Ultimate Lotus

Had the unexpected good combination of a really nice day and a weekend today, and because some people were on top of this fact, a game had been called for in Southfield.  The weather was ridiculously beautiful for early November in Michigan, mid 60s and sunny.  Due to the advance notice and the great weather, we actually had 19 people come out for what may be the final outdoor game of the year.  It was a really good time, although the team I was on ended up dominating for no real discernible reason.  I had another pretty good day, not quite as sharp as my last few sessions in Dearborn, but pretty solid nonetheless.  Had a couple of nice defensive plays, although most of them I couldn't take a lot of credit for since they were almost thrown to me.  Did have one where I ran down a disc just before it was caught for the score, although I shouldn't have let A. get that far away from me in the first place... she's pretty fast though, and the throw was break mark, so it wasn't quite as bad as it would otherwise have been.  Nothing outstanding catch wise, although only one drop and that one had been thrown behind me.  Almost dropped another, in the end zone no less, but managed to catch it after it bounced off my hands.  Went with the usual running and swimming workouts to warm up, nothing special there.  Spent some time afterward trying to stretch out... my outer hamstrings are still disturbingly tight, and the junction between pelvis and leg is also still sore.  Hopefully my efforts post-play will help with some of the loosening I still need to do.  Anyway, that's all for today.  A satisfying end to the season, if it in fact is the end of the season.  Will try and continue the trend with some DDR tomorrow.  Until next time...

Of course, just as I was thinking that becoming very consistent in my practice is the key to advancement, I then proceed to skip a few days.  They weren't entirely without workouts, as I did play DDR on Wednesday, I just didn't do any yoga to go with it.  Wednesday's DDR was a better than Tuesday's... ankle didn't feel quite as odd, did a bunch of 8's and finished with a 7, as opposed to the other way around.  Still didn't play terribly long, but I'm okay with that.  Still trying to get all of these little injuries to heal, and pushing probably isn't going to help with that.  Tonight was actually pretty similar to Wednesday on the pads... mostly did 8's, did do B4U glorious style (9), and actually passed it, surprisingly.  I wasn't feeling the groove quite as much tonight as the other night, so passing any 9 was a bit surprising, although since this is a long one, I think it's a little easier than most of the others.  A lot of flow, which I'm usually pretty good with, and I was able to hobble my way through the other parts.  Did some light free form afterward to cool off and stretch out.  Legs are getting a little looser, but still not as much as they should be.  For tomorrow, planning on playing ultimate in the afternoon, so I'll get my workout in then, although I don't think that's going to help me heal.  Oh well.  Until then...

Well, with the end of ultimate season, it's time to start up regular DDR again.  Been slowly getting things (including myself) set up to play again, and finally got started tonight.  I took it pretty easy tonight, just doing 7's and ending with an 8.  Didn't play terribly long... my left ankle, while not sore, was feeling a little odd, and I didn't want to push it on the first time out.  I think that it's been healing, but maybe is a bit stiff from only walking and light yoga as exercise in the past week.  After the DDR, did some light free form yoga.  This was actually one of my better yoga free form workouts in a while... I was really mentally connected for a change of pace, so the workout actually expanded past what I was originally going to do, because it just felt right.  Now if only all of my yoga workouts felt like that.  Anyway, that's all for tonight.  Hopefully I'll be making DDR a pretty regular event for the next couple of months, really start to push my conditioning.  Until next time...

As somewhat anticipated, I went with the hip opening workout today.  I actually listened to the introduction section of it again, and noticed an interesting thing Rodney said, specifically to be gentle and yet persistent.  I think I have some problems holding on to that idea in general... my lack of patience starts to show through.  With this thought in mind, I did the workout.  The immediate result, of course, is that a number of the poses, I don't even get remotely close to... but that's okay.  Hopefully if I take it easy, but stick with it, I'll start getting closer within a few months.  That's the thought for now, anyway.  Had to be really cautious today, because I'm still recovering from so many different minor problems.  I think I need to get back to cardio work as well, not only to stay in shape but because my legs don't seem to be releasing some of the tightness in them, and I think I need to have a good warmup in order to do that.  Anyway, that's all for tonight... might do abs again tomorrow, might not.

