Day Thirty-Seven – Mom’s Here!

Today’s Workouts:
• Beach Walk (2 ½ miles, 1 hr) followed by ½ stretching
• Get Dunked (i.e., body fat % test)
• Swimming (1 hr, no fins this time, over 50 laps; lost count!)
• Massage!
• 1-on-1 Session (1 hr)

Hi, everyone, especially in Bermuda where I know you’re either drunk on the booze cruise or rehearsing a show or putting the finishing touches on your homemade kites and your kitchens smell good from the hot cross buns that are baking in advance of Good Friday. Hope you all have a good time! I’m really missing Bermuda for that right now. Back in the big city it was business as usual with cool temperatures but still clear skies for our Beach Walk and swimming later on. This time I beat my time to the pier by 30 seconds and this was WITHOUT Nicola pacing me. Marco was pushing us a bit but I truly did it on my own and am now patting myself on my back ;-) Before swimming I got “dunked” again. The results showed that of the 19 lbs that I had lost (lost another pound since Tuesday), 12 of them were from fat and 7 of them were from lean muscle. I wish it was more than that, of course, but I’m not going to whine about that anymore as I’m sure you’ve all heard enough of that! We headed to the pool, and this time Marco said ‘no flippers’ for me. Omygoodness! With the flippers on I get more resistance on my legs and I can get at least 64 laps done. Without them, I get tired more quickly and I can’t do as many laps. But, as I need to be pushed more and more each day, I went ahead. I warmed up a bit with the kickboard, but that just gets you nowhere fast! So, after only 4 laps of that and since my legs were tired, I put the buoy between my knees and worked arms. I discovered I actually like working my arms (and consequently, my back); I think they’re a lot stronger than I realized! I had to get some freestyle laps done, too, so I did them. And sure enough, I had to catch my breath at the end of each lap. Ugh! This is slowing me down! I lost count at some point after 46 laps; I know I did well over 50, but not up to 64. No matter, ‘cause what I did do was work in my cardio zone a lot more than usual. AND, I tried a couple of new skills. I tried backstroking for a few laps. I had no idea that that was going to use my legs more than my arms; my arms were fine but my legs were beat! At least I didn’t have to hold my breath and thus I kept a steady pace without running into my lane mate. I also tried the flip turn at the end of a lap instead of stopping and starting. I didn’t do it that often, but my goal was to try to get at least two laps done without stopping. Success! But that was it, baby….two laps at a time and then I had to catch my breath again. I think I just need a little bit of swim coaching to ensure that I’m using proper form and technique. Hmmm, might have to look into that before I leave. NO, I will not be doing any triathlons!

Back at the gym I had a counseling session with Claire followed by a massage. I always enjoy those sessions. The meetings with Claire let me air out any bad feelings if I have any….it’s better to do that in private with her than out on the gym floor. I’m an emotional girl and I freely admit I wear my heart on my sleeve, but if I have anger I try to keep it within. And the massages…well, what can I say about that? They just feel plain good and I wish they lasted for two hours instead of one.

After the massage I had only one more training session left as I meeting Mom at the apartment complex. I had a one-on-one session with Jason for the first time. Guess what he did? He made me do bicep curls with 15-lb weights! Aaaargh! But I did it. It was kind of cool, actually ;-) I’m very glad that I’m getting more weights. The hour went by quickly as they always do with the 1-on-1 sessions, and I headed home with apologies to Eric for missing his training session (i.e., Gym Boot Camp). In the 5+ weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve now missed, in total, only 4 ½ hours of training. No wonder I’m tired! I wanted to get home to straighten up a bit and finish laundry before Mom’s arrival. And I wanted to freshen up, too, ‘cause this was sort of like one of those interim reveals like the families on Biggest Loser get halfway into the competition. I saw Mom’s rental car pull into the complex and ran out to greet her…her mouth dropped wide open in the car. Yaaay! And now you can see what she saw, too…I’ve attached photos below. I still have A LOT MORE WEIGHT TO LOSE so I have to admit that I’m NOT THRILLED about posting this photo and letting you see how big I still am, BUT, I am absolutely delighted with all the inches that I’ve lost. Over 41 inches in 5 weeks is a lot and it definitely shows. I WAS going to post the “before” photos taken on my first day, but I just had a look at them and they are disgustingly scary. I will save them for the very end. I can say, however, after just viewing them and then looking at the ones taken today, the difference is AMAZING! Sue Rebello, don’t look if you don’t want to spoil the surprise in June!

I’m thrilled that Mom is here and will be joining me in the group workouts, including the HELL OF SAND tomorrow morning if it doesn’t get cancelled due to rain (aw, darn, we won’t get to do The Dunes if the weather is too bad. Aw, shucks…..). I can’t wait for everyone to meet her and see how young she looks (which explains why I don’t look or act my age ;-) She has already had her first meal and she can attest to how delicious it was (Vietnamese Spring Rolls with chicken….one of my favorites). As Mom is still on East Coast time, she has crashed on the sofa by now and it’s time for me to get ready for bed, too. It amuses me that I’m almost always in bed by 10:30pm every night. During my last few years in Bermuda, I almost never went to bed before 1:00am. I think I much prefer the earlier nights these days.

I know a lot of you have a day off tomorrow, and some have even had a day off today. I hope you’re enjoying your Easter or Passover celebrations and are looking forward to a fun weekend. In Bermuda, someone, please “go fly a kite” for me! I will be thinking of you all day on Friday.

Lots of love,
Donna