This month I've vowed to move more. I've decided to jump in to the pool, jump back in to dancing, jump around in the water, and just generally get my movement on. I'm 2/3 of the way through the month and in some ways I have succeeded and it others ways I've fallen short.
To recap, this month I'd decided to:
- Go to Aqua Aerobics a minimum of 3 times a week = Totaling a minimum of 12 classes.
- Swim a minimum of 1 time a week = Totaling a minimum of 4 times.
- Swing dance a minimum of 2 times during the month.
- Go on at least 2 long walks during the month of January.
Though all of these are very realistic goals, I have fallen short in some and made great strides in others. I aimed to participate in a minimum of 3 Aqua Aerobics classes a week. I was successful the first week but the past two weeks it has been hard. I successfully went 3 times the first week. The second and third week, through a series of very late night events, I got on to a much later sleeping pattern. This resulted in an inability for me to wake up in time to drive across the city in time to get to my Aqua Aerobics classes. I'm trying to re-calibrate my sleep pattern, but is proving more difficult than I'd wish.
Aqua Aerobics: Aiming for 3 classes a week. Classes are an hour long.
Week 1 [1/1-1/7] = 3 hours
Week 2 [1/8-1/14] = 1 hour
Week 3 [1/15-1/20] = 1 hour (not a full week)
Monthly total = 5 hours total (I'd aimed for 9)
In regards to swimming, I've also met a few hurdles. I am unable to swim on weekdays because I have to be at work by 11:00am and lap lanes close at 9:00am for Aqua Aerobics. With the pool so far away from my house and my sleeping issues, I haven't been able to get to the pool by 8:00am to be able to claim a spot in the lap lanes. This leaves weekends as my main option for swimming. During the first week I was able to swim on the weekend and I did my old staple of 24 lengths of the pool. This used to be my minimum length swim. Because I hadn't swum in about a year, swimming 24 lengths (each length 24 meters long), was too far of a push for my body to do all at once. The day after the swim I got a massive back spasm and had to rest for the rest of the weekend. The following weekend was non-stop 30th birthday parties for two friends so I was unable to find a time to swim during that weekend. This past weekend I went to Aqua Aerobics and didn't want to over work myself. I thought I might be able to go in on MLK day to do laps, but the pool was only going to be open for a couble hours so I was afraid that there would be too many people vying for the lap lanes.
Swimming: The pool is a half Olympic which means that it is 24 meters long. I'd have to swim 64.4 lengths of the pool to swim a mile or 1609.35 meters. I plan to swim a minimum of once a week.
Week 1 [1/1-1/7] = 24 lengths total
Week 2 [1/8-1/14] = 0 lengths total
Week 3 [1/15-1/20] = 0 lengths total (not a full week)
Monthly total = 24 lengths
In terms of Lindy Hop/ Swing Dance, I was right on target as I'd planned to go out a minimum of twice a month. Because I'm planning to go dancing this coming week, I'm right on track to meet my goals. Dancing was super fun, though since most of my old dance buddies have gotten out of the habit of dancing, there were a lot of unfamiliar dancers out and I felt like I hardly knew anyone!
Lindy Hop: Each song is approximately 3 minutes long.
Week 1 [1/1-1/7] = 0 dances
Week 2 [1/8-1/14] = 13 dances
Week 3 [1/15-1/21] = 0 dances (not a full week)
Monthly total = 13 dances
Walking was the one area where I felt like I made the most progress. Though I'd initially aimed to just go on two long walks in the month of January, I ended up readjusting my goals. After reviewing my upsettingly low step/mile count for the first week of January, I decided instead to go on at least one medium to long walk a week and walk no less than 2 miles a day. Though I do not have a traditional office job, I do spend much of my day on the computer or in meetings. Making this rule required me to make sure that I got out of the building daily even if it was just for a walk around the block with a co-worker. Merely by making these changes and going on at least one 7 mile walk a week, I more than doubled my weekly step/mile count!
Long Walks: I'll be calculating total steps/miles per week.
Week 1 [1/1-1/7] = 9 Miles total
Week 2 [1/8-1/14] = 23.65 Miles total
Week 3 [1/15-1/20] = 22.52 Miles (not a full week)
Monthly total = 55.14 Miles total
Despite the fact that I really feel like I fell short when it came to laps and Aqua Aerobics (and Aqua Zumba), I feel like I really made some progress with getting back to dancing and getting out walking. I'm still 11 days away from the end of January and by then I'm hoping to have a lot more miles walked, a lot more dances danced, and hopefully a few more laps swum! Onward and forward!
No comments:
Post a Comment