Saturday, January 19, 2013

The music is calling.

I have a medal just like that. I get to keep mine.

Allow me to begin by stating clearly and without qualification that I have the best friends in the world. That includes my ex-wife.

Having reported my issues with backache and general need for cross-training, I received a number of extremely helpful suggestions ... all of which involve YOGA.

(takes a David Cross-like hesitant pause.)

Look, I never said yoga is fucking awful ...

(okay, back to me)

I did try yoga several years ago, and found it extremely painful and less than helpful. When I am at my most limber, when I can actually squat down, I cannot kneel, sitting on my calves for any length of time whatsoever.  My knees simply scream with pain. Always have. And that kept me away.

The wife has suggested chair yoga (or "cherry-yoga" which sounds tasty) but I have too much pride or that.

However, the ex did remember that we have wii fit, and that I might try that. And she's absolutely right, why didn't I think of that, in fact here's all kinds of crap I can do with that thing that I have never tried. Funny, I am not a video game guy, at least not any more.  After spending most of 1999 playing Duke Nukem I was just done, they bore the hell out of me. But getting off my ass and moving to a video game, that might be my ticket to upper-body work.

Also, Elaine referred me to a Feldenkrais workshop in Little Italy, geared specifically for runners and those interested in less-important athletic pursuits, which I could take advantage of that takes place in next week.

I really appreciate all of these suggestions, and promise to act on at least one of them. I do have great friends who care about my physical and mental well-being.

They are all women.

Temperature: 48°
Climate: windy
Distance: 3.25 miles

Now, this serious question ... in the 2006 NYC Marathon, can I now claim I beat Lance Armstrong, or does this mean he was never actually there?

1977 Playlist
I Feel Love - Donna Summer
Cretin Hop (186 bpm) - The Ramones
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment - The Ramones
Swingtown - Steve Miller Band
Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
Sound and Vision - David Bowie
We Will Rock You (162 bpm) - Queen
Jungle Fever - The Chakachas
Second Hand News - Fleetwood Mac
Best of My Love - The Emotions

Rock, disco, funk and punk. No wonder we were so confused.

4 comments:

Run away from Trouble said...

ARgh! I have a picture of Armstrong on my newest post, too! Like every damned runner in the world, I guess. Oh, and my post is going to talk about HIS relationship with his ex-wife. Anyway, I use the WiiFit sometimes. It's like Yoga Lite, but there are some good strength training exercises in there. I like (hate) doing the plank challenge.

pengo said...

Like roughly 40,000 others, I can claim to have competed with Armstrong in the same race -- something I mentioned in ATYD. In 2006 he, Bobby Flay, Mike Huckabee and I all ran the NYC marathon. Armstrong called running a marathon, "the hardest physical thing I've ever done." You can take that for what its worth.

Alicia at Poise in Parma said...

Did someone say "yoga"? :)

Give it a try - know it doesn't have to be anything crazy. Even just 10 minutes of yoga poses after your runs can help. True story: my dad started doing just 10-15 minutes a day and he swears he's not as sore after being at a physical job (bricklaying) all day long.

pengo said...

For the past two days, I have been enjoying the wii. It's like having a non-threatening personal trainer whose lips don't move.