Monday, January 28, 2013

why is a professional wrestler in my living room before sunrise?

I have a cousin Doug, who is really wonderful about noticing the need in what I write here and responding rapidly.  He has offered me A LOT of help over the life of this blog.  So awhile back, when my arthritis was pretty severely interfering with my running, he offered to loan me a video exercise series he has:  YRG, or Yoga for Real Guys, by professional wrestler Diamond Dallas Page.  

It took me a long time to respond.  After all, among the things I love about running are that I can do it in almost complete darkness and almost complete silence.  Perfect for me at 5 AM, as I can barely tolerate any light or sound at all at that hour.  I can do it ALONE, which is good, as the existence of other human beings on Karen's Planet (you know...EARTH) at that hour, is a source of irritation to me.  Videos bring light.  Videos bring sound.  Videos remind me that other people dare to populate my planet.  

This is not pleasant for me, at 5 AM.  

So I took my time getting back to Doug.  I didn't want to do a video at 5 AM.  

But really, I NEED something to do on days that the arthritis in my feet won't make me run.  So, I borrowed the DVDs, along with an A/C adaptor for my little portable DVD player thing that a friend gave me, on which the cord had bitten the dust.  

Then I left it all in the bag for a long time, imagining the light and sound and irritation.  

When I finally got it out, I met an obstacle:  my electronic ineptitude.  I plugged the player in, turned on the DVD, pushed buttons and pushed buttons and pushed buttons...and couldn't get past the start menu.  

So for a little while, I happily lived with that.  Guess I can't make the DVD work.  Guess I can't do it.  With a little happy inner smile. 

But then my friend who gave me the DVD player was at my place, and she showed me how to get past the start menu.  DARN IT.

Still, I have managed to continue procrastinating.  My dual commitments to finish my 40 day prayer project and to keep my promise to write daily, along with endless other daily commitments, has meant a whole lot of late nights in January.  Which has meant a whole lot of mornings of getting some sleep, during my allotted exercise time.  

But I got some rest over this busy weekend, and this morning I was out of excuses.  Too wet outside to want to run in my mesh shoes.

I got the darn video out.

And did one of the 20 minute workouts.

There was light.  UGH. 

There was sound.  SERIOUSLY?!  Was this completely necessary?!

There were people smiling in perky ways.  I could hurt you for that.

And Diamond Dallas Page...he talked wrestler talk, and growled wrestler growl, and dared to joke in my presence, all before 6 AM.    WHYYYYYYYYYY????!!!!

The workout wasn't bad, though, other than the logistical detail that I didn't think to put in a ponytail, and it is very irritating to keep flipping my hair out of my eyes to see the screen.  

I'm pretty careful, when it comes to the subject of yoga...once upon a time I took a class that I really enjoyed - the feeling after a workout was pretty comparable to (ummm...no kids hang out here right?) the time after a big "O" (one never forgets that LOL).  But I ended up not going back to it, because it was pretty clear after awhile that a lot of the positions were "worship" positions to some god I don't serve, and that's serious stuff to me.  Diamond Dallas, though...he's not doing that.  This is just good stretching and isometrics done in a way to nicely elevate the heart rate, which is good.

I hate the video, as far as that business of light and sound and other humans and wrestling talk before sunrise.  

But if I gotta have something indoors to do on non-run days...this might work.  I'll keep on trying it.  


Here's to bad attitudes...


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