Tennis Tired and Happy

I am sitting at my desk, quite elated, and quite exhausted! 

This morning I actually slept till 7:40 a.m.  It was a deep and restful sleep… the wonderful kind that I enjoy when I eat clean… no grains, no dairy other than whey protein powder, no added sugars, and certainly no alcohol.  Great sleep.

And I woke up eager to get my week started.

I had coffee and then changed into my workout gear, got out my dumbbells and exercise mat and after a short warm up, got to work on a great upper body/core workout.  It took about 20 minutes and I tacked on 10 pushups for good luck and then did a full body stretch for 5 minutes.

I made breakfast for both of us and then we changed clothes and gathered our new tennis gear.

Several months ago, I won a Sport Chek gift card from Tara Martin (@tidbits_of_tara) and another from Sport Chek directly… and finallly got around to spending them this past week.  For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Sport Chek is a Canadian retailer and they sell it all.

Tennis has been on our minds for some time now.  We are finally land based and living in an urban neighborhood that has 2 sets of public courts within a nice walk from our apartment.  We played years and years ago, but without any regularity and we both thought it would be a great way to have some fun together… outside, and moving.

So, we lucked into some nice racquets on sale, and I spotted the last tennis gear bag in the store, and we jointly decided on the Slazenger balls.  A CLIF Builder’s bar almost polished off the balance on the card… see that little bit of silver in the middle of the picture?

Yeah, that one.    There is 20 cents left on that card.  I should really have passed it to the next person in line at the store but didn’t think of it till we already outside… Love the Sport Check slogan.

So I packed some water, that CLIF Builder bar, a towel and some fresh socks, and off we went… a 15 minute brisk walk to the farther set of courts from our home.  And when we arrived there were 2 courts being used by a bunch of men who were playing doubles on some kind of rotating basis, and an empty court.  YAY!

We hit balls back and forth for a whole hour!  Thank goodness I was wise enough not to do any leg work in my morning strength routine today.  It was hot and sweaty and I was actually a lot better at running down and returning shots than I thought I would be after such a long absence.  Must be the all the inspiration I got watching the ladies at the U.S. Open these past 2 weeks… getting ready to watch the men’s final shortly, actually.

It was so much fun. I think my lips hurt from smiling for that whole hour.  I ran and ran and jumped and spun and lunged and squatted and reached and wore myself out.  Now I really know why they say 'play' tennis. It is play and it is wonderful!

And when we were done, we towelled off, shared the water and the Builder bar, changed our socks and walked home… a longer route along the Strait so we could enjoy the moist breeze blowing off the water, and at a much slower pace. 

When we got home we both drank a lot more water and I made sure to stretch out my tired legs, too.

Okay, lunch done and I am finally ready to hit the shower… tired and extremely happy and looking forward to going again!

Oh, and more more thing… got these rain boots yesterday at Joe Fresh, marked down to $9.94 – aren’t they cute?

Have you ever played tennis?  What is your favorite way to get some active play and fun?

To-Do or Not To-Do…Lists that is…

I am really enjoying all the work I have been doing during this 30 Day PUSH challenge, that has me thinking about my priorities, setting goals that support and match them, and back in the groove of making to-do lists - daily.

When I was in embroiled in the corporate world of data and finance, I lived out of my day-timer and got right out of that habit when I left that ratrace and moved onto our sailboat many years ago.

Still a list maker at heart, I am whole-heartedly jumping back on the daily to-do list band wagon!

What about you? Are you a list maker? 

Do you have a day-timer?  Smart phone or pen and paper?

Tuesday Tidbits and a Run in the Rain

On Tuesday mornings, for the past several weeks, The Captain and I have been getting up, sipping some coffee, then a small protein smoothie, and heading out for a nice run together.  I am really beginning to love these early morning runs.

Last night I mapped out a new route for us to follow today, but when we woke up this morning, we could hear a light rain falling outside… sure enough, it was gloomy and wet.  We checked the Weather Channel while we drank our coffee.

And then we agreed to go anyway… our weather forecast does look a bit soggy for the next few days so it wouldn’t be a matter of just putting it off till tomorrow.   I made us each a deilcious smoothie with some banana, vanilla protein powder, and cinnamon for incentive.

We both put on a light vest over our running tees, and off we went.  It was drizzling very lightly and as we ran along, it actually almost quit.  The Captain calls these light showers a Scotch Mist.

