The Happy Little Zombie

Blogging today is a bit of a challenge.  In the same sort of manner that fixing my hair was today, and something as seemingly uncomplicated as pushing open the door of the gym to leave was.  My triceps are completely TRASHED!  And whenever I work them, I have bad hair days because they are so exhausted from the work that it feels as though I'm trying to hoist up a small tank just to lift my arms over my head to fix my hair or put my oatmeal in the microwave.  And, having completed two gruelling strength sessions in less than 12 hours (last night was back and biceps with my husband), I am feeling a bit like a zombie.  A happy little zombie who lifted lots of weight.  For those of you who are familiar with the Planet Fitness commercials, the stupid saying kept going through my head, "I lift things up, I put them down."  I hate Planet Fitness for discriminating against people who work out hard enough to make a noise escape their body.  There are enough powder-puff non-progressive folks already swinging their arms around as if they are doing an aerobic workout with their 1 1/4 pound weights. 
But I digress.  I will tell you that I have seen some really strange things going on in my own gym in the past few days.  There are mainly three types that work out there, muscleheads like my hubby, Mexican guys and old people (we're talking 65+ here).  I don't really fit in, but I actually like that.  This morning, my entire workout was done in the free weight room (which includes triceps pulldown machines), and not only was I the only female in the room, I was the only non-hispanic person in the room 99% of the time.  I have nothing against them, they were very polite to me, but I could understand a few things they were talking about (blush) despite trying to block out everything around me and focus on my workout.  But man, they do some strange movements that make it hard for me to keep from bursting out in laughter.  It is a little distracting.  Must remember to bring iPod next time!
My workout with my husband last night was a different scene.  There were a lot more of the bodybuilder type guys in the gym, many of them were familiar with my husband, and it seemed he got a lot of attention/admiration.  Guys bigger than him would stop their workout to watch him train, his super-strict form exposing his cut muscles.  And as he was training me, others would stop to listen to his advice he was sharing with me, and sometimes I could tell they were watching me to see if I was picking up on the proper form.  Having my husband there with me made me feel less awkward and all of his gym friends were super nice to me.  And I can tell my husband felt great that he could share his passion with me, and he mentioned repeatedly, that he wants to make a regular habit of going to the gym together.  I actually prefer to work out  in the morning, it is much less crowded and I have way more energy before and after, but I can definitely see the value in having him work out with me.  There were moves I have been doing slightly wrong or less-effectively for a while, and he helped correct some things for me, which led to an awesome workout!  What a treat it is to have all the right equipment to use and the proper knowledge now, so I won't injure myself as the weights get heavier.  My husband did the same workout with me, which is a lot more sets and reps than he is used to.  He usually trains DC style, which is a lot, lot heavier and less reps, but when we got done, he said he was impressed with the workout that Jamie designed and that he was certain he'd be sore from it.  Now that's saying something! 
I am learning a lot about my body, my limitations, my weak spots and my courage.  I feel really strong mentally as I conquer goals I couldn't have a mere month ago.  This morning's triumph?  For the first time ever, I completed 3 full sets (ten reps per) of wide pushups AND 3 full sets (of 10) triceps bench dips!  Let me tell you, I almost didn't get back up on the last bench dip, those things kick my butt.  But I did it, despite my already-tired tri's and that small victory gave me renewed energy that I used to finish my workout strong!
This morning I noticed some more flattening happening, some lumps and bumps getting smaller, some back fat slowly shrinking.  And as I did my two-handed triceps extensions in front of the huge mirror, my first reaction was to cringe at the way my hips/stomach looked as my shirt rose with the movement, but then I caught glimpse of my triceps, and I could actually see them, and they looked STRONG!!  It was then that one of those cute little Mexican guys said something about "caliente"  (which means hot for those who didn't know) and whether they were talking about the weather or working up a sweat, I looked at my muscles and said to myself, CALIENTE INDEED!
Tonight, my company is having a picnic at an amusement park, and my kids have been looking forward to this for a month!  It is there favorite place to go in Green Bay, and it has been a successful bargaining tool for me.  I am hoping there will be some food I can eat, but I will be prepared just in case their isn't.  I'm not going to let anything ruin my hard work! 
Well that's it for today.  The extra caffeine I had this morning is helping to wake this sleepy little zombie, and I'm all geared up for a relaxing, fun time tonight.  My son wants me to ride the roller coaster tonight, which I will admit intimidates me, but if I have learned one thing from this journey it's that things are only as difficult as our minds allow them to be.  If there were no hills in the road, it would be a pretty boring drive!
Happy Wednesday!  Hope it rocks!