VS Day 19: Endurance Training
Exhaustion hit me like a freight train around 2pm yesterday afternoon. Trading out that Wednesday rest day for Strength Training has made me feel extra tired this week, combined with my cycle knocking me down a notch or two, I was hit hard with that tiredness yesterday afternoon. It was also cold and blustery yesterday, which made my body want to go full send into cozy nap mode. I took a two-hour nap once my husband came home, and then when 9:30 rolled around later that evening, I found myself ready for bed again.
I did the Autumn Court Mindstilling again today, and I feel so steady in my mind and my body. I haven’t had any flooding of negative thoughts lately, which is a big win for me. Being able to tap into that stillness regularly has done wonders for my mental health. Last night I did Mindstilling as I got ready for bed, taking extra care of my bedtime routine and breathing deeply. I fell asleep faster than my 3 year old after a day at the park, and that’s fast.
The Autumn Mindstilling is beautiful in its visualization cues, and the mountain girl in me appreciates that I can dive into my mind to find the mountains I long for. I miss Alaska every day, the mountains and hills outside my front door and the moss covered tundra a song to my heart. Autumn has been in full swing for them for a few weeks already, and I know the valley turns gold with all the Birch trees every year. Having this Mindstilling is like having a doorway to my Heart Home just a few deep breaths away.
Photo by Ian Beckley on Pexels.com
It’s colder this morning, only 41 degrees outside. So I’m layering up and putting my shoes on. I don’t know that I will continue to workout outside all winter long, but I’m going to try to keep it up for as long as I can. Long sleeves, thick socks, a hoodie, and a hat are in order this morning. I’m glad at least that I know today’s Training will keep me warm despite the cold, and training in the cold will only increase my endurance more. Gotta have that Valkyrie Mindset to get through it.
All that sleep yesterday has me feeling energized and motivated this morning, so even though I mentioned putting off today’s workout until the weekend, I’m ready for it now. So here we go, Strength Training round two this week. Ding Ding!! Let’s get it.
Warm it Up
Starting in Table Top Position we did some Cat Cow movement to warm up our shoulders, spine, and core.
We then moved into an angled kneeling lunge, this stretch really worked the inside of my thighs and my hip flexors. My hips being notoriously tight, I felt this one right away.
Table Top Side Lunges were a move I didn’t know I needed. From table top we extended one leg straight out to the side, so arch in line with the knee, and just rocked back and forth, really warming up the inside of the leg and stretching from hip flexor to ankle.
Final warm up was tricky for me because I was working with my shoes on this morning, and this movement required a sliding motion. It was too cold to take my shoes off outside today, so I had to hover my foot over the ground, making this last move more intense. I didn’t mind, it kept me warm. These are like a Pistol Sweep situation, Starting with the right leg slightly bent, and the left a half step in front of you, squat down on that right leg as far as you can, and sweep that left leg out to the side and behind you into a curtsey, lunge down, stand back up and sweep that left leg forward to your starting position. Rep it out 3 times and then switch sides.
Work It Out
We need a 10lb weight for our drills today.
Sword Draws–This movement should mimic drawing a sword from your back, and sheathing it. This move actually lit me up and got me excited because we were practicing for swordsssss!!!!
Core Reach–My core was already sore and tired from yesterday and now I’m on fire.
We did some dead lifts and high knees, and I wanted to cry before it was over, I'm so so sore.
We wrapped it up with some shoulder stretches, and my back actually popped.
The sky was lightening up as I finished the video, and with it being so cool this morning I wanted to get moving right away. I grabbed Yrsa and we got started on our walk, no evil garbage truck to terrify her, or garbage juices for her to try and roll in or lick off the road. Yes, that was our experience yesterday. Ew. The sunrise wasn’t as brilliant as yesterday, with a clear sky there were no clouds to catch the colors, but we didn’t mind. We kept a pretty brisk pace due to the temperatures, and I lost track of how many laps we were doing. I forgot to put my step counter on this morning, so I truly had no idea what we did, but I think we did 7 laps. I’d rather do an extra lap than not enough of them.
As we get closer to the end of Novice, I’m still on the fence about repeating it or moving onto Blade. I loved the intensity of this week, and looking at the schedule I know next week will be just as intense. We’ll see how next week goes before I decide.
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