In Charge

Scotty and Luke are both out of town this week on a New Year's ski boarding tip, so guess who is planning this week's Mischief workout....you got it, ME! I have been really itching to do some heavy lifting lately, just to see what I can do. Today I braved the cold to get to the gym to do some preparation for Friday. Janae and I met and found our one rep max on each of the 3 major lifts (dead lift, squats, and bench press). Gonna do an old fashioned (as Kevin would say) meathead workout. Everything is based on percentages of our max. It is gonna be fun!!

That Time of Year

Christmas is over and New Year's Eve is on the horizon. As always, I tend to be reflective during this time. I count my blessings, look at the hurtles I have overcome, pack some things away, and set my sights on the year ahead. As always, my biggest blessings are the people I have in my life. I am honored and humbled so much by them. The love, encouragement, laughter, tears they freely give/share with me makes me rich beyond all my comprehension.

This year has brought some family back into my life. My oldest brother, Delbert and I had drifted apart over the years, but have now drifted back together. I look forward to rebuilding that relationship. Stephen (my other brother) and his family and I have been separated by distance. We have been making efforts to stay in touch over the past year. They have always been there, but it seems we are reaching out to each other more. 

My circle of friends always seems to be in a state of flux. There are the old friends (Erik, Robbin, Shelley...) that have been in my life solid for a very long time. There are the new friends (Luke, Scotty, Janae, Christi, Hannah...) that I am continuing to build deeper and deeper friendships with. Then there are the friendships that due to the flow of life, I find that I'm packing up and putting away in a special corner of my heart, friends I may or may not ever see again. 

I lay my roots in this rich soil, dig in deep and with that foundation, reach for the stars. Thank you all for the part you play in my journey. I share each victory with you because none of it would be possible without you.

Latest Mischief

People tend to come and go in The Mischief, so periodically we have to do new group pictures. This is currently my favorite. 

Right to left: Scotty, Jason, me, Hannah, Janae, Luke

Turkey Trot 5K

Well, the Mischief signed up for a 5K together. Thanksgiving morning, after being up most of the night helping my husband roll Black Friday newspapers, I got up at 6:45 AM to RUN. Sigh. I have been really trying to work on my running endurance and speed, but lately, I have been working extra shifts at work and have been unable to practice. That being said, I still finished about 5 minutes faster than my last 5K. I haven't gotten my official time yet, they haven't posted it on the website. I'm not terribly happy with my results, but I did it. Since my friend James said "if there are no pictures, it didn't happen", here is my proof:

Mischief Motto

My dear friend Janae found this quote for me. I love it!!

Musings on an Early Morning Run

I recently took a trip to see family in San Antonio. I am Brainwashed & Broken enough that I can't take a weekend off without doing SOME FORM of workout, even when on vacation. I got up early and with most people still in bed, I hit the roads around my brother's house. Based on questions asked of another runner I came across, I estimate I put in about a mile and a half. Here is what I learned that day:

1. "May the road rise to meet you..." - great Irish blessing, not so much for a new runner. Abilene is FLAT, and while I have always known that San Antonio area wasn't, I am now PAINFULLY aware of the fact.

2. Another fact I know about San Antonio area vs Abilene that is now even more clear in my mind, it is far more humid there. Every time I slowed down to breathe, my sunglasses fogged.

3. When running in a non-loop path, ALWAYS remember not to run so far that you don't have the energy to get back. I was afraid I was going to have to text someone to come scrape me off the pavement.

It was a beautiful run. I have been really trying to get better at it. In 4 days, I will be participating in The Turkey Trot, a local 5k. The Mischief will be doing it together. Heaven help me, 3.1 miles! I have walked a couple of 5ks in the past. This will be the first time I try to run as much as I can. Look for that post soon, unless it kills me.

