here’s me looking like a bit of a flailing deer yesterday :P to be honest though, even though it doesnt look too pretty or graceful, i was really proud of this jump :) i didnt think i would be able to do it at first (especially seeing the drop on the other side!) but it just…happened! and kept happening :D
Luke’s a good teacher ;) this is only my third time out but i’m feeling more confident every time we have a session. It was kinda cool to see myself in action - though i think next time i’ll wear a different shirt because the one i wore kept riding up :P grrrr.
will post more about yesterday’s session later :)

gorgeous awesome day outside and going out with Luke in a few hours to make the most of the daylight :D
maybe some pictures and possibly videos coming your way this evening :)

Hands looking rough after some more parkour with Luke :)

he jumped the gun a little today, calling me saying nobody showed up to the scheduled thursday session and i should come down again :P to my horror as i rounded the corner i saw a few other guys jumping around. I am intensely intimidated by these people xD i’m not sure exactly why, i think it’s just because it’s a big group of guys who are all gathered to get/be strong and agile and do amazing impressive things…..and here i come, this clumsy, not-very-strong noob girl tagging along with my talented boyfriend :P i considered just continuing to cycle by…but of course i couldnt do that xD

it ended up being okay though. i was really jittery and hyperaware of all the other people at first, but luke took me to a less see-able spot and got going, after which i quickly (mostly) forgot about the other people and happily attempted all that he set me :)
today we re-visited kicking up walls again (which i’m still not great at but oh well :P) and then he had me doing arm jumps. Basically, you sorta jump at a wall and hang off it rather than getting on top of it. The goal here i’m assuming is eventually i should be strong enough to pull myself all the way up on top of the wall- but i’m quite far off that xD better work on my pull ups. They were quite fun, kinda weird because it just happens instinctively and you dont really know if you’re just gonna smash into the wall or not until youre hanging off it happily…that’s how i felt anyway!

i just jumped from the ground onto the wall at first, and then we moved to a window-sill and jumping to a high-ish wall (by lacey standards :P it was a good foot or more taller than me when i was on the ground) i made it pretty easily, so we moved to another window will that was further away from the wall. i really genuinely enjoyed this jump the most :D it was just far enough that i actually had to push a little bit for it, yet close enough that i could make it fairly comfortably. I did it a few times and eeeee it was cool :)
he had me try a climbup after and lol complete failure. to be fair my arms started aching reallllly quickly once we started arm jumps so by the time he showed me that i kinda knew my arms probably wouldnt have it in them. When i get a little stronger (e.g.not in agony for 3 days after a session :P) i’ll have to give it a try first thing and see where i’m at.
we tried a further jump from the ground but i couldnt quiiiite commit to it/jump far enough. another day maybe :P

we moved on to another spot after this and he got me working on my jumps. i find it quite awkward to jump off two feet but it started getting easier while we were here. in fact they were feeling really good for a while! :) it’s becoming clear that i have quite a large mental barrier that stops me from reaching my full potential for some of these things. i guess the only way to improve that is to practice :P
we did some other jump drills on the stairs and had a mini attempt at a cat pass which went ok. speaking of stairs and cats, Luke told me about the conditioning they do ‘cat crawling’ (on all fours basically) up and down this massive staircase at the spot we were in. i was like ehhh i’ll give going down a shot. owch. :P i was happy i made it to the bottom without stopping!

we wrapped things up with a short jog around the area, going up  and down the massive staircase as well. bear in mind my legs were erring towards jelly from all the jumping so this was particularly painful but not too bad in the end :P massive stretch off after, cycled home and i proceeded to consume a bowl of paste …i mean….oatmeal. basically i put in two scoops of protein powder in a desperate attempt to limit my muscular suffering and there was so much that it just kinda glooped up and got pasty. not super pleasant, but edible. And i figured it was worth any taste discomfort if it lessened my muscle pain xD

overall it was a really fun session! i find myself really looking forward to these excursions with Luke :) i like learning the new stuff he has to teach me and it feels good when i get stuff right. And when i get it wrong it’s not so bad either, cause it’s funny and still good for my muscles :P  guess the lesson i took from today (lol) is that i’m stronger and more capable than i give myself credit for sometimes. Luke says i’m catching on fairly quick and he’s impressed, which makes me happy :D just cause i look up to him in all his strength and agileness so when he says stuff like that it’s extra good :P i want to make him proud!!

it’s time for sleep. sorry fo rthe long rambling post! i just really like this stuff :D so much more fun than my usual workouts!

