Dance Cardio

I’m feeling a little down and extremely stressed out today — while my normal activity to calm down is a walk, I haven’t been going on them due to the smoke outside. On Saturday I walked Beckett around the block, and immediately got a headache. Every morning when I walk Beckett, I turn the corner, and the sunrise is red.

I’ve been staying inside because of these fires, (as are so many of my friends!) I am so sad for the entire state of California, but this time has allowed me to discover something again… dance cardio.

I feel ridiculous sometimes – sometimes my feet and legs get tangled, but overall it’s been fun! I used to do a dance cardio class in high school, but I haven’t done any dance cardio since then!

Tonight I already have plans to learn this dance.

It looks fun, and is a little sexy, and I feel like it’s going to lift my mood.

This one also looks really fun 🙂 The first song is Crazy in Love by Beyonce!

Of course, dance cardio is Tracy Anderson approved too. 4 out of the last 5 days I have been able to get up in the morning before work, and work out by doing Tracy Anderson’s Mat Workout! I even have some one month progress photos I am debating on sharing 🙂

I really like how I’m accomplishing something before work, but now I just need to go to bed earlier! I have been so tired, because I’m getting up at 5:30, but still staying up past 10.

I have a goal to submit the first of my Tree Permits to the City of LA, so I need to go – sometimes I procrastinate when I’m stressed out, and this is one of those times!

Are any of you getting the smoke from the fires?

What cardio have you been doing?

Highs & Lows

That’s what life is about right? Highs & Lows?

I did dance cardio last night and was able to keep up – high!

I worked out for the second morning in a row before work – high!

I asked for and got a raise – high!

I had my car broken into, and had to pay for a new window – low, but my coworker was able to get me a great deal – over $100 less than the best price I found – high!

This morning I found an un-repairable nail in my tire – low. My coworker also knew a tire guy, and it was fixed in 1/2 hour and was $40 less than where I would have gone after work.

I honestly don’t know what happened to my tire… it looks like two nails, the rest of the tire looked way better, it was this patch that was just gone.

I have a lot of good friends, a lot of opportunities, and changes that are coming soon. I have a lot of support from so many places, but as we all know, life is hard sometimes. I feel like I’m on the edge of a breakthrough. That if I work hard enough, a few more pieces will be put together, and I’ll be able to level up.

But it’s like what they say… no grit no pearl.

PS I totally love and want that print… but really, $89 Pottery Barn?!

Tracy Anderson Method

One workout I’ve done over the years, and have come back to is the Tracy Anderson Method.

I was first introduced to her because of Gwyneth Paltrow, and when she got super in shape for Iron Man. At that time I didn’t know who Iron Man or Pepper Potts were, but her body was long, and lean and strong, and that’s what I wanted. I also heard other people swearing by her method, which had me intrigued.

(source)

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So I did Tracy Anderson for awhile, starting with her Mat method, saw results and then stopped.

I haven’t picked it back up until the last couple of weeks. I tried BBG, and a few other methods, but with still working out at home, I have been liking Tracy Anderson the best.

I have an event coming up in exactly a month, so I am going to do Tracy Anderson’s Mat Method every single day until then. Day 1 – I got up at 5:30 in the morning to workout before work. I hope this becomes a new habit! She also promotes Dancing as her preferred form of Cardio, which I will also be doing while the air is smoky from the fires.

I think one of my favorite things about Tracy, is that she wants you to look the best you can be, and she’s honest – no one but Gwyneth Paltrow will look like Gwyneth Paltrow. She wants us to look like the best versions of ourselves.

PS if you want to try an workout, check the one out below, this was shared on Goop earlier this year. Also, here’s a different video with Busbee Style’s thoughts and results!

Fires

California is on Fire — right now at my work, ash is raining down on our cars, and the air smells burnt. The sun is red every morning when we wake up… when we can see it at all. I feel like as Californians — we’re used to this, but it doesn’t make it feel less devastating each time.

I haven’t gone outside and run because the air quality is pretty bad, and my lungs and eyes are irritated, but I plan on taking a walk on the beach sometime this week – my theory is that the air quality is the best there.

This past weekend, I had left my camelbak in the front seat of my car, and someone busted the window, and grabbed it. Luckily there was nothing major in there, but I had to get it fixed yesterday. Also – luckily my coworker knew someone, and got it fixed for $100 less than the best price I had found.

This morning, to celebrate Tuesday, I decided to wear animal print and get some tea… only to realize it’s Wednesday… I did this last week where I lost a day too. This week it’s more understandable though!

PS – a belated shout out to my SIL for her birthday! Thank you so much for all the dinners at your house, for lots of wine, laughter, and more!

What’s your go to Starbucks order? Mine is a toss up between a Treni iced green tea, with no sweetener and light water… or an iced Americano with heavy cream and cinnamon sprinkled on top… if I want to treat myself sometimes I add raw sugar to the Americano.

