A Celebration at the Gym

It's been a long while since I've graced the doors of the gym considering the last time I worked out was before my knee surgery. I'd like to say I've missed it and really I guess I have, but I've also enjoyed sitting on my couch in the evenings and just generally being lazy. I'm enjoying it while I can because soon I'll be released from the doctor and won't have a good excuse to sit at home instead of breaking a sweat down at the YMCA. 

Tuesday night, I made a surprise appearance at the Women on Weights class. Monday was our trainer Josh's birthday and I thought it would be fun to surprise him with some goodies at the gym. I got in touch with two of the girls I work with who also take the class and asked if they wanted to pitch in. One made a cake, the other made some cookies and I made some Buffalo Chicken Dip and got a small tray of sandwiches from Jimmy John's. 

I gathered up the various goodies and arrived at the gym around 6:45 p.m. just as the girls were finishing up their last exercises. I do believe that Josh was super surprised. He had no idea I was coming, much less that I was coming with goodies in tow. After the girls finished up, Josh blew out a candle on his cake and we commenced to eating. Sadly, Josh had another client at 7:00 p.m. so he wasn't able to hang out with us for long.; but, we all had a good time stuffing our faces at the gym and celebrating Josh's birthday. 

Musings From The Gym

Not much is going on this week. I've just been busy working and other than that, there's not much to really tell you about. So, I thought I would just fill you in on some musings from the gym, or at least that's what I'm calling it. 

Last night after our training session, we were chatting with the trainer about foods and she told us the best thing to drink after a work out is chocolate milk. I've heard this before, but never put it to practice. She said it helps to keep your metabolism going and also feeds your muscles the carbs and proteins they need after a workout. So, you'd better believe I stopped by the store on the way home and bought some chocolate milk. I mean, I've always been a lover of chocolate milk, but now I actually have a good excuse to drink it!

There was a guy at the gym last night who was lifting weights while we were warming up on the treadmills and each time he lifted he let out the biggest and loudest grunts you have ever heard. It almost sounded like he was going to die or something. I don't understand this. To me it seems like if you have to grunt that badly then you are probably lifting too much weight. It's also not attractive in the least. So, dude, if you are trying to pick up women at the gym, you are out of luck as long as you are grunting while lifting weights. 

Josh the Trainer, who filled in while Beth was out of town last week, is going to write some guests posts for the blog, or at least he says he is. We were chatting about why women go to the gym, why women quit the gym and various other gym topics and he said he wanted to blog about it but he doesn't have a blog. So, I told him that he could guest post on my blog because goodness knows I haven't been the best blogger this year. I told him that there were days when I had writers block or just didn't have anything to write about and that it would be awesome for him to fill in on such occasions. So, hopefully he will put together some entertaining posts for us. I look forward to reading what he has to say and to also seeing whether or not I and you agree with him. 

Finally, our Women on Weights class at the Downtown Huntsville YMCA needs one more person to sign up in order to have another session. The session starts Tuesday, July 30 and takes place on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:00 - 7:00. Childcare is available until 7:30  as well. The cost for the six weeks is $75 for members and $85 for non-members. If you live in Huntsville and are interested in joining, please contact Beth at the Downtown YMCA. The phone number there is 256-319-9622. This class is really great and the three of us who hope to continue on with another session really hope we can find someone to join us. So, again, if you live in the Huntsville area and are interested, then please contact Beth. Oh, and you have to be a female - it is Women on Weights, after all. 

A Few Paragraphs for Wednesday

I got an email from my Aunt Linda today and she basically threatened to disown me if I didn't step up the blogging. Okay, she didn't really threaten to disown me, but she did encourage me to churn out some posts. She has been stuck at home with pneumonia and is living vicariously through my posts, bless her heart. So, in hopes of staying in her good graces, I'm just going to ramble on about nothing in particular today.

Another day in 2013, another death. I am not even kidding, y'all - one day after writing about knowing seven people to pass away in the last two weeks, an eighth person I know passed away and then my Aunt Linda told me about another person who I did not know directly, but I do know her father-in-law. I've never quite experience anything like this before. I am certainly hoping there is a break in this pattern soon.

