DDR Update #1

Well, I'm here to give my first weekly update on my DDR experimental exercise plan. As it usually is when you just start out on a new goal or plan, I did pretty well this week -- even with a snow day thrown in. Over the past 7 days, I got in 5 workouts that were about 45 minutes long, on average. In fact, I don't think I played, uh, I mean, worked out, for less than 40 minutes any of those days. That's a good sign, right? It's helpful when your workout is fun and doesn't feel like "working out".

I would also like to report on what I PERSONALLY see as the most exciting news of the week: I'm officially on the Basic level! Now, this might not seem like noteworthy news for some of you out there, but I consider it a mini-accomplishment, since I've never played DDR before. The first couple days were much more about just figuring out how to move, how to hit the dance mat in the right places, and starting to build some muscle memory rather than actually "working out". The rest of the week was better in regards to the workout, though, as I started to get into some of the faster songs and the "endurance" tracks (3-4 songs combined into one long one), which got my heart pumping a bit more. Also, I would like to point out, as evidenced by the picture below - I got my first "AA" on a song! As you may see, the "Max Combo" is 126 - which I got. That means I got EVERY STEP in the entire song. Didn't miss a single one. Oh, and I got 90 steps "perfect". Yeah, it was pretty sweet. I've gotten two more of those since, woohoo! (And look how cool I look on screen.)

It's still too early to tell if there's been any real improvement physically, but I am enjoying feeling at least a little more active. I'm also feeling a bit better mentally, silly as that sounds. I think there is something to be said, though, for the act of creating a goal and then actually doing it. I've felt a lack of direction in life lately, and as small as something like this is, it's a needed step in my life right now. Back to DDR, though -- my biggest question now is to see whether doing this for 40-45 minutes a day will really help, or, if in order to start seeing "real results", I'll have to up my time. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. =)