sleep tight :)

peace

Me before rollerblading this morning :) going for a run now. And then riding after and that’ll be me sorted for the day ::D 20 days till my birthday and I wanna be the best I’ve ever been to kick off being 21 :)

rollerblading on this beautiful morning! :D

yay! basketball was really fun and it’s crazy warm outside :D (in comparison to how it has been , anyway!) i came back and rather than coming straight back to my room i hit the gym for a short stint on the elliptical and a long stretch.  extra credit woop

tomorrow’s morning adventure: cycle down to platt fields and do some roller blading :D finally!!
and then i’ll have riding later that morning andddd then who knows maybe i’ll go for a run or hit the gym :)

do need to plan a rest day though :L my legs are struggling to take on this sudden exercise load. they be burnin out quickly these past couple days. i’m thinking i’ll probably do something Friday morning but take the rest of the day off +saturday. Think i’ll be biking into town on saturday and walking around so that’ll be good anyway :) planning on getting some new (NOT BLACK,NOT TIGHT) sweatpants and maybe a new sports bra :D all of m y bottoms are black and only one pair are proper sweatpants. the rest are leggings and yoga pants :P and yeah i dig the whole tight bottoms loose top workout gear but with weather warming i’m wanting to work the loose bottoms + vest top look :D

that’s my little ramble for today. Time to have my mid morning snack (high carb day woop woop) and make my lunch for another long day at the lab :P have a nice day everyone!

peace

shootin some hoops with Luke tomorrow morning :)

then i think i’ll either go for a run after labs or i’ll do that 15 minute HIIT workout i tried out last week :)

i’m  on such a rolllllllllllllllllllllll :D gonna keep pushing! i just really hope i can sort this lymph node out cause it’s killing my breathing which is kinda important for exercise. sigh. give me moarrr antibioticsssss

goodnight everyone! :)

solid but chilled out session at the gym tonight :) just a half an hour on the elliptical because my muscles still need a litttttle more time to recover, especially left calf!
had a good long stretch afterwards :) i dont know what’s come over me but suddenly i’m thoroughly looking forward to workouts and getting more fit and eating healthy! going on a morning run with Luke tomorrow at 8:30, hopefully the earliness of it wont kill my motivation/resolve xD
i think my muscles will be in pretty decent shape tomorrow so maybe i can stick in some pushups and handstands in the evening :)

also gonna aim for a high protein/low carb day tomorrow, a la chris powell. tofu salad for lunch + fruitski for snack + maybe i can try to make some sort of chickpea burrito deal for dinner but use a spring green leaf as the ‘tortilla’… i know chickpeas are blatant carbs but i let it slide because i’m vegan and plants are carbs so oh well :P

gettin more blood taken tomorrow. yeeeep. have a good night everyone :)

peace

So i did something a bit different today, in an attempt to reboot my motivation for working out. Originally i had plans for an easy run. Luke went off to parkour and in the midst of eating my soup he rang me and said nobody showed up, and proceeded to invite me down for a bit of fun :) i happily obliged!

off i went, biking into town (getting slightly lost but i was then retrieved :P) and we got straight to work! The majority of the session was spent learning/practicing how to kick up onto walls quickly and efficiently. if you look at that awkward picture of me, i started off at a wall that was shoulder height (without that top bit) and then, feeling confident when i finally started nailing the technique, the higher wall pictured. That one was definitely a challenge!!!! i did manage it a couple times, once quite well and the other times a bit meh and struggling. i think it will be nice to go back there in the future and see if i cant get myself up properly more than once! 

i’m going to note that at this point DOMS was already setting in on my arms. they were turning into trembling jelly XD but we pushed onwards, taking a small break from climbing to go over a lazy vault which was then incorporated into a short run . shoulder height wall, vault down off the wall, run up to big wall. it took a few tries but i managed it in the end!
we did a little bit of jumping which i kinda sucked at but oh well :P after which we got back to practicing the climbing technique until my arms could take no more. ended with a few situps and a little rail walking and then stretched :)

there are a few things i really loved about all of this. Firstly, it didnt feel like a workout- it just felt like learning something new and fun and hanging out with my lovely boyfriend who is a great teacher :) Secondly, despite not feeling like a workout, i can already tell that i am going to be in sweet agony from head to toe tomorrow morning. Lastly it made me feel good and strong and agile and coordinated, even though i messed up countless times :) i have so much admiration for what Luke and many others can do, so even managing little bits like i did today made me feel really good about myself and  put gas in the motivational fire to get stronger and fitter so that one day i might be better ^_^

Luke seemed to enjoy himself as well, so judging by the successfulness of this evening we will hopefully attempt to fit it in from time to time in the coming months :) it definitely is going to be good for my body because it’s very different to the workouts i’ve been doing. But i think it will also be good for my confidence and motivation in general :) it’s especially nice to have Luke there and getting to share a bit of what he’s so passionate about. 

the other picture is me with this cat that hangs out around my flat some evenings. i always let him come sit on my lap and we bond.

hopefully you guys will hear from me again soon with more happy things :D for now, i’m gonna head off to sleep!

peace 

tofu/spinach wrap! the tofu was cubed and lightly sauteed with garlic and onion, splashed with soy sauce, with dashes of paprika and curry powder, and finally made into more of a sauce-covered shindig by adding a little canned coconut milk leftover from making creme eggs. mmmmmm
only drawback is it’s a white tortilla, i will have to work on finding some brown ones. not easy to come by in the local shops for some reason!

anddd then my workout summary from the gym :) i ellipticalled for about 30 minutes on the interval program. woop