Can you charge a fitness instructor with attempted murder?

Two words: Holy Shit.

Kait and I went to boot camp yesterday.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, other than getting my ass kicked, but it was an interesting experience. First of all, the instructors name was Boom. He was ripped as hell. His pecs were so huge, if you had a biggest boob contest I would have some competition. Of course, his are probably rock solid and mine are not. Anyway, Boom didn't seem very personable (I only knew his name because it was on the class schedule) but he was drill sergeant like - which you'd expect in a boot camp  instructor - and worked us crazy hard. My only dislike is he never went around correcting anyone's bad form and he didn't offer as many beginner modifications as I had hoped.

We started class by jogging around the room and since there isn't a clock anywhere I'm not sure how long we jogged for. I assume it was only for a few minutes but it felt like an hour to me.(Running/jogging is my worst leg of the Tri as you well know) So then we did some skipping/high knees/sideways criscrossy things (Sure there's a technical term but I don't remember) from one side of the room to another. There was a lot of mat work that involved crunches, planks, push ups, leg lifts... (and lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!) We also did stability ball work (again with plank type push up dealies) which was a bit of an issue because apparently one ball fits all and they only have huge ones. I mean I'm a short gal and to wrap my legs around such a huge ball is really hard! (Yes I know get the laughs out of your system, haha.) We also did upper body work with 5lb weights.

Nothing by itself was particularly too hard. I think there was only one exercise where I was like 'Uh, there's no fucking way that's happening' and it was push ups with your legs on the stability ball. Honestly if I had a smaller ball it would have been doable but I couldn't even figure out how to get myself into starting position without driving my face into the ground. "Just roll over the ball and onto your hands" my ass. But here's the thing, hard or not you are constantly doing something. Your heart rate is going crazy and you are sweating like every single drop of water is being rung out of you. I don't just mean me. Everyone was breathing hard, sweating, and struggling a bit.

Each exercise lasted 30 secs to 1 min and the whole time I think Boom gave us ONE ten second rest. Of course there was plenty of times where I just laid on the mat and prayed for mercy willing my limbs to keep moving. But all and all, we moved every minute for a whole hour. Kait and I traded 'I'm gonna die's' and 'fuck this guy's'  a whole lot and we had no concept of time because there was no clock so the hour felt like ten but we made it through.

I liked it.Yes, I enjoyed feeling like death was looming over my soggy potential corpse just waiting for my heart to burst or my body to spontaneously dehydrate. I can imagine why people get hooked because it was the rush I was looking for, that extra something to add to my training that gives me a gratifying sense of accomplishment. I knew that I worked as hard as possible and I was proud of myself for making it through the whole class. I can definitely see this being a regular Friday thing.

Kait and I will be trying Ab/Gut boot camp Monday with a different instructor and I have signed up for Cycle Circuit for Tuesday. I like the facility but the classes are no substitute for my training, which is going well enough. I feel like three classes a week will be a nice addition to my schedule and a great motivator. (They also have this class called Hammer Time which is done completely with a sledge hammer! I can't wait to try it!)

As for my weigh in today: I LOST 4 POUNDS THIS WEEK!!! :)

Can you Return Ebooks?

A long time ago, I used to have another blog. I love to read and I own way more books (17+ book shelves worth at the moment) than a normal person does... if they own any at all. But they are mine and I love them. So this blog used to be a book blog and I was babbling about my library and writing book reviews and basically just nerding the heck out.

I bring this up because I find that I'm spending my money on gym memberships, fitness equipment and books on training and fitness, when I used to go on book buying sprees frequently. Which is fine with me, as they are helping me in ways my fiction collection hasn't. So when I saw that A.J. Jacobs put out a book called Drop Dead Healthy, I decided to buy it. It was funny at times, boring at others but mostly interesting and while I understand he was on a quest to be "the healthiest man ever" (which took him a little over 2 years) I feel like I regret buying the book. Not that I didn't enjoy it. He did all sorts of crazy things that you wouldn't think of and he was trying to be healthy all around, like body part specifically and also emotionally. He looked into his sleep issues, tried to make his brain healthier, and he even went to a place that studies your sense of smell. He also wore a helmet for a while (a bike one) to protect himself at all times in case of injury. He tried different diets and worked with a trainer while trying any a bunch of other workouts, like pole dancing. So, overall he was going about being healthy in every aspect of his life.

