5×5=30

Maybe it’s the jet lag but my math skills were non-existent this morning at the gym. It wasn’t until I’d completed my half hour of cardio that I realized it was I’m fact only 25 minutes. Oh well.
We’re back on the east coast and my mother-in-law brought me to her gym because with temperatures in the teens there’s no way I’m going to run outside. What punishment after 70s beach runs last week in Tel Aviv!
My intention was to run for half hour but my body didn’t feel up to it so I warmed up and began on the techno something or other machine that seemed to simulate rollerblading (or cross country ski racing?). I then moved from machine to machine, spending five minutes on each. Techno, treadmill, elliptical, escalator, bike. Yep, that’s five minutes on each to total twenty five minutes!
I then found the assisted pull-up/dip machine and did three sets of each followed by push-ups. Apparently, carrying Baby A around isn’t keeping my upper body as strong as I thought. Finally, I stretched and did a few core exercises using a foam roller & cardio ball.
Back out into the cold.…

The workout: 25 minute cardio circuit- a good workout and boredom prevention, upper body strengthening, core work, stretches

sparkling water

I always love swimming but tonight’s swim was particularly special. I arrived at the pool just as the sun was setting. The water was shimmering in the golden light and freezing cold.
My first lap was a sprint and at the end of 50 meters I was warm. I only shared a lane with one other person and we never came close to each other, but the 50 meter lap pool is especially nice for sharing lanes because it’s actually difficult to catch another person with the distance between ends!
I enjoyed the stillness as the night arrived and the pool brightened with spotlights. I hurried through my 800 meters and walked home wrapped in my towel, ready for dinner.

Salty swim

I’m back on track again and feeling good! My past few workouts have varied from a hotel elliptical trainer with a view of Jerusalem to a run on the Tel Aviv Port to a swim in an outdoor 50 meter saltwater lap pool. The weather today is spectacular and as I paused to catch my breath at the end of a 50 yard length, I felt as though I was vacationing in my own private paradise. Sunshine, endless blue sky, saltwater swimming pool… it doesn’t get much better as far as workouts are concerned!
I can’t even remember the last time I swam but I’ve been craving water since whenever it was and I was happy to pay the $16ish to enter the Gordon Pool near my Tel Aviv apartment.
I jogged the short distance to the pool, swam a slow kilometer, smiled at the sunshine, then walked home. As I write this I’m making Baby A lentils & quinoa for lunch while I polish off the last few yummy chocolates made by my husband’s cousin. Nothing like a healthy post-workout snack!

bringing it home

I don’t think I’ve enjoyed an aerobics class since kickboxing at the Westside Y in NYC. That was the late 90’s. The class, taught by a hard core female boxer, was a serious workout. We’d often get to finish class with hands wrapped, gloves on, punching Thai boxing pads. I’ve tried a couple of classes since then when I needed a break from running, biking or swimming, but Zumba just doesn’t cut it. I’d rather go salsa dancing.
Jump to the present. We’re in Israel for a few weeks and I don’t have a running stroller and a tropical storm has raged for the past four days. Finally last night I reached my breaking point and decided I’d better find myself a workout video. I knew even 20 minutes would to me good, so while my husband put Baby A to bed, I searched YouTube and came up with Denise Austin: Ultimate Fat Burn Workout. I closed the office door, put on my running shoes and worked up a nice sweat. With only 20 minutes it was impossible to get bored and the volume was so low I couldn’t be annoyed by instructions or music. There were a few kickboxing moves mixed in with lunges, core and general jumping around. (I forgot that I was jumping around on solid concrete and my body feels compressed today.) I’m looking forward to trying another video. It’s time, I’ll warm up on my own first and put a yoga mat under-foot!

the workout: 20 minute fat burn workout followed by stretching & Pilates mat exercises