Strength & Endurance
I hurt, but it feels good.
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Juergen and Dan are working on developing a new class at Go Vertical, and luckily they asked me (and a few other people) to be guinea pigs. Last night was the 3rd class, and I'm already seeing improvements. Its a tough class: I'm exhausted by the end and I hurt the next day (mostly my pecs and triceps), but its a great class. Its defintely the kind of workout where you (or at least I) need someone prompting me for the next thing to do and pushing me and encouraging me to do get through it. But, can I tell you how excited I am that I can already see improvements in my strength and endurance?? So damn cool. The hardest part of the class for me, are these evil things called "Tabatas". We do 3 different sets of Tabatas, one set each of pull-ups, sit-ups and push-ups (those ones are the hardest for me). "What is a Tabata" you ask? Like I said, they are this evil thing whereby you *do as many pull-ups as you can in 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and then repeat from the "*", eight times. So at first, you may be doing 8 pull-ups unassisted, and by the end, you'll be struggling to even do 3 with one foot on the wall helping you to get up. The one thing I really like about this class is that its not a competitive thing. You're just pushing to improve your previous count. We've got a whole range of guinea pigs taking the class, from guys like Juergen who are in great shape, to girls like me who are doing ok but have plenty to improve on. So -- if you climb at Go Vertical, look out for the new class. (Until they officially start offering it, its an invitation-only guinea pig thing as they nail down the format of the class.) I definitely plan on continuing the class once they start charging me for it. Oh! and don't forget that this Friday is Kathleen's Women's Climbing Clinic. This week we're doing Cross-Overs. It should be a great class.
Of course... as fate would have it, I got my pretty new rope on a day when I wouldn't be able to use it for 3 days: Last night was the Strength and Endurance class I mentioned above, tonight is Yoga at The Studio, and tomorrow is a cooking class at Kitchen Kapers.... So, on Thursday, I'll get to initiate my pretty new blue rope. I'm all excited! (yes, yes I realize I'm a geek... but that shouldn't be a suprise to anyone reading this). (Oh, and thanks to Tim for flaking my rope for me, although at the time it looked more like you were having a convulsion....) |
In other news.... I got my first climbing rope yesterday!!!the next project...
what to make? what to do? what to yarn to buy???
I'm being all sorts of indicisive. I'm not sure what I want to make next. Well.... I think I've finally decided, but hopefully writing all this will help me figure it all out. I've written about potential projects before, its a good spot for me to put neat stuff I'd like to do... and hopefully, one day I'll get to them all. For now, I'll just think about getting them done, and hopefully I can actually do a couple.
Let me preface this whole thing by saying I SUCK at finishing big projects (where really, a big project is anything where I've gotta sew pieces together and do some kind of finishing). I get bored about 75% of the way through... (which is why you see a lotta hats and gloves and scarves on my blog). I think I've got about 4 or 5 unfinished projects upstairs. Damn, I wonder if there's more. I really do suck at finishing stuff. I blame being a Gemini.
| Knitty.com's Tempting The pattern is really basic, which I think will be good to get me past the whole "unfinished project" thing. Liz made Tempting II, and said it was a great pattern and has been encouraging me to give it a try. So as of right now, this is the one I think I'm going for... |
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| Knitty.com's Eiffel I really like the look of this sweater. I don't think I'll do the ribbons on the sleeves, that's a bit much for me. PLUS, it calls for hemp yarn. That sounds cool to work with (actually, from what I've read, its quite tough at first, but it softens after you wash it a few times.... I think it would be interesting. The pattern itself looks a bit complex, so in order to not persist the "unfinished project" syndrome... I think I'll put this one off for a while. |
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| Vogue Knitting Magazine's Noir Jacket This jacket just looks friggin' cool. BUT... it calls for 18, 50 gram balls of yarn. That's a lotta yarn. And the instructions are pretty long.... So I really think I need to start on a smaller project. But wow, this is a really pretty jacket. Maybe I'll try it in the fall so I can wear it next winter. Mabye in a neat tweady red color? Although that charcoal looks nice. I think black wouldn't give it enough dimension.... oh well, I have a while to think about it. |
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| My own Tapestry Crocheted yoga mat bag A few years ago I read about Tapestry Crochet. Its produces a nice thick fabric with some bold designs. I think it will be the perfect effect for a yoga mat bag.... I've just gotta figure out the pattern. But, I figure I can follow the pattern for a cylindrical bag from one of the books, and then figure out how to add a nice strap on the bag. My Prana yoga mat is really neat. Its got a LOT of grip because its made with hemp fibers. So... I'm thinking it may be neat to knit the yoga bag in hemp.... maybe I should make the Eiffel sweater first... hmmm things to think about.... |
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