In My Face

I really don't know what it is about Luke that enables him to get in my face without me punching him. There is just something about him that cracks me up, and the more serious he gets about something, the more amused I become. I think this annoys him a little bit. He sees it as me not taking him seriously, but that isn't the case. Humor is the key to my heart and mind. If I can laugh about something, it sinks in and is retained. He has put me on the diet challenge. He has me doing a mid-week rest day. Now he is getting in my face about my sleep patterns.  Twice he kicked me off Facebook to send me to bed.  The night before he started back to school, I woke in the middle of the night and was having trouble going back to sleep. I texted a prayer to him for his first day back in class. The next morning, I got a message back, thanking me for the prayer. Then he said, "Don't think it means I won't get onto you for being up at 1:30 am!"

The other day, I had a late night phone call with my best friend. Erik and I have both been having a hard time lately, and I think we both needed some best friend time. I posted something about how the conversation made all things good again. 

Luke commented:
"you have 3 mins to get off whatever device you are on and go to sleep. Each minute past is running a lap. If you post anytime between the hours of 12:30 and 7am it will be 50 burpees  I'd get to sleep if i were you

P.S. these rules are now permanently in effect from here on out. However the time frame shall consist of 12 to 7 that you will not be on social media. If you want to get better you need to sleep and let your body rest. I can see when you are on here through chat, better not see you on here after 12 in the future or you will pay  My sick thinking: if she doesn't want to sleep, I'll find things that will put her to sleep... or make her pass out, either is effective and gets the end result I want "

So at 43 years old, I have a curfew.....

On a side note, the next night, he stayed up all night and then slept through Mischief. See, he cracks me up!

Passing It On (Misery Loves Company)

I am in danger of moving from Brainwashed & Broken to the level of Sick & Twisted. I am always trying to drag friends to the gym, and I tend to not take no for an answer. It is a practice that has earned me the name Evil Gym Sprite. 

Christi won a free session of PiM, then she made the mistake of letting me know. She joined me for an Austin PiM on Thursday. She does A LOT of classes during the week, and classes are awesome, but they can't compare to the intensity of PiM. There is also the fact that it is different movements that she is used to. She was worried about it. Through out the day I kept reassuring her that she would be fine (she actually out lifts me in BodyPump). When Austin walks into class, she looked at him and said, "This is my first PiM, so you gotta be nice to me!" He laughed wickedly and said, "You know, that was the wrong thing to say." Half way into class, she looked at me and said, "You should know, I'm cussing you out in my head right now."

 I also drug Janae to last night's Mischief. Audrey hasn't been in town all summer, so it was nice having another girl. She did really well! She and I texted a few times through the day, and she was also worried about the workout. I tried to reassure her that it was an "injury workout" because Luke has a sprained ankle. It didn't mean the workout would be easy by any means, even injured, Luke can wring large amounts of pain out of me. I thought she was our "special kinda crazy", and I was right. She said she is going to come back because she wants to get to the point where she is GOOD at it.

On a side note, Luke is going to start weighing me once a week and doing my body fat. Something I haven't done since Kevin left. I will soon be able to give weekly updates again.

The Gift of Life

I have ALWAYS wanted to be a blood donor, but my body always worked against me. I have small, deep, rolling veins. As far back as I can remember, simple lab work was a traumatic experience involving multiple sticks and fishing expeditions. Shots don't bother me. From the time I was 11 months old, I took allergy shots. I distinctly remember a friend in college talking about the first time he finally went in to donate. A friend of his had asked if he was going to the blood drive. He said, "No, having someone stick a sharp metal object in my arm and draining my blood isn't natural." To which his friend replied, "They stuck a sharp metal object in Christ's arm and drained His blood....for YOU." How can you argue with that? So I went to my first blood drive. I walked in and told them, "If you can stick it, you can have it." They handed me the forms to fill out. They asked me all the medical history questions. They tested my blood for iron (at this point I think they actually started drooling - I have ALWAYS had very rich blood). I was lead to the chair for the actual donation. After looking my arms over (several times), the tech told me to go home without even pulling a needle out of a package. I was disappointed. I tried several more times at different blood drives. Finally one tech told me, "Go home and don't come back." Years have passed. Always the desire to give was there. I so admired friends that would give on a regular basis. 

This past weekend, my brother Stephen called. One of his co-workers has a son battling leukemia. This guy is in his 30's with children of his own. He is in desperate need for blood to be donated in his name. My heart was breaking for this man and his young children. I told Stephen, "I've never been able to give in the past, but I promise you, I will try. Maybe with the weight I have lost, they will be able to finally hit a vein." I am so excited to say that they were successful!!! 

