Thursday, September 19, 2013

Knitting Update and a New Workout Tracker

I get my first round of papers today from my Composition students, which means I spent last night relaxing and doing a little knitting.
I finished the first of four golf club covers.

Look vaguely familiar?  That's because they're made to look like the heads of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!  I'll be cutting out little grimacing eyes out of felt to glue on to the heads, but the main body of the first one is done.  Note the large pumpkin white chocolate mocha next to the knit- essential when the weather is foggy, chilly, and (finally!) turning to fall.

I'm also making slow progress on the Cafe Du Monde Cowl.  I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep this cowl, or if it's going to be a Christmas present.  I have a nasty habit of starting a knit for myself, then giving it away when it seems to "fit" someone better (like the Fruit Loop socks).
 I finally found a way to keep track of my training that works for me!  I know a lot of people use different apps, writing it down in a notebook, or just remember what their training is.  I find that if I have a chart that I have to fill out right in front of me, I'm much more apt to plan out my workouts, challenge myself more, and also follow through on my workouts.

On the top column, I have the days of the week.  Down the left hand side, I have six different categories: Running/Cardio, Climbing, Yoga/Stretch/Dance, Strengthening, Opposing Forces, and Campus Board/Hangboard.  I then plan my week out in pencil, giving either hours I should do things (dancing, climbing), miles I should run or bike, or for strengthening, which of my printed workouts (either from Pinterest or my own creation) I should do.  Opposing Forces is a category I need as a climber, which includes push-ups and my tailored workout to help me avoid climber's elbow.  This is really important as I work more overhangs and harder stuff.  I'm also trying to incorporate stretching more in my workouts, either at the end of climbing or doing yoga before bed.
When I complete the workout, I write over it in black fine tip Sharpie.  Sometimes I erase what I was supposed to do and add more of what I did, or (as you can see for Tuesday on my picture), I erase what I was supposed to do and put an "X" if I didn't do that category for that day.
This really helps me keep track of what I've done when, plus it guilts me into filling the categories for the day.  I'm very visual in this aspect, so seeing it forces me to feel like I have to do it.  Yay personal guilt!
Today it's really foggy and muggy out, but I'm supposed to do a run, a bunch of strengthening (pullups and pushups), some stretching, and my opposing forces.  Tomorrow is climbing, biking, more strengthening (frenchies, which I'll explain later), and a campus board workout.  I'll go more in to detail later about what exactly I do for my campus board training and my pull up/pushup/frenchie routine.
For now, I'm off to read papers and lesson plan a little more.
This week for my students- grammar!

I'm hoping my students find it as exciting as I do... yeeeeeah commas and semi-colons... :)

1 comment:

Mark said...

Well, Miss Gumby, I'm glad your list of climbing, running, yoga, & dance is augmented by strengthening, stretching, and especially Opposing Forces workouts. I can hardly touch my toes, but from what I learned watching Wizard of Oz, the Tin Man simply lubricated his joints, so you'd think swimming & beer drinking would do the trick (outside lube & inside lube), wouldn't you? Beer & water have no opposing forces that I know of, so that must be what I need more of.