In a completely random turn of events, Tony was in town this week and was at my place of employment on Tuesday as a customer. I won't go into all the gory details as to why he was here because that's boring and you probably wouldn't even know what I'm talking about. He had told me last week that he was coming in and as it turns out he had to interact with our old boss whom we both dislike. I did not see Tony while he was here, he was hoping to be able to stop by and say hello, but as a visitor, he has to be escorted and he wasn't able to shake his escort and I don't have access to the area he was in so we weren't able to say hello. I did, however, get a few emails and texts from people who were being nosey. I don't know if they were concerned I might stab Tony with a plastic fork from the cafeteria or burst into tears or what, but it cracked me up each time someone asked me about it. One guy said it was like seeing a ghost - that was by far the funniest comment of the day. I guess when you come back to your former place of employment it's like you're a rock star because Tony said he got stopped by a lot of different people and some people stopped by to say hello who he wasn't even close friends with. I think we have both gotten a laugh or two out of his visit.

In case you didn't know, it's raining again today. If I'm ever home during the hours of daylight, I will try to snap a photo of the house across the street from mine. It always floods in his backyard when it rains but this time it is more flooded than it has ever been before and honestly I can't even tell how bad it is, I've only seen the glistening water in the moonlight and am myself curious to see it during the day. I usually leave before the sun comes up and am home after the sun goes down so it will most likely be the weekend before I'm able to take a photo, if I remember.

Sunday night, my cousin Chris and his lovely wife Amy sat with me at church and when we left it was pouring rain. Chris was talking to someone and Amy said to me, "Chris will get your car for you." I told her that was okay because I'm single and used to it. Long story short, she had me wait around to see if he would offer and when he got done talking, he looked and her and said he was going to get the car and ran off which had us both laughing because clearly, he didn't offer to get mine. He did drive me to my car, which was nice. I'm not used to such first class service!

Today a work a girl asked me how much weight I had lost and I looked at her like she was crazy - um, none! Apparently I need to wear this same outfit every day because she kept going on and on about how nice I looked. I said, "Well, I sure am glad I ran into you today!" I need someone to light a fire under my backside and get me motivated to get back to the gym. I did really well the week I was on vacation and also the first week of the year but then with all the funeral visitations and hosting Bible studies, and going to the vet, etc. I just haven't had time to get back on a regular schedule. I had signed up for a Women on Weights class at the Y and paid for it a couple of weeks ago. It's a small group of women only that work with a personal trainer for six weeks. Then, on Monday, I got an email from the instructor and she is having foot surgery and will be in a cast for eight weeks and she could not find a substitute instructor. So, the class has been cancelled until she returns from surgery. I was really counting on these sessions to get me back in a regular routine and now I'm going to have to just count on myself. I always feel much better after being at the gym, getting there in the first place seems to be my problem and this weather sure isn't helping things.

I think this is all I have for today. Hopefully this will be okay for my Aunt Linda. Everyone stay warm and dry - it's an almost impossible feat these days!

A Change of Gyms

ave been going to the same gym for a couple of years now. I call it a ghetto gym because well, let's be frank, it's pretty ghetto there. I signed up when they were running a special of $300 for a two year membership with an option to renew yearly at $150 per year. I renewed back in March when my contract was up but haven't been happy there for a while. The place is far from what I would call clean. It's often stinky, which I can somewhat overlook because it is after all a gym, and the bathrooms are pretty gross as in I wouldn't want to step on the floor barefoot. Sometimes in the summer the air conditioner will go out and it will take weeks for it to be repaired, and the staff isn't really all that friendly. It's rare that the person at the front desk will say hello and I've been taking the same spin class from the same instructors for over two years and they still don't know my name... and one of them has even been to my house to watch a cycling race when he was without cable!

To top it off, most of the people that go there get on my nerves. I don't know any of the people who just come to lift weights or whatever but the people in the spin class are rather snobby with the exception of about four older men who are always nice and say hello and can carry on a conversation that doesn't revolve around booze. The instructors, you see, are all in their late 20s or early 30s and are still living it up like they are in college, which is really not very appealing to me. Plus, they all drink energy drinks like they are going out of style which says to me, I drank too much last night and I need a boost to teach this spin class. I am of the belief that energy drinks are terrible for you so it's a little disconcerting to see a physical trainer pounding one every day. Oh, and did I mention the parking lot is full of pot holes and isn't located in the loveliest part of town?

