Day 30: DONE!

I rounded off my 30 day workout challenge with a very tough kickboxing session with Geoff this morning. (Tough cos of lack of sleep this week). But Yay!

It feels really great to have reached this milestone...And I do feel fitness becoming a habit. I was ready to run for miles after not working out during the hurricane last week. It has become something my mind and body crave.

Stats - There were 3 days I didn't workout due to the hurricane. That set aside, there were 3 days that I attempted workouts but I wasn't necessarily happy with the quality/time spent. So overall, I think I managed to stay true to the challenge itself. But I'm sending 120$ to Hurricane Sandy relief as promised.

I was thinking about the challenges that I've come across... waking up early, working out with low sleep/energy, squeezing a workout into an already mad day...these problems I can handle. For me the hardest parts have been working out on Saturdays and working out when I'm under stress. I found a cure for Saturdays by engaging in a new type of activity every time. So as my weekly routine is mostly kickboxing and walking, I go for a dance class on Saturday ... or ride a bike .. or something else outdoors. The stress workout is a bigger problem which I'm still dealing with. If I'm under extreme stress, I usually don't think about working out. This is something I'll have to be innovative about - optimism is the answer I believe.

Thanks for following along and all the encouragement. I promise to continue this challenge onwards..

I leave you with this...

"One of the hardest parts of life is deciding whether to walk away or try harder" --Unknown source

Hearts,
Amrita

Day 29: almost there

Quickie: 1 hour of calisthenics! 

Day 28: BAM!

BAM! For Obama being re-elected :)

And BAM! For 1 hour of kickboxing with Geoff.

Home stretch... 2 more days.

Day 27: Waiting on elections

1 hour of calisthenics while watching the election coverage and pretending to work too :)

Day 26: I could have kissed the punching bag

70 minutes of kickboxing and Sandy story exchange with Geoff.

Holy crap - that was an acute withdrawal from kickboxing!! Sleeplessness and painful heel blisters be damned. I felt like I was drinking water after days.

This also makes me realize I need a kickboxing strategy for when I'm in India. The other thing I'm realizing is that this is the home stretch of the 30 day challenge :)

Day 25: Freezing walks

Gym routine starts tomm. I'm in Geoff withdrawal and kickboxing withdrawal.

Today's workout was a 5.5 mile walk in the freezing cold wind. Worth it. Found some new music and died happily :)

Day 24: Amble

Late post - Saturday - Nov 3rd

Gym is closed, park is closed and visitor is in town. Today's best effort was a 3 mile amble.

20$ towards the challenge monies. I think this collection is going to go towards Sandy relief.

Day 23: Run

Late post - Friday - Nov 2nd.

My gym is still closed thanks to the crane. Quick 3 mile run at the GS gym today.

Day 22: SoPo Walk

I really wanted to see how the area of SoPo was doing post hurricane. The blackout had turned it completely into zombie-land. Oh also - SoPo means South of Power :P

Speed walked 6.5 miles today. 4.3 miles from work to home. And then 2.2 miles from UES to home.

Feelin' good :)

Day 21: back to normal

4 mile walk. Thanks to the Shah Menons for company.

Day 18,19,20 - Sandy happened

3 days of no workouts and I'm going slightly stir crazy...
There was plenty running around for BCP, office shutdowns, securing my house, saving Smitha's house and helping my friends who didnt have power. But either way... couldn't really think about workouts the last 3 days.

Setting aside 60$.. all thanks to Sandy.

Day 17: Dancing counts

Day 17 - Oct 27 - Saturday - late post

About 3-4 hours of dancing today thanks to Anuja's bacheloretter (and running around prepping for it!)

Counts :)

Day 16: itchin' on a photograph

Tripping on this song...: http://soundcloud.com/vmusic-com-au/grouplove-tchin-on-a-photograph-the-very-best-remix

60 minutes of kickboxing. No tripping here, thankfully.

Day 15: half way point

2 mile treadmill run followed by the elliptical.

Strange feeling to workout in the evening. Too much adrenaline now :)

Day 14: attempt

Lack of time is my excuse today. Today is Saraswati Pujai...so there were pujas to be done and golu(s) to attend. I woke up at 5 and plotted all day to somehow find an hour to exercise. It just didn't happen.

I did walk 2 miles though. But setting aside 20$ for this incomplete attempt.

Half way point tomm. Let's do this!!

Day 13: it's too early

Today was definitely a rough day to wake up early and trudge to the gym. But did it! An hour of kickboxing later...closing in on the half way point of this challenge :)

Day 12: Punch with care

60 minutes of kickboxing. Running on empty today...still pushed through some shoulder and elbow injuries.

Say it with me... This is fun! :)

Day 11: Got my garbo on

As my darling Puffling would say, 'Get my garbo on'... that's exactly what we did :)

So the workout for Day 11 was a solid 2 hours of dancing. Friday night was also another night of dancing ...latin this time. So no gym or running or walking... but this dancing suffices as a good workout, I'd say. Yes? :)

Day 10: mind is blown

Still reeling from Led Zeppelin's Celebration Day movie! Seriously epic.

60 mins of kickboxing. 10 minutes of painful stretching with Geoff's help.

Day 9: speed walk express

Speed walked 5.5 miles. Ambled another 1.5 miles. Total 7 miles FTW.

The 5.5 mile speed walk was from work till The Bull till Times Square. Took 1.5 hrs.

Day 8: Sore no more

Geoff kicked the soreness out of me. And I punched my anger over Romney away.

50 mins of kickboxing. 10 mins of core training. Planks are getting easier now.

Day 7: so sore

Horribly sore due to the run. But it's a good kind of pain...or so they say.

2.6 mile walk this morning. Another 2 miles planned for this evening.

Day 6: Rockette training

60 minutes of kickboxing and calisthenics. Geoff calls this my rockette training ... hah!

In other happy news - I shed another dress size. Le yay :) This does not bode well for my wallet but my heart is ecstatic.

Day 5: Run ammu run!

First run in about 6 years! 3 miles in 50 minutes. I can do better the next time.

Knee injuries be damned. #letsdothis

Day 4: Migraine madness

Been waiting for this horrible migraine to subside so I can hit the gym today.
Keep you posted.

--evening update--

Managed to do a slow paced 3 mile walk. Will push harder tomm.

But setting aside 20$ for today's almost missed workout.

Day 3: Barely breathing

You know that song by Duncan Sheik... it's stuck in my head today. "I am barely breathing and I can't find the air...". No connection to today's workout :)

60 minutes of pure kickboxing. One of the older visitors of my gym...who's super fit... came up to me today when I took a breather from the '3 punch - kick - shuffle - kick - jump' routine. He said..."That looks painful". It was. Showing the first signs of muscle fatigue today but totally "get over"-able. 

Day 2: Winter is coming

Freezing brisk walk this morning at 6:45. 2.7 miles in 45 minutes.

Another 2 miles planned for this evening. Brr.

Edit at 10:30 pm: Managed another 3.2 miles in the evening. So total 5.9 miles in total today! BooYah! :)

Day 1: kickboxing in the rain

65 minutes of kickboxing and calisthenics. Thank goodness my trainer has a sense of humor. Makes it easier to deal with 6 am icy rains. Also helps that he is a clown and we end up dancing to old pop songs randomly :)