Category: Working Out

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The Curse of the Blue Gym Suit

Last Thursday evening I ran two miles on the treadmill.

Really.

I RAN TWO MILES!

The girl who hated P.E., who wore the same blue gym suit for six years because she didn’t care enough to get a new one, ran two miles on the treadmill for no other reason than for the challenge.  I’m almost afraid to admit it publicly.  Not only is it totally outside my natural inclination to sit and knit, but now that I’ve done it, I’ll be expected to do it again, or maybe run even further next time!

I don’t know at what point exercise became disagreeable.  When I was a kid, some of my fondest memories were spent running through the field of wild flowers by our house.  I never worried about dirt, fleas, ticks or even sunburn.  I just remember the feeling of running, it was like being set free.

There were countless games of tag with the my brothers and sisters and later neighborhood kids when we moved into town.  We played kick ball, rode our bikes, went for picnic hikes in the woods with our PB&J sandwiches and thermos of Kool Aid.  We seemed to always be on the move.

Even when I attended Catholic school,  where we didn’t have P.E., we were always jumping rope at recess and before and after school.

Nope, the change seemed to come when we moved to New Jersey and we made the switch to public school.  Religion class was replaced by the American secular worship of physical education.  With gym class came the gym suit.

This is what my gym suit looked like.

Just imagine this in blue with my name embroidered over the pocket.

I however, was short, skinny, wore glasses and my teeth were clad in a full set of braces; upper and lower.  My name was embroidered over the pocket.  Of all the billions of photos available on line, this is the only one I could find of my style of gym suit.  I couldn’t even find one in my yearbook!   P.E. class and the wretched gym suit took all the fun out of being active.  No longer could I simply wear the play clothes I had at home; a special wardrobe was required.  I couldn’t just run for fun or jump rope; all exercise in school involved team sports, excessive rules and the dreaded earsplitting sound of a whistle!  Whistles were even fun for us kids before P.E. class.  But, just like the tailored darts on my gym suit in its stiff, unforgiving cotton fabric, they too had to be confined to the rules. I know the gym suit isn’t to blame for my decades of inactivity but I do believe it was the start.  Except for the fact that it lasted me through middle and high schools and the color was a nice shade of blue, I don’t have much nice to say about it.  Whatever the cause, I am glad that I am beginning to overcome the dislike of physical activity.  I understand it’s importance on my overall health and will keep pushing myself.  I wish I could say that I still get that feeling of freedom and endless possibilities running as a child gave me but its been replaced by satisfaction of accomplishment.  It’s much more fun to just enjoy and be, don’t you think? 

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Oh What a Beautiful Morning!

The past couple of days have been what I consider perfect.  The air temperature is cool and dry, the sky is blue, the birds are singing in the trees!

Yesterday, fueled by a poached egg for breakfast, I became a dynamo of activity, accomplishing as many tasks as I generally get done in a week.  I did everything!  I mowed, I ironed, I baked, and finally transplanted the herbs I started in window boxes.

I told Lorenzo the other day that I had an epiphany last weekend when I was digging out the bed for my herbs.  I was hot and sweaty but kept going anyway.  My “ah ha” moment was the realization that before going into training, I used to think that when my heart started racing and I began to sweat, it was time to stop working.  Now I know it means I’m burning off the fat.

So, if my blogs seem fewer and lighter than they have been, I’m out back working up a sweat and hopefully, next time you see me, there will be less of me!

Have a great day!

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Middle Aged Gym Rat

At my training session last Monday, Lorenzo asked me if I’d write a little article about my training experience for the gym’s monthly newsletter.  Naturally my first question was ,”Why me?”  He hemmed and hawed, but I think the bottom line was that initially he thought I was an unlikely candidate to continue the workout sessions and he was very proud of my progress.

Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I would become a gym rat.  In high school, I hated gym class.  I wasn’t particularly athletic and saw the hour of PE every day as torture.  I did enjoy spending time outside when we played field sports, but chose to play far outfield positions where there was little need to really participate in the game.  Once I did attempt to play short stop but was rewarded by catching a bouncing ground ball squarely in my nose.  My deviated septum reminds me of my foree into team sports on a daily basis.  Later, when running became popular and my friends were all jogging, my mantra was “I’ll only run if someone is chasing me with a knife!”

I wasn’t a total couch potato.  I have always loved to walk.  Before I owned my first car, I walked a lot.  I have also always loved badmitton, although tennis has eluded me.  Dave and I played once  and that was 35 years ago!  I just didn’t have the wrist strength for the racquet.

In the mid ’80’s, I joined the Jazzercise craze and really enjoyed the dance steps.  But, as I became more and more involved in PTA and church activities, my evenings were filled with meetings.  Dave’s schedule was always an issue so childcare was a problem

 My first step back into regular exercise was when Dave and I joined the YMCA. We usually went twice a week; Tuesdays and Thursday evenings.  The workouts were self guided and I was happy to just do the minimal routine.

Last summer, a few weeks after we moved to Ruckersville, I stopped by the Anytime Fitness Center to check out the facility. Mike, the manager was so friendly, and the gym so compact and conveniently located, I decided to join then and there. After my initial training consultation, I could see the benefit of working out with a trainer but wasn’t sure I wanted to make the commitment of time and finances.

In late August, I got a call from Lorenzo, one of the trainers at the gym, asking if I’d like another consultation.  We were still settlin in and I still wasn’t ready to commit so we agreed he would call me back in about a month.

One month later, Lorenzo called back and I made an appointment to meet with him.

I’d seen Lorenzo’s pictures in the gym.  He reminded me of a Marine DI – a compact muscular bauld  headed black man, with a brilliant smile.  When Dave was at AOCS in Pennsacola, I’d seen how those guys could be barking out orders to the troops one minute and then turn their heads and be as charming and polite to a wife the next.  I needed a DI to whip me into shape.  Lorenzo appeared to be the guy for me.

At our initial meeting, Lorenzo weighed and measured me (the most painful part of the process) and then did a thorough evaluation of my muscle strength, endurance and exercise experience.

The first couple of meetings were the toughest.  Getting my body to move in unaccustomed ways was not always easy, and my balance was not the best. There were times when I thought I’d never be able to keep up the work.  But early on, I could see that Lorenzo was not doling out more than I could handle.  I learned to trust that each exercise was building me up for the next.

Sometimes I felt downright silly running sideways through the gym with a huge elastic band strapped around my ankles.  Other times I felt like Charles Atlas as I bench pressed a 50lb bar bell above my head.

Lorenzo made sure that my sessions were rarely the same.  He has shown me how to use almost every machine, ball, strap, weight and elastic band in the gym, giving me the confidence to approach and use them when I come in by myself.  Now I can swagger up to the weights like the other “guys” who work out in the evenings.  But I refuse to grunt -that’s where I draw the line!

Lorenzo has pushed me to work myself harder than I ever would on my own.  He is immune to whining (I know because I tried- once) and simply will not accept less than my doing my best.

My first three month session in “The Lorenzone” has been so rewarding and fun that I’ve “re-upped” for another session.  I have learned that for me, the benefit of having a personal trainer is well worth the time and cost.  I still have a way to go to reach my goal but I know that with Lorenzo’s skill and my perseverance, I have a better chance at getting there.