OK, I think that does it for my complaints about my old gym, at least that I can think of right now. When I signed up I mainly wanted to see if I would actually go to the gym before actually delving into something more expensive. Needless to say, I've become a little un-enamored with the place as of late; not that I was ever over the moon about it before; and, after seeing the lovely facilities at D1 recently I came to the realization that I should do myself a favor and move on to a better gym, even if it does cost me more each month.

So, after lots of thought and lo, even budgeting, I decided on the YMCA. There is a downtown location which opened a few years ago and I had toured once with Erika. I knew it was a nice facility and is located less than two miles from my house - I can ride my bike there! I was originally planning to get the membership for the downtown Y only, but after talking it over with some co-workers who are Y members, I decided to go for the whole kit and caboodle. We get a (very small) discount through my employer and since I work in South Huntsville, which is close to one of the other two locations, it made sense to have access to all Y locations.

Monday night I took a spin class at the downtown location and was one of two students in the class. The instructor said it's been a little odd lately with people being out of town for vacation and what not. I think they usually have a bigger crowd. The class was completely different from the spin classes to which I am accustomed. The way they do it at the Y will definitely take some getting used to. I'm used to techno music and having a set track for each song (mountains, terrain, sprints, intervals, etc). The class on Monday night was really random. The instructor just played some music and there wasn't any structure to the songs. It was a lot different; hopefully I will get used to it and not hate it.

Tuesday night I tried out a class at the Southeast Y that was called HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training - and it was really great. The class was pretty hard core and similar to the sessions at D1. Each week the class is different so you never know what to expect. There was some running and I just trotted or walked during the running parts because 1) I was exhausted and 2) I DO NOT want shin splints again any time soon so I am going to take it easy on the running for quite a while. The instructor was upbeat and enjoyable. I will definitely take this class again and have plans to make it my normal Tuesday afternoon routine. It starts at 4:15 so if I leave work about 10 til 4:00, I have plenty of time to make it to the Y, change clothes and have a breather for a couple of minutes before getting started - and I get home before 6:30, which is an added bonus.

Other than some slight disorganization with the front office at the downtown location I have so far enjoyed my experience. The Y offers a large variety of classes and the Southeast location has a pool, racquetball courts, and basketball courts. Both locations offer childcare, which comes with the membership; but sadly, no canine care. I guess that's how it goes.

I shall keep you posted on how things are going but as of this moment, I think the Y and I are going to have a very lovely and long-lasting relationship.

It Was Fun While It Lasted

I know you are just sitting on the edge of your seat wondering how things are going with my workouts at D1 and I'm here to tell you that it's going absolutely nowhere. Try not to be too disappointed. Actually, it's okay if you are because I am and misery loves company or something like that. I've tried to spare you all the details of my attempting to rehab my shin splits because a rotating routine of icing down my shins, wearing sexy compression sleeves and massaging BioFreeze on the sore area of my legs does not make for good reading material.

As you may recall, I bought the Groupon for one month of workouts at D1 and had every intention of going as many days as my schedule would allow. I had grand plans of five days a week workouts and looking super toned at the end of one month and then the shin splints came. I don't know why it is but every time I've been cursed with shin splints, it has taken a sweet forever for them to heal. The last time I had them I ended up at the orthopedic doctor because I was in so much pain I thought I might have a stress fracture. He prescribed what was basically a strong form of Advil and told to stay away from running for a month until they healed - advice I suppose I should be following now as well.

I tried to push through the pain in week two at D1 but it just wasn't possible. Each time I did a jumping jack and landed on my feet it was like electrical needles were pricking the front of my legs. Running was completely out of the question and running is what takes place about 50% and sometimes more of each session. So, while all the others were running drills and having a grand time, I was stuck on the sidelines on the elliptical watching - it was my own personal TO moment. (You know, TO, Terrell Owens - when he was injured and would be on the sidelines riding the stationary bicycle during the game? No, you have no idea what I'm talking about? OK, then, never mind).

I stayed away from physical activity the latter part of what was week two at D1 and then did the Cotton Row on the following Monday. Since I walked, I didn't have much pain in my shins and I iced them down afterwards and tucked my lower legs away in compression sleeves the rest of the day. I thought I would be okay to return to D1 on Thursday, the last day of May. I had ordered some new shoes (old shoes can be a contributing factor to shin splints) and had compression sleeves on and went outside for a practice run before I headed over to D1 to make a fool of myself and sit out another session. Much to my disappointment, the feeling of electrical needles pricking the front of my legs came charging back as soon as I took my first running step in the yard. I wanted to run in the yard since there is turf at D1 and the yard is more comparable to the turf than the road. I was crushed. It is obviously going to take much longer for my shins to heal than I expected and I was suddenly made aware of why I gave up running for the bicycle - I don't have to deal with injuries like this.

