Cardio

Ugh! That was wretched. I think that sticking pins in my eyes would have been more entertaining!!

I'm SO kidding. I had to throw a line in there because every time Brian checked on me today he said "I know it's boring, but that's what we have to do."

Brian spent time with me today to work on some inside cardio ideas...and believe me, most of them were far from boring!!!!!! He came up with a lot more than anyone else has ever been able to tell me to do. And, I think that most of them could probably work out for me to do them alone...if I get brave enough.

He hooked a rope to a pole and he stood at the other end to hold it out level above me and i pulled myself along the rope back & forth. Then he had me throw a med ball across the room and go after it...for what seemed like an eternity!!!! ;-) He tried strapping me to the pole and having me pull this contraption called a 'prowler' across the room. I laid on my back and threw a medball in the air and he caught it and handed it back to me. And the last thing we tried was, laying on my back I used a sand bag and did a sort of extension with it, from the floor behind my head, across my face to my chest and then straight up extended above me and back to the floor behind my head. I don't think I'm forgetting anything.

The ball throwing I can do on my own. It was my least favorite thing that we did, but I think that's just because it didnt' get my heart rate up as high as everything else. But, I have to take what I can get, and it DID elevate it, and it got it in range to where Brian was happy, and it's something I can do on my own. I'm sure once I get a little more coordinated with picking the ball up, I can get my heart rate elevated a bit more.

The Rope pulling, I'm determined to figure out how to do it on my own. The only reason I couldn't today was because as I pulled, the rope fell in my lap and once I got about half way, there was too much and it fell out of my lap and then I ran over it and it stopped me.

I think that possibly if I actually do get bored enough with the things we've come up with (or maybe just b/c I'm stubborn), I might attempt tossing a medball in the air while laying on my back and catching it myself...but, I still have to think about that one. I was not by ANY means throwing it straight up in the air...Brian was all over the place trying to catch it. He said "You know that one mistake of yours could prove deadly, right? Does that make you nervous?" I laughed and said no...and I knew that letting that ball hit me would be the last thing he'd let happen. And if it did happen, it'd be my fault anyway for not being coordinated enough to throw it right. But I trust him :-)

The Prowler didn't work right, but I am determined in fixing that as well. I wouldn't be able to do it on my own...but I know there's a better position for me to be in so that I can pull it better without falling forward. FYI - if any of you ever work with a trainer, choose your words carefully. If you ever say the word 'easy', the weight automatically increases by 30 lbs. automatically...today it was 40 lbs. lol. I love it...THAT is my type of thinking. "Fine, your handing me a challenge? I shall rise to the challenge." is pretty much what they're thinking any time you tell them that something is too easy that they're making you do. I love working with someone like that.

The sand bag thing was cool, and I definitely could do that on my own. I had a really hard time gripping it. But, it made it fun. I said it so many times that by the time Brian got sick of hearing it and was going to give me a lighter one, I wouldn't let go of it to switch....I figured I'd gone that long with it, that I could make it work to finish the job. ;-)

SO, that was my day. It was a blast. And I'm glad Brian reads my blogs, so he will know that I enjoyed it and I appreciate his efforts. I didn't give as much feedback as I should have and as I know he likes to have. I was having more stomach issues and it just tends to back me out of the whole communication thing. I'm working on it though. I think I did better today. I continued with the exercises and we had a lot of banter going while we were experimenting with everything.

P.S. The answer to your question while bringing me down to my car is Yes, Brian, I do trust you...a lot more than 'pretty well'. Only people I trust take me upstairs....and one in a million get to 'experiment' to find out what I can do. :-)