I needed to burn 900 calories today. I did it, but it was a challenge.

I got up early (for me, set the alarm and everything) so I would get my gym workout done cuz my sister had a day off and she and my niece wanted me to spend the day at the beach with them.

So I got to the gym about 3 hours earlier than usual. My plan was to just knock out an hour on th e elliptical, do some stretches and then go to the beach. I figgered I could do a walk on the beach later in the afternoon.

I got to the gym all right and I started up my music and get on the machine (thank god for the new playlist) and start working….

And then I realize it’s hot. I mean, IT”S HOT! The gym is an open affair with the cardio equipment in a loft. There are ceiling fans and normally the temperature is ok. But today it was HOT!

I barely made it through my warm up set. I mean I am seriously friggin hot. And I go downstairs to talk to Nida or her brother, the owners. I can never remember his name. He’s usually not there when I am. Anyway, I tell them that it’s REALLY HOT and he says “yeah, they’re sawing and the air conditioner is turned off."

YIKES! I’m in trouble. I’m sweating and pantin. I can’t help myself. I kinda roll my eyes and say “ok??”

I feel bad as soon as I do it because they’re really nice and the gym’s great, but they’ve been working on this remodel job for the past few weeks and dammit, I gota workout to do.

On Tuesday night I committed to burning 3600 calories by Sunday and I needed to do an hour on the elliptical to get part of those calories knocked out.

So I went back upstairs and got back on the machine. It was gruesome, even though I noticed that they did turn the air on for a little while, it never really cooled down to the normal tolerable temperature.

The machine calculated that I burned fewer calories than yesterday, but I don’t think so. With the heat, my heart rate was at least as high as yesterday, even though I wasn’t going as fast.

The main thing though….I didn’t give up. I stayed on the thing for an hour and even though I was whining, crying and groaning (in my mind), I finished it.

After that, I went to the beach. I mostly just relaxed and enjoyed myself there, but I did commit to burning a lot of calories by Sunday. .

I don’t see my sister often. She and my niece wouldn’t walk, so I shortened the planned hour walk to 30 minutes.

I got up and walked down the beach as fast as I could, 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. I figured I could knock out the other 30 minutes at the dog park later in the afternoon.

That didn’t exactly work out either. I won’t bore you with the details, but I only got in another 15 minutes hiking at the dog park.

But you know what? I still did it. Despite everything, I burned 940 calories today.

And the scale is moving down again.

What obstacles did you push through today? I’d like to know.