To top things off, I asked about what the price would be after my one month Groupon expires - it's $180 a month! Call me crazy, but that's a little steep. The girl I talked with said she could let me pay $160 a month - um, still steep. Look, I know a personal trainer runs around $50 an hour and in a sense you are getting the benefit of a personal trainer but in a group setting, which I happen to like better because all the focus isn't on me. When you break it down, it doesn't seem as bad. After all, if you went to four classes a week it would end up being around $10 a class each month, which isn't too bad, especially if you think of it like getting a $40 per hour discount on a personal trainer. If I made enough money to comfortably afford the $160 a month then I would absolutely do it; but I don't really have the privilege of spending that much money when I already have a membership at another gym. I think it would be well worth the cost and I would love to do it, but I'm having a hard time justifying the expense - especially when I think that if I set that money aside for just two months, I could buy a pair of duo boots that would actually zip up around my 19.5 inch calves! Yes, you read that right, 19.5 inches! Not to mention that if I stay injured half the time then it would be like throwing money away.

The gym I have been going to for the past few years actually has some group sessions that are similar to D1 but probably not as intense and definitely do not include running because there's no where to run. So, I think I will inquire as to the cost and might join one of those groups. In the meantime, I'll be returning to my normal routine of multiple spin classes each week and hopefully I will have enough discipline to add in some walking/jogging as well as some much needed core work. Needless to say, I'm disappointed that this little venture of mine did not go as planned; but, that's life. What's important is that I'm healthy despite having a large derriere (thanks a lot maternal DNA!). Any thoughts?

I Had a Case of The Mondays

I have probably used that title before or something close to it, but that's how it goes when you've been blogging for over three years and you really love a line from a movie. Sunday night I thought about blogging multiple times, obviously, thought about is the key phrase as I didn't post anything. That's how it goes sometimes; I guess you could say my case of the Mondays started on Sunday night when I couldn't get motivated to write anything.

As mentioned last Friday, I took the weekend off from working out (and lawn mowing for that matter) and rested my sore shins instead. So, Friday night I finally had an opportunity to go see The Avengers. I had anxiously been anticipating its release and had been busy with other things the past two weekends and did not have a spare moment to go see it until this past weekend. It did not disappoint. It was just as good as everyone said it was and I enjoyed it immensely. A movie review will be up later this week. 

On Saturday, my dad came over early morning to repair the storm door at the back of my house. I mentioned a while back that I thought I might have to have it replaced; but, fortunately, my dad was able to replace the door handle instead. The best part is it actually works! My dad isn't the best at repairing things, even he will admit this and he was also quite impressed with his door repair abilities. I believe his exact words were, "It works! And it locks too!" It was a pretty exciting moment. Saturday afternoon I got a haircut (nothing drastic, just a good trimming) and then made a stop by Publix and Dick's Sporting Goods. I had to pick up some athletic tape at Dick's which I plan to use tonight on my shins (yes, they are still hurting!). Saturday evening I went over to my friends' Blake and Honey's house and had dinner with them and their two kiddos. We were entertained by dancing and hilarious comments from the kids. Where do kids come up with this stuff? Dinner was meatloaf, lima beans, corn, and broccoli casserole, all of which was quite good. I know most people aren't big fans of the meatloaf, but I do enjoy it! 

Sunday was the same routine as always, church, nap and church again. Sunday night, however, I was in for an unplanned and unexpected treat. Jackie had sent a text while I was napping that her nieces were in town. They had gone out to Bridge Street Sunday afternoon and wanted me to come along but because of my extreme napping abilities I wasn't able to join them, but we met up for dinner after church that evening.  We ate at Sam and Greg's which is one of my favorite spots. My lovely cousin Alexandra was working that night too so not only did I get to see Jackie's nieces (and Jackie and the kids), but my cousin too. Jackie had ordered a large pepperoni and a small cheese and then we decided it might not be enough so I went in and ordered a medium sausage. Then they messed up the pepperoni and made a large cheese but gave it to us anyway. So, we ended up with way more pizza than we needed, but we all got to take some home. It was so good to see the girls - they both live in Illinois and so we don't get to see them very often. I was glad for the opportunity to spend some time with them.

