It's a love/hate thing

So this is where we are at today. I am sore. I knew I was going to be.  My upper body feels like it’s been run over by a steam roller. And said steam roller happens to respond to the name of Amanda.  I expected as much.  Training is such a love/hate relationship.   I love it clearly but I kind of hate it to, like going into it with dread and trepidation. I always know that it is not only going to hurt but that no matter the task I will not be able to do quite as much as she expects. Because as soon as I have something down she ups the ante on me.  I think that is how training is supposed to work.  If something appears to not be torturing me to my soul she adds more reps or higher weight. Alas, it will never be easy or I will never win. And can pretty much guarantee I will always be sore.

I had a great day yesterday as a result of my morning run.  Felt blissful all day until about 3 PM when my typically afternoon crash occurs. The whole, I don’t want to mentality kicks in, extra hard on a day when you’ve already managed a 6.5 mile run.  I was hungry (I ate of course) and I was tired and the thought of going to the gym was not appealing.  But I had a training session on the books with Amanda so of course I couldn’t bail.  Work picked up in the afternoon again and by 4:45 I knew I was going to have to stay a little late to finish stuff up.  I pealed out of the office about 5:15 and rushed to the gym and barely walked into the 5:30 class a few minutes late, after everyone had started.  It was a core class which is never my favorite and honestly never produces that much of a burn for me.  It’s pretty much 30 minutes of targeted ab work.  While good and necessary in life, not a calorie scorcher.

I didn’t get a chance to warm up beforehand either which probably didn’t help my workout.  My heart rate never really elevated and I didn’t really sweat.  But I was anticipating the post ab class 6 PM training session that I was certain was going to hurt.  Amanda thinks of me as some super human woman on the same level as her and therefore her expectations are ridiculously high.  Again, I love and hate her for this.  Training sessions are 30 minutes.  But because she is my best friend and she enjoys torturing me I end up with a 60 minute training session somehow.  Is this a good thing?  I suppose in the grand scheme of things it is.  At the time of torture it feels excessive. 

It was back and biceps day and she did not disappoint.  Jumping pull ups. Lat pulls, Back rows, more rows. More rows.  Lots of heavy back crap.  And this was only portion 1 before we moved on to the second set of exercises which was heavy biceps.  More biceps. Some more back thrown in.  Part of me wanting to cry. Part of me wanted to quit. Part of me loved every excreting second.  There is an innate desire we have to make those around us proud.  I have that with Amanda and therefore I try my hardest to do what she is asking of me. Like I said, often times my body gives up before my mind. Which I guess is good because that means physically I’ve done all I can.

By the time the almost 60 minutes had rolled around after bicep after bicep curl, as I was just standing there I could feel my arms involuntarily twitching on me.  Like everything was simply that fried.  It didn’t help that I had actually made myself sore around my chest the night before.  This only amplified the overall effects of the workout.  I hurt. Lifting my arms over my head hurt.

I fully anticipated waking up this morning to pain.  Shockingly it wasn’t that bad. At first. Like the first 30 minutes I was awake it was okay.  It now REALLY hurts.  Like my back. OMG.  My biceps.  My chest.  Everything is on fire in a painful I am so sore I am going to cry at you if you move even the slightest distance in any direction.  Oh not in a truly messed up way, just in a sore I worked you way. Which is the good kind.  I’m just being an over dramatic baby honestly.  But I’m trying to illustrate that things are a hurting.

So this entire evening workout only resulted in about 350 calories burned but that is because it was not calorie scorching cardio. It was slow and steady lifting which has its place.  It has a good place in your life. It just isn’t crazy immediate calorie burn. I need both kinds of exercise in my life. Both have their practical purpose.  But between the 6.5 mile run in the morning and this lifting session I ended up burning 1025 calories for the entire day and my body knew it.

When I got home I was tired, obviously.  I showered, I made a delicious dinner.  I took grilled chicken and sliced it up into strips and placed it on my 100 calorie bun with an entire freaking avocado. Yes, I ate an entire avocado by myself because I love them and I didn’t care that the avocado was like 240 calories because I could use the calories and honestly avocado is my favorite. And of course I added some Quest protein chips for the side and it was delicious and delightful and perfection really.

I don’t post a lot of food stuff because mostly I don’t eat complete meals. Mostly I have random snacks. Mostly its processed or else very simple in nature. Like banana. Or grilled chicken dipped in a dressing. Or else it is something amazing that my husband cooks because well, I don’t cook.  But this sandwich is about as good it gets for me on the making a meal front. 

Tonight is a 45 minute lifting class at the gym that I intend to take at 6 PM.  I am going to try and get to the gym earlier tonight if possible. I’d like to get in a 3 mile run before class.  If I could get there at 5:15 and then run for 30 minutes it would give me enough time to get into class, get a spot and get my weights before the crowds show up.  That’s the plan.  Just a 3 mile run and then the 45 min lift class and I will be more than good for the night.

This will free me up for a very light Thursday night at the gym. Not even sure what that will look like yet which will bring me to rest day Friday. Yippee! And then of course a bright and early 6:50 AM start time half marathon on Saturday.  Which means I will have to wake up at like 4 something in the morning to wake up, get ready and drive the 1:15 minutes to the race.  Oh boy. Going to be a long one.  But that is what my next couple days look like.

Did I mention my upper body is in pain? Oh yeah, ouch. Freak. It all hurts. But otherwise I am still happy as a clam. Happy as can be.  Loving all things.  Oh and its July already.  The year is now ½ way done officially.  Isn’t that insane? Where the hell does time go? And speaking of time going my marathon counter ticker shows 80 days today.  Oh boy that’s crazy too.  July 1.  Hmm.  I intend to weigh myself tomorrow July 2 and then we will see after that.  Where I go from there.  I really would love to be 140 pounds by the time Maui hits.  But I’m sitting around 147 right now so that does seem hard honestly to take off 7 pounds in 80 days.  Who is this girl who says that is hard?  I’ve just learned that my body likes where it’s at and it likes the muscle and I work out so much that it needs the fuel and I can’t and won’t starve it.  So thus 7 pounds might be a lot to handle.  We will see though.  Whatever happens naturally happens.  I pretty much have made all peace with where I am at physically right now. It’s all good, anything that happens from this point forward.