Days Seventy-Nine and Eighty (Thu & Fri) – The Light IS At The End Of The Tunnel

Thursday’s Workouts:
• Beach Run (2.25 miles jogging, 6 miles biking, 1 ¼ hrs)
• Progress Meeting
• Swimming (less than one hour, 52 laps)
• Final Nutrition Session
• 45-minute cardio
• 1-on-1 session (1 hr)
• Acupuncture

I awoke Thursday eager to give the beach run another try, so I rushed to get to the gym. As usual, however, breakfast was running late (we can either order breakfast and have it prepared and delivered at home the night before, or we can have it hot at the gym Mon-Fri. I prefer to eat at home so that my stomach has time to settle before the first workout) and most of the people in the group meant to go for the beach walk/run weren’t ready. Schuyler suggested that I bike to the beach…what a great idea! So, I did. I biked to the beach, jogged for about 45 minutes, and biked back to the gym. I had no trouble with the jogging…kept my heart rate pretty steady. Due to lack of time, though, I only jogged to the pier and back. I’ll try again on Tuesday and Thursday of my last week in Marina Del Rey. I had to get back for my final progress meeting with my coach, Marco, the nutritionist, Karen, and the counselor, Claire. We talked about what worked for me and what I want to continue to work on once I leave. I’m fairly confident that nutritionally, I’ll eat better than I ever have before, and I’ll be able to watch my portions. But I’m having some wine, dammit! In moderation, of course, but most of my Bermuda friends know that I was not a heavy drinker ‘cause I was usually driving my car. I have a pretty good cache of exercises that I can do for cardio training and circuit training, but I did mention that I felt my abdominals were my weakest area and I asked Marco to show me some more exercises for that area. And emotionally/mentally, I guess I’ve learned to not be as hard on myself as I usually was. I think we’re all our own worst critics, don’t you think? We should all try to cut ourselves some more slack.

After this we headed for what I thought was going to be my final swim of the camp. Even though Monday is officially my last day, I’ve obtained permission to join them on Tuesday and Thursday of my final week for the ride to the pool. I really like the swimming. It’s low impact, but if I keep going steadily without stopping, I can keep my heart rate in my fat-burning zone and burn some decent calories. So, I asked to go for two more swims, and I’m going to look for pools in Virginia, San Antonio, and New Orleans while I’m visiting there. Any Saltus swimmers in Bermuda reading this? I need to chat with you about going for a swim there – unless there’s ANOTHER pool somewhere in Bermuda where I can do laps. The ocean’s laps are just too long ;-) OK, back to Thursday’s swim. Catherine is a new client; she’s only 19 and was a varsity swimmer in high school. She usually swims in the fitness pool, so I asked if she didn’t mind if I split a lane with her because I didn’t want to have the same experience as I did on Tuesday. That worked out well for me. I was able to get lots of laps in. Catherine at one point said that I had good flip-turns. I was pleased to hear that ‘cause I only taught myself how to do that by watching others do it. She gave me a bit of advice about how to make it even better, and so I’m working on my technique for that. I told her, too, that I’ve always wanted to learn how to do the butterfly stroke, and she was more than happy to show me how. How sweet! Well, can I tell you (non-regular swimmers) that the butterfly stroke is HARD! Dang, it was difficult to coordinate my arms with dolphin kicks at the same time. I did it for one lap and that was enough for me. I felt and looked very awkward, I’m sure, but at least I know how to do it now. I returned to my freestyle laps and managed to get 52 laps in. We had to leave a little earlier than usual and thus didn’t have a full hour to swim. Grrrrr…. Like I said, I’ll just try again on Tuesday and Thursday.

Back at the gym I had my final personal nutrition session with Karen, who gave me my “maintenance binder” which we all get when we leave. It has loads of information, such as grocery shopping suggestions, portion sizes, vitamins and supplement info, and the recipes to our meals! That’s my favorite part. I can’t wait to start making these at home. You hear that Mom…I’ll do the cooking while I’m visiting! I’ll do some for you, too, if you want, Nan, and Arlene!

After this I had a 1-hour cardio session, so I decided I wanted to burn more calories by going for ANOTHER run. This time I went behind the grocery store across the street to jog on the path as I had done on Monday. Well…I was not as successful with this run as I was this morning. My legs were tired. I guess I ran for a total of 30 minutes and walked 15 minutes. Still managed to get about 2 miles done, and I did finish with jogging all the way to the gym. This had me warmed up for my 1-on-1 session with Marco. We did lots of various yoga ball and bosu ball exercises that incorporate both upper body and core/abs work. I do have my own yoga ball so I will be able to do these on my own. I think once I’m settled into an apartment somewhere I’ll get my own bosu ball, too. Marco took some photos of some of my exercises, and I’ve included them here.

