Gettin it On!

No not what your thinking, getting my gym on, getting my exercise on, getting my mind on. Had a great fulfilling day today. Lots of work done, half decent nutrition and finally hit some targets on my weekly exercise plan.

The headlights of my car seem to be very faded so while I drove in this morning I had to get home before dark. But I needed to do work and also have dinner at dads. So to solve this I jumped on the bike to drive me home. Thankfully the weather held out for me on both to and from trips.

Made it back to the gym after a month or so exile. Was absolutely pumped to bust my gut and really smash myself but luckily my head came into gear and prevented that. Don't get me wrong I had a hard session of treadmill sets split by push-ups and sit-ups. I then had another 10 mins of light running and cycling before a good stretch.

Everything finally seems like it is slowly reforming, falling back into space, clearing the future. I think that my "Exercise Train" is forcing that by slowly gaining momentum. This has improved my energy, stress levels and thinking patterns as well as my overall motivation. If anyone gets into a state of mind thats depressed, down, negative or clouded, the cure is very simple. Exercise! Alpha and Out!

(pic from: http://mike.pastor2pastor.org.au/files/2010/08/10a-Running-Coach.jpg)

The Full Circle

Just finished another topsy turvy week. Started off on a rampaging high-Hitting all my goals, gunning through work, maintaining the Uni study I had planned. Then it waned a touch mid week-mainly due to lack of sleep and other pressures-got a lot done but was physically buggered. And then it dropped right out to the point where went home early on Friday and just slept. Now I am right on a gentle high, not raging but just up there. Another week, another full circle of emotions.

Having experienced this same pattern many a time before I believe I still have made process this week. Before, I would hit bottom around Thursday, last week it was Friday and even then it wasn't bottom-bottom. This week I just need to slow down and stretch my "high" across the week. I need my pendulum swinging from 8 to 4 not 11 to 2. Spread it out, Alpha and Out!

(pic=http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/early_childhood/shapes/circle.gif)

Notch It Up

Another day, another notch in my Back to Basics belt. Again despite missing the morning dog walk I was not drawn down into the darkness but merely shrugged it off, did my stretching and moved on. I then jumped on the bike and rode to work, uni and back and then back home. While riding today was not part of my schedule it was done out of financial necessity. And boy do I feel it. 2 days, almost 60kms and two sore legs. I arrived home with extremely sore hamstrings on both legs. This is kind of strange as cycling should be predominantly more stressful on the quads rather than hamstrings. None the less, today's cycle was alright, probably on par with yesterdays ride. I didn't feel much improvement but thats to be expected after only one day and probably the first time in more than a year that I have strung back to back cycling sessions.

I finally feel like I am pulling my self free from the Doom and Gloom and finally see the light on the horizon. Uni is lining up well, exercise is again lining up, even work to a lesser extent is lining up. Just gotta keep the positivity going and not have a crash back down again. But all good at the moment, Boo Yah, Alpha and Out!

Building It!

Action packed day today where I finally had a decent crack at getting everything done. Despite a morning sleep in I made the call to stay home and catch up with Uni work. Cycled into Uni. It was around the middle of the day so was quite hot despite being only spring (need to remember to chuck on some sunscreen soon). Struggled a bit on the bike but definitely felt an improvement from last week. Hopefully I will be able to build this over the next couple of months. A lecture, multi-choice, practical and fixing my essay result later and I was on the bike again. Strong ride home, not gunning it but felt quite good.

Got home late due to my discussions involved in fixing my essay result so had to wolf down some sausages, silver beet and mashed potato. Was going to ride my bike again to Oztag but really felt like driving after the big day and luckily there was some petrol in the tank. Team had a win at Oztag. I played alright, didn't miss too many tags and made sure I rotated through the bench to ensure I didn't twang my hamstring again. Now prepping for some study and stretching to finish a near perfect day. Alpha and Out!

Off With His Hair

Another so-so week comes to a close but with a slight difference. Now I am taking control. Now I am empowered. Now I see the funny side. Now I always smiling. (sorry little of track with the Dark Knight quote) But still I really am just about on the verge of always smiling. I have made the conscious decision to take control. To stop being a victim, to stop feeling sorry for myself. For me it usually comes to a head when I finally shave my hair off. It is a sign I am taking control and getting prepared for some serious work.

I have scheduled my exercise sessions for the next two weeks. I am taking it slow to get back to it. A gentle re association to exercising. That means lots of dog walks, push ups, sit ups and cycling to work. This gentle approach will hopefully ease me into a pattern without pushing myself too hard. I intend to create a new schedule every two weeks as I successfully ramp it up to some full on endurance training and then bring back in weight baring exercise. Man I feel great with two hands on my life now. Alpha and Out!

Lets get ReStarted

I am still trying to pull myself out of limbo from the past month or more. With financial constraints restricting my use of the gym I am attempting to follow a "Back to Basics" routine.

I will aim to hit the following targets-

• Ride to work as many days as possible
• I will aim to do 150 push ups and 150 sit ups per night
• I will start to walk my dog at night in between study

With my grandparents going on holidays for a week I also have another dog to walk, which I will attempt to walk her in the morning. BY following these small but achievable goals I am slowly working my way back into good patterns and ever closer to my Alpha destination.

Pro...Cras...Tin...Ation

Thats right, with the re-commencement of University subject and an upcoming Essay due I again seem to meet up with my old friend....Procrastination. After having a late dinner at Dad's I travelled home fully intent on getting a draft up. I had had a really productive day until then too which was disappointing. I got home, made a cup of tea and head downstairs to my room. In the car ride home I was really pumped up about getting it done. I had some thoughts floating around my head of some of the bad things that I have copped, usually unfairly. But instead of dragging me done, I was in a fiery mood to prove them wrong.

"All it was, was a series of tests..."

" Imagine the look on their face when you see them again as the Alpha..."

"You have the potential to prove them wrong.."

These were some of the thoughts that were flowing through my head. But alas as soon as I got out of the car all that energy slipped out onto the side walk. I ended up saying.."I'll get up at 2am to do it..it'll be fine" But I woke at 3am and decided to remain in bed and watch TV. Was awake but had no drive. That early wake has now left me at work totally flat, mountains of work to do but nothing driving me.

We all have our Ups and Downs. It is about how we push the limits on the Up's and minimise the fall in the Downs. On a more positive note I managed to jump on my bike and rode to work today. It is the first time since I've been trying to ride to work every day that I have done it twice in a week. I can definitely feel things building again just in a little divot. Tomorrow will be a better day. Alpha and Out!

(image from http://aredbench.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/procrastination-cartoon.jpg)