weekly workout recap: aug 24 – 30

What a week! Beavers, Bathtubs, Bald Yogis and Buckets of Ice.

Sun Aug 24:

Over the past few weeks I’ve been keeping an eye on a beaver who has taken up residence in the marsh area along my lakefront walk/jog path. This little bastard has been the bane of my existence. What could be more Canadian than a beaver? I was dying to share a picture of my beaver with you.

It’s as if he knows how badly I want to photograph him. He toys with me. On the days when I don’t have my phone, he’s out frolicking. On the days when I have my phone with me, he’s either nowhere to be found, or only makes an appearance in the fading daylight, so I can barely make out his image. Well that streak of bad luck finally ended today! I caught the little bugger as he was working on his dam. Busy beaver.

Power Walk: 4.3 miles / 7 kms

FitBit Stats: 14,922 steps

Mon Aug 25:

Yoga: Namaste Yoga: Hanuman Series #220: Taming our Egos. This practice looked at the role ego plays in our yoga practice. One of my favourite quotes from Melissa’s opening talk on contextualizing the practice was one she referenced from Judith Lasater, who said, “Yoga is not about touching your toes, it is about what you learn on the way down.” In other words, “Yoga is a practice, not a performance.”

Fitness Blender’s Tank Top Arms workout. I raved about this one in last week’s workout wrap-up report. Loved it just as much the second time around. Highly recommend!

FitBit Stats: 9,665 steps <– Dang it! If I knew I was this close I would have jogged around my kitchen a few times! 🙂

Tues Aug 26:

Yoga: Namaste Yoga: Hanuman Series #221: Hanuman the Humble Servant. This practice focused on pride. The parable Melissa used to demonstrate this helped to put in perspective just how small and insignificant we are in the greater scheme of things, a lesson that hit home for me.

Power Walk: 3.9 miles / 6.3 km

Home Reno Fun! Today I got to rip out the ceramic tile from the walls surrounding the bathtub. Because the tub sits in a bay window nook, and the tiles were laid immediately under and around the windows, I couldn’t go all Hulk Smash on this little demolition. Highly UNgratifying, this one. 😦

FitBit Stats: 11,867 steps

Wed Aug 27:

More Home Reno Fun! Well, while it wasn’t in the original plan, I wound up biting the bullet and removing all the ceramic tile from the bathtub enclosure (i.e. that box that the Jacuzzi tub sits inside). As we all know from last week’s update, my builder screwed me over by not finishing my floor tile all the way to the wall, so my original design plan had to be massively rethought. I’m not 100% satisfied with the revised plan, but I think it will still end up looking pretty impressive to a prospective buyer. Fingers crossed. At the end of this demolition day, my bathtub area looked like this.

Elliptical: 45 minutes

FitBit Stats: 10,918 steps

Thurs Aug 28:

Yoga: Namaste Yoga: Hanuman Series #222: Bringing Karma Yoga to Life. This was the final practice in the Hanuman Series. Woot Woot! I made it! The focus of this practice was an inspection of the meaning of Karma. Simply stated Karma means any deed or action. When we speak about the law of Karma, it refers to the fact that every action has an effect. Most of us think of Karma as the negative that comes back to us from negative actions, but the opposite if also true: put good out there and good will come back to you.

Fitness Blender’s 100 Rep Lunge Challenge. Same one I did last week. Still love it for its cardio + lower body strength values.

Fitness Blender’s 100 Rep Squat Challenge. Ditto on this one. Fantastic rapid-fire squat workout that makes it a killer cardio workout as well. Do both with no break in between and I guarantee you’ll feel worked out!

FitBit Stats: 10,054 steps

Fri Aug 29:

Run: 5k Jog along the waterfront trail.

Yoga: Steve Ross’ Inhale Yoga. Thanks to my buddy, Lisa at NW Frame of Mind for her personal recommendation of Inhale Yoga. Steve Ross is an absolute hoot, and the upbeat music (reggae, Motown, etc.) made me want to try this out right away, but I was determined to finish the Hanuman Series first. I finally got to try this for the first time today. And… it nearly killed me. Holy shit! I think that crazy bald yogi uses such fun and upbeat music to keep your mind off the fact that he is TRYING TO KILL YOU with his ninja moves.

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge! (This had to have burned some calories through the accelerated heart rate/shock to my system, right?? 🙂

FitBit Stats: 14,855 steps

Sat Aug 30:

This day brought with it a massive migraine. I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I called it the mother of all migraines. I tried drugs. I tried some gentle yoga. I tried throwing up. In the end I just had to spend much of the afternoon in bed, covers over my head to block out all light.

Yoga: Namaste Yoga Benefits of Yoga Series #191. This session kicks off a lengthy “Benefits of Yoga” series, with this first practice focused on exploring the benefits of Hatha Yoga. Melissa explained that Hatha comes from Ha, meaning sun, the masculine; and Tha, meaning moon, the feminine. The practice took us through a series of poses and counterposes (sun/moon) and would have been wonderful and enjoyable if not for my migraine. It was an excellent stage-setter for the future benefits of yoga series sessions.

FitBit Stats: 6,601 steps

Hope everyone had a great week! Any exciting stuff you’d like to share with me? Please use the comment box below!

Keep moving…

xoxo nancy