train 75 minutes a day, five days per week, for a month

I didn’t record my progress in the past two weeks, but I did stick to my plan of 75 minutes per day, five days per week. Now, on to the next challenge!

^{*The cryptic comment on 9,975 hours to go comes from my reading on becoming an expert. According to some research, it takes about 10,000 hours of hard practice to become an expert at anything.}

Week 2 of 4

• Mon 4/28
  8:00pm – 1:00am
  Sex

• Tues 4/29
  4:30 – 5:00
  Yoga

• Thurs 4/24
  10:30pm – 12:00am
  Walk 2 fast miles(in 22:41:50)
  Yoga (30 min of freestyle positions)
  Meditate(20 minutes)

• Fri 4/24
  9:00pm – 11:00pm
  Walk 2 fast miles(in 22:33:18)
  Yoga (40 minutes)(10 surya namaskar sequences/ 5 virabhradrasana sequences/ 5 poses)
  Meditation(30 minutes)

• Sat 5/3
  3:00pm – 4:15pm
  Walk(40 minutes at a moderate pace),
  Do forms(Chun-Ji, Tan-Gun, and Do-San, 5 times apiece)
  Meditate(for ten minutes)

• Sun 5/4
  2:30 – 3:45pm
  Yoga
  
  3:45pm – 4:30pm
  Meditate

Starting again

I almost made it to five days the first time I tried this. I have one and a half more weeks of false starts until I will fail my challenge. I’m going to try to schedule smarter times to exercise so that I can stick to my plan.

Week 1 of 4

• Mon 4/21
  2:45 – 4:35
  Meditate (for thirty minutes)
  Walk two miles in 23:57!
  Do calisthenics 30 push-ups/5 hanging ab lifts with chairs/3 sets rowing push-ups/3 ab lifts/8 chair push-ups
  Leg work 20 minutes
  Yoga 20 minutes

• Tues 4/22
  9:30 – 11:00
  1 hour meditation

• Wed 4/23
  9:30 – 11:00 Walk 2 fast miles/arm and core strengthening/meditate for 15 minutes (I did yoga for thirty minutes on my lunch break. I was going to walk, but it was raining when I got home from work.)

• Thurs 4/24
  9:30 – 11:00
  Yoga (30 min of Solar Sequence 1), walk 2 slow miles

• Fri 4/24
  3:30 – 4:30
  Walk 2 fast miles(in 23:48), do calisthenics(10 handstand push-ups w/ legs on table, 2 handstands, 12 chair ab pull-ins, 5/5 side to side sit-ups, 10 up-dog/down-dog push-ups, 10 boat pose pull-ins,)Meditate for 30 minutes

• Sat 4/25
  3:30 – 5:00pm
  Walk 2 fast miles,(in 22:47)walk 1 slow mile, 40 forms

Starting now

I considered building up slowly, but I think I’ll just begin the daily hour and fifteen minutes and see how it goes. It will be important that I schedule my workouts in advance. Maybe I’ll team up with Munir for a daily conversation and motivation boost.

First week’s schedule

• Tue 4/1
  11am-11:40am Bicycle six miles to work
  8:00pm – 8:45pm Bicycle six miles from work
  
  
• Wed 4/2
  11:40am-12:30pm Bicycle six miles to work
  6:30 – 7:15 Bicycle six miles from work (I did not exercise today)
  
  
• Thurs 4/3
  10:00am – 10:15am Meditate for 30 minutes/walk 2 miles (in 27 minutes)/do leg stretches for 15 minutes
  
  
• Fri 4/4 or Sat 4/5
  10:00am – 11:00am walk 2 miles (in 25 minutes)/Yoga for 30 minutes/Meditate for 25 minutes
  
  
• Sun 4/6
  10:11pm – 11:30pm walk for 30 minutes (2 miles in 24:42)/do leg stretching for 20 minutes/meditate for 25 minutes
  
  
• Mon 4/7
  10:00am – 10:15am Meditate for 15 minutes/tae-kwon-do for an hour (90 forms, kicking, moving in stances)
  
  

I ran about a third of the time. The yoga felt good—not as good as last time because I was still warm and loose from the run.

I walked the two miles today and it took forever. I was tempted to jog, but I’m glad I didn’t. I think my legs could use a few days rest. The yoga felt amazing: it’s been a long time since I’ve done any, and my body really liked the gentle stretches and twists. I did the “Basic Flow” on the Yoga Shakti DVD.

I only jogged about a quarter of the way this time. My legs are starting to feel the abuse from the past few days. My ankles are sore and tight. I’ll get shin splints if I’m not careful. I think I’ll walk the whole way for the next few days.

My meditation was fun. My attention wandered a lot again. I entertained myself by walking around the house with my eyes closed. It requires a great deal of concentration and it causes some anxiety, so it’s a great meditative exercise.

I really pushed myself on the two miles today. I hope I won’t be tired and sore tomorrow. I didn’t have any energy left over for push-ups, so I skipped them today. I ended my workout dripping with sweat, even though I did it in the evening after rain had cooled things down considerably. My meditation was okay. My attention wandered in and out. I sat next to the clock and burned incense. I’m interested in synesthetic experience—a merging of the input from my senses.

I walked the first mile in fourteen minutes then alternated between a hard run and walking during the second mile.

The meditation was good. I experimented with concentrating on sounds. First I would cast my attention out as far as possible, trying to hear the sounds furthest away from me. Then I turned my attention inward to hear sounds of and around my body. I was startled when my heartbeat popped into my mind. All of a sudden I could hear/feel it all over my body. I also experimented with walking to the kitchen with my eyes closed. I wanted to know how much time I had left but I didn’t want to interrupt my meditation, so I stood up slowly and walked to the kitchen with my eyes closed. Very interesting!

I kept falling asleep during the meditation because I waited really late to do it. The walk was nice. It is still hot outside even though it is ten-o’clock. I talked to my sister on the phone the whole time. Onward ho!