Instead of running along the Strait, or around the park, I took us through our neighborhood past the Legislature Buildings, and on to the Inner Harbor.  We followed the waterfront path past the marinas for about 1 km before heading back into the centre of the City and completing the 5 km loop.

It was kind of neat to be out and about as the city was just waking up.  And we noticed a few policemen setting up radar traps because today is the first day of the new school year here.

Once home, we enjoyed a leisurely stretch, some water, and some brekkie.

So, dishes are done, laundry is in the washer, and now I am getting ready to work on Day 3 of The 30 Day PUSH Challenge.  And I can see a much heavier rain falling now, outside my window.

Out of the 10 goals that we set yesterday, ONE of them will stand out as the FIRST one we should work on… it won’t likely be the easiest to achieve.  But it WILL be the one that sets off the domino effect for all of the others.

Chalene says, and I agree, that easily-achieved goals are not as satisfying, usually. 

Sometimes an important goal is easy to achieve.  But most of the time, I would say that things that are harder, that take more time and /or effort, or even $$ to achieve, seem to be SWEETER and make us feel better after we attain them.

Do you think you have a PUSH goal?  One that you need to achieve before going after the others?

On the food front… The Captain cut up a kabocha squash for me yesterday. I spritzed it with olive oil and sprinkled cinnamon on the pieces before roasting them in the oven for half an hour.

Then for lunch, I had a few pieces drizzled with a mixture of vanilla protein powder and unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze, a spoonful of Maranatha Almond Butter, and a couple of spoonfuls of Manitoba Hemp Hearts.  So filling and delicious!

What special foods are you enjoying now that Fall is on the way?

Do you like to run in the rain?

Setting Goals for the Next 12 Months

Day 2 of the Push challenge is all about setting goals… we are asked to set 10 goals that mesh with our 3 most important priorities… things we want to have happen or achieve over the next 12 months…and then make sure they are:

• specific and quantifiable
• achievable
• challenging and BIG enough

An interesting exercise certainly because it helps one distinguish between thought bubbles and actual wants.

For example,  I have day dreams about one day looking like Ernestine Shepherd….

But I know this is just a thought and will never be a goal, because I am not willing to do what it takes to attain and maintain that level of fitness.  I don’t want to spend the money, or the time, or limit my food intake like she does.  So, it becomes something I admire, but do not aspire to….only in my fantasies.

On the other hand, last year my goal was to run a half marathon, and I was able to achieve that goal because the training fit my lifestyle, schedule, and level of motivation during that particular time in my life.

I am excited to work on this exercise and see what I can come up with!

My workout today was an upper body/core circuit with dumbbells, and then I did the first routine on my Reebok Kettlebell DVD... love my little 10-lb kettlebell.  Worked up a great appetitie for breakfast!

Do your goals match your priorities?

Realizing and Defining My Priorities

I am so excited to get started on Chalene Johnson’s 30 Day PUSH Challenge as laid out in her book, PUSH.

The book is all about building habits that help you achieve goals…

and the first step, on Day 1, is to realize that we need to set goals that are based on our priorities.

And we need to realize and define our priorities.

I won’t say SET priorities, because I think we all already HAVE them… but Chalene prescribes an exercise that helps you discover and define them.  And then she walks you through another exercise to help you write a mission statement about your most important priority.

It reminds me of a meeting I had with a former employer, when I was the I.T. department in the local branch of a very large life insurance company.  I developed a mission statement regarding the service I would provide to his staff and sales agents, and then described the measures we would use to determine if my mission was being accomplished.  Then I created action steps/goals to achieve those measures. 

It offers a frame of reference.  And guidelines for making decisions. It gives you direction and helps you stay focused. Very common in business, I am sure.

But how interesting and clever to apply it to our personal lives as well.  It seems so obvious.

For me, my intrinsic values with regard to my marriage and my most personal boundaries need no clarification.  They make me who I am.

intrinsic - Definition [in-trin-sik, -zik]

(a.) Belonging to a thing by its very nature

Source: Dictionary.com

But my FITNESS priorities, and my FOOD/DIET/NUTRITION priorities certainly do need some attention and this is what made me pick up this book in the first place.

So I am off to do some thinking and face my truths about what is really important to me with regard to these issues.  I am going to query myself and find out what I really want and am willing to do, or perhaps more important... not do.

In the meantime, I am planning to carry on with my current workout schedule and food plan until I come up with something better or different!

Do you know what your fitness and nutrition priorities are?  Do your goals and actions support them?