Ready to Kick some A$$ again!
I took Friday off of bootcamp. In light of my whole Hitting a Wall mental state, I just didn’t wanna go. In an act of true friendship, Donna mathematically calculated what percentage of total bootcamps I was missing if I cut out on Friday. Sniff. I was so proud of her! She knows I can’t turn my back on a mathematical argument! [FYI, I’ve only missed 4% of bootcamps = 2 classes].

So instead, I came home, walked the puppies, went to the home depot, picked up some paint for my nook, stopped off at the Bucks for some coffee beans and had an early night. I woke up yesterday morning and started painting my nook. I didn’t think about going for a run. I didn’t think about doing an exercise video. The treadmil never crossed my mind. I thought about painting and how much I liked the new color. And then I went to wall Mart. And then I painted some more. And then I had a 4 hour nap. And then I had a really lazy, long shower. And then I met Jenn M at Nectar, where I deliriously enjoyed a lemon tart with raspberries on top with a black currant tea.

This morning, after feeding the puppies, I went back to bed and slept in till noon. I did some more painting, and picked up some groceries. I cleaned my bathroom. I made up the guest room. I had another indulgent, drawn out hot shower. I put nice smelling cream on my feet. and now I’m chillin out [yes I said it, I’m chillin out!] waiting for True Blood to start at 9pm.

And i feel ready to go back to Bootcamp tomorrow and kick some A$$!

Hitting the Wall

Yup. I’ve hit the wall. Maybe not THE wall, but A wall. Definitely some kind of wall-ish object. I’m tired before I even get to bootcamp, and when I get there, I’m even more so. I push myself, but my heart just isn’t in it. At least not these past couple of weeks. and when you’re heart’s not in it, it’s tough to get up those stairs/hills/park benches. Last Friday was the first time I really felt it. We were doing hills. We go up, we go down. The idea is you “rest” while you are running downhill. but you are still running. and on my fourth time up the hill, Michelle, my trainer, was chasing me, telling me to keep going, go harder, faster, more! and suddenly, I just stopped.

Thunk.

Plain old stopped. She said I could catch my breath and as I stood there gasping I said, “What I really want is to cry. I’m TIRED.”

She nodded sympathetically. Said maybe that’s what I needed. But I still had to run up that hill. And I did. three more times.

Yesterday, it was full body workout. Up and over the park benches, tricep dips, pushups, run, sprint, jump, burpees. And all I could think was, “Stop. Just stop.” But I kept going.
Today, was stairs. and as I run, I’m getting out of breath faster and it takes longer to get it back. Four times up and down the stairs, then twice running out to the ridge and back. And then up and down again. I go up, I go down.

Three months of bootcamp has caught up to my psyche. I never thought of myself as an athlete. I started feeling like an athlete, but now I’m having second thoughts. Intellectually, I know I’m in a lot better shape. Prolly more so than I have ever been. Yet the scale has not budged. And that weighs on me. No pun intended.

I tell myself, that if I can just push through 4 more bootcamps, I get a whole week off until the next session. Four more bootcamps. Four more hours. It doesn’t sound so bad when you say it like that, but when you’re on the third of four sets of stairs, and you’re gasping for air, or sucking wind as we call it….. sigh.

4 more!

We Did It!
Jenge and I promised ourselves a few years ago that we would run the CIBC run for the Cure. But every year when it came around, we were still walking. Last year, I didn’t even go, I was too dissapointed in myself for not being able to run it.

But this year was the year! Going to bootcamp 3 times a week since June put us in good cardiovascular shape. Jenge was even sick today, all stuffed up, sinus-y and headache-y and she still ran the whole thing!

We met up with fellow Bootcampers Natalie, Rhonda and Trina, and we all ran the entire 5km. We had great weather for it, cool, but sunny.

As always, the run for the cure is a great event. It’s so heartwarming to see all the survivors in their pink shirts, and all the family and friends of people touched by cancer out to support their loved ones. People who live in the neighboorhood come out on their steps to watch us run by, some even decorate their lawn. And there are tons of volunteers handing out water or cheering you on during the race, and handing out apples and bagels at the end.

We didn’t bring the puppies as we really wanted to focus on running, but because of all the bootcamps I’ve done, I still had enough energy when I came home to take the puppies for a 4k walk AND go out and get groceries!

A Sign!

After Dad passed away, one of Jenge’s friends got us a Hope for Humanity bush. I planted it smack dab in the middle of my garden in the back yard. It had beautiful, bright red roses. The next year, I was worried it wouldn’t come back, but it did. It got so big that I thought it might take over my whole garden. But this year…. well, I nervously watched it all spring. Nothing. I went out and started clipping branches. Dead. Dead and dry. No hope. But unlike the other rose bushes that didn’t make it, I didn’t have the heart to pull it out. I yanked the other rose bush, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull out the Dad Plant. Everytime I would go out and weed my garden, I would trim a few more branches and hope that one of them wouldn’t be dry and dead. but there was nothing…..

And then a few weeks ago, I saw it. Growing out from underneath the dead branches was green! I tried not to be hopeful. Surely, after all spring, all summer of nothing, it wasn’t going to start up again in late August for crying out loud. It was probably just weeds. So I watched it. Secretly from the window. Out of the corner of my eye when I went to the garden. I didn’t even touch the new green.

Finally I took a close look. It was back! All the dead branches were still dead, but this was brand new growth, from the roots, I guess. I actually touched the leaves. And I told Jenge, “The Dad plant is back!”

And she said, “Hey! Remember what the psychic told me?” I said, No, cuz frankly, I didn’t. She saw the psychic almost two years ago – right after Dad died. Jenge continued….

“The psychic told me there was gonna be a plant or flower that represents your dad and you’ll think it will have died, but in the fall, it will bloom again, and that will be a message from your dad that he’s okay.”

True story.