Something about a dungy basement just makes you feel badass

Well I am home on Long Island for the weekend to do a face painting party. It went surprisingly very well, made over $100 for an hour! It's crazy how much people pay me to paint little faces.

Anyways, while I was home, I did my workout in Steve's Uncles basement which is the most badass lifting gym ever. It's covered in dust, has no windows and there's just weights and equipment everywhere. I didn't go there planning to workout and then just ended up testing my deadlift max. I worked up to 185 lbs. which was I guess a big deal. I felt surprisingly too calm and relaxed for the day and wasn't pumped at all. I attempted 200 lbs and I failed, but that will just have to be my goal now. It was exhausting, I wanted to go to sleep afterwards. I ended up coming home and eating a whole buttload of chocolate cake that my Mom made. (Relax, I ate a very delicious and wholesome meal of sausage and peppers before the cake) Good thing I'm not weightlifting to lose weight!

Actually, now that I am starting to get into jiu jitsu, I am really trying my best to refine my diet and work out harder and more often. I ran this morning and did some body weight exercises just to get my body moving. I want to eat as pure as possible and get as strong as possible. I want to be a lean, mean fighting machine. I'd really love to take a boxing class but I can't find one in the area (and I can't afford it.) My main motivation right now is this girl that's been coming to the jiu jitsu class every Wednesday. We're both starting basically at the same time and she's freakin' better than me. I think I have a little bit more background knowledge but she has the physical drive. Im feeling very competitive lately and really just want to be better than her. Thats all I care about!

I think I'm picking up too many hobbies...

So the title of this entry basically sums up how I am feeling right now. As if my intense "professional semester" at New Paltz wasn't enough work, I joined a club (The Future Teachers of America) and also started a club (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). So now am I not only doing school observations, taking all these classes, doing heavy lifting, climbing, but now I am also trying to get into jiu jitsu. It's really not to fair to say that I've been climbing though because I may climb for a total of half an hour every week haha but I want to start climbing more. Now that jiu jitsu is in the picture, I'm trying to set the goal of getting a blue belt by the time that I graduate. Maybe that is an unrealistic goal for now, considering I really can't even hold my own against any one! But I need to set goals like that to keep me motivated. There is another girl in the class who is about my size and she's progressing faster than me already and it frustrates me. I guess I'm just not a visual learner, I just don't get it when I see something demonstrated. It is just so difficult for me. And it's embarrassing because people seem to get irritated when trying to teach me something physical. And then there's the classic Steve saying that, "I don't try." Which has to be the most annoying thing ever, he says that about everything. I don't know anyone that tries harder at me. I have so much on my plate and I do it all and with a smile! I'll show him!

So I really need to start lifting more frequently and doing jiu jitsu more often. It is hard to keep up with the jiu jitsu because you have to do it with someone else! At least the lifting I can go off and do on my own. Tomorrow after volunteering at Lenape Elementary School, I am going to the gym and gonna bust my butt! No girl will be stronger than me, at least not at my college. Because I WILL SQUASH HER! AHHHhh!

School, workout, eat, repeat.

This semester has been completely insane. It's been a while since I've logged my workouts and school is completely at blame for that. I am not taking a lot of classes, but I'm taking a lot of credits if that makes any sense. One course taught entirely in Spanish and two six-credit education courses. I can't really tell which one is harder yet, but their both incredibly difficult and make my brain throb by the end of the day. Therefore, I've still been working out 3x a week, just not writing down what I do. I'm in teacher mode since school started and all I can think about is kids, kids, kids!

Anyways, I have off today and decided to take a break from crazy kids and head to the gym. I pushed myself harder today than any other day. Adding weight to my squats and deadlifts and adding a new workout - dumbell lunges!

Here's how it went:

Squat
5 x 5 - 85 lbs

Deads
5 x 5 - 125

Pull ups
3 x 3

Push up singles starting from ground
6 x 1

Walking Lunges
10 lbs. - 10 each leg
20 lbs. - 10 each leg

and WOW! My cheeks are already sore from today's workout, but I feel fantastic. I've also been training a little bit of jiu jitsu here and there and hope to get more serious with that. My lifetime goal of getting my blue belt needs to have some work!

