With apologies to the Buggles, and thanks to Brian for the inspiration of today's blog post title...
*Alarm Clock*---- Oh come ON!
Time for some unabated honesty. Yesterday SUCKED.
Class was great (with cheers to Megan), but about noon, I hit the wall. An unmovable, unrelenting, unclimbable, titanium wall. Everything seized. I couldn't move. I couldn't keep my eyes open. I couldn't even eat - I was so tired I was nauseated.
I got home after work, and I slept. And slept. And slept. Woke up for a couple of minutes, went back to sleep. Between 3:30 yesterday afternoon, and 9pm last night, I was awake for all of maybe an hour and a half. And you know what I learned?
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.....
I needed that. I didn't need food, or water, or even a shower. I needed SLEEP. So I let it happen. And miracle of miracles, I woke up this morning and everything sucked a whole lot less.
Oh I was/am still sore and I still wanted to throw my alarm clock through a wall, but I didn't feel like it was the end of the world and there was no way I could keep going.
Hooray! Breakthrough number 1.
(With HUGE kudos to my mother, who did my laundry, helped put my lunch and gym bags together, cooked me plain pasta with butter, salt and pepper which was apparently the only thing my body could fathom absorbing, and then telling me to stop fighting the sleep!)
SO back to the alarm clock - This morning I rolled semi-painfully (hey, my legs can support my weight again! That's cool...) out of bed, pulled myself together, and headed to class. Chris was beyond stellar once again. I told him I'd be a little slower today. He encouraged me to do what I could, pushed me when he knew I could do a little more, and gave me a well timed pat on the back to celebrate day 3.
It's also a lot of fun getting to know the others in the class. Folks have been asking about this blog - so I hope you ladies have found it! Welcome! And thanks for the encouragement. We'll see you again tomorrow... when we take on Day 4. Together.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Day 2 - Survival of the Fitless
*Alarm Clock* Nooooooo! *sob sob*
Snap, crackle, pop. No, I didn't eat Rice Krispies for breakfast this morning... those are just the noises my body made before my feet even touched the floor. Breakfast these days is a couple mouthfuls of vanilla rice milk with chocolate Vega protein powder and a teaspoon of flax oil. Woot. *sarcastic fist pump*
The second day of this adventure brought new people and new pain - (I have a muscle WHERE?). The gym was overpowered by the scent of "old man liniment"... but alas the origin of the odor was actually me. Sigh. Icy Hot, you've saved the day. Bring on the burpees. (If you don't know what a burpee is, consider yourself lucky).
Megan ran a totally awesome class today. I didn't push myself quite as hard as yesterday. It was more about working out the kinks from yesterday. Keeping things moving and stretching. Don't get me wrong, my heart rate was still up there, and the sweat was pouring, and I DID push... but part of this process is knowing your limits. When your muscles stop arguing with you, and it just becomes a flat out refusal - it's time to step back a bit.
Unfortunately, for someone like me, that's incredibly frustrating, so if you find yourself hitting a wall and getting discouraged - YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
This is kind of how the self-talk went today:
Brain: Hey leg, bend further.
Leg: Nope.
Brain: No really, we're supposed to be doing a squat to 90 degrees. BEND!
Leg: Screw you.
Brain: HEY! Listen up you limp piece of spaghetti, I said----
*Leg gives out and I hit the floor*
Brain: Fine. You win this round.
I am well aware that tomorrow will be the peak of the pain, and after that the recovery process will truly begin. Right now it's the rollercoaster pushing through the pain, feeling better, tightening up, pushing through the pain - lather, rinse, repeat.
So for the rest of today, it's all about proper fuel, hydration, recovery food, nourishing my muscles, and forgiving myself for not being able to keep up with the rest of the class this morning. Hopefully someone reading this will join the adventure at some point, and then THEY can be the new kid in class that feels a little defeated when they're not as quick, or strong, or tough. And then I'll be able to look at them, give 'em a high five and say "It gets better". Because I know it will. Tomorrow IS another day.
No picture today. You're welcome.
Snap, crackle, pop. No, I didn't eat Rice Krispies for breakfast this morning... those are just the noises my body made before my feet even touched the floor. Breakfast these days is a couple mouthfuls of vanilla rice milk with chocolate Vega protein powder and a teaspoon of flax oil. Woot. *sarcastic fist pump*
The second day of this adventure brought new people and new pain - (I have a muscle WHERE?). The gym was overpowered by the scent of "old man liniment"... but alas the origin of the odor was actually me. Sigh. Icy Hot, you've saved the day. Bring on the burpees. (If you don't know what a burpee is, consider yourself lucky).
