervals I'm doing), then cooled down on the ARC trainer for 15 minutes. Almost finished my book and got a fantastic workout on. I usually combine abs with cardio, and my new love is this sucker. I use the 10 lb ball and do overhead throws (like a line in in soccer), throwing it at the wall and catching it, repeating in sets of 20, changing which leg is in front each 10 throws. From there I do oblique work with it, throwing it sideways at the wall as hard as I can, twisting, catching, and repeating. Again, sets of 20 repeating on each side. I think that the oblique work in particular is so good for my golf game, I mean, it IS torque, which IS golf. I like cardio and ab day.

Tomorrow I'm torn about what to do. There is a level one class at the studio but the teacher is only a 200 level teacher, so the class won't count towards my 30. That means I'm tempted to go to the gym rather than to the class, even though attending as many level one classes as possible will be beneficial to me. I may go to it then run. I'm getting close to being officially unprepared for this weekend.

I have to laugh because we are getting family portraits taken this afternoon. It reminds me of what my Mom says a lot, that people entertain to keep our houses neat and to prove that we aren't crazy. It sounds weird and she of course says it jokingly but there is truth to it. Hosting a party or a holiday, heck, just inviting people into your home, forces you to care about how your home looks. It reminds you to get it together. Getting a family portrait is much the same. Figuring out what to put everyone in (want the outfits to go together but not look too matchy!, realizing that Luke has no shoes that fit other than sneakers and cleats (need to buy shoes!), realizing that his hair is shaggy (barber shop!), getting Jake a good nap so he isn't cranky come dinner time, having dinner in the crock pot so we can come right home to it, actually IRONING.......its like been a full 2 days worth of work just for a photo which will take but a few minutes. Funny, right? Just trying to make everyone look normal for a few minutes is a lot of work :) Normal is hard!