Too costly?

Today I'm paying the price.  Yesterday morning Todd and I headed to the gym.  I worked out....pushing myself. My heart rate was up there and I felt good.  It was  good workout.  I put in about an hour at the gym.   Being as yesterday was a bank holiday I had off work.  Todd and I came back to the house after the gym and we relaxed a bit throughout the afternoon, just watching TV and hanging out.   Typically on days off of work, I do a double session (two straight one hour classes versus the one class that I typically can work into my schedule).  I thought about it all afternoon.  A double session?  Or should I take into account that I had already had a pretty intense workout in the morning?   Decisions decisions decisions.

I had stuck to pretty much straight cardio at the gym in the morning.  I KNEW I was going to go to the second zumba session with is actually zumba sentao.  That is usually a pretty good upper body workout (lots of tricep dips and pushups...amongst other torturous moves)  So I knew that pushing my body on the weight machines wouldn't be a good thing...I didn't want to head into that session of sentao with aching arms.  So my decision wasn't based around the second class...that class was never in debate.  My debate was for the first class.  That class was zumba with some zumba toning songs included into the rotation of songs.  Todd kept asking me throughout the afternoon what my plans were.  I kept saying I didn't know.  I didn't know for sure until about an hour before the class...and then I knew.


I was going to go for broke.  What's the worst that would happen? If my body couldn't handle it, I would just stop.   I headed into the first session and I felt really good.  My legs were responding and I felt pretty good.  It was almost as if I hadn't worked out in the morning.  My foot started hurting pretty badly toward the end of that session.  I just ignored it.  You see, my foot has been bothering me for about a year now.  I just push through it.  :-)  Pretty soon the first hour was done.  I got my chair ready and in position for the sentao hour.  It started.  I was moving but about half way into that hour I felt myself totally run out of steam.  My legs felt like they were dead weight.  I pushed through it.  I was NOT going to give up.  I was whipped, but I was NOT going to let it win.  I focused.  I moved.  I constantly thought about my exercise motto... "mind over matter."  I knew that I was tired, but I knew that my body was not in danger....while my intensity level had  threatened to waver, I knew that I was technically OK. I forced myself to maintain my intensity level.   Quitting was NOT an option.   Praying for it to end WAS an option.  haa haa haa.   I persevered.  I made it!  I conquered something that I would have thought impossible for me.  Will I do it again?  Probably not...it's a bit extreme...but I DID IT!

I came home and boy was I tired.  But the real consequences didn't hit until this morning when I went to get out of bed. Eii yii yii!   My body has this weird feeling of heaviness and achiness.  Three hours of intense exercise worked my muscles!   The cost of my three hours.....soreness! So was that too costly????   No....I did something I never thought I would do!!!! There were also some good aspects!  I got to eat extra food (I normally don't eat many of my earned exercise calories....I ate about 400-500 earned calories....not quite even one workout worth of earned calories).  Ohh...and with the pain I wanted to see what happened on the scales.  One more pound off my body.  :-)  (That's not an official weight loss...just a sneak peak).

So what's my plan for today?   Well...lets just say I'm packing my gym bag to take to work....zumba tonight after work! 

Sentao

You know it's a bad thing when your exercise instructor steps in front of the class and her first words are "If you were here last night, are you sore too?"  Yes, my instructor actually started the class last night with those words.  And YES, I was sore from my workout on Monday.  Last night just exacerbated the soreness.  Hey, no pain no gain.  :-)    So what workout did I do that caused me this 'difficulty'?    Zumba has a new class out there.  It's called Sentao.  It's chair exercises.  I know what you are thinking!  Oh yes, I was lulled into a false sense of security when I started too.  It's exercises with a chair, how difficult can it be.  Well all I have to say is try it!  Lunges off of the chair.  Squats while you have one leg balanced on the chair.  Push ups, crunches, etc etc.  It's a WORKOUT.  A gal was there the other week trying it out and her words after it was over was "I have done body pumps and all sorts of exercise classes at various gyms and NEVER have I had a workout like that!"  I alternately hate it and love it.  I can't figure out which it is.   But I know this......if I'm sore and have achy muscles, that means it's good for me so I'll keep doing it!

So happy to see my friends last night at zumba.  One was a friend that I hadn't seen in a month or two.  She looked at me and commented on my happiness.  It made me look deeply at myself and realize that I am at peace with myself.  I was looking at scrapbooks from years and years ago and cried a bit when I saw the college era.  I miss that girl.  But I'm learning that that girl is still inside me and I"m at peace with her slow  reemergence.  I'm at peace with what is happening in my life.  I don't like all of it...but I'm at peace with it.  The beauty of it?  That peace is allowing the old long lost MaryFran to shine again. 

Day two went by without too much fanfare.  I ate right.  I exercised.  I did what I needed to do.  I peeked at the scales this morning (unfortunately after I had downed a big glass of liquids and had already eaten my breakfast) and I'm down...so I'm feeling good.   Day three is planned and I am ready to rock this day also!