Went with another light free form workout tonight.  This isn't really what I want to be doing, but until my wrist heals, I don't think I'm going to be able to do much else.  Modifications of regular workouts, of course, but not actually doing full workouts.  Pretty annoying.  Not a whole lot to be said about this one, really... mostly got it in to get the month off on the right foot for a change.  And I also think that it's important to be stretching every day if I want to continue to expand my flexibility.  So we'll see what I can do with that.  Not sure what I'll do tomorrow... maybe I'll try to do the hip opening workout from the advanced yoga disc, or at least a weak approximation of that, since I'm sure I'm not at my peak for that right now.  Until then...

Managed to come through in the clutch one more time.  Went with the balance ball abs workout this evening.  Apparently it's the first time I've done this workout since moving back from Texas, as I had to inflate the ball prior to doing the workout.  Wasn't too bad, really... I think it's different enough from the yoga abs that they don't affect each other too much.  I'll probably be doing a lot more of this workout in the next month or so.  I was able to work around my wrist pain without much trouble, even on the poses rolling over the ball, which was a little surprising.  I was able to compensate by putting more weight into my left arm, and being careful during the rolls.  Anyway, that's all for tonight.  Planning on getting off to a good start next month, which means I should be doing a workout tomorrow.  We'll see if that actually happens or not.  Until next time...

Have now successfully put myself in a position to meet my goal once more.  Went with the YfS:s2 workout today, with some modification.  Mostly did extended leg stretching rather than arm balances.  My legs were strangely tight this morning, particularly the outside of my hamstrings.  Not sure if it's just because it was a morning workout, or if there's something else going on.  Either way, I was a little more cautious than usual, not wanting to strain anything.  Not a bad workout, although I'll be happier when my wrist heals and I can go full into my workouts again.  That's all for now... thinking about doing an abs workout tonight, although that may be ambitious.  Still, it wouldn't be a bad way to go, if a bit aggressive, so we'll see.  Until then...

Apparently I refuse to give up on the dream.  Meant to get to this workout a little earlier, by several hours, but was pretty tired.  However, it appears that I just couldn't rest easily knowing I had a workout still to do, so I woke up and got it in.  Went with a real slow free form tonight... my primary focus for the workout was on actually being connected to what I was doing with mind and breath.  It's something that I really don't pay nearly enough attention to in general, to the detriment of my practice.  It always amazes me how adding that element of focus can really change a workout, making it both easier in ways and yet much more intense.  It can also make it harder, depending on the specifics of the workout.  In this case while the movements were pretty basic and simple, the concentration made them a lot more effective, and added to the difficulty of the workout.  Anyway, that's it for tonight.  If I'm following my plan, I'll get to another workout in the late morning or early afternoon, and then another one in the evening sometime.  We'll see how that goes.  Until then...

Apparently even imminent failure to reach my goal isn't motivating me now.  Couldn't quite make myself do a workout last night, partly due to fatigue, admittedly.  Anyway, in an attempt to still reach the goal, made myself do yoga abs this morning.  It went okay, although it would have been better if I hadn't waited an hour or two before doing it, since I was waiting until after the workout to eat.  Did an l/r invert again today, just because.  I really need to get a rhythm established here, because just winging things really isn't cutting it now.  Admittedly, I'm still trying to recover from some of these annoying injuries, but there's still no excuse for the lack of motivation.  My ankle is definitely improving since I've been trying to take it fairly easy on it since Tuesday night, the wrist doesn't really seem to be getting better.  I keep tweaking it during normal activities, though, which at least partly explains it.  Anyway, that's all for right now.  Thanks to my slacking, I plan on getting another workout in later tonight, probably a light stretch of some type.

As so often happens when I find myself on the verge of not getting something done, I'm managing to motivate myself to do workouts now that I'm in danger of not hitting my monthly goal.  Kept it pretty light tonight, with consideration for both my wrist and my ankle.  Opposite sides, of course, just to keep things balanced.  Had a surprisingly decent workout for all that, though... I was mentally connected for a lot of it, which is fairly hit or miss these days.  Felt pretty good about the stretching, too, although it wasn't really all that much.  Right time, I guess.  The last evening game of the season for ultimate is tomorrow night, provided that it even happens, which certainly isn't a given.  But it's supposed to be nice out, so it might.  I shouldn't really play, given the ankle issue, but I will anyway if there's a game to be played.  Anyway, that's all for tonight.  Will try and make up the workout I'm still behind sometime, I'm currently aiming for Friday.  Until then...