Megan ran a totally awesome class today. I didn't push myself quite as hard as yesterday. It was more about working out the kinks from yesterday. Keeping things moving and stretching. Don't get me wrong, my heart rate was still up there, and the sweat was pouring, and I DID push... but part of this process is knowing your limits. When your muscles stop arguing with you, and it just becomes a flat out refusal - it's time to step back a bit.
Unfortunately, for someone like me, that's incredibly frustrating, so if you find yourself hitting a wall and getting discouraged - YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
This is kind of how the self-talk went today:
Brain: Hey leg, bend further.
Leg: Nope.
Brain: No really, we're supposed to be doing a squat to 90 degrees. BEND!
Leg: Screw you.
Brain: HEY! Listen up you limp piece of spaghetti, I said----
*Leg gives out and I hit the floor*
Brain: Fine. You win this round.
I am well aware that tomorrow will be the peak of the pain, and after that the recovery process will truly begin. Right now it's the rollercoaster pushing through the pain, feeling better, tightening up, pushing through the pain - lather, rinse, repeat.
So for the rest of today, it's all about proper fuel, hydration, recovery food, nourishing my muscles, and forgiving myself for not being able to keep up with the rest of the class this morning. Hopefully someone reading this will join the adventure at some point, and then THEY can be the new kid in class that feels a little defeated when they're not as quick, or strong, or tough. And then I'll be able to look at them, give 'em a high five and say "It gets better". Because I know it will. Tomorrow IS another day.
No picture today. You're welcome.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Day 1 - What have I done???
*Alarm Clock* ---- followed immediately by "Oh dear God why."
Chug protein drink.
Grab lunch bag.
Gym bag.
Work bag.
Feeling like a sherpa, lugging all this stuff around.
WHOOPS - I still need a change of clothes...
5am sucks.
The first little niggling of worry set in when the 5 minute warm-up almost did me in. That worry continued when after the warm-up we had to run around the two buildings outside and I thought my lungs were on fire. More worry when I didn't even understand Chris' explanation of our training circuit. (Side note - that's a "my brain-no-work-in-the-morning issue", not a reflection on Chris!) It sure didn't stop when I looked at the sheet and realized this was the first of 10 stations... my shaking legs were screaming obscenities at my brain and arms were wet spaghetti.
"I'm hooped" was all I could think. "I've bitten off so much more than I can chew".
But while I was telling myself how I wasn't going to be able to do it.... I WAS DOING IT. So I switched gears. "Try this on for size... It's day freaking ONE princess... Suck. It. Up."
The best thing about Bodynetix is that you're only competing with yourself. Yes, there are others there - many faster, stronger, leaner, fitter... but they've been at this for a while. They're a glimpse into your future if you stick with it. The ages ranged from about 20-70. Fitness levels on a scale of 1-10, of 1 (me) to 15 (crazy marathon runner chick, like seriously, why are you even here???)
I geared down and told myself that today, my goal is to survive. It's not to finish first. It's to get my bearings, give what I've got, and still want to come back tomorrow.
And then - it was over. While Chris counted down our last 30 seconds, the last 49 1/2 minutes disappeared from my mind. Day one complete. The strangest thing happened then. I THANKED him. We all did. It's like we've all got Stockholm syndrome - but the healthy kind! We thanked him for an hour of torture. And you know what? We'll all do it again.
For me - that 'again' is tomorrow. Day 2. The countdown is on.
Chug protein drink.
Grab lunch bag.
Gym bag.
Work bag.
Feeling like a sherpa, lugging all this stuff around.
WHOOPS - I still need a change of clothes...
5am sucks.
The first little niggling of worry set in when the 5 minute warm-up almost did me in. That worry continued when after the warm-up we had to run around the two buildings outside and I thought my lungs were on fire. More worry when I didn't even understand Chris' explanation of our training circuit. (Side note - that's a "my brain-no-work-in-the-morning issue", not a reflection on Chris!) It sure didn't stop when I looked at the sheet and realized this was the first of 10 stations... my shaking legs were screaming obscenities at my brain and arms were wet spaghetti.
"I'm hooped" was all I could think. "I've bitten off so much more than I can chew".