Usually I have cardio & a movie scheduled for Thursday evenings, but it was not on my schedule, presumably because it’s so close to the end for me and I guess they’re tapering off my schedule. This was OK ‘cause I had a final appointment with my acupuncturist this evening. I actually wasn’t in any pain and was feeling pretty good, so I asked Dr. Chen to work on my left shoulder area just ‘cause it tends to get a little tighter than the right side. I also asked to have the cupping down, this time without the bleeding, ‘cause I really like how it feels. It feels like the cups are sucking the tension right out of my back. Dr. Chen took a photo for me, too.When I returned home, I was pretty tired so I only wrote one day’s blog. Still playing catchup right now!

Friday’s Workouts:
• 1-on-1 Session (1 hr)
• Bike/Run/Bike (9 miles biking, 1 mile jogging, 9 miles biking, 2 ½ hrs)
• 30-minute cardio
• Group Circuit Training (boxing and a few minutes with Mistress Nicola)
• My last massage ;-(

Friday is usually Sand Dunes day, but it was not on my schedule because (1) they know how much I HATE doing it and (2) I WAS going to have my final weigh-in and photos. Before this, however, I had my final 1-on-1 session with Marco, who gave me some more abdominal and core exercises. He also took a few more photos where I was doing some light-weightlifting while balancing on an upside-down bosu ball. Check out my one-legged heel stretch balance!

Following this, since I wasn’t going to the Dunes and I wasn’t going to do my final weigh-in and photos (‘cause I wanted a few extra days to try to lose another inch or two), I committed to doing a bike/run/bike. My plan was to bike 9-miles to Manhattan Beach (about an hour), jog for 45 minutes, and then bike back to the gym. Alas…the bike ride wore my legs out! I walked for several minutes, alternating with some jogging, so I guess I managed about 20 minutes total of jogging and several minutes of walking. Lesson learned! Gosh, how do you triathletes do it? I can see how the transition from swimming to biking isn’t to taxing ‘cause for me, anyway, I use my arms more when swimming, and then obviously I use my legs for biking. But you also need your legs for the run, and mine were whipped. Ah well…I will try again on Sunday, although I think I’ll jog on the beach first and then go for at least 15 miles on the bike.

After this we had lunch and then cardio on our own. Then, four of the trainers came out from a meeting “all gangbusters” – we were broken into four small groups and each group was assigned to a trainer. Jess and I started with Marco to do some boxing. Marco’s so cute when he boxes ‘cause his face really gets into it and you forget that he’s sweet Marco. Now he’s the Boxing Animal. I have my own gloves ‘cause I really liked the boxing classes, but I hadn’t boxed in at least four or five weeks due to my left shoulder injury which slowed me down for awhile. So, I had a little bit of trouble with some of the boxing drills, but it was fun to do anyway, if anything just to watch Marco’s face, hah hah. After 30 minutes of this, all the groups rotated and Jess and I were sent to Mistress Nicola. Uh oh! She was having us do leg work, and my legs were toasted after the bike/run/bike earlier followed by some cardio on the elliptical only 45 minutes early. Thankfully Mistress Nicola didn’t pull out her studded leather whip and I barely managed to get through her session. Next, we rotated again, but I was going for my final massage. Woohoo! I liked this kind of group workout though….I think it was going on for two whole hours without stopping, but since it was split among four trainers, at only half an hour each, it went quickly, I’m sure, and was rather exciting. Damn…I wish they hadn’t waited ‘til nearly my last day to do something like that ‘cause it was fun!

My final massage was not with Nina, unfortunately ;-( A second massage therapist has been hired because the gym gets busier in the summer. So, Nina was off today and the new therapist, Deanne, gave me my massage. If you have a regular massage therapist, then you know what it’s like the first time you start with him or her ‘cause he or she needs to get to know you a bit, and after awhile you don’t have to tell him or her a whole lot because he or she knows what to do. So, as this was my first massage with Deanne, it wasn’t quite as relaxed as I would have liked (not Deanne’s fault, it was me), and she has different methods from Nina, so it was different from what I was expecting.

Home on a Friday night. I still miss happy hour and the chance to catch up with friends. Since leaving Bermuda my Fridays have been quiet, and this one was no different. Since being at fitness camp, though, by Friday night I am wiped out and I usually just collapse on the sofa. Normally I would stay up a little later to catch a movie, but the Saturday schedule was changed and we were starting at 8am instead of the usual 9:30am. This was OK with me ‘cause I’d rather finish earlier, so I headed to bed quite early.

Hope you’ve all had a great weekend so far, and are ready for the holiday on Monday. Whether you’re doing the half-marathon in Bermuda or just hanging out with family and friends in the US, have a great time, and remember the reason for the holiday…to remember our soldiers, sailors, Marines, and Airmen (did I get them all?).