The only drawback is I am not allowed to exercise for 24 hours. Next time I will have to plan it around my rest day. On a side note, they always offer a free snack when you are done. Thanks to LUKE, I passed on oreos. Sigh, I remain Brainwashed & Broken.

PS If any of you are interested in donating in the name of Stephen's friend, donations need to be made for Bradley Hoff, Dallas, Texas.

My Role

Every member of a group has a role they fill for that group. There are the leaders, the talkers, the thinkers. I have discovered my role in The Mischief. This is the "Passout Bench" at the gym. I spend lots of time on this bench between sets of our workouts. As you can see, the legs of the bench are not all the way at the end. About 2 weeks ago, between sets, Scotty was sitting dead center of the bench. I came and sat next to him for a breather before starting the next set. He got up, I hit the floor. Tonight, after the workout (have I mentioned that Luke is a sick, sick man?), I went over and sat on the bench. This time I didn't hit the floor, after all THAT has been done before. No this time I (not so gracefully) slid off onto the BOSU, Yep, I'm the comic relief of the group. 

Hell Workout and Rest Days

Luke has decided that we need a workout that we can judge our progress with, so he wrote Hell Workout. We did it last week for the first time to get our baseline. To make the torture complete, he told me about the workout 2 weeks in advance to that I could stress out about it for a while. The workout included: 1 mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 body squats, 1 mile run. He is a sick, sick, sick man...did mention sick?? First of all, it started with running. You all know how I feel about that, if not, see previous post.  Pull-ups, I can't do a single unassisted pull up, so I am allowed to use the machine to assist me. As it is, I still am pulling about 1/2 my body weight...100 times! The push-ups weren't TOO bad. I had decided to do at least 100 of them from my toes and then finish from my knees. As it turned out, I managed all 200 from my toes. I can't help but be a little excited about that. Squats are squats. Squats alone don't bother me. I can DO squats. The problem lies in doing 300 and then trying to run again. About the 3rd stride, my quads were mush, and 1/2 way into the 2nd mile my hamstrings started screaming at me. I wanted to crawl the rest of the way in. If it weren't for my friend Beci doing the laps with me (she didn't want me to have to run alone), I probably would have crawled. I finished though. Took me an hour and 35 minutes to finish, but I did it. The guys only took 55 minutes. Good thing I started an hour before they did.

After Hell Workout, Luke decided to get in my face (he has been doing that a lot) about the amount of rest I haven't been getting. He isn't the first to say something. Kevin once told me to "take it easy" one weekend . See the post titled "Taking it Easy" to see how that worked for him. Austin once looked at me and said, "Are you over-training?". To which I said, "No...never...well, mabye...ok, yes." Luke, on the other hand, wouldn't leave me alone about it. The gym is closed on Sundays, so I always counted that as my rest day. APPARENTLY, I work too hard during the week to not take another one mid-week. I don't know what it is about Luke. He has a way of approaching subjects with me that other people have tried and met resistance. He just kinda tells me how it is going to be without giving me an option. I am still allowed to come to the gym on Wednesday, but he has written a "rest day workout" for me: 50 squats, 100 jump rope, 10 laps on the sport court, 100 jump rope, 50 squats, 40 pull-ups,  and 20 minutes on the treadmill at a 5% incline. Someone at worked asked me how that is a rest day. "I only have to do it once instead of 3 times, and there aren't 4 other sets of something to do after it." We will see how this goes. 