But while I was telling myself how I wasn't going to be able to do it.... I WAS DOING IT. So I switched gears. "Try this on for size... It's day freaking ONE princess... Suck. It. Up."
The best thing about Bodynetix is that you're only competing with yourself. Yes, there are others there - many faster, stronger, leaner, fitter... but they've been at this for a while. They're a glimpse into your future if you stick with it. The ages ranged from about 20-70. Fitness levels on a scale of 1-10, of 1 (me) to 15 (crazy marathon runner chick, like seriously, why are you even here???)
I geared down and told myself that today, my goal is to survive. It's not to finish first. It's to get my bearings, give what I've got, and still want to come back tomorrow.
And then - it was over. While Chris counted down our last 30 seconds, the last 49 1/2 minutes disappeared from my mind. Day one complete. The strangest thing happened then. I THANKED him. We all did. It's like we've all got Stockholm syndrome - but the healthy kind! We thanked him for an hour of torture. And you know what? We'll all do it again.
For me - that 'again' is tomorrow. Day 2. The countdown is on.
Puffy, Purple, and Proud.
(Incidentally - that's a picture of Edison in the background with SUCH an appropriate quote for today: "Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.")
(Incidentally - that's a picture of Edison in the background with SUCH an appropriate quote for today: "Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.")
Sunday, September 16, 2012
T'was the night before Christmas...
...except that it's September, and in this house there are lots of creatures stirring - apart from the cats, the butterflies in my stomach are quite active! I didn't know it was possible to be so simultaneously thrilled and terrified. Tomorrow morning marks the start of what I know will be an amazing journey and one I'm grateful to be taking, but it also means facing a lot of demons.
1) My general lack of fitness
2) My overall lack of preparation
3) My utter inability to function before 10am
4) How to incorporate my plant based diet into a training regime
Over the next 10 weeks, I'll be documenting my experience with the Bodynetix FitCamp, one of the toughest workouts in the Comox Valley I've been told. This blog is where I'll share my pilgrimage of pain, and hopefully in the end, it will turn out to be a triumphant celebration of fitness and health.
Okay - first things first, I've gotta toss some numbers out to the world, which is probably one of the more horrifying parts of this experience. I'll save the 'before' pictures, until I've at least made a little progress, lest I look at them and give up before I begin! :P
Weight: 147lbs
Waist: 34 inches
Hip: 38.5 inches
Chest: 40.5 inches
Bicep: 12 inches
Thigh: 24.5 inches
Calf:15 inches
Bodyfat %: Ugh...
We just finished prepping lunches for the week, and more than anything, I think that's what's keeping me mentally jazzed about this whole thing! Just filled our fridge with amazing food, and my mom cooked up some incredible easy stuff for me to grab-and-go. (Have I mentioned how awesome my mom is?)
Okay - it's off to prep the gym bag, get the morning smoothie ready to go ('cuz lord knows I won't be doing much at 5am) and then hopefully settle my brain to sleep. I truly do feel like a kid at Christmas. But Santa comes in the form of a merciless drill instructor. ;-) (Chris - if you read this... I'm kidding!)
1) My general lack of fitness
2) My overall lack of preparation
3) My utter inability to function before 10am
4) How to incorporate my plant based diet into a training regime
Over the next 10 weeks, I'll be documenting my experience with the Bodynetix FitCamp, one of the toughest workouts in the Comox Valley I've been told. This blog is where I'll share my pilgrimage of pain, and hopefully in the end, it will turn out to be a triumphant celebration of fitness and health.
Okay - first things first, I've gotta toss some numbers out to the world, which is probably one of the more horrifying parts of this experience. I'll save the 'before' pictures, until I've at least made a little progress, lest I look at them and give up before I begin! :P
Weight: 147lbs
Waist: 34 inches
Hip: 38.5 inches
Chest: 40.5 inches
Bicep: 12 inches
Thigh: 24.5 inches
Calf:15 inches
Bodyfat %: Ugh...
We just finished prepping lunches for the week, and more than anything, I think that's what's keeping me mentally jazzed about this whole thing! Just filled our fridge with amazing food, and my mom cooked up some incredible easy stuff for me to grab-and-go. (Have I mentioned how awesome my mom is?)
Okay - it's off to prep the gym bag, get the morning smoothie ready to go ('cuz lord knows I won't be doing much at 5am) and then hopefully settle my brain to sleep. I truly do feel like a kid at Christmas. But Santa comes in the form of a merciless drill instructor. ;-) (Chris - if you read this... I'm kidding!)
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