All of this brings us to Monday, which is today (as I'm writing). I haven't felt so swell today and am not sure why. The pain in my shins has been pretty intense today and also my knees are hurting, I'm assuming thanks to the rain that came in as I have arthritis in my knees and they always are achy when a front moves through. To top things off, my stomach was achy all day. Basically it's just one of those days where I would like to have been at home doing nothing in particular, especially considering it was a really slow work day and I'm sure I wouldn't have missed out on much by not being there. I stuck it out though because I'm a trooper or something like that.

After work Monday I went to D1 and spent the next hour being tortured. Y’all, I cannot even explain how badly my shins were hurting when it was over. I was close to tears – and I taped my legs! When I got home, the power was out and so I used all the hot water in the hot water heater to soak for a while. Just as I got out of the bath, the power came back on and I was able to eat some dinner and then ice down my legs for the next hour. It’s now 9:00 and as soon as I post this, I’m going to bed. I lead such an adventurous life!

Hope you all had a great weekend! I don’t know about you, but I for one am looking forward to this next weekend when those of us who work get a holiday. Thrilled – seriously, I am thrilled about a day off! Have a good Tuesday!

The Third Night Didn't Go So Well

I really don't think there's much worse than having a crick in your neck. Well, I guess in reality there are a lot of worse things than that, but man is it annoying. I had a crick in my neck all day Thursday and applied BioFreeze multiple times to my neck and upper back to no avail. I finally broke down and called the chiropractor because it seemed to get worse throughout the day rather than better and I wanted to see if he could work out the kink so to speak before I had to endure another grueling hour at D1. He was able to locate the source of the problem, popped it and I’m not ashamed to admit I may have let out a little scream. It still hurt, but not as bad as it was hurting before.

Wednesday was my off day from training and I was really thankful for the break. I still had a lot of soreness on Thursday, but not as much as Wednesday, which was a blessing. My shins, however, were apparently hurting more than I realized because when I got to D1 on Thursday night, I could barely walk or run the pain was so intense. I had to sit out most of the running and the leg drills because there was no way I could have made it through. It felt like needles shooting up my legs.

When we moved to the weight room and worked on arms, I did all of that work because I wanted to accomplish something while I was there. When I got home, it was another Epsom salt bath to pull out some of the soreness and then I wrapped my shins and my neck in ice in an effort to help alleviate the pain. The guy who was saying “looking good out there” was back on Thursday. He asked me something and for the life of me I cannot remember what. All I remember was saying that my legs were killing me.

I’ve sadly decided to take Friday and Saturday off from working out. Sunday is my normal day off so I will have three days of rest before I start a new week. I had planned on going back Friday and Saturday but at this point, I think my shins could use the rest and hopefully with any luck I will be ready to give it 100% on Monday.

That's about it as far as updates are concerned. Don't forget, you have only a few hours left to enter the book giveaway that's going on this week. Just leave a comment on this post. A winner will be announced Saturday morning and with only four entrants so far, your chances are looking pretty good. I hope to have another review and giveaway up soon. If not next week then the week after; so stay tuned for that.

I certainly hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Apprently I Look Like A Football Player

Y'all, I am so upset! I had written a really long and glorious post about my second day at D1 and ghetto mail deleted it. We use Gmail rather than Outlook at work because it's cheaper and our company is all about the cheap. I refer to it as ghetto mail because it is in fact, ghetto. So, now, I have to try and replicate what was a super long post that I had been writing periodically throughout the day. I can't even remember how I had started it; so, instead, I will start how I was ending it because that's where my train of thought was when ghetto mail deleted my post.

Moving on, Kimberly asked in one of her comments, "What does D1 stand for?" I don't really know the answer, but I think Division One, as in NCAA Division One; a lot of Pro and collegiate athletes train at D1 facilities. D1 is, after all, the place for the athlete - please don't laugh when you think of me going somewhere that is the place for the athlete. OK, just kidding you can laugh because I do. The #1 rule is "Athletes Only" which makes me laugh every time I look at it. The facility in Huntsville is owned by Philip Rivers and Condredge Holloway.