Mischief

I have mentioned that Luke invited me to join he and his friends for a workout and that I had no idea what that would lead to. Accepting that invitation has lead to a whole new chapter in my gym experience. The one invitation lead to an open invitation, which has now become my Friday routine. Luke writes all our workouts, and he has a twisted imagination when it comes to thinking up things for us to do. There are 6 of us: Luke, Scotty, Jason, Josh, Audrey, and myself. Whoever is available comes each week. That means there have been weeks that it was just Luke and I, and there have been weeks that we have had some newcomers. We are gym rats. In Scotty's words, "we are a special kind of crazy." We push ourselves and each other - HARD. No excuses, no backing down, no quitting. We feed off each others energy. We are community/family. We are a pack. I was curious one night what a group of gym rats would be called. Google told me that a group of rats was a "pack (which i suspected)" or a "mischief". I loved the idea of being a mischief of gym rats. Once I told everyone else about, we started calling ourselves "The Mischief"...it had a nice ring to it, it stuck. I know if I am every frustrated, all I have to do is spend a few minutes with my mischief and I will get all the support and encouragement I need. When I came back from being sick, I had lost some of my strength and so much of my endurance. I was getting annoyed with myself. Throughout the week, leading up to our workout, each member came to me individually to see how I was feeling, let me know they had missed me, encourage me to be patient with myself and not push too hard/too fast because they didn't want me getting sick again. During one of his (frequent) pep talks to me, Luke said, "Give yourself time to recover. I know you are frustrated now, but you are a fighter. You will be back soon." Then he told me about a whiteboard that he keeps motivational quotes on. At the top it says "How bad do you want it?" The only thing that limits your goals is you. When you want something enough to sacrifice for it, when you crave it as much as you do oxygen, then you will achieve it. This has now become our motto. More than once it has been written on the floor, once Luke even taped it to his arm, "H.B.D.Y.W.I?" So naturally we had matching t-shirts made:

With it being summer, all 6 of us have not been together since we got the shirts. We are hoping to get a group picture soon. Until then, here is 4 out of the 6 of us. 

Left to Right: Scotty, me, Luke, Jason

Medication, Mesas, and Running

I have been a little stressed and out of focus lately. It has taken it's toll. I put a little of the weight back on, and my wheels have been spinning on the dreaded mesa. Family health issues, money difficulties, new job, my own health issues that nearly landed me in the hospital...the excuses are endless. It is part of life. You fall down, you get back up. I had a doctor's appointment and was expecting the worst. I saw my lab results before I went to the appointment, I knew Dr. Ezzell was going to be disappointed. My cholesterol was out of whack again. My A1C was up. He walked into the room and asked me what was going on.  I told him about everything and said, "I'm just needing to get back in focus." Then he surprised me. He looked me in the eye and said "Yes, your A1C is up a little, but if you are going to refocus (I know how you are when you are focused), I am comfortable with pulling you off your metformin." My heart stopped. This is what I have been working so hard for. Yes, I have a weight loss goal. Yes, I want to be thinner. But THIS...THIS is my big goal. Get healthy enough to be off medications. I wanted to dance!!!! I am officially off all diabetic medication. My A1C level puts me as "pre-diabetic". I know when I focus, I can bring it down even further. 

As far as the mesa goes, as I said, I have gained some of the weight back (5-15 lbs fluctuation). Luke recently got in my face about my diet, and unlike some, did it in a way that didn't make me want to rip his face off. After a week long diet challenge he put me on, I lost 9 lbs. At my lowest point, I was 173. I will not declare the mesa broken til I'm down to 170, but I'm hopeful.

Running (sigh), the bane of my existence. I have conquered bouncing, well kind of, I do it when I have to. Now the guys at the gym are conspiring to make me run. What they don't understand is that running to me messes with my head. Growing up, I was terribly bullied in school. Not your average everyday kinda bullying either. People sought me out to make my life hell. Honestly, I have gotten past it, but from time to time, the scars left behind pull and ache. I tell you this, not because I dwell on it, because I don't. I tell you this so that you may understand the why of what I am about to share. I always struggled with my weight. Looking back at pictures, I don't think I was really that big, but I was made to feel like I was HUGE. It is amazing the damage body image can do to a person. I was also the slowest in my class, which meant I was forever "it" in tag, I was always the last picked, and when we ran, the entire class would lap me. These things were repeatedly used by my peers to beat me down. Sadly, I find that now, when I run, some of that old self talk comes back. As I am being lapped and ultimately left to run by myself, I can't help but think, "What are you doing? You don't belong with them. You can't keep up. They are going to get tired of always having to wait on you." Know that these thought come strictly from my own head. The guys have NEVER made me feel this way. In fact, they have instinctively done things to counter these very thoughts. As I said, these are old, deep wounds. There has been healing. Scar tissue has covered them over. But I believe what is happening is that God has decided it is time to do a more complete healing. Time to cut away the scar tissue to restore my full range of motion. It is a good thing, but sometimes the process is painful. I trust the people He has put in my life for this time. I just don't know if they understand the battle I am facing.

