Marching along

March is going so well that I hardly have time to post.  I am spending an hour a day writing; usually 30 minutes in the morning and then 30 or more later in the day.  I have a little over 10,000 words towards a novel, or maybe, I have a short story that needs a lot of editing! Either way, it’s feeling really good.

I wonder what kind of challenge to do for March? I’m looking for suggestions.  Things under consideration: walk an hour a day; try the ‘sugar-free’ diet that is the latest thing (There is some family blogging about going sugar-free for a year, I think); 30 day yoga challenge?

Hmmm.

Success!

Hoorah. Or is it hurrah? Hmm. Anyway, so far so good with my March challenge.  I really like writing first thing in the morning. I’m mostly doing this by writing in a notebook, long hand, as soon as I wake up. But, I’ve also experimented with doing an editing task first thing, by having my computer by my bed.  There are a couple of keys to success here, for me.  First, my writing utensils of choice must be within reach, so that, ideally, I don’t have to get out of bed. Just wake up, prop up some pillows and start writing.  Second, I cannot, must not, turn on the radio. As soon as the outside world starts coming in, it’s game over.

Usually, 30 minutes passes without me even noticing the time going by.

I am going to start waking up earlier to see if I can get a whole 60 minutes in before I feel like it’s time to get up and start getting other things done.

I started on a new novel idea at the end of February and I’ve easily got done 10,000 words already, so I’m pretty jazzed about that. As is often the case, though, i have some interesting characters and fun situations, but it’s not entirely clear what the point is.  All will be revealed, I am told.

Happy March everyone.

Attention Fellow Challengers

Hello out there, fellow challengers.

I’ve admitted to my own failures and bragged about my own success. A number of you have posted comments that you are also doing challenges, but I’m not hearing much in the way of updates.

How’s it going with the happiness journaling, the yoga, the skin care regime and all of that? Let me know. I need to learn from your experiences!

I’ve chosen my March challenge and it will be (drumroll please) to write for one hour a day. I’m very inspired by my creative writing class instructor. He’s an honest-to-goodness working writer who writes novels, reviews books and teaches. He consumes a LOT in the way of story telling including books, tv, movies, youtube feeds, you name it. And, he does a lot of writing. I’m pretty convinced these things go well together, and of course there’s the added bonus of guilt-free screen time!

Anyway, writing it is. I’m starting out with a method a lot of writers swear by, which is a) write long hand, not on a computer and b) write as soon as you wake up in the morning.

I might not get a whole hour in first thing in the morning, but at least 30 minutes is usually feasible, and I could do more by waking up even earlier (see January blog).

Okay March, I’m ready for you.

Yay, it’s almost March

I can’t wait for the end of February. Lessons learned, is the best thing I can say about February.

I failed at this month’s challenge, which was to do a 7 minute fitness workout every day.  Happily, I’m not alone because Cousin Janice failed almost as spectacularly as I did!

I don’t know WHY we failed … that’s a lesson I haven’t learned yet.  But here’s what I can tell you. One failure leads to more. Why look, it’s Sunday and I’m posting in my blog. This is supposed to happen on FRIDAY, but it didn’t. Failing to do this challenge made me feel really bad about myself! I would rationalize — I mean, who cares, it’s only me, and a handful of readers (thank you) who even know. But still, there it was, the voice in my head that says ‘you lazy slob’. Harsh, I know!

So, no pressure, but, I’d like March to be a success. I don’t think I can take two failures in a row.

I’d like to spend an hour a day writing; and another hour a day practicing the piano.  I’d like to get back into taking photos — there are so many beautiful places and beings around me.

Imagine if I spent an hour a day training Milla the Mexican puppy. She’d be a Rhodes Scholar by the end of the month!

I also like Dr. D’s idea of doing a specific yoga pose for 5 minutes a day, but maybe I can save that for summer when I can plan on doing it up on the deck.

Any suggestions?Anyone else joining in for March?

Failure…. apparently it is an option

Ok, I am a terrible person, or at least a lazy one.  I am failing at finding seven minutes (seven minutes, I just have to say that again for emphasis) a day to do a quick workout! This is crazy.  I have done this maybe every third or fourth day, which is a far cry from every day.  So, help me out, people!  What is going to motivate me to do this better.  Cousin Janice is crushing it (as the kids like to say).  And I, am being crushed.

The only thing I can think of is to put my money where my mouth is. Maybe I need to pay $5 for every day, from now till the end of February, that I fail to do a seven minute workout. And then I need to give that money to Janice! (but of course, she’d have to be doing the same.)

What do you think, cuz? Any other ideas?

Seven Minutes in February

Okay, week one of the seven minute fitness challenge. On Monday, I warmed up with an indoor bike spin for 30 minutes and then did the basic seven minute workout (mostly legs) twice. Counting was tricky but I think: 15/25 seal jj; 30/28 of number 3; 12/11 of number 4; 10/6 of squat thrusts. Ugh. confusion of frog jumps; 10/10 squat jumps; 46/37 of number 8. And on Tuesday, my hammies were singing a little song to me!

