Day Forty-Two – Halfway There

Today’s Workouts:
• Beach Walk/Run (2 ½ miles, 1 hr)
• Abs/core (1/2 hr)
• Swimming (1 ¼ hrs)
• 1-on-1 Training Session (1 hr)
• Gym Boot Camp (1 ½ hrs)

Tuesday I woke up with some muscle aches that I had not had before…in my glutes and outer thighs. I wasn’t sure from where they came but I suspected maybe it was from the few spurts of jogging that I did on Monday. We headed to the beach for our walk/run. Thankfully the conditions were perfect….cool temperatures, slight breeze, low tide, flat, hard sand. This enables one to walk or run at a faster pace. I thought I might try a little jog, but mentally I couldn’t make myself do it, and then I was feeling a very slight pain in my right heel. However, about 20 minutes later, when I had nearly reached the pier (I was walking FAST), I finally got up the nerve to jog. Claire, our counselor and also a marathon runner, told me on Monday to keep my shoulders relaxed and let my hands drop by my sides, rather than holding them in fists and up high. I did that and went as far as I could. I get breathless VERY quickly though…I don’t think I lasted more than 30 or 40 seconds before I had to slow down to a walk and catch my breath. Nevertheless, I kept going, past the pier, towards the rock. I saw Jeni in the near distance and thought I would at least jog to try to catch up with her, but Schuyler wanted us to turn around so that we could all get to the van and back to the gym on time. Jeni is able to run almost all of the way; I’m working towards that…that’s over a mile each way. I can barely manage a few meters right now ;-) Anyway, I jogged to the pier and slowed to a walk, trying to catch up with Schuyler (who is very tall and thus has very big strides!). Eventually I just got determined and jogged to catch up with him. HAH! Now Schuyler knew I could run so he was going to make me do it. After I caught my breath and was able to have a conversation again, he said, “OK, let’s jog to the next lifeguard station,” and we did. Again I had to catch my breath, we walked a few meters, and as the next lifeguard station was approaching we jogged again. I think we did this four times until we reached the beginning of the beach. Even though I was completely breathless, I was very proud of myself. I swear I never ever thought that I would give jogging a try. I made the round trip in 47 minutes, too. That was awesome to me. When we returned to the gym and I exited the van, I felt those muscle aches even more this time. So THAT’S what’s causing them…the jogging! Oh no…I can’t have that. I tried to do some stretches which you know I usually can do with ease, but even these became difficult. OK, if I have to choose between being a jogger or being a rubber band, I’ll take the rubber band, please! I’ve been flexible my entire life and I do NOT want that to diminish (how many 43-yr-olds do you know that can do a perfect split or heel-stretch, hmmmm?).

After a killer (what else is new…) abs/core session with Marco, we headed to the Santa Monica College Swim Center. Again I wanted to push myself and try to get that flip turn down so that I could do consecutive laps without stopping. I wish I didn’t get out of breath so quickly. All I could manage was a full length, the turn, and then half a length before I had to slow down to breathe. I kept at it though, trying backstrokes, too. Those really wear out your legs! At least I can breathe the entire time and get ready for the next lap. As I’ve mentioned before, I like doing laps with the buoy between my knees so that I can work arms and back. Happily I was able to do a flip turn and complete a second length without stopping. Yaaaay! But then I was breathless again. Geez.

Back at the gym after lunch and an administrative meeting with Nicola, I had a 1-on-1 session with Eric. The first exercise went something like this…raise the Bosu ball over my head, bend over to put it on the ground, jump back into a plank position (still holding the sides of the Bosu ball), do a pushup, jump or walk both feet back up, then raise the Bosu ball over my head. I had to do that 15 times (plus two more sets of 15 reps after that!). Good Heavens, I must have put out a pint of sweat! I also did single-armed back rows with 15-lb weights. Whoooaaaa! There were other tasks, of course, but as I’m writing this day’s notes a day late, I’m probably still in a daze and not remembering everything. However, I am LOVING how all the workouts are getting tougher and more challenging.

I was supposed to an hour of cardio on my own, but I had to get my tax return extension filed. I’ll do the real thing in July. Because of the sale of my shares in eMoo, I have a foreign capital gain to report and on which taxes will be owed. I have NEVER written a check to the IRS before! In all prior years when I worked in the US, I usually received a small refund and while in Bermuda I never owed anything. I assure you, I did not enjoy writing that check. Nor did I enjoy going to the post office. There was an awfully long line, but happily I ran into two of the trainers who were filing their tax returns as well and they were using a self-service machine. Hurray…what could have been a 90-minute wait (thus making me miss my next workout) turned into only 15 minutes and I was back at the gym for the final workout. And it was a killer.

Marco had us on the mat first doing various drills in teams of three. Each drill had to be done for 5 minutes so within each team one of us could take a break for a few seconds and then jump back in so that another team member could take a break. There were three teams and I’ll just say that our team was made up of 3 40+ women. And we held our own against the men and the younger ladies. It was brutal, though, and that 90 minutes did not end soon enough! When I returned home I was too exhausted to do anything and fell asleep on the sofa while watching Biggest Loser (but I DVR’d it so now I know which contestant was sent home). This turned out to be a big mistake because I awoke at 2am, went to bed, and tossed and turned past 4am. Every toss and every turn hurt! My whole body was sore. More about that on Day 43’s note.