Ultimate Lotus

Stepping it back up a bit.

DDR again tonight, as expected.  Usual warmup and cooldown, went with two sets of pushups in the warmup today.  I'm considerably less sore than I was Thursday, although I'm still trying to make sure I don't push too hard.  Started off with some endless standard, and then flipped to some 9s at the end.  Tried to pass the remaining ones in 8th Mix... managed to pass Trip Machine Survivor, although it didn't record it for some reason.  Got maybe halfway through Stoic, and yet again fell a bit short on Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix).  If I could make it to the chorus on that, I think I have a decent chance of passing, but I keep failing right before I get there.  I think those two are the only remaining 9s on 8th Mix that I haven't passed, and there are a couple of 10s that I haven't even bothered trying, I won't pass those.  Did a few random 9s after that, just trying to get a bit more work in.  That's it for tonight... hopefully my ribcage will finish healing pretty soon, and I can start being more serious with my yoga workouts.  Will figure out tomorrow based on how I feel again.  Until then...

Still holding back.

Went with the yoga abs workout this afternoon.  I was a little concerned about my side, so I didn't want to push too hard with either of the other workouts, and thus came to this.  Even so, I could feel a little bit of strain in the side and in the knee, but it was probably the best choice for abs for today.  Just trying to establish a new routine, really, and also not let injuries keep me from getting my workouts in.  That's it for now... planning on playing some DDR later tonight.  Until then...

Easing off the throttle.

Dialed things back a bit tonight with the YfS:s2 workout.  I had a hard time figuring out what workout I wanted to do... didn't want it to be too easy, and yet didn't want to push too hard, either.  In the end, this seemed like a good compromise.  The workout went well enough... the ribcage isn't as sore as it was yesterday, so that helps.  My elbow doesn't seem to be recovering quite as quickly as I might like, and actually, my right arm is more sore than I would have expected... I wonder if I was subtly shifting my weight yesterday while doing pushups in order to try and protect my ribs.  Minor matter, anyway.  Planning on playing DDR tomorrow night, and hopefully getting an abs workout in during the day, since I've not done one for a few days now.  Until next time...

A bit battered.

Yesterday was definitely a rough day for me.  My knee is still feeling rather off from overextending it, and my ribcage is definitely somewhat sore.  Wasn't too sure what workout I wanted to do, given these factors, and eventually decided that I wanted to play some DDR.  This does make a certain amount of sense... overall, it's less damaging to my current injuries than many of my yoga workouts would be.  Went with the normal before and after, but only one pushup set before... and that was pretty challenging, I must admit.  I started out pretty decently on the pads, got up to around an 1170 combo on endless standard, which I think is a new record for me.  Then jumped to heavy, and finished off 8th Mix as well as I could.  Took me two tries to finish two of the 8s, and four tries to finally beat Vanity Angel... I was having real trouble with that one, despite it only being an 8.  Not really sure why, something about the rhythm and the gallops, I think.  But I did manage, so I've now passed everything that's less than 9, and I think I only have two or three 9s left.  I think I'm going to start trying to double up my workouts on DDR and ultimate days, I would have today but didn't realize I was going to play DDR until later in the day.  That's it for tonight... not sure what I'm going to do for my workout tomorrow, probably depends on how I feel.  Until then...

A bit too aggressive.

Got to ultimate somewhat earlier tonight, so I had plenty of time to warm up. Went through a fairly complete free form yoga routine, jogged around, warmed up my throws. We got off to a good start tonight... actually scored the first point, a welcome change from our 0-3 and 0-4 starts the previous weeks. They scored two after that, but then we got going for real and started controlling the game. Went into half up 8-3, and just cruised from there for the most part. Not even sure what the final was, but we were up by 6 or so. I was a little too enthusiastic about going for one of the discs though... a little miscommunication between the thrower and myself, and I tried to save it from out of bounds, but ended up landing partially on the supporting concrete wall. Just with my arm and hitting my ribcage a bit, I did manage to protect my head. I think I scared my team though... actually, pretty much everyone there. I guess it looked worse than it felt. Cooled off with a little more light stretching, and then the team went out to a bar afterward. The entire team actually went, which is fairly impressive. I wasn't planning on staying all that long, but then we started playing euchre, so ended up staying a little later. Still, got home not long after when I figured I would, so not bad. Knee still felt kind of off at ultimate, so I'm not too optimistic about how well it's going to recover, in the short term of course. We'll see how I'm feeling tomorrow. Until then...

