Warning...this one is the longest yet.
First, once again I want to thank you all for your words of encouragement. Not only do I think you’re all amazing and inspiring, but my trainers do, too! Some of them have read my notes and are so impressed by all of you for being so supportive. I’m shedding a little emotional tear right now because I am truly thankful and blessed for knowing all of you.
Today started as usual with breakfast at 7am. So far every morning I am exhausted and sore, even if I’ve had a good night’s sleep, but worse than that, I still have a little bit of fear over what is ahead that day. I’m always anxious that I won’t do as well as I should or that it will look like I’m not really trying very hard. That’s just me being hard on myself…it’s a character flaw with which I have to live ;-P
The first workout of the day was one of Amber’s yoga classes (Amber…what’s your style of yoga called?). It’s TOUGH! Happily it was in a room in the fitness center in the office so I didn’t have to hoof it as I usually do to the office -- l haven’t quite got my timing down right so I’ve been a couple of minutes late a few times (I really hate that…it’s so rude!). I figured out (while I was struggling to rise into the umpteenth “downward dog” position) that the reason I’m having so much trouble with all these yoga/abs/core workouts is because most of the fat weight is in my abs/core….aaaargh! I just cannot do a proper pushup, or even the “knees-bent”-style of pushup, and I can’t touch my toes NOT because my leg muscles are too tight but because my big, disgusting stomach is in the way. I need to get rid of that thing. Did any of you see the musical “Full Monty”? There’s a scene where the chubbiest of the male dancers sings a love song to his belly (hilarious!) because he knows he should say goodbye to it. Well, I’m not loving my basketball (that’s what it looks like, y’know, a friggin’ basketball) at all and I want to SHOUT IT OUT. So, whatever I have to do to get rid of that first is my priority.
I must make a slight diversion…Danielle, who works with Chef Robert, just delivered my meals for tomorrow. YUM! Egg scramble with ham, bell pepper, cheese & breakfast potatoes, Chiliquelas with turkey, sour cream, beans, cheese, tortillas, and fresh salsa, AND grilled SIRLOIN (!!!) with roasted potatoes and vegetable medley. I was gonna save the sirloin for last, but since the chiliquelas has beans in it, I’ll have that tomorrow night to spare my trainers and fellow Campers any involuntarily escaped bodily functions. In general, I find pretty much all bodily functions to be quite gross. And let me tell you, when you’re eating right and exercising, you definitely notice a change in some of those bodily functions.
After finishing up with yoga, I had a few minutes to relax and get myself organized for the day (because the first time I did it before yoga this morning I was spastic and forgot some important things…like water, and my wallet!). I walked to the gym (I keep calling it the office…it IS my full-time job at the moment!) with a little bit of anxiety about the “Bike Ride with Marco.” Well, not the part about Marco…he’s great and I knew he would watch out for me. I was mostly nervous because (a) I can’t remember the last time I was on a bicycle….at least 20 years, I’m sure; (b) I didn’t know how far we were going ‘cause I knew we were going to be away from the gym for nearly two hours and was worried I couldn’t keep up; and (c) I think many of you know that my younger brother Patrick was only 16 years old when he was killed while riding his bicycle on the side of a road in Marrero, Louisiana; he wasn’t wearing a helmet and he had stayed far enough off the road to avoid speeding traffic, but apparently a drunk driver swerved very far off the road and hit him (it was hit-and-run; no one has ever been arrested for this crime). Had he been wearing a helmet, there’s a chance he might have survived, as he did have some internal injuries but I understand it was his head injuries that caused his death. He would have been 42 last November. So, the fact that we were going to be sharing the road with cars and trucks was a little scary to me, and I wasn’t sure if I would be coordinated enough to do it all. The Camp provides bikes and helmets for us, so I just had to find the one that was short enough for my height, but then had to adjust the seat for my legs…this took a bit of finagling with Marco and typical me was worried about holding everyone up. Finally we get started. I said my usual, “Dear God, please get me through this” and followed the leader. Michael, one of the campers, has done the ride a few times so he led the way from the gym to the Pacific Coast Bike Path which parallels the Pacific Coast Highway. To get there we had to ride on the sidewalk and “thread-the-needle” a few times to get around sidewalk signs, bus shelters, or people! I managed, thankfully; it’s true what they say….you never forget how to ride a bike! Very quickly (although it seemed like forever to me since it was my first time), we arrived at the part of the main road where a bike lane started and thus there we go, sharing the road with crazy CA drivers! Actually, it wasn’t bad at all; I’m being silly ;-) We get down to the Pacific Coast Bike Path and we’re on our way. At the point we joined the path it was about the 15-mile marker; we travelled north. There were 6 of us riding today, plus Marco. Four of us were experienced campers and thus were able to get ahead very quickly. I had them in my sight for awhile, but once I lost Jeni, that was it! In the meantime, Marco stayed behind with another camper who had an old knee injury that was affecting his ride, so I found myself alone for about 3 miles. This was OK…I was concentrating on my ride, staying in the lane, and taking a few glances left and right to see the sights (all while maintaining a good speed and my cardio-zone rate, of course!). We