But here's the deal. About half way through the book he decides, "oh I'm gonna do a triathlon." I bought this book not knowing this at all and I was excited to read another persons journey through the crazy training and time consuming life changer that is committing to a triathlon (be it the Ironman or just a lowly Sprint tri). I was so disappointed. Now he isn't as out of shape as I am so I guess he doesn't need 6 months to prepare like I do, but he mentions that he's been training, that is been time consuming and that's about it. He writes about the event and afterwards is like, 'huh that wasn't so bad, I'd do it again'. He didn't even seem excited about it. He also mentions that triathlons aren't really that "healthy" because of the potential joint damage and that doing one every once and a while is okay but serious tri hards are at risk. Well I think that being physical is better than doing nothing and alternating three sports is better that focusing on one and overworking yourself. I'm also a little ticked at the nonchalance he has towards the whole experience. Like training for a sprint is no big deal.

I know it's just a sprint triathlon but I'm working really hard. I'm expecting that crossing the finish line will be life changing for me. That triathlete Carrie will be far superior to the sedentary Carrie that started training in March. I'm even hoping that I fall in love with the sport and continue to train and be able to tell people, 'Yeah, I do triathlons, it's kind of an awesome hobby'.

I know that the book was supposed to be about being healthy and not doing a triathlon. I understand that not everyone who does them falls in love, and that their first race is also their last. But I know I'm working my ass off and even if I decide that my first Tri is my last I will always be proud of myself for committing to a goal and accomplishing it. (For example, "HELL YEAH I FINISHED A TRIATHLON!")

So my review of Drop Dead Healthy is this: Not a bad book. Pretty interesting. But when I buy a book like this I want to be inspired and I want to enjoy the ride along with the author and I just didn't find myself connecting with A.J Jacobs at all. Maybe it was because everything was from a man's perspective and maybe it's because of his ambivalent attitude towards triathlon but I guess personally I would give the book a "C".

Feeling Good

 Hello there all! Happy Monday! Things are going well. I have really been sticking to my plans and tracking my food faithfully.

I very apprehensively went to my WW meeting on Saturday. I felt sick to my stomach stepping on the scale, totally sure that my vacation badness was going to be represented by extra pounds. I don't really talk about my weight on this blog, that's not what its for, this is about my training and my fitness. But I am amazingly happy to report that I banked a 3lb loss for this week, bad BBQ and all, and I just wanted to share! Hooray! Perhaps I will report on my weekly weight ins in the future just to help show results, I mean I can't exactly prove to you that I am less winded while I'm jogging (I'm sure as hell not gonna put up a video of me doing so) and I am as proud of my weight loss as fitness gains so I guess we'll see. Just one more way to hold my self accountable.

Speaking of, quite a while ago (we're talking over a year) I saw an ad in a magazine for a motivational tool. It was a simple rubber bracelet (think "live strong"). It's black and in white lettering it says one word: selfdiscipline.  I bought one (again a long time ago) and it has been sitting on my shelf collecting dust. On Saturday, inspired by my small lb. victory, I decided to start wearing it again. It's so simple but so helpful at the same time. I keep it on my left hand (that's my eatin' hand) and I notice it constantly. When I pick up food, when I type, while I'm working out and it reminds me that the only person standing in the way of my success is me. I think it's supposed to be more food focused but it motivates me in all aspects if my life. Like when I got to press the 'up' button for the elevator at work it reminds me I should be taking the stairs. Its a very handy little thing. The website has changed since I bought the bracelet and they have necklaces and stickers and stuff now. I'm thinking of getting a back up one and a couple stickers.

I'm also starting to look for 5k's to do. I'm planning to do two walks in May (Beverly Breast Cancer and Autism Speaks) but I also want to find a 5k for every month til the Tri (or even for the rest of the year). I was also talking about wanting more in the way of activity and I have convinced my sister to try a boot camp class with me. I was thinking a boot camp a week would make a nice addition to my training. I also am signing up for a beginners spin class! I'm so intimidated by the one at the gym and a beginners class would make me feel so much better and hopefully improve my cycling for the Tri.

