Wherein I Give Doubt the Finger

The first thought I had this morning was this: how the hell am I going to get these tired legs to do lunges today?!  But I got up and readied myself mentally for the challenge that lay before me, a proverbial guantlet thrown before me, a second leg day this week (cue dramatic music).  But right before I sat down at the bench to do my first set of leg extensions, I said to myself, let's see what I'm made of!  And what, you ask am I made of?  Certainly not sugar and spice and everything nice.  I am full of grit and determination, and evidentally, a lot of sweat.  Aspire, perspire, inspire.  To my surprise, even though my gams were a tad bit sore yet this morning, it actually felt good to work them.  And those leg extensions?  I upped my weight by twenty pounds this morning, my quads felt really strong today.  They were not the muscle group I was worried about working though, it's my hamstrings that have beeen wicked sore since my Monday workout.  To say I haven't trained them very hard in the past is an understatement!  The workout called for walking lunges, one-legged deadlifts and lying hamstring curls.  As soon as I began the lunges I knew it wasn't going to be a good day to try and impress myself with them.  I barely completed the first ten, and was having that nagging form issue I've had in the past, wherein my quad muscle feels like it's going to tear.  So when I got 5 more in for a second "set" I realized I wasn't able to use proper form due to the prior soreness, and gave up on lunges for the day.  I will get another opportunity to test my metlle next Monday when I revisit leg day once more.  To my surprise, the one-legged deads were ever-so-slightly easier than last workout, and by my third set I got brave and added a 5 pound weight to the mix.  I ended my workout with those lying hammy curls, they were really challenging after the pre-exhaust work, but I managed to get through it by grunts and yelling at myself: c'mon butt, you are going to lift yourself off the floor!  Despite that moving sentiment, I barely squeaked out my last rep, but I got it in.
The program has printable logs you can use to track your workouts (love it) and one of the lines you can fill in is MOOD WHEN STARTING: (today I put tired/sore/uncertain) but just after my quad work I wrote, I FEEL STRONG TODAY!!  and then at the finish I wrote; I DID IT! and that was a great moment.  Once again, I did what I wasn't sure I could do.  Today I tested myself and in the end I found out I have a lot more strength than I knew.  Am I tired?  Hell yeah.  Am I going to be sore for the next few days?  YEP.  Am I going to anti up again on Monday and keep getting better? Guaranteed!
This morning after my workout, I took a visual inventory of my new muscles in the mirror and was thrilled with what I am seeing.  I took a photo of my arm flexed to show my new muscle tone and I was astounded at how buff it looked (for me, that is).  Depending on how I feel, I might take and post some progress photos after I complete week 4 (next week).
Tomorrow is my final training day this week, and it's my favorite(shoulders) and abs, which I am pretty indifferent to.  I know I will knock it out of the park again, and slide into the weekend feeling good about the week I am putting behind me. 
My eating has been completely on plan, my metabolism is crazy revved up and I am sleeping great, even my skin has a glow to it.  But best of all, I feel like my body is healthy.  The magnitude of that feeling is immense!
So here's to you and me,  for having the balls to tackle this thing headfirst!
Happy Thursday friends!