6 AM

This weekend my running club and I had a memorial run at 6 AM for our Friend Joey. We all wore orange, and enjoyed a hilly run with a great view.

And while Joey will be missed, we enjoyed toasting in his honor, telling stories, and remembering him. He was my only NY Jets fan friend, and I will miss talking about them with him.

4 miles run, walked, and jogged… and beautiful start to the day.

Job Walks

Sometimes when I do a job walk, I see nothing, but on Monday when I went out for a job walk, I found Street Art! Street Art is one of my favorite things. I’ve gone scouting for it, I have pulled over suddenly to take photos, I have made detours on purpose to find it . It’s also a great way to find new places to go, new artists you never would have heard about, and a fun way to get some extra steps in for the day.

In LA, unsurprisingly, there are a lot of Kobe Bryant and Nipsy Hussle murals. I have seen them in Culver City, Downtown LA, and even in the most surprising places.

I absolutely love this mural and quote. I accidentally got lost trying to find my way to a job site, and ended up quickly pulling over and taking these photos outside of a gym.

My favorite though is the one below. I have seen it also in DTLA, a few years ago when I was a permit runner and getting my start in Construction 🙂

In case you ever forget… You truly ARE a goddess living in a city of angels.

Friday Night

Friday Night consisted of dividing up the Girls and Boys, and playing Poker. The men played 7 different games, with so many different rules… and the girls played to learn, and for fun.

This little handout SAVED us, but I still couldn’t read it right. The last hand I played I was excited to have a straight… turns out I had a flush!

Before that, I came from work, and was finishing copying over my Project Management notes… one of my goals is to get my PMP Certificate by the end of the year, and it’s crunch time. Now that I’ve finished copying over my notes into my PMP only notebook, I will be watching the videos, and completing 35 hours of education. I am currently at a little over 4. It takes me a long time, because I pause the slides, write everything down, and then I listen.

With so many goals, and so much going on sometime it seems like I can’t do everything I want to in one day… which is true. I can have it all, just not at the same time. I am trying to work on how I will fit everything in… currently, not sitting down when I get home is helping a lot : )

How do you stay productive with all your goals?

What are some major goals you have coming up?

23 Miles

This weekend, I hiked 23 miles. Of these 23, I maybe ran 1, but most of it was hiking, and eventually very slow hiking towards the end. We started off at 8 something in the morning… I had to haul ice, and drinks down for a drink stop before starting trail., and I got fairly muddy

Finally we were able to start trail. I had two friends with me the entire way – Chasen and Lisa, and we couldn’t have done it without each other!

We had 5 trails to get through, and every time we moved to the next one, we were so psyched!

We basically went Irvine –> almost to Laguna Beach, and back. By the time we were closest to the water, I was too tired to take any photos.

Finally we started making our way back to Irvine.

I was so happy when we finally hit Trail 5! The last Trail! Only a 10k left, and 6 miles was NOTHING compared to the 17 we already accomplished. I had a friend who started trail earlier say that she was NOT smiling by Trail 5 haha.

This trail… was a lot more hills than we expected. I was so slow, my hips hurt A LOT, and they had never hurt before, but I didn’t stop, I just kept going.

Finally we hit the top, and it was all downhill from there… but in the best possible way 🙂

At one point, after coming down off the last ridge, I looked back and saw the moon rise. I was happy that even though I was pretty much out of water (the White Claw I had didn’t count!) it was cool enough, I didn’t need it anymore.

We saw the the sunset, and heard some coyotes… we got in and Chasen and I had .05 miles to get to 23 so he jogged a quick lap, and I walked it, and we hit 23 miles exactly!

I am SO proud of myself, last year we did the same type of long trail, and it really encouraged me in my abilities, and was the reason I knew I could run a 1/2 marathon. My calves are so sore, but it was so worth it.

Like Lisa said… only 3.2 more miles until a Marathon… but I think I will wait a little bit before I tackle one 🙂

What did you accomplish this weekend?

Lululemon Virtual SeaWheeze 10k

When I signed up for the race a month ago, I thought I was going to train, and PR my 10k. A few days after I signed up, I was running in dirt down a hill, fell, rolled my ankle and heard it pop… it’s still recovering, it’s still swollen. (I fall A LOT, but this time I was NOT the only person to fall that night!)

So, Plan B was to just get my 10k done. So I walked it Sunday morning, the last day, and saw quite a few sights along the way.

I really do miss running, but right now, not running is allowing me to work on strength training, and I have started up Tracy Anderson again. I LOVE her Mat Workout, and already feel like the standing abs work is changing my abs! Can’t wait to get stronger, have a stronger core so I fall less, and get back to running.

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.