May 18, 2010

Per Jodi's requirement, I was to do some type of Yoga or T'ai Chi video today in preparation for our run tomorrow and to get me energized after dealing with the food poisoning. So, I thought, what a great a time to open up that dusty copy of Sunrise T'ai Chi that I ordered a Ming Dynasty ago. It was the only video that got great reviews from beginners (me) and alittle above beginners (what I want to be). Now, I'm not a complete beginner going in to this not knowing what T'ai Chi is all about. I took T'ai Chi classes at 24 Hour Fitness a couple of years ago and LOVED it. I have a bad back and it was great for it, whereas Yoga made me sore for weeks. I really loved being at peace and moving through the body positions, while the instructor says, "pick up the ball." It's great for visualization and breathing...oh and strength. You never feel like you are doing a great deal of work until the end when you are beat down exhausted and sweating like a pig.

Consequently, I was really excited about finally watching and doing my video. I picked Sunrise, because my original goal was to do it at the dropzone before everyone woke up (I tend to wake up earlier than everyone, but not because I like to at all). However, it probably would have been better to get the Sunset T'ai Chi video since it's obvious that I'm more likely to do this at home after work. I can't get up any earlier than I already do during the week and there is no sunlight.

The guy on the video said it was okay to do this at sunset, as well as in a house as long as there is light shining through. I mean really, how are people supposed to check this video out in the middle of a park unless their laptop is fully charged? Do they even have a laptop?

I popped in the video and clicked PLAY ALL. Big mistake. Immediately, it took me to the guy on the cover just doing the T'ai Chi moves over and over without saying a word. I wasn't sure if I was to follow him or what. This went on for about 10 minutes. I eventually started copying the moves, but it's hard whenever you don't know them and you can't focus on the visualization or breathing. Then, the video went into the very long breathing sections without really saying anything. The major problem that I had with this video is that there was little to no instruction; there were sometimes where he moved to the next position without saying a word. It's kindof hard to know you have moved on when you have your eyes closed. After about 30-35 minutes of stretching and breathing, I started to get impatient about not doing ANY T'ai Chi moves like what I saw in the beginning. I went back to the Scene Selection part to just select a workout. I chose the 20 minute workout since I had already been at this for over half an hour. It basically did exactly what I just did only faster. At the very end, we finally got to the do those T'ai Chi moves, but still with no instruction on what this is, where to place my feet, or any kindof visualization to help me out.

I was disappointed. The Instructor in those classes that I took really broke down the moves one by one and then at the end, we put them all together as one fluid motion (similar to what this guy did at the beginning and very end). We also did stretching and breathing exercises before and after. Next time, I will just select 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or 60 minutes workout instead of PLAY ALL. And hopefully, they will give more instructions in the other workouts than what I saw in the 20 minute workout. Oh and by the way, if you are wearing long, black, silky pants, we can't tell that you have your heels raised at all. Oh wait, you have an incline thing under your carpet to help you out. You should probably tell us video watchers that you have that instead of me trying to squat all the way down wondering if my feet are supposed to be flat or if I can angle them.

Now, I'm not saying that I didn't get a workout. I did. My legs actually feel alittle sore, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Tonight, I'm back to running again with J squared. YAY!

And on a side note, Biggest Loser's Final Four contestants did a marathon last night on the show. I'm just doing a Half Marathon. My ego took a hit on that one, but it gives me (okay, really Jodi) hope that I will actually want to do a marathon after this whole thing. So, maybe the marathon in Morocco sounds like it might actually be a plan afterall.