Swim!

I see that some of my co-contributors are missing in action. That's cool. The holidays happened and we're starting a new year of shenanigans. I can only assume that all the other ladies are hitting the gym so hard that they scarcely have time to write about it. Right?

I've added a new element to my workouts: water. I used to be a very strong swimmer (and I think I'm still pretty great at it, even if the technical aspects of my strokes and my lung capacity have suffered over the years). My mom bought me a cute competitive swimsuit as an early birthday gift. I've wanted to start swimming laps again since I bought my YMCA membership, but I only had a bikini, and doing kick turns in a bikini is no fun (well, it might be fun for male lifeguards or any straight man with an aerial view, but not for the topless girl in the pool).

So far it's going well. I swam for an hour on Sunday and did two half-hour sessions yesterday, which were broken up by a lifeguard break. I hope to swim two or three days a week and supplement my routine with some weights and core work. Swimming is a sufficient aerobic workout for me, and it doesn't put any strain on my joints, which proved a problem for me on the treadmill and climbing machine.

I'm yammering on. What I really meant to do in this entry was post an awesome workout mix to revitalize and bring even more energy to your routine. As with all of the mixes that I meticulously craft, this is meant to be played in order. If you don't, it may affect warmup, cooldown, and the middle part of your workout, which is ass-kicking time:

1. Spoon "Don't You Evah" (3:39)
2. Spank Rock "Backyard Betty" (3:29)
3. Heartless Bastards "Out At Sea" (3:24)
4. LCD Soundsystem "Daft Punk is Playing At My House" (5:17)
5. Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi "Tightrope" (4:23)
6. Freeway & Jake One "Throw Your Hands Up" (3:43)
7. Los Campesinos! "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats" (3:33)
8. Raphael Saadiq "Keep Marchin'" (2:38)
9. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears "Boogie" (3:43)
10. Gogol Bordello "Think Locally, Fuck Globally" (4:23)
11. The Hold Steady "Massive Nights" (2:57)
12. The Wombats "Let's Dance to Joy Division" (3:11)
13. The Thermals "Now We Can See" (3:30)
14. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists "Walking To Do" (3:37)
15. The Roots "Adrenaline" (4:28)
16. Passion Pit "Little Secrets" (3:59)
17. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll" (3:42)

Total: 1 Hour. I know that's how long I usually keep my workouts.