PushUp Challenge Check-In

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We had a crew sign up for the 100 pushup challenge discussed in last week's post here. Just wanted to check in and see what sort of progress everyone is making?

The pulled muscle in my back on Thursday set me back a bit. I'm restarting the challenge today at Week 3. I will say this... when I did the pushup series last week, it was more of a challenge then I thought it would be. I can do 20 pushups fairly easily so I didn't think doing sets of 20, 15, 18, 15, 20 etc. with a one minute rest in between sets would be all that bad. That last set of 20 though? Shaky arms, for sure. 

Not to scare anyone, but I asked my uber-fit trainer if he'd ever done 100 pushups. He said yes, then shook his head at the memory. "My triceps were screaming at me by the end," he said, and I swear I saw him give a small shudder. 

Scary... but hope everyone is still with the program. Let us know!

He Makes Me Laugh

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So yesterday I'm on the floor, doing some gentle twists and turns to help my back. I crouch into child's pose, which is a yoga pose where you sit back on your heels, arms stretched out in front of you on the floor so it appears that you're bowing. Blair came in the room.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Stretching out my lower back."

"Oh." 

I sensed he was still in the room but not saying anything. I raised my eyes and looked at him standing in front of me. As soon as I did so, he nodded at me and smiled benevolently. 

"You may rise." 

Smart ass. But he does make me laugh. 

Whatever the Lesson Is, I Don't Want to Learn It

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It's been a rough couple of days here in DenaLand. On Thursday, during the last 10 minutes of what had been an enjoyable yoga class, something snapped in my lower back. We were sitting on the floor in a simple head to knee pose when I felt the give. 

The pain was so severe and immediate I gave an involuntary yelp. 

"Uh-oh," said my instructor, reading the pain in my face. 

I managed to hobble down the stairs and back home where I immediately began a treatment of ice and ibuprofen.

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Finding Balance

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Struggling a bit with balance this week, especially with my volunteer commitments. It's a busy time for the Animal Protection Society of Rockingham County. We're looking at what would be involved in launching a formal adoption program, brainstorming fundraising ideas for the coming year, transporting animals to safe shelters and spay/neuter clinics, drawing up our financial plan for the new fiscal year, staying on top of current events with letters to county commissioners, looking at candidates for our board, establishing donation locations for pet food drop-offs around the county and the list goes on.

I've already devoted over 10 hours this week to APSRC work and I'm still not done.

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