Class 15 & 16 + never make me go to Costco after yoga

Practiced with my mom yesterday. Had a great new to me teacher. She
had great energy and didn't talk to much. Really good class for me -
one of the best ones I've had in a while.
After class, my mom said she just needed to run to Costco for a
microwave. This ended up being totally false. She needed a microwave
which went in one cart and then she filled up another cart with other
stuff. I do not recommend a trip to Costco on a Saturday after you've
left it all on the mat at Bikram yoga! I was not a happy camper at
Costco and even samples couldn't revive me! Went home and rested up
for a few hours before meeting up with friends and then I was a-ok.
Today was class 16. I was there. I was sweaty and tired. Not much
else to say.

class 13 + class 14 + upcoming plans for my sporty life

Class 13 - I know I attended Class 13. I ran into Jenn after Class 13. I stood kind of by the door in Class 13. Basically I remember very little else about Class 13. It existed, I was there, afterwards I ate a middle eastern fried cauliflower pita and tumeric rice. Delish!

Class 14 - Went to class right after work. Classes right after work tend to be freaking crowded although as the month rolls on and the new years resolutioners go away, it's slightly better. But it's not the practice I'm used to. I first started practicing at my studio regularly in the spring of 2008. By spring, classes are getting smaller so the teachers learn everyone's names and give loads o' corrections! Especially if you're a not so coordinated baby yogi like myself! Then for a lot of 2009, I practiced at off hours due to being unemployed. Go to a noon class on a Tuesday and you'll get loads of personal attention. While I know that my practice is for me, the idea that the teacher is watching does help me stay focused. In Class 13 and Class 14, I had teachers who I knew weren't watching me. I was in the back, they didn't know my name.. kinda allowed me to slack a bit. Nothing really wrong with that especially since this challenge is a marathon not a sprint. I guess it's good for me to recognize that I generally have a better, more engaged class if I am taking class from a teacher I know and who knows me.

My post yoga workout life - yes, I'm already thinking about it. New plan is... ... ... wait for it.. ... ... Seattle Marathon 2010! I ran a half marathon in 2008 and my friend and I are signed up to run the Portland Half Marathon in October this year. The Seattle Marathon is 7 weeks after the Portland Half so I'll already be training... Seems like it might work out well. Haven't signed up yet, but it's very much on my mind lately. Unless I find myself a boyfriend, I'm thinking that 2010 will be the year that I am really sporty :)

Class 12 + my first day off

Class 12 was a reminder that I really can't get away with eating indian food for lunch on days that I do 6pm yoga. It just doesn't work for my stomach and therefore doesn't work for me. I did not feel that good and sat out a couple of postures. Also my knees were bugging me a bit. I've struggled with knee issues for years. I tried to be very conscious of being easy on my knees and some of the postures felt different. I think that sometimes I must be tensing my muscles weirdly or something and making the postures harder than they are. That's not a very good explanation but it just felt like some postures were easier when I was focusing on not stressing my knees.
I took yesterday off. Drank a beer after work with work people, went out to dinner with friends and then went to Target. My new plan to get through the 101 days is to throw in a few morning (6am) classes and allow myself to take a day of every 10 days or two weeks or so. I was able to do 30 days in a row previously, but I wasn't working. 101 days is a marathon, not a sprint, so I'm all about adjusting things so that I can complete this challenge.
Back on my mat after work today and I'm kinda looking forward to it :)

on a day like today, i look forward to being on my mat...

It is pouring down rain. And my boss called me on my cell while I was on the bus on my way to work. On a day like today, I'm very happy that I get to end my (work) day with 6pm yoga. I'm actually looking forward to getting to my mat today...

kinda sorta threw my own personal tantrum at class today

I am not proud of Class 11. As you may have read in my earlier
entries, a certain teacher's classes have been running late. I know
that if I were an evolved yogi, I would be thankful for extra time in
postures or extra words of wisdom that make class run long... but I'm
still a baby yogi! I WANT MY CLASS TO END ON TIME and if it doesn't,
I get super antsy and I want to cry and whine. I have asked the
teacher in question how to handle my extreme angst at class running
long. He said that I am welcome to leave when the 90 minutes are up.
That's what I did today. I made eye contact with him and whispered
that I needed to leave. I did need to leave. I needed to go get a
falafel, I needed to get on with my life. I could only give 90
minutes to yoga today. In the future, maybe I'll be open to doing a
longer, more free form class with this instructor but for now, it
doesn't work for me. Luckily I have lots of other teachers to choose
from at my studio and the other studio in town so I can pick and
choose classes that don't make me so angst-filled!

