A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!
July 19thAfter getting to TWR 5 times last week and playing a long, demanding show in 85 degree heat Saturday night, I took a well deserved day off Sunday and got back at it this evening. DB worked us out tonight, and I got paired with Mike, who I did some Pure Steel with and see frequently in the evenings.
Well, what poor Mike didn’t realize was that he’d be saddled with a partner (me) who he’d have to carry through ‘certain parts’ of our workout.
We started the night with six of each: plate push, plate carry, and plate lunge (my knees have been really sore so I instead ran 12 walls with the plate). See, I’m already slacking.
Then, Mike and I had to “split” 100 low bar pull ups, 100 sit ups, 4 miles on the Airdyne bikes, and 2 walls of street sweeper pushups.
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July 18thYesterday I got the chance to workout with my husband as well as my friend Dee. It’s a rare occasion these days since they both prefer to come in the afternoons and Dan comes in earlier on most Saturdays because of his band practice. So this Saturday was a treat for me. The workout was just as tough, and why wouldn’t it be, but goofing off a little more and working out with friends always makes the time go faster and more fun! TWR is always fun though!! Who knew Personal Trainers could have such a great sense of humor.
I’m feeling pretty good mentally and physically I feel strong but I sore. I’ve made it to the gym 6 days a week the past 3 weeks in a row and I’m definitely feel the wear and tear. Almost daily I’ve been icing my shoulders and knees and Dee and I went for a nice long massage after our workout on Saturday. I really must make more of an effort to do that at least once a month. Especially when going to the gym so often. It’s been since Hawaii that I had one. That’s too long. The masseuse spent a good 20 minutes on just my left shoulder and the pain I had is mostly gone. So with a little more icing tonight I should be able to work it out as usual. Monday will be my next session and we’ll see how much it helped. For now it feels good, I can raise my arms above my head and not feel pain.
Have a great rest of the weekend and if you’re here in Chicago, stay cool! It’s another hot day and now a thunder storm is adding to the humidity. So much for my plans to lay on the sun deck, fall asleep listening to my iPod and basically do nothing the entire day. Come on SUN!
July 13thI must pre-empt this post by saying that there were quite a few people who frequent TWR who did not go through Ron’s “Wall Gauntlet” last week, and among that group, there are very likely several who would put up single digits on the two-wall run. That said:
I did it in 11.48 seconds, which was apparently the fastest time recorded.
I have to admit, seeing my name on The Board at TWR really got me pumped. I’ve never been fast in short distances, but a lot of the training we have done over these last 9 months has definitely been geared towards explosive speed and I do feel faster than I have in a long time even though I’m quite a bit heavier than I have been at my “playing weight” in the past. I should add that I ran that two wall time very close to, if not AT, the end of the session that day – meaning I was pretty tired by the time Ron clocked me for the run.
As a quick aside… someone noticed something today I thought was extraordinary… a group of co-workers who gather infrequently came together for a meeting. After we got settled in, I broke out my carrots, nuts, and raisins that Monika packed in my lunch. As I chomped away, my boss looked at me and said, “Dan, no one has complimented you on your weight loss. I guess that means we’re all used to seeing you as a pretty fit guy… congratulations on NOT being noticed!” Everyone laughed and I felt spectacular. It’s really nice when people notice how much more lean I am, but it’s even better when they DON’T notice because I’ve created a “new normal” for myself.
Ron, Matt, and DB… you guys really rock. THANKS!!!
July 12th… that really, it isn’t.
The famous plate push at TWR, Oh! how I love thee, challenged me today. The task: push a 25lb plate on the ground 40 yards, run a couple of flights of stairs then push the plate back the 40 yards. Do that 4 times and walk 2 walls in between each round. I was on the last leg of round 3, pushing the plate back, a few yards from the wall when my thighs just would not cooperate and I collapse. It’s not that much of a fall and maybe that’s why it’s also so inviting. The ground that is. I took a short break curled up over my plate, panting and trying to motivate myself when I heard “finish it! it’s easy, like air-hockey”. I’m hurting, so at first I roll my eyes, as if annoyed, then I look up and I see that it’s Bob getting me to laugh and push through it. It’s strange but it worked. I laughed and made it to the wall. All the while thinking what backwards evil air-hockey is this? Then for the final round, I can always count on DB to provide the essential motivation to finish strong. At least as strong as possible in the moment. Not sure if it works with everyone but if I’m reaching the end of a move and I feel like I can give no more, a little joke or even the challenge of a quick competition can really get a nice result out of me.
Which brings me to my news. I made the TWR Top Performers Wall!!!!! Dan just told me tonight. I haven’t even noticed because honestly I didn’t think I had it in me yet to make it on the board. There are so many awesome and strong people at the gym I just didn’t think it was a possibility yet. The wall basically shows off the highest performers at TWR. Individual numbers in lifting, running, decathlons and other various events and exercises. It’s pretty awesome. My name now shows up in the top 5 under 1 minute speed on the fan bike. Tomorrow I’ll see what number it is exactly but Dan said top 5. Yey! I remember DB telling me that he though .41 miles was a record on there but I never sought confirmation. I might also add that on that particular ride, DB rode on the bike next to mine and challenged me to beat my previous .35 miles with at least a .37 miles. Well, I did more than that! Thanks DB! (check out DB’s triathlon pictures and bio here as well as our trainers Ron and Matt.)
Dan and I have signed up for another 2 months of the Unlimited and I have been going 6 days a week. Definitely feeling it! Lots of icing of knees and shoulders and getting ready to go for a massage soon. Need it bad! And now for trying to get 8 hours of sleep each night and drinking enough water are two things that still need improvement. Here is to doing better tomorrow.
