I don't know if it was because she read some of this stuff but our hour long training session went a little differently this week. (This was the first time that we got together since she actually got the card and read some of the blogs.)
We talked a lot about a lot of things, this blog was only mentioned a couple of times. When we went towards the weights she said something like, "I wonder what you will write about this time." A little later on, she actually laughed a scary laugh. I guess I previously was imagining her having an evil laugh before trying to torture me because that laugh was REALLY scary. Like I said, she has a good sense of humor. For the first time we didn't do any leg work. My legs are the only fairly strong muscle group that I have. She only worked my upper body. (I can't think of a strong muscle in my whole upper body other than maybe my jaw and I don't think that counts.) The reason that I am just now finishing writing about Friday's session is that I can now finally move my arms again. (This is Monday.)
Remember that crazy barbell that she had me lay on a bench and lower to my forhead and had to rescue me from bruising my forehead about a month ago? I think that she was leading me to that when she laughed the evil laugh. Yes, she did rescue me again from adding bruised forehead to my list of sports injuries. I can't do that very long before my arms simply quit working.
Also, either because she now knows about how I feel about my flabby belly or because she thinks I am now no longer a level 1 beginner she really did kill my abs. I almost whimped out at the end, but I knew that the session was only going to last an hour and abs come last if you don't count the stretching, so it was almost over. The most cruel thing that she did was have me lift my legs over and over again just so that she could push them back down. It's hard to will yourself to lift your legs when you know someone well...not bigger, but definitely stronger than you, is going to push them back down hard enough that you have to use your abs to keep them from hitting the ground.
Finally, came the stretching. She doesn't believe that I actually stretch every time I exercise because my hamstrings still are impossible to loosen up. It is still one of the hardest parts of working out for me. Remember, I failed in flexibility, which contributed to my body age being 50 according to the gym's computers. Those of you who know me...please post a comment letting Marcella know that if I say I did something....I did it. I promise.
Saturday, I woke up and considered getting my hair cut off because I could barely brush my hair because my arms were so sore, but I decided that since I hadn't worked my legs on Friday I would try to jog the whole killer trail instead of just the flatter part up and back for 5 miles. I hadn't tried to run on the trail since the imfamous Crash and Burn. I've only jogged around the flat neighborhood. I had high hopes though. I even dreamed about it. I had a plan. I would start at the very hilly end and work toward the flatter beginning. That way I could get the worst of it over with and breeze down the home stretch. (Just think...I am an educator and this stupid.)
When I got to the trail, I started to have second thoughts, but then a math faculty member from the community college I work at jogged by me onto the trail. I started jogging too and kept him in sight for a mile. I was out of breath almost immediately. Apparently, you need your abs not to be sore to breath comfortably. I hadn't thought about that...Marcella actually killed my abs. Ugh. After only a mile and a half, I fell AGAIN. This time it was obvious that my knee still is having issues, because it just gave out. I didn't trip. I can run on flat ground but not at certain angles. I didn't crash and burn as badly as before and my knee didn't hurt...it just doesn't always hold me up. I decided to walk every other half mile. I saw a student that I spent last year tutoring and trying to encourage about 0.1 miles later and I was walking...dang. She was going in the opposite direction, so we just said hi and kept going. I only managed two more half miles of jogging. The trail beat me. (How can a trail beat you...it's not alive. It isn't doing anything. It just is. Why am I letting this THING challenge me? Again...I'm an educator. Fear for our future.) Any ways, the student I had seen earlier came by again and high fived me right when I was feeling completely defeated and spent and was walking a mile or so from the end. She had no idea that I was trying to jog, but was walking both times that she saw me. She just could see that I was a human sweatball and was struggling. I think it's neat the way that God brings encouragement in the most unexpected ways about things that are so unimportant in the grand scheme of life right when you need it the most.
Yesterday, I skipped jogging but went to the gym. It was Sunday. A day when I am very aware that the saga of getting into shape is pretty silly. However, I went to a cook out and needed to burn some extra calories.
This morning, I jogged the baby 3 mile trail next to the college I work at. It's completely flat and around a quarter or half mile from the college. I parked at the college and jogged to the trail and back. I saw another person from the college there. It's surprising how many people from the college go out on these trails. I guess I'm not the only insane person on the planet. My knee doesn't hurt, but when I was stretching (Did you read that Marcella? I was stretching!!!!) I stretched in the direction that makes my knee not work. I'm going to have to be careful or there will be more crashes in my future and they won't be funny to read about. They will just be sad and pathetic. (If they aren't already.) After lunch I decided to take my family out and walk the killer trail. My husband and my 12 year old and her 13 year old friend started out great. My 12 year old had someone else to run circles around...her Dad. It's as crazy to watch as it is to be a victim of that. She challenged him to a race to one of the bridges and won. I thought that Chrissie and EJ might not make it the whole trail if they keep that silliness up. I walked with Chrissie's friend...since we were walking, I wasn't wearing the brace. Finally, after a mile they started walking like normal people. At about 2.25 miles Chrissie's friend, who only walked, got tired and decided that she couldn't walk the whole trail, so we turned around and went back. We barely got her about a mile and a half, but there was an opening where I could bring my car and pick her up. I left EJ, Chrissie and the nameless 13 year old and ran the rest of the way back to the car and came back and picked them up. I was a hero, sort of. I should have been asking her how she was doing all along. Chrissie can practically run the whole thing and has never had a problem, but every time she brings a friend, they can never walk the whole trail. I keep forgetting that unless you do this trail regularly even teenagers can't walk it easily. I guess I'm not the only one that silly trail beat this weekend. (Oh, I ran that mile without the brace and because I was trying to get back to the girl quickly, I did NOT stretch that time. Sorry Marcella, but I swear that's the only time that I skipped the stretching part of exercise since I met you and you gave me that lecture. Besides, I was being a hero...sort of.)
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