Day 16

I got my 400 swings done between teaching the kids this morning.  I then went for a 3 mile run.  The park is nice, with the leaves starting to turn the mountains look like a painting.

Total for the month:  5,600 swings.

Day 15

I'm over half way!  Today's 400 swings put me at 5,200!

Today I had to break it up.  Monday's are late nights.  The kids have music lessons then orchestra practice in a city that's over an hour a way.  We get back around 10:00 at night.  So on Tuesday morning we all sleep in a bit.  I also like to practice yoga on Tuesday.  After my long Monday's, I need it.  So today, in between teaching the kids, I did kettlebell swings.  I did 100 at a time, then I did some negative chin-ups on my bar.

For my swings, I've been doing 15 secs on/ 15 off.  1st 10 two handed swings, followed by 10 TR swings, followed by 5 R/5L.  I do 3 rounds like that, then finish with 10 more 2h swings.  That makes 100 in 5 minutes.  I had been wanting to do more 1 handed swings in order to improve my grip.  This month, because I'm doing high volume and coming off an injury, I'm sticking to 12kg.  When I do heavy swings, I use 20kg.  Someday, I would like to repeat the 10,000 swings using my 16kg, or at least putting it into the mix.  But I have a hard time with the grip for 1 handed swings with the 16kg.  So right now I'm trying to increase the number of 1 handed swings in order to improve that grip.

And I did get that yoga done.  I had a lovely practice using YogaGlo.com.  It was a practice with Jason Crandell called Yin & Yang.  It was a perfect practice for someone who does a lot of other exercising.

And my lovely day at home was topped off with a pasta dinner.  I topped my pasta with a mixture of roasted eggplant and peppers which were picked from my garden. And of course, a nice glass of red wine. :)

Week 3

I've been unable to keep up with blogging, but I'm still swinging!

My last post was last Tuesday,  and I finished out last week on Saturday.

Wed - Sat 1,600 swings

Today 400 more swings

Total
Week  1-- 2, 000
Week 2 -- 2, 400
Today 400 for a grand total 4, 800

Going into week 2

Sunday was a rest day.  I needed it.  I couldn't even bring myself to do a little yin yoga.  I think I was tapped.

Monday--I got up and did 200 swings, then went for a 3 mile run, then 200 more swings
Tuesday--Today was the first day on my treadmill because of the weather. I couldn't decide what to wear for the temps so I stayed inside.  I did 100 swings, run a mile  3X's, then ended with another 100 swings.

Total, so far for this week = 800
Month total = 2,800

Day 4 and 5

Yesterday morning I got up and right into the swings.  I did 400 swings, then I practiced 30 minutes of yoga.  It felt good.

This morning was a running day, so it was back to 100 swing warm up, run 3 miles, then another 100 swings.  I then had breakfast, which was so good.  It's pancake day, and since my husband got back from his run before I started, he made pancakes.  He also cooked some apples (from our tree) and I had the apples along with yogurt.  I then cleaned up, cleaned the bathroom and did 200 more swings.

5 day total: 2,000 swings.  Only 8,000 more to go. :)

Day 3

Much better routine.  So this morning I warmed up for my run by doing 10x10 2 handed swings.  I ran 3 miles, then did 5x20 swings, doing 10 2 handed and 10 transfer.  This afternoon I did another 200 following the same pattern; 10x10, then 5x20.  I like doing the transfer swings; I can feel the work in my core.

My hamstrings are sore.  I spent a lot of extra time stretching this morning, and I plan on some yin yoga tonight, focusing on my hamstrings and back.  My goal in all of this is to strengthen my core so I can get back to my regular kettlebell routine.  Right now, even body weight squats cause my back to be sore.  My back was sore yesterday from all of the swings, but splitting it up seems to have helped.  I plan on lots of TLC for my back while doing this.  My runs will stay easy and my yoga will stick to gentle flows or yin style.

Count so far 3x400 = 1200 swings total.

Day 2 of Swing Challenge

This morning was a running day.  I did 100 swings as part of my pre-run warm up.  I ran just 3 miles at a slow pace (about 12:00 pace).  I got home then did 300 more swings.  That is not going to work for me.  It took too much time and made me late in starting our school day.  I think, that on running days, I will do the 100 swings for warm up, come back and do another 100, then do 200 more swings later in the day.  It won't be hard to fit in 10 minutes in the afternoon, or even 2 five minutes.  I could do 100 swing before lunch and another 100 before dinner.

I'm also trying to do push-ups on my running days. I did 5 sets of 10, all on my knees.  And also on running days is my attempt at chin-ups.  The bar in just hanging in my kitchen and I try and do 10 negative chin-ups throughout the day.

So, day 2 is done.  800 swings so far.