Busier Than a One Legged Man in a Butt Kicking Contest

I would be the one legged man this week.  On Tuesday I met my fabulous friend Renee for lunch.  We ate at Qdoba Mexican Grill which was quite good, I must say.  And then I had just enough time to get home and change for the gym.  Note to self:  Do not eat a burrito before an intense workout.  I immediately regretted that decision.  The workout, not the burrito.  The burrito was wonderful. 

Kim kicked our butts with a hardcore personal training session for about 45 minutes.  We went on the MANLY weightlifter side and used all sorts of machines I'd never dare touch on my own.  Those leg press thingies were hard.  You're like laying on your back and you have to push your legs up with the weights on it.  Yeesh.  Every time it comes down, it feels like it's smushing your intestines.  I will say, Maggie had it worse than me.  She made her do this thing where you lay on your stomach and your ankles are behind a bar that you have to curl up.  Maggie's butt was sore for like 4 days. 

Then we went to the ladies side to endure other forms of torture.  She made Maggie do mountain climbers from one end of the gym to the other.  But you have your feet on these little pads that slide on the carpet.  At first you think, oh cool, they'll help me slide easier.  Not really.  It just makes it harder.  And then she made her do planks all the way back.  While Maggie was in misery with her mountain climbers, Kim had put this horrid rubber band thing around my ankles..  And I had to step to the side across the gym and back like that.  It was really hard..  My hips were killing me by the end.

I thought Maggie was going to have her Biggest Loser emotional break down moment.  But she held back.  As if that wasn't enough punishment, we did Tread & Shed for an hour after that.  I really thought I might barf.  So that was Tuesday.  (I still don't regret the burrito.)

Thursday we did cycling.  I actually enjoy cycling more than Tread & Shed now.  Who knew?  And lo and behold, my crotch has gotten used to it.  I can't think about that too much though.  I finally mastered some of the more difficult moves.  Shannon has us stand up and cycle for a four count and then sit down for a four count.  And you just go up and down, up and down.  I can do those, but the two count ones are a little harder for me.  By the time I finally get up, they're already sitting back down again.  It takes a lot of leg strength to go up and down real fast like that!  I'm not gonna lie and say I did it the WHOLE time, but I was happy that I can do it now.  And I did more of the push up thingies on the bike than I usually can.

And then today...  Maggie, Sam, and I did the Tanger Outlet 5k in North Charleston.  My goal was to 1) Not come in last and 2) Beat my time from the Buford Run the Rails 5k we did in June.  Maggie signed me up for this one, somewhat against my will.  We are doing the Dolphin Run 5k at Sam's school in October.  And I just didn't want to do this one in the meantime!  I was NOT pumped about it at all.  I didn't feel ready.  So this morning when we were stretching just before the race started, I thought, "Okay, I have GOT to get psyched!" 

The race started and I took off running.  Which was great until I stopped to walk.  I ran and walked the whole way.  I picked out two ladies near me and made it my goal to beat them.  Sometimes they'd run and get in front of me, so I'd run and get back in front of them.  It helps me to have something to focus on.  Or I'll tell myself..  Okay, just run past 4 more light posts and then you can walk a little.  I have to play mind games with myself.

Finally, towards the end, one of the volunteers was trying to talk to me as I went by.  She said I was doing good.  And  I was like..  uhh, thanks.  Not to be RUDE, but I'm just not up for chit chat when I'm in the zone!  And then she asked me if this was my first race.  NO, I'm just in the back of the pack, but thanks for pointing that out!  When the lady with the stroller passed me, I knew I had to pick it up.  I had Shannon in my head going, "One!  Two!  One!  Two!  Keep that pace!"  That's what she says in cycling to make sure you're going fast enough.  :)

Finally I was rounding the corner and I saw Maggie coming.  She was already finished, of course, but she came to help me finish.  She motivated me to jog the last bit to the finish line.  I thought I might barf, but thankfully, I didn't.  I did, however, smell like an Asian water buffalo.  No lie.  So I beat my Buford time by like 4 mins.  And this time there were FIVE people behind me instead of one..  Hey, it's an improvement, right?!

I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow!  I'm just taking it easy right now until I have to get ready for my date later tonight.  ;)  Don't worry, I showered.  Until next time...