Monday, July 16th - Day 8 - Stacy's back! - Jane

A little background on the group:

There are on any given day 25 - 30 participants, and 5 - 8 instructors. Participant number varies because you can actually opt for 10 workouts in one month, vs. the full 18, which is what Mitzi, Sheila and I are doing. Also, the ratio of men to women is about 50/50. I think. (There is a good reason I'm not an actuary, and why it took me until this year to actually track my checking account online. Numbers are not my strong suit. But I digress.)

Our director, Stacy, has been in NY, presumably for a fitness event, for the last five days. She is back today. I'm also realizing that as muscle memory increases, the memory elsewhere in your body has to decrease, because I'm drawing a total blank on what we did on Monday. Maybe that is a good thing??? Ahhh...okay. It's coming back.

There's this hill. And we run it. Alot. But I feel strong on Monday, even with lack of sleep, and if there is one thing I can do, it is run. Once we are at the top, though, we are in the grass, this time for a game of '21'. It is actually a descent in multiples of 3 - so first we do 21 pushups, 21 crunches, 21 squats, 21 (here the memory is fading...I think we were doing 5 different exercises)...then another set of 18, then 15...etc., all the way down to 3. So, that was uh, EIGHTY FOUR of everything! And just to keep it interesting, the exercises varied - clapping between pushups, or legs extended at an angle for the crunches. Just so boredom doesn't set in!

Then we take a break in the gazebo, where we lean into the back of a bench, and do more pushups, along with squats (rear end must brush the bench to ensure you are getting the BEST workout!), then back to the Hill. Only this time, it is a timed run - from the bottom of the hill to the top and back down - as many times as you can until they tell you to stop. Again, I feel strong, so I manage to get in 5.25 (yes, I'm counting the .25). We will evidently be doing this again later, hopefully this number improves.

I am exhausted today, because I didn't go to sleep until after 11am. A four-hour meeting in the afternoon requires two cups of coffee, and even then I found myself 'pondering' - thoughtful expression on the face, looking towards the ground...let them think I'm pondering!