New Program

Programs, get your programs here! You can't tell the players without a program!!

Has it really been so long since I have blogged? So much has happened, so many changes. It is going to take several posts to catch you all up, so I thought the first order of business is to do a new "team" list, since all my original team members have moved on. Some of these, you have met briefly in past posts, but I have not given you a formal introduction. Others are totally new to my list. My team has expanded. The original 5 were all gym employees. My team is now a balance of employees, instructors, and other members. I am truly blessed to have so many great people helping me in this journey. 

Lets start with gym staff (in alphabetical order so no one can claim favorite):
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Angel: Angel and I have know each other for YEARS. We worked together long before I got on my fitness kick. Then we lost contact. Back then, we were only co-workers, but now we are truly friends. She works the early shift at the gym most of the time, so I don't see her a lot in that role, but when I do she is always very sweet and helpful. As our friendship has grown, we have actually started working out/taking classes together. She is my cheerleader and sounding board. Being raised with brothers and mostly male cousins, I tend to gravitate to the guys. Angel is a nice balance for me. She is there to talk about the emotional aspect of things that sometimes the guys don't fully understand, try as they might.
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Austin: ex-marine, big, intimidating, but with a heart of gold. I jokingly say he is a big bully. When we took this picture I told him that I needed to show the world just how big of a bully he was. It took us a long time to get this picture right because neither one of us could keep a straight face. It never ceases to amaze me that I have the opportunity to work with him. He pushes me in a way that no one else does. I say that, but they all have their own unique way/personality. He is quick to smile and is even quicker with his encouragement. There are people that are scared to work with him, and it BREAKS MY HEART. It is truly their loss. This man is a force. I am beyond lucky to have him on my side.
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Josh: When I first met Josh, I declared he was "over-hyper, over-happy" and wanted to grab him and give him a good shake. In time, he grew on me. I started to see that all the energy he has is fueled by his passions. He has a heart for helping people. He seeks out those that may be overlooked by others, taking time to speak encouragement into their lives. He is a self-declared introvert which cracks me up. I swear he is about as introverted as I am. From time to time, he lets his eagerness get ahead of him. In those moments, I call him a dork, but I can't help but smile.
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Levi: Levi is a trainer at the gym. If I were ever to decide to get back to working with a trainer again, Levi would be my choice. Luckily for me, he also teaches the Power in Motion classes. He teaches early mornings, so I don't get to workout with him as often as I would like, so when I get the chance, I take it - no matter what. Today is a good example. I am running on almost no sleep. I get a call in the morning saying, "I have to go in early, you want to go to the gym?" I said, "Give me 10 minutes to get ready!" Levi is a bit of a goofball. Working out with him is more like playing with my brother. Don't get me wrong, it is still HARD work, but he has a way of making it fun. He pushes and talks trash, but instead of doing it loudly like some of the others, he just calmly comes along beside me and almost whispers it (which is sometimes bad since i'm half-deaf..lol). He looks me in the eye and truly cares about what I'm thinking and how I'm feeling. 

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Now for the instructors:

Janae: I think if you look up the word sweet in the dictionary, somewhere you would find her picture. She is one of the BodyFlow instructors. After torturing myself all week, I like to take BodyFlow on Saturdays to stretch out my muscles. Janae has a gift for looking into a person's heart and seeing exactly where they are hurting and finding exactly the right words to bring healing to those hurts. What BodyFlow does for the body, Janae does for the spirit. A true gem.

Shawn: I take RPM with Shawn. What can I say about him?...hmmm. He is loud and at times obnoxious. He is a call you out in the middle of class and talk a lot of trash kinda instructor. He pushes hard and expects the people in his class to do the same. Behind all the vibrato is a heart that just wants to see people get better, and if he has to be the bad guy to get it done, he will be. Gotta love him!