Tuesday I was a little sore, but not too bad, which is exactly what I told the trainer when she asked me on Tuesday night. Then she said we were going to work on legs and I wanted to flee the premises, but alas, I stuck around for some hard work.

I walked around the field before class got started just to loosen up my legs since they were a little sore, from the running on Monday I guess, and passed by a group of maybe four kids practicing football drills with one of the instructors. I was wearing a NY Giants T-shirt and a bandana around my head. You may know that my signature piece of clothing for working out is the bandana. This one kid who had been talking each time I passed looks at me and say, "Hey, do you play football?" I said, "Me?” and probably had a look of bewilderment on my face. He shakes his head yes and I said, “No, why?" To which he replies, “Well you have that thing on your head," and he rubs his head indicating a bandana. I said, "Oh, well, I wear this to keep the sweat off of my face, you know what I mean?" and gave him a little pat on the back. He said, "Yeah, I know what you mean." and that the extent of our conversation. I mean I know I’m as slow as an offensive lineman but do I look like one too?

The class got started soon after my conversation with the boy, We started off with two laps of jogging around the field, then around the field again extending one leg in the air after each step, then walking backwards and going down on hands with one leg extended in the air backwards (this is probably a terrible description) and then jogging again. I’m pretty sure I may have missed the last lap of jogging because I was so slow with the other laps. My dad has always said Parkers are slow and that has never been more evident that this week!

We did circuit training Tuesday night, rotating between dips with the large round weights, jump rope, squats with dumbbells and ab work with the weight balls. Then after that we went outside and ran sprints against a partner - I partnered up with some older women because everyone else was faster than me. Then we headed back inside for another round at the stations and then back outside for more sprints, lunges, and running sideways, which I like to call galloping, then back inside for a final run through the stations. It was a lot of work, but the hour went by quickly. Unlike Monday night, I did not feel like I could go for another 30 minutes. In fact, the trainer asked me a couple of times if I was okay. I’m hoping this was because my face is known to get scarlet red when I get hot/workout, etc.  rather than I looked like I was going to kill over. I was thankful that the hour was up and that I could go home and soak in a hot bath of Epsom salts, after which I laid on the couch in a fetal position for the rest of the evening. I was also concerned I might have shin splints on Wednesday as my shins were smarting and I am prone to getting them when I run. Thankfully the shin split fairly passed me over this time around.

I’m also sad to say, that my cheering section was absent on Tuesday night – no man on the sideline saying, “looking good out there.” Maybe he will be back on Thursday.

I was pretty stiff Wednesday morning when I got up, but not as stiff as I was, for example, when I worked out with the personal trainer at Riviera when I first joined there. That guy put me through some brutal weights and way too heavy if you ask me. I’m not going to kill myself the first week or so and I used only small weights (10 pound for the dips and five pound dumbbells for the squats). When I took a hot shower, it helped loosen up my muscles, but the longer I sat at my computer, the stiffer I got throughout the day.

I took Wednesday night off thanks to church services; but will be back at it again on Thursday evening. As torturous and grueling as these workouts are for a gal like me, I have really enjoyed it and after the month is up, if I can afford it, I will probably keep going. I don’t know how much the regular membership is; the Groupon said it was $180 a month (that was the value I should say) but I have a hard time believing that is the regular monthly price. If it is, then there are some really rich folks going there and I need to see about persuading one of the dudes to marry me! I also discovered last night there is a girl that works where I do that is in the class and I’m not being mean, but I really don’t foresee her salary being able to afford $180 a month. So, I’m anxious to find out what the real price is and am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to afford it because I have a feeling this training is really going to do me some good and I would like to keep it up.

I Survived Day One

Monday night I started my month of training at D1. I was nervous about how it would go, but was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out.

The class started at 6:00 and I arrived right at 6:00, maybe a couple of minutes after. I didn’t properly judge the traffic at that time of day and as a result, was running behind schedule. I signed the waiver form, which I didn’t even read, but it probably said something along the lines of I can’t sue them if I injure myself. Oddly enough, they didn’t even ask for an emergency contact.

I met up with the others on the field and since I was a little late, I had to jog around the field and then walk around the field to warm up; then I joined the others in sprints up and down the field. Then we did crunches and more sprints and running backwards and running with our knees up high – lots and lots of running. Then we switched out with another group who came on the field for running while we worked out with free weights. Now, I am not really good at working with free weights. I don’t really know how to properly use them and felt like a dope copying the others; but I guess I did okay. There was no one to show us what to do. The instructor was on the field with the other group and so we were left to our own devices. Speaking of the other group, a guy from church was also there. He has been going since July and said he really likes it.

