President's Day Exercise: I Actually Got to Swim!

So yesterday was President's Day and I had some extra time to workout. It was amazing. I booked two sessions with my trainer Randi (who I don't normally get to see because she works days). But I couldn't get two consecutive sessions, so I had them with an hour off in between. Some might have gone and relaxed for that hour, but I decided to swim, so I got two full hours of workout in. What a treat... for those sadistic people like me.

For my first half hour session, Randi focused on some killer lower body exercises. Lots of lunges and step ups, with some crunches thrown in for good measure. Then I went to the locker room, did a fast change and swam for 40 minutes straight. God, it felt so good to be in the pool. While some people find doing laps tedious, I could do them all day. I'm not fast in the pool, but I'm just so happy to be there that I just keep plugging along happily and steadily. And, since it was the middle of the day, I had my own lane for the majority of the time. That's a rare treat indeed. I was so happy to spread out and just stretch all my muscles. And then, as a little treat, I hopped in the sauna for ten minutes to dry off a little. OK, and to relax before my second session, but mostly to dry off.

For the second session, Randi was all about the upper body. Lots of bicep curls, tricep curls, mean hammer things and a few other things with some pretty heavy weights that I was too delirious to remember. Thankfully, Randi was in joking spirits and so were the other trainers, which kept me laughing through the torture. Then we ended with some lower ab leg lifts. Just for kicks. Randi knew that I was heading off for vacation (and to do my half marathon) so she gave me a little extra torture.

After the workout, I was chatting with her and telling her how the mean computer at work told me that I was obese (when I put in some stats to get a discount on my health insurance). She actually took me to the bathroom and asked if I considered that girl in the mirror to be obese. She reassured me that while I still could easily lose another 30 lbs or so, that I was in kick ass shape, and very determined and strong. She told me that she and the other trainers really look forward to training me because of my positive outlook and ability to smile through the pain. I thought that was really sweet and nice to hear. And while I'm planning on splurging a little bit on vacation, it gave me incentive to book more sessions the second I get back and to keep plugging along, even if the results are slow to come.

What a nice way to spend my day off.