Update time

I just checked on my New Year's Resolutions page, and my time management system has fallen out of favor. I haven't done long blogging in a very long time, and the post-it notes have been largely unused since I filmed Garrod's Spring Classic last May (and used up all my evenings working on that.)

After checking with Jon, I've decided to make tonight blogging night. Yay!

--Beth

[PS. If you don't see any more posts from me tonight, it's likely because they're going to be about my kids and you haven't requested to be on the kids filter. It's opt-in so let me know if you want in on it.]

I can do 3-turns!

One of my New Year's Resolutions was:
5.) Get a little more vigorous exercise into my life. (Currently vigorous exercise is down to about 1x/month with 20 minutes of walking/strolling about 3x/week. "Enough" vigorous exercise would be 30 minutes 4x/week, but that's not going to happen until after Amber starts school I think. 1x/week every week would be enough for me to consider this goal satisfied.)

In July I started taking ice skating lessons, and it's meeting or exceeding that goal. Most recently I've been learning to do 3-turns, and I can now do 3-turns forwards and backwards on both feet outside-edge to inside-edge. (I haven't yet learned inside-to-outside.) I'm very proud of myself. I'm also getting closer to doing good forward and backward crossovers.

It's like pulling teeth to get good instruction from the lessons themselves. The instructors are good skaters, but they're horrible teachers. I've learned more from the ice-skating book robszewczyk loaned me years ago than from the instructors. They are able to demo things and occasionally give me a useful pointer. "Bend your knees but don't stick your butt out so far" is a useful pointer. "Don't lose control of your skate as you turn" is not.

My class does get me free admission to all public skating sessions, and T/Th/Fr/Sa nights it's open until 9:30 or 10pm, so I go after the kids are in bed. After warming up I spend the first bit (if any) practicing the slow balance moves, and the last 10 minutes skating swiftly as though I were jogging a mile. It's a great aerobic workout, and the rink is only 7 minutes from my house so it doesn't feel like a waste to go work out even if it's only for 10 minutes.

I feel so good after working out!! I knew I needed to regularly. Why haven't I done this before??!!?? Oh yeah, kids and stuff. Mostly kids, and then the rest of the time was spent with stuff. Finally though with Amber in school enough of the stuff is done to enable the things that help stabilize and energize me for more stuff. Yay!

--Beth