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Now to other gym members:

Christi: Christi is a fellow gym rat. She is at the gym almost as much as I am. In fact, her health profile for work recently told her that she works out too much. I told her that mine said that I needed to drink more, so we may start skipping the gym and having a drink together. While we rarely take class together, we often see each other in the locker room, and we have a standing lunch date on Fridays. She and I have very similar senses of humor (poor woman), so we have a blast encouraging each other while making jokes (often about our own shared clumsiness) about the latest thing that has happened. She has become a dearly loved sister on this journey.

Luke: Luke is CRAZY. You know the type I'm talking about. Every gym has one. He is the one that is willing to try anything and everything to find the limits of what he is capable of. He has a degree in Exercise Science and is in the process of going for a PhD in Physical Therapy. He knows his stuff. One day he said, "So if I break you, I know how to fix you."- very reassuring...lol. I was honored one day when he asked me to join he and his friends in a workout. Little did I know where that would lead (this is one of the topics that will require it's own post). With Luke, I get the much needed variety that I was missing when Kevin left. I never know what he is going to have me try next. He has me doing things I never imagined doing, all the while working along side of me, treating me as a friend and an equal. 

Scotty: I met Scotty through my workouts with Luke. Both of them are MUCH younger than I am and are in top shape. Scotty is in the trenches with me for the workouts that Luke comes up with. He is great encouragement to me. He seems to sense those moments when I am feeling like I can't go on, it is too hard, I can't keep up. In those moments, he looks at me and says, "yeah, I'm dying too." He lets me know I'm not alone. One day, he and I are going to stage a coupe. We outnumber Luke. It could happen.....

More Weight

The guys are both really starting to push me to take on more weight, each in their own unique way. It amuses me. I have written once before of Kevin's "look". The one that said "what are you doing? You can do better than that!" The words were never spoken, but the message was clear. It was time to step it up, be stronger, be better.

Levi is a man of few words. The first time he did it to me was during the challenge. Think it was only the second time I had worked with him. I was doing kettle bell swings with an 8 kg weight. He came and stood in front of me, crossed his arms, cocked one eyebrow and watched me for a minute. Then he said, "How's that weight working for you?" "A little lite," I say. He gives me a half smile and says, "That's what I thought, go get another one." A couple of weeks ago, I was doing dumbbell snatches (taking dumb bell from floor to over your head in one smooth movement). The dumbbells at the gym don't have a weight value on them, instead they are ranked by difficulty determined by weight and grip size. I was working with a 2.5 level, and there was a 3 on the floor at my feet. Again, Levi comes and stands in front of me, cocks his head, raises one eyebrow. He looks at me, then looks up at the weight in my hand, then down at the 3 on the floor. He pushes the 3 with his toe, looks at me again, then up at the weight in my hand, pushes the 3 with his toe. I drop the 2.5, pick up the 3. He gives me the half smile and walks off. It happened again this morning. I have been having problems with my left arm. I think I have strained a muscle, or maybe a tendon in my left shoulder. We were doing squats followed by overhead kettle bell presses. I had started with my left side (I frequently do things with my weaker side first to get it over with). I TRIED the 12 kg kettle bell, but couldn't press it over my head. I switched to an 8 kg. I don't think Levi had seen the attempt with the 12. When I switched to my right side, I put the 8 up and grabbed the 12. He DID see that. He gave me his half smile and said, "I was about to ask you how that 8 was working for you." "Still having problems with my left arm." "I was wondering if you felt ANYTHING with that small of a weight."

Austin, on the other hand is a little more direct. I have seen him walk up to someone, take the weight out of their hands and hand them a heavier weight. No discussion, no options...just here, do this. A couple of days ago, as I was walking up to the kettle bell station where everyone else had been using an 8 kg kettle bell, he rushed up and set a 12 in front of me. I had already decided to up to a 12 that day, but he didn't know that. He made it quite clear that it wasn't an option.

So now I'm moving into a phase where I'm doing more weight....sigh. I can't believe I pay money to have these guys try to kill me. Oh well, I guess it comes with being Brainwashed&Broken.