Maleficent238’s BodyBlog

My back is pretty sore today.  I guess that’s a good thing.

I’m tired.  I wish I could get some quality sleep.  I actually slept through last night, but only because I did everything I could to ensure that my body would be unable to go on at bedtime.  First thing yesterday morning I ran to the high school and ran bleachers, then hurdles, then track sprints.  Yesterday evening I went to the gym and did a hard and heavy back workout.  It’s funny because Sunday was supposed to be my new rest day and it turned out to be the complete opposite.  Anyway, after all of that I was exhausted.  And, like I said, I slept through the night, but I don’t feel like I really got any rest.  I bought some melatonin the other day.  I’m hoping that it will help.  I know that this is all psychological.  What happens is I wake up in the middle of the night (usually around 3am) and I just can’t shut my mind off.  I start worrying about all sorts of things and my heart starts racing and before I know it I’m having a quasi-panic attack.  I know that I need to just calm down and chill out.  Yeah, well, easier said than done.  Sometimes I wish I could just remove certain parts of my memory when I go to bed.  You know, just pull them out, place them on the bedside table, and put them back in in the morning.  Or leave them out forever.  If only. 

I really do wish I was in Seattle. 

It’s almost 11:00pm.  I’ve been awake since 4:00 this morning, so I should be exhausted.  That is not the case.  I got home from work about a half hour ago.  I think I drank too much espresso.  We have this juice/smoothie/coffee bar and tonight I started playing chemistry lab.  I ended up with this whey/espresso concoction.  I should have cut myself off at 8:00.  I did not.  So here I am.  Restless.  I really like working at the gym.  My co-workers are nice enough, but more than anything it’s just cool to have people to bounce stuff off on.  And when it’s dead most of us just end up working out.  I don’t do any hard-core training on the clock, I mostly just get one of my co-workers to critique my form and give me other pointers.  So that’s cool.  Anyway.

There’s nothing on tv.  My dvd player is broken.  I’d like to go to bed now, but I’m just not tired.  And I hate just lying in bed trying to force sleep.  When I do that my mind starts to wonder and inevitably ends up in bad places.  {sigh}

So today kicked off a slightly new workout routine for me.  I just shifted some things around to make a solid 3-day antagonistic lifting split, 2 days of strictly cardio, 1 day of balance/flexibility, and 1 day of rest.  Anyway, I’m all jazzed about this and today just happens to be the day that all the guys lurking in the shadows decide to come and talk to me.  Seriously, I could barely get through a set without someone approaching me.  What’s with today?  Why now?  Is it the tan?  Does it make me less intimidating?  I’ll exfoliate that layer of skin right off.  I swear to God I will.  I refused to leave the gym without doing everything I wanted to do, so I ended up being there over an hour and a half.  Not cool.  I try to keep my workouts right around an hour.  Today was just stupid.  I need to go when it’s less crowded.  Argh.  But as it turns out I’m going to have to change my workout time anyway.  I start at the gym across town tomorrow and I have to go in at 5.  So that settles that.  I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking "Em, why don’t you just workout at the gym you’ll be working at?"  Well, the thing is, I prefer to keep my worlds separate.  But maybe I’ll change my mind on that. 

I’m going to try to take some progress pictures this weekend depending on how I’m feeling.  Or rather, depending on how I feel I’m looking.  I’ve been kinda bloated lately, so I’m hoping to sort of flush out this week.  Okay, that’s all I got.

It’s Easter and the gym is closed.  Boo.  It’s just as well though.  I’m changing up my routine a little bit and Sunday is going to be my new off day.  So I guess it all works out. 

I went to my grandmother’s today for Easter dinner.  She made pot roast soaked in gravy, white rice in butter, and an array of pies for dessert.  I got nervous when I walked in the kitchen and saw this spread of food - none of it being in my diet plan.  But my grandmother is awesome and before I could say anything she told me that she had some food set aside just for me.  Lean beef, brown rice, and strawberries.  Mammaw rocks. 

I basked in the sun yesterday.  It was lovely.  I was only out there for about an hour, but I’m considerably darker.  Yay for not being pasty white.

All for now.

Today should be an off day for me, but I took yesterday off instead.  My triceps weren’t feeling 100%, so I gave them an extra day of rest.  This has been happening ever since I started revving up my chest workout.  I think I should just go ahead and plan to work my arms on Friday instead of Thursday. 

