Splashfit

I woke this morning to feel the sun dappling across the skin on my face. The light filtering through slats of the blinds was tickling my eyelids; back and forth, light and dark. I could feel the warming rays urging me to break free of my dreams and face the day. Finally awake, I lazily reached for my clock from the night stand. Oh crap, I should have been up 45 minutes earlier. I knew the light was wrong this morning, as in there was too much of it hitting my face for it to be 5 am. I love mornings, but I am not a “morning person”. Mornings for me are quiet. There are absolutely no outside demands placed on me. It is me time. I can place my feet firmly on the ground, breathe deeply, and ready myself for whatever the day ahead may bring. I brew a strong pot of coffee, sit behind my keyboard, read the news, catch up on facebook, and generally just “ease” into my day. Today, it was not to be. I gulped down a hot cuppa joe, scarfed down a quick bowl of shredded wheat with blueberries, threw on some gym clothes, and ran out the door.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I have the pleasure of training a couple of ladies. As a fitness carrot, the three of us have signed up for the local “warrior dash” race. We have just a little over a month left to prepare. I have to say that it has been extremely gratifying to watch these ladies tackle my fitness program with gusto. The progress they have made and are continuing to make is very tangible and visible! I love seeing the outline of the trapezius muscle, the sleekly defined legs and calves, and the über defined biceps! When we began the running and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) program in January, well, lets just say that those early runs were pretty meek. I can see the speed and intensity improve each week. To have the opportunity to help mold somebody’s fitness, to help change them, and change their lives, it is an honor, and it humbles me.

I arrived at the gym with ten minutes to spare. I hopped on the elliptical machine to warm up. I had only one victim show today, and as the temperature inside the gym was hotter than the temperature outside, after a quick warm-up, we headed out the door. A half mile warm up jog and we arrived at the local high school track. This was our workout of the day:

Moderate pace run 220 yards
Sprint 220 yards
Moderate pace / sprint intervals 440 yards 30 seconds moderate / 15 seconds sprint
Moderate pace 440 yards
100 1 1/4 Squats
110 yards Alternating Walking Lunges (really hard)
110 yards Side stepping Wide Squats (alternating sides)
Half mile jog back to the gym

My first couple of sprint intervals this morning found my breakfast a bit too close to the surface for comfort. Nothing says “I’m a über chic fitness professional” like vomiting on your client’s shoes. I guess that leads me to clarify, that if you want to see posts and fitness information ONLY from somebody who looks good all the time, then I may not be the trainer to help you stay motivated.

A few weeks back, while perusing google news, I happened upon an article about Katie Holmes and her “Knee Cootchie”. Seriously people? You don’t have anything better to do with your time or airwaves than to be hypercritical of somebody who has obviously lost weight and has loose skin on their knees? Seriously? That is what you choose to focus on? Shame… shame on you. If you have read my other blog posts, then you will realize that I too, gained and lost a large amount of weight… (right around ninety pounds to be precise), and I have to tell you, that the loose skin remaining on my middle aged frame is a constant reminder to me of where I’ve been and where I do not wish to return. In fact, while doing a kickboxing workout recently, I realized that the backlash from the loose skin on my thighs could probably swing up and knock me out if I was not careful. My body is lean now. My bodyfat tests at between 13 and 14 percent. That does nothing to alleviate the excess skin. All I can say is that capri tights and knickers are my friend. I wish I had the confidence to let those bat wings and turkey waddles fly, but alas, it is not so. Bottom line, if you have firm skin and can wear short shorts with pride, I applaud you. As for me, I will continue with my financial contributions, to keep those blessed creators of yoga pants and capri tights providing us with a remedy for the knee cootch.