passed Venice Beach. I cannot wait to visit this on my own. It looks a lot like the French Quarter and the French Market in New Orleans with all the craft shops, tattoo parlors, music shops, vintage clothing stores, etc. To the left was an even better view….the ocean, with Santa Monica Mountain (I think?) in the distance. It was a beautiful day, thankfully, and I just loved seeing and hearing the waves crashing along the beach. There are birds all along the coast. At one point there was a huge flock which “lifted”, rather than flew, and then settled down again, in slow motion. Seriously…it was like I was looking at a film in slow motion. It reminded me of the giant waves of surges that I’ve seen in Bermuda when out on the WildCat Catamaran….hah – it was fun when we went over those – Grabbed some air, baby! There was a group of condos that all had spiral staircases right next to each other, so it was as if there was a competition to see whose staircase was the most architecturally beautiful or silly or whatever. I liked the bright yellow spiral staircase the best. I kept going without stopping; I couldn’t see Jeni or Michael in the distance nor could I see Marco and Brian behind me. What I could see in the distance was the Santa Monica Pier – HELLO! Rollercoasters & Ferris Wheels! I HAVE to go do that on a Sunday (when it’s warmer, of course) ‘cause I love rollercoasters! It was pretty far off though and silly me hoped that I would find the leaders waiting there for us…maybe doing some crunches or squats in the sand. Hah! I finally get there and keep going and going and going. I did pause to catch my breath and meet up with Marco ‘cause I wanted to know where the end was. Normally we would have gone all the way, but after we passed the 20-mile marker Marco had Brian and me stop to catch our breath and turn around. As there was a time constraint (had to be back at the office at noon) we weren’t going to make it to the end, which was another 3-5 miles ahead, I think. That was OK with me, ‘cause I was tired and my ASS HURT! OK, not really my ass, but you know what bones I’m talkin’ about, don’tcha? You know…the ones that sit on those teeny little bike seats. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to find anyone to massage that sore spot. I’m pretty sure I’m bruised down there!
We turned around, and wouldn’t you know there was a headwind. Horrors! I thought I had done pretty well by then ‘cause I knew we had gone about 6 ½ miles without any trouble other than getting tired. WELL! NOOOOO, my first bike ride just HAD to be difficult, didn’t it? Alright, so I’m pushing the pedals harder, trying to fiddle with the gears to get it to the best resistance to push against the wind, and seriously praying to God, “Please put Your Hands behind me and push.” I was alone again for a little while and I swear I was weeping occasionally because I was so physically exhausted. Marco and Brian caught up with me and I had to stop for a quick breather. After that we kept going and Marco commented about how pretty it was out there, at which point I said that I couldn’t wait to write about it. I also can’t wait to take some photos! That’s kinda hard to do when I’m holding on for dear life to the handlebars. I’m pretty sure I took another quick little breather, and then FINALLY made it to our entry point. There was still no sign of the lead pack but Marco assured me that Michael was leading the way and they knew to return back to the gym on time. So we kept going…back onto the road and the bike path, sharing again with those drivers, and then suddenly we were back on the sidewalk and before I knew it we were back at our street and at the gym. I calculated mentally what we had travelled, and while I was exhausted and my butt bones STILL HURT (they still hurt now as I’m sitting on the sofa and typing!) I was gobsmacked with myself because we rode 13 miles round trip, and then I was really proud of myself because I had never ever done that before! And I survived! And you know what?…I liked it. It felt good to be riding, feeling the air, seeing the ocean, the sights…I really liked it. I thought about a couple of the other campers who I usually see heading to the gym on their bikes in the morning, and it made me think that, “Hmmmm, I can get to the gym faster and maybe I won’t keep getting that cramp in my left gluteus medius since I’m usually trying to rush to get to the gym.” So once I returned to the lounge area for lunch, I asked Vernon, one of the bikers, about his purchase. Before lunch, I overheard Jeni (sorry, I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping ;-) say that she had lost another 9 lbs in one week; and it was the end of Week 5 for her. It was so exciting for me to hear that! I get excited when the Biggest Losers contestants have big numbers like that. And of course it gives me hope that I can do as well. I watch all of the campers who are like me and who have been there longer than I and I want to be at least at their level in the same time span. I mean…Jeni runs at the beach! Yuck! I have no desire to do that, but I do want to get up to the level where I CAN do that. Anyway, I am thrilled for her and I am hopeful that I’ll have some good numbers at my first weigh-in…whether it’s inches or pounds (because after all, it’s losing the INCHES that will get me into smaller clothing, baby). We had lunch and a group meeting with the counselor, Claire, which finished in an hour, so that gave me an hour to go SHOPPING – for a bike! Just like the athletic shoe store, the bike shop gives Camp Technique campers a 10% discount, so I went in there, said I needed a bike, helmet, lock, computer, and bike shorts. They set me up with a bike that has a NICE SEAT CUSHION, so when I rode it and went over bumps or potholes, it didn’t hurt so much! I’ll take a picture and post it. I made it back on time for the next training session, Group Circuit with Marco.
