Boot Camp

Today was by far one of the best days at Boot Camp.
I worked super duper hard.
At the start of class I gave David my camera and told him to take photos and video of me.
I felt a little silly doing it but now that I see the videos and photos I'm super glad I had him do it.

See in my head I'm a size 2 and in stellar shape. Then I see the photos and video and well...the truth doesn't jive so well with my delusion.
This is actually a good thing though because it keeps me on track.

Here is some video & some photos of what we did today. David sets up stations and we do 50 seconds of as many reps as we can in that 50 seconds. Click to enlarge the photos


As you can see, we have a lot of fun in class and we laugh together and encourage each other every step of the way.


David has a saying in class " As long as you're moving" he had us doing something on our fronts with this ball but I realized that my cut off shirt I was showing off a little more than I wanted to

So I went and did my own thing with a Kettlebell and David was cool with that.

He originally had us doing swings with the Kettlebell. (See? I'm laughing. It's really a fun class)

but my lower back started giving me troubles so I started to do one of my favorite exercises instead


He then had us doing laps around the studio and I felt my calves knot and I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish but I did. Exhausted and out of breath. David wasn't done with me though. I'd asked him if I could do the dock walk with the 35 pounder overhead. I'd also asked if we could do more work with the tire today.
Damn him he got creative thanks to the rain...
40 pound kettlebell doing step ups on the tire.
I'm the only one in class that did this and I'm so INSANELY proud that I got it done.
Look how high I have to step up to get up onto the tire! (Click on the photos to enlarge and see the whole things)

You can see how I'm struggling. David only got the last 4 reps. He made me do 20 of them!

TADA!

Stairs & thoughts

These are the stairs in my apartment. Each floor has 17 stairs. There are 5 floors. 17 X 5 = 85 steps

I live on the 1st floor so I rarely have occasion to use these steps. It turns out that they make a TON of noise when you go up and down them. They creak and groan and feel soft underfoot like they might give way under you at any second.
(As I'm typing this, I can hear one of my neighbors galloping down the stairs sounding like a massive Clydesdale. I know I'm an old mother of two little boys but WHY does this one doofus neighbor feel the need to jump down the last 5 steps landing with the force of a mortar round right next to my front door?!)

Since I decided not to go to Boot Camp today, I knew I had to do something else and so I did two rounds on my buildings stairs. 170 steps falls 30 shy of what I'd wanted to do today but we can't be picky.

I huffed and puffed and my legs are achy but I'm glad I got it done!

I'm realizing that part of working smarter not harder is listening to my body. As I've said before I'm notoriously lazy and I'm still, even after a dedicated year of Boot Camp, I'm still shocked that I end up at the 9am class after dropping the kiddos off at school.

When I decide to skip class, I always go through this angst internal dialog where I have to prove to myself that I'm not just being lazy and slacking off.

I also have to be careful that this new found bulldog in me doesn't push me to class when I'm really not up for it physically because once I'm there I'm there 100% and then some.

Yesterday is a perfect example - I didn't feel well and yet still pushed myself to not only finish class but go the extra mile and work with the 40 pound weight and then I pushed even harder to go and do the steps.

I'm afraid I should have listened to what my body was telling me because today I'm paying for it by having to sit class out.

I need to find that middle ground within myself that stops the lazy alarms from sounding but also doesn't work me till I'm sick or hurt.

Always a work in progress...

Yet another...

Oh my GOSH. I so so so so so need to be a part of this event!
http://challengemam.nationalmssociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CW_MAM_homepage

My Goal

The 40kg kettlebell is the gal I have my sights set on...

More Cardio

I'm aware that I'm in love with strength training and totally ignore and shove aside cardio training. I'm also aware that without cardio, I'm not going to take this weight off as fast as I might like.
The stairs will really help but I feel like I need to add more cardio overall to my routine.

The trouble is I'm lazy as hell by nature and because my cardio endurance is so low, my motivation to even get started is also low. (As in, I know I can't do much so why bother?)

I started this post early this morning, Pre-Boot Camp and I swear to GOD David was in my head because today was 90% cardio.

Jumping Jacks, Squats, Trunk Twists and my favorite ass kicker step ups onto a monster truck tire.  My legs are TOAST.

Half way through class I started to get lightheaded and found walking in a straight line was a difficult task. I drank some water and pushed on but I struggled today.

I'd promised myself I was going to do the stairs today however and come hell or high water I was going to do those damn stairs.

Here is one flight. Each flight has 10 steps and there are two flights between each floor with 6 floors. So someone wanna tell me why I only counted 93 steps to the top?

By the time I got to the top, my legs were screaming and I was huffing and puffing like a baby hippo.

Click the photo to enlarge. It's a great view from the top!

 

However, rather than be mad at myself for being so out of breath and near death at the top, I stopped and looked out the window and thought about what I'd done not 10 mins before in class.

I did  100 squats, 100 trunk twists with a 15 pound Kettlebell, stepped up onto that damn tire what felt like a million times, pushups and pullups on the rings and did overhead presses with a 25 pound kettlebell. At the end of class I did my 10 presses with the 40 pound Kettlebell and then did 20 swings with the 40 pounder.

In other words, I was exhausted before I started the stairs. I also reminded myself I have 13 weeks and there are no medals being handed out at the Monroe Center for who gets to the top the quickest.

Today I was able to do one round of 6 flights. Tomorrow I will attempt 2 rounds, Wednesday 3, Thursday 4 and Friday 5. By Friday I will be doing half of what I need to do for Rockefeller Center!!
Here is the info on the Rock Center Steps:
Course Description:
There are 1215 steps. The stair width is 66 inches and the length is 10 inches. Each story has two flights of stairs, separated by a landing. The length of a flight varies, but most are nine steps each.

Each day I have to push myself a little more and a little harder and remember what my goal is and what I'm working towards.
I can do this, I know that I can.

I just have to remember to be patient with myself and not always see what I can't do or haven't done but remember what I have done and what I can do and what I couldn't do a year ago.

Eliptical

My husband is obsessed with this damn machine. He's never used one and doesn't currently use one but according to him, this critter is the way to fitness.
I've never stepped foot on one either but I found myself totally buying into his frenzy. I started thinking "How can I do Boot Camp AND join a gym and make both investments worth while? The reality is there isn't enough time in the day for me to do both and now that I've watched videos of this machine in action I realize I can get the SAME workout running stairs.
To that end, tomorrow after Boot Camp I'm going to attempt to do 30 stories of the stairs at the Monroe Center here in Hoboken.There are only 5 stories so I'll have to do quite a bit of up and down but that's okay.
The stairs are on the creepy side because I don't think many folks use them and they are old with lots of character and I'll bring my camera with me.
I'm excited to get started!

Pie

I'm cleaning out the fridge from Thanksgiving and before I tossed the pies out I cut a slice of Pecan and Pumpkin to enjoy one last time this holiday.

They weren't very good but I ate them anyway and now I'm sitting here wishing I hadn't done that and feeling slightly guilty. I didn't finish either piece but it doesn't matter. I'm still feeling regret.

This is a FANTASTIC sign that I'm really ready  to be back on track. The last time I felt guilty about eating anything was years and years ago. (I was actually 21 years old and I remember what it was I ate and who I was with and where I was)

Just wanted to share this small change...