Tuesday — did the 7 minute ab workout. hahahahaha. Cannot even do one rep of some of these. Looking forward to improvement

Wednesday: I can definitely feel yesterday’s ab effort.  Today: 30 minute spin plus 2 x the 7 minute leg workout.  Did 29/28 jumping jacks; 24/29 skaters; 12/12 lunges (no jumping for this cat); 10/12 squat jumps (with resting); 12/8 frog jumps with resting;  7/7 burpees (with rest); 43/35 mountain climbers with lots of rest; about half of the allotted time for superman and nailed the plank (hahaha.).

Thursday: I’m doing those crazy abs again…. or not.  I’m falling off the wagon already.  How can I possibly be too busy to do a seven minute workout.  Janice! I am two days behind, assuming you are getting it done every day.

I’m going to shape up tomorrow, I really am, and get back at it. I’ll try to get a few in the bank.

As I’ve said before… it’s not a challenge if it’s EASY.

 

One down — 11 to go. It’s not to late to join in.

Well, I can honestly say that today, this very day, getting up at 5:45 finally started to feel normal!  It took the whole month for that to happen. Good to know.

Now that I have this habit, I am not giving it up.  It’s fantastic.  I love how much I can get done in the morning, i.e. working out, getting work done, dealing with emails, which leaves my afternoons and evenings free for fun stuff like meeting friends for coffee, dog walking, creative writing and practicing the piano. (I know, I know… I am such a live wire.)

For February, my cousin Janice has challenged me to do a seven-minute workout, every day. I see that she’s done research and has found there are some for lower body, some for upper body, etc, so my ‘bad knees’ excuse is probably not going to get me out of this.  What I would like to suggest is that on Wednesdays, if (when!) I go to November Project one-hour bootcamp workout, that I don’t also have to do a seven minute workout. This only seems fair. November Project workouts, in my experience, feature more burpees than you can shake a stick (or a middle finger) at.

In January, Janet was doing her skincerity-every-day challenge and Cindi was doing her write-in-journal every day challenge.  How did those go? What’s next for you guys? Anyone else joining in?

Week 3

Ok, it’s NOT getting easier. Of course, this week includes ‘blue monday’, scientifically proven to be the saddest day of the year. Also, extra sad because the Seahawks are out of Superbowl contention, and yes, weirdly, I DO care about that. Anyway, the alarm goes off at 5:45, but then? Well, I definitely get up before 7.  One great thing is that I finally got my bike back on the trainer and have been doing some great spin workouts in the morning.  There are ten more days till the end of the month, so I’m going to sharpen up my game.

And then, it’s on to the seven minute workout challenge for February. Cousin Janice and her team (her daughters) have already started! Yikes.

Cindi’s got her happiness journal and Janet’s going to get up at 6 and meditate. Who else has a February challenge?

Week 2 — and what to do next

Oh my gosh. I am so busy this morning I almost forgot to write this post!  It’s 9:45. I’ve been to yoga, walked and fed the dogs, applied for a job and checked up on another application in progress. WHOOOO-HOOO.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a challenge, right? I thought spending a long weekend with family in Tofino would make getting up at 6 a.m. even harder.  In fact, because they know about my challenge, it was easier with people around because I was directly accountable to them. So, even though we stayed up too late, I did get up — well at least, wake up — at 6 every day.  We went for early morning walks and went to the gym before breakfast!

Overall, things are going well. I’m not perfect, but, my alarm is set for 5:45 and I always wake up then. And, I’m going to bed earlier, which is fantastic.

Since it’s the middle of the month, it’s time to start thinking about next month’s challenge.  My cousin Janice is considering joining me — we enjoyed a lovely ‘7-minute workout’ together in Tofino and we think maybe we should challenge each other to do a minimum of two circuits of that, daily, for the month of February.  I’m not gonna lie … my knees were a little grouchy afterwards, and I wonder if daily is feasible. But I’m willing to try!

Other options: walk at least ten km every day (I do about 6 – 8 k a day now); 30 day yoga challenge (I’ve done it before, but still…).

If you have ideas for what my challenge should be, or yours, for that matter, let me know by commenting on this blog.

Yours in the early morning light,

Susan

January 8

Status report on week 1:
January 1 – set alarm for 5:45 and got up, but it wasn’t easy. COLD in my house. I really wish I had thermostat on a timer. I really wish I had said I’d start on January 2.

January 2 — can it be getting easier already?  Alarm went off at 5:45 and I was already awake, waiting for it! Still too cold in my house in the morning though.  It’s Saturday, so I confess that today’s version of getting up by 6 involved getting up, turning the heat up and getting back into bed to read for half an hour. That still counts, right?  I am off to 8 a.m. yoga this morning.

January 3 — it seems really weird to make yourself get up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday. But, I did it. I used to do it all the time, really. I remember that during Ironman training, I would get to ‘sleep in’ during the week when I was heading for the office by 8:30 and was always up super early on the weekends to get in all of the working out, laundry and grocery shopping that consumed my free time.  My, how times change.

Week one success —  I made it through the week without any backsliding. Yay. The biggest challenge, after getting started, has been being in Tofino with family. What a great place for sleeping in, listening to the roaring surf and waiting for sun rise (at about 8:15 am.). But no, I’m awake (thanks cousin). And I will say this.  The days feel much, much longer. I mean, more than 2 hours longer.  This is fantastic.

My friend Janet has a challenge going but she hasn’t posted here about it yet.  Anyone else getting inspired?