A Week in MY Athletic Life (the short version)

So Fabulous has been on me to post and I have been a slacker. In my defense, I did try to post the Grenada pics, but the blog wasn't liking me and wouldn't let me. Then after Fabian fixed it, life got crazy. But here is a quick one for you now.

I really like Fab's week in the athletic life series, and I wish that I could copy it. But his life is a little more athletic than mine at this point. (Even in a week where he didn't have a soccer game!) But I'll give you the Tamara version, which should only cover 1 post instead of 7! :)

So I've been stepping up the workouts for Nationals too. It's wierd, cause you only play 3 matches per day there, but by the end of the week, the 3rd match is getting tough to finish. I haven't had the best season volleyball-wise (a lot of it is mental), so I figured at the least I'll be able to outlast my teammates. Or maybe just keep up, since 90% of them are younger and at least 4 inches taller than me. :)

Anyway, Sunday I was supposed to go to the gym when I got back from Lynchburg, but instead I spent the day cleaning up a flood in my condo. :( Monday was the vball match that Fab detailed. It was a pretty cool match. It's fun to play a team that good, but only when your team is playing well too. It just feels good to be doing everything the way you are supposed to, and then occasionally get a block or a dig that no one thought you could get. And the other team was great, so it was fun to play the long rallys. And that last serve was a straight ace Fab - no one touched it! That was nice because I was nervous when I went back to serve - the spot I was aiming for was a tough one to hit, and I knew it would either be going out, or a really good serve. So it felt good to hit it, especially in such a tight game! And it was CRAZY hot in that gym! I was stressed out when I got there (work and the aforementioned flood) so that was a great stress release!

Tuesday and Wednesday were gym days for me this week. I've been lifting with Jeremy at least twice a week for the past few months. Its funny, because "working out like a guy" has definitely produced some results. I used to do a lot of cardio - 30-45 minutes, a fair amount of abs (10-15), and then maybe 10-15 minutes of lifting. I still do that when I go to the gym by myself, just cause I think it is good to mix it up. But when I work out with J, I do 15 minutes of cardio, then we do 3-4 lifting exercises for 20-25 minutes. Then 10 more minutes of cardio, and 5-10 minutes of abs. I was worried that this would make me big, but I am doing 3 sets of 20, so it actually just makes me stronger. The only thing I have to worry about is pulling a muscle, because it makes me a little tighter...

So, to counteract that, today is yoga day. My job offers several exercise classes a day in the building. It's $45 for 3 months, and you can take as many classes as you like. Its a good deal, and I especially like taking the yoga classes. The instructor is good at giving us a mix of strength and stretching, and since work has been pretty stressful, the meditation aspect has been pretty good for me too. The class always starts and ends with meditation, plus all the movements during the class are tied to your breath, so with all that, it's hard to focus on the annoying co-worker or fast-approaching deadline. :) Definitely a good break during the day for me - plus it's a good opportunity to cross-train! :)

Tomorrow and Saturday - no workout, but I should be back in the gym on Sunday barring any floods. I am headed to Richmond tomorrow to be in the wedding of a college friend. I am in the middle of a 7 week marathon of celebrating other people's life events, with one week for me thrown in the middle. (bachellorette party, birthday, college graduation, wedding, wedding, nationals/my b-day (and Fab's), baby shower) . Then Jeremy and I are probably going to move into his new place the following weekend, then family vaca with my fam...

I'll just keep with the yoga breaths until July... :)