99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer...

No. I threw out this suggestion as a joke toward the end of my run with my roommate, Lucy, today. We're kind of looking for a song we can sing as we run together. Kind of like how in all the classic imagery soldiers have to yell out chants while they march. If we have a song that we can sing while pushing ourselves physically, we'll also be pushing our lung capacity.

Today we ran approximately the same route as we did on Tuesday. Down to Fairhaven, we made a pit stop in Village Books to purchase tickets for April Brews Day. We both wore spandex shorts because, well, if you got it, flaunt it, right? Plus Bellingham is starting to show signs of summery weather. It's a relief after the snow we woke up to on Thursday for it to be nice enough to go running in shorts and a tank top.

I'm really enjoying running with Lucy just because it's a fun time for us to bond and be around each other rather than exist as strangers sharing the same apartment.

My body is still adjusting to this whole running thing. I may be more physically strong than Lucy is currently, but I'm also readjusting to a semi-regular workout schedule when the extent of my time working out during winter quarter was dancing salsa once a week and getting sick and being stressed and on campus all the time (those of you who know me have heard all about this, so I apologize). After the last two runs I've done with Lucy, my energy has tanked in the hour after we finish. Today, once the endorphin high from running wore off, I actually fell asleep for a few hours. I attribute this to an erratic eating schedule that's resulted in me losing a few pounds since moving into an off-campus living space at the beginning of this school year.

Hopefully this is only temporary and the exercise will induce enough appetite in me that I will start consuming large enough quantities of food-mass to keep me up and going after we finish.

For all you Widdershin Readers, I apologize for not posting, I've kind of half-switched to tumblr at acelessthan3.tumblr.com. Find me if you have an account!

Working out with Nathan Day 7?

I lost track of what workout we're on.

Because the rec center was closed Dec 21-26, we ran the last two days, so I guess that would put us at day 7. It really wasn't anything spectacular unless you count the bag full of books and the sketchy trail in the dark.

I liked today's workout.

With the rec still being closed and it being too bleh (and by bleh I mean raining) to really entice either of us to want to run out on the track as I suggested, we stayed in and did some bodyweight resistance exercises.

I wish someone had been there to take pictures. Imagine for a moment though myself thrown over Nathan's shoulders in a fireman's carry with him doing squats. Now imagine me attempting to do the same thing to him, but struggling because I don't really have the practiced balance to feel completely comfortable. That's the kind of stuff we did.

I especially liked the flies and for lack of a better description, horizontal pull-ups we did. There was constant resistance both down and up and there wasn't really a lot of rest even when one of us wasn't doing it because we had to provide resistance. And on top of the actual muscles we were working with each exercise, we were also building grip strength in the fingers and forearms.

Afterwards we dueled in Halo 3. I'm not sure if I should be excited to be getting better at working the magic box, or scared that I'm getting better at working the magic box. But then Nathan's girlfriend Ashley joined us and after a few more rounds we got tired and played Catchphrase which was quite a bit more enjoyable. Conclusion: the roommate's game console needs better party games and at least one more controller. Any suggestions? Xbox360, PS2 and apparently there's a GameCube arriving from Hawaii when Joe returns from his visitations with the family.

Working out with Nathan Day 4: I forgot to blog about Day 3

I apologize for forgetting to blog about yesterday's experience, the excuse that I'm going to give you is that I didn't go home right after working out, but rather made a quick stop to snag a change of clothes, then was off to puppy-sit for my friend Nate who happens to live in the next apartment complex over from Nathan.

Here's photographic evidence.

Her name is Echo, isn't she so cute?

Today I lead us through a pretty simple, piecemeal yoga routine, prefacing our practice with the disclaimer that I am not a trained yoga instructor but merely a light practitioner. I started with some simple breathing exercises, explaining Ujjayi breathing or victorious breath. We saluted the sun, ironically facing away from the window with a beautiful view of the unexpectedly blue Bellingham sky, then moved into some more targeted positions aimed at our legs and chests.

