Cyrptic Mitzi September 7

I wonder if others are finding this 30 Day challenge more challenging the second time round? It could be my fault entirely for choosing a difficult challenge. The hype of my organised and successful first week has waned. I'm also not sure of the end date of our present 30 days, so am having trouble focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel. Not to sound too grim, but it's good to have a sense of momentum. Either way, the magic of the first 30 days has worked, as I'm still getting to the gym every day. It's possible I will revert to a physical challenge next time.

I did complete the Monday night Omega crossword apart from a few stray clues. Here was a success...
Q ?Trial Sam arranged for person in a constant state of anxiety (8)
A Alarmist
(anagram of Trial Sam)

I also have two chunky work deadlines which have claimed my headspace. So I think I'll do a "Challenge, Lite" this time round and take up the cause more stridently next time. 

Operation "Arm Flaps" - Week 3 Wrap Up

i'm still at it... and feeling marginally stronger. Haven't done much more than the push up work, and the alternate day abs/core stuff has slid - but i've been bicycling and hiking on those days, so i think i'm still making some progress.

The metrics this week: 13 1/4" / 34 cm

Miniscule progress, but i believe it is becoming real...

In hindsight, i think i should have come up with a different measurement technique. Perhaps something to do with timing the resonance of the flaps? Give 'em a push and see how long it takes for the flappage to stop?

Also, an action shot... A day on the water, playing in river kayaks. Definitely got an extra upper body workout. Not so much from the paddling, but from lifting my drink bottle filled with Crystal Light Lemonade and Vodka. Lunch. Yay...

Is there Bellydancing move that involves the tail between the legs?

Total failure.

I've dropped the ball on quite a few things these recent days. :-(

But I'm back. So while I'm not pleased that I didn't make the 30 days of this particular exercise, I haven't given up on improving my figure and bringing a new experience to my life which is ultimately the point, right?

I did change bellydancing videos from one that was exercise-focused to one that is more focused on the dance part. It's still difficult and a little unnatural for me, but I did better today than I did yesterday and the day before... so must remember the ol' adage: progress, not perfection.

Running is good...

I'm doing well with the running. I am pleased.

It is not much fun to write here about my running because it is boring. I mean, I can't say much more than "I ran". I could tell you what I thought of the plot of the teen drama I was watching while I ran ("Make It or Break It" or "Greek"), but I doubt that would be very fascinating, either.

So, I'll just stop by every few days and say how it is going, rather than posting every day. I'm running on a good running schedule, with one or two rest days a week. That's fine.

There was a brief chance that I would run in a half-marathon in two weeks, and that revved up my running for a few days, but the chance fell through so I'm back to normal.

I'm still reading your posts even if I'm not writing as often!

Cryptically Mitzi Day Aug 28 - September 1

Sunday to Wednesday. A stretch of some four days. I did the bulk of the Monday 'Omega' but was not able to crack some of those pesky cryptics embedded with the rest. I did get some great clues out, explained below (after this disclaimer!)

Cryptic crosswords are like yoga: if your mind isn't in the right place of stillness, you will topple over. My mind has been busy at work, so much so that even when I did try my cryptic crossword in the past few mornings, I literally could not balance on the cyrptic beam. Added to that, I have a funny excuse - Dylan Moran. I went to hear the Irish comedian on Tuesday night. His performance was brilliant and his manner with the audience is respectful and generous.

A night at the opera following northern style Chinese dumplings tied up my Wednesday night. I am finally home and able to concentrate on my crossword. No matter how hard on tried - on buses and trains in the past few days - nothing sank in. I could tell my concentration was at a weird ebb, because I lost my ATM card. Needless to say, I was in a furious funk of irritation as a result.

The Monday Omega contained a few clues with the word "converted".
eg Q Salacious in-flight society, converted
I knew the answer was related to The Mile High Club (wolf whistle!) but how? What is meant by 'converted'?
Answer: a conversion of measurements from American 'miles' to Aussie 'kilometres'...hence The One Point Six Kilometre High Club.

Same for the heavy rock industrial goth band Nine Inch Nails...who, 'converted', became 'twenty-three centimetre nails'.

Now that my brain has settled down, here are four clues from the Thursday mini.

Q Rides his bike around on the worst windstorms (8)
A cyclones
(cycle + cyclone)

Q Encroachment in the street (6)
A Inroad

Q Destiny, it's said, is a celebration (4)
A Fete
(Fate + fete)

Q Start off in the thing I ingested (8)
A initiate
(to initiate + ate/ingested!)

Day 17 -- Made Up Yoga

I'm late getting this done.  It's practically the middle of the night.

Oh well.

Tonight I made my own routine.  I was jammin' to my own select iTunes playlist and found myself up and jammin' yoga to my own melody.  It counts, right?

Gawd yoga makes my body feel good.  I find myself stretching throughout the day.  Tonight, knowing I had to do it for the challenge, I let myself stretch to my own rhythm not caring much if I were doing a "routine".  It felt good.

I'll go back to doing a structured routine tomorrow, but for tonight I'm happy living in my own La La land of c'est la vie. Screw it. =)

Reading & Riding: 8/31

I missed one day of riding because our bedtime routine with the kids got thrown off and it just slipped my mind. The next day I had a soul-crushing headache, so I skipped that day too. (I know, no excuses, right?) But I've hit the bike every day since then. I think this routine can really work for me long-term. I've missed recording my stats a couple times, or forgot to weigh in, but I'm getting the hang of all the pieces of the routine.

My goal at this point is to do a little better every day, either in distance or in calories burned. I took it too easy yesterday, so today I put the hammer down. I may be in trouble tomorrow.

Here are my collected numbers so far:

Date     Lbs    Miles  Cal     

08/15/11 230.6  3.86   162

08/16/11 232.6  4.06   178

08/23/11 230.6  4.14   176

08/24/11 230.6  4.05   172

08/29/11        4.59   204

08/30/11        4.64   204

08/31/11 230.4  4.51   201

09/01/11 228.6  4.86   211

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