Finally the weekend! But no rest for me. I have a 9AM meeting with my trainer Rachel. I seemed to be not entirely together. I got out of my car and the clouds opened up so by the time I got my gym bag out and literally ran to the gym, I was pretty wet. Of course I hadn't thought to take an umbrella. I went to the locker room and put my stuff in the locker and went to a treadmill. Soon as I started, I realized I had left my heart monitor in the trunk of the car in my other gym bag. So back out in the rain by now, pretty soggy.
By the time I dried off a little, it was time for Rachel.
We have been mostly working on my balance issues and my core muscles. The first one we did was with a figure eight resistance band on my ankles, I was supposed to stretch my legs apart and "walk" across the floor and back. Not too bad but I was pretty slow. After I caught my breath, we did probably my least favorite exercise. I laid on a bench and right above me was a long bar. It weights 45 pounds and I felt like it weighed 100. I lift it off its holder and I bench press it- up and down. It goes down to my breasts and up til my arms are straight out. I was not able to finish the last set. I was supposed to do 3 sets of 15 repetitions. The first was tough and I rested a moment. The second was worse and I thought I would not finish. My arms were yelling at me. After another rest, I went for the last set but I simply could not finish. 8 times was all I could do. But Rachel was very pleased.
Then we went over and I was to stand on this half globe. It is called a BOSU ball - meaning both of the side up.
The side we were using was the rounded side. It is about 2-3 feet wide and not very high- maybe 6-8 inches. I stepped up and immediately was not balancing very well. I used Rachel to help get my feet placed properly and finally I could stand okay without holding on. But then I had to squat and that was a lot harder. You sort of move like your going to sit down on a chair. Bend at the knees and lower your butt. I thought for sure I would never get through that but with only 2 or 3 resets of my feet on the ball and I managed all 3 sets of 15.I was pretty happy with that. Then we went over to this thing like a block, about a foot high. I put one foot on the top of it and then raised my other foot and bent it behind me. I was pretty breathless but I felt pretty safe on this one. This is like 6 sets, since you do one set with the left leg and one set with the right and that is considered 1 set. I had no real trouble with this one. The next to last one we did was the easiest for me. I sat on the big balance ball in front of this machine. Rachel put the weight up to 40 pounds. I grabbed the handles and lifted the weight by pulling the handles attached to the weights . I pulled the roped to the side of my breast, Alternating arms. 3 more sets with each arm and we were done. The final exercise was for me to stand with my legs in a running stance, my legs far apart. I then had to genuflect , in other words almost bring my knee to the ground. Not quite touching the ground and with nothing to hold onto. Then you rise up and do it again. I was pretty exhausted by the time that was over but I also felt really good too. I had done almost everything she gave me to do. I was sweating like a racehorse but it was definitely worth it. Rachel gave me some parting remarks and she had to go to her next student. I did a couple of easy stretches and I went back to the locker room. A nice shower and I was refreshed.
Good thing too, because one of my regular little guys' mom called me and we Arranged for me to give Gabriel a extra swimming lesson. I love this sweet boy, he is only 5 and functioning reasonably well with autism. He is not very verbal but we sang old Mc Donald Had a Farm and he knew most of the animals. He was very good with his lesson too, although he doesn't like using a noodle or a kickboard. All he really lacks now is confidence. I believe we will have him swimming like a fish before long. We stayed in the pool for almost an hour before I could tell he was tiring. So his Mom wrapped him in a towel and when I got out after him, she gave me a sweet present, a lovely rose-like plant. I thought that was a very nice gesture and I appreciated it. After 10 minutes in the hot tub, I headed to my other missions. I just got home and I never made it to the grocery. I'll do that tomorrow. More tomorrow.