Continuing in my quest for reasonable fitness by Regionals, I ran a modified Special K workout.

In particular, I ran:

  1 stinker
  4 stinkettes
  3 suicides

I wanted to run more suicides, but, eh, I wimped out. The fields were getting overrun with kids (who all showed up at 5:30, oddly enough. And the MP3 player I was using messed up a little bit, so, eh, I just stopped.

I did have a mental lapse in the middle of the stinkettes. I was about half way through the run, and just stopped. Ick. I didn't count that one in my totals.

Well, I have less than two weeks to get ready for Regionals. Though I'm pretty sure I'm not going to make it, I'm sure as hell going to give it my best shot.

I'm not supposed to play ultimate yet (the risk for a really serious injury instead of merely a serious injury is too great), I played yesterday. Kris said I looked pretty good, but every step was hard. I am out of shape.

So, in an effort to get back into shape quickly, I joined Kris at ASA today for the MVP class. This is the second to last one for me before Regionals.

We were joined today by Scottie and Mitch. Mitch was pretty loud and obnoxious, though somewhat entertaining. Scottie was a little more serious. G tried to instill a strong sense of work ethic in the two of them ("Be the player the coach can turn his back on."), but they weren't really self-motivated. Still they were entertaining. Both play on the Vikings (some local, possibly travelling, baseball team).

Started off with ladders. Because Scottie and Mitch were also doing the ladders, we did two sets of 1/2 ladders (nine squares instead of 2x9 squares) for warm up. We did the usual, nothing new.

Note to Self: I should get up and do ladders hourly. See if that helps my aerobic capacity.

Next, we did the eye of pain (read: shuttle run at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25, forward and backward (i.e. no turning around like in a suicide)). We did 4 sets.

Next, we did did frog hops to one legged balances, to explode into a sprint. G set up cones every 6 feet or so. We started at one end, and did two legged jumps to the next cone, bounding up as soon as we landed. At the last cone (there were about 25 yards of bounding), we landed on one foot, and settled into a one-legged squat. After holding that squat for two seconds, we exploded into a sprint.

We did two sets of these landing on the right foot, two landing on the left foot, then 4 more landing on the foot G called out just before we landed.

Next, we went back inside (those were all in the back parking lot), and did a 5 station lower body workout. The stations were:

• Hop onto a single lift aerobics step, hop onto the other side, that's one. Hop back onto the step, then off the other side. That's two. Do 20 (10 each leg).
• Hop over the step. As soon as you land, jump back over to the other side. I stuggled with this one. The longest streak I had was only 8 jumps.
• Next was jumps off a 1' box, land and spring up to a 2' box. Do 12.
• Next was the shuffle over a 1' box. Essentially, put a foot on the box, the other on the ground. Spring up, and switch which foot is up, and which is on the ground.
• Last was toe touches for 30 seconds (Kris had 45 seconds).

We did this set of five exercises three times. Ugh.

Next was leg presses and squat jumps. We did 2 or three sets of these, I don't recall.

Abs came next. Once again, I wasn't able to complete all of them. In particular, I couldn't do the partner leg throw downs. Too much torsional exertion.

My shins here. My ribs hurt. But I feel good. I'm exercising again! After 4 weeks off, it feels good.

Migraines: 10
Menstruations: 4

Emergency rooms: 0

Number nine yesterday. Number god-damned fucking nine yesterday day. I'm fucking 35 years old. I should be done with these horrible things. I run. I exercise. I eat all the good stuff I'm supposed to eat. I don't smoke. I don't drug up. I don't toke. I have problems consuming bubbly drinks or even caffeinated ones. Why the hell do I have these totally fuck-up-your-life throw-you-down-and-step-on-you stupid mi-fucking-graine headaches. I'm tired of them! TIRED.

My grandfather had them. My father had them. How did I become so lucky as to inherit them from the male side of my family? My grandfather outgrew them. My dad lost the pain of his. Of course, if we go back another generation, the migraines come from my great grandmother, my dad's dad's mother. Argh.

I guess we all have our burden. We all have that one quirk that makes us who we are, that one burden that shapes our lives. I have my migraines. Kris has his Crohn's. Chris has diabetes. Everyone has something. If we don't, we probably make it up.

My friend Robin Saxen (who I've sadly fallen out of touch with) and I were once comparing childhoods. I thought mine was bad, then heard hers. I consider hers much worse and said as much. She replied, "We all have our burdens. Who's to say which burden is heavier than the next? We have them, we carry them. Your load is never more than you can handle."

Yeah, I miss Robin.

I'd like to think I chose this burden. That, before I was born I was given a menu of fantastic features I could have, with the associated burdens that go with them. That I chose all my good qualities, and thought to myself, "These headaches? I can manage them. I can bear them, because I know the gifts I have in compensation."

Because my gifts are many. And my blessings are more.

Migraines: 9
Menstruations: 4

On my journey to mom's house for the weekend (a girlie weekend! Whoo!), I flew out of San Jose to Phoenix on Southwest. Kris hates them, I like the free trips. Go fig.

At any airport, there are little things that happen that, well, shouldn't annoy me, but so often do. On most trips even.

As I was walking to the security line, another passenger was walking in front of me towards the line entrance. Usually, I'll just cut under the rope, as the distance to walk is shorter. This time, however, since there was another passenger in front of me walking to the entrance, I would be jumping in front of him by cutting under the rope. So I walked around. Turns out, the passenger I would have been cutting in front of wasn't going to the security line, but I had no way of knowing that.

So, into the line I started walking. From the entrance to the end of the line is all of maybe 10 yards. When I was about five yards from the end of the line, two people cut under the rope and step in front of me. Great.

Another I can comment, but not condemn sort of situations. Here they are doing something I do all the time, but not being any where near as courteous about it. Grrrrrrr....

Fine.

I can be an adult about this.

So, I wander through the security gates. (And didn't get searched! Holy Jesus how I've been blessed! I didn't get searched! A record of one time for me now!)

Did you know you have to present your boarding pass to exit the security gates now? Yes, that's right. Present your pass to enter the checkpoint. Present your pass to be scanned through the metal detector. And present your pass to leave. I'm so glad we don't live in an occupied militaristic society. How unfortunate that would be that you would have to present your papers to travel.

Off to gate A5 and into the A line. Southwest has this really nice "print your boarding pass from home at midnight" feature, so I had already "checked-in" to my flight. Thank goodness, as I arrived at the airport at 11:00 am for my 11:35 flight!

As I'm waiting at the end of the A line, after talking to various people about which line was the correct one, and discovering several B-group passengers were deliberately standing in the A-group line so that they could move to the front (clever they, one of them called me Canadien), I set my stuff down at the end of the A line.

A few minutes later, a women came up, asked the people in front of me which line was the A line, and plunked her crap down in front of me.

What the?

The back of the line is after all the other passengers, not just the ones you talk to.

As my usual vindictive self, when the A line was moving and crowded funny (because the B-group people in the A line stopped moving forward because they weren't in the A boarding group), I walked around the crowd and cut back in front of the line-cutting woman.

The tragic part, I think, is that she was someone who I would normally approach and start a conversation with. She was about a decade older than me, but seemed easy going and approachable. shrug

My favorite part of the journey? The kid kicking my chair in flight. Let me tell you how joyous the thump, thump, thump of little feet is on the back of an airline seat can be.

Thump, thump, thump