The Pump and Run is 3 weeks from tomorrow.  It’s actually being held by the gym that I got a job with.  I had a meeting with the owner yesterday.  I really like him.  He’s extremely personable.  We ended up just talking about health and fitness when we were supposed to be talking about my schedule.  This is going to work.

So years and years ago my older sister lifted weights.  She’s 5′0" and the other day she told me that when she weighed 110 lbs she could squat 235.  Ladies and gentlemen, the bar has been raised. 

My certification materials came in yesterday.  Let the learning begin!

I have been completely ravenous today.  I usually eat every three hours but today I’ve been eating every two.  And I keep not being full.  In fact, I’ve felt kind of weak all day long.  I went for a long and hard hill run late last night, so I’m guessing that’s what’s causing this.  I went with that running group from my gym and they decided to take me on the group’s initiation run.  And damn.  It was tough.  It was a solid hour of hills.  I didn’t realize we had so many hills in this town.  There were a couple of times when I felt like my heart was going to explode if I charged up another one, but I didn’t dare stop because I knew I would not be able to start up again.  So I pushed forward and when it was all over with, I felt amazing.  Surprisingly enough, I’m not that sore today.  I’m just so freaking hungry!

I got a job at the gym!  I’m very excited.

So my mom is an elementary school teacher.  I recently got a job at her school and today during my off hour I decided to go see what she was up to.  Her class was conducting a series of experiements with eggs.  One of them was a squeeze test.  Supposedly it’s close to impossible to break an egg by squeezing it with your hand and NOT use your thumb.  Every student in class had tried.  Every teacher on the hall had tried.  I was skeptical, so, of course, I had to try.  Well, I put the egg in my palm with my thumb sticking out, held it over the trash can (just in case) and squeezed.  Much to my surprise, the egg didn’t break.  Now convinced that it wasn’t going to break, I held out my hand (not over the trash can) and squeezed again.  Well, not only did it break, but it exploded.  Egg on the ceiling.  Egg on the desks.  Egg in some little girl’s long blonde hair.  (She was none too pleased)  I don’t know where it all came from.  I mean, it was only one egg.  But the kids were very impressed with my "supernatural strength" (one kid actually said that).  Yeah.  Right.  It was a freaking egg.  I crack open six of those things every morning.  Anyway, it was pretty funny.  We shared a good laugh.  And I do enjoy a good laugh.

My certification materials were shipped out yesterday.  Woo hoo!

I bought new running shoes yesterday.  They’re pink.  I’m going to break them in this morning before my yoga class. 

Well I’ve decided to go ahead and get my certifications in group fitness instruction and nutrition and wellness consultation.  They’re two different certifications that I’m going to do simultaneously.  I’m going through the AFPA (American Fitness Professionals and Associates), so if anyone has any horror stories about them, please tell me now!  Once I receive the materials I’ll have up to three months to complete each exam.  I’ve spoken to the management at  my gym and they’ve been trying to add more group fitness classes.  So my plan is to finish these two certifications, get some little part-time gig at my gym, and then start working on my personal training certification.  And then, THE WORLD!  Not really, but I’m definitely going to keep rolling with this. 

Tomorrow is back day and I’m planning on pushing my deadlifts to the limit.  I should have gotten someone to spot me a long time ago, but I’m a stubborn little girl.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do. 

Time to go run before the rain starts.

Well I’m not coughing up blood and my nose has only bled slightly today.  It’s a long story, but I’m taking iron supplements and will be just fine.  I should have rested today, but I really didn’t want to miss my workout.  Besides, I finally found myself a spot partner and I knew he was expecting to see me at the gym.  So I went.  I managed to squat 195.  That’s the most I’ve ever done.  It was only three reps, but it’s still progress. 

Starting next week I’m going to put more focus on my chest workouts.  I’m doing this thing called the "Pump and Run" in about 4 weeks.  Every entrant bench presses a pre-determined percentage of their weight until failure.   For every rep, fifteen seconds is taken off of each person’s time for the 5k race that immediately follows.  I think my division (20-24 year old females) will be benching 65% of their body weight.  So that means I’ll be benching about 80 lbs.  Totally do-able.  Anyway, so I’ve got that coming up.  Keep you posted. 

All for now.  Time to wind down.