Training NSVs

I'm super-proud and excited: This morning I did my first full-hour session with my trainer!

Since I started working with Sal at the beginning of April, we've done two 30-minute sessions a week. Last week we did one 45-minute session, and today we did one 60-minute session.

When I do cardio at the gym, my body has been wanting to go faster than the 3.1 mph I've been walking on the treadmill. I've tried to speed up, but my feet and shins hurt; instead, I've added in 10 minutes on the elliptical. I can't go fast — I'm doing 40-something revolutions per minute — but it definitely is helping me increase my stamina. 

Although it feels like my body wants to jog, I've been hung up in my mind. Truly, I've never been a runner. Or jogger. Even in junior high and high school gym class, when we ran laps, I always ended up walking part of it. If I couldn't do it when I was 15, why would I think I could do it at 40, weighing a hundred pounds more? 

This morning, we did most of my session outside in the empty side parking lot. After I did walking lunges,jumping jacks, heel kicks and squats, Sal said, "You might not be excited about this, but I'm going to have you do a lap."

"A walking lap?" I asked hopefully. 

Sal shook his head. 

"A jogging lap?" 

He nodded. "Try it, and if you need to stop jogging and do a fast walk, that's totally fine."

I told Sal my body's been wanting to go faster, but I've never been a runner and why would I be able to do it now. "You have to get rid of those thoughts," he said, and told me about another client who had never run and is now doing half marathons. 

Okay, then. I've committed to trying what Sal recommends, so off I went. I didn't expect to be able to jog the whole parking lot — but I did! And it wasn't brutal. And then, after I caught my breath, I did it again. 

Sal was pleased. "Before you know it, you'll be doing five laps without stopping," he said. And you know, he's probably right. 

After my laps, I did side lunges up the handicap ramp, followed by bicep curls and leg extensions on weight machines. And voila! An hour had passed. I thought I'd need to hold onto the railing going up the stairs, but I was fine. Sore, but fine. And proud as hell.