- Today’s workouts:
- Beach Walk (2 miles, under 1 hr)
- Weigh-in & measurements
- Abs/Core workout (1/2 hr)
- Swimming (50 laps, 1 hr)
- 1-on-1 training (1 hr)
- Cardio (1/2 hr)
- Gym Boot Camp (1 ½ hr)
Today started off with a fantastic beach walk. The tide was low, the sand was flat, packed, and widespread, and the temperature was just right. It was so clear, too, that the pier seemed closer than usual. We were a small group for the walk, and the others were running, so I started as soon as we arrived to get a head start because they’d be waiting on me at the end of it all. Not far into the walk Nicola joined me and really picked up my pace. I made it to the pier in just under 25 minutes! Wow! So, I turned around as I normally do, and Nicola joined up with Fern who was jogging. I slowed down a little bit, but still tried to go as fast as I could without getting breathless. I had to stop at one point, though, because the sand was like a mirror and there was a small flock of birds whose reflections were nearly perfect on the sand. I couldn’t let this photo opportunity pass me by; I wish I had had my Nikon D40 instead of just the camera on my Blackberry Storm. I’ve included the photo below to the right; it’s really much prettier than it appears here.
I returned to the start of the walk within 50 minutes…my personal best. I did some stretching while I waited for the others (who were on their second jog to the pier!). When I joined them, Nicola said that it’s time for me to go further (i.e., past the pier) so I will try that on Thursday! Hopefully the conditions will be as good as they were this morning. It was just perfect! And actually, I’ve been wondering what’s past that pier ;-)
We went straight to Nicola’s office for my weigh-in and measurements. I had a feeling it was NOT going to be as good of a weigh-in as the previous three weigh-ins. I had been looking in the mirror and I didn’t feel that much different than the previous week. The pounds lost reveal that I’m consistent at least…another 4 lbs. That’s 15 ¾ lbs in 28 days. In inches, I lost another in my abdomen and butt and a little here and there, adding up to only 3 ¾ inches, my smallest loss. However, when you add all that together, I’ve lost over 34 inches in 28 days. That’s pretty impressive and I’m very happy with that.
I know that the reason I’m losing the most inches in my abdomen is because of all the “Abs/Core” workouts. These are BRUTAL! Crunches, reverse crunches, planks, pushups, scissor kicks, etc., etc. These are harder than anything else that I have to do (except for that dang Sand Dune) but they obviously work. We work on Abs/Core several times a day, whether as a separate workout or integrated into boot camps or other workouts.
I’ve mentioned that I want to suck out all that weight on my thighs so that I can make my legs move faster. Swimming is great for this, so happily we were heading to the pool as usual (Tuesdays and Thursdays). Alas…we forgot the fins and goggles! I can swim just fine WITHOUT the exercise fins, but I can swim more laps while wearing them. So, today, I did 50 laps, mostly freestyle, but also some with the float between my knees, which forces you to use arms only. Also did a few with the kickboard, but it was slow-going with that, which is why I did mostly freestyle. Doing the freestyle makes my heart rate go higher longer, but it was manageable. Meanwhile, Nicoletta (not Nicola) cranked out 96 laps – that’s a mile-and-a-half! See…this is why I need my legs to be smaller. Even WITH exercise flippers I haven’t been able to do 96 laps. I was pleased, however, with how well I did using arms only. I can feel my back getting stronger; actually I think it was pretty strong in the first place. It has to be! Have you seen my “girls”?! It’s a workout for me just to keep my posture straight to hold them up ;-P
After lunch and a counseling session I was meant to have partner training with Marco, but as Arnae was out today I had him all to myself. I love the 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 sessions with the trainers. They are all extremely attentive to all of us even when we’re doing a group workout, but with only 1 or 2 of us, obviously they can spend more time with us and have a critical eye. Today Marco worked my back and arms, and let me tell you, my triceps were DONE. Put a fork in ‘em! He increased the weight on a bar that I lifted. Sue (aka Miss Bermuda) had suggested to me that I shouldn’t think about the weight…just do it! And I did. I didn’t even look at the numbers on the end of the dumbbells or on the bar. There was one lift which I couldn’t handle so he modified it for me and I was able to handle the weight in a different position. I realized, too, that this was another challenge…more weight and increased repetitions. It feels great when I do try something harder and I can do it or at least almost do it. At least I tried! At the end of the hour, though, my arms were just busted, and I could barely lift my bottle of water to get a sip. Oh, I forgot to mention…EVIL Marco made me run! Aaaaargh!! I really, really hate running. Besides trying to carry all this weight on my knees, it just plain hurts “my girls.” They especially hate it when I run ;-)
I was meant to have an hour of cardio but I was absolutely drained. Besides that, I had a fun session (that went on longer than scheduled) with Karen, our nutritionist. She cracks me up. Nevertheless, I managed to get in 30 solid minutes of cardio on a treadmill before the gym boot camp with Marco started. But before that, we had to say g’bye to Amber ;-( Today was her last day, and as I’ve previously mentioned, she will be sorely missed. Amber has definitely challenged me and helped me to achieve things that I didn’t know that I could do. I’ve learned a lot about posture and exercising in general from Amber, too; this is invaluable to me and to anyone else that Amber has trained, I’m sure.
For boot camp, I think there were eight of us participating and Marco was pushing hard. I really need to learn how to do a proper pushup. No matter how hard I try, I cannot push myself up from the ground nor lower myself to the ground without plopping down hard. At the end of it, I was absolutely exhausted and I had nothing left in my arms (he did more arm and upper body work with us). HOW I was going to hold myself up on my bicycle I do not know! Before leaving Marco said that he was going to push me harder; I’m totally OK with that. I do feel like I’ve stepped up my game a bit and I’m ready for more challenges. Even that FREAKING SAND DUNE FROM HELL. I hated that damn hill but, dammit, I’m gonna conquer it.
Tomorrow I want to conquer the other bike ride. Marco usually takes us northward for a much prettier bike ride while Schuyler usually takes us southward on the bike path that has more hills and isn’t as pretty. Yesterday I finally made it all the way to the end of the northward path. Tomorrow I want to get all the way on the southward path. Before the bike ride we have circuit training – Lord, I hope my legs can do both! I also have 2-on-1 training, cardio, and another gym boot camp (I bet evil Marco will be back!). Tomorrow is April Fools’ Day, too. Gosh, I wonder if there are any tricks which we can play on each other in the gym? If you have any good April Fools’ Day stories, let me know. In Bermuda, keep an eye on eMoo. Every year someone tries to get a bogus ad through the approval process. Hopefully no harm will be done…just a few inconveniences ;-)
Have a great day, y’all!
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