Well this is getting rather long but I just thought I'd mention that because of some support from the east coast in the form of hair ties (which I have scattered throughout my gym bag, purse, car, and pockets) I was not frustrated at all when my hair tie snapped at the gym on Saturday! :)

Vacation FAIL

Considering how serious I sounded in my last blog, I am ashamed to report that vacation did not go as planned. I purposely tried to find a place that had a pool and a fitness room. Well, the pool was basically a giant tub - not decent for even drill swimming. Then the "fitness room" had one very broken stationary bike, (it wouldn't turn on, the screen cracked) one useless elliptical, and a treadmill that didn't stop. There was also a very confusing weight machine.

On Friday, even though I didn't want to, I pedaled on the broken bike then I fast walked on the treadmill. After that I didn't really want to use broken equipment and we went to the Cubs/Cards game Saturday so I decided to take that day off. Sunday came around and we went to the Gateway Arch and then to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery and didn't do much else. Monday, I also didn't work out but we did a hell of a lot of walking. First, we walked the entire St. Louis Zoo. It's really awesome and super nice and we went through the Penguin exhibit twice! :) Then we walked two different malls so even though it wasn't structured we walked 4+ miles that day. The worst part is I didn't really track my food, and there was so much delicious barbeque. (Seriously if you are ever in St.Louis you NEED to go to The Shaved Duck. Just do it, you'll thank me later)

So I'm upset with myself. At Weight Watchers they always say, 'don't let a bad day turn into a bad week' and that's what I did I got lazy and my bad day turned into a bad long weekend. But as I said before, I'm trying to blog as honestly as possible and I am now holding myself accountable for my actions. Tomorrow it's back to the grind and back to tracking faithfully. I'm trying, but it is hard. I'm learning that I don't have the greatest resolve and strength so it's just another thing I need to work on.

Im not going to let a bad week turn into a bad month and completely derail my training. I WILL NOT.

It's Just Not Enough

I know it's been a while since I've posted. I'm sorry to anyone that may read regularly. It was a combination of working a bit too much and a tiny bit of laziness. I know, I know, not an excuse. Sorry.

So as I come up on week 5, I've noticed something. I'm bored. The schedule I've made is slow and kind of easy. It's also not giving me the results I'm looking for. I want to gain fitness and feel better about myself. I honestly just feel like I'm doing next to nothing. I know that sounds silly. I went from sporadically working out to working out 6-7 days a week but per the schedule I was only working out 20-30 minutes a day. Which again may sound like a lot (?) but it doesn't feel like it. I'm not even sore much anymore, unless I was strength training. (I am not flexible and I am also pretty weak muscle wise)

I'm not doing the easy version of the training either. I do the optional workouts too, but when the book suggests doing 2 workouts a day they are only 40 minutes combined. I mean the first like 6 weeks (and I'm not joking here) doesn't have you swimming more than 10 minutes! Ten little pool minutes! I mean what the hell? I'm only supposed to spend 10 minutes in the pool and that's it for the whole day?So the book had a 12 week program that I modified for twice the amount of time, which contributes to some of the easiness but I've decided that I want more.

TRAINING REBOOT TIME!

So I went back and modified my schedule. Instead of repeating the first three weeks I'm going to run them straight through, doing all the optional work. I'm going to repeat weeks 4-11 twice though and do the optional workouts both times. I've also added meditation and yoga to my training in the morning. I know it may seem like alot but I've also decided to do a DVD here and there, maybe every other day to supplement my boredness. I have plenty to choose from - Jillian Michaels, Biggest Loser, Taebo, Turbofire, Mat Pilates - so I can mix it up a bit.

I know it sounds maybe a bit crazy but I'm tired of waiting. I'm not going push myself to crazy exhaustion. I'm not going to stop eating. I'm just going to be as faithful as possible to my Weight Watchers tracking and try strive for at least an hour long work out every day. (If I do the 40 min combo workout from the book and a 20 min tape it doesn't sound so bad, right?) Twenty minutes of moving a day just isn't enough for me.

I'm a bit nervous because we leave for St. Louis Friday, but I've made sure to book a hotel with a pool, a fitness center, and a good complete breakfast spread. I've also found a WW meeting 5 miles from our hotel so I can weigh in on Saturday. Yes, I am going to weigh in on vacation. I'm also going to make sure that I workout before we leave so I can relax the rest of the day and not worry about it. I also want to try and post at least once while we are there.

So here we go! This is WEEK 1, rebooted. I hoping to see/feel better results by May. Fingers Crossed!

