Feelin' it.

Another great couple of days in my little workout world. :)

Yesterday I went to Muscle Fusion X and enjoyed an awesome, high-intensity interval training session.  After class, Misty and I spent about an hour doing my second leg workout for the week.  The routine included walking lunges, lying hamstring curls, glute kickbacks, lateral lunges and using the multihip machine to do inner/outer thighs.  It was a little tough to get through a leg workout after doing MFX for an hour - my legs were already fatigued from doing jumps, lunges and squats in class.  It's all good, though.  I am really enjoying the burning I feel in my glutes and hamstrings today.  I love being able to feel the change.

This morning I was back at the gym for yet another session with Misty, my last big strength training session for the week.  We worked chest, shoulders and triceps.  Thankfully, the pain in my bicep wasn't too bad and actually, I didn't even notice it much while doing today's exercises.  After weights, I went to Misty's spin class.  So good.

More realizations today.  First of all, some people whine, some people just do things and ignore any pain, discomfort or opposition they may face.  It takes a conscious effort to shift your thoughts away from the negative and just focus on the task at hand.  Similar to the last 6.2 miles of a marathon, I am finding there are moments while lifting weights that my body is telling me, "enough already", but I must ignore it and push on if I want to see improvement.  I am taking a cue from Misty on this one - she's one of the toughest women I've met, both physically and mentally.  I know I can do it because I've had to do it several times before during some of my hardest long runs and races.  I almost think it takes even more strength and mental focus to hang in there to the end of an hour or more of lifting because it would be easier to quit.  When you're running a marathon, of course there is always the option of stepping out at any time (though not an option I've ever allowed myself), but it's less likely because there are all the other people around you that are still going, and people on the sidelines cheering you on, helping you keep the momentum going until the finish line.  When you're lifting and in a weight room filled with other people just mulling around, resting between sets and casually walking and chatting, it takes a lot of focus to push through those tough sets towards the end of the session.  Your muscles are fatigued, your mind is starting to wander, and there's plenty of distraction.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's those last few reps that matter the most.  The ones where my arms are shaking and my head feels like it's going to explode - that's where the most gains are made.  I really need to work on getting tough.  I don't like feeling weak.

Tomorrow is my last (official) meeting with Misty, probably for a while.  (Sad, sad day.)  She's going to be doing another body assessment on me, since we're two weeks out now.  After that, we'll do some ab exercises and then I will have gone through all of the exercises she has me doing on my schedule and I will be on my own.  I am motivated by the fact that today while I was working out, Chris (who was doing his own strength training at the time) came up to me and said he could already see changes in my arms and back in just these two weeks.  That's awesome.  That makes me excited and hopeful.  My short-term goal is to feel good enough to post some progress pictures for you all in another 6 weeks.  We'll see... :)