Last Chance Workout/Graduation-Day 6

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Well, we did it. 

We survived. 

Heck, we THRIVED! 

This morning, those of us who were leaving before breakfast on Sunday, had our assessments taken. Mine was the first appointment at 6am. No biggie anymore being up and going that early, as every day started with a warm-up at 6am. My assessment was initially disappointing. The readings were just a smidge different than my initial assessment, and after all that sweat equity, I expected to show at the very least a gain in muscle mass. I consulted with the Nutritionist/Dietician, and she felt there was something ‘off’ in my assessment. She wanted me to re-take it, if I wanted to. I did not. It was a revelation and a mental achievement for me to take a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers and just disregard it. Many women live or die by the scale. Why, you might ask? Because I know how my body FEELS. I know the shorts I wore the first day, which were bitingly tight, are now loose and comfortable. I know that my energy is up. I know that I’m happier and I have endorphins coursing through my veins. I know that my recovery after exercise is vastly improved. I know that when I walk up a flight of stairs, I am not winded. I know that my asthma has not bothered me once in the past couple of days.

So, after feeling a blue for a bit, I put on my game face to meet the challenge of ‘Last Chance Workout’.

Oh.

My.

Stars.

It was brutal! The trainers all did the workout WITH us, as well as LEADING. First off was Symphony, who led the Zumba session. A half hour of Zumba, which I guess could kinda/sorta qualify for our ‘warm-up’…for the first 5 minutes! From then on, it was all sweating and hard breathing! Next up was Erin, who led a session in Dumbbells. An intense and invigorating weight session for another half hour. This was followed by Nikki and a half hour of her Les Mills Kickboxing class. Oh holy stars, at this point I didn’t think I’d finish! Not only did it drain my brain trying to master coordination, but it is INTENSE! I confess, I started to run out of steam at this point. But we still had the last chance of the ‘Last Chance’ workout, AMRAPs (as many rounds as possible) for 15 minutes. Squats, pushups, burpees and jumping jacks, and then to wrap it all up, a nice 15 mins of stretch and cool down. 

After cool down, we had time to rehydrate, then jump right in to the last lecture class of the week, then lunch. 

It was nice to have a break for once. I was able to go back to the room, shower and pack up my suitcase, leaving only what I needed for that night and morning behind. I was leaving before breakfast, since it was Fathers Day on Sunday. I wanted to be home in time to hang out with the family and make a nice meal for my loving husband and father of my two beautiful girls. There was plenty of time to get dressed for four o’clock Graduation and dinner, no rush, no sweat! 

Graduation was emotional, inspiring and up-lifting. I have 30 new sisters in my family, all who encourage and motivate each other. 

It’s hard to put in to words what this week was, and what it meant. How do you put in to words a mental reboot, and what it means to you? How do you describe what its like to go in to a week with 30 total strangers, and come out the other side feeling like you have 30 new sisters? I think I’ll save some of that for my final thoughts. 

For now, I’m just going to revel in the accomplishment. 

The Home Stretch- Day 5

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This morning started off with a pretty darn aggressive ‘warm up’ with a lesson in kick boxing. Then it was off to the park to do a repeat of the 5K we did on Monday, our first day. When I arrived that first day, I was just able to power-walk the 5K, but it took me 52 minutes. Today, I jogged it at 38. That is not fast by the standards of some, but I was able to shave 14 minutes off my time AFTER: The equivalent exercise time and steps of TWO FULL marathons, AND a weeks worth of walking endless times back and forth the quarter mile between the room and the workout areas. I think that is a darn big accomplishment!

It didn’t stop there though…oh no! The 5K was followed by timed exercises: jumping jacks, squats, lunges, ‘get-ups’ and burpees, as many as we could in the allocated time (called AMRAP:as many repetitions as possible). Then back to the resort, for class and lunch, and class. Then 45 minutes in the pool. This is NOT paddling about people! This is intense, heart-pumping, cardio for 45 straight minutes. That was followed by a Zumba class, another 45 minutes of sweat and panting.

I confess, I’m pooped out. I am treating myself to a massage tonight, and my tired, sore, cranky body is going to be much happier with me later tonight. I’m just more than a little nervous about the kickboxing tomorrow. It’s our ‘last chance workout’ and I have a feeling you are supposed to leave it ‘all on the table’!

What an experience this has been. I had no idea what to expect, I don’t watch the show.  The trainers here have totally made the experience amazing. This has been the best ’50th’ Birthday gift ever from my family (who was supportive and held down the fort while I was gone) and for myself. What I found was that I am stronger and have more endurance than I thought. Not only have we have done the equivalent of half marathons each day, five days in a row, but even the trainers who all have to go through the program, say it’s hard. Yes, they kick the intensity up for themselves, but it IS HARD!

I’ll post my final thoughts tomorrow, and maybe an update or two. We have a few extra minutes today between classes and dinner, so I sat down to put this up. I’m afraid I won’t have the energy to post tonight!

Oh yeah baby, I’m in the home stretch.

The Groove. Day 4

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This morning the storms that rolled through the night before left us with gloriously perfect exercise weather: crystal blue skies, warm sunshine, low humidity, and soft cool breezes. Simply perfect for working hard, sweating and a temperature that isn’t draining. I personally woke up in a GREAT mood. The lethargy of ‘hump-day’ had moved on with the storm, leaving me energized and ready for action. 

Today started off, as all mornings, with a nice warm-up prior to breakfast. Today was a new variation of dynamic stretch. The motivational calming stretch time of yesterday was a wonderful pause on hump-day, but this morning I was raring to go, so great music and energetic stretching was right where I wanted to be. 

After breakfast it was off to a wonderful park for a super fun circuit. We had 4 stations about a 1/4 mile apart that we traveled up and down for nearly 2 hours. When done, we had nearly 4 miles under our belts, as well as some really tough station workouts.

Classes, lunch and dinner, dumb bell workouts and intense circuits in the pool rounded out our day. I feel GREAT!  

Today I was – ‘In The Groove’.