I am NOT Flexible

As promised, I started Yoga yesterday. I am so glad there was no one around to watch me because I looked so silly, I know I would never live it down. I am not flexible at all. Not one tiny bit.

The DVD is Yoga for beginners by body wisdom. The instructor is Barbara Benagh. Now she's a fairly pleasant woman who could be anywhere between mid forties to possible sixties (she says she been practicing yoga for 35 years) because I can't really pin down her age because she's so fit and relaxed looking. The main menu gives you a five page thing to read to help you get the most out of your DVD experience. It recommends you watch this interview with Barbara to better understand why she cares so much about yoga. It was kind of hard to get through. I guess when you practice yoga you aren't learning anything. You are just rediscovering the knowledge that's been within you your whole life. Yeah right.

So I started the first 30 minute routine and Barb's soothing voice comes through. It was fairly easy and focused a lot on controlling your breathing. I was skeptical, it was TOO easy. But this is how she does it. She lulls you into a false sense of security and then wants you to sit cross legged on the mat, take your right arm and bring it around the back of you and grip your right thigh (like on the inside by your pelvis). At this point I said (out loud, even though I was by myself) "You got to be fucking kidding me." I did the modified pose but holy moly I don't care how much weight I lose, how fit I get, I doubt I'll be able to reach like that. The rest of it wasn't that bad but it was mostly sitting/laying down mat work. The next one I'm going to try is called Sun Salutations. We shall see how that goes.

There are eight different routines some harder than others but I'm gonna try and stick with it. I did feel more relaxed afterward and I like to think maybe one day I can consider myself flexible.

Soreness

I held no illusions going into training. I was (still am) overweight and out of shape. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but I guess I never really considered I'd be hurting constantly. I'm pushing myself while I workout, not enough to injure myself or anything. Just that little extra bit that I know I can do if I'm really honest with myself. So sometimes the end of a workout can be a little painful or tough but I'm muscling through.

I'm realizing now though that I am pretty consistently sore. My arms and abs (they are in the somewhere) after my strength workouts. My knees and feet after my runs. My shoulders and sides after my swims. My lady business after a bike (little seat, a lot of me) and also my feet sometimes. So basically I'm just sore always. I know it's generally a good thing. It reminds me that I am working hard and making my goal a reality, slowly but surely. I just have to whine a little because that's just what I do. So...WAAHHH my everything hurts! :)

Since I am sore all the time, I've decided to start doing some yoga in the morning. I bought a 4 pack DVD set from Amazon a while ago; because it was cheap. It has AM/PM yoga, beginner's yoga, yoga for weight loss, and yoga for stress relief. I'm not very flexible and I think the stretching will do me good, maybe help with the soreness or prevent it some. I'm also considering meditation. Just a simple 5 minutes a day. It's supposed to help relieve stress and I sorta feel like a have a lot of it so I'll give it a try.

So let's recap: I'm really sore and I'm gonna start doing yoga. If you're reading this today (4/4) stop lazing about on the Internet and go enjoy the sun! It's really nice out today! (At least here in E.P)

Holy Toe Clips Batman!

I tried my new toe clips for the first time yesterday. (Thank you Mom and Dad!) Wow. They are not joking around about how much better you can cycle. I was more efficient and definitely faster. Three more miles an hour faster to be exact. I compared my last ride to the one with my toe clips on iMapMyFitness. It uses my phone's GPS to show me the routes I take and how fast I take them. It's pretty cool. It can also map runs but my runs don't usually last that long. Anyway, imagine how much faster I'll be when I really get the hang of them! I was impressed and I'm excited to find out.

I also was practicing the 3 to 9 drill (or 9 to 3 drill, whichever you prefer I guess). You basically forget that you are pedaling in a circle. You think of your rotating pedal as a clock, but 6 and 12 don't exist. You are trying to basically just push through from 3 to 9. Just imagining it, I noticed I was pedaling faster.

So today is April 2nd and I've decided to make April my "Give it Everything I Got" month. Not that I haven't been giving my training all I've got. I just haven't put it first, I haven't put myself first. I mean I've made big strides in my fitness and my attitude but I have been lazy at times and made more exceptions to my workouts then I wanted to. So, NO MORE. This month I'm gonna kick ass. I'm not gonna be bullied into working extra and sacrificing my workout.  I'm not gonna make excuses, I'm gonna get out of bed, and I'm gonna make April a month of serious progress.