Learning to Breathe

God granted me patience today. I arrived home a little early and was able to take a short walk (in fact, I should be outside again now!) and spend some time with the Lord. This week has been hard for me, not knowing what my afternoons would look like, and I was wearing thin. But that time alone and God's answering my prayer made the workout a pleasant one.

• Wall squat: extreme slow 3:30
• Body squat: 50 quick style (short pause at top and bottom, but quick down and even quicker back up)
• Glute ham: extreme slow 3:30
• Wall squat: 50 quick style
• Standing curl: extreme slow 3:30, 15-lb dumbbells
• Towel curl: 50 quick style
• Push up: extreme slow 3:30 on knees
• Towel front delt raise: 50 quick style

Somewhere during this workout, Will tried to teach me how to breathe correctly. Evidently it will help with recovery? Here's what I remember (I'm not a scientist and can't even begin to explain it as well as Will did): If you inhale and the air doesn't get down much farther than your chest, the oxygen likely won't flow effectively throughout the rest of your body. But if you inhale and the air goes into your diaphragm, or lower into your lungs, the oxygen gets into your red blood cells and can easily flow throughout your body; this allows you to recover better. The more you practice (for me, this could be while sitting at my desk at work, like 2–5 breaths every half hour or so), the more your aerobic capacity will improve.

Apologies if I've skewed this explanation some, but it at least helps me understand a little more the purpose of using your stomach to help you breathe.

No run today. So not motivated. It feels like the middle of the season.

Today after my workout with Will, I played tennis with Lucas (who lives in my neighborhood) and his friends Bart (a bike mechanic) and Drew. I was out for a walk to clear my head, and the three guys were down there. I asked if they needed a fourth, and then invited me to join. Fun times, for about 45 minutes. Then I went over to the Roberts’. Will is leaving Saturday and I wanted to spend a little time at least in their house; I like to see how different families interact. Will was packing, but it was fun for me to watch Bones with Nancy and listen to Bill talk about taking vitamin supplements.