Day Forty-Nine (Tue, Apr 21) – I’m Melting, I’m Melting!

APOLOGIES FOR BEING LATE....MY SHOULDER "INJURY" HAS PREVENTED ME FROM WRITING FOR A FEW DAYS. I MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN SOME DETAILS.

Tuesday’s Workouts:
• Beach Walk/Run (2.5 miles, 1 ½ hrs)
• Measurements!
• Swimming (1 ¼ hrs, only 36 laps due to shoulder problems
• Thai Stretch Massage (1 hr)
• 1-on-1 Session (1 hr)
• 1/2 hr cardio
• The Dunes (3-climbs plus 50 squats, 1 hr)

Let’s see, as I’m writing this 6 days late I hope I can remember everything. I was very excited that Amy was arriving Tuesday evening, but at the same time I was struggling with major pain in my left shoulder and left arm, especially in my shoulder blades. Running or walking is not a problem because my arm is always moving. It actually hurts more when I’m still and especially when I’m sitting at the table typing on my laptop. It hurts now, but after massages, acupuncture, and pain killers it’s a little bit better. Even swimming was no fun ‘cause whenever my left arm was in the water, the water resistance caused a sharp pain. On Tuesday I didn’t jog at the beach ‘cause the pain was dull but present enough to cause discomfort. I was anxious to get back to the gym because it was measurement day, and it would be the first measurement after I had stepped up to a new fitness level the previous 7 days. As always we start on the scale, and Nicola started at last week’s weight, then moved the bar to 4 lbs lower than that. The scale didn’t move. I didn’t BUDGE either…I was too surprised and didn’t want to move an ounce that might ‘cause the scale to register. Nicola moved it down another pound, and another, and still no movement. By then I was holding my breath. I couldn’t believe it. Then Nicola moved the bar another pound and the scale finally moved. I was in shock…SEVEN POUNDS. WOOOOOHOOOOOO!! I didn’t even care about the inches; I was just too happy that I finally exceeded 4 lbs in one week. We did the inches measurements, too, and I had lost another 4 ¼ inches, too. So, in seven weeks, I had lost 29 lbs and over 50 inches. I was thrilled.

My happiness was cut short once we arrived at the pool and I started swimming. Oooooowwwwww! The rotating of my left arm didn’t bother me, but the water resistance every time my left arm was under water was killing me. I did the best that I could but only managed around 36 laps. Even just using the kickboard with my arms not moving was MORE painful. It really sapped out my positive energy. Thankfully I had a massage coming up.

And what a massage it was. I know that Nina is extremely experienced and highly-qualified, but today I really found out why. She felt that instead of the usual all-over body sport massage on the table, a Thai Yoga (or Stretch) massage might help with my left shoulder problem. So, while everyone else was at lunch, Nina took me to the mat and stretched me in places that I didn’t know I could be stretched – and remember…I’m very flexible already! Yes, I kept my clothes on! I was poked, prodded, and stretched all over. At one point Nina kneeled on my glutes while digging her elbows into my shoulder blades. Another time while I was sitting up with my legs straight forward, she sat behind me, put her feet on my back, and then pulled my arms backward. It all felt GREAT; I LOVE stretching and being stretched past my limit. I imagine for the massage therapist this is very tiring to do; I will have to ask Nina. I know that I can get tired whenever I’ve given massages; Nina usually does 4-7 massages every weekday, and then on weekends she occasionally joins our boot camps or just works out on her own. She has an unbelievably strong but tiny body. I love her!

Following this I had a one-on-one session with Eric (v’ball player). I love working out with Eric…he infrequently uses weights but manages to come up with some new challenge for me each time. He respected that I was having upper-body issues so we concentrated on core and leg work. We finished up with a balance on the yoga ball. Someone did get a photo but it has not been sent to me yet. I got on top of the yoga ball on all fours and balanced without touching the ground. I managed to hold that for just over a minute. Then, to challenge myself even more, I lifted one hand…so both of my knees and only my right hand were on the ball; my body is in dog position…i.e., I’m not sitting my butt on my feet. The ball was shaking but I managed to hold on for about 10 seconds before losing my balance. I’ve mentioned before that I saw Sione on Biggest Loser do this with one knee and one hand and I want to be able to do that before I leave Camp Technique. I was very pleased with myself. I have to work on my “core” a lot; it improves posture, accelerates abdominal weight loss, and improves balance.

After a nutrition meeting with Karen and a late lunch, it was time for the “late” boot camp; sure enough, Marco took us to The Dunes. We had missed the previous Friday so I was anxious to do well in the one hour that we had. Regrettably I only managed three climbs in the hour, plus a lot of squats afterwards. I was anxious to get back though because AMY was arriving this evening! Yaaaaay! One of my best girlfriends from Bermuda was going to join me for a couple of days and experience Camp life. Amy was doing the meal plan as well, so while she elected to stay at a nearby hotel, she had her morning and evening meals with me at home. That was such a treat for me…I just love my best girlfriends! We had a good first visit and planned for Wednesday, which included yoga, the bike ride, hiking, and a beach boot camp. We knew we needed to get to sleep early to be well-rested and refreshed for Wednesday. I also tried to write my blog for Tuesday, but this is when the pain from sitting at the table and laptop became prevalent.

Sadly, my ongoing sleep problems were made more difficult by my shoulder pain. Despite taking a pain killer and a sleep aid (I’ve tried them ALL by now), the pain was present enough to keep me awake for a few hours, and as usual I woke up briefly around 4:30am. I’m really at a loss for what to do at this point. Read on to Wednesday’s blog to see a photo of what I did about that!