Anyways, time for a big old salad and some rest.

~Stick Legs (but not for long!)

East to west?

I just got my bicycling coast to coast -virginia to oregon -book in the mail and didn't realize that it was written for riders that are going east to west. I haven't really decided which direction I plan on going in. I've heard a lot about the benefits of going west to east (prevailing winds, ending on the coast where you live yadda yadda) but I kind of like the idea of ending west. It's the BIG destination. Having Virgina as a destination just seems kind of boring! I've been there multiple times, but I've never been to Oregon. Well, it's decided then, east to west I go. I also still have to try and figure out how I am going to get a dog on the trip. When I get back from Yellowstone, I'm thinking about getting a pup but that might have to be delayed because of this trip! Ahhh...so many decisions. I wish I had an experienced tourer to ask these questions to! If you're out there, get at me!

Yellowstone!

It's so crazy how you could plan for something so much and then one day, life throws a total curveball at you! I was almost 99% positive that I was going to be working at Ivy League this summer at the Rock Wall, but then the mail came in Saturday morning. I found out that Steve and I both got jobs at the same lodge at Yellowstone National Park for the entire summer! We've both have changed our plans for the summer and are taking the position. It means sacrificing a lot of things. He will no longer be doing the trail with his sister and I will have to give up my garden, my job at Ivy League, being with my family...it's hard, but I think it's totally going to be worth it. I'm really excited and not even in the least bit nervous yet. I'm sure that will come within a few weeks of the departure date! We leave May 27th and both come back late August, not sure the exact date yet. I have never been West and I think it's going to be an awesome experience. I am trying not to have too many expectations about the whole thing, because I had about 1,000 little illusions about how this summer was going to turn out and that was a complete waste of my time since none of them are even going to happen!

For now, my focus is getting as strong as possible and getting a 4.0 this semester at school. I think it's definitely attainable (the grades that is) although Spanish might give me a little bit of trouble! My education classes will be a breeze. A lot of people complain about these courses but nothing is as daunting as a class taught in a completely different language. I am taking the most advanced spanish course possible this semester. I just received the textbook from half.com and not one part of the book is English...and I expect to get an A in this class!? Yeah, well we'll see!

This is where we'll be living for the entire summer! I believe this is the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone which is near the lodge that we'll be staying at. How magnificent!

Muscle ups/Dips - My new focus

Yesterday Steve and I went to Gunx Crossfit again. Peter Nathan taught us how to clean. I found it to be easier than the previous workout. Maybe because we just focused on how to clean and not 1,000,000 other things! He really is an excellent teacher and I give him credit for not yelling at the most frustrating couple ever. Steve and I are kinda...slow. Haha.

Anyways, after the lesson we went to the gym and I did my regular squat/deadlift routine but have now added dips into my routine in an attempt to get better at the muscle up. At crossfit, I got on a pair of rings to try and do the muscle up and realize that I can't even do one dip, let alone even twitch while I'm up there. My body just kind of shakes and rattles trying to stabilize. So here is my workout...I'm sad to say that I have become pretty lazy with the ab workouts lately as well!

Back squats
1 x 1 - Oly
5 x 5 - 75 lbs.

Deadlifts

5 x5 - 95 lbs

Pull ups

1 x 8

Dips

3 x 7

I plan on taking this weekend really easy because I think I've been training pretty hard lately. Doing something physical everyday is exhausting! It feels good though and I like the way that I am progressing. Today I'm going to run around the neighborhood just to get some bloood going....

Tata
"Stick Legs"

Run run run!

I ran for the first time today since...a long time!! It's probably been a year since I've ran more than the distance from my house to the car. I didn't go far at all, just about half a mile just to see how it felt. And DAMN I am out of shape! I guess deadlifting and squatting does not help with your cardio at all! I'm planning on starting out really easy because for some reason, the running really kills my central nervous system and my anxiety peaks on days that I run. So for this month, I'm just going to start with half a mile once a week on days that I'm not lifting. And I'm hoping with some basic conditioning, I can increase the mileage in a month so that it can actually be considered a run! =P