178 days to go

A Sunday morning planned workout with Erika turned into a impromptu morning hike with Shannon! Erika had been called into work, and I jumped on the opportunity to catch up with Shannon for a post-Xmas christmas exchange coffee! Shannon told me to keep my workout clothes on and we'd head for a hike.

I said YES (before I gave myself a chance to make excuses and say no.) I let Shannon do all the picking of intensities cause left to my own devices, would have probably opt for a short walk around the block :) (hey, at least I know myself!)

We went to Runyon Canyon... and so did all of Los Angeles. But who could blame them?! It is a gorgeous day! Clear as anything! I could see the Pacific Ocean clearly! Culver City, Downtown. It truly is the perfect Sunday.

Shannon and I greeted all the pups that came our war... and there were a TON. And since I was wearing the wrong type of pants for hiking, ended up stripping down to my sports bra (ahhhh! - a first) and thick sweaty sweat pants!

For your optical own safety, I did NOT include a front shot of my stomach. But instead have provided a drawing...

I was thrilled ... when the hike was over, naturally, but very pleased to have gotten some exercise in.

Hike up Fryman Canyon

My buddy Andrea invited me on a hike on Saturday. It ended up being perfect cause Erika has other plans, so my normal Saturday workout was postponed.

We went to Fryman Canyon which... is the first place pretty much that I ever hiked in California. I went with my friend Shannon, YEARS ago. And is a really great relaxing not TOO hard, not TOO easy hike. Likes of greenery. Lots of puppies on leashes. And at the end, you travel down a road which I am told houses both Teri Hatcher and George Clooney (the only man I would leave my husband for).

While Andrea and I were at a nice incline, our hearts pumping... something happened that made our heart pump 1000x hider... we came upon a RATTLESNAKE!

He/she was tinyish. And only partially on the well traveled dirt path. I could see its rattle sitting in the grass. This was only the second time that I've seen a snake in the wild while on a hike. It was a first for Andrea. I grabbed on to her to stop her from moving, but only freaked her out more as she jumped in the direction of the slithery guy!

We jumped to the other side of the path, alerting the pair of friends who were just a couple feet away from us with their dog of our findings. We scurried away, certainly taking notice of our elevated heart rate. But I really enjoyed spending some much needed Girly Talk time with Andrea, AND breaking a sweat. Especially since it was a GORGEOUS day in Los Angeles.

"I forgot to bring my rope"

So, I'm back in the swing of things knowing that at any moment life will throw me a curve ball and mess up my schedules and routines, but that's life.

I've been working 1 on 1 with Erika as our group has sadly disintegrated. I hate change. Tammy felt that Erika was not violent enough and started taking up krav maga where she boasts "I learned how to break a dude's thumb last night."

Kazeem has opted to spend his freer time with his kids... lame. :)

And then there was me. Which is FINE, except Erika has nothing else to look at but MY struggling face in pain which leaves me feeling VERY self-conscious. I'm working on learning how to not care :)

Never trust a girl who starts off a session with "I forgot to bring my rope". She improvised and used her jacket... which could have used a stretch, and got one.

She wrapped the sweatshirt around my waist and told me to run as fast as I could... while she held me back with her own straight and friction from the rug! It was really to witness. Thankfully... no one was there to witness.

Day 50

Holy Radio Silence Batman!

I'm not exactly sure when the universe open its mouth and swallowed me up, but I think it was sometime around Saturday after my 1 on 1 with Erika. It was a butt/hamstring/abs day. I worked hard, and its really hard for me NOT to complain during a working cause, well, I hate to work out. I did some convoluted sprinting/jogging/walking routine for the cardio portion, but worked with bars and balls and cones OH MY! Seriously, I think I did about 968 1/2 lunges.

When I staggered through the door at home, I took off my socks, shoes and pants and passed out on the couch for a nap...

a 2 hour nap!

All of the energy I ever found after that was to watch HGTV all afternoon, but it was probably because I had like, zero protein all day after. Crazy, I know. I need to be more conscientious. In the past when i'd "work out" I'd do some cardio and when it hurt, stop. The same went for the weights. But that's not an option with Erika and I'm really truly working out. So I need to make sure I'm fueling up! (note to self, Doritos are not proper "fuel")

My obsessive brain picked up a new toy yesterday...

Its called a Gorillapod.

Its not meant to replace a more traditional tripod, just act as a different type of tripod. I'm going to the beach for a week with just my thoughts, a book and my camera, so I'm hoping to get a lot of play time and inspiration in with my camera. Got to practice practice practice shooting so after I climb 8 miles, I'm don't waste my time taking crap photos!

Here is a search link for many ways in which people used their Gorillapod.

Gorillapod Demos

Day 44

Is everyone sitting? Ok, here we go... I couldn't WAIT to workout last night! I know, crazy, right! ME! (an investigation will begin today as to the whereabouts of the REAL Petunia)

I don't know, I guess maybe because the last time I worked out was LAST Tuesday (have been a bit of a bum) and that plan to take the stairs more and increasing the set each week... hasn't quite happened just yet. But I still think its a great plan. Just need to put it more in motion.

Last night kicked my butt! Instead of running up the steps of the parking garage, no, we jogged up the parking garage! It was pretty intense, but I was happy to say that I made it all the way to the roof without stopping once! Then after a 3-4 minute water break, we jogged down the shorter side of the garage.

I think the most exciting part of yesterday for me, was that Tamara brought a long a really cool looking hula hoop! It was colorful, detachable and made me feel like a kid again. Click on the HULA link for a better idea.

And the best part is, I was able to actually, HULA! For the first time EVER in my life I kept that thing around my waist. And it was more than fat keeping it up, but the centrifugal force of my hips! WOO HOO!!!!

This hula hoop has cool grooves and the pieces are colorful and detach for easy transport. But I would love to walk onto a subway holding this... I bet I would get loads of stares and attention. Tamara said that she'd keep it at work. I think it would be fun to have a couple goes on my lunch break :) Tamara is a pro though. Watching her... you could only imagine her moves on the dance floor. She reminded me of a mixture of Shakira and Beyonce in the music video "Baby Boy."

So, in the meantime, I'll practice practice practice!

Day 32

WOW! What a work out. Last night, I had the pleasure of working out with Kazeem which made me be on my best behavior! Nothing like making horrible painful grunting ugly face pains in front of a boy co-worker!

Erika explained how we were gonna be "warming up" today, which was the stairs to the parking garage here at the lot... 5 flights of stairs...

#1 Walk up all the stairs and back down.

#2 Walk up every other step and back down.

#3 Run up every step and back down.

#4 Run up every other step and back down.

#5 Run up every step and back down.

#6 Walk up every other step and back down.

#7 Walk up all the stairs and back down.

I tried to draw a picture, but, it was really terrible! I really thought Erika had lost her mind thinking that I was gonna be able to do this, but I really surprised myself! I, not to give myself too much credit, rocked that exercise!

And we did tons of arm exercises last night too, definitely my weakness, and that's when I really tried to keep my facial expressions at may when the burning in your arms makes ya wanna collapse!

Next... abs... I still get disappointed at how strong my stomach used to be (alas, never skinny enough to rock a bikini) but I had the strength. I year post ab surgery, I'm still trying reclaim said strength.

Erika THOUGHT that she made up the following routine, but Kazeem said he did them before... it was a funny moment. She calls it "climbing the rope." Notice my amazing drawing. And we did 25 of them!