Relaxed and stretched, we worked on some more wrestling, this time starting lower to the ground. Either I'm starting to get it, or Nathan is getting better at explaining how the process and interaction during wrestling works in a way that I can understand. It's still yet to click in my head, but that's the learning curve, a lot like dancing. As a lead in salsa (and I'm sure this applies to other forms of partnered social dance), you have to feel not only the beat, but also your partner and compensate for their weight/height/skill and for the most part it doesn't quite look or feel completely natural until you can balance those things internally and automatically.

Right about now you might be wondering to yourself, but Danny, why all the stretching and taking it easy? I thought this was a workout. First, stretching and keeping the mind and body centered are part of fitness. Second, we were both sore from Day 3.

So yesterday we did weights, which for me at least was the first time I've touched them since probably about May. We were both amused by the guys in the weight room, the ones who clearly visit there often and are able to lift more than twice their weight. Wrapped in glass windows on almost all sides, and mirrors on most of the walls, the weight room on campus is a case study in gym culture.

After a couple sets of a few different things, we went outside and did duck walks. They're kind of hard to explain if you've never done them, kind of a speed lunge walk if that makes sense.

They're the reason my quads and calves have a date with some arnica massage oil I happen to keep handy.

Hello, beautiful.

I may be "in shape" in that I have good cardiovascular health, but I don't do nearly enough speed and strength training for this not to leave me in mild pain until minimum tomorrow afternoon, when once again Nathan and I will be working out.

Working out with Nathan Day 2: Hiking with Trisia

A picture blog seems like the most appropriate venue for today.

We hiked around the trails near Lake Padden.

The start of the trail.

Look! Trees and shit.

Do an epic pose!

This was marked on the trail-maps as being big fallen trees.

So of course Nathan and I climbed on them.

""It's like some kind of rod of power." "What if it belongs to one of the gnomes?"

Working out with Nathan: Day 1

Yesterday was day one of exercise with Nathan over winter break. I was supposed to meet up with him at noon, but since we never specified where we were meeting, I showed up at the rec center on campus early.

So I ran in my black spandex leggings and sleeveless, white t-shirt with a panther printed around the side, going at a "I-can-run-at-this-pace-forever" jog. Made it at least a mile and a half before he showed up, but I wasn't paying attention to distance so much as I was checking out my reflection in the window to make sure my form was good at one end of the track and then checking out the window on the other end to see if Nathan was there yet.

I'm not sure if I quite understand the dynamics of wrestling yet. Conceptually it makes sense: you grab the other person, don't let them grab you (and if they do, don't let that stop you), keep your balance, look for openings, but as far as getting it, it just hasn't clicked yet. The feeling reminds me of my first few weeks salsa dancing, before my body and mind synced what I could do and what I should do and how to think ahead.

Most of our workout was focused on upper body, though I still ended up down on the mat a few times.

From one time I got pinned, a small spot on my shoulder started turning red from a very mild mat burn. You probably can barely see it in this picture. I'm not going to complain about it because I'm sure there will be plenty more.

All in all it was a fun first day. We went back to Nathan's place afterward and shared a cup of tea, then I was off to hang out with my friend Laura.

I'll post about day two when I get home tonight. We're going hiking with Trisia.

Walking, it's good for the heart

So I got in as argument with a sock puppet the other day. Things got kind of intense and Virginia really got up in my face, so I decided to defuse the situation and initiate some deep introspection by going on a walk.

I ended up at Wildwood Park where there's this wonderful trail with all kinds of exercise stations. Needless to say, I couldn't resist.

Sit and reach. Target muscles: Hamstring stretch

Parallel bars. Target muscles: Arms, shoulders, core

Monkey bars. Target muscles: Arms, shoulders, core. Also, monkey bars for the win!

Crunch bench. Target muscles: abdominals

Crunch bench. Alternate view.

Crunch bench. Panorama view.

I ended up being on my feet and moving for about four and a half hours. My calf muscles hated me when I finally got home and off my feet, but I needed it.