Half A Pat

Something was puzzling me about this weeks workouts. Each one seemed to fly rather quickly. It didn't feel like an hour even though I know that we had worked for an hour. As much as we have "fun" during the hour, Sarita keeps me in line and we don't seem to stand around taking breaks as long as I see other trainers and clients (at least, I think we don't).

I think that I'm working hard. The amount of sweat soaking through my shirt seems to indicate I'm working hard. The soreness in my legs and arms make me feel like I'm working hard. The heaving of my lungs and my heart rate monitor also indicate to me that I'm working hard. Yet, it seems that the time is screaming by too quickly.

At the last workout, another gym member had said to us that he couldn't do the workout that we were doing. I found that difficult to believe and I told him that. And from what I could tell, he looked built and more fit than I did.

Sarita then said something to the effect of "Maybe its because you're in the best shape than you have ever been?"

I thought about that this weekend and came up with a short list of physical things that I could do now that I know I couldn't do before I started training:

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to start running. Its been something that I have always wanted to incorporate into my regimen but I'm concerned about injuring my knees and ankles. I did feel like pushing myself.

The view wasn't too bad either. (haha)

The next workout _was_ better. I knew that it was good by the fact that I couldn't stop sweating until two hours after. I could feel my entire body radiating heat for those two hours.

It was similar to being hooked up to a morphine drip box. The main difference was that after exercising there wasn't a sleepiness or lethargy. The days I don't sweat through working out or through cardio work, I feel the difference. I don't feel as energetic and definitely don't feel like my body is burning fat.

I guess sweat and getting your heart rate up (no matter how your method) is a good thing .

Recently Patrick has decided to switch up his warm-up by adding a little bit of running to his repetoire. Since his warm-up is something that Patrick does on his own, I am generally not there to watch. However, I wanted to take a look at his gait and speed to see if any alterations needed to be made. So I decided to have him do a little bit of running during our session.

...So we choose a treadmill, Patrick groans about not wanting to run as he gets on the treadmill, and then we start the belt. Patrick graons some more as he imparts to me his displeasure at having to run again. As Patrick approaches an initially slightly uncomfortable running speed, the girl on the treadmill in front of him removes her shirt to reveal a very (very) small sports bra, which leaves not much to the imagination from behind (she is also wearing very tight, somewhat transparent spandex workout pants).

Suddenly, Patrick is in no rush to get off of the treadmill. He claims that he is willing to run longer in order to "challenge himself". Yeah, right! Im sure all of your friends know you a little better than that.

Anyway, if we can get the timing right and get on a treadmill behind this girl during every workout, Patrick might have the potential to become a marathon runner. What better motivation to run than running after the semi-naked girl in front of him???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I know the day is almost over, but I have to shout out to my big sis' Renelle!

Thanks for your motivation and all your sisterly love.

Thanks for you pride in me.

Happy Birthday!!!

P.

Ouch!

That's what I felt this morning when I woke up. My chest, arms and abs were killing me. I would stretch my legs and felt my joints crack.

Normally Tuesdays are days when I torture myself. Two days during the week I go into the gym and without Sarita cracking the whip behind me, I make sure that I torture myself on the treadmill, rotating stairs, and/or the arc-trainer.

It wasn't happening today. I was in such pain that I thought I coming down with the flu.

Tonight, I thought about it. I hadn't had workout that beat me up like that in a while. And after the pain goes away, I'm much stronger afterward. All the parts that hurt me right now, I've massaged to ease the pain. I've realized that "wow these are actual muscles popping out" and "these are actual lean parts of my body".

I can't wait to get up tomorrow and wreck some more of 'em

I haven't bought jeans since the party in September.

All my jeans before then had been at least a size 50 or above. When I first started training, I was a size 54. The largest size ever that I remember being was a size 60 or 62. When the weight started to come off during the training, I would wait for the jeans for the jeans to become really baggy and almost falling off before going out and buying new pants.

Mainly, I was being cheap. Being a person that has always had to buy from the special section his entire life, I can attest that the prices of clothing are more expensive. All the way from the husky kids section to the Casual Male Big and Tall stores, it seems to be a little more pricey for brands that are unheard of outside the plus size section.

But I digress....

When I bought those jeans for the party in September, it was quite a shock. I found that I could fit in a size 44. It was the smallest size that I could remember fitting into since high school. I remember picking up this new size jean and noticing how much smaller lighter they were in comparison from the pair I had worn going into the changing room. It only makes sense of course, the smaller the amount of body you have to cover with clothes, the less clothes you need!

The real cool thing was that this size was the smallest of the pant sizes usually carried by big and tall stores. My shirt size had gone down to the small 2XL/large XL range at this point.

I was finally free from having to shop at "plus size" specialty stores!

This week I noticed that those jeans I bought in September were baggy. When I had first tried them on, they were skin tight, I felt that they were form fitting. The fact that they were loose was a little perplexing when you consider that I have been at plateau in terms of the weight.

So I'm off to Old Navy. I've never been able to shop there before. I'm actually within the sizes that they have in stock. It will be nice to not have to pay sixty bucks for a generic pair of jeans.

First off, I'd like to thank everyone that has taken the time to make comments to these posts. Its been years since I have seen some of you. The words of encouragement are fantastic.

Those words of encouragement really came in handy at the end of this week. Because of job I was working that took place in Westchester, I had to change the regularly scheduled beatings, err, I mean sessions with Sarita, to 7 in the morning, for both our Wednesday and Friday sessions.

For me it meant getting up at 5:30 to prep for the rest of day and to arrive early enough at the gym to do my pre-beating warm-up .

I know that I'm spoiled. Spoiled rotten. There are a lot of people that have to get up at that hour on a daily basis, namely Ben and Renelle. I'm in awe of those two, especially since they manage to get up and be functional at a time before the sun rises and have doing so been for years. Like most Manhattan residents, if I'm not working out, I can get up a half an hour before work, take a quick shower and arrive on time (provided that I don't get shafted by the subway) .

At that time of the morning, the vibe at the gym is very very different. There are less people and it seems less intense and scene-y. It was actually easy to get a treadmill. Looking out of the gym windows over Broadway I saw that the streets and sidewalks was practically empty. It seems more active in that area at 4 in the morning than it does at 7.

Those comments really helped me lug my butt out of my dark bedroom at that hour. They also made me feel better about getting my butt back into bed at 11 that evening so I could get proper rest instead of staying out. Thanks again to all!