Days Forty-Six & Forty-Seven – First You Put on a Parachute, Then You Rest

Saturday’s Beach Boot Camp (1 ¾ hrs):
• Warm up jog
• Travelling stretching drills
• Walk/jog around the bird cage
• Shot Putting 10-lb Medicine Balls across 20 yards – 10 times
• Sprinting (hah!) 10 yds, shuffling 10 yds, sprinting 10 yds, shuffling 10 yds, bear crawling 10 yds, sprinting 10 yds – FIVE times
• Running 20 yards with a parachute attached to me – twice
• Final bird cage run
• Gym Circuit Training (1 ½ hrs)

Sunday’s activities:
• Absolutely nothin’ – Burn Out Recovery!

Even though I’m still having trouble sleeping and thus am not feeling as rested as I should, I was looking forward to Saturday’s boot camp because the weather was great and I wanted to redeem myself after LAST Saturday’s boot camp (not that I needed to prove anything ‘cause I busted my ass then, too). We had a smaller than usual group; not sure why. Perhaps it’s just because some people are finishing up their camp stays. We thought the film crew was going to be there, too, but they weren’t, so there were no distractions from that. We usually always start with a quick warmup from the sidewalk to the lifeguard station near the water’s edge; I think this is about 50-60 yards one way. Since I am now a champion jogger (hah hah) Schuyler was yelling at me to hustle. Geez, man, I gotta get my tunes on! Today I had Blue Man Group to keep me moving. Upon returning, we do these travelling stretches across about 10 yards. These are NOT easy, because you must work on your core/balance at the same time of doing the stretches towards the finish line. This always makes my lower legs ache. Next we did a trek around the bird cage (recall that it’s really a bird sanctuary but I like calling it the cage). My best time last week was 00:14:12, which was a whole minute off my previous best time. This time I jogged every now and then including not stopping from the final corner to the finish line. Ohmygosh, the ones who had finished were cheering for me – that felt sooooo good! And I was even more excited at the end….I did it in 00:11:46! A whole 2 ½ minutes less than last Saturday’s time. Woohoo! Who’s a crybaby now, hmmmm? You know, I REALLY REALLY HATED what happened last Saturday, but I think it did spur me on this whole past week. All I’ve wanted to do is just WORK OUT. No chit chat, no silliness, no goofing off, just work out. Following the bird cage run, we were split into two groups. My group had to take these small but heavy (10-lbs) medicine balls and “shot-put” them across about 20 yards, first with the right hand, run to the ball, then do it again with the left hand. Then we had to turn back and do it again to the starting line. And we had to do this 5 times each way, or 10 times total. Yikes. Ok, I really didn’t know what the heck I was doing, so I tried to envision the Olympic athletes doing it. As I recall they made faces and yelled at the shot put to make it go further, so I did the same. Meanwhile the other group was doing the next drill, and when we finished, we switched. OK, THIS drill involved sprinting straight ahead 10 yards to a cone, then shuffling 10 yards to the right to another cone, then sprinting (hah hah, sure I was “sprinting”) straight ahead 10 yards to a cone, then shuffle to the left to a final cone. But we’re not finished. Then we had to bear crawl (down on hands and feet but NOT your knees) to the 2nd cone, then sprint back to the first cone. And do all that five times. Well…I did pretty well with that and had a couple of minutes to kill. I was going to start back around the bird cage as we knew we had to do it again, but NOOOOO, Arleigh was lookin’ for some entertainment and wanted to see how the parachutes looked. Guess who went first – yeah, me, who said she would never run. Check out the photo for an idea of what it looked like. I wish someone had been able to take a pic just to prove that I was RUNNING. The thing was strapped around my chest, then I had to ball up the chute in my hands, start running, and then throw it behind me, with the goal being that it inflates and stays afloat. We found this really only works if you’re going against the wind. So, I RAN 20 yards, sort of jogged back, and then DID IT AGAIN. And THEN I had to do the bird cage again, with a goal of beating my previous time. Well, as Jeni and I were the only ones to don the parachutes, I think we should get a bonus of at least 30 seconds taken off our time! I was pooped and thus didn’t jog as much around the cage this time. When I reached the final corner Schuyler came after me to push me to jog the rest of the way, but I didn’t beat my time. But I think I have a really good excuse, don’t you? It didn’t matter to me, truthfully, because I FELT GREAT! I was really proud of myself for stepping it up another level on Saturday.

After a delicious lunch at the Catering Kitchen (steak and eggs, baby, and some yummy roasted, seasoned potatoes) we headed to the gym for our circuit training workout. By that time, I was absolutely busted, and every exercise which Jason assigned to us was ten times more difficult than it normally would have been – not because Jason made it more difficult, but because I was drained of all energy. My body was really crashing and burning by this time. The end of the workout could not get there soon enough, nor could I get home soon enough. I was so beat and was already thinking that I needed a day off. I have worked out 46 days straight without a break. I have only missed 6 hours of workouts in total for all of those days (keep in mind we workout about 37 – 40 hours per week). It was a gorgeous day today and I had aspirations of biking to the beach, doing the walk, and then biking back to the apartment, but when I awoke, there was not a single part of my body that wasn’t aching. Finally I just gave in and literally did nothing today. Not even housework -- although I’m going to do some of that now. I’ve been on the sofa almost all day except for having my meals and now catching up on Facebook and finally downloading music to and creating playlists on my new iPod Nano. While I’m still sore, the pain is not nearly as great as it was this morning, I’m not as stiff, and thus I am confident that I made the right decision to take a break. Damn it, I earned it! Now, I just HOPE that it doesn’t affect my weigh-in on Tuesday. That would just be cruel.

Since I wasn’t at the gym today I don’t know what’s scheduled for Monday, however usually I have a stretching, bike ride, 1-on-1 session, cardio, and gym boot camp on Mondays. I am going to finally do a spinning class this week. My friend Rolf suggested that spinning would help burn off more calories and fat, especially in my legs, and thus that would start making jogging a bit easier. I’m looking forward to that! I’ve never done a proper spin class. I HAVE been on a spin bike for occasional drills, but I have never done a full class. I’m not sure if the spin class will be on Monday or later in the week. I have just over 5 weeks to go. I really want to kick it up a notch now….I’m not even halfway to my goal (which is pissing me off!). By the end of this I need to be down a couple more dress sizes so that I can fit into a dress for Pam’s wedding…I’m totally going to treat myself at Dolce & Gabana or somewhere on Rodeo Drive, baby. But, only if I lose enough inches, and I still have a long way to go. I know that I’ve come a long way and I’m thrilled with my results, but over the next 5 weeks….I’m going to KICK SOME ASS!

I hope you had a fun weekend with good weather. It finally feels like spring is here and summer is finally on its way (‘cause I can’t stand cold weather!). Shelly Ann from Trinidad finds it too chilly for her taste, too – see, I’m not the only one!