Half Dome - June 2010

"Half Dome is the ultimate Yosemite day hike - the one you can't die without doing, and the one you're most likely to die while doing."

I am going to hike to the top of Half Dome next summer. This is significant for a number of reasons. The first being that it will force me to get into shape. The second is that I have never been to Yosemite. I have lived within 2-3 hours of Yosemite for most of my life and have never gone. That's going to change.

I have started training yesterday. I don't have a lot of upper body strength and I know that I will need it to haul myself up those cables. So I bought Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. I also need to lose 10 pounds. I tried it yesterday for the first time and it absolutely kicked my ass. I can already tell that this will be great training for Half Dome. There were lots of squats, lunges, and arm exercises with weights. I also want to start hiking on Saturdays for practice.

Yoga & Knitting

What could yoga & knitting have in common? Yeah, I don't know either. They are, however, two of the ways I chose to spend my free time lately. I recently finished my top-secret knitting projects. I can't post about them yet, but will as soon as I get the green light. They are awesome! I have also finished my sister's hat, which is shown here on my head.

On to yoga. I love yoga, but I also love to be lazy and eat junk. Lately, I've been really lazy and eating a lot of junk. Which has to stop because pretty soon my pants won't fit. I've decided that for numerous reasons, my pants being one of them, I need to integrate a daily yoga practice into my life. First thing in the morning seems ideal until I remember the previously mentioned laziness. So it happens as soon as I get home from work. I'm two days in, so far so good.

And hey! I can touch my toes with my feet together and my knees locked! I haven't been able to do that for a while, and Chris immediately squashed my excitement by showing me that he has always been able to touch his toes. He better watch it or I'll trick him into practicing yoga with me and tie him up in a pretzel.