Day Fifty-Two (Fri., Apr 24th) – I Ain't Afraid o'No Stinkin' Pile of Sand

Friday’s Workouts:
• Circuit Training (1 hr)
• THE DUNES (2 hrs)
• Donna – Acupuncture
• Cardio (1/2 hr)

After ANOTHER sleepless and slightly painful night, Amy and I arrived at the gym for our hot breakfast…French toast with strawberries, syrup, and sausage. Yum! Freshly made, it was delicious and filling – and only around 400 calories. Before subjecting Amy to the torture of the Hell of Sand, we had a group circuit. I find that if I work out before doing the Dunes or other strenuous tasks, I perform better. I think I mentioned that the Dunes were closed last Friday because the Parks Dept was shifting sand back up the hill, thus making the top of the hill a bit steeper. Apparently this must be done every few weeks since the sand is constantly being pushed down – which makes sense, although I’d be happy if it was just a plain ol’ hill without sand. The day was cooler and initially had little sun so that immediately helped with the first climbs. Once again, I must say that Amy kicked ass! By the time I was finishing my first climb she had already completed two and was heading down to start her third. I stuck to my pace of 40 or 50 steps and then taking a breather, however with each climb I slowed down. Happily my shoulder did not bother me much during this task because I was constantly moving my arms. The temperature did rise, but not too significantly; I don’t think it got over 70-degrees that day. We were there for two hours. Amy did tire out after awhile and took a break, but I’m proud to say that she did SEVEN climbs for her first time. That’s pretty damn good. I also managed 7 climbs. That is the same that I did 2 weeks ago so I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to at least beat that by one. I will just try again this Friday. Sig from Iceland did FIFTEEN of them (he’s only 31 and fairly fit); I watched his method and thought I might try it, but my body just has to take a break. Sig moves slowly, one step at a time, but doesn’t stop until he reaches the top. For me it’s a combination of catching my breath and giving my legs a rest that slows me down. Regardless, I will try for more this upcoming Friday.

Back at the gym, after lunch, Amy returned home to clean up and pack while I went to the acupuncturist again. This time Dr. Chen inserted needles in more places and let me relax under the heat lamps again. Then she did the heated glass cups this time, but before placing them, she used an automatic needle-thingy that created a slight pin prick in my skin. These pin pricks were stuck in the affected areas, and then the heated glass cup was placed over that. The vacuum from the cup and the pin prick caused me to bleed in those spots…but that was intentional. It was like being “leeched” like they did in ancient days. It was kind of cool! It didn’t hurt at all, and the cup that was directly over the knot under my left scapula (i.e., shoulder blade) expelled some nasty-lookin’ blood. It was thick and had dull color. I have found that the acupuncture and cupping treatments have made the pain more localized. I can pinpoint exactly where the pain is on my back and also where the pain is coming from and shooting to in my arm. So, there was progress. I scheduled another appointment for late on Tuesday as I missed three workouts as a result of these appointments this week and thus I didn’t want to miss any more.

Back at the gym, as my appointment went longer than planned, I missed my partner training session with Jason so I did some cardio before we had our Community Meeting. It was a love fest as it was last week. I don’t think anyone wants to say anything ‘bad’ or give negative feedback in front of all the others. Personally, I believe in “praise publicly, criticize privately” so I’d rather hear from or give any negative feedback to the person privately. One thing I will point out though is that Barbara, the bride from the reality show, was in attendance as this was her last day. I believe we all enjoyed having Barbara with us for the week. She was delightful and worked just as hard as the rest of us and it felt really special to me that she was willing to share personal thoughts and feelings with a bunch of strangers for a week. Barb also pointed out that even though the trainers are doing their job, she said that they don’t act like it’s a job because they all want us to achieve our goals. Interestingly, later on Amy said the EXACT same thing before I told her that Barb said that. So, trainers, staff, and owners of Camp Technique….Well Done! I usually feel pretty safe with the trainers; I know that they’re there to take care of us. I still have to remind myself every day that they’re humans, too, with their own lives outside of the gym, and being our trainers really is their job. Thankfully they do it well and it’s a credit to them that we don’t think of them as just doing their jobs.

The meeting ended with Amy returning just in time to say goodbye. She was dressed like a normal human being, and whenever one of us shows up in the gym in street clothes, it’s a big deal, ‘cause we all get to see how we look in real life. Of course Amy looked fabulous, Marco told her he was impressed with her, and all the others were happy to meet her. I was very proud of her just as I was of Mom when she visited two weeks ago. I’m very happy that Amy and Mom were able to share the experience with me. Amy and I returned to my apartment for a couple more hours before she had to leave. She also took a couple of photos of me to show my progress. It was great to have her here and I can’t wait to see her again in June!