Project: Move it! Week One

I finished my first week of my eight week Move It! project and I'm still alive. I did four sessions this week as Monday was Labour Day, a holiday.

The sessions have been really hard. Hard to show up for the first day of class because of all my insecurities and imagined fears. Attending an event you have to have gumption to show up for is one thing; showing up for the second session when you know how hard it is and how bad you are at it is a whole 'nother level.

It was the Boxfit class that was the real eye opener. I don't think I thought about what a person did in Boxfit - boxing, I figured, but not much more thought than that - I didn't think it involved tractor-tyre flipping or massive-rope-rippling or skipping - okay now I think about it skipping makes sense. I made it two-thirds of the way through the first session, though I've never felt time slow down to quite the extent it did during that hour. "What?? We've only been at it 7 minutes??"

I was acutely aware during the warm-up when we had to run around the small space that I held people up with my slowness. So when Alan our instructor described the "stations" (like circuits, but for maniacs) I thought I would be holding people up again so bowed out. While Alan let me, he put me on a stationary bike so I still worked rather than just watched.

The second Boxfit session of the week was similar but different. No tractor tyres (which I was fully ready to attempt this time) and I lasted (very ungracefully) the whole 50 minute session. 

As hard as it was; as lumbering as I felt; as stupid as my short-term memory is; as raspberry red my face became; I enjoyed it, even while I was doing it. And the other experienced participants were gracious with their time and especially repeating sequences I continuously forgot (stupid temporal lobe).

The other session I had this week was with gym machines doing circuits. These sessions, also twice per week for an hour from next week, will be a variety of movement types so a really nice change from the intensity of Boxfit. I am one of 15 people who have committed to the sessions and Emma, our instructor, seems really down to Earth and experienced.

Next week will be another week of four sessions (rather than five) due to Ross from Busy Bodies being away for my usual Tuesday morning weights session. So another short exercise week but probably good considering how new (again) I am to this stuff. Booking the appointments in and meeting my time commitments is working well for me so far. I imagine that the second, third and fourth weeks are gonna be hard as my fitness is so low and my energy levels will be tested but so far? Week One DONE!!

Project: Move it!

I’ve been moving more lately.

When I first started it hurt. Like “use-wheel-chair-access-rather-than-the-stairs-for-three-days” kinda hurt. Now i can do squats without losing the use of my legs. Oh they wobble, but they don’t stop working.

I’m not fit. Not by a very long stretch; but I am fitter.

I can talk while I walk; further, faster, more often. I can take the stairs (to Level 4 so far). If I hadn’t been doing weights there is no way I could’ve scuba-dived in Bali.

One of the things that has worked for me, where it hasn’t worked in the past, is:

1. making exercise an appointment

2. setting an end point

Using my superpower for being too embarrassed to be late to a meeting and knowing it’s only for <insert time here> has made exercising manageable. Since I proved my point over the last six months, I’ve decided to do more.

I’ll be moving it every business day for eight weeks. Starting next week with a combination of HIIT, boxing and weights group classes. That’s 40 classes.

I thought I’d let you know what I was doing as part of being accountable to myself. Yeh I know I said that I’d be too embarrassed to break an appointment but come on: it’s me - I bail on myself all the time!

So stay tuned. You might want to gamble and see who wins which week I drop out.

Sunday update - the fragmented edition

**Important congratulations to Fox on the birth of her beautiful baby**

Daylight savings ended overnight and to celebrate I’ve done almost nothing all day to make the most of the extra hour :)

I started reading Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump last night. I hadn't read any of his stories before. For those of you who might not know, Barry Crump is a celebrated author here in New Zealand; a bushman; a hunter; a good keen man. After three chapters I can tell you, he’s a damned fine writer.

The film adaption of this book has opened in cinemas this week to rave reviews for the cast and director Taika Waititi, so I’ll be able to see that soon and let you know how it turned out.

Projects update

Prep work (carpet removal, floor cleaning, wall sizing/under-sealing) before wallpapering guest bedroom.

Progress is progressing - so that’s good. 

Stain retardant undercoat on sanded hutch base.

My work-days are so full at the moment. While my secondment is going well, I have legacy tasks from my previous job which are more than a small distraction. It’s been a month since I left my responsibilities at my old position and finally I’ve been replaced with someone to “hold the fort” while I’m on the project. 

Phew - I was feeling quite stretched without enough time or energy to dedicate to completing project work because of the left-overs from the old one. While the coming days and weeks will be full-on and I’ll need every working minute, at least my concentration can be focused on the project at hand and not half on another job at the same time.

Associated links:

• Daylight Savings Checklist (Stuff)
• Barry Crump  (Wikipedia)
• Wild Pork and Watercress  (Amazon)
• Hunt for the Wilder People 
• Taika Waititi (Wikipedia) 
• Movie review (NZ Herald)