In other news, there was someone named Francois in my class. This is
funny if you, like me, saw Youth in Revolt this weekend.

Class 9 + Class 10

Class 9 - my stomach was not feeling good. I blame the indian food I had for lunch. I am not proud to admit that I sat out most of the floor series... but it couldn't be helped because my belly was in pain. I was totally "that guy" - the gross person in class who farts and burps...
I had veggie pho after class and that seemed to help. I think pho is a great post yoga food because it's salty and savory and super delicious.
That brings us to Class 10 which went very smoothly compared to last night's class. One of my favorite instructors was teaching and overall it was just a good 90 minutes.

bikram twitter people

Feeling very thankful for my Bikram twitter peeps today. They have that wonderful combination of pushing me and being super encouraging at the same time. Especially thankful to @jenngemini who gave me a pep talk/scheduling workshop via IM :)

On Twitter over the past day or two, I've been doubting my will to do this challenge. I've been feeling kinda bad about going straight from work to yoga and not really seeing my friends or having slacker fun during the week. But I'm refocusing, I'm going to mix up my class schedule a bit (hello 6am yoga once or twice a week.)

I'm ready to refocus for week 2 and beyond... 8 down, 93 to go. As my man @adamcarolla would say - LET'S GET IT ON!

xo
@bikramanda

Class #8 + new favorite post yoga food

Did Class #8 tonight. It ended on time. It was less crowded than any
of the other classes I've been to this week. Not much to say. Class
wasn't awesome or terrible - it seemed to go by pretty quickly.

----

After class I was starving as per usual. I got a falafel pita
sandwich and IT WAS AMAZING! It's vegetarian which is probably a good
thing considering my stomach has been a bit unhappy lately. And it's
kinda salty/savory which really hits the spot but it tastes fresh at
the same time and has veggies (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, parsley.)
Although it may not be on ilovesweat's list of foods to eat daily
(http://ilovesweat.com/wordpress/?page_id=721), I think falafel may
go on my list of foods that taste even better after yoga. Falafel FTW!!!

Class 7 - not one of my finer moments

Class was challenging both mentally and physically today. It seems (from Twitter at least) that quite a few of us are struggling with what to eat and when to eat. Physically I just didn't feel very energetic and overall I was not excited to be in the room. It didn't help matters when I saw that the teacher who taught the 105 minute class over the weekend would be teaching. That is not what the online schedule said! But hey - class tonight was only 100 minutes so I guess I should be thankful! But seriously, IT IS NOT PROFESSIONAL to do that on a regular basis. The poses haven't changed. There is a clock in the room. And even though I feel sorry for myself when class goes late (and you know I do feel sorry for myself) it's the brand new yogis I really feel for. And if I wasn't going to class every damn day, I probably wouldn't care as much, but 10-15 minutes late PER CLASS would be over an hour of my time each week. NOT COOL.
Ok, end crazy ranting. Clearly all this yoga is making me grumpy at the moment. And oh so hungry yet with a tummy that doesn't feel that great. Ugh.

Haven't been doing daily blogging, but have been doing daily yoga

My intention was to keep track of each and every class on this blog like I did with my 30 day challenge, but so far that hasn't happened. It's been a combination of flaky internet access at home and just being busy, but I just sent up posting by email for my blog so that should help thing!
Let's take a brief look at the classes so far...
Class 3 - my knee actually felt pretty good in class! I was sooooo relieved. I was worried that I was going to have to stop the challenge before I had even really gotten started. Basically I just felt gratitude for being able to practice!
Class 4 - practiced with my mom at another studio. Great class! I love the teacher who was teaching there. Unfortunately she owns the other studio so I'll never see her at my home studio and that makes me sad. She is truly a gifted teacher and gave me a really helpful correction on balancing stick.
Class 5 - 50 people in class! And I didn't really wanted to be there - I wanted to be at my normal Monday night activity which is my knitting group. But I got to practice next to Jenn and that helped me stay strong in class. She has a great attitude towards yoga/life and I wish you could all come practice with us at our studio!
Class 6 - 50 people again! Super crowded and the instructor seemed to be struggling with the ventilation. The fans were on for a huge part of class which I found quite distracting. If the after work class keeps being this crowded and crazy, I might have to switch to either the 6am or 8pm.

So overall things are going well. Trying to manage logistics like laundry and snacks is going ok because I'm trying to be organized. I had a peanut butter and pickle sandwich after class last night so the weird salty/savory cravings have definitely started!

6 down, 95 to go!!!