After a while, we switched again and went back on the field for more sprinting, more crunches, and did I mention more running. After a while we switched up again and then at the end of class met up for more running, more crunches and some pushups to boot. Most of the others also used a night stick to beat on a bag for one minute at a time but as a newcomer, I wasn’t able to do that – maybe another time because I’m pretty sure I could let out some aggression on that bag!

The hour went by quickly. I guess being used to hour-long spin classes helped because it seemed like we were finished in no time and although I was tired and sweaty, I feel like I could have gone on for another 30 minutes or so.

Throughout the hour, I would periodically go drink from my water bottle which was sitting on a ledge. There was a man standing there and whenever I stopped to get a drink he would say, “looking good out there” or “good job.” Looking back on it, it cracks me up. At the end of class he asked if I got a good workout. I guess he was my own personal cheering section. Maybe he wanted to see the chunky girl succeed.

Afterwards, I came home, had some dinner, took some Aleve, drank a bunch of water and soaked in a bath of Epsom Salts, all in an effort to minimize tomorrow’s achiness. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.

It definitely wasn’t as bad as I anticipated it being. I might have been the slowest person out there, but at least I didn’t pass out or puke – although the thought crossed my mind a time or two. I’m heading back for more torture Tuesday night. I’ll let you know how it goes!

My Experience With The Personal Trainer

So, last night I met with a personal trainer at the gym I recently joined. One of the “perks” of joining this gym is that you get a complimentary session with a personal trainer. I really didn’t know what to expect, but kind of thought that we would discuss some of my goals and that he would develop a plan for me and I would go about my business. As it turns out it was a little different than that.

We did sit down for a few minutes and discuss my goals and reasons for joining the gym as I expected. Then we went over to the weight lifting equipment where I thought he would show me how to do some things and then put those items in the plan I thought he was going to put together for me. Instead, he had me hop on the equipment and do 20 reps of every kind of leg press imaginable. On one of the machines, he had 190 pounds of eight on it! 190 pounds! Seriously? Does this man not know how lazy I’ve been for the last 33 years of my life? But, I powered through – for seven minutes! That’s right, go ahead and laugh, because I laughed too! After seven minutes of this guy saying “one more” and “come on” and “higher” or “deeper” I couldn’t go any further. I thought I was going to vomit, pass out and die of thirst all at the same time. It would not have been pretty. Clearly I haven’t done much weight lifting/training in my day. In fact, yesterday’s seven minutes reminded me of why I quit playing softball – I hate weight training!

After the most excruciating seven minutes of my life, I sat back down at the guy’s desk and tried to catch my breath and keep from vomiting in his garbage can. My legs felt like jello and I was afraid that if I got up to walk that my legs would buckle under me and I would crash to the floor. I was able to muster up enough courage to go and get a drink of water from the fountain before I fainted or fell over from lack of leg mobility.

After the most wonderful water break of my life, I headed back over to the desk and we discussed what the best route for me would be. Unfortunately, he didn’t put a plan together for me like I had hoped. Basically, the whole “free session with a trainer” thing is to try and get people to sign up with a personal trainer, which would be great if I had money to throw around, which I don’t, so I won’t. If anything, yesterday’s session was a motivator in the fact that I need to get my butt in gear and attempt to get in better shape. I mean, seven minutes, really? That’s terrible and I’m ashamed that’s all I can do, but it makes me laugh too and it really does make me want to do better for myself and my health.

After the meeting with the personal trainer, I walked on the treadmill for about 20 minutes to keep my legs from getting stiff. They are of course terribly sore today and I am walking as slow as a turtle. I’m sure people are wondering what the heck is wrong with me. I’m heading back to the gym after work today and will be working on arms, which means that tomorrow I may not be able to walk or lift anything – that should be interesting. I’ll keep you posted on my progress and hope that I’ll be losing some pounds soon. One of the biggest things we all need when attempting something like this is motivation and I hope you will all keep me motivated through this adventure, and feel free to make fun of my seven minutes or the way I’m walking today at any time – I think we could all use a good laugh from time to time.