The Week I Became A Gym Rat

Last week was my first full week off for summer vacation. Two years ago I spent most of my summer in the gym and loved the results by summers end. I would do cardio, strength training and swimming in some sort of combination. My real goal was to bring down the average age of the ladies in the gym. Plus no one will complement you more on your outfit, shoes or progress, like little old grandmas lifting the 3 pound weights.

Go get em' grandma! Not my actual grandma.

Going into this summer, with the big W-day at the end of it, I knew if I didn't start off strong I would go down a slippery, lazy slope. Last summer my focus was on running and racing, but with feeling burnt out still, going to the gym has given me some motivation rejuvenation. Last week I wound up getting 5 work outs in. 4 trips to the gym and one run. 3 spin classes and lots of core, arm and leg strength training.

Daily Mile Report Card

The RAC always offers a Summer Sizzle competition. I've never paid much attention to it or signed up for it because it is geared towards their fitness classes. But in the fall I started spinning and did it consistently throughout the school year, so I thought it might be fun to sign up for the challenge and do something new. I believe the way it works is that if you do 30 classes in 60 days you get a free t-shirt. The t-shirt is nice and all, but the best part are the stickers and the tracking chart. Pause and rewind to elementary school and there is nothing you wont do to get your name on the chart with a long line of stickers trailing it.

Wooohooo!! 

So I caved to my own peer pressure and signed up. Monday was the first day of the contest and even though I went and did cardio and strength training, I didn't take a class. I guess I didn't know how cut throat this contest was, but when I saw the name beneath mine and saw that they had already collected 3 stickers, my competitive side kicked in! Oh those powerful, glittery, little circles of my affection. So yesterday I was determined to get my first sticker and checked out the class schedule. I found a late morning 45-minute spin class, which would be perfect to get in before I spent the day with my Mom. The class was good. It is always interesting to see how the different instructors vary their class, music and style. At the end I proudly collected my sticker and affixed it to the chart next to my name. One down, 29 to go! Happy Fourth of July everyone!! 

Coming Soon: Firecracker 5 Mile Race Report