I know I mention Marco a lot but it’s mainly because I have had the most training sessions with him. I hate to say he’s my favorite because there’s something special about Amber and Eric that I love, too. At this point I hadn’t trained with Schuyler or Arleigh yet, although I did have a 1-on-1 session with Schuyler scheduled after the circuit with Marco (and I was anxious about that, too, ‘cause I’ve seen him be tough on some campers!). Anyway, Group Circuit in this instance was 4 or 5 women doing cardio and then working specific muscle groups on various machines or equipment. I was on a machine new to me today…a rope puller (OK, I forgot to look at it to see what it was officially called). I sat facing the thing, and there’s this big fat rope on a pulley system in front of me. The exercise was simply to continuously pull down on the rope; this worked my upper back and arms. Well it certainly wasn’t SIMPLE to pull down a rope for 2 minutes without stopping, and it was set on the “easy” setting. A couple of more exercises and then back on the treadmill for cardio. We repeated that round and then Marco had us get on the mat and do pushups. OK, what did I just say earlier….that I can’t do pushups! BUT, he had us do them on those giant exercise balls. I still stated (with my mouth open in shock), “I can’t do that.” He made me do it anyway, and guess what, I sort of did it. We had to roll forward on the ball so that it was under our hips/thighs and our hands were forward, and then we had to push down to the mat. It was hard, but I managed a few of these so-called “pushups.” As I’m writing this, it reminds me that that is the second time I said, “I can’t do it” during an exercise so I’m NOT GOING TO SAY THAT ANYMORE. Back to another round, and this time when Divya and I were on the rope machines, mean ol’ Marco comes and puts the settings on 5 (on a scale of 1-7, with 1 being easiest) and made us go THREE minutes this time. Of course both of us moaned out a growl and I told him, “You’re not my favorite anymore, you big meanie.” (No, I don’t really mean that!). We finished up the Group Circuit with some boxing, and I do enjoy doing that, but it still sucks the life out of me. The whole time we’re working with Marco, I was occasionally glancing at Schuyler who was working with Alex, an elite female marathon runner. Of course he’s working her very hard, but she is accustomed to it, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be doing the same workout. Even so, I was still a bit anxious about what was to come.
Well, no need for that!!! Just as I was needlessly afraid of the exercises that I thought Amber would have me do a few days ago, Schuyler was well-prepared for me and knew what my level was and thus there was no reason to be anxious. I was still concerned about my heart rate. It was perfect during the bike ride but during parts of the Circuit it was getting up there, and I was going right into Schuyler’s session. He was aware of that and kept it in mind the whole time. He also asked what I’d like to do and since I had just done upper body work with Marco, I suggested leg work, and we went with that. Schuyler was great. He already knew about my knee surgery and wanted to be sure that I had no pain as a result….and I didn’t. The only thing weird that happens with my knee is that some of the nerve endings on my knee never came back or ended up in a different place, so some parts of it are numb to the touch and if you touch it on the outer part of the knee, I FEEL it on the inside! Strangeness ;-) Anyway, Schuyler kept me going for a full hour with some really good leg work and we managed to chat and laugh a lot. And thus the last workout of my day left me tired but in good spirits.
Time for my 4pm meal and a chance to get to know Josie, a Camper who just started today, and chat with a couple of other campers about our day. We were also waiting on our schedules, so I was cooling down, but I was anxious to get on my shiny new bike. They arrived, I said g’bye to everyone, and headed home. Well, what a delightful experience that was on a new bike with a cushy seat (my butt bones were thankful!). I would say that I can’t wait to ride it again in the morning, but guess what…..we have Boot Camp first thing (this is when they take us to the beach for walking, running, or drills) in which they’ll pick us up at the apartment complex and then will return us to the gym – I’m not quite ready to ride my bike to the beach yet so I’ll have to walk home tomorrow. Awwww (feel sorry for me? Don’t. I know that every walk that I do is helping. Tomorrow is a busy day AND my first weigh-in!!!!!!! OHMIGAWD! I don’t know what to expect and I don’t want to hope for anything (but you know I am hoping). I’m not going to say what I hope the results will be. The weigh-in happens after the morning walk at the beach so it will be a chance to burn a few more calories. Later there’s abs/core work, which you know is tough for me, but since abs/core is now my top priority, I’m going to give it my all. Then there’s swimming again. Yaaaaay! I’ll try to do an extra set of laps…I did 34 last week so I’ll shoot for at least 36 this time. I’m also looking forward to Nutrition with Karen since she’s a hoot (yes you are, Karen!) AND my second massage. Yippee! But uh oh, I see another boot camp on the schedule at the end of the day, and I’m sure it will be a doozie. That’s OK. I’m feeling motivated and inspired – by your support, by Jeni’s results, by a pretty good bike ride, by knowing that the trainers are really looking out for me.
Have a great day everyone, and thanks again!
