Miracle Muscles!!!

So, there are these really long muscles that run all the way down both sides of your back...they're called the latissimus dorsi muscles, and they are a beautiful thing!!! lol.

Brian and I are doin' awesome. He's teaching me a lot about my muscles. And he's excellent at figuring out all this stability stuff, which is helping SO much in me building muscles that I never really used before and didn't realize were there...like the lats! Wednesday we did an exercise and he held me still in such a way that it hit my lats for the first time, I think ever, and I realized that THOSE were the muscles that he wants me to use to bench with! SO, I did my drills yesterday and today on the bench and tonight's bench went MUCH better. The weight was really light b/c it was drill night, but even on drill night, the bar usually shakes when he hands it to me, and it hardly moved tonight!!!! Because I was keeping my back tight and it was helping me to stay stable on the bench when he let the weight down on me. We're still working on a few other things...there are so many rules for my paralympic meets that are so different from the 'able-bodied' meets that Brian is used to. But, we're getting closer.

I realized tonight that I still get 'just another day in paradise.' Remember that blog, right before I traded from Adam to Brian? I thought it was gonna be so tough and it was gonna be drawn out and take forever to relax and enjoy working out again. But, this switch was definitely a blessing in disguise....well, I guess it's not all that disguised now, but I mean when I was getting ready to switch and dreading it. Brian's learning what buttons to press to get more reps out of me...and he learned real fast to keep me talking even if it's short answers. lol. He knows when I'm not liking something and he just keeps questioning and talking me through it. Tonight he had to promise me he wasn't gonna let me fall forward...and he didn't, so that was major. He knew he was pushing my limit, but he made me try, and I did it, and I lived to see the next exercise. So, next time, my limit will be further...because I'm learning that I'll be okay with him. It's awesome when you can recognize your own growth. Now, I just need to start remembering to tell HIM thank you, before I leave my sessions. I never left without telling Adam. But, I realized tonight that I think I've only said it a couple of times...and he's putting his heart into this with me...and I need to start acknowledging that. We've run over on almost every one of my sessions, and I need to acknowledge all the extra time he's putting in. (Mostly because I talk too much at the end. I'll tell Brian anything he wants to know, but I'm not so fond of the rest of the gym hearing, so I usually start my story telling when we're leaving).

Bench (Speed Drill) - 105 lbs., 8 sets of 3...then one set of 2 at 125 lbs.
Dumbbell Floor Press - 45 lbs., 10. 2 sets of 10, 50 lbs.
Floor Dumbbell Tricep Extension - 15 lbs., 10. 4 sets of 10, 20 lbs. (I got really mental on these. He handed me 25 lbs., and I got really scared about the weight and had him knock it down to 20 lbs., then got all kinds of reps...I kinda wished that Brian would have pushed me through a little more...but I also am not sure that I was ready for that either. Maybe next time.)
Tricep Pushdown - 80 lbs., 10. 100 lbs., 8. 90 lbs., 10, 8.
Front Raises - 12 lbs., 10. 15 lbs., 10. (this was when Brian had to promise I wasn't gonna fall. I didn't like them, but I did well.)
Rotator Cuff, Y, T, W - 5 lbs., 2 sets of 10.
Med Ball Bounces, overhead and at chest. (Got mad at these too...got off center a little bit and it made my chair tip...but, we'll just keep working at them).

Please pray for me Sunday/Monday. My aunt and I are driving to New York to get my classifed so that I have a chance to earn ranking points and qualify at the next competition.

Pray for Adam too...his first full triathlon is a week from Sunday, so it wouldn't hurt to start prayers now. That's 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running.

OH! And please pray for Brian...he's supposed to hear about a finalization on a business endeavor this coming week.