30/5 Challenge: First snag

I'm half-way through my first challenge and still doing pretty well. I encountered a small snag this week however. You see, as a wimpy female, when my exercise routine calls for push-ups, I do them from the knee instead of on your toes. (As an aside, I was hoping that after the first 30 days I might be able to switch to regular toe push-ups once I've built up a little arm strength.) Knee push-ups still involve balance and arm strength and in my opinion, are a good stepping stone for beginners like me.

Anyway, things have been going along fine until this week when I inadvertently injured myself. I won't go into the details now, but basically I wasn't paying close attention to where I was walking and ended up falling onto my knees on concrete. Just like many an adventerous child, I ended up with a scrape on my knee caps and some serious bruises. Most of the time, I don't even remember that there is anything wrong. At least not until I try to get on my knees and do push-ups. Needless to say, the push-ups have had to come out of the exercise routine for a few days now. I got a couple done this morning before I moaned and gave up. I even tried a toe push-up, but my arms aren't quite ready for that yet.

Despite this small hiccup in my planned routine, I am still doing exercises every morning. After fifteen days, I think I just might make it. :)

30/5 Challenge: Day 10

Still going strong after ten days. The exercises are getting a bit easier, but I'm definitely not to the "habit" stage yet. I still have to talk myself into it each morning. Again, I am hoping that through pure determination and repetition, things will eventually become auto-pilot.

30/5 Challenge: Still going

I made it through my first weekend. It was harder than I thought it would be. I even planned ahead and put some "lighter" activities on the schedule for Saturday and Sunday. This did help me quite a bit Saturday morning, but after a fitful night Saturday night, I did not want to do ANYTHING Sunday, much less make my body move in 'healthful' ways. I forced myself through it and what should have taken only 5 minutes drug out for like 15... but I made it.

I hope it gets easier

30/5 Challenge: Day 3

Well, I'm good for the first 3 days.... only 27 more to go. This morning was tough because I'm already sore. It's surprising what a simple 5 minutes of exercise can do to a person like me (i.e. getting older). Okay, so I knew it would be hard at first. I just need to stick it out and see how I feel in the end.

New Exercise Program

Today I started a new 30 day challenge to exercise for at least 5 minutes every day. My plan is to make at least a small portion of that exercise (i.e. like sit-ups and push-ups) habit-forming. This seems somewhat daunting, but I'm trying to just focus on a little bit at a time. Thus arises the 30 day challenge with only 5 minutes a day. If I am successful, then I may go another 30 days with 10 minutes or something. We'll see.

Part of my "motivation" is to keep track of my progress semi-publicly, which is why I'm making this post. I will be updating weekly (or more often) with how things are going. Feel free to ask me about it when you see me, or post a comment, or send an email, whatever. If I don't answer to anyone, it'll be too easy to quit.

So... first update: The five minutes this morning went by a lot more slowly than I anticipated. I did several sit-ups and push-ups and felt feeble. But I did get it done!

The good old days

We went to the local Renaissance Festival last weekend with some friends and I finally got to watch some jousting. I've been many times before, but never had a chance to watch any of the shows or entertainment. We had fun, but I need to complain to someone in charge about their misleading "Sparta 300 battle" -- not a single man in a leather bikini; booo.

Special thanks to Michelle for taking pictures and letting me have some.