Filles de Fer

This week’s playlist is one of the ones I use when lifting or doing other strength training. These songs generally have a slower tempo than the songs on my cardio playlists, and have a definitive, steady beat:

This playlist runs at 1:01:33, which is a bit longer than most of my strength workouts. I’ll let the playlist carry over for stability-ball crunches or other ab work.

A funny thing happened at the grocery store today:

I was at the Jewel-Osco down the street from my house, getting a gallon of apple cider, a pie crust, and some assorted pumpkin pie ingredients. None of these things are particularly heavy except for perhaps the cider, but when I was at the checkout, the man who bagged my groceries asked if I needed help taking them out to the parking lot. I’m pretty sure this is just something polite that the Jewel people do, so I said “no thank you, I’m actually walking home.”
“Are you serious? Those are really heavy, young lady!”
“No worries, sir, I carried a whole turkey and a jug of cider just like this one home last night. This won’t be a problem.”
“Oh my. You women are getting stronger these days!”

Really? I’m not sure if this gentleman was just hanging on to some sort of antiquated idea that women are helpless and weak, or if it’s really that big of a deal for someone to walk half a mile home with an arm full of groceries. Could go either way, since the average American is pretty sedentary (and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot). I like carrying my groceries home, though. It feels like an extra (small) workout.

Most of my workouts consist of running, swimming, or (attempts at) cycling. Makes sense, because those are the activities I’m training for. I also use the cardio and weight machines at the gym. Know what? That can get pretty repetitive. Sometimes, I like to throw something really different into my routine.

Today, I discovered the New York City Ballet Workout. It was playing on OnDemand, and since exercise > laziness, I decided to give it a try.

I am not a ballerina.

I definitely learned how not-graceful I am this morning! The workout isn’t bad, but it’s going to take a few times through for me to be able to keep up with the movements. When I’m not being awkward? It’s great for working on my balance and coordination.