Overextending.

Didn't end up doing the hip opening workout last night. I was just feeling... extra lethargic, I guess. Since I had already somewhat planned on doing two workouts today (although I had been hoping one of them would be an "extra" workout), I decided just to push it off until this afternoon. Not the best... I overextended my left knee during the one legged half lotus forward bend. Not sure if it's going to be serious or not, but... I'm not terribly optimistic. It felt like I had pushed too hard when I did it, and hasn't really felt like it's improved since then, which is probably a bad sign. That's what can happen when I lose focus, especially in this workout. Hopefully it won't be too major, because that would take months to heal, and would be very frustrating. I'll probably have a better idea tomorrow, after it has rested for a while. Anyway, ultimate tonight... I don't think the knee will have any major impact on ultimate, just on yoga, really. Until then...

Continuing down.

As expected, went with the normal routine before and after DDR tonight. 2 sets before, since that's most of the variation these days. Had a reasonable session tonight... warmed up with some endless standard, then continued down the alphabet in 8th Mix. Passed everything M-O, and then passed Paranoia Eternal. I was excited about that... it's the first time that I've ever passed any of the Paranoias on heavy. Admittedly, that one is probably the easiest of them, it's only a 9, but still. My reading has been improving, and my ability to react to what I'm reading is much improved over last year... I think that's the big difference. And also my reactions are more instinctive... although those instincts aren't always correct. Anyway, a decent session. I think I'll probably go with hip opening tomorrow night. Until then...

Variable.

As expected, went with the balance ball abs workout tonight. I've had better... the physical part was okay for the most part, but my focus was really in and out. Not really sure why, just couldn't keep my mind in the right place for long. Oh well. Really, not too much to say about things tonight. I was pretty happy with the end of the workout, managed to bear down for long enough to really work that part. Anyway, that's it for tonight... almost certainly another DDR session tomorrow, and will probably get some more play on heavy in then. Until then...

Standard extended.

Pretty much went with the normal workout surrounding DDR tonight. I've actually gotten into a bit of a routine with the DDR workouts, the big question is usually whether I do one or two sets of pushups to start it off. I was starting a bit later than I had planned today, so I went with just one. DDR itself was fine, ended up playing just an hour of endless standard. I considered jumping to heavy when A. stopped at 40m or so, but decided I wasn't really up for that tonight... probably would have if she stopped earlier, but that's fine. The only problem is that endless standard doesn't really challenge me for the most part, no matter how long I play. My feet get sore eventually, and it's probably decently in the cardio range, but it doesn't make me work. Anyway. That's it for tonight... will probably target an abs workout tomorrow, most likely balance ball.

Abbreviated.

Ended up not playing DDR tonight. I would have, but A. didn't want to play tonight, but said she would tomorrow, so I decided to go ahead and wait. Unfortunately, I then waited too long to actually get to the workout, and was growing extremely fatigued. I thought about doing something simple, but none of those workouts were appealing to me. Finally, I decided to go with part of the full YCfA workout. I would have liked to do the whole thing, but was pretty certain that I was going to be too tired for that. Which ended up being the case... I did the opening section, and through until the part where the mat orientation is changed, and stopped. The workout was pretty good, as far as it went... I liked the stretching I got from it, and really would have enjoyed doing the full workout, but was so incredibly fatigued that it wasn't going to happen. I was having trouble staying awake and focused just for the part that I did do. Oh well. Anyway, having